BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
“Dead of Winter”
ACT ONE
FADE IN:
EXT. MANHATTAN STREETS (STOCK) . ESTABLISHING
Winter has Manhattan in its grasp. Dirty snow is piled up along the sidewalks, icicles hang from the bare branches of trees, cabs send up waves of slush as they move down the streets. The imagery should be cold and stark, not festive.
CUT TO:
INT. CANDLEWORKS CHAMBER. DAY
A metal brazier heats a vat of hot wax in a cozy underground chamber. Rebecca, the candlemaker of the world below, lifts candles carefully and moves them to a wall rack to harden. The rack is full of similar candles. Father, Vincent and some tunnel children watch. Father holds a finished candle, admiring it.
FATHER
These are lovely, Rebecca. I do believe they are the finest
candles you’ve make for us.
REBECCA
You said that last year.
VINCENT
It was true last year.
FATHER
And the year before.
REBECCA
I love making the Winterfest candles. They’re special.
SAMANTHA
(eagerly)
Do we get to take them up now?
REBECCA
The first batch is ready for delivery. I don’t see why not.
The kids look to Father. When he nods, they surround Rebecca, clamoring for candles. She gives the finished candles to the children.
SAMANTHA
Bet I’ll finish first!
GEOFFREY
I bet you won’t.
SAMANTHA
Will so.
GEOFFREY
Won’t.
FATHER
This is not a race. You’ve been given
a very important responsibility…understand?
The children nod.
FATHER
Good. Well, you have your lists. Now off you go.
Geoffrey bolts for the door to get a head start. Samantha notices.
SAMANTHA
Hey! No fair!
Samantha is off as well.
FATHER
Now be careful up there!
They watch the children run off down the tunnels.
REBECCA
Wasn’t so long ago that I was delivering
candles instead of making them.
FATHER
I remember…especially the year when you fell and twisted your knee.
VINCENT
Sometimes we have to fall, Father …to learn how to get up.
REBECCA
Mouse was the worst. The first year I made the candles,
he broke half of them with that catapult of his.
FATHER
(chuckles)
Our poor helpers thought someone was flinging missiles at them.
(to Vincent)
And you and Devin had your fair share of
misadventures, as well as I recall.
VINCENT
(takes a candle)
A few…but we always made our deliveries…
and I…think I still remember how.
Vincent holds the candle and turns it tenderly between his fingers
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT. CATHY’S BALCONY - NIGHT
The same candle, now in Catherine’s hand.
The terrace windows are rimmed with frost, and there are traces of old snow along the parapets. Both are warmly dressed against the winter chill.
CATHY
Vincent, it’s beautiful.
Remember how I told you when I was little I was afraid of the dark?
Well, my mother gave me a candle to light at the bedside before
I went to sleep. It was just a tiny little thing, a birthday candle.
Somehow it made it alright. I’ve loved candles ever since.
VINCENT
This is…no ordinary candle. This is for Winterfest.
It’s a special time for us. We have other celebrations; all the holidays
and traditions we share with your world, but…Winterfest is our own.
It’s a time to remember the past…dream of the future.
Each year we deliver these candles to our helpers in the world above.
Without their light our world would be dark; our lives would be cold without
their warmth. The candles are our way of saying that they’re a part of us.
Everyone, the entire community, has agreed…this year’s
Winterfest would be incomplete unless you are there.
Catherine is deeply touched. For a moment she searches for the words to express how much she values this sign of acceptance from the world below, but no words are adequate.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. FATHER’S CHAMBER – NIGHT
Samantha and Father are playing chess. Vincent stands behind Samantha’s chair and watches as she makes a move. Father studies the board.
FATHER
Mmm… You might want to reconsider that move, Samantha. You’ve left your knight undefended.
Samantha just shakes her head.
FATHER
No?
Father shrugs, reaches out, captures the knight with a bishop and removes the piece from the board, as Geoffrey bursts in, breathless.
GEOFFREY
I’m finished!
(sees Samantha, reacts)
What are you doing here?
SAMANTHA
Playing chess.
(moves piece)
Check. And mate in one.
GEOFFREY
You can’t have made it first. I ran all the way.
As Father stares at the board in dismay, Samantha calmly exits the chamber, pausing to talk to Geoffrey.
SAMANTHA
I took the subway.
They exit the chamber.
FATHER
I’m looking forward to Winterfest.
There are a few helpers I can still beat.
VINCENT
(placing an arm around Father’s shoulders)
Don’t think of yourself as a bad player, Father…
only a very good teacher.
(leans and kisses Father’s head)
Father begins to put away the chess set.
FATHER
Is the Great Hall in order?
VINCENT
One of the tables needed some repairs.
Cullen and I carried it up to is workshop.
FATHER
Good…good.
(beat, muses)
A third of a century…. It’s hard for me to believe it, Vincent.
You were only a babe in arms that first year…
VINCENT
My oldest memory is of a Winterfest; I must have been three or four.
I remember a cold, dark room. My footsteps echoed all around me.
I was frightened. Devin held my hand…and then they lit the candles
and the darkness pushed back. When I glimpsed the tapestries
for the first time…it took my breath away.
Father continues putting the chessmen away. He absentmindedly plays with a chess piece.
FATHER
(reflective)
It was John who hung those tapestries…
VINCENT
Paracelsus?
FATHER
He was the one who found the Great Hall. For a time he talked of
making it his chamber. Even then, his dreams were…large.
VINCENT
But he was exiled before the first Winterfest.
FATHER
Yes. Afterwards we…needed a way to heal ourselves.
There was barely enough to fill one table then.
The children laid the places. The wound was so raw….
He’d been part of us for so long.
VINCENT
What happened, Father?
FATHER
A mistake was made. There was a place laid for each of us…and
an empty chair where John always used to sit. I took it away.
(beat)
Pascal’s father removed the place setting.
Not a word was spoken. We…just went on.
For a moment, Father sits, staring off down the years, to that chair that still stands empty in his memories, then he returns to the present.
FATHER
Well, that’s history now, dead and gone. So, tell me, did you talk to
Mouse about the raccoon?
Father reaches over to the box with the chess set.
VINCENT
Yes…yes. He promises…solemnly, that
Arthur will remain at home this year.
We are tight on the chess set as Father’s hand closes the hinged lid. A stylized rose, worked in bright silver, is inlaid into the top of the black lacquer box. Hold on the image and
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. TAMARA’S LAIR – NIGHT
Flickering reddish torchlight illuminates a dank chamber deep within the earth. The walls are covered with dozens of masks. Masks carved from wood or stone, cast in plaster, sewn together from leather. Life-like human faces, their mouths open as if to scream cover one table. Everywhere empty eyes gape down from the rock walls. The chamber is malign, disturbing.
ANGLE ON TAMARA
as she shapes the features of a clay bust on a table in front of her. Her long fingers are skilled, but somehow cruel; she twists the clay as if she were trying to hurt it. She’s tall. Her skin is pale from years beneath the earth. There’s something wild-eyed and fierce about her. As she works, she addresses a figure in the shadows that we do not see.
TAMARA
Bring me the face. Without the face, I cannot do it.
REVERSE ANGLE
on the figure in the shadows. He wears a black cloak, a hood, gloves. We cannot see his features, but when he replies, he speaks with Vincent’s voice.
MAN IN SHADOWS
(Vincent’s voice)
Whatever you require, Tamara. That you shall have.
RESUME ON TAMARA
She seems vastly amused.
TAMARA
You talk so sweet…. That voice will get you anything.
(beat)
Bring me the face, and I will make it yours.
The man who wears it now won’t be needing it, will he?
MAN IN SHADOWS
(Vincent’s voice)
No, I don’t imagine he will.
TAMARA
Will you kill them all?
MAN IN SHADOWS
(Vincent’s voice)
They are my friends, my family. Their world is my world.
Why should I mean them harm, Tamara?
He pauses for a beat, then answers his own question, but now he speaks in Father’s voice, and then in the voices of other members of the underground community.
MAN IN SHADOWS
(in Father’s voice)
Because they disgraced me, took away everything that mattered…
work and home and all I loved?
(in Pascal’s voice)
Because they stole my systems, my notes, the journals of
my research and explorations?
(in Mouse’s voice)
Because they chased me from their light, hounded me
even from my sad refuge in the darkness?
TAMARA
(laughs, amused)
You have the voice, but not the words.
The mouse boy doesn’t talk so good.
ANGLE ON THE CLOAKED FIGURE
As he steps forward, so the light from the chamber’s torches falls across his face, and see for the first time that it is paracelsus, the alchemist. His mask of beaten gold covers one side of his face.
PARACELSUS
(in Mouse’s voice)
Okay good. Okay fine.
Tamara looks up, clearly a little in awe of his verbal mimicry, but she is still not convinced.
TAMARA
But even with the voices…even with the face…
If they find you out, this time they will kill you.
(goes back to working the clay)
It was all so long ago. What has their world to do with you?
PARACELSUS
(in his own voice)
Their world is mine by rights. I made them. I taught them.
But…they have lessons yet to learn.
TAMARA
What kind of lessons?
PARACELSUS
Poetry lessons…
(begins to recite)
That this world, which seems / To lie before us like a land of dreams, /
So various, so beautiful, so new / Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light, /
Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain; / -And we are here as on a darkling plain / Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight, /
Where ignorant armies clash by night.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. THE WELL - NIGHT
A huge black shaft sinks deep into the bowels of the earth. The only sound is the steady drip of water somewhere far below. A solitary figure slowly climbs the steps that spiral around the interior of the well. One hand feels the wall carefully as she ascends. Narcissa carries a small, covered basket, but no light, making her way through the darkness.
She is smiling, talking to herself low under her breath, seemingly at ease even in this venomous dark.
NARCISSA
You were so good to me today. I got everything I need…beautiful stones,
beautiful crystals…everything I need.
Suddenly she hears the sound of footsteps echoing faintly down the well, and reacts with alarm. She stops where she is, craning her head up.
NARCISSA’S POV
Her vision is badly impaired by her cataracts as she stares up the well. Everything is blurred and out-of-focus; all we can see is the flickering light of the torch as someone descends the steps toward her.
Finally, dimly, Narcissa can make out the figure of a tall, cloaked man coming toward her.
Narcissa shrinks back against the wall, alarmed. You run into some strange people this far down.
NARCISSA
Who…who is there?
The cloaked figure comes to a stop several steps above Narcissa. He carries a burning torch in one hand, a white canvas sack in the other. When Paracelsus speaks, he uses Vincent’s voice.
PARACELSUS
(in Vincent’s voice)
Vincent.
The familiar voice puts Narcissa at ease. She smiles, climbs another step, her hand groping in front of her.
NARCISSA
Oh, Vincent…so far from home, child.
Paracelsus continues down the stairs.
PARACELSUS
(in Vincent’s voice)
I’m sorry to frighten you, Narcissa.
I did not think to meet anyone in such a dark place.
NARCISSA
(continues to ascend as she replies)
Oh, I know all the dark places…the black gulfs, the shadows,
the hidden doors…. The dark is my friend, child. I am not afraid.
(a beat)
Vincent?
ANGLE ON NARCISSA
Her groping hand reaches up and touches the sack Paracelsus carries. Her smile vanishes; she looks concerned, confused. Her fingers fumble against the sack, and we see that the white canvas is spotted with blood from whatever is carried within.
NARCISSA
(feeling bag…snatches back her hand in sudden fear)
Blood. What is it?
ANGLE ON PARACELSUS
as he descends a step, his look implacable. The charade is over now, and he speaks with his own voice.
PARACELSUS
Only a face…and a candle, to light my way in the dark.
Narcissa’s hand touches Paracelsus and she pulls it back as if burned.
NARCISSA
(afraid)
No…you are not Vincent. You are the evil one.
PARACELSUS
Down here there is neither good nor evil…only strong and weak.
Narcissa stumbles away from him, down the steps.
PARACELSUS
Have a care…the steps are slippery.
Let me light your way.
He pokes his torch at her, setting her ragged clothing afire. Narcissa screams, drops her basket, tries to beat at the flames with her hands, but they spread too fast. As the fire envelopes her, Paracelsus pushes her over the edge.
His face is almost expressionless as he watches her fall. The sounds of Narcissa’s screams dwindle slowly away.
PARACELSUS
There are no friends in the darkness, old woman.
In the dark, all men are enemies.
ACT TWO
CUT TO FATHER’S CHAMBER
FADE IN:
INT. FATHER’S CHAMBER - NIGHT
The council is meeting to plan the Winterfest. Present around the table are Father, Vincent, Mary, and a big bear of a man named William.
FATHER
Also…we need volunteers…to guide our helpers down…
MARY
Pascal has put the word out on the pipesl
FATHER
Excellent. Well, William, how are you doing with the food?
WILLIAM
Ought to be plenty, but it’d help if we had an exact count
of who’s coming and who’s not.
MARY
Has anyone heard from Narcissa?
WILLIAM
She doesn’t answer our calls.
Pascal thinks she must be down below the pipes again.
VINCENT
Lana left a candle in her chamber. If she returns in time,
she will find it there, but…Narcissa’s nature is a solitary one.
I was just a boy the last time she came to Winterfest.
MARY
It makes me worry. We see so little of her….
FATHER
Mary, it is her choice to live apart from us….
MARY
But think of her age! Her eyes get worse every year….
VINCENT
Oh, Narcissa can see things that are hidden from you and me.
And wherever she might wander, she always finds her way home.
FATHER
And usually with some outrageous tale of where she’s been.
CUT TO:
INT. TAMARA’S LAIR - NIGHT
Paracelsus’ hand is shown touching a mask, its features twisted grotesquely, as if in great pain. The camera draws back and Paracelsus comes into view.
PARACELSUS
Alas, dear Jacob…Father. I knew him will, Tamara.
A fellow of infinite jest…of most excellent fancy.
TAMARA
(to Paracelsus)
We can begin. Is that the box Vulcan made up for you?
What is it?
PARACELSUS
A shadow, dear Tamara…an echo of what once was…and can never be again.
It was 35 years ago that I gave Jacob his chessmen…
a token of my affection…of our friendship.
TAMARA
Friendship is a wonderful thing.
The arming device?
CLOSE ON THE BOX
Paracelsus flips open the lid. Inside this box are no chess pieces snug in their niches, but rather the makings of a crude, but very powerful, explosive device.
PARACELSUS
On the lid. Press the rose.
The next time the box is opened…checkmate.
Tamara steps up behind Paracelsus. Very carefully she reaches around and removes the beaten gold mask. Beneath, the skin is scarred and twisted.
TAMARA
Pretty.
PARACELSUS
(impatient)
Get on with it.
As she does,
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. CHAMBER OF THE WINDS
The great stone stairway in the Chamber of the Winds is crowded as we have never seen it, as a long line of people make their way downward, Vincent and Cathy and their little group of helpers are in their midst, surrounded by a mixed group of subterraneans and helpers. A few of the travelers carry lanterns and flickering torches, and there is an unlit Winterfest candle in every hand. The wind howls through the chamber, whipping at clothing and hair, but the spirits are high. There is loud talk, joking.
Vincent leads Catherine through the crowd of tunnel dwellers who have gathered together at the foot of the stairs in front of a set of towering wooden doors, twice the height of a man. A massive wooden beam holds the doors shut against the force of the wind.
Vincent looks at her and hands her his candle as he moves to the doors and lifts the heavy wooden beam, setting it aside. He pushes, and the doors creak open slowly, revealing an echoing expanse of darkness. When the doors are open, it creates a kind of wind-tunnel effect, and the velocity of the wind seems to increase sharply, as it goes howling down the tunnel. No one moves until Vincent turns back to Catherine.
ANGLE ON VINCENT AND CATHY
Cathy smiles and reacts as the wind shrieks around her.
VINCENT
Can I lead you through the dark?
CATHY
There is no darkness, Vincent…when you’re with me.
Together they walk through the doors into the room beyond, their figures vanishing into blackness. Father follows. The rest of the tunnel dwellers and guests crowd after him.
CLOSE ON FATHER
He sits at the head of a table, a Winterfest candle burning in front of him…Father’s face, lit by the flame of the single candle, as he begins to speak.
FATHER
The world above us is cold and gray, summer a distant memory.
Our world, too, has known its winters, so each year we begin
this feast in darkness, as our world began in darkness.
We pull back slowly from Father to take in the table in front of him. As one, several others touch their Winterfest candles in the flame of Father’s, until the wicks catch. Now Vincent and Mary carry on the story, their speeches continuous, familiar words of an oral tradition. Vincent lights Catherine’s candle as he speaks, Mary lights Peter’s candle as she speaks…
VINCENT
Long before the city above us raised its towers to the sky,
men sought shelter in these caverns.
MARY
In those days, these tunnels were dark places,
and those who dwelt here dwelt in fear and isolation.
VINCENT
This was a land of lost hope…of twisted dreams, a land of despair…
where the sounds of footsteps coming down a tunnel were
the sounds of terror…where men reached for knives and rocks and worse
at the sound of other men’s voices.
FATHER
But at last a few people learned to put aside their fear.
MARY
And we began to trust each other…to help each other.
VINCENT
And each of us grew stronger…those who took the help,
and those who gave it.
FATHER
We are all part of one another…one family…one community.
Sometimes we forget this, and so we meet here each year
to give thanks to those who have helped us…and to remember…
even the greatest darkness is nothing, so long as we share the light.
We track back along the length of the table, each person passing the candle light to the person beside them. On and on it goes, two long parallel streams of light, as candle is lit from candle all along the length of what we now see is a long wooden table. With each new candle, the hall grows brighter. We continue to pull back until…
The great chandeliers are lighted and hoisted up to the ceiling, a violin begins to play; Sebastien is performing tricks, couples are dancing…
INT. GREAT HALL - LATER
Now brilliantly lit by a myriad of candles, torches, lanterns, and bustling with activity. The chamber is cavernous and high-ceilinged, hewn long ago out of solid stone. The great double doors through which the tunnel dwellers entered stand at the far end of the hall. In an upper gallery the walls are covered by a series of magnificent old tapestries, their colors faded now, perhaps fraying a bit at the edges, but still obviously things of beauty and great antiquity, depicting a variety of medieval scenes (castles, dragons, hunting, etc.). We hear the sounds of laughter, and lively music…the buzz of conversation…. Some of the guests are moving about to visit with other friends, some are dancing…
CUT TO:
VINCENT AND CATHERINE
as they climb the steps to the upper gallery, Vincent is showing Catherine the tapestries.
CATHY
They’re wonderful.
Where did they come from? Who was the artist?
VINCENT
Those are mysteries we’ve never solved, Catherine.
Perhaps they’re enchanted.
(beat, fondly)
I used to imagine that they were magic windows…
that if I stared at them long enough and hard enough, they might
open up for me, and I could pass through to another world.
But when I reached out, it was only cloth.
From the look on Catherine’s face, we know she understands his yearnings.
CUT TO:
Samantha and Geoffrey playing a game of checkers. Samantha executes a triple jump, removing Geoffrey’s last pieces from the board.
GEOFFREY
This is a stupid game. I’m going to go get some cake.
Geoffrey jumps up and runs off, Samantha shrugs and returns the checkers and board to a low shelf carved from the stone wall. The shelf also holds other games, and the familiar black lacquer box.
As Samantha leaves, we hold on the shelf. A hand enters the frame, picks up Father’s chess set, lays the substitute in its place. Nothing about the hand or sleeve should tell us who it belongs to. We begin to move in on the box.
A long finger delicately touches the silver rose inlaid in the lid, then presses down on it. The inlay depresses slightly, with a small, sharp click, then pops back into place when the finger lifts off it. As the hand moves stealthily away, we hold for a long beat on the box.
ACT THREE
RESUME GREAT HALL
Sebastien is doing a balloon trick. Father and Mary come into view as they cross the hall together, talking. She’s worried, he reassuring.
MARY
I know she seldom comes to Winterfest, but it’s been so long with no word…
FATHER
Oh, I’m sure she’s fine. Narcissa is indestructible…
but if it will help you rest easier, we’ll put together
some sort of search first thing tomorrow.
They reach the corner where the games have been placed. Father looks over the shelf and picks up the chess set.
FATHER
You know, you really ought to let me teach you to play chess.
It’s a wonderful game.
CUT TO:
ANOTHER PART OF THE HALL
Sebastien is performing a balloon trick for Jamie, Lou the barber, and a few others.
JAMIE
If you really are the greatest magician in the world,
how come you do all your tricks on subways?
LOU
The little lady’s gotcha there.
SEBASTIEN
No, no, no, no, no. Those are only token appearances.
When that provokes wincing all around, Sebastien clears his throat and continues with a shrug.
SEBASTIEN
Oh, yes, yes. I love…I love the subway. And the streets….
And, what Broadway theater can compare with New York streets? Hmm?
I see it all. Yes. The men rushing to work, the children at play,
the girls in their beautiful summer dresses…. And everyone wanting a little magic.
(Smiling, he turns his wand into a handkerchief.)
And Sebastian is there.
A little behind them, Rebecca is talking with Peter. Lou joins them.
REBECCA
It must be frightening sometimes, knowing that you have
the power of life and death in your hands.
DR. ALCOTT
You get used to it. If you don’t, you’d better get out of medicine.
Otherwise the stress will eat you alive.
LOU
Gimme my racket any day. I screw up, some guy walks out
with crooked sideburns…but at least he walks out.
DR. ALCOTT
I’m sure your work has its own rewards, Lou.
LOU
It’s a thrill a minute. You want sometime,
you can watch me sweep out the hair…
Nearby Sebastien is delighting a circle of tunnel children with a floating ball trick.
SEBASTIEN
(giving the ball a name)
Here comes Charlie. Oh. There. Look. Come say hello. Steady, steady.
(Ball disappears behind the cloth, and he moves away as if following the ball)
Where is he going now?
TRACKING WITH PASCAL
As he moves across the room toward an exit. He passes SEBASTIEN, who is still performing.
Mary is standing with Father and reaches out to stop him.
MARY
Pascal, are you leaving so early?
PASCAL
(a bit sheepish)
I have to check the pipes.
Catherine and Vincent join them.
FATHER
My dear friend, what’s there to check?
Everyone is down here, including our helpers.
PASCAL
(awkward shrug)
I don’t like to be away too long. You never can tell….
VINCENT
Pascal, surely you can spare a few hours.
PASCAL
I just want to check the pipe chamber,
make sure that everything is…
CATHY
Still there?
Pascal grins and nods gratefully, then hurries away. Cathy looks amused.
VINCENT
You’re smiling.
CATHY
Our worlds are so different.
Every day I see people who work just for a paycheck,
but Pascal and his pipes…
VINCENT
The tapping is the sweetest music in the world for Pascal.
Vincent and Catherine stroll across the room pausing to watch Sebastien.
SEBASTIEN
(still working with the floating ball trick)
Where’s he going?
CUT TO:
INT. UPPER TUNNELS - LATER
Pascal is making his way along one of the upper tunnels, close to his pipe chamber. Pipes large and small run along the wall, but there is no tapping, only the background sound of the subway. Yet, suddenly Pascal stops, frowns as if puzzled. Still we hear nothing. He moves to the wall, waits, listens. Nothing. Still dissatisfied, he takes his stethoscope out of his pocket and presses it to one of the pipes. For the first time we hear a sound; very faint and far-away, a barely audible metallic scratching. Pascal concentrates harder as we
RESUME GREAT HALL
Father, the chess set tucked under his arm, is having an animated conversation with
Dr. Alcott. Mouse listens.
FATHER
Peter, those journals you gave me are quite fascinating. Some of the results they’re getting with laser surgery these days…
DR. ALCOTT
(chuckles)
Makes you wish you had a laser down here, doesn’t it?
FATHER
I’d give anything…
MOUSE
Build you one!
FATHER
Ah…no. No thank you, Mouse.
SEBASTIEN
(interrupting)
Ah, chess…the game of kings! Not to mention rooks and pawns! (laughs)
Well, set them up. Set them up. Time for your annual humiliation.
FATHER
Never again. Last year you took my king.
SEBASTIEN
Well, isn’t that the whole idea?
FATHER
The whole idea is that you capture the pieces.
You do not make them disappear.
(to Dr. Alcott)
Peter, would you care for a game?
DR. ALCOTT
(Peter Alcott smiles but seems disinclined.)
Jacob, have you ever considered talking to a psychologist
about this streak of masochism?
ANGLE ON DANCE FLOOR
The musicians are playing a lovely waltz. In the background a few dancers whirl across the floor. Catherine and Vincent are listening to the music, rapt. Father, the innocent-seeming chess set still under his arm, detaches himself from Dr. Alcott and drifts over.
FATHER
It’s going rather well, wouldn’t you say? Catherine, do you like the music?
CATHY
Mmm…. Very much. I’ve always loved the waltz….
FATHER
Well, you know in its time, the waltz was considered,
quite scandalous…wicked, even.
CATHY
(smiling)
Imagine that.
(to Vincent)
Vincent, can I ask you something very…personal?
Father turns to leave.
VINCENT
You know you can ask me anything, Catherine.
CATHY
Do you dance?
Father turns back toward them and smiles.
Vincent looks at her for a long beat, smiles, and is about to reply when suddenly Pascal come rushing back into the Great Hall and interrupts.
PASCAL
Vincent, you have to come. There’s a sound on the pipes….
(realizes he’s interrupted)
Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt.
VINCENT
What kind of a sound?
PASCAL
I don’t know. It’s so weak. Normally it would
be lost in the traffic, but with the system so quiet….
FATHER
Then how do you know it’s a message?
I mean, it could be anything…a loose fitting…steam rattle….
VINCENT
Or Narcissa. We must be sure.
(to Cathy)
I’ll return as soon as I can.
Catherine smiles and watches wistfully as Pascal and Vincent rush out together. Father turns to Catherine.
FATHER
You know the origins of the waltz are quite interesting.
It’s from the German word walzen, meaning to glide or to…to roll.
It was made popular….
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. UPPER TUNNELS - LATER
Pascal is listening through his stethoscope, moving it from place to place as he talks.
PASCAL
I was so sure…. I guess I must be hearing things.
Wait a second…there…there it is again.
Again we hear the metallic scratching sound, faint, far off. Vincent stands close to the pipe as he listens.
VINCENT
I hear it. Pascal, where does this pipe originate?
PASCAL
I’m not sure.
(Vincent surges ahead, following the pipe)
But I think we’re about to find out.
They run down the tunnel together.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. GREAT HALL
ANGLE ON FATHER
as he sits down with Sebastien to play a game of chess.
FATHER
I ought to have my head examined for letting you talk me into this.
Father unfolds the chess board and positions it between them.
SEBASTIEN
You can examine it all you like, Jacob.
It won’t help your game one little bit.
Father harrumphs and reaches out to open the black box. His attention fixed on the magician.
FATHER
I warn you, I shall watch every moment.
But just as Father’s fingers touch the latch, the dance music stops and a sudden hush falls over the Great Hall. Father turns to see what’s wrong.
ANGLE PAST FATHER
as the Winterfest guests slowly move aside. In the background we hear hushed voices and we push through the crowd to Vincent as he enters carrying Narcissa in his arms; she lies unconscious, burned, and very badly hurt. Pascal walks a few steps behind him. A shocked silence prevails as Vincent makes his way across the room.
Peter is the first to snap out of it.
DR. ALCOTT
Jacob!
FATHER
Lay her on the table. Quickly…clear a space!
Geoffrey, get my bag. Quickly now!
Mouse sweeps a tabletop clear of party debris, and Vincent gently lays down Narcissa. Father begins to examine her.
FATHER
Where did you find her?
VINCENT
Down in the shattered rooms, below the stone circle.
She must have crawled there.
FATHER
Her pulse is very weak. Oh my God, look at these burns.
We must get her up to the hospital chamber right away.
She’s very dehydrated.
Suddenly, to everyone’s shock and dismay, Narcissa begins to struggle hysterically against Father. She knocks him away, sits up.
CLOSE ON NARCISSA
As her strange half-blind eyes stare into the chamber, she shouts out a warning to no one and everyone.
NARCISSA
The evil one…is here!
ACT FOUR
FADE IN:
INT. HOSPITAL CHAMBER - LATER
Vincent and Cathy watch with concern as Father treats Narcissa, who now lies, still and unmoving, on a bed in the hospital chamber. Mary is assisting Father while Dr. Alcott, in the background, prepares a hypodermic.
FATHER
We need to get some fluid into her.
Mary, give her a rochest IV, large port.
Narcissa moans and stirs feebly.
NARCISSA
Vincent.
Vincent moves forward, takes Narcissa’s hand, clasps it.
VINCENT
I’m here, Narcissa.
She seems to draw strength from his very presence.
NARCISSA
Beware…the poison rose…
The old woman suddenly gasps. All the tension goes out of her. Her eyes close, and she settles back into sleep.
CLOSE ON DR. ALCOTT
The hypo still in his hand from the injection he just gave Narcissa.
DR. ALCOTT
There…that’s better…
Vincent angrily grabs the doctor by his wrist.
VINCENT
What have you given her?
DR. ALCOTT
(innocently)
Well, something for the pain…to help her sleep.
FATHER
Oh, Vincent, honestly, what’s got into you?
Peter, can you give me a hand?
DR. ALCOTT
Right.
Vincent releases Dr. Alcott and turns to look at Cathy. Off their worried faces we
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. GREAT HALL - LATER THAT EVENING
The mood is somber.
REBECCA
Narcissa never went above. How could this happen?
JAMIE
The evil one, she said.
ANGLE PAST MOUSE
sitting beside the table where Father abandoned his chess game. The black lacquer box is close at hand. Intercut shots of Mouse as he idly drums his fingers on the top of the box, listening to the others.
LOU
The evil one. Who’s that supposed to be?
JAMIE
We all know who she meant.
REBECCA
(frightened)
Paracelsus. She said he was here.
SEBASTIEN
But did she mean here?
(“producing coins” near Jamie’s ears)
Or here?
JAMIE
Cut it out, Sebastien!
WILLIAM
I hear what the man’s saying. Did she mean here in New York,
or here in the tunnels, or here…in this room?
REBECCA
Well she can’t have meant here at Winterfest.
Can she? Her injuries…she must have been delirious.
LOU
Yeah. Some kind of nightmare if you ask me…
like one of your fever dreams.
Vincent returns. Cathy is with him, Father and Dr. Alcott just behind. The guests regard them anxiously.
VINCENT
Perhaps she dreamt that she was burned and broken and left to die.
If so, we share the nightmare.
REBECCA
Narcissa…will she survive?
FATHER
She’s…resting fairly comfortably. Mary is sitting with her.
We’ll have to take shifts…until she’s stabilized.
VINCENT
Her spirit is strong. She will not die.
JAMIE
But what about Paracelsus? Did she say anything else?
DR. ALCOTT
Nothing intelligible. She was delirious…
something about a poisoned rose…
FATHER
(to Jamie)
Narcissa lives in a world of demons and spells
and malign forces. For her they exist, but…
SEBASTIEN
Jacob, there are more things in heaven and earth
than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
LOU
Like what…hoodoo and hocus-pocus?
VINCENT
Narcissa has abilities that none of us understand.
FATHER
If there is evil among us, where is it hiding? I see nothing but friends…
people I’ve known and trusted for years…colleagues…helpers….
SEBASTIEN
A good illusion makes you think that you can see things that aren’t really there.
Perhaps one of these…friendly faces is just a passing mirage… a chimera…
Sebastien begins to move around the room.
SEBASTIEN
He could be lurking behind this…
(touches Jamie’s face lightly)
or this…
(gestures at Lou’s face)
or even here…
(touches Cathy’s face)
lovely though it is….
(he walks back toward William)
He could be…anywhere.
As Sebastien approaches William, the big man angrily grabs his wrist and holds him.
WILLIAM
What the hell kind of game you trying to play, scaring everybody?
JAMIE
(to William)
Let him go! What are you afraid of? Maybe you’re the one.
WILLIAM
Paracelsus is supposed to be some kind of magic man, right?
Well, the only magician I see…is right here.
Willam shoves Sebastien, and he stumbles back, holding his arm.
FATHER
(shouts)
Stop it! (quiet falls)
Winterfest is a time for brotherhood…for joy…and trust.
Now, if we forget that…if we allow this day, of all days…to be
tainted with fear…then Paracelsus will truly have won!
Everyone looks abashed. Sebastien manages a smile.
SEBASTIEN
Yes. You’re quite right. William, my dear boy, I…I do apologize.
He offers his hand. William hesitates, then takes it.
WILLIAM
I’m…I ought to be the one to apologize.
(awkwardly to all)
Look…there’s some more wine, and uh…a cake or two
that’s hardly been touched. Maybe we could….
FATHER
An excellent idea.
Some of the tension seems to dissolve. The fiddlers begin to play again, another waltz. The guests begin breaking up into small clusters of conversation, etc. The mood is much more subdued than it was earlier; these people are shaken, trying to carry on gamely and reaffirm their fellowship despite everything, and it shows. But Vincent stills seems troubled.
ANGLE ON CATHY AND VINCENT
as they draw a little apart from the others and talk quietly in a corner of the Great Hall. Vincent looks out over the guests, his concern plain on his face.
CATHY
You think he’s here, don’t you?
VINCENT
My mind says it cannot be…but a small voice inside me whispers yes.
CATHY
I feel it too.
VINCENT
It makes no sense. How could he ever hope to bring off
such a masquerade? There are no strangers at Winterfest.
CATHY
(thoughtful)
Could he impersonate one of the helpers?
VINCENT
The helpers are part of us. Friends.
CATHY
Sometimes we drift away from our friends. We lose track of them
for a little while…and when we see them again,
if they seem changed, we don’t think twice about it.
Vincent weighs Catherine’s words. They make sense; it would be much easier for an enemy to pass as a helper than as one of the tunnel dwellers.
VINCENT
Most of those who were helpers thirty years ago are gone now.
Paracelsus could not know the others.
CATHY
Surely there must be a few…those who were helpers from the very beginning,
who knew Paracelsus when he was part of your world.
VINCENT
Only three…
(beat, VO)
Peter…
Intercut a brief shot of Dr. Alcott in animated conversation with Father.
VINCENT
(continuous, VO)
Lou…
The barber is joking with another guest by the wine casks.
VINCENT
(continuous, VO)
And Sebastien…
The magician is seated with several children, running through a few simple card tricks.
ANGLE ON FATHER
as Samantha and Geoffrey interrupt his conversation.
SAMANTHA
Father, can we borrow your chess set?
FATHER
Yes, of course you may. I left it over there on the table by Sebastien.
(aside to Geoffrey)
Geoffrey…watch out for her.
GEOFFREY
She’s going to spot me a rook.
Catherine approaches Dr. Alcott as the children run off.
CATHY
Peter, did you ever tell Father how we met?
DR. ALCOTT
Of course not.
(grins)
After all… I have your reputation to protect.
(to Father)
Would you believe, she was stark naked at the time.
CATHY
In a hospital delivery room.
They laugh and Peter gives Cathy a big hug.
ANGLE ON MOUSE AND SEBASTIEN
The lacquer box is visible in the background as Mouse studies three cards that Sebastien has spread in front of him.
SEBASTIEN
All you have to do, my dear Mouse, is find the red king.
MOUSE
This one.
Sebastien turns over the card Mouse is pointing to, and uncovers the ace of spades.
SEBASTIEN
Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.
As Sebastien is about to reshuffle, Vincent flips over the other two cards. They’re both aces of spades as well. Sebastien smiles and shrugs sheepishly.
SEBASTIEN
Oh!
In the background Samantha and Geoffrey grab the black box and sit down to play. Vincent sees them and reacts.
ANGLE ON THE BOX
As Samantha begins to open the lid, Vincent’s hand holds it shut.
SAMANTHA
Father said we could.
Vincent takes the box and shows it to Catherine when she appears.
CATHY
The rose.
Off their long, meaningful look, we
DISSOLVE TO:
LOU - A SHORT TIME LATER
Lou is standing with William by the wine casks as Cathy approaches with the box. Vincent is with her.
CATHY
Lou…I thought you might want to have a game of chess.
Lou looks at Cathy, at the box, smiles, shrugs.
LOU
Try Father. He’s your chess player. Me, I wouldn’t know a horse from a castle.
Now if you want to get up a game of five card stud….
CATHY
Father’s out of my league. I’ll teach you the moves.
She presses the box toward him. Lou backs away.
LOU
Nah. I’ll pass.
Catherine looks suspicious. She looks at him for a long beat, then walks several paces away. But as Lou starts to go back to his conversation, she turns.
CATHY
Lou!
She throws the black box at Lou.
CLOSE ON LOU
The terror is plain on his face as he whirls away from the box, throws up his arms to protect himself.
The box strikes him and opens, scattering chess pieces all over the floor. Pull back to reveal that Lou alone is crouched in a defensive posture, caught in the act of diving for cover. All eyes are on the barber. A hush falls over the Great Hall. Mouse comes forward to stand beside Vincent, the second black box in his hands.
MOUSE
Yours?
He flips open the lid suddenly: Lou can’t help but flinch.
MOUSE
Disarmed it.
VINCENT
We found Father’s set in the tunnel…where you hid it.
Lou rises from his crouch and William grabs him before he can run. They grapple: then a foot long, razor-sharp blade springs out of the barber’s sleeve. He stabs William in the stomach. The big man falls.
Vincent leaps over William, roaring, striking out at Lou as he backpedals. Lou falls.
CLOSE ON LOU
As Vincent throws Lou on a table and his claws tear away half the mask. Lou manages to get up, and he grabs Samantha in the process.
LOU / PARACELSUS
(Paracelsus’ voice)
One step closer and the child dies.
The hour of unmasking is at hand, it would seem.
He holds his blade at Samantha’s neck, backing away slowly. Vincent growls in angry frustration. With his free hand, Paracelsus rips off the torn mask and casts it contemptuously aside.
Father has been tending to William’s wound. He rises.
FATHER
John….
PARACELSUS
Paracelsus. John is dead…killed by you, Jacob.
Paracelsus is backing away toward the tall double doors while the tunnel dwellers move toward him. Hands grasp chairs, candelabras, anything that can pass for a weapon.
CATHY
Let the girl go!
PARACELSUS
So your dear Vincent can rend me limb from limb? I think not.
No. Regretably, it would seem I need a hostage.
FATHER
Then take me. I’m the one you want, John…not the girl.
We both know that.
The alchemist hesitates, then shoves Samantha away, grabs Father’s shoulder and holds his knife to Father’s throat. The girl runs.
CLOSE ON PARACELSUS
He stares into Father’s eyes, the blade poised at Father’s throat – an uncertainty on his face for a moment. Vincent, Catherine and the others are too far away to help; Father’s life hangs in the balance.
FATHER
What happened to you, John? You were a good man once…my friend.
PARACELSUS
(looking confident and angry again)
Spare me the homilies, Jacob. These poor deluded fools may not know
what happened, but you and I…we remember...don’t we?
CLOSE ON FATHER
as Paracelsus shoves the point of his blade right up under Father’s chin, forcing his head back.
FATHER
We remember…differently…John.
ANGLE ON SEBASTIEN
as the old street magician suddenly raises an arm and flings one of his flash paper fireballs at Paracelsus.
The alchemist staggers back, blinded for a second, and Vincent takes advantage of the distraction to pull Father safely out of harm’s way. Then he turns back to face Paracelsus, who has already run and pulled open the great wooden doors. The wind comes howling into the Great Hall with awful, almost supernatural force.
Paracelsus runs off into the Chamber of the Winds, and Vincent follows. In the Great Hall, the wind roars, the candles and torches are extinguished by the terrible force of the wind, and darkness seems to sweep into the hall like a living thing.
INT. HOSPITAL CHAMBER
Father, assisted by Dr. Alcott, has bandaged William’s stomach wound. Mary, Sebastien and Catherine are close by when Vincent returns with Mouse and Jamie.
VINCENT
There’s no sign. He melted away like a shadow.
FATHER
A shadow that will fall over our world again…
unless we find him, and stop him.
VINCENT
You took a great risk, Father. Paracelsus might have killed you…
yet he…let the moment pass.
FATHER
Believe me, I was as surprised as anyone…
Not that I’m complaining, mind you. Maybe he
feared for his own life.
(trails off, thoughtful)
VINCENT
No. I’m not sure it was just fear.
FATHER
In his eyes.… There was such anger there…and hatred….
and yet…just for an instant, mind you…I thought
I saw a hint of sadness as well.
(briskly)
Well…I probably imagined it. At any rate, Catherine is
our real hero. How could you possibly know it was Lou?
CATHY
Well…I ruled out Peter when he told that embarrassing
story of his. There was no way Paracelsus could have
known that Peter had delivered me.
VINCENT
And Sebastien had been trying to get Father all day to play chess.
CATHY
The last place Paracelsus wanted to be when that box was opened
was across the chessboard. That left Lou.
FATHER
Well, however you did it, we are deeply grateful…dear Catherine.
SEBASTIEN
And the rest is silence.
Everyone begins to stir, get to their feet, excuse themselves, start toward the door…
MARY
I need to check on Narcissa.
DR. ALCOTT
Yes. We’ll need a guide back up.
(Father helps Peter with his coat)
Thank you, Jacob.
Vincent’s voice stops the exodus.
VINCENT
Is this the way we want Winterfest to end?
Each of us slinking away to nurse our wounds, each alone?
Have we forgotten what this day means?
His words strike home. Sheepish looks are exchanged.
MOUSE
Okay, good. Okay fine.
Mouse extends a hand to Vincent, who takes it. Everyone smiles, and the mood changes.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. GREAT HALL - LATER
PAN AROUND THE CHAMBER
The tunnel dwellers and helpers are linking hands, joining together in a circle…except for Catherine, who stands at the center of the circle, smiling and looking around.
ANGLE ON FATHER
as he smiles and reaches out a hand.
FATHER
Catherine…you’re a part of us now. Come, complete the circle.
Deeply moved, Catherine takes Father’s hand, then looks over to Vincent, taking his hand and completing the circle, binding the community together again for another year.
FATHER
The darkness…almost engulfed us this year, but our unity…
gave us strength. Our shared light…showed us the truth.
As we part for another year, let us remember that darkness is only the
absence of light…and all winters end.
Everyone looks around the circle in satisfaction and finally, triumphantly, raise their joined hands upward.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. GREAT HALL - LATER
The candles are out, the torches extinguished. The Great Hall is wrapped in darkness again for another year. Vincent and Catherine stand alone in the center of the chamber. The room is lit by a single lantern. Its light casts their shadows behind them on the wall, taller than life.
CATHY
(softly)
Can you hear it, Vincent?
VINCENT
(puzzled)
Only the quiet…and the wind outside, crying to get in.
CATHY
Listen! You can hear it if you try…the music…
The silence is profound. But Vincent looks into her eyes, and listens, and smiles.
VINCENT
Yes…I hear it.
(beat)
Catherine…that question you asked me earlier…
CATHY
I remember.
Wordless, Vincent guides her out into the room. Together they move off out of frame.
LONG SHOT - GREAT HALL
We angle down from above. Catherine and Vincent, in each other’s arms, are tiny figures at the far end of the huge chamber. Behind them, etched in the lantern light, their shadows dance against the wall, vast and silent and graceful, waltzing to a private music that only they can hear.
FADE OUT:
THE END