BRIMSTONE
1X01 - PILOT
Original Airdate (FOX): 23-OCT-98
WRITTEN BY ETHAN REIFF & CYRUS VORIS
DIRECTED BY FELIX ENRIQUEZ ALCALA
TRANSCRIPT PROVIDED BY TWIZ TV.COM
Originally transcribed for The Brimstone Virtual Seasons
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TRANSCRIPT:
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Ezekiel Stone wakes on a subway car. It is empty, void of
people, as is the station at which he exits. Slowly, he walks
up the stairs, rising from beneath the earth. Only when he
reaches the street does he find himself surrounded by people.
The sights and sounds of his location are familiar to him,
and Ezekiel recognizes that he is in his hometown of New York
City. His steps are purposeful as he walks to a church.
He enters the confessional, crossing himself before speaking
in a modest tone, "Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. It
has been a long time since my last confession. I was a cop,
and good at my job. I was married. I had a good life." A
pause, while Stone braces himself to continue speaking, "Then
my wife was raped. We, uh, caught the guy who did it, but he
got off. I tracked him down... and I killed him..." There is
an echo, "killed him.., killed him..."
"This is a terrible, terrible sin, my son," the priest tells
him.
"Two months later I cornered this petty thief who had a gun.
He opened up on me, and I took five bullets to the face and
neck... and I died. And because I had killed a man in cold
blood, I went to hell," Stone tells him. The priest sits
there in shocked silence for a moment, and Stone asks, "You
okay in there, Father?"
When there is no response, Stone continues. "You know it's
funny, but even in the most maximum security penitentiary,
from time to time, inmates will escape. It happened on
Devil's Island, it happened at Alcatraz, and six weeks ago,
it happened in Hell. One hundred and thirteen of the most
vile creatures who ever walked the earth escaped. And now
they're back."
The priest responds, "But the Prince of Lies, the Master of
Hell, surely having his subjects back on Earth, spreading
chaos and destruction, all this would bring a smile to his
face."
"I don't know, Father. You of all people know that even the
Devil has to answer to a higher power. He screwed up, and now
he needs someone to fix things. Someone to track down these
creatures... and send them back to Hell.”
"Why are you telling me this... this, ridiculous story?"
"Oh, come on, Father,” Stone says coldly, as the camera zooms
in on his face, “I think you know why."
The wood in the confessional creaks and breaks, and the
priest runs. Stone bolts after him. The priest scampers
across the street and is hit by a taxi. He continues on,
unharmed, glancing furtively over his shoulder to see Ezekiel
Stone following him. He runs down an alley, only to realize
he has been cornered by a chain link fence blocking the
path. Stone stands at the mouth of the alley, and trains his
gun on the priest. "Time to give the Devil his due," he says.
Just then, a squad car pulls up, lights flashing and sirens
blaring.
Two officers jump out of the car. Detective William Kane
speaks first. “Drop it,” he orders. “You deaf? I said drop
it!” His partner, Charlie Hirsch, trains his gun on Stone.
With a sigh, Stone lowers his weapon. Kane pushes him
against the squad car.
Hirsch goes after the priest, asking, “Father, are you
okay?” But the priest is gone. Where he stood just a moment
ago, a gaping hole now stands in the chain link fence, the
edges still glowing cherry red from where someone or
something burned through it.
B R I M S T O N E
Hirsch touches the fence, burning himself. “Son of a
bitch.” He hollers back to his partner, Detective Kane, who
has Stone handcuffed and bent over their squad car. “I’m
going to go find that priest before he gets hurt.”
“All right,” Kane replies.
“You working the kids, right?” Stone asks quietly.
“What?”
“The missing altar boys. How many so far?”
“Why don’t you tell me?” Kane replies.
“Oh, you think I did it, huh? It was the priest you geniuses
let escape.”
“The priest you were running around trying to kill?” Kane
mocks. “You know, you can go to Hell for something like
that.”
“Already been there,” Stone mutters.
“You know what I think?”
“I could care less.”
“I think it was you that snatched those two altar boys. The
father spotted you trying to snatch number three, so you
decided to take him out, huh? No witnesses.”
“Two,” Stone repeats. “Thanks for your help, officer.”
Stone puts his foot against the car, pushing off of it and
tumbling back onto Detective Kane. Stone smashes the back of
his head into Kane’s face, then rolls away. He stands,
handcuffs dangling from his wrist, and picks up his gun. As
Kane clutches his nose, Stone jogs away.
#
A few blocks away, Stone enters a hotel. The clerk, a young
woman with a nose ring, eyes him as he enters, and so do the
other people hanging out in the lobby. Stone approaches the
desk and speaks, his voice low, “Room, please.”
“$62.50 a night, cash up front,” the clerk tells him.
Stone spots the baseball game on the television. “Oh, the
Yankees and Reds. I haven’t seen a World Series since, uh,
‘83.”
“Series? What series?” the clerk asks, looking up from the
form she is filling out. “This is interleague play.”
“Wait a minute, interleague?” Stone repeats. “Like, the
National League and the American League play each other
during the regular season?”
“They been doing this for two years, where you been?”
“Out of the country.”
“Whereabouts?”
“Down under.”
“Huh.” She slides a key across the desk to him. “There you
go. The elevator’s busted, but you’re only on the third
floor.”
Stone takes the key and walks off, muttering under his breath
as he does so, “As long as I’m going up.”
#
The room isn’t much. A red neon sign glows just outside his
window, and police sirens pass by on the street. As the
sirens die down, a toilet flushes next door. Stone sighs,
and takes off his jacket. He steps to the sink and wipes the
cracked mirror, staring at his reflected image as he turns on
the water.
As he washes up, he discovers strange runic tattoos on his
body. He hears a voice, "The names of the fugitives. Penned
in my native tongue, of course." To the sound of mocking
laughter, Stone prowls out on the fire escape with his gun
drawn.
The Devil sits there on the railing, silhouetted by a freak
flash of lightning. "You know, they planned this for
centuries. Totally unprecedented. Oh, there have been a few,
over the millennia, who've slipped through the cracks.
Isolated incidents. Never anything like this. They think
they'll beat the Devil. They're wrong, Ezekiel. Nobody beats
me."
"What are you doing here?"
"Well, it's your first day on the job, you dropped the ball,
I'm thinking maybe I picked the wrong guy."
"Yeah, maybe you did." The Devil laughs. Stone continues, "He
was stronger than me, faster. He even burned a hole through a
chain link fence."
"After all, he was my guest for nearly a century. You were
with me what, fifteen years? The longer you are in hell, the
more it becomes a part of you, literally. Some of those that
escaped have been mine since the dawn of time, and have the
powers to prove it."
"Terrific, nice odds."
"Relax. You all play by the same rules, more or less."
"More or less?" Stone asks.
"Well, you're already dead, so you can't be killed, or even
feel pain, unless it is inflicted by another damned soul."
"So how am I supposed to send them back?"
"Did I forget to tell you that part?" The Devil laughs. "It's
the eyes, windows to the soul. Anyone, alive or dead,
destroys the eyes, and the damned get a one way ticket back
home to Hell."
"Including me?"
"Silly question, Ezekiel. Last time I checked, you were one
of the damned. Now, stop asking questions, and get back to
work. It's the only way you'll ever earn your second chance
at life on earth."
"Yeah, about that second chance," Stone begins, the Devil
smiling appreciatively, "How does that work, exactly?"
"That's for me to know, and you to find out -- in the event
you actually succeed at rounding up all one hundred and
thirteen of your wayward brothers and sisters."
"One hundred thirteen to one, huh? Great."
The Devil stands behind Stone and speaks into his ear.
"Remember, Mr. Stone, Gilbert Jax was a rapist, not a
murderer. He didn't kill your wife. You had no right to kill
him. God's universe doesn't work like the American legal
system. You do something, you pay for it."
"That is all I was doing," Stone responds forcefully, "I was
trying to make the bastard pay."
"Yes, yes," the Devil whispers, "now that's what I like to
hear. The indomitable spirit, and righteous indignation of
the human species. I've heard it a billion times, defending a
billion atrocities, and it's still music to my ears."
"Listen pal,” Stone shoots back, “you need me as much as I
need you. You may be all powerful down below, but up here,
you're just another corporate big shot who's trying to cover
his ass. Now, if you can't police your own, no one is gonna
ever be afraid of you again."
The Devil, smiling again, has only one response. He holds up
a single digit on his right hand, and pushes Stone off the
fire escape. Stone lands unhurt on the ground, and brushes
himself off.
#
In the eleventh precinct, Detective Kane is showing around a
sketch of his assailant. He has a bandage on his nose. “It’s
very strange,” his boss, Tibbetts, tells him, “I’d swear your
suspect is Zeke Stone.”
“Who?”
“Homicide Detective worked out of Manhattan South before your
time. I was his sergeant after he got the gold shield. Good
cop. Can’t be him though.”
“Why not?”
“He’s dead. Got blown away by some trigger-happy punk, oh,
must have been fifteen years ago.” Tibbetts turns to leave.
“Night, Will.”
“Hey, thanks,” Kane replies, thinking over the new
information. He stares at the sketch.
#
At a museum, Ms. Gilliam is herding a group of school
children from one room to another. The priest we saw earlier
is there also, and he watches them come in. “So how many of
you have been to a museum before?” the teacher wonders.
“Oh, almost everybody. So you know how to behave, right? No
touching anything, no fooling around,” she tells them.
The priest approaches, quoting, “Happy hearts and happy
faces, happy play in grassy places, that was how in ancient
ages, children grew to kings and sages.”
Ms. Gilliam crooks her head, considering. “Did you write
that, Father?”
“Oh, no, it wasn’t me, no,” he chuckles. “It was Robert
Louis Stevenson. Yes, he wrote that in 1885, just a few
years after this was painted. It was a better time then,
more innocent. This city was clean, unspoiled. In those
days, when it snowed, it didn’t turn to gray, ugly slush. It
was white for days on end. Like heaven.”
“You sound like you were there.”
“Oh, but I was.” The teacher looks at him oddly, so he
clarifies, “In my dreams, of course.”
“Oh,” she says, relieved.
A student approaches them and interrupts the conversation.
“Ms. Gilliam, I’ve got to use the bathroom.”
“One second, Chris,” she tells him. “Austin, Billy, cut that
out!”
“I’d be happy to take him, if you’d like,” the priest offers.
“Oh, thank you, Father. Would you?”
“Yes, come on,” he replies, smiling as he holds his hand out
to the young boy, Chris.
As he leads the child away, Ms. Gilliam turns back to her
group of children. “Stop that. Cut it out!”
ACT TWO
In the restroom, the priest and the boy wash their hands.
“Well, Christopher, did you enjoy seeing the pictures in
there?” the priest asks.
“Not really. The museum’s boring. I wish we’d take a field
trip someplace cool.”
“Did you know that Saint Christopher was said to have carried
the Christ child across a river?”
“I can’t swim,” Chris says.
The priest laughs. “Neither can I,” he says. “Do you go to
church?”
“I kinda have to now,” Chris says dejectedly. “I started
serving as an altar boy this year.”
The priest considers this. “You know, I have a friend who
works at the Central Park Zoo.”
“Really?”
“If we leave now, we could make it by feeding time. I’m sure
I could persuade my friend to let you feed the animals
yourself.”
“You think so?” Chris replies, enthused.
“Well, perhaps not the lion. But certainly the lamb.”
“Well, I don’t know,” Chris says. “How are we going to make
it back before the end of the field trip? And if Ms. Gilliam
finds out I’m gone, I’ll going to be in a lot of trouble.”
“Not nearly as much trouble as you’re going to be in if you
don’t come with me,” the priest says, leaning in towards the
boy. When they are face to face, he growls.
Chris tries to run, but the priest snaps him up. He begins
to open the window in the bathroom, only to be interrupted by
another man entering the room. “Hey,” the man demands, “What
are you doing to that kid?”
The priest does not respond, but lunges toward the man, his
right hand stretched out in front of him, his left hand
holding the child tight to his body. Chris tries to scream,
but he is muffled by the priest’s grip.
#
Back at the police station, Kane has told Hirsch his
speculation. “So, you think our guy is Lt. Ezekiel Stone,
N.Y.P.D., killed in the line of duty in June of ‘83? Okay,”
Hirsch paraphrases.
“I know it sounds crazy,” Kane argues, “But I’ve got a
theory. Seven months before Stone was killed, his wife got
raped. They caught the guy, Gilbert Jax, but couldn’t put a
case together against him, so he got off.”
“And?”
“And, two months before Stone was killed, Jax turns up dead,”
Kane says.
“How?” Hirsch asks.
“It was a drug overdose, ruled accidental. The guy was an
habitual user, real piece of scum. End of story.”
“Except...”
“Except I.A. doesn’t think it’s the end of the story. They
start an investigation against Stone, but before they can put
a case together, he turns up dead, half his face shot off.
ID had to be made using forensics and departmental records.”
“So what are you telling me?” Hirsch demands.
“So what I’m telling you is Stone killed Gilbert Jax, and
made it look like an OD. Internal Affairs is closing in on
him, after the rape, his marriage is on the rocks, his whole
life is going to Hell. He’s got no reason to stick around
and risk going to jail. So, he found a way out.”
“So you think he faked his own death?”
“Makes sense,” Kane replies.
“That’s fine detective work, Will, except for a few things
that don’t make sense. Like, what is he doing back now? Why
is he in an alley, chasing a priest? And what is a hero cop
doing killing little altar boys? Even if he was alive, which
he isn’t.”
Hirsch walks off, and Kane is left to consider this.
#
Ezekiel Stone returns to the church he visited the night
before. It is nearly deserted, and he walks down the aisle
and approaches a priest near the front. “Father Horn?” he
asks.
“Yes?”
“Detective Ezekiel Stone, N.Y.P.D. I need to ask you some
questions about the priest who was working the confessional
last night.” Stone holds out his badge, and we see that the
priest is blind.
“Would you hand me your badge, please?” Father Horn asks.
Stone does, and the priest feels it before responding. “That
would have been Father Solinas. May I ask what this is
about, Detective?”
#
In Father Solinas’s room, Stone looks around. Father Horn is
having trouble believing the charges. “These accusations are
ridiculous. I can’t believe Father Solinas had anything to
do with this.”
“Edward Solinas had a whole other life you know nothing
about, Father. You spend all your time with God, Solinas
keeps different company.”
"Don't think because I'm blind, I don't know what goes on
outside these walls,” Father Horn tells him. “Six years ago,
I was walking home from the grocery store late at night when
a man dragged his wife out on the street and started beating
her head against the sidewalk -- what you police call a
domestic dispute. I tried to stop him; I didn't know he had a
gun. Luckily, he was drunk at the time and his aim was a
little off. The bullet shattered the bridge of my nose and
grazed one eye. Muzzle flash took care of the other."
While Father Horn is speaking, Stone is searching for clues.
He turns on a lamp, but Father Horn doesn’t react.
“Brightest light you’ve ever seen. Think you’re going to
heaven then you wake up someplace else.”
“How do you know that?”
“I knew someone who was shot in the face.”
“Did he survive?”
“Nope,” Stone says, going through Father Solinas’ wardrobe.
“What happened to the woman?” As the priest answers, he
comes across some old coins.
"Heard she testified on her husband's behalf. At first, I
thought it might be a blessing, not to have to look human
evil in the face again. But I was wrong. In the end it just
made it harder to believe, to keep faith in the justice of
God's universe. And it gets worse every day."
Stone seems torn about what to say next, but finally decides
to ask, "Did you ever want to make him suffer?"
"I struggled with that,” Father Horn replies. “But what good
would it have done? It wouldn't bring my sight back."
"There is justice, Father,” Stone tells him, walking by him
as he heads for the door.
Detective Kane bursts in, his gun drawn. “How you doing?”
“Sorry about the nose,” Stone says, nonchalant.
“I should go to church more often,” Kane says, pleased with
himself. “Put your hands on the dresser.” Stone looks at
him, and Kane shoves him, “Come on, over there.”
Father Horn is unable to observe this interaction, and asks,
“Detective Stone, what’s happening here? Do you know this
man?”
“He’s not a detective, Father” Kane tells him. “Not
anymore. He’s a suspect in the disappearance of those two
altar boys. Father, I want you to go to your office and call
my partner, Detective Charlie Hirsch. Eleventh Precinct.”
“You’re wrong. Whatever this man is, he’s not a criminal,”
Father Horn says.
“Father, go to your office and call the police. Now.” Kane
turns his attention back to Stone. “And you, spread ‘em.
Spread ‘em!”
Stone bows his head. “Do what he says, Father.”
Father Horn begins to exit the room, but as he approaches
Detective Kane, he shoves him, pushing him into the corner.
Stone takes advantage of the distraction, and leaves the room
the quickest way he can - by jumping through a stained glass
window. He heads to the roof.
#
On the roof, Kane appears behind Stone. “Freeze!” he yells.
Stone looks back over his shoulder at him, then continues
on. With superhuman abilities, Stone jumps to the next
building.
Kane runs after him. He looks down into the alley below - he
is far above the street. Panting after the chase, Kane
decides to imitate his suspect and leap across. Stone
watches as Kane backs up, hopping several times to psyche
himself up. With a yell, Kane charges and leaps.
Instead of easily clearing the alley like Stone, Kane almost
falls short, but manages to grab onto the fire escape. He
tries to pull himself up, but is unable. Stone approaches,
shaking his head sadly as Kane struggles. Stone leans over
and grabs Kane by the wrists, but Kane fights.
The sequence is similar to something Stone has done before,
and it triggers a flashback for him. Two months before he
died, he’d struggled with Gilbert Jax almost the same way.
Both times, the other man had had a panicked look in their
eyes. Stone recalled the way he’d held the needle, how he’d
pinned Jax to the bed just before injecting him with the
overdose.
Kane struggles, but Stone effortlessly pulls him up and over
the fire escape. When he lands, Kane staggers, trying to
catch his breath. "You saved my life," he says, stunned.
"Maybe I'm not the bad guy you think I am."
"I know who you are. You're Detective Lieutenant Ezekiel
Stone. You broke the Saint Mark's strangler case in ‘81. You
solved the Levy brother's double homicide in ‘83. You were
one of the most decorated cops in Manhattan South.” Stone
looks at him, surprised to be recognized. Kane continues,
“Then one day, your wife got raped, and you snapped. You
killed a suspect."
Stone, who had begun to walk away, stops. He turns and
marches right for Kane. Kane tries to pull his gun, but Stone
gets right in his face and answers, "He was guilty."
"Wait, so are you. Tell me what you know about this case."
“You wouldn’t believe me if I did.”
“Why not?”
“Because you seem like an intelligent man.”
“You know what?” Kane demands, “Maybe I’m not as bright at I
look. Try me.”
"The man behind this is Edward Solinas, a priest who started
seeing the four living creatures from the book of Revelations
here on earth."
"‘Four living creatures'? What is that?" Kane asks.
"Chapter four, verse six. The four holy beasts who have
something to do with the second coming of Christ, only
there's a catch: they can't play their role unless they're in
heaven. Solinas started seeing the four creatures in the
faces of children, altar boys to be exact." Stone pauses as
he turns away from Kane. "He killed sixteen kids in Italy
before he was finally forced to escape. Ended up here in the
United States, in 1896." Kane clearly does not believe this,
but Stone continues anyway, "where he killed 8 more kids.
Right here, in this city, before he was stopped. Now he's
back, for more."
"1896 - that's crazy."
Stone continues, "The only thing going for these kids is that
he sends them all back to heaven together. He won't kill one
till he has all four. Which means there’s time."
As Stone walks away, Kane says "Wait a minute."
This prompts Stone to turn and clarify what Kane had said
earlier, "Oh, yeah, there’s one more thing: I wasn't one of
the most decorated cops in Manhattan South, I was THE most
decorated."
“Stop it, you know what, I want the truth.”
“I told you the truth.”
“You stop, or I’ll blow your legs out from under you.”
Stone shrugs as he continues to walk away. Kane fires three
times, striking him in the legs, but Stone doesn't stop, just
jumps off the roof and keeps going. Kane peers over the
edge, where Stone is casually jogging away.
ACT THREE
Kane arrives at the museum, lights flashing in his squad
car. “Where’s it at?” he asks.
#
In the museum bathroom, Hirsch is there, along with a team
scouring for evidence. “Hey, sorry I’m late, I got here as
quick as I could,” Kane says.
Hirsch fills him in what has happened. “We got a third one
missing, Christopher Logan, age 11. We also got this here.”
Kane looks at the imprint in the door, and the trail of ooze
that leads to a body. “Look behind the stall,” Hirsch tells
him.
Kane opens the door, careful to use his elbow as not to leave
fingerprints. “Whoa! Looks like someone burned their hand
right through his head.”
“Looks like.”
“What about the boy?”
“Teacher says he was last seen with a priest.”
Kane looks at the ooze. “What’s all this stuff?”
“Found it all over the floor and on the body.” Hirsch tosses
Kane a sample. “Here.”
“Three out of four,” Kane says to himself.
“What?”
“What do you know about the Bible?”
“What part?” Hirsch asks.
“Revelations, chapter four-”
“Sorry, wrong bible. I’m the old testament. You go your
way, I go Yahweh.”
“I think those kids are still alive,” Kane says.
#
In his pawn shop, Irwin Dollinger is looking at the coins
that Stone brought in. He puts down the magnifying glass and
looks to Stone. “Forget about paying for the kid’s college
with these, my friend. You might get a few bucks from a
museum.”
“What are they?”
“Subway tokens, circa 1900, give or take a few years. Bit of
a collectors item, but not really valuable.” He hands the
tokens back to Stone.
“Thank you.”
#
In the eleventh precinct, Kane is on the phone. “Hey, it’s
the lab,” he tells his partner.
“So what was that stuff?” Hirsch wonders.
“Sodium chloride, it’s a H2SO4Na(Cl2)2 compound.”
“What do I look like to you, Mr. Science? What does it
mean?”
“It means that whoever was in that bathroom has a hell of a
glandular problem.” Hirsch shoots him a questioning look,
and Kane continues, “That stuff on the window sill? It’s
human sweat, but two thirds of it was made up of sulfur.”
#
“Here you go, it’s the earliest one we have,” the museum
curator tells Stone as she hands him a map.
“Great, thank you,” Stone says, as he takes another paper
from his pocket and lays the translucent sheet over the map.
It shows streets and subway lines.
The curator watches, coming around her desk to stand next to
him. “What is it you’re looking for?”
“The east fork of the original Lexington Avenue line, no
longer in use.” With a red felt pen, he makes marks on the
map.
“What are those?”
“Churches. Both within a couple blocks of the line.”
”Are you looking for a place to pray?” she wonders.
“Do you have any idea what year this part of the line was
shut down?”
“Um, it was probably during World War One, when they were
expanding into the outer boroughs.”
“What did they do with the old tunnels?”
“They’re still there. They didn’t fill them in, just sealed
them up with bricks and mortar.”
“Can I borrow this?”
She laughs. “No, that’s museum property, it’s very
valuable. I can make you a copy.”
“That’d be great. Also, I wanted to, donate these to the,
uh, to the museum.” Stone takes the old tokens from his
pocket and hands them to her.
“Um, thanks,” says the curator. She pauses, building up
courage say something else. “You know, Detective, the museum
closes at six. If you’re not doing anything, I could tell
you more about the history of New York’s underground, say,
over a drink?”
“I’m very, uh, flattered,” Stone replies slowly, “but I’m
married.”
“Well,” she says, “It’s too bad.”
As she walks away to make a copy of the map, Stone adds, “Not
to mention dead.”
#
Stone visits the house that he used to live in with Rosalyn.
It’s a nice looking two-story brick house. The front door is
unlocked, and he walks in. He looks around, his memories of
their life contrasting with the redecorated house.
In the kitchen, it is clean and white. Stone runs a hand
over the counter, summoning an image of Rosalyn cooking. He
watches as she takes a turkey from the oven, and walks past
him, smiling.
He walks to the back of the house. He remembers Rosalyn when
she put up the wallpaper in the den: now, it’s just painted
blue.
Upstairs, in their master bedroom, he hears the sound of the
shower running. Rosalyn steps out and sees him watching.
She drops her towel and smiles at him. Stone knows she is
not really there, and he picks up the towel from the floor.
Cut to Stone sitting on the front steps, thinking. Finally,
he stands, and heads back to work.
#
In the police basement, Detective Kane is reading through old
files. He finds a picture of a man in a hangman’s noose - it
is Father Solinas. “Guilty on all eight counts,” he says to
himself, reading the text of the accompanying article.
“Sentenced to death by hanging. Sentence carried out
November 21st, 1906.”
A hand falls on his shoulder, and he reacts violently.
“Geez!”
It’s Hirsch, and he’s just as surprised by Kane’s reaction.
“Will you calm down, Will?”
“Come on,” Kane protests.
“You’re going to give us both a heart attack! What are you
rifling through all this crap for? These files have been
dead since before both of us were born.”
Kane hands him a file. “I got a name, and it wasn’t in the
system. Then I remembered the computerized system only goes
back to 1945. Anything before that, you have to come down
here and get your hands dirty.”
Hirsch gives the file a cursory glance. “What do you mean,
before that?”
“Here, listen to this,” Kane says, pulling out a Bible.
“It’s Revelations, chapter four, verse six. ‘I was in the
spirit. And there before me was a throne in heaven, and in
the center, around the throne were four living creatures.’”
Kane hold the Bible out to his partner, but Hirsch doesn’t
move. “Yeah, I heard you.”
#
In the old subway tunnel, Solinas has the three children tied
up. He places animal heads on the children, speaking over
the sounds of the subway trains rumbling by in the
background. “And the first living creature was like a lion,”
he says, placing the mask onto Christopher Logan. He blesses
him before continuing, “The second living creature was like a
calf. The third living creature had a face like a man. And
the fourth living creature will be revealed unto me tonight.”
ACT FOUR
Stone uses the old maps to find the entrance to the subway.
Inside, he walks the tracks, looking at the graffiti and
making his way to the old subway line. He comes across more
tokens like the ones he found earlier. As he stoops to
examine them, he hears a child moaning.
His gun drawn, Stone finds a locked door leading further into
the tunnel. He searches inside, watching for any sign of
Father Solinas. As he shines the beam of his flashlight
around the room, he spots the missing children.
“It’s okay, it’s okay,” he reassures them. “I’m a
policeman. I’m not going to hurt you, all right?” He removes
the animal heads. “Are you guys all right?”
He cuts their ropes, and asks Chris, “You. The man who did
this to you, did you see where he went?”
“He went to get another kid,” Chris answers.
“All right, this is what we’re going to do,” Stone says.
“We’re going to get you out of here as fast as we can.”
#
“Look, Will, there’s got to be another explanation,” Hirsch
says, as the two ride through the rain in their squad car.
“People do not come back from the dead.”
“How do you explain the physical evidence, huh?” Kane
counters, “What about the photograph?”
“There’s nothing that says that this priest is anything but
another run-of-the-mill psycho. As for the 100-year-old
photograph, so what? I see people all the time that look
alike. My cousin looks like Lee Harvey Oswald; does that
mean he shot Kennedy? I don’t think so.”
#
Stone helps the children up onto the street. “All right,
remember, Detective Kane, you ask for Detective Kane, right?”
he tells them.
“Right.”
“Say it,” Stone says, watching them climb up the ladder.
“Detective Kane,” a child repeats.
“That’s it. Hang on now. Hang on.”
#
“What about the eight bullets I pumped into Stone’s leg, huh?
How do you explain that?”
“Kevlar leg armor,” Hirsch responds. “I saw it last month in
Soldier of Fortune Magazine. $69.99 a shin.”
“Unit Seven, respond,” the police radio crackles.
“Yeah, this is Unit Seven, go ahead,” Hirsch says.
“We just received a 911 call from Lexington and 21st. They
asked for Detective Kane by name.”
“Yeah,” Hirsch confirms. He rolls down his window and puts a
flashing red light on top of the car, and speeds up as the
siren wails.
#
In the subway, Stone is waiting in ambush.
#
Unit Seven arrives on the scene. Kane spots the children
first. “Look, look, right there, there they are. It’s
them.”
“My God,” Hirsch says, unbelieving.
“It’s okay,” Kane says, leaping from the car and striding
toward the children. They step back in fear, but he
continues, “No - no, it’s okay, we’re police officers. You
guys okay?” Hirsch takes off his jacket, and Kane follows
suit. “You guys cold? Come here.”
The two men wrap up the children with their coats. “Put this
on. Where’d you kids come from?” Hirsch asks.
“Down there,” Chris says, pointing at the grate leading into
the subway.
“Okay, don’t move. I’m going to go,” Hirsch says.
“I’m going with you,” Kane announces.
“No you’re not. You call E.M.S., and you call for backup,”
Hirsch tells him. “You stay here with these kids until
somebody comes. Keep them safe.”
Kane nods, addressing the kids briefly Hirsch walks away.
“Hey, you guys, don’t move, all right? I’ll be right back,
I’m going to the car. Don’t move.” Hirsch disappears into
the ground, and Kane comes back from the car carrying a
folder. He opens it up, and shows them the 1906 picture of
Father Solinas. “Is this him?”
“Yeah, it’s him,” the children say.
Chris has something else to say. “There was another man. A
policeman.”
“Policeman?”
“The one who saved us. The one who said to call you.”
Kane considers this.
#
Beneath the streets of New York, Detective Hirsch finds the
same hole in the brick wall that Stone used to cross into the
abandoned tunnel. He uses his lighter to see, but as he
crosses through the wall, a breeze blows it out. He flicks
it once, twice, three times to light it again. Hirsch turns
and finds Father Solinas standing there. Before he can
react, Solinas plunges a cross into his chest. Hirsch drops
his lighter, then collapses from the fatal blow.
#
Stone is still waiting in ambush for Father Solinas. He
hears a noise, and trains his gun. Someone steps out into
his view, and Stone sees it is the fourth child, hands tied
and his mouth gagged. From behind Stone, Solinas appears and
clubs him with a meter long lead pipe.
“I know who you are,” Solinas says as Stone falls to the
floor. “You are a soldier of Satan, one of those who
conspired to cast me down into the pit.” Each sentence is
punctuated by another blow with the lead pipe. “One who
would try to prevent me from my holy task,” he shouts. “But
I am a soldier of God!” Solinas tosses the pipe away, and
kneels beside the weakened Stone. “You can never stop me! I
will find them again, and send them back to heaven.” Solinas
takes out the cross that he killed Hirsch with, and we see it
that the horizontal bar is sharpened on one end. Solinas
repeats, “I will send them all back to heaven.” He draws
back with the cross.
Kane arrives, pushing the child to safety. “Don’t move!” he
shouts, training his gun on Solinas. They lock eyes for a
moment, and then Solinas, chuckling, prepares to bring the
cross crashing down into Ezekiel Stone’s eyes.
Unable to wait any longer, Kane opens fire, striking Father
Solinas in the chest twice. There is no effect, even when
Kane fires three more times. Ignoring him, Solinas again
aims for Stone’s eyes with the cross.
Out of options, Kane runs and tackles Solinas, knocking him
off of Stone. They fight on the floor. Stone tries to let
Kane know about the weakness of damned souls, calling out
“Eyes. Eyes,” in a low, raspy voice. Kane hears, and
continues to struggle with the damned soul. When Solinas
throws him off, Kane jumps on his back. Solinas tries to get
free, and resorts to ramming Kane through a brick wall. The
two men fall back into live subway tunnel, Kane landing flat
on his back with Solinas on top of him.
The sound of a subway train is growing louder, and Kane sees
it bearing down on them. He manages to roll Solinas off of
him and jump up. Solinas staggers to his feet, but it is too
late. As the subway reaches them, Kane presses himself
against the tunnel wall. The train rams Father Solinas at
full speed.
Kane watches the subway go by. After it passes, he looks at
Solinas’s dead body on the tracks. Unfortunately, Father
Solinas is not slowed down by something as insignificant as a
train accident, and he stands up unharmed, smiling and
chuckling. “Behold, I am coming soon, my reward is with me,
and I will give unto everyone according to what he has
done.” He raises his hand, ready to burn through Kane’s
face.
Behind him, Stone appears at the hole in the wall that they
crashed through. He trains his gun, and as Solinas finishes
speaking, Stone gets his attention by speaking his name.
“Solinas.”
Father Solinas slowly turns, and Kane, seeing the gun and
realizing he is in the line of fire, ducks. As soon as Stone
has an opening, he takes it, destroying Solinas’s eyes with
two well placed shots.
Solinas screams as a maelstrom of supernatural energy sucks
his soul back into Hell. Kane and Stone watch from opposite
sides off the tunnel. When it is clear, Stone crosses over
to Kane and helps him up. “Let’s go. Come on.”
As Kane rises, Stone cramps up in pain. He pulls his left
sleeve up, and sees smoke rising from the runic tattoo there.
As the two men look on, it disappears. Kane shakes his head,
trying to comprehend.
#
Back on the street, Kane stand silently, watching as more
police cars pull up to the intersection where the children
wait. Stone comes up behind him and asks, “You okay?”
“I don’t think so. You know, everything you told me, all
this,” he laughs wryly, “it’s insane.”
“It’s not as insane as interleague play,” Stone observes.
“What?”
“Listen, I’m, um, sorry about your partner.”
“Yeah. You know, at least the kids are okay.” He pauses. “I
don't know if it matters," Kane says, "but I was going
through your file and your wife is still collecting your
death benefits. I mean, she lives in California someplace. I
don't remember the address exactly. I just..." he trails off.
"Oh, uh," Stone says, hailing a taxi. "what you said to me on
the roof of the church, about me being guilty? Maybe if, I
was in the same place, same moment, if I had it to do all
over again... I don't know."
After a pause, Kane asks, "Hey, what happens now? You just
keep tracking these guys down?"
"Beats burning in hell," Stone replies smiling, getting into
his cab.
"Hey," Kane says, waiting for Stone to look back at him,
"knowing all this...you know, how it works... it's all
right." He begins to walk away.
"Kane," Stone calls, "knowing is the easy part." Kane thinks
over what Stone says, and gives him a wave as the taxi pulls
out into the night. Out of the thousands of cabs and
millions of faces in the city, how many are occupied by
damned souls?
Only time will tell.