"THE CROW: SALVATION" -- by Chip Johannessen





   


               The Crow : SALVATION

               By

               Chip Johannessen



               OVER BLACKNESS.

               Silence. Broken by the faint clink of precision tools.
               Accurately, patiently wielded.

               INT. MYSTERY ROOM - DIMNESS

               X-CLOSE. A SCALPEL returned to its place in a neat array
               of TAXIDERMY TOOLS. Long surgical TWEEZERS taken. A steady
               HAND grasps a CLAY BIRD FORM. Then sets the second eye.
               Unhurried. Meticulous.

               A MYSTERY MAN, features obscured, sets the tweezers aside,
               reaches for a black lump on the table, revealed to be shiny
               feathers as he wraps it around the form. Adjusts it so the
               glass eyes peer out through holes in the skin of this large
               CROW. A taxidermy specimen.

               WIDE, the man works across the room under the pooled light
               of a draftsman's lamp, the Crow on the table in front of
               him. His identity yet to discover.

                                                          SLOW FADE OUT.

               EXT. GARRISON PRISON - WITNESS ENTRANCE - NIGHT

               X-WIDE. "THE WALLS" like a medieval castle above a throng
               of PROTESTERS and GAWKERS. A POSTCARD at first, then signs
               of movement--handheld placards and flickering candles
               telegraph an imminent execution.

               The group shifts amoeba like as... A LARGE MERCEDES
               approaches, slowly works its way into the edge of the crowd.

               INSIDE THE BENZ NATHAN RANDALL, father of the victim
               comforts ERIN RANDALL, seventeen year old sister, as she
               looks up in terror at the bodies pressed against the car,
               the throng between the car and the prison entrance. The
               car stops.

                                     ERIN
                         Why are there so many?

                                     RANDALL
                         Just hold on to me.

               THROUGH THE WINDSHIELD--a Protestor's poster visible.
               "Remember the Victim." With a picture of LAUREN RANDALL,
               the deceased, who bears a striking resemblance to surviving
               sister Erin. And another sign--"Happy Birthday Alex."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                       2.


                                     ERIN
                         It's because they're doing this on
                         his birthday.

               She takes a deep breath, they get out of the car and...

               WITH THE RANDALLS as they make their way through the throng
               toward a special entrance marked "WITNESSES," nearly within
               reach when WHOMP.

               Erin shields her face as a BRIGHT LIGHT comes on. OVER TV
               REPORTER BARBARA GONZALEZ Action Newsteam addressing the
               Nathans. Speaking into a mic.

                                     GONZALEZ
                         Mr. Randall. Sir. Do you think
                         this execution will bring you a
                         sense of closure?

               Nathan pushes past Gonzalez, taking Erin's hand.

                                     GONZALEZ (CONT'D)
                         Erin. Your sister...

                                     RANDALL
                         Leave us alone!

               The Reporter TURNS to the camera, not missing a beat.

                                     GONZALEZ
                         A difficult time for everyone
                         involved.
                              (then)
                         Interesting fact. It will take
                         about twenty-one cents of
                         electricity to execute Alex Corvis
                         tonight on this, his twenty-first
                         birthday.

                                                                 CUT TO:

               INT. GARRISON PRISON - DEATHROW - NIGHT

               CLOSE on a BIRTHDAY CAKE, twenty one candles flickering as
               it makes its way past deathrow cells, held waiter style on
               one hand by MERCER, a MUSTACHED prison GUARD.

               INT. GARRISON PRISON - ALEX'S CELL - NIGHT

               CLANG. The barred door opens and the cake swoops in, landing
               on a small table next to a CHESS GAME in progress and an
               untouched last meal. ADJUST to find...

               ALEX CORVIS. Twenty-One today. Disarmingly appealing.
               Peaceful. Simple clothes. He looks up from the game, at...

               PETER WALSH, Alex's pro-bono attorney and only friend,
               trying not to explode at this shit-eating stunt.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                       3.


                                     WALSH
                         He didn't order that.

                                     MERCER
                         We found the man with the scar.

               Despite himself, Alex looks up. Mercer gestures at... THE
               CAKE in the middle of the candles, an arm made of frosting
               with a large ZIGZAG marking on the forearm, also frosting.

               FAVORING ALEX looking from the cake up to Mercer, who nods
               at the candles.

                                     MERCER (CONT'D)
                         Go ahead. Make a wish.

                                     WALSH
                              (intense whisper)
                         Get it out of here.

               Alex focusses on the chess board. Tries to anyway.

                                                                 CUT TO:

               EXT. GARRISON PRISON - NIGHT

               FLASH. The harsh Newsteam video light WHUMPS on,
               illuminating a WRINKLED OLD WOMAN.

                                     OLD WOMAN
                         Yes, I've come to a lot of these
                         over the years, but this one has
                         many unique aspects. Youth of the
                         condemned. That's unusual. Fifty
                         three stab wounds. Kind of a record.

                                     GONZALEZ'S VOICE
                         And Corvis still maintaining his
                         innocence.

                                     OLD WOMAN
                         Oh, they all say that.

                                                                 CUT TO:

               EXT. GARRISON PRISON - WITNESS ENTRANCE - NIGHT

               FLASH. A nervous, not to say shifty looking THOMAS "TOMMY"
               LEONARD, thirty five year old key witness in the trial,
               talks to Gonzalez under the hot video light.

                                     TOMMY
                         I don't fault him saying I lied on
                         the stand. Facing the chair, you
                         do what you gotta do. But I saw
                         those two fighting that night.

               Tommy shifts uncomfortably, silent as we HOLD a long beat.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                       4.


                                     TOMMY (CONT'D)
                         I didn't lie.

                                                                 CUT TO:

               INT. GARRISON PRISON - ALEX'S CELL - NIGHT

               CLOSE. A Chess piece, a CASTLE, shoved at CAMERA. ADJUST
               to INCLUDE ALEX.

               He breathes deliberately, trying to hold it together. His
               hand shakes as he removes it from the piece.

                                     WALSH
                         You ok?

               Alex gets up, crosses to a small ledge on the other side
               of the cell that holds a few books and pictures. He finds...

               A PICTURE OF LAUREN AND ALEX In a grove of tall trees. A
               self-portrait by autotimer. Arms around each other. Her
               head on his shoulder. Happy.

               RESUME Alex staring at the photo, taped to the wall.

                                     ALEX
                         What's been holding me together is
                         the hope that maybe you do go
                         someplace. And I'll be seeing her
                         again soon. Only what will I say?
                         That I was too stupid to find the
                         guy who killed her? That he's down
                         here laughing?

                                     WALSH
                         Tell her... we'll get him.

                                     ALEX
                         We won't.

                                     WALSH
                         Someday he'll surface and I'll get
                         him for both of you. I promise.
                         I'll find the guy with the scar.

                                                                 CUT TO:

               EXT GARRISON PRISON - WITNESS ENTRANCE - NIGHT

               FLASH. Four UNIFORMED COPS--DUTTON, ERLICH, LARKIN and
               TOOMEY--in the harsh news light.

               Erlich holds a CANE in one hand. Larkin and Toomey are
               twosie monkeys, smoking cigarettes with eerie simultaneity.

                                     ERLICH
                         This mystery man with the scar...
                              (indicates forearm)
                         ...the zigzag, whatever.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                       5.


               Erlich gives a long-suffering look. Like it's preposterous.
               But he's too gentlemanly to say it.

                                     ERLICH (CONT'D)
                         We couldn't find him. And,
                         obviously, the jury didn't buy it.

                                     GONZALEZ
                         Some people here seem to.

                                     DUTTON
                         People here are protesting the
                         execution of a kid just turning
                         twenty-one. A kid who had a tough
                         life. No parents, no dough. Always
                         had to fight for everything. It's
                         a tragedy, it really is. But I
                         don't see a single sign telling me
                         Alex Corvis is innocent.

               Look around. He's right.

                                                                 CUT TO:

               INT. GARRISON PRISON - ALEX'S CELL - NIGHT

               Alex still gazing at the picture of Lauren. At the board,
               Walsh moves a piece.

                                     MERCER
                         I was facing the hot seat, I'd
                         want my attorney banging down the
                         door of the Supreme Court, not
                         playing board games. But maybe
                         that's just me.

               They look up as Mercer appears outside the barred door to
               the cell, starts to unlock it.

                                     WALSH
                         Your move.

                                     MERCER
                         No. It's time.

               It really is. Other prison personnel arrive outside the
               cell in various uniforms:

               A MINISTER with clerical collar, the WARDEN, two GUARDS.
               Waiting. Walsh crosses, very emotional how. Gives Alex a
               huge hug.

                                     ALEX
                         I don't want you to watch. I don't
                         want to give them the pleasure.

               The two friends exchange a long last look.

                                     MERCER
                         Ok. C'mon now...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                       6.


               As Alex exits past Mercer, Walsh sits down on the cot.
               He's hard to read a second until he lashes out, flips...

               THE CAKE against the wall where it hits, slides down, still
               semi-intact as it hits the floor.

               INT. GARRISON PRISON - DEATHROW

               Dead Man Walking. A mini parade past the cells of the
               condemned. One guard flanks Alex, another follows. The
               Warden and Minister out in front.

               HANDS extend from the other cells as Alex passes. Unable
               to touch, but he reaches for them, a gesture of solidarity.
               Mercer catches up with the group, flanking Alex cell-side.
               Alex drops his hand, cut off even from that.

               INT. GARRISON PRISON - DEATHROW #2 - NIGHT

               The parade continues down another hallway.

               INT. GARRISON PRISON - DEATH CHAMBER - NIGHT

               The CHAIR, an atavism, sits alone a moment before the
               entourage enters and begins a surprisingly well
               choreographed last dance.

               The Warden gestures, and Alex is escorted to his place in
               the chair. The Guards move in, death attendants now.

                                     MINISTER
                         The Lord is my shepherd, I shall
                         not want...

               THE MINISTER CONTINUES as...

               CLOSE. Handstraps tightened. WHOP. WHOP. Alex squirms
               despite his resolve. Through an act of will, calms himself.
               Looks up at...

               THE PHONE. On the wall. A last possibility of reprise.

               CLOSE. Trouser legs slit. Footstraps tightened around bare
               ankles. Electrodes checked.

               CLOSE. Chest strap tightened. Yanked again for good measure.
               ALEX gasps. It's hard to breathe now with the strap tight
               across his chest.

               CLOSE. Copper mesh. Pieces of sponge jerry-sewn onto it,
               the irregular stitching giving it an unsettling natural
               appearance.

               ADJUST to REVEAL this is the electrode in the odd leather
               HELMET tightened now on Alex's head.

               THE EXECUTIONER. Pulls a hood over his own obscured face.
               Moves behind a half curtain at the side of the room.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                       7.


                                     MINISTER (CONT'D)
                              (concluding)
                         ... and I will dwell in the house
                         of the Lord. Forever.

               SLAP. The Minister shuts his bible. WIDER. Some weird sin.
               Alex strapped into the chair, unable to move.

               The guards exit, jobs done. The Warden nots and...

               ALEX'S POV - THROUGH PLEXI - THE OBSERVATION ROOM REVEALED
               as the CURTAINS OPEN.

               Two dozen observers crammed into a space the width of a
               singlewide trailer. Erin. Her father. The Cops. Tommy
               Leonard. Gonzalez and other media types. Prison personnel.
               Every seat occupied. Sweaty and surreal. All looking at
               him. IN THE DEATH CHAMBER The Warden steps forward.

                                     WARDEN
                         Alexander Frederick Corvis. Do you
                         have any last words?

               A thick silence. Alex looks unprepared, uneasy as he scans
               a sea of hostile faces, settling on Erin and her dad.

                                     ALEX
                         I loved Lauren. I still do. I'm
                         innocent.

               Erin shakes her head, disgusted. Looks away.

               ALEX'S POV - THE LAST SECONDS OF HIS LIFE SLOWING in his
               inner perception, movement ramping down as Alex scans the
               disbelieving faces.

               The Phone. Silent. No reprise. The Observation Room witness
               door opens. A Guard in the back row deferentially offers
               his seat to the NEW ARRIVAL, a man in dark clothes, his
               face obscured by REFLECTIONS in the plexiglass. As he
               UNBUTTONS his shirt cuff...

               The warden steps to the side of the room, nods to the
               executioner who lifts a COVER off a large switch.

               The New Arrival pulls his shirtsleeve back over his forearm,
               exposing a scar for Alex, THE SCAR, an odd zigzag pattern
               of raised welts, a pattern deliberately formed of skin.

               The Executioner throws the switch. ON ALEX SHAKING violently
               as he fights to stay alive, time extremely subjective now
               as he chokes out...

                                     ALEX (CONT'D)
                              (indistinct, filtered)
                         Murderer!

               The word bubbles up as if from underwater, audible only to
               Alex. Alex wrenches his head, a superhuman act of will
               trying to ID the Scar Man through the reflections.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                       8.


               THE HELMET starts to smoke. Then a burst of FLAME at Alex's
               head.

               A BOTCHED EXECUTION made worse by Alex's struggle to see,
               to stay alive.

               IN THE OBSERVATION ROOM The observers panic, horrified.
               Only the Scar Man calm as he covers his arm, rebuttons his
               shirt. Face always obscured.

               IN THE DEATH CHAMBER Alex in electro-spasm, smoke filling
               the room, the warden in real time now as he runs to pull
               the curtain closed.

               It JAMS partway across. ALEX expires in the char,
               grotesquely burned, EYES OPEN as the Warden finally yanks
               the curtain closed.

               IN THE OBSERVATION ROOM The Scar Man slips out, but the
               rest remain, transfixed, horrified. Erin and others in
               tears. HOLD a long beat, their GASPS faintly audible.
               Then...

                                     MERCER
                         Cruel, who's to say, but it sure
                         was unusual.

                                                                 CUT TO:

               INT. GARRISON PRISON - MORGUE HALLWAY - NIGHT

               Two guards push a gurney down a reverberant hallway far
               from the in-your-face security of deathrow.

                                     GUARD ONE
                         Look at this. Goddamn helmet melted
                         down.

                                     MERCER
                         That, my friend, is a deterrent.

               They WIPE past, Alex's charred remains visible a moment,
               parts of the helmet fused on his face and head, his body
               convulsed in a pugilistic attitude.

               INT. GARRISON PRISON - MORGUE - NIGHT

               The guards swing the gurney to a stop by a steel locker,
               one of several. Mercer opens the locker door. The
               unceremoniously slide the body into the locker and...

               BANG. The body hits the open door. Convulsed as it is, the
               body won't really fit through the door.

                                     MERCER
                         Whoops.

               CRUNCH. The sound of something breaking as the SHOVE Alex
               into the cubby hole.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                       9.


                                     GUARD ONE
                         Why do they even autopsy these
                         guys? Cause of death is pretty
                         fucking obvious.

               FROM INSIDE THE LOCKER. The door slams shut.

                                                                 CUT TO:

               INT. GARRISON PRISON - ALEX'S CELL - NIGHT

               CLOSE on the PICTURE of Alex and Lauren.

               ADJUST to include Walsh, looking at it. Pained. Still trying
               to understand. He secures it to the lid of the case already
               containing the neatly packed chess set. Closes it. Bows
               his head.

                                                                 CUT TO:

               EXT. GARRISON PRISON - NIGHT

               The protestors are gone, as is the Newsteam, but the four
               Cops are still there, Larkin and Toomey synchro-smoking.

               They look up as the Randalls emerge shaken from the Witness
               entrance.

               FAVORING NATHAN RANDALL He speaks softly to Erin, who's
               leaning against him.

                                     RANDALL
                              (to Erin)
                         I'll meet you atthe car, honey.

               She continues on and Randall crosses to the cops, who wait
               patiently to see what he'll say. Finally...

                                     DUTTON
                         We all wish this had ended better.
                         Sir.

               Randall nods. Like that's all anyone could say. As he walks
               off the Cops fall into easy chatter. CUT TO:

               INT. MYSTERY ROOM - DIMNESS

               CLOSE. A face slides into frame in PROFILE, too tight to
               be recognizable.

               Just an eye, peering...

               EYE'S POV - THROUGH A MAGNIFYING GLASS A coarse ZIGZAG
               stitch shaped like the Scar runs the length of the Crow's
               underbelly. The end stitch now tied with a tiny knot.

               Tightened just so. THE MYSTERY MAN features obscured still,
               grabs a bent surgical SCISSORS, snips the excess thread.
               Smoothes black feathers into place, hiding the stitching
               on...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      10.


               THE CROW Finished. The Man gets up, leaves.

               CAMERA PUSHING on the Bird's head as we HEAR a door shut,
               still PUSHING on the glass eye that BLINKS now.

                                                                 CUT TO:

               INT. GARRISON PRISON - MORGUE - NIGHT

               INSIDE THE LOCKER. A human EYE BLINKS. Barely visible in
               the darkness. Alex KICKS with a YELL and...

               IN THE MORGUE.  The locker door flies open and Alex spills
               onto the floor. Gropes a few seconds on hands and knees
               before a SHADOW passes over him evoking a primitive
               response. He cowers, looks up at...

               A LARGE CROW flutters through the bars of a high window,
               lands near him on the floor. It looks at him, then flaps
               its way up to the autopsy countertop, cocks its head. Follow
               me.

               ALEX strains to pull himself up on the gurney that brought
               him here.

               HIS POV as he slowly rises above the gurney--the Crow in
               front of a mirror over the splash sink. It flies off,
               revealing Alex's reflection. Charred. Hideous.

               ALEX drops back to the floor with a SCREAM. Turns, sees
               himself in a stainless door and SMASHES it with his fist...

               THE BASHED STAINLESS DOOR the word "MORGUE," painted on
               the wall behind Alex, brought into focus at the center of
               the concavity. ALEX thrashes, trying to avoid his
               reflection, but the dim mirrors have him surrounded.

               THE CROW flaps down, crazed too, as if in empathy. CAWING
               loudly, finally getting Alex's attention. ALEX settles,
               hazards another look at his reflection in stainless steel.

               His body looks less misshapen now. He looks at his arms,
               hands, no longer burned. Pulls himself up on the gurney
               again, cautiously.

               OVER ALEX as he slowly rises above the gurney a second
               time, looks in the mirror. His body miraculously HEALED,
               covered by shredded clothing.

               His face obscured by the meltdown helmet. He slowly
               approaches the mirror on unsteady feet.

                                     ALEX
                              (to his own
                              reflection)
                         What happened?

               Alex starts to tear away the helmet and gets a first
               frightening FLASH as his fingers touch it...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      11.


               ALEX'S INTERNAL POV - FLASHBACK A blitz return to his own
               execution. The copper screen, the helmet lowered into place.
               Electro-spasm. The faintest glimpse of a jagged scar seen
               darkly.

               RESUME -ALEX clutching the helmet on his head, ripping it
               off in one painful OVERCRANKED movement and...

               OVER ALEX, IN THE MIRROR It's Alex, and yet not. His face
               marked with the Crow MASK, jagged WARPAINT where the melted
               helmet ran down his face. An indelible reminder of the
               botched execution. he stares at himself for a couple of
               deep breaths. Then WHAM! Shatters the mirror with a martial
               punch.

               THE FRACTURED MIRROR Alex's mask reflected in shards as
               his busy hands remove certain pieces of broken glass. His
               purpose unclear.

                                                                 CUT TO:

               INT. GARRISON PRISON - MORGUE HALLWAY - NIGHT

               The Crow hops out into the hallway, flies toward us, lands
               with a CAW as Alex enters the hallway, framed against hight
               walls. His tentative movements growing more assured.

                                     ALEX
                         Follow the leader.

               The Crow flies off and Alex follows, to... A DOOR marked
               "No Unauthorized Entry." As they pass through...

               INT. GARRISON PRISON - SECURITY BOOTH - NIGHT

               CLOSE on a MONITOR, a SCHEMATIC MAP of the prison. A small
               red light FLASHES. The GUARD keys a communications radio.

                                     RADIO GUARD
                         We've got unauthorized movement in
                         "B five."

               INT. GARRISON PRISON - MORGUE HALLWAY - NIGHT

               WITH the LEGS of a Guard walking quickly. REVEAL Mercer.
               His RADIO crackling.

                                     MERCER
                              (into radio)
                         Mercer. I'm on it.

               He passes through the "No Unauthorized Entry" door into...

               INT. GARRISON PRISON - "B-5" HALLWAY - NIGHT

               Empty. Bars at the far end spell seriously secure territory.
               Mercer moves cautiously up the empty hallway, stops as...
               The Crow hops out from a side hallway. Drawing him on.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      12.


                                     MERCER
                              (into radio)
                         Found our intruder. It's got a
                         beak and a death wish.

               Mercer pulls out his NIGHTSTICK, loses the bird as it hops
               back THROUGH BARS into...

               INT. GARRISON PRISON - ALEX'S CELL - NIGHT

               Alex looks around his now empty cell. On the wall is a
               rectangle, clearer than the wall around it, where the
               photograph of Alex and Lauren had been before Walsh removed
               it. Alex goes up to thewall and touches the spot.

               FLASH! ALEX'S INTERNAL POV FLASH of LAUREN, laughing as
               she beckons to someone, Alex, who joins her in frame as we
               hear the whir of the camera auto-timer. A click, as the
               picture is taken. Alex and Lauren are frozen in the pose
               of Alex's photograph.

               RESUME The picture is gone. Alex, perplexed, stands looking
               at the blank spot on the wall for a moment. He turns and
               exits the cell...

               INT. GARRISON PRISON - DEATHROW - NIGHT

               Mercer is peering through the double-barred gate at the
               end of the row as Alex emerges from his former cell.

                                     MERCER
                              (still into radio)
                         Get me some backup. We got one
                         loose on the row.
                              (through the bars
                              to Alex)
                         Now who the fuck are you?

               Alex looks up, sees Mercer and FLASH...

               ALEX'S INTERNAL POV A pop of Mercer bringing the birthday
               cake. A wash of flame, twenty one candles. A blip of Walsh.
               Of a White King.

               RESUME Alex perplexed, looking at the cake still littering
               the floor of his ex-cell, candles melted down. Mercer works
               his way through the double-barred doors onto the row.

                                     MERCER (CONT'D)
                         And what have you done to your
                         face there beauty queen?

               The INMATE occupying the cell next to Alex's peers out
               through the bars, vanishes again as Mercer WHOPS the bars
               once with his nightstick.

                                     ALEX
                         It's my birthday.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      13.


                                     MERCER
                         Yeah, well... here's a present for
                         you.

               WHOOSH. Mercer swings his NIGHTSTICK at Alex's head. Alex
               catches it, instinctively in one hand. Mercer reaches for...

               A RED PANIC BUTTON hanging off his guard belt. Mercer slams
               it. FAVORING ALEX lets go of the stick, looks at his own
               hand, surprised.

               WHAM!  Mercer broadsides Alex's head with the stick. Alex
               goes down shocked, not from pain, from the fact that someone
               would attack him.

               WHAM WHAM WHAM. Mercer brutalizes Alex, collapsed at his
               feet as... TWO GUARDS enter the far end of the Row, race
               toward Alex's cell, one holding a TASER. Its LASER SIGHT
               finds Alex, crumpled in front of Mercer.

                                     MERCER (CONT'D)
                         It's ok. Man. Had me going there.

               Looks like it's over. The guards relax. ALEX suddenly looks
               up at Mercer. Zero damage from the blows.

                                     ALEX
                         Go ahead. Make a wish.

                                     MERCER
                         Taser!

               Alex wheels around as Guard One squeezes the trigger.
               CROWVISION The Taser Darts speed toward Camera.

               RESUME Alex shunts himself to the side and the TASER DARTS
               impale themselves in Mercer's thighs. He drops fibrillating.

               A CHEER goes up from the men in their cells, who become
               progressively rowdier as the guards BOLT and Alex follows,
               strength in his stride, nightstick in hand.

               Pieces of FLAMING TOILETPAPER flung now from the cells of
               Deathrow.

               AT THE FAR ENTRANCE the two Guards scramble to get the
               door closed behind them before Alex catches up. They'd
               make it except Alex hurls...

               THE NIGHTSTICK flying end over end like a throwing knife,
               catching the trailing guard in the back of the head,
               dropping him in the door, propping it open.

               ALEX enters the cage entrance to Deathrow, sharing the
               space with the Guard still standing.

                                     ALEX
                              (pats pockets, then)
                         Keys?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      14.


               The frightened Guard opens the door into the next hallway
               and bolts. Leaving the keys. The Crow hopping, screaming...

               INT. GARRISON PRISON - SECURITY BOOTH - NIGHT

               CLOSE on a SCHEMATIC MAP of the prison. Lit up like a
               Christmas tree now with flashing red lights. The Guard
               keys a communications radio.

                                     RADIO GUARD
                         Unauthorized movement in B five, B
                         six, C three, four, five...

               Another LIGHT goes on. They're starting to make a line.
               Buzzers going off now. A general ALARM sounded.

                                     RADIO GUARD (CONT'D)
                         Escape in progress. Heading for
                         the roof.

               INT. GARRISON PRISON - STAIRWELL - NIGHT

               The Crow flaps up the stairwell. Alex on its heels, taking
               steps three at a time.

               AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRWELL The Crow waits on a LANDING
               with a door marked "Emergency Use Only." Plus a dozen lines
               of assorted instructions. Guards' feet THUNDER below,
               approaching.

                                     ALEX
                         I hear the pitter patter of little
                         feet.

               He opens the door. The ALARM is LOUD.

               EXT. GARRISON PRISON - ROOFTOP - NIGHT

               Dark a moment. Then a HUGE SPOTLIGHT hits Alex, casting
               long shadows. He looks up at a GUARD TOWER, the source of
               the light. And of a BULLHORN VOICE.

                                     BULLHORN VOICE
                         Do not proceed. Back slowly away
                         from the fence.

               As if in defiance, the Crow hops toward the fence, old
               chain link topped with razorwire along the perimeter of
               the roof.

               BULLHORN VOICE CONTINUES as Alex follows... ALEX'S POV
               through the fence, down fifty feet to the pavement.

                                     ALEX
                         Damn.

               Alex turns, sees... A HALF DOZEN GUARDS emerge from the
               stairwell to the top of the roof, level weapons at Alex.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      15.


               ON THE FENCE - ALEX climbs quickly to the top, where he
               grabs two painful handfuls of razorwire that cut deeply
               into this hand. He extricates himself, balancing atop the
               fence. And looks...

               ALEX'S HANDS The jagged bloodlines disappear, miraculously
               heal.

               FAVORING ALEX as he holds up his hands to show the guards,
               a kid-like smile on his face.

               They respond by raising their weapons and BAM BAM BAM.

               Alex hurls himself off the edge in a hail of Gunfire that
               Dopplers down to silence as he falls, falls...

               EXT. GARRISON PRISON - BASE OF THE WALLS - NIGHT

               AT THE BASE OF "THE WALLS" Alex hits, flushing PIGEONS,
               that fill frame with manic wings.

               As the SPOTLIGHT sweeps toward Alex he rolls off, over the
               sidewalk, between two parked cars.

               EXT. GARRISON PRISON - ROOFTOP - NIGHT

               ON THE ROOFTOP Mercer and the others stand there dumbstruck,
               looking down as the SPOTLIGHT finds nothing.

               A RADIO CRACKLES. Mercer keys it a beat later.

                                     RADIO GUARD VOICE
                         Physical head count shows all
                         inmates present.

               Mercer moves the radio away from his head.

                                     MERCER
                         Then who was the fucking Houdini?

               EXT. GARRISON PRISON - BASE OF THE WALLS - NIGHT

               AT THE BASE OF "THE WALLS" Illuminated by spill from the
               Spotlight, Alex crouches between two cars. He leans forward,
               checking his reflection in a CHROME HUBCAP. A huge smile
               spreads over his face.

                                     ALEX
                         Happy birthday.

               He laughs. Life--or whatever this is--is good. So far.

                                                                 CUT TO:

               EXT. CITY - AIRBORNE - NIGHT

               The CROW flies past tall buildings downtown.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      16.


               EXT. POLICE STATION - NIGHT

               The crow flies past letters P-O-L-I-C-E on the side of an
               older building taking us to...

               INT. POLICE STATION - EVIDENCE ROOM - NIGHT

               SMASH. A hand punches through a sash window, right through
               the imbedded security wires, roughly rips off the latch
               inside. Retracts, bleeding. The window opens.

               It's Alex, on the fire escape, checking out his arm as the
               BLEEDING STOPS.

               Alex follows the Crow into the dark room packed with file
               cabinets and evidence bins, wire lockers. And a desk, strewn
               with POLICE FORMS. Plus a vertical SPIKE with processed
               evidence request FORMS impaled on it.

                                     ALEX
                              (checking out desk)
                         Police? Evidence?
                              (then, to Crow)
                         Look. I like what we've got going
                         here. But I can think of lots better
                         to do with it than fighting crime.
                         Know what I mean?

               The Crow makes its way to a file cabinet, the top drawer
               marked "Cl-Cr."  Alex lingers a moment at the desk, eye on
               the spike.

               WHOP. Alex drives his hand onto the SPIKE. Looks up,
               delighted. CAW.

               The Crow gives Alex an admonishing look. Alex pulls the
               spike from his hand. Instant healing.

                                     ALEX (CONT'D)
                         Ok, ok... what?

               Alex opens the top drawer. Looking for... he's not sure
               what. Glibly goes through folders.

                                     ALEX (CONT'D)
                         Nothing under "Crow."

               He stops. Pulls out the first FILE out in a thick section
               marked "CORVIS, ALEXANDER F." Having caught a glimpse of...

               IN THE FILE - ALEX'S MUG SHOT And rap sheet. X-CLOSE. We
               see "Murder 1st degree," "Penalty Phase: Find for
               Execution."

                                     ALEX (CONT'D)
                         Execution?

               But even this has little interest for him as the finds the
               words "Lauren Randall" on the page.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      17.


                                     ALEX (CONT'D)
                              (remembering)
                         Lauren...

               ALEX rips the drawer out of the file cabinet, dumps it
               CRASHING on the ground. He drops to the floor with a growing
               sense of dread, feeling with both hands, finding...

               A SPLAY OF PHTOGRAPHS encased in plastic -- the
               prosecutions' background presentation on Alex and Lauren.
               The first photo shows LAUREN Posing jauntily, her arm around
               a Snowman. She and the Snowman wear matching Boston Red
               Sox caps.

               ALEX'S INTERNAL POV On Alex, anticipating...WHAP!  A
               snowball nails him square in the face.

               WIDE to reveal LAUREN running for cover as Young Alex scoops
               up snow for ammo. He lobs a snowball at Lauren, just as
               she slips to the ground. she doesn't get up right away.

               Alex is just a shade concernec as he runs over to her. He
               reaches the spot to find LAUREN in the snow, waving her
               arms and legs to make a snow angel. She looks up at him
               and beckons him to lie on top of her.

                                     ALEX (CONT'D)
                         What are you, an Angel?

                                     LAUREN
                         I'm your Angel. Come here.

               RESUME Alex's pained smile at the memory, until he finds:
               THE MURDER WEAPON A rough looking hunting knife bagged and
               tagged as "AC-005: Murder Weapon."

               ALEX frantic now, spreading out the file contents,
               finding...

               CRIME SCENE PHOTOS In a Grove of tall trees, Lauren
               Randall's stabbed and mutilated body, her neck slashed,
               head lolling sideways, melds with...

               EXT. THE OLD GROWTH GROVE

               ALEX'S INTERNAL POV Brief glimpses of Lauren with Alex in
               the Grove, happy, like the still photo Alex kept in his
               cell.

               INT. POLICE STATION - EVIDENCE ROOM - NIGHT

               RESUME Alex full-blown tortured now, throwing things.

                                     ALEX
                         No! I didn't...!

               Alex SMASHES his own head against the metal file cabinets,
               wounding himself on the handles, droplets of blood flying
               now, spattering the evidence on the floor.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      18.


               He reaches for the KNIFE, the murder weapon, to end the
               pain and FLASH...

               INT. COURTROOM - DAY

               ALEX'S INTERNAL POV A tunnelvision pop of Tommy Leonard on
               the witness stand. The knife held up for him by an unseen
               lawyer.

                                     TOMMY
                         His knife. Corvis.

                                     ALEX'S VOICE
                         You lie!

               INT. POLICE STATION - EVIDENCE ROOM - NIGHT

               RESUME Alex shakes his head "no." Incredulous, horrified.
               The fury abating with a growing sense of mission.

                                     ALEX
                         You lie, you lie, you lie...

               Alex fishing through the detritus around him, finding...
               "THE LIST" A list of witnesses by category with contact
               numbers, addresses. Alex's finger finds Eyewitness Thomas
               Leonard.

                                     ALEX (CONT'D)
                         Thomas Leonard.

               THE DOOR TO THE EVIDENCE ROOM opens.

               A YOUNG COP enters, walks slowly past rows of file cabinets,
               looking down empty aisles until finding the file drawerful
               Alex dumped. But Alex is gone.

               The Young Cop looks up as the Crow departs through the
               window and two other cops arrive. One of them Dutton.

                                     DUTTON
                         What the hell was that?
                              (then seeing mess)
                         Shit.

               Dutton walks to the mess on the floor, curious. He squats.
               Picks up a tag marked "Murder Weapon AC-005" staples ripped
               out, nothing attached to it. Takes in the crime scene photos
               of Lauren. Off the PIX...

               EXT. CEMETERY - NIGHT

               CAMERA DRIFTS down through dark trees FINDING Alex at a
               grave beneath a sheltering tree.

                                     ALEX
                         I thought I'd be with you now.

               He's kneeling in front of a HEADSTONE. "Lauren Randall
               1982-2000. Always With Us."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      19.


               The Crow perched nearby. Camera circles Alex who looks up
               as the headstone WIPES through frame and...

               ALEX'S INTERNAL POV LAUREN NATHAN, a compelling sixteen
               year old, circles making an oddly sexy version of the "Oooo"
               Bruce Lee sound. A goof, a game she's playing with Alex,
               who circles opposite.

                                     LAUREN
                              ("Chinese" pseudo
                              dub)
                         Your Shaolin style is no match for
                         my kung fu.

               As Alex wipes by...

               RESUME Camera continues to circle Alex at the grave.

                                     ALEX
                         I'm not dead. And I'm not alive.
                         And I'm remembering. And it hurts.

               ALEX'S INTERNAL POV More goof kung fu, the circle closing.
               Lauren laughing more, searching for words.

                                     LAUREN
                         Your... flying crane style is no
                         match for my... drunken tiger kick.

               RESUME Resolve strengthening.

                                     ALEX
                         I can't be alive. Not without you.

               ALEX'S INTERNAL POV Lauren's starting to crack up, trying
               to think of what comes next.

                                     LAUREN
                         Your... mad monkey... love ... is
                         no match for...

               They look at each other a long moment. As they kiss...

               RESUME

                                     ALEX
                         I want to be with you forever.

               ALEX'S INTERNAL POV Lauren in his arms as the kiss ends,
               and she answers a question we never heard.

                                     LAUREN
                         Only forever?

               RESUME OVER THE CROW. Camera stops circling. Alex looks up
               at the headstone, silent tears in his eyes as...

                                     ALEX
                         What happened to us?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      20.


               A SINGLE BLOOD RED TEAR rolls down the cheek of the angel
               atop the headstone. Alex stops it with his finter.

               WIDER, the supplicant at the grave. And the Crow nearby.

                                                                 CUT TO:

               INT. MERCEDES - TRAVELLING - NIGHT - RAIN

               A GIRL'S HAND clutches a HEART SHAPED LOCKET.

               TILT UP, it's Erin, wearing an identical LOCKET around her
               neck. School uniform, pleated skirt and school books. The
               splish splash of the wipers the only sound until...

                                     ERIN
                         Dad...

               Nathan looks over. Sees she's holding the Locket.

                                     ERIN (CONT'D)
                         I want to take this to Lauren.
                         She'd want it.

                                     RANDALL
                         Honey. I just can't.

                                     ERIN
                         Stay in the car. I'll only take a
                         second.

                                     RANDALL
                         Erin. I know you think she's been
                         talking to you.

                                     ERIN
                         It's not that. Really. It's just...
                         now that he's gone, I think it's
                         time.

               Off her dad...

                                                                 CUT TO:

               EXT. CEMETERY - NIGHT - RAIN

               The Benz stops on the roadway beneath Lauren's grave. The
               door opens...

               ERIN gets out in the pouring rain pulling her jacket HOOD
               up over her head. Locket in hand she runs to...

               LAUREN'S GRAVE The tree a shelter from the downpour.  Erin's
               approaching the headstone when Alex emerges from behind
               the trunk. Drenched. She YELPS.

                                     ALEX
                         It's ok. I'm not going to hurt
                         you.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      21.


                                     ERIN
                         Don't come near me!

               He holds his hands up, compliant. She doesn't bolt. But
               she's ultra-cautious. Like with a snarling dog.

                                     ALEX
                         I was a friend of your sister's.

                                     ERIN
                         I know her friends.

                                     ALEX
                         That locket you're holding. You
                         have one just like it.

               She lifts the Locket around her neck. Visible to anyone.

                                     ERIN
                         Yeah, no kidding.

                                     ALEX
                         Your father gave them to both of
                         you.

                                     ERIN
                         And he's right over there by the
                         way.
                              (then)
                         What did you do to your face?

                                     ALEX
                         Someone else did it.

                                     ERIN
                         You're a friend of the guy who
                         killed her, aren't you? You almost
                         sound like him.

                                     ALEX
                         He didn't kill her.

                                     ERIN
                         How do you know?

                                     ALEX
                         I know everything about your sister.
                         I'll prove it to you.

                                     ERIN
                              (loud now)
                         Stay away from me! Dad! Dad!

               OS, the car door opens. Then SLAMS shut. Nathan approaches.

                                     RANDALL
                         Erin!

                                     ERIN
                         Watch out!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      22.


               She whips around, points at... Alex is gone.

                                     RANDALL
                         What were you yelling about?

                                     ERIN
                         This guy said he was a friend of
                         Lauren's. He had like paint all
                         over his face.

                                     RANDALL
                         Are you ok?

                                     ERIN
                         What's that supposed to mean? He
                         was right here. He was!

               She shakes her head, confused, then, looking around spots...

               THE HEADSTONE. The track from the RED TEAR indelible even
               in the downpour.

               Off Erin, as she touches the angel's stained cheek. And
               her dad, soggy in the rain...

                                                                 CUT TO:

               EXT. TENEMENT BUILDING - RAIN - NIGHT

               A street LIGHT flickers on. Maybe because night has fallen
               or maybe its just a rainy day.

               Thomas Leonard hikes up his collar, trying to stay dry, as
               he pauses a clutch of hookers huddled in a doorway...

                                     HOOKER
                         Yo, Tommy. Red light special.
                              (hikes her skirt)
                         Even you can afford it.

               He shakes his head--don't need that grief--continues on to
               the next building and CAMERA FINDS...

               ALEX watching, holding "The List." He crosses off the name
               for Eyewitness "Thomas Leonard."

               INT. TENEMENT HALLWAY - NIGHT

               Tommy clears the stairs, heads for his door. Unlocking the
               second lock, he looks around, alert, like he heard
               something. Then opens the door.

               INT. TENEMENT - TOMMY'S APARTMENT - NIGHT

               Alex waits for Tommy, crouched by an OPEN WINDOW that looks
               out onto an alley, a four story drop.

                                     TOMMY
                              (sees Alex, then)
                         March?!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      23.


                                     ALEX
                         Sssshhh. She's resting.

                                     TOMMY
                         Where the fuck did you come from?

                                     ALEX
                         Big bang, primordial ooze, divine
                         hand of a benevolent creator?  All
                         possibilities. Although recent
                         events have given me doubts about
                         the benevolent creator.

               Tommy starts toward Alex, who pulls the KNIFE from the
               Evidence Room.

                                     ALEX (CONT'D)
                         You lied at my trial.

                                     TOMMY
                         I don't know you, man.

                                     ALEX
                         Capital case nine nine dash C one
                         one five. Alex Corvis.
                              (flashes knife)
                         Exhibit A.

               WHAM. Alex pins what looks like Tommy's arm. It's just his
               jacket, but it immobilizes Tommy.

                                     TOMMY
                         Hey. I said what I saw. Two kids
                         arguing. A guy and a girl.

                                     ALEX
                         You said you saw me with this. I
                         never held it until today.

                                     TOMMY
                         What's your damage, man? Corvis
                         hacked up that girl like a
                         motherfucker.

               Alex HEAVES Tommy crashing into the window, smashing the
               glass and cheap aluminum frame.

               Tommy hanging halfway in, halfway out. Four floors above
               the alley. Alex rips Tommy's shirt where the knife already
               cut it. JACKS the sleeve down. No scar there.

                                     ALEX
                         One chance to tell the truth, Tommy.
                         Who is the man with the scar? He
                         planted this in my car.

                                     TOMMY
                         There's no scar. Corvis made it
                         up.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      24.


                                     ALEX
                         Wrong. Answer.

                                     TOMMY
                         Who are you?

                                     TOMMY'S WIFE
                         Tommy!

               TOMMY'S WIFE enters from the bedroom, SCREAMING.

               Heavy eye makeup, looking like she just woke up. OS, a
               TODDLER CRIES as she throws herself on Alex and they spill
               back inside.

                                     TOMMY'S WIFE (CONT'D)
                         Let him go! Let him go!

                                     TOMMY
                         Honey. Take the baby. Get out of
                         here now!

               But she doesn't leave. She pleads in wrenching SOBS that
               seem to affect Alex. The Crow lands in the window.

                                     TOMMY'S WIFE
                         He's all I got. Tommy and the baby.
                         Don't take him. The baby needs a
                         father.

               Her MASCARA runs down her cheeks, a facsimile of Alex's
               mask. They share a long look, connected by pain.

               The Crow cawing a warning, hopping in the window as...

                                     ALEX
                         Your baby is crying. Go.

               Tommy nods at his wife, who heads off to the bedroom. The
               Crow gives Alex an admonishing CAW, then takes flight.

                                     ALEX (CONT'D)
                         What did they give you?

                                     TOMMY
                         They showed me pictures, what he
                         did to her. Evidence. Said all I
                         had to do was stand up there and
                         not my head "yes."

                                     ALEX
                              (repeats, insistent)
                         What did they give you?

                                     TOMMY
                         A job. Construction. Twelve an
                         hour.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      25.


               Tommy's wife returns, holding a fifteen month old BOY.
               Alex unfolds "The List," passes it to Tommy, blank side
               up.

                                     ALEX
                         Write down their names. All of
                         them.

               But Tommy takes a look at "The List" and flips it over...

               "THE LIST" Tommy points to the Police Witness list. Dutton,
               Erlich, Larkin, Toomey.

                                     TOMMY
                         You already got 'em. Right here.
                         These cops said the needed an
                         eyewitness, or Corvis would walk.

               ALEX drops his head. All clear now. He laughes gently at
               the sound of SIRENS approaching, still blocks away.

                                                                 CUT TO:

               INT. MYSTERY ROOM - DIMNESS

               CAMERA CREEPS toward the by now familiar Mystery Man, bent
               over his work at the table across the room.

               CLOSE. A lineup of short (2") rods. One selected with a
               pair of surgical forceps,

               INSERTED through a hole in human flesh, raising a
               considerable welt. Some bleeding.

               As the man reaches for a cotton ball, he notices an empty
               STAND among the taxidermy specimens. Marked "Corvus
               brachyrhynchos."

               He scans the table, searching, then throws up his hands,
               shielding his face as a Crow flies out of the darkness,
               right at him.

               The man turns toward Camera but we never see his face as
               the Crow wheels mid-air, flying past him a second time. As
               the Crow flies up and out a SMALL WINDOW, the man stands,
               hands on the desk. SLOW PUSH on the man, on...

               A ZIGZAG PATTERN of raised welts on the underside of his
               forearm, in high relief under the Draftsman's lamp.

               The "Scar." A drop of blood zigzags, running downward.
               SLOW FADE OUT. OVER BLACK, the CRACKLE of a Police Radio.
               We're...

               EXT. CITY STREET #1 - NIGHT

               HIGH ANGLE. A police CRUISER has stopped a late model
               CADILLAC SEVILLE on a deserted street.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      26.


               IN THE POLICE CAR CLOSE. COP I.D. "Dutton, Philip" with a
               picture of the same face CAMERA FINDS working a bad comb-
               over in the rearview mirror.

               IN THE SEVILLE TRACY, almost sixteen, dressed for nightlife,
               sees Dutton primping in her rearview mirror. He's getting
               out now.

                                     TRACY
                         Oh no...

               She jostles her friend JANNIE, passed out in the front
               passenger seat, trying to rouse her. No luck. DUTTON motions
               and Tracy buzzes down the window.

                                     TRACY (CONT'D)
                         Anything wrong?

                                     DUTTON
                         Let's hope not. License and
                         registration please.

               Tracy tries hard to keep her smile going as she looks
               through her purse. Not finding anything.

                                     DUTTON (CONT'D)
                         What's with your friend there?

                                     TRACY
                         She's... sick.
                              (off Dutton)
                         Actually she never had Mai Tais
                         before.

                                     DUTTON
                         But you, you've had them.

                                     TRACY
                         Not tonight. Honest.

               Tracy paws through her purse some more. Vamping.

                                     DUTTON
                         If you had a license, I bet I'd
                         have seen it by now. How old are
                         you? Fifteen?

                                     TRACY
                         Look, I'll tell you the truth.
                         Jannie drove us and was supposed
                         to drive us back, she has a license,
                         but I mean... look at her.

               Dutton leaves that dangling. Circles around to the passenger
               side...

                                     TRACY (CONT'D)
                              (whisper to Jannie)
                         Get up, get up...!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      27.


               Dutton opens Jannie's door, leans in, slides a hand between
               her slightly parted legs. Dutton smiles at Tracy.

                                     DUTTON
                         Why don't you get out.

               CROWVISION High overhead. Tracy steps out of the car. Dutton
               shuts the passenger door, points. Tracy moves behind the
               Seville.

               RESUME Dutton closes in. She's getting very nervous.

                                     TRACY
                         You want me to walk a straight
                         line?

                                     DUTTON
                         I want you... to bend over.

                                     TRACY
                         Look, can I just call a cab?

                                     DUTTON
                         What did I say?

               Tracy bends over the car trunk. Dutton eases her feet apart
               with the tip of his boot then pulls out his NIGHTSTICK,
               uses it to lift her tiny skirt slowly up over her butt. As
               he does, she stands back up, shakes her head "no."

                                     DUTTON (CONT'D)
                         Maybe I'll ask your friend.

               Tracy's frantic, about to call out as Dutton moves to the
               passenger door, opens it and...

               OVER DUTTON - ALEX sits in the passenger seat now. Jannie
               shunted inward.

                                     ALEX
                              (mimicking Dutton)
                         I want you... to bend over. Officer
                         Dutton.

               Dutton pulls his 9MM BARETTA on Alex.

                                     DUTTON
                         Where'd you come from? Out of the
                         car. Now!

               With insolent slowness, Alex finishes writing...

               "THE LIST" a red line drawn through Dutton's name.

               ALEX gets out of the car. Dutton SLAMS the door and Janie
               stirs, coming to. At least a bit.

                                     DUTTON (CONT'D)
                         Hands on the car.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      28.


                                     ALEX
                         Question. These hands?

               Alex advances on Dutton.

                                     DUTTON
                         You're dead, ditch weed.

               CLOSE. Dutton's finger squeezes the trigger.

               BAM! The shot blows Alex back at the Seville passenger
               window. Slumped face against the car.

                                     TRACY
                         Omigod, omigod...

               Jannie's head pops up inside the car. She SCREAMS at...

               JANNIE'S POV Alex right in her face, nice and dead. Dutton
               lowers his gun BG. Tracy in a panic. Suddenly, Alex opens
               his eyes, smiles.

               Face distorted against the glass. She screams again.

                                     ALEX
                         You're up.

               ALEX wheels around, wrenches Dutton's wrist, vise gripped.
               Dutton's gun falls to the ground.

                                     ALEX (CONT'D)
                         Ladies. Drive carefully.

               Tracy rushes to the driver side.

                                     ALEX (CONT'D)
                         You might want to call 911. Report
                         an officer down.

               Tracy SCREECHES off leaving Dutton in shock.

                                     DUTTON
                         That was a fucking hollow point!

                                     ALEX
                         I guess it's true. Guns don't kill
                         people...

               Alex draws the KNIFE--the murder weapon--from his costume.

                                     ALEX (CONT'D)
                         Think maybe knives do?

                                     DUTTON
                         Keep that thing away from me.

                                     ALEX
                         This is not just some "thing."
                         It's A C zero zero five.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      29.


                                     DUTTON
                         You're the skel broke into the
                         evidence room.

               FLASH. The knife moves and RIP! Alex yanks the sleeve off
               Dutton's uniform, revealing a SCARLESS FOREARM.

                                     DUTTON (CONT'D)
                         Fuck! What do you want?

                                     ALEX
                         A scar. On the arm. Of the man who
                         planted this in Alex Corvis's car.

                                     DUTTON
                         There's no scar, you freak. The
                         Corvis kid made it up.

               Alex glitches, hearing this a second time, then RAMS Dutton
               into a wall with a great CLATTER of trash cans.

               Alex all over him, holding Dutton's head firmly in his two
               hands, like he could crush it in an instant.

                                     ALEX
                         He was innocent. You framed him.
                         You. And Erlich. And Larkin. And
                         Toomey. What do you think, Officer
                         Dutton? An eye for an eye?

               Alex's thumbs inch toward Dutton's eyes, grazing Dutton's
               eyelids now and a wild thing happens.

               FLASH!  ALEX'S INTERNAL POV Dutton's Nightstick lifts
               Lauren's skirt.

               Then flashs of a bloodsoaked struggle, Lauren's death. And
               the surprise BAM! of a shot fired.

               RESUME Alex thrown by this. Relaxes his grip on Dutton.

                                     ALEX (CONT'D)
                         You were there. All four of you.

               Dutton kicks him off, smashes a garbage can over Alex's
               back then pulls a SMALL SEMI-AUTO from an ankle holster.

                                     ALEX (CONT'D)
                         You killed her. I saw it.

                                     DUTTON
                         Bitch killed herself when she shot
                         a cop in the leg. If she' just
                         acted like a girl nothing would
                         have happened.
                              (then)
                         So you're right, spooky. Happy?

               BAM! Alex barely slowed by the shot, advancing, Dutton
               starting to panic. BAM!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      30.


               Alex keeps coming, right up to the gun. Pointed right at
               his face, then...

               WHOOSH. Alex flips it around, RAMS the gun in Dutton's
               mouth. He couldn't talk if he wanted to.

                                     ALEX
                         I'm working on it.

               BAM! We HEAR the blast as we... CUT TO:

               INT. "THE HOLE" - NIGHT

               BAM BAM continues, but these are TOY GUNS, fired in synch
               with POUNDING MUSIC.

               In the hands of TWO STRIPPERS. Topless, leather G's and
               chokers, black stockings, POLICE HATS on their heads, law
               enforcement stars for earrings.

               The CAPACITY CROWD responds as they pout, wield their
               weapons.

               AT THE ENTRANCE - MADDEN a straightfaced plainclothes
               detective, more upscale than the clientele, flashes a BADGE
               at a BOUNCER who scowls, lets him pass.

               WITH MADDEN circumnavigating the mainstage, where the cop-
               strippers are waving handcuffs now. At the edge of the
               room, LAP-DANCERS pull one-on-one's for twenties. Madden
               exits...

               INT. "THE HOLE" - BACKSTAGE - NIGHT

               BACKSTAGE Madden moves past girls in various stages of
               undress. Smoking, yapping, waiting to go onstage. One looks
               up, interested, but he doesn't look back, exits into...

               INT. "THE HOLE" - INTERNET PORN FACILITY

               AN INTERNET PORN FACILITY Where "live" sex workers man
               tiny fantasy sets--a Dungeon, a Shower, a desk and
               blackboard meant to suggest a Schoolroom. Crudely built,
               but good enough for 500x800 pixel resolution. Madden stops
               a second, looking...

               OVER A MONITOR - THE DUNGEON SET UPDATES every six seconds,
               the slowly changing low-rez version of the action on the
               set--a woman tied to a chair with bright surgical tubing.

               The picture refreshes and BG, the woman sneaks an expertly
               timed sip of Diet Coke, puts the can away before the picture
               updates again.

               A COUNTER shows 132,768 hits and climbing. Madden gives a
               look, like people are really fucked up, continues past a
               curtain with a "No Admittance" sign into...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      31.


               INT. "THE HOLE" - BACK HALL - NIGHT

               A BACK HALL dark, the furthest recesses of the building.
               Madden continues cautiously toward... A DOOR

               INT. THE HOLE - BACK ROOM - NIGHT

               The door is cracked open. Madden moving very quietly now,
               scowling as he peers through the slight opening.

               Three guys and whirring machines counting stacks of money.
               Guns on the tabletops, in holsters, out of reach.

               The door flies open.

                                     MADDEN
                         Police!

               A moment of panic as the guys bent over the machines freeze.
               Raise their hands, slowly turn. Then lower their hands.

                                     ERLICH
                         You fuck. Don't do that.

               It's Erlich, Larkin and Toomey. Three cops we met at the
               execution. Erlich's cane nearby.

                                     MADDEN
                         How's the month end?

                                     ERLICH
                         Oh yes. Never been better.

                                     MADDEN
                         Where's Dutton?

                                     ERLICH
                         Probably parked near some high
                         school with a hardon. Fuck never
                         showed.

                                     MADDEN
                         Anyone at all curious why?

               Erlich, Larkin and Toomey exchange a look. Madden goes to
               one of the money counters and grabs...

               A STACK OF TWENTIES tossed violently at the ceiling.

               Larkin and Toomey scramble as the bills flutter down like
               leaves, picking them up.

                                     MADDEN (CONT'D)
                         You leave the door open with two
                         hundred strangers out there!  What's
                         it take for you guys to learn a
                         goddamn lesson?

                                     TOOMEY
                         No one saw anything, Mad.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      32.


                                     MADDEN
                         You know why Dutton's not here?
                         Rigor mortis! He's dead.

               The Three exchange looks.

                                     MADDEN (CONT'D)
                         One shot to the head, then fifty
                         three stab wounds with a six inch
                         blade. Any deja vu here? Think
                         Corvus knife, missing from the
                         evidence room.

                                     TOOMEY
                         Since when?

                                     MADDEN
                         Since last night. As usual, you're
                         right on top of things.

                                     LARKIN
                         It was supposed to end when Corvis
                         died. Remember? The kid no one
                         would miss?

                                     ERLICH
                         Don't look at me, asshole.

                                     LARKIN
                         Hey, I didn't kill anybody.

                                     ERLICH
                         Back off. I mean it.

                                     MADDEN
                         Shut up! Erlich and Larkin settle
                         down.

                                     MADDEN (CONT'D)
                         Crime scene's a goddamn clusterfuck.
                         Every reporter in town's trying to
                         get a look at Dutton's body. I
                         suggest we get a line on this before
                         someone else does.

                                     LARKIN
                         Who'd give a shit about Corvis at
                         this point? Kid didn't have a friend
                         in the world even when he was alive.

                                     ERLICH
                         I can think of one.

               Erlich and Madden share a look. On the same wavelength.
               Erlich picks up his weapon off the table.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      33.


               EXT. CITY STREET #1 - NIGHT

               A large CRIME SCENE marked off by tape, Dutton's cruiser
               where he left it. Several other cruisers nearby, lights
               flashing. An ambulance, stretcher being unloaded now.

               AN ACTION NEWSTEAM the one we've seen before, Barbara
               Gonzalez frontman, speaking into a mic, too far away for
               us to hear.

               INT. RANDALL HOUSE - ERIN'S BEDROOM - NIGHT

               CLOSE on a TV. Gonzalez audible now.

                                     GONZALEZ
                         ... rumors multiply as officials
                         refuse to confirm or deny reports
                         of multiple, multiple stab wounds...

               Gonzalez CONTINUES UNDER as...

                                     ERIN
                         Dad! Come in here!

               The SOUND of footsteps racing down the hall.

                                     RANDALL
                         What is it?

                                     ERIN
                         The cop who found the knife in
                         Corvis's car.

               Randall riveted by the TV now.

                                     GONZALEZ
                         They're moving him now, body
                         covered. It would appear that thirty
                         seven year old Phillip Dutton is
                         dead in the line of duty...

               ON THE TV the Newsteam and Gonzalez SHOVED back by COPS
               running defense for the stretcher. Gonzalez grabs for the
               sheet covering the body and...

               NEWSCAM TIGHT on Dutton, as the sheet pulls down, partially
               uncovering...

               DUTTON'S HEAD: Comb-over hanging to the side. Blood dripping
               from crude letters carved in his bald pate--the word
               "DAISY."  Quickly covered by a COP who yells at Gonzalez...

                                     COP
                         Out of here! Now!

               ... but through a digital miracle the "Daisy" frame has
               been grabbed, and appears as a still now behind Gonzalez.

               RESUME - FAVORING ERIN struck dumb by this.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      34.


                                     GONZALEZ
                         Shocking even for these mean
                         streets, the word "Daisy" apparently
                         cut into his head by the
                         perpetrator, still at large. A
                         name. Perhaps a message...

               Gonzalez FADES UNDER as Erin backs away from the TV.

                                     RANDALL
                         What? What is it?

                                     ERIN
                         Lauren called me that when we were
                         little. Daisy. No one knew but us.

                                     RANDALL
                         Honey. It's doesn't mean anything.
                         It's not a message.

                                     ERIN
                         That guy in the cemetery today
                         said he knew everything about
                         Lauren.

                                     RANDALL
                         It still doesn't mean...

                                     ERIN
                         He said he'd prove it.

               Off Randall, as he sits on the bed, thoughtful...

               EXT. CITY STREET #1 - NIGHT

               WIDE. The ambulance drives off, lights flashing, and we
               BOOM UP over the crime scene, over the Newsteam, revealing
               the top of Dutton's cruiser, marked with a BLOODRED CROW.

               Continuing upward, FINDING... The Crow, perched high on a
               building. It takes flight.

               EXT. CITY - AIRBORNE - NIGHT

               The Crow soaring through this lousy part of town.

               EXT. LOW-RENT OFFICE BUILDING - NIGHT

               The Crow swoops in, lands on the roof of a low end brick
               building, peers down over the edge.

               Camera DRIFTS DOWN the side of he building finding a light,
               someone burning the midnight oil.

               FINDING a CHESS SET mid-game near the open window as...

               INT. WALSH'S OFFICE - NIGHT

               WAM! Erlich's CANE knocks a pile of papers to the floor
               off a desk piled high with briefs.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      35.


                                     WALSH
                         I don't know about any knife. I'm
                         trying to forget that case.

                                     ERLICH
                         Well someone isn't. They killed
                         Dutton.

                                     WALSH
                         It wasn't me.

                                     ERLICH
                         No shit. You couldn't get close to
                         him. But I'm betting you know who
                         did. Who's into Corvis? Huh?

               Erlich flips through a Rolodex, knocks it to the floor,
               then picks up a PHONE LOG off the desk.

                                     ERLICH (CONT'D)
                         Not a lot of calls. Business slow?

               He tosses the phone log out the window.

               EXT. LOW-RENT OFFICE BUILDING - NIGHT

               HIGH ANGLE. Watching the phone log fluttering down.

               INCLUDE ALEX, sitting where the Crow was perched, wearing
               Dutton's badge on his evolving costume.

               Alex winces at the voices faint but audible from below.

                                     ERLICH'S VOICE
                         You're the only one gave a flying
                         fuck about him when he was alive.

                                     WALSH'S VOICE
                         Lauren Randall did.

                                     ERLICH'S VOICE
                         Hey. Bitches are crazy. Richer
                         they are, crazier they get.

               "THE LIST" The name "Erlich, Vincent" crossed off now by
               Alex.

               INT. WALSH'S OFFICE - NIGHT

               Erlich limps through frame toward Walsh, grabs him roughly
               by the collar.

                                     WALSH
                         Maybe if you hadn't fried an
                         innocent kid...

                                     ERLICH
                         Who is it?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      36.


                                     WALSH
                         How about the real killer. You
                         think of that?

               Erlich violently tosses Walsh crashing back toward the
               window, falling by the chess board.

                                     ERLICH
                         If you're covering for someone,
                         that's jail time. I got my eye on
                         you.

               Erlich exits, slamming the door behind him. Walsh starts
               to get up, stops. Looking at his own eye level...

               ALEX'S CHESS BOARD set up identically to the game in Alex's
               cell, a piece of FOLDED PAPER protruding from under the
               board. Walsh pulls it out.

               It says "Q-->B5" WALSH makes the move, Queen to Bishop
               Five. Smiles. Looks at...

               THE PAPER UNFOLDED says "Check." Walsh sets it down in the
               Chess Box next to...

               THE PICTURE OF ALEX AND LAUREN arms around each other in
               the woods, smiling.

               WALSH sensing something, a presence.

                                     WALSH
                         Alex?

               Walsh moves cautiously to the curtains, draws them back.
               Nothing. He leans out the window.

               EXT. LOW-RENT OFFICE BUILDING - NIGHT

               CROWVISION: Starting on Walsh, popping his head out the
               window two stories down, INCLUDING Erlich as he exits the
               building, gets in a SILVER PORSCHE.

               Picture bending wildly as the Porsche takes off and the
               Crow takes flight.

                                                                 CUT TO:

               EXT. CITY STREET #2 - INTERSECTION - NIGHT

               A RED TRAFFIC LIGHT. The Porsche pulling to a stop.

               IN THE PORSCHE Erlich looks down, presses a button on the
               stereo. Elvis from his baroque period "If I can Dream."
               Erlich looks up, waves his arms.

                                     ERLICH
                         No, no...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      37.


               ERLICH'S POV - THROUGH THE WINDSHIELD A BUM starts to
               "clean" the windshield with an OILY rag, leaving opaque
               smears on the once clean glass.

               THUD. A handful of gravelly MUD lands on the windshield,
               starts to get smeared around. ERLICH pounding the window
               from inside.

                                     ERLICH (CONT'D)
                         No! Shit!

               The bum is giving the driver side window the same treatment.
               Hard to see anything now. Erlich throws up his hands in
               disgust, reaches for the door handle just as...

               SMASH!  The driver side window SHATTERS as something enters
               at high speed KICKING Erlich across the car...

               Erlich's head bounces off the passenger window, leaving a
               BLOODY SMEAR. Alex in the driver seat now.

                                     ALEX
                         The Germans really know how to
                         make a car, don't they?

               LOW ANGLE ON THE PORSCHE wheels spinning as it peels out.

               INT. CORVETTE - TRAVELLING - NIGHT

               WINDSHIELD WASHERS and WIPERS clear away the grime Alex
               smeared on the windshield, revealing that we're rocketing
               through a bad part of town.

               MUSIC CONTINUES as Alex pulls the KNIFE out of his costume
               with his LEFT HAND. It looks huge in the cramped sports
               car.

                                     ALEX
                              (re: Lauren knife)
                         I heard you were looking for this.

                                     ERLICH
                         You're the guy killed Dutton.

                                     ALEX
                         I want you to think of me as the
                         guy who killed you.

               Erlich pulls a .380 SEMI-AUTO stashed between the two seats.
               Points it at Alex.

                                     ERLICH
                         Stop the car.

               Alex FLOORS it and... BAM.

               Erlich blows a hole through Alex's LEFT ARM, a yawning
               aperture through which Erlich watches the passing scenery
               a few improbably seconds.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      38.


                                     ALEX
                         Ow.

               The WOUND closes. Knife still in Alex's hand.

                                     ERLICH
                         Fuck. Me.

                                     ALEX
                         What happened to your leg there
                         Officer? Hunting accident?

               WHOP. In one swift move Alex impales the knife THROUGH
               ERLICH'S WRIST, into his thigh. Erlich SCREAMS, tries to
               remove the knife, but Alex keeps a firm grip on the handle.

                                     ALEX (CONT'D)
                         Lauren Randall shot you trying to
                         get free. The fifty three stab
                         wounds she died of came from you.
                         Am I right? Ballpark?

               Erlich tries to stay steely, yells louder as...

               EXT. CITY STREET #2 - NIGHT

               The Corvette bumps over a sidewalk, runs a red light.

               A POLICE CRUISER going the other way pulls a stunt U, flips
               on its lights. In hot pursuit.

               INT. CORVETTE - TRAVELLING - NIGHT

               Bumpier now as Alex's driving gets more and more erratic.

                                     ALEX
                         In Saudi Arabia they cut off the
                         hands of petty thieves. What price
                         for a life? Two lives?

               FLASH. Alex yanks the Knife out and FLASH, slices through
               the left arm of Erlich's jacket, sawing into the FLESH.
               Erlich's arm bleeding.

                                     ERLICH
                         Not my arm! What you fucking want?

                                     ALEX
                         I want Lauren. I want my life back.
                         I want... to know why.

                                     ERLICH
                         Why? Why's anything happen? It's
                         all money, man. Money. The girl
                         just got in the way.

               Alex grimaces, then RIP, he yanks the sleeves off Erlich's
               arm. Erlich looks down, surprised to see his arm intact.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      39.


                                     ALEX
                         The scar. Which of you has it?

                                     ERLICH
                         Nobody.

               Alex poises the knife for another descent.

                                     ERLICH (CONT'D)
                         I swear. It's a bullshit fucking
                         story the loser boyfriend made up.

               This gives Alex pause. He shakes his head, clearing the
               reality glitch, looks up...

               IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR Cop cars, lights flashing.

               EXT. CITY STREET #4 - NIGHT

               The Corvette slides around a corner, screams into a final
               straightaway that dead ends into the sloping concrete side
               of an overpass.

               The cops not far behind. The Porsche bottoming out on a
               bump now ant...

               INT. CORVETTE - TRAVELLING - NIGHT

               Alex's sun visor falls partway down from the jolt. He
               reaches to push it back into position and notices...

               ON THE BACK OF THE VISOR The CAR REGISTRATION. Alex takes
               it out of the holder. RESUME Alex suddenly calm. He reaches
               down for...

               THE CIGARETTE LIGHTER pushed in. The volume on the Elvis
               song pumped up. ALEX relaxes back in his seat as they scream
               toward the abutment.

                                     ERLICH
                         Are you out of your fucking mind?
                         We're going to die.

                                     ALEX
                         How can you die if you're already
                         dead?

                                     ERLICH
                         You're him. Corvis.

                                     ALEX
                         I was talking about you.

               Alex smiles as the CIGARETTE LIGHTER pops out. He grabs it
               and the GLOW vanishes as he closes his fist around it.

               Erlich turns front in horror. The microsecond of terror
               realized as Elvis climaxes, the retaining wall zoomes in...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      40.


                                     ELVIS
                         My dream... comes true... right
                         now!

               EXT. OVERPASS / ABUTMENT - NIGHT

               WHAM! The Corvette hits at a million mph. Crumpling,
               disintegrating, and hurling two bodies bouncing off the
               abutment.

               THE CAVALRY - CRUISERS AND PLAINWRAPS Too late. A half
               dozen cars bearing down all lights and sirens. Screeching
               to a halt by what used to be a silver Porsche.  The ruptured
               gas tank spurting GASOLINE.

               A CRUISER screeches to a halt. Both doors fly open. Toomey
               and Larkin step out. Toomey on his radio as Larkin looks
               up the embankment, catches a glimpse of...

               ALEX battered but alive, jerkily unclenches his fist, still
               holding the Lighter, glow fading.  He tosses...

               THE CIGARETTE LIGHTER arcs down onto the ex-Corvette. WIDER -
               BOOM!  Cops shield themselves as the Crash scene explodes
               in a huge FIREBALL that engulfs a cruiser stopped too close
               by.

               IN THE TOO-CLOSE COP CAR the DRIVER rams the car into
               REVERSE. Tires squeal as the fireball hits and...

               THE TOO-CLOSE CRUISER Engine compartment ignites, a second
               fireball racing backward into another Cruiser. BOOM!

               Total chaos now. LARKIN focussed on Alex, seen vaguely
               through the flames. Moving toward him.

               WITH LARKIN as he arrives at the top of the enbankment,
               draws his weapon. Hyperalert. Alex is gone, but he finds...

               ERLICH'S BODY two hundred broken boned bagged by bruises.
               Larkin pulls something out of Erlich's shattered fist.
               It's...

               "THE LIST" Dutton and Erlich crossed off. Larkin and Toomey
               yet to go, but the first letters of their names are all
               contained in a VERTICAL OVAL, "DELT" circled in red.

               LARKIN, AS TOOMEY JOINS HIM They give each other an oh-
               shit look. Then Larkin checkes his fingertips, smeared red
               from...

               "THE LIST" - FLIP SIDE the CROW CIPHER, rendered thick in
               coagulating blood. Illuminated by the flickering light of
               the fire below.

                                                                 CUT TO:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      41.


               INT. RANDALL HOUSE - ERIN'S BEDROOM - NIGHT

               CLOSE. A heart shaped Locket swung gently back and forth,
               then closed in Erin's hand as CAW!

               Erin turns, sees the Crow perched on the window ledge. As
               she moves to the open window, the Crow flies off.

               ERIN'S POV - OUT THE WINDOW - THE CRASH SCENE far away,
               the flashing lights and sirens of fire trucks arriving to
               bring the fire under control.

               ERIN looks, wondering, then spots something closer to hom.
               She moves off, WIPING through frame REVEALING...

               ON THE FRONT LAWY Alex. He looks down now, at the front
               door where...

               EXT. RANDALL HOUSE - FRONT YARD - NIGHT

               Erin exits the front door and we see her framed against
               the huge house, a rich-man's castle built in the twenties
               of quarried stone, quarter sawn oak and leaded glass.

               Erin, like her sister, a child of privilege. She approaches
               Alex.

                                     ERIN
                         Daisy. How did you know?

                                     ALEX
                         I told you, I knew your sister.

                                     ERIN
                         You killed that cop Dutton.

                                     ALEX
                         And another one. There. Erlich.
                         Took a wrong turn.

               Alex points at the distant crash site, the vague flashing
               lights.

                                     ERIN
                         I know who you are.
                              (no response)
                         That's why you paint your face. To
                         hide.

                                     ALEX
                         I'm not hiding. I'm right here.

                                     ERIN
                         You killed Lauren! You killed her!

               Erin shakes her head, trying to absorb what's going on,
               then RUSHES ALEX, screaming, beating on him, fists of fury.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      42.


                                     ALEX
                         Not me. Dirty cops killed her.
                         Dutton, Erlich...

               Alex tries to handle her flailing arms but she's too manic.
               He's getting hit in the face, the chest, and it's hurting.
               He grabs her roughly, gets her to stop.

                                     ALEX (CONT'D)
                         I've been shot, and stabbed and
                         thrown from a car and none of it
                         hurt. But what you're doing now,
                         does. I don't know why.

                                     ERIN
                         My dad was right! He said you'd
                         ruin her life.

                                     ALEX
                         No. Listen to me. Lauren found out
                         something they didn't want her to
                         know.
                              (then)
                         This.

               He holds up a Card, the Registration from the Corvette.

                                     ALEX (CONT'D)
                         From the bonfire over there. Look
                         at it.

                                     ERIN
                         No! Why are you haunting me?

                                     ALEX
                         Because you need to understand.
                         And you need... to be careful.

               He tries to give it to her one more time, then flips the
               card through the air. She turns, watching its flight all
               the way to the landing by the front door...

                                     ALEX (CONT'D)
                         I'm sorry. Your father wasn't right.

               She turns back and...

               He's gone. Erin walks to the door. Despite herself reaches
               for the Card on the landing. It's...

               THE CORVETTE REGISTRATION which we see clearly for the
               first time. Owned by a company called DELT. The address is
               4201 Forestview Drive.

               ERIN spins around horrified, holds up the Registration.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      43.


               THE ADDRESS ON THE REGISTRATION - 4201 FORESTVIEW matches
               the numbers two feet away from her--the address plaque on
               her own house.

                                                                 CUT TO:

               INT. POLICE STATION - ROLL CALL BULLPEN - DAY

               The buzz of nervous COP WALLA settles out as a stocky
               SERGEANT #2, clueless but honest, raises his voice, trying
               to command attention.

                                     SERGEANT#2
                         Listen up! Yo! We got a cop killer
                         out there.

               Walla responds "no shit"--and CAMERA BOOMS UP, moving to
               the back of the room over a nervous sea of blue uniforms.

                                     SERGEANT#2 (CONT'D)
                         Til we get an I.D. treat everyone
                         like a suspect. Patrol assignments
                         are posted by the door. Read them.
                         No singles, it's the buddy system
                         til we catch this asshole.

               Sergeant #2 CONTINUES UNDER as CAMERA FINDS...

               FAVORING LARKIN, TOOMEY AND MADDEN huddling together at
               the back. Urgent whispers. Larkin and Toomey try to contain
               their panic.

                                     LARKIN
                         He knows. I saw him. Fucking zombie
                         mask.

                                     MADDEN
                         Calm down.

                                     LARKIN
                         You calm down.

               Larkin takes out "The List" from the crash site.

                                     LARKIN (CONT'D)
                         Whose name's fucking next? Not
                         yours.

                                     TOOMEY
                         You didn't testify. You're not on
                         the list.

                                     MADDEN
                              (flips it over)
                         Scary guy. Not only survives that
                         crash, but takes time out for art.

               He pockets "The List." Then looks up as...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      44.


                                     SERGEANT#2
                         Madden! Hey!

               The entire room looking back at the three renegades.

                                     SERGEANT#2 (CONT'D)
                         The old man's requested the pleasure
                         of your company.

               Madden shakes his head like this is bad news, rises and
               leaves.

                                                                 CUT TO:

               INT. POLICE STATION - HALLWAY - DAY

               A SECRETARY mans a LOW COUNTER guarding a large door at
               the end of the huge empty hall. She's got a heavy mascara
               trailer park vibe, looks up from her eyelash curler at the
               sound of approaching FOOTSTEPS.

               HER POV - THROUGH THE EYELASH CURLER Madden approaches.
               Stops. THE SECRETARY smiles, hits a BUTTON under the
               counter. The door to the Captain's office swings open.

                                     SECRETARY
                         Glad I'm not you.

                                     MADDEN
                         Right back at ya.

               She checks out Madden as he moves past her, then puts the
               eyelash curler away in a NAILIT containing a couple of
               razor sharp SCALPELS.

               INT. POLICE STATION - CAPTAIN'S OFFICE - DAY

               No sunlight in this cavernous, wood-panelled office. The
               Captain obscure in skifts of shadow at the edge of the
               room.

                                     CAPTAIN
                         Sit down.

               Madden sits.

                                     CAPTAIN (CONT'D)
                         I thought we had an understanding.
                         I thought we understood that
                         discretion is paramount.

                                     MADDEN
                         Yeah, we do.

                                     CAPTAIN
                         Shut up.

               Madden does. The Captain begins and intense slow burn.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      45.


                                     CAPTAIN (CONT'D)
                         Erlich gimping around in his goddamn
                         hot rod is not discreet. I've got
                         reporters asking me how much he
                         made. I've got the entire force
                         looking at this case now.

                                     MADDEN
                         I know.

                                     CAPTAIN
                         You know.

                                     MADDEN
                         I know the guy leaves a sign.

               Madden produces "The List," flips it over to show the Crow
               doodle in blood.

                                     CAPTAIN
                         No shit he leaves a sign. He's a
                         goddamn Picasso.

               The Captain slaps down a crime scene photo--the Crow
               emblazoned huge on the top of Dutton's cruiser.

                                     CAPTAIN (CONT'D)
                         What else do you know? Do you know
                         this?

               The Captain SLAMS a file down in front of Madden, who lets
               things cool out a moment before looking at it.

                                     MADDEN
                              (reads cover)
                         Tommy Leonard. The eyewitness in
                         the Corvis case.

                                     CAPTAIN
                         Some hooker phoned it in. There
                         was a riot at his apartment
                         yesterday.

                                     MADDEN
                         Guy dressed for Halloween?

                                     CAPTAIN
                         Good for you. You do know something.

               They look up as the Secretary enters, holding the door
               open, like it's time to leave. Madden starts to speak and...

                                     CAPTAIN (CONT'D)
                         Don't say. Just do. Before it all
                         comes tumbling down.

               The Secretary gives Madden a look as he exits, then joins
               the captain who's standing...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      46.


               BY AN AWARDS CASE holding glass bowls and trophies presented
               to the Captain over the years for Civic Service.

               The Secretary wraps her arms around him from behind as he
               looks at his loot.

                                     CAPTAIN (CONT'D)
                         Idiots.

                                     SECRETARY
                         Sssshhhh.

                                     CAPTAIN
                         You're the only one who makes it
                         go away.

               As he turns toward her embrace, CAMERA ADJUSTS to point up
               something we may have noticed...

               IN THE CASE - A STUFFED BIRD, on one of the glass shelves.
               CUT TO:

               EXT. RANDALL HOUSE - NIGHT

               CAMERA CREEPS toward the large stone house. A light comes
               on at one end of the lower floor, shining through the
               window.

               INT. RANDALL HOUSE - NATHAN'S OFFICE - NIGHT

               Erin works at her father's desk under the light of an
               antique floor lamp. Using a LETTER OPENER to PRY open...

               A DESK DRAWER full of files. She flips through, finds a
               manila file marked--DELT. Takes it out. ERIN lays the file
               open on the desktop.

               EMPTY. She checks...

               A SMALL PAPER SHREDDER under the desk. Judging from the
               paper spaghetti in the basket underneath, recently used.
               ERIN scoops up the shreds of paper. No way to reassemble
               this.

                                     RANDALL
                              (trying to be casual)
                         What are you doing there?

               Erin's a terrible liar, spooked as he approaches.

                                     ERIN
                         I think I dropped an earring.

                                     RANDALL
                         Looks like you have them both on.

               She jumps up as her father reaches the desk, keeps her
               distance. He spots the empty DELT folder, closes it.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      47.


                                     ERIN
                         Alex Corvis didn't kill Lauren.
                         Cops did. Didn't they?

               No response.

                                     ERIN (CONT'D)
                         You're in with them.

                                     RANDALL
                         It's not what you think.

                                     ERIN
                         You killed her!

                                     RANDALL
                         No.

                                     ERIN
                         Stay away from me! Stay away!

                                     RANDALL
                         Erin. It wasn't supposed to happen.

               Erin SCREAMS, runs out the door with her hands over her
               ears. He misses a beat, then RUNS after her.

               INT. RANDALL HOUSE - FRONT FOYER - NIGHT

               Nathan catches up with her as she frantically grabs CAR
               KEYS out of a dish by the front door.

               He grabs hold of her arm, she struggles, CLAWS at his face
               to get loose. Squeaks out the door onto...

               EXT. RANDALL HOUSE - FRONT YARD - NIGHT

               Erin runs to the far side of the big Benz, parked in the
               driveway. Tries the door. The ALARM goes off.

                                     RANDALL
                         They killed her because she found
                         out.

                                     ERIN
                         About you.

                                     RANDALL
                         About them. You've got to leave it
                         alone.

               ACROSS THE STREET, A PORCH LIGHT comes on. Erin hits a
               button on the key ring, CHIRP CHIRP. It stops.

                                     RANDALL (CONT'D)
                         Sweetheart...

                                     ERIN
                         Don't call me that! Don't call me
                         anything!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      48.


               A NEIGHBOR opens the door, peers at them from across the
               street. Inquisitive.

                                     RANDALL
                         I would never hurt you or Lauren.
                         Never. Believe me.

                                     ERIN
                         I don't believe you.

                                     RANDALL
                         Please. Come inside.

                                     ERIN
                         I'm never going back in that house
                         again. Get away.

               He edges away from the car, reluctantly. She starts to get
               in, anger giving way to extreme sadness.

                                     ERIN (CONT'D)
                              (crying now)
                         They killed Alex for something you
                         did, daddy. You killed both of
                         them.

               She gets in the car. Starts it. ERRRKKKK! She peels out
               backward down the driveway.

               SLAMS the car into Drive and tears off down the street.
               The Neighbor shakes her head at Nathan, goes back inside.

               INT. TENEMENT - THOMAS LEONARD'S APARTMENT - NIGHT

               WHAM! Thomas Leonard bounces off the wall, drops to the
               floor.

               A FEMALE FIGURE wipes through frame, throws herself on
               Larkin, who's roughing up Tommy.

                                     TOMMY'S WIFE
                         Please! Leave him alone!

               Larkin backhands her sprawling to the floor, where she
               crawls to the WAILING BABY, takes him in sheltering arms.

                                     TOMMY
                         I'm not making this up. He had a
                         crow with him.

                                     LARKIN
                         Caw, caw, that's what you're telling
                         me.

                                     TOMMY
                         He said I lied at his trial. It's
                         Alex Corvis.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      49.


                                     LARKIN
                         So we're talking... a ghost. With
                         a pet bird.

               Tommy nods.

                                     LARKIN (CONT'D)
                         Turn down that fucking baby!

               The baby's gets quieter as the mom rocks it.

                                     LARKIN (CONT'D)
                         Get up, Tommy. I want to show you
                         something.

               Larkin helps Tommy to his feet. Places "The List" on the
               table. Then RAMS Tommy's face down on top of it.

                                     LARKIN (CONT'D)
                         You see that? My name's next on
                         his list. It's fucking next.

               Larkin hauls Tommy back upright. Dazed.

                                     LARKIN (CONT'D)
                         So who is the guy, Tommy?

                                     TOMMY
                         Corvis. It's...

                                     LARKIN
                              (cutting him off)
                         Take your time. Think before you
                         speak. Cause at this point I got
                         to hear something besides the crap
                         you're been spewing.

               KA-CHUNK. Toomey cycles his 9mm. Everything dead silent.

                                     TOMMY
                         He said the whole trial was a setup.
                         That I caused an innocent kid to
                         die. Is that true?

               Larkin grimaces. The only question is how to end this.

               EXT. TENEMENT - ALLEY - NIGHT

               Madden stands by a plainwrap ,calmly SMOKING.

               A SCREAM above. He looks up to see CRASH!

               Tommy's BODY breaks through a window four floors up and
               falls with broken glass, landing by Madden who rubs his
               temple a second, then calmly grinds out the butt.

               INT. TENEMENT - THOMAS LEONARD'S APARTMENT - NIGHT

               Tommy's wife horrified, pleading, as Toomey raises his
               weapon.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      50.


                                     TOMMY'S WIFE
                         No, please...

               Her voice stops mid-sentence as BAM.

               The baby still crying as Toomey takes aim again, then lowers
               his weapon, starts to leave the room with Larkin. At the
               door, Toomey turns and BAM!

               The crying stops.

                                                                 CUT TO:

               INT. WALSH'S OFFICE - NIGHT

               CLOSE. A diminished field of Chess Pieces. ADJUST to include
               Walsh, scrutinizing the board.

                                     WALSH
                         Alex?

               He looks out the window a second. Then scans the room again.

                                     WALSH (CONT'D)
                         C'mon. I'm talking to my myself
                         here. It's humiliating.

               Walsh goes back to the board, makes a move.

                                     WALSH (CONT'D)
                         Check and mate.

                                     ALEX
                         Dream on.

               Walsh looks up. Nothing. Then Alex steps from the shadows.
               Walsh looks at him a long moment, sees through the makeup.

                                     WALSH
                         My God. It's really you under there.

               The two guys look at each other a long moment, cross the
               few steps to hug. Walsh blown away.

                                     WALSH (CONT'D)
                         I'd like to say you're looking
                         good, but...

               Walsh leans in, examines Dutton's BADGE on Alex's costume.

                                     ALEX
                         Two down. Two to go.

                                     WALSH
                         "Down?" Wait, don't tell me.

                                     ALEX
                         The cops from my trial. They killed
                         Lauren. The whole thing was fixed.
                                     (MORE)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      51.


                                     ALEX (CONT'D)
                              (off Walsh)
                         You think I'm crazy.

                                     WALSH
                         I'm thinking... that explains a
                         lot.

               Walsh sits down. Disturbed.

                                     ALEX
                         Lauren's father's involved. He
                         bought the cops fancy cars, I don't
                         know what else. It's a company
                         called D-E-L-T. I think Lauren
                         found out.

                                     WALSH
                         What do they do that they had to
                         kill her?

                                     ALEX
                         I was hoping you'd find out.

                                     WALSH
                         Yeah. I sure will.

               They both turn as the Crow lands in the window, CAWS.

                                     WALSH (CONT'D)
                              (at the bird)
                         Boo!

               The Crow flies off. Walsh goes to the window and looks
               out.

                                     WALSH (CONT'D)
                         What's the deal with this bird.
                         It's been hanging around. Alex?

               He turns toward Alex, who's gone. A double take as Walsh
               gets it, whips around, looks out the window again. CUT TO:

               EXT. REMOTE ROAD - FOREST - NIGHT

               Far above a solitary car winding through an old-growth
               forest, its headlights stabbing the darkness.

               The Crow soars into frame, watching.

                                                                 CUT TO:

               EXT. OLD GROWTH GROVE - NIGHT

               A simple WOODEN CROSS illuminated by the headlights of the
               Big Benz as it pulls off the road into the grove of huge
               trees dripping with moss.

               IN THE BENZ Erin blank as she turns off the car, leaving
               the headlights on. Silence.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      52.


               WITH ERIN as she steps from the car, walks toward the cross.
               Partway there...

               CAW! Erin looks up, finds the Crow fluttering in to perch
               high overhead. Alex emerges from behind a tree, near the
               cross.

                                     ALEX
                         This is where it happened. Right
                         over here.

                                     ERIN
                         Yeah, I know.

               She stays where she is. Alex quiet, affected by the place.
               Erin's about to lose it.

                                     ALEX
                         Are you ok?

                                     ERIN
                         When Lauren was missing the police
                         came to our house. They said they
                         were looking for her, right?
                              (breaking down)
                         But I know now they had her, and
                         the reason they brought her here
                         and knew the could blame it on
                         you...

                                     ALEX
                         No...

                                     ERIN
                         ... is that I sent them here. I
                         told them she came here sometimes.
                         With her dirtball boyfriend. That's
                         exactly what I said.

               She's crying softly. He draws nearer.

                                     ALEX
                         Erin. It's not your fault.

                                     ERIN
                              (losing it now)
                         It's all my fault. Oh God. I wish
                         I were dead.

                                     ALEX
                         No. You don't.

                                     ERIN
                         Yes I do, I really do.

               Seeming to lose patience, Alex lunges at her, like an
               attack.

                                     ALEX
                         There were four of them.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      53.


                                     ERIN
                         No...

               He's holding his hands over her eyes, transferring IMAGES
               that shake them both.

               ALEX/ERIN'S INTERNAL POV Jolting FLASHES.

               A Plainwrap stops where the Mercedes is now.

               A hand slams the car into Park. Doors open. Four men get
               out, seen dimly, but they're Dutton, Erlich, Larkin, Toomey.

               Erlich reaches back in to drag Lauren out of the back seat,
               her hands cuffed in front of her.

               Dutton flips up her skirt with his nightstick.

                                     ALEX'S VOICE
                         Four large men. And still...

               Lauren stumbles into Erlich, grabs and BAM! FLASH!

               He takes a shot in the leg from his own, still holstered
               weapon.

                                     ALEX'S VOICE (CONT'D)
                         She grabbed one of their guns. Got
                         off a shot, then ran, ran for her
                         life.

               RESUME - PRESENT Erin's covering her face, like trying to
               avoid seeing some horrible thing.

                                     ERIN
                         I don't want to know.

               Alex grabs Erin, forces her to run with him, awkwardly,
               like a three legged race. Tracing the path Lauren covered.

                                     ALEX
                         She ran. Them breathing down her
                         neck...

               Erin stumbling as Alex pushes, cajoles her, the two of
               them running toward a large tree, MATCHING to...

               ALEX/ERIN'S INTERNAL POV Lauren stumbling, her cuffed hands
               hindering, tree limbs hitting her face.

               Her own panting subsumed in the panting of the cops on her
               heels.

                                     ALEX'S VOICE
                         ... all the way from the road to
                         this tree...

               RESUME - PRESENT Erin still trying not to see. Alex forcing
               her.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      54.


                                     ALEX
                         This tree. Here's where it happened.

                                     ERIN
                         I don't want to see!

               Alex spins her up against the tree and we MATCH to...

               ALEX/ERIN'S INTERNAL POV Lauren an adrenaline crazed fighter
               destined to lose. Her movements UNDERCRANKED, strobed.
               Discontinuous and jarring.

                                     ALEX'S VOICE
                         She turned and faced them and went
                         down kicking and punching and
                         fighting them, fighting death as
                         they stabbed her and stabbed her.
                         Fifty three times.

               The brutal cops overwhelm Lauren. She drops to the ground
               as...

               RESUME Erin drops to the forest floor, convulsed in sobs.

                                     ALEX
                         She fought for her life because
                         life is worth living.

               Alex panting. Fierce.

                                     ALEX (CONT'D)
                         Think about that. And then tell me
                         how much you wish you were dead.

               Off Erin, sobbing, heartbroken. Alex's fury waning as he
               looks at her, wonders if he did the right thing.

                                                                 CUT TO:

               EXT. GARRISON PRISON - ROOFTOP - NIGHT

               Armed men and barbed wire. The Spotlight FLARES and we're...

               INT. GARRISON PRISON - MORGUE HALLWAY - NIGHT

               An odd foursome approaches from the far end of the hall.
               Mercer escorts Madden, the Captain, and the Secretary who
               hangs on her bosses arm, gawking like a tourist.

                                     CAPTAIN
                         Why wasn't the incident reported?

                                     MERCER
                         Nothing to report. All inmates
                         were present and accounted for.

                                     CAPTAIN
                         So you pretended nothing happened.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      55.


                                     MERCER
                         Hey, Corvis fried. I don't really
                         see how it could be him.

                                     CAPTAIN
                         No. I wouldn't expect you to.

               They all enter...

               INT. GARRISON PRISON - MORGUE - NIGHT

               Mercer goes to the locker where he left Alex.

                                     MERCER
                         Be forewarned. Nature takes its
                         toll.
                              (opens locker)
                         Bon appetit.

               The all look inside. The locker is empty. Mercer's the
               only one shocked. He noisily opens and shuts the other
               lockers looking for Alex.

                                     CAPTAIN
                         You lost him! Now lay off the
                         fucking doors!

               Mercer stops, backs off, gives the power trio some space.

                                     MADDEN
                         They botched the execution.

                                     CAPTAIN
                         Could say that.

                                     MADDEN
                         Christ. It was Corvis. Tommy Leonard
                         was right.

                                     SECRETARY
                         Maybe you were a little harsh on
                         him.

               They watch now as the Secretary moves, drawn to the mirror.

                                     SECRETARY (CONT'D)
                         Babe?

               She's looking at... T

               HE FRACTURED MIRROR. Shards of glass selectively removed
               forming, we see now, a CROW.

                                     MADDEN
                         Fucking crow.

                                     CAPTAIN
                         Sign of the dead come back to life.

               Madden turns, not comfortable with the concept.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      56.


                                     MADDEN
                         How about sign of a big black bird?

                                     CAPTAIN
                         The dead can return, given
                         sufficient motivation. And Corvis
                         has that.

                                     SECRETARY
                         This guy David Jenkins came back
                         as a ghost because my uncle owed
                         him four dollars. Followed him
                         everywhere. Ruined his life.

                                     MADDEN
                         Time out. You really saying he's
                         back from beyond?

               The Secretary nestles into the Captain, who whispers in
               her ear. He nods.

                                     MADDEN (CONT'D)
                         Cause if you're losing your mind,
                         I got a right to know.

                                     CAPTAIN
                         He's looking for something. Won't
                         stop until he finds it.
                              (then)
                         Sometimes the best way to get rid
                         of someone is to let them have
                         what they want.

                                     SECRETARY
                         The man...

                                     ALEX
                         ... with the scar...

                                                                 CUT TO:

               EXT. OLD GROWTH GROVE - NIGHT

               WIDE. Erin sits cross-legged in the HEADLIGHTS of the Benz.
               Alex perches Crow-like on the hood.

                                     ALEX
                         ... took everything I ever cared
                         about. Left me with nothing.

                                     ERIN
                         So you're going to kill him?

                                     ALEX
                         Have to find him first.

               He closes his eyes. Pained at a memory.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      57.


                                     ALEX (CONT'D)
                         You know what Lauren and I were
                         fighting about that night? She had
                         a secret, wouldn't tell me...

                                     ERIN
                         My father.

                                     ALEX
                         All I knew, she was pulling away.
                         It made me crazy.

                                     ERIN
                         I used to be so proud of him. My
                         big deal daddy. And now, he's just
                         a crook. Worse even. And the weird
                         thing is...

               She fights back tears. Gains strength.

                                     ERIN (CONT'D)
                         I wish I could hate him but I can't.
                         He said he'd never hurt either of
                         us, and I know it's true and...
                         I'm going back.

                                     ALEX
                         It's what Lauren would do.

               Erin nods, takes the Locket off her neck.

                                     ERIN
                         I want to forget. Forget what I
                         know. Forget myself. Forget
                         everything.

               She winds up to toss the Locket away and Alex hops down
               off the hood. Stops her. Takes the Locket. ALEX

                                     ERIN (CONT'D)
                              (re: Locket)
                         Keep it. Because it connects you
                         to Lauren. And it connects you to
                         me.

               He fastens the Locket back around her neck. A covenant.

                                     ERIN (CONT'D)
                         No matter what happens I'll make
                         sure everyone knows. That you're
                         innocent. That you loved her. I
                         promise.

               CLOSE. Erin pulls some makeup out of her jacket pocket.
               Dumps it on the ground. Finds a pot of dark eyeshadow among
               the containers.

                                     ERIN (CONT'D)
                         I don't want to be me anymore.
                         Make me like you.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      58.


               Erin's face blasted WHITE by HEADLIGHTS.

               She closes her eyes as Alex begins the first bold lines
               around her eyes and for a moment in the gauzy white light,
               she could be...

               LAUREN opens her eyes a second, smiles, shuts them again.

               WIDER. Alex paints Erin's face in the Benz headlights, the
               two of them kneeling in the forest-cathedral.

               Camera creeps BACKWARD, leaving the two of them connected
               by ritual. And touch. And a promise to each other.

                                                                 CUT TO:

               INT. RANDALL'S HOUSE - NATHAN'S OFFICE - NIGHT

               CLOSE. A mess of documents. Nathan nervously writing,
               assembling a tell-all at his desk.

                                     CAPTAIN
                         You know it doesn't work this way.

               Nathan gets up. Tries to subtly herd the Captain off.

                                     NATHAN
                         I'm out of this.

                                     CAPTAIN
                         Partnerships don't end like that.
                         Friendships don't.

                                     NATHAN
                         Our friendship ended when Lauren
                         died.

               The Captain circles to the desk now, past Nathan.

                                     CAPTAIN
                         Do you believe in ghosts, Nathan?
                         Because there's a ghost threatening
                         us.

                                     RANDALL
                         You mean Alex.

                                     CAPTAIN
                         I mean Lauren.

               The Captain flips through some of the papers on the desk.
               Frowns. He closes a file folder.

                                     CAPTAIN (CONT'D)
                         Because you never accepted that
                         what happened to her was an
                         accident.

                                     RANDALL
                         You killed my daughter.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      59.


                                     CAPTAIN
                         An accident, Nathan.

                                     RANDALL
                              (exploding now)
                         She was eighteen years old! There
                         were four of them. They stabbed
                         her fifty three times! Where's the
                         fucking accident?! Huh?! Where is
                         it?!

               Nathan furious. The Captain keeps a preternatural calm.

                                     CAPTAIN
                         I watched her grow up. Just like
                         you. I know how her mind worked.
                         She kept snooping around because
                         she was worried about you. What
                         you'd gotten yourself into. So
                         stop blaming me. And blame yourself.

                                     RANDALL
                              (beat, quietly)
                         I do. Every day.

                                     CAPTAIN
                         Erin knows, doesn't she?

               This catches Nathan off guard. He starts to say something.

                                     CAPTAIN (CONT'D)
                         Don't even bother. You never were
                         a good liar.

               The Captain flips through the papers on the desk again.

                                     CAPTAIN (CONT'D)
                         Look at this. Everything we worked
                         for. You tell me... what are we
                         going to do?

                                                                 CUT TO:

               EXT. RANDALL HOUSE - FRONT YARD - NIGHT

               HEADLIGHTS approach from down the street. The Big Benz
               pulls into the empty driveway.

               Erin alone in the car, her mood tough to judge in the Crow
               mask.

               INT. RANDALL HOUSE - FRONT FOYER - NIGHT

               Erin enters, steels herself. Then she calls out...

                                     ERIN
                         Dad?! You home?

                                                                 CUT TO:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      60.


               INT. RANDALL HOUSE - BATHROOM - NIGHT

               UNDERWATER. Erin plunges her masked face into the wash
               basin in this white-tiled bathroom.

               ANGLE - ERIN A few SLO-MO DROPLETS cascade off her face
               into basin as she scrutinizes herself in the mirror, wipes
               off the mask.

               CAMERA INCHING forward...

               She listens up. Grabs a Towel to blot the water on her
               face. We begin to hear with her...

               DRIP. DRIP. DRIP...

               She tightens the sink faucets. The sound continues DRIP
               DRIP as she moves to...

               THE CLAWFOOT BATHTUB Faucet not dripping, but the sound is
               louder. DRIP DRIP. Erin grabs the shower curtain, whips it
               back REVEALING...

               NATHAN RANDALL behind the tub, face a mask of gore, blown
               off point blank by the BLOODY HANDGUN on the tile next to
               him. ERIN screams.

               INT. WALSH'S OFFICE - NIGHT

               CLOSE. The Chess set. A few pieces moved off the board
               now. Alex not looking at it. He's looking at the picture
               of himself and Lauren taped in the lid of the Chess box.

                                     WALSH
                         It's like a bowl of spaghetti. D-E-
                         L-T is owned by Westwind Builders,
                         Nathan Randall's company. But DELT
                         in turn owns a dozen other
                         corporations. A big mess to wade
                         through, so I checked out Tommy
                         Leonard.

               Alex picks up the BLACK KING.

                                     ALEX
                         Leonard, Dutton, Erlich. They don't
                         matter. I want the King.

                                     WALSH
                         We're getting there. Because in
                         his so-called construction job,
                         Tommy makes a daily delivery to a
                         place called "The Hole."

                                     ALEX
                         The strip joint?

                                     WALSH
                         I believe they call it a
                         connoisseur's club. Owned by DELT.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      61.


               Alex places the picture of himself with Lauren back in the
               box of chess pieces, against the open lid.

                                     WALSH (CONT'D)
                         Places like that, they're about
                         unreported cash, processing money
                         from drugs, prostitution.
                              (then)
                         I took a chance, called asking for
                         Larkin and Toomey, the two other
                         cops. Whoever answered said "they're
                         not here...
                              (meaningfully)
                         ... this is the front office."

               BAM BAM BAM.

               They look up. A shadow banging on the door. Leaving BLOODY
               SMEARS on the outside of the frosted glass.

                                     ERIN
                         Alex!

               Walsh opens the door and Erin enters, wild and blood
               smeared, remnants of the Crow mask around her eyes.

                                     ERIN (CONT'D)
                         They killed my dad.

               It all catches up with her now, the flight, the exhaustion.
               She throws herself into his arms.

                                     ALEX
                         It's ok, it's ok...

                                     ERIN
                         It's not. I can't take it.

                                     ALEX
                         Erin. Who?

                                     ERIN
                         I don't know. I found him lying
                         there.

               Alex immobilized by this. He turns to Walsh.

                                     ALEX
                         Where is it? This place?

                                     WALSH
                         I think we should get some support?

                                     ALEX
                         What? Call the police?

                                     ERIN
                         What is this? Where are you going?

               Alex waiting for an address. Finally...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      62.


                                     WALSH
                         1315 Berkeley Street.

                                     ERIN
                         Don't leave me. Please.

               Alex turns to her, comforting. Holds her face in his hands.

                                     ALEX
                         It will be over soon.
                              (then)
                         Watch out for each other.

               He heads off and we PRE-LAP sexbomb death metal POUNDING...
               CUT TO:

               INT. "THE HOLE" - NIGHT

               More debauched than our previous visit. Darker, more
               crowded.

               Patrons propositioned in front of our eyes by girls barely
               eighteen. The room writhing.

               ON THE MAINSTAGE the "Cop" strippers we saw before, but
               dangerous seeming, as they pantomime an interrogation, a
               handcuffed "perp" manhandled between them.

               AT THE ENTRANCE Alex blows past people waiting to get in,
               creating enough disturbance that TWO BOUNCERS greet him.

                                     ALEX
                         Toomey and Larkin. They're expecting
                         me.

               The Two Bouncers give each other a look. One points to a
               SIGN on the wall: "You must be 21..."

                                     BOUNCER
                         I need to see some I.D., pal. Circus
                         in town?

               The Other Bouncer grabs Alex as he pushes past. Alex heaves
               him into the line of WAITING PATRONS.

               As they go down like dominoes... the First Bouncer pulls a
               GUN.

                                     ALEX
                         I don't think you want to do that.
                         Lot of innocent people here...
                              (looks around)
                         A lot of people, anyway.

               As Alex starts off... BAM! He's blown back by a shot half
               lost in the noisy club. No panic yet.

               ONSTAGE the strippers break character, looking. The audience
               turns as...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      63.


               NEAR THE ENTRANCE The First Bouncer goes flying above the
               heads of the crowd, getting off a dramatic SHOT while
               airborne, inducing...

               PANDEMONIUM Patrons stampeding as BAM BAM!  Alex taking
               bullets, the miracle lost in the chaotic exit. The Bouncers
               out of sight underfoot.

               ON ALEX visible again, back on his feet. Buffeted,
               stationary as everyone flees. With the exodus still at
               flood stage...

                                                                 CUT TO:

               INT. WALSH'S OFFICE - NIGHT

               ON WALSH, in motion as he puts on a jacket, throws some
               papers into a briefcase. He's nervous, ill-suited for this
               cloak and dagger stuff, chattering...

                                     WALSH
                         We'll be safe in my car. Nobody
                         will recognize it. Let's move yours
                         in back, no, down the block. Hope
                         it's nothing fancy. There's a chop
                         shop around the corner.

               She's looking elsewhere, at the door that has quietly
               opened. The Captain stands there. Somber reptile. Holding
               a sheaf of papers in one hand.

                                     ERIN
                         You followed me here.

                                     CAPTAIN
                         No... Erin, I put out a bulletin
                         on your car because... there's bad
                         news. And I thought you should
                         hear it from me.

               She stares at him expressionless.

                                     CAPTAIN (CONT'D)
                         Your father got involved with some
                         bad cops. On my force, so I take
                         responsibility.
                              (beat, then)
                         He killed himself.

               She talks with great difficulty.

                                     ERIN
                         How?

                                     CAPTAIN
                         How did he kill himself?

               She nods.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      64.


                                     CAPTAIN (CONT'D)
                         With a gun. Is that what you mean?

                                     ERIN
                         No. I mean... how did he kill
                         himself How do you figure he killed
                         himself--with a gun, right--when
                         it wasn't anywhere near where you
                         found him?

               He takes a step toward her. She pulls out the Blood Pistol.
               Seems crazy enough to use it.

                                     ERIN (CONT'D)
                         You killed him.

                                     WALSH
                         Erin. Don't.

                                     ERIN
                         Back the fuck off! Now!

               The Captain stops, gently tosses the sheaf of papers toward
               her, onto Walsh's desk.

               The papers Nathan was preparing. Walsh looks at them
               while...

                                     CAPTAIN
                         He left this. Names, addresses, a
                         note to you. These people he was
                         involved with killed Lauren. He
                         couldn't bear it anymore.

                                     WALSH
                         My God. He's right, it's all here.

                                     ERIN
                         The note. Show it to me.

               Erin has one eye on the papers now, recognizes her dad's
               hand. The Captain inches forward.

                                     ERIN (CONT'D)
                              (to Captain)
                         Not you!
                              (to Walsh)
                         Show it to me.

               The Captain steps forward, right to the desk. Erin backed
               into a corner now.

                                     CAPTAIN
                         It's right there, under that paper.
                              (grabs a note)
                         Here. Look.

               She holds a hand out for the note, taking her eye off the
               situation for one second as she reads...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      65.


               THE NOTE A bunch of numbers added together in her father's
               hand. Not a suicide note.

               THE CAPTAIN grabs Erin's wrist and BAM!

               A chunk of the ceiling falls as the weapon discharges. The
               Captain throws her in a chokehold, her finger still on the
               trigger.

                                     CAPTAIN (CONT'D)
                         You were always the stupid one.

               She fights as the Captain wraps his own hand over hers,
               wrestles her arm toward Walsh, in the sights now. BAM!

               WALSH blown backward, collapsing by the Chess Board. Trying
               to pull himself up. Erin struggling. As...

               MADDEN enters from the hall, in a hurry, gun drawn.

                                     MADDEN
                         You need help?

               He nods toward Walsh, who is moving, barely.

                                     CAPTAIN
                         Hurry. We don't have much time.

               BAM. A shot from Madden drops Walsh for god. As Madden
               drags Walsh toward the door, the Captain grabs...

               THE PICTURE OF ALEX AND LAUREN pulled off the lid of the
               Chess box, one of the pieces of tape left behind. The
               Captain exits.

                                                                 CUT TO:

               INT. "THE HOLE" - NIGHT

               MUSIC STILL POUNDS, lights swirl. But the club has cleared
               out, leaving human detritus, a handful of casualties from
               the stampede.

               WITH ALEX as he steps over the Two Bouncers, expired on
               the floor.

               A soft WHIMPERING marks the silence.  The girl cuffed
               onstage. Alex goes up to the terrified girl.

               Close up, she looks way underage. He gathers her clothes,
               spots a key on the floor.

                                     ALEX
                         How old are you?

               She listens as he unlocks the cuffs.

                                     ALEX (CONT'D)
                         You have one chance to value your
                         life. Take it.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      66.


               He watches as she hightails it out the front door, still
               half naked. As she leaves...

               THE CROW appears in the doorway near the broken bodies.
               Alex takes a deep breath, as if it hurts.

               The casualties. CAW. The Crow flies on, disappearing into
               the back rooms. Alex turns, follows...

               INT. "THE HOLE" - BACKSTAGE - NIGHT

               Alex moves past the empty makeup table. A lipstick cigarette
               smolders in an ashtray. People left in a hurry. MUSIC LOUD,
               as if inside our heads now. Alex continues...

               INT. "THE HOLE" - INTERNET PORN FACILITY

               Nobody home. Empty images refreshed every six seconds.
               Number of hits static now. Alex drawn now by the "No
               Admittance" Curtain which he approaches slowly, touching
               it and FLASH!

               ALEX'S INTERNAL POV - LAUREN looking over her shoulder,
               pulling back the "No Admittance" Curtain, going where she
               shouldn't go.

                                     ALEX
                         Lauren? You were here?

               Lauren makes her stealthy way into....

               INT. "THE HOLE" - BACK HALL - NIGHT

               revealed as Alex slips past the Curtain, retracing Lauren's
               footsteps. CAMERA FOLLOWS Alex CREEPING down the hall to...

               ALEX'S INTERNAL POV - LAUREN down the hall, peering inside
               the partially open Back Room door, then turning back
               startled TOWARD CAMERA as if suddenly overtaken.

               AT THE DOOR Alex turns back, like Lauren, looks behind
               him. The hallway is empty. He enters...

               INT. "THE HOLE" - BACK ROOM - NIGHT

               Darkness. As Alex gropes for a lightswitch, a LIGHTER
               FLARES. Toomey and Larkin lean in, light up in synch.

               Alex takes in the dark fringes, dim reflections off lots
               of eyes. Not taxidermy specimens.

               BAM BAM BAM BAM.

               A dozen police officers lining the walls empty cartridges
               into Alex in an angry, STROBING fusillade. In the silence
               that follows...

                                     LARKIN
                              (after the fact)
                         Don't move.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      67.


               The gang LAUGHS. Larkin makes his way to a light switch by
               the door.

                                     LARKIN (CONT'D)
                         Drinks are on me.

               Larkin flips on the low-watt BARE BULBS hanging down past
               industrial pipes and conduit, casting a dim light on the
               cinderblock space.

               NO ALEX.

                                     ALEX
                         Cheers.

               They look up and... BAM! Alex DROPS LARKIN with a shot to
               the forehead. BAM!

               He MISSES TOOMEY as bullets from below EXPLODE all around
               him. Alex scampers across framing as...

               The BARE BULBS burst, all but one, plunging us back in to
               near darkness as Alex drops to the ground near Larkin's
               fallen body. Jacks up the sleeve. No scar. Alex spots
               Toomey, rolls out as...

               THREE COPS pump rounds into Alex. BAM!

               Alex takes the middle Cop out, a TOONEY-LIKE GUY who falls
               onto Toomey, behind him. ALEX turns, forced to defend
               himself as FULL AUTO FIRE breaks open, the other flank,
               more advancing cops. While...

               TOOMEY crawls out from under the fallen copy, then backs
               out the door on hands and knees while...

               A FINAL EXPLOSIVE FUSILLADE leaves only Alex standing. As
               the echoes dissolve...

               Alex Alex moves to where Toomey was, bends down to check
               the body...

               THE NAMEPLATE - "TOOMEY" But the pin isn't fastened
               properly.

               The badge askew. RESUME - ALEX rolls the body over, finds
               another nameplate underneath. "Hauser."  Heads off in search
               of...

                                     ALEX (CONT'D)
                         Toomey!

               INT - "THE HOLE" - INTERNET PORN FACILITY - NIGHT

               Toomey is clearing the "No Admittance" curtain when...

                                     ALEX
                         You dripped something!

               Toomey panics as he approaches...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      68.


               INTERNET FANTASY SETS Monitors still updating every six
               seconds. Toomey hears Alex coming, slips through the
               "Dungeon."

               BEHIND THE SHOWER FANTASY SET Toomey takes refuge out of
               sight, next to a GAS HOT WATER HEATER, quiet as a mouse.
               ALEX tears the "No Admittance" curtain completely off its
               rod, arriving at the fantasy sets just in time to see...

               THE DUNGEON MONITOR Toomey (frozen) scurrying through.
               Gone now as the monitor updates. Then Alex appears,
               following him through the set...

               WITH ALEX moving to the rear of the "dungeon," on Toomey's
               heels. WAM. Toomey hits him full force with A PIPE, sending
               Alex sprawling backward, COLLAPSING the flimsy Shower set.

               WAM. Toomey swings again, misses Alex, but connects with...

               THE GAS LINE to the water heater ripped out by the blow.
               HISS. The sound of gas, loud, as the line breaks.

               RESUME Alex straddles Toomey, just as Toomey manages to
               get his gun pointed in Alex's face. Hissing gas nearby.

               CLICK. Toomey cocks the gun.

                                     ALEX (CONT'D)
                         Spark, gas... bad combination. And
                         it's not this leak here, that's
                         the least of your worries.

               WAM! Alex swings Toomey's pipe HARD at a much bigger GAS
               LINE right behind the gas heater, leaving it badly cracked.
               The hiss magnified 100% nos.

                                     ALEX (CONT'D)
                         We're going to play a little game
                         called "Who's got the Scar."

                                     TOOMEY
                         What Scar? What fucking scar?

                                     ALEX
                              (buzzer sound)
                         AAAANK. That's not how we play the
                         game.

               Alex jacks Toomey's sleeve down. No Scar. Alex pissed as
               Toomey locks eyes with him. Really seeing him now.

                                     TOOMEY
                         You're him! You're Corvis! We fried
                         your ass. You're dead, man!

                                     ALEX
                         Good thing in a situation like
                         this.

               We pick up...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      69.


               INT. "THE HOLE" - BACK ROOM - NIGHT

               Some light filters in as a door opens to the outside. A
               FIGURE enters, squats among the bodies. He leans in, closes
               larkin's eyes, and we see...

               It's Madden. Blood on his hands. He hears Alex's VOICE
               faintly, then Toomey cries out in pain. Madden moves
               toward...

               INT. "THE HOLE" - INTERNET PORN FACILITY - NIGHT

               Madden creeps down the hallway to the back room. VOICES
               growing louder.

                                     TOOMEY
                         Fucking Zombie.

                                     ALEX
                         The scar.

                                     TOOMEY
                         There is no scar. I'm telling you.

               As Madden moves toward the conversation, his face registers
               the slightest of smiles.

               MADDEN'S CREEPING POV MONITORS obliquely visible as he
               reaches the end of the hall by the Fantasy sets. The
               "Shower" monitor shows Alex and Toomey, visible through
               the trashed set, updated every six seconds.

               MADDEN SNIFFS gas. The HISS now audible along with Alex's
               voice. Madden smiles. Pulls out his 9mm.

               And BACKS UP, away from the Fantasy Sets toward the back
               room. Madden takes aim at...

               THE FIRST MONITOR The images is Alex threatening Toomey.
               Updating now--LOSING ALEX on the Monitor as he steps into
               frame in person, looks up and BAM!

               CROWVISION a speeding bullet passes narrowly by and...

               ANGLE - GROUND ZERO as the bullet hits the monitor in a
               shower of sparks, followed by...

               BOOM! A ROILING FIREBALL Seems to vaporize Alex before
               flying down the hallway right at CAMERA.

               Madden manages a couple steps in retreat before it blows
               him into the back room with a deafening roar.

               EXT. "THE HOLE" - INFERNO - NIGHT

               BOOM! Windows blow out in a gas fired inferno. A body flung
               out the rear door. BOOM!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      70.


               EXT. "THE HOLE" - NIGHT

               Interior/exterior being less meaningful than seconds ago.
               Walls crumbled, roof blown off.

               BRIGHT FIRE consumes the frame, consumes the bodies of
               downed cops, consumes every last bit of oxygen and life.
               Distant SIRENS draw closer.

               A SLOW SCAN, someone's OBSTRUCTED POV of Hell.

               INCLUDE ALEX watching from under a collapsed cinderblock
               wall that offers some protection from the flames, if not
               the heat. He looks, intent now, spotting...

               THE ARM WITH THE ZIGZAG SCARIFICATION sticking out of the
               rubble, murky through the flames, growing clearer as camera
               PUSHES, flames licking at it...

               ALEX tries to move toward the arm. Forced back by too-
               intense flame as another beam falls, the rubble shifts
               and...

               THE ARM WITH THE ZIGZAG SCARIFICATION skeletal now, baked
               down to bones. A dozen short metal rods on the ground under
               it. He picks a few up. THE CAPTAIN drawn now to...

               UNDER THE RUBBLE - WHERE ALEX WAS water dripping off the
               concrete, collecting in the place where Alex hid. But he's
               long gone. The Captain drops the rods. Satisfied it's over.

                                                                 CUT TO:

               EXT. CITY STREET #5 - NIGHT

               Alex staggers along in bad shape. Up ahead...

               A GIRL in her twenties exits a building down a flight of
               stairs, waits at the bottom for her BOYFRIEND, who's locking
               the door. She sees Alex, gives him an empathetic look.
               Alex walks slowly closer.

               ALEX'S INTERNAL POV Lauren appearing to him, playing their
               game. But the words are wrong, distorted.

                                     LAUREN
                         Your witness list is no match for
                         my kung fu.

               Her Bruce Lee "Oooo" a siren call. RESUME Alex moving slowly
               forward on the street, drawn toward the girl who watches
               with horrified fascination.

                                     ALEX
                         I'm losing you.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      71.


               ALEX'S INTERNAL POV

                                     LAUREN
                         Your zigzag love scar is no match
                         for...

               Lauren and Alex drawing very close now when... RESUME WAM.
               A FIST clocks Alex in the face, dropping him hard onto the
               pavement.

                                     GIRL
                         Did you have to do that?

                                     BOYFRIEND
                         How about "thank you."

                                     GIRL
                         He's bleeding.

                                     ALEX
                         I don't bleed.

                                     BOYFRIEND
                         And delirious. Better steer clear.

               ALEX'S POV

               The Guy wraps his arm protectively around the girl, walks
               her off. Running into a COP at the next intersection. They
               POINT at...

               ALEX takes off, ducking into an alley. Confused.

               CAMERA CREEPS BACKWARD as he gathers his thoughts.

                                                                 CUT TO:

               INT. WALSH'S OFFICE - NIGHT

               RATTLE RATTLE. Alex's shadow visible through the frosted
               glass, jostling the locked door.

                                     ALEX
                         Erin!

               SMASH. His arm PUNCHES through the glass, turn the knob.
               Alex enters, arm bleeding badly. He yanks a large piece of
               glass from his flesh. Painful.

               Alex registers that the rules have changed. He finds a
               necktie of Walsh's, uses it to bind the wound, staunch the
               flow. He scans the room again looking for...

               Something. But everything seems ok. He passes...

               The Chess Box, the picture of Lauren and Alex gone. Just a
               piece of TAPE left, sticking to the top of the open lid.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      72.


               OVER THE CHESS BOARD - ALEX the missing pic lost on him,
               drawn to the chess board where Walsh collapsed. Something
               wrong with the game. He finds...

               THE BLACK KING Off the board. On top of a stack of news
               clippings lying on the floor.

               Alex picks it up, LEAVING a RING OF BLOOD under.

               CAMERA PUSHES on the clipping underneath, the headline
               "City Leaders Vow Crackdown in Wake of Randall Murder."
               PUSHING, finding among the City Leaders...

                                     ALEX (CONT'D)
                         The King.

               THE CAPTAIN'S FACE circled in blood. Camera continues to
               PUSH on the grainy newsprint, through it, until all we see
               are halftone pixels and the picture loses meaning.

               EXT. CITY - AIRBORNE - NIGHT

               The Police Station in sinister CROWVISION as we approach,
               swoop in and...

               INT. POLICE STATION - HALLWAY

               Alex walks the long approach to the Captain's office, past
               the empty Secretary's desk. KICKING the door open CRASH!
               into...

               INT. POLICE STATION - CAPTAIN'S OFFICE

               The Captain works alone at his desk under a standing lamp.
               Looks up unconcerned as Alex enters, walks to the desk,
               and SLAPS down the ring-of-blood clipping.

                                     CAPTAIN
                         I hate that picture.

                                     ALEX
                         Where are they?

                                     CAPTAIN
                         Can I get you something? A glass
                         of water? A transfusion?

                                     ALEX
                         Where are they? Last chance.

                                     CAPTAIN
                         Or what? You'll bleed all over my
                         carpet?

               The Captain rises.

                                     CAPTAIN (CONT'D)
                         You know crime was actually down
                         until you showed up, or stuck
                                     (MORE)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      73.


                                     CAPTAIN (CONT'D)
                         around, or whatever the hell you're
                         doing here.
                              (then)
                         What are you doing here?

                                     ALEX
                         I'm looking for my friends.

                                     CAPTAIN
                         See, I heard you were looking for
                         some guy with a scar. How's that
                         going? You find him? Yes? No?

               Alex tenses as the Captain starts toward him.

                                     CAPTAIN (CONT'D)
                         You are like the guest who would
                         not leave, you know that?  And
                         judging from your condition, maybe
                         you've overstayed your welcome.
                         That's not a criticism. Just an
                         observation.

               Alex draws the knife from his clothes.

                                     CAPTAIN (CONT'D)
                         I don't think you're going to use
                         it. That's Lauren's knife.

               Enraged, Alex SWIPES the knife. The Captain grabs his arm
               right at the blood soaked necktie, squeezes hard. Alex
               writhes in pain. In each other's faces now.

                                     CAPTAIN (CONT'D)
                         You come in here al lfull of
                         righteous indignation, but what
                         have you got to be righteous about?

               THE KNIFE starting to fall from Alex's hand as the Captain
               continues to clamp down on his wound.

                                     CAPTAIN (CONT'D)
                         How many innocent people did you
                         leave dead back there?

                                     ALEX
                         You sent them. I had no choice.

                                     CAPTAIN
                         Bullshit. You're a killer, that's
                         all you are. A clown with a bird
                         and a rising death toll. You think
                         the world did you wrong?! You did
                         the world wrong.

               The Captain snatches the knife, RAMS it into Alex's midriff.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      74.


                                     CAPTAIN (CONT'D)
                         You and Lauren had a fight. You
                         couldn't let it go.

               FLASH

               EXT. OLD GROWTH GROVE - DAY

               ALEX'S INTERNAL POV Lauren in tears in Alex's car.

                                     LAUREN
                         I can't say.

                                     ALEX
                         He grabs for her. She pulls
                         violently away.

                                     LAUREN
                         Don't touch me!

               RESUME

               INT. POLICE STATION - CAPTAIN'S OFFICE - NIGHT

               WHOOMP. Another stab into Alex. There will be fifty three.

                                     CAPTAIN
                         It was one thing her dad rejected
                         you. But when she did you lost it.

                                     ALEX
                         You're wrong.

                                     CAPTAIN
                         Yeah?  I see doubt oozing out your
                         arm. Where do people go when they
                         kill their girlfriends?

               FLASH ALEX'S INTERNAL POV Alex back at the inferno, cowering
               from flames.

               RESUME The Captain full of righteous conviction.

                                     CAPTAIN (CONT'D)
                         Screwed up kid stabs her fifty
                         three times. Where would he end
                         up?

               The Captain bent over Alex, stabbing him.

               ALEX'S INTERNAL POV (INTERCUT WITH PREVIOUS)

               FLASHES move us backward along the path we've taken so
               far, a tour of hell on earth, the blast of infernal winds
               and the ever-present voice of the Captain, condemning.

                                     CAPTAIN'S VOICE
                         Take a look!

               Strippers writhe at "The Hole."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      75.


                                     CAPTAIN'S VOICE (CONT'D)
                         That's who you are!

               The Porsche explodes.

                                     CAPTAIN'S VOICE (CONT'D)
                         You sick fuck! Look at it!

               Alex blasts Dutton. BAM!

                                     CAPTAIN'S VOICE (CONT'D)
                         Every loser name anyone ever called
                         you was true!

               Alex escapes the taser. Mercer drops.

                                     CAPTAIN'S VOICE (CONT'D)
                         Are you looking? Answer me!

               Time SCREECHING to a halt, all the movement converging on
               a single, quiet image. One we've seen before...

               Alex in the chair. But his last words are different.

                                     ALEX
                         I loved Lauren. I never meant to
                         hurt her.

               ZAP. Electro-spasm as the switch is thrown. No scar, no
               meltdown, just violent fibrillations that moderate, finally
               as we MATCH TO...

               RESUME - THE CAPTAIN'S OFFICE The Captain shaking Alex,
               holding something in front of Alex's face.

                                     CAPTAIN
                         You see it? Huh? Did you see it?

               Alex's eye's gone dead, no longer seeing...

               THE PHOTO - LAUREN AND ALEX IN THE WOODS arms around each
               other. Familiar, but on second take, it's like the crime
               scene photos...

               Lauren's NECK is SLASHED, her body riddled with stab wounds.
               Alex has a big smile on his face, his arm around her, her
               head on his shoulder. 100% sociopath. RESUME

                                     CAPTAIN (CONT'D)
                         Yeah. I think you fucking saw it.

               The Captain drops Alex lifeless and bloody to the floor.
               Only the sound of the Captain panting now, then...

               The sound of slow clapping. Madden walks into the room
               from behind perimeter curtains.

               CLAP CLAP CLAP.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      76.


                                     MADDEN
                         You were right. Picture's worth a
                         thousand words.

               Madden kicks Alex lightly, nudging him. No life signes.
               The Captain rips the picture in two. Tosses it in the trash.

                                     CAPTAIN
                         Just don't believe everything you
                         see.

                                     MADDEN
                         Doubt is a motherfucker.

                                     CAPTAIN
                         Give me a hand with this sack of
                         shit.

               INT. MYSTERY ROOM - NIGHT

               NEW ANGLE - THROUGH A WINDOW DARKLY Madden and the Captain
               grab Alex, one at each end.

                                     SECRETARY
                         He's cute. Was cute.

               REVEAL, this is the Secretary's POV through the window.
               She's bent over someone's toes, painting them BLUE.

               WIDE. The Mystery Room revealed. Taxidermy specimens line
               the wall and the table.

               Erin stands in PROFILE in the middle of the room, strangely
               silent, hands tied overhead by a rope that runs to the
               ceiling.

               The Secretary brushing polish on Erin's toes.

                                     SECRETARY (CONT'D)
                         But the face, well, makeup can
                         work for you or against you. Right?

               The Secretary applies a last flourish of polish, then
               stands, kisses Erin gently.

                                     SECRETARY (CONT'D)
                         All done. Very nice.
                              (then)
                         You're a good listener.

               The Secretary moves off REVEALING...

               ERIN'S FACE MOUTH SEWN shut in a rough zigzag stitch, like
               the scar. Her eyes dart as...

               THE DOOR opens. The Captain and Madden carry Alex in. Madden
               sweeps the TAXIDERMY SPECIMENS back with his hand, clearing
               a space for Alex on the table. Among them...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      77.


               THE CROW on its Corvus Brachyrhynchos stand takes a small
               hop backward, this sign of life unnoticed as...

               RESUME WHUMP. Alex heaved onto the table.

                                     MADDEN
                         So was he dead? Or alive?

               The Secretary puts her ear to Alex's lifeless lips.

                                     CAPTAIN
                         I've seen birds stuffed and mounted
                         so lifelike you'd swear you saw
                         them breathing.

               This reminds him... he looks at the Crow on the stand.
               Lifeless, stuffed. As it should be.

                                     CAPTAIN (CONT'D)
                         Maybe we had a case of that here.
                              (to Secretary)
                         Get me my kit.

                                     MADDEN
                         You two are majorly demented. Anyone
                         ever tell you that?

               The Secretary steps off to grab thekit, leaving Alex's
               lifeless open eyes pointing toward Erin, reflected in his
               eyeballs first before...

               ANGLE - ERIN looking up at her own hands, bound above her
               as she eases them apart and...

               The HEART SHAPED LOCKET slips from between her palms and
               she closes them again in time to catch the chain, the locket
               swinging.

               ON THE TABLE X-CLOSE. The locket reflected in Alex's
               lifeless open eyes a second before...

               The Secretary returns, blocking the sightline. Lays out
               the Kit, nasty looking tools left over from the Inquisition.
               Then unbuttons Alex's tattered shirt, undressing him for
               the procedure.

               Stab wounds everywhere.

                                     SECRETARY
                         Fifty three?

                                     CAPTAIN
                         In all the excitement I kind of
                         lost count.
                              (then)
                         I think I'll mount him with his
                         head up his ass.

               A large KNIFE, the Lauren murder weapon, angles in at the
               base of Alex'sneck where the Secretary's head was.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      78.


               THE CROW - OVERCRANKED moves on the table. Takes flight.

               THE TRIO turn toward the commotion.

                                     CAPTAIN (CONT'D)
                         Grab it!

               THE LOCKET - OVERCRANKED Snatched in midair by the Crow
               from Erin's praying hands.

               FLASH!  ALEX/CROW'S INTERNAL POV HIGH ANGLE CROWVISION.
               Dim memories from the woods. Anamorphic and dark.

               Two figures--Alex and Erin--kneeling. RESUME - THE LOCKET
               released from the Crow's beak, passing through the TRIO'S
               HANDS uncaught, bouncing off Alex onto the table, in front
               of his open eyes.

               ALEX/CROW'S INTERNAL POV FLASH. AT GROUND LEVEL. Alex
               fastens the LOCKET around her neck. The distortion
               lessening, becoming Alex's POV.

                                     ALEX
                         ... it connects you to me...

               FLASH.

                                     ERIN
                         No matter what happens... you're
                         innocent... I promise...

               FLASH. Alex painting her face.

               RESUME Alex BLINKS. The Captain reacts--oh shit--starts to
               bring the knife down, a hurried strike at Alex's chest.

               WAM! Alex grabs the Captain's arm in his hand, stopping
               the movement on a dime.

                                     ALEX
                         All lies. Everything you ever showed
                         me.

               MADDEN pulls a gun, points it at Erin. ALEX jumps up, flying
               INTO the gun as it goes off.

               CRASH! They tumble THROUGH THE WINDOW into the Captain's
               office while...

               THE CAPTAIN cuts down the rope holding Erin. She
               collapses...

               ON THE TABLE strewn with blades, secreting one between her
               hands, in the second before...

               THE CAPTAIN drags Erin off. The Secretary flails at the
               Crow with a metal ROD, while...

               IN THE CAPTAIN'S OFFICE Madden has the gun on Alex now.
               BAM! No effect. BAM!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      79.


               Madden sweating it now, continuing to shoot with no effect
               as...

               THE MYSTERY ROOM The Secretary finally connects with the
               Crow, batting it against the wall, noticing this coincides
               with...

               Alex goes flying against the desk, winged himself. Madden
               c Onfused, not understanding.

                                     SECRETARY (O.S.)
                         It's the bird! Kill it!

               Madden wheels, points the gun through the busted-out picture
               window into...

               The SECRETARY dives for cover as bullets explode around
               her. The Crow dancing, sprayed with debris.

                                                                 CUT TO:

               INT. POLICE STATION - ELEVATOR - NIGHT

               CLOSE. Floor lights sequence above the door, heading for
               underground parking.

               "5 - 4 - 3..." The Captain watches the lights. Erin is
               slumped face first against the side of the elevator opposite
               him.

                                     CAPTAIN
                         You brought him back. Good. He
                         owes you. We'll stick together,
                         you and I.

               ON ERIN face pressed against the elevator wall, intent.

                                     CAPTAIN (CONT'D)
                         Seen but not heard. They ought to
                         make it a law.

               Erin winces, looks down...

               THE BLADE emerging from her sleeve as she tries to hold it
               with her two bound hands. DING. The elevator jerks to a
               stop.

               THE CAPTAIN grabs her off the floor and she RAMS the blade
               into his abdomen with the force of the entire body. Twists
               it. The elevator doors open.

               ERIN pulls out the blade, claws her way out the door, the
               Captain hanging on to her, finally getting free as she
               swipes at him again, drawing fresh blood. Running now,
               into...

               INT. POLICE STATION - PARKING GARAGE - NIGHT

               Erin stumbles between cars in the dark underground garage,
               cutting the cord off her hands, leaving it behind as...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      80.


               Behind her, the Captain unsteady on his feet, a wounded
               animal. He pulls out a GLOCK 9MM and KA-CHUNK. Cycles it.
               Erin dives between cars, scrambling on hands and knees.
               Looks around.

               HER POV - SCANNING a small garage with a few police cruisers
               by a SERVICE AREA and no people. A barred GATE over the
               exit. No way out.

               ERIN winces. Then stifles a cry as she cuts the stitches
               off her mouth with the knife. Drops the threads on the
               floor and moves off...

                                                                 CUT TO:

               INT. POLICE STATION - CAPTAIN'S OFFICE - NIGHT

               Alex runs past the glass AWARDS CASE, takes a flying leap
               behind the desk, seeking cover as Madden empties a clip at
               him.

               The slide ratchets back. Madden SLAMS another clip in,
               advances on Alex, hidden behind the shredded desk as...

               THE SECRETARY clears stuffed birds off the table trying to
               expose the wounded crow cowering back against the wall.

                                     SECRETARY
                         Here pretty bird. Here birdy.

               WHOP! She grabs it, the Crow flapping desperately as...

               IN THE CAPTAIN'S OFFICE Madden creeps up on the desk, peers
               over it. Nothing. Out of nowhere...

               WAM!  Alex rushes Madden, bulldozing him across the room
               with a pained cry of brute force toward...

               THE AWARDS CASE CRASH! Glass shatters as Alex hurls Madden,
               who swivels around in time to get off a last shot BAM!

               That collapses Alex to the floor.

               IN THE MYSTERY ROOM The Crow squeezes out of the Secretary's
               grasp, leaving her holding a couple feathers.

               AT THE AWARD'S CASE Alex hauls himself off the floor as
               the Crow joins him. Seeing...

               MADDEN'S HEAD has taken its place among glass bowls and
               trophies, half decapitated by the glass shelf it now rests
               on. Down the shelf from the stuffed bird. ALEX rushes
               through the blown out window into...

               Seeing for the first time that Erin is gone, the rope
               hanging from the ceiling, finding...

               THE SECRETARY

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      81.


                                     SECRETARY (CONT'D)
                         sitting on the floor, painting her
                         own toenails BLUE, leaning up
                         against the wall.

                                     ALEX
                         Where'd they go?

               Alex eases the Secretary to her feet with a hand around
               her neck, her back to the wall. She looks UP, smiling at...

               WALSH - RIGHT ARM MISSING hangs high overhead from some
               kind of hook. His arm has been crudely removed.

               Underneath him, on the table, a BOX of 2" surgical stainless
               steel rods sits by a pool of blood. ALEX yells, reeling,
               as...

               The door flies open. A half dozen cops in, all targeting
               Alex as...

               THE SECRETARY plunges the Lauren KNIFE in Alex's back. He
               spins violently THROWING her HARD against the wall. WAM!

               Surprise!-she sticks. REVEAL, she's impaled on ANTELOPE
               ANTLERS, hanging off the wall. Her head drops, looking
               down as a stream of blood flows down her legs, drips off
               her toes...

                                     SECRETARY
                              (dying words)
                         My nails.

               BAM BAM BAM. The new arrivals open fire. Alex reaches over
               his shoulder, yanks out the knife with an odd slurping
               sound as...

                                                                 CUT TO:

               INT. POLICE STATION - PARKING GARAGE

               The sound of GUNFIRE filters down from above as the Captain
               hunts his hidden prey. He stops, studies...

               ERIN'S POV - LOW ANGLE LOOKING UNDER A CAR The Captain's
               feet, joined by his hand as he picks up the thread she
               left on the ground.

               INCLUDE ERIN

                                     SECRETARY
                         reproving herself as she turns
                         toward camera. She looks back under
                         the car, but...

               The Captain's feet have moved off. Where? She listens,
               hears nothing. Slips off...

               NEW ANGLE - ERIN takes refuge in the service area, crouching
               behind stacks of TIRES. Knife at the ready.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      82.


               The Captain's FOOTSTEPS audible.

               HER OBSTRUCTED POV between stacks of tires, the Captain,
               Glock at ready, PASSES BY, moving out of sight. Footsteps
               RECEDING. Then silent.

               ERIN Listening, neurons firing.  Cranes her neck to see.
               Nothing. WIDER the Captain appears BEHIND ERIN, over the
               stacks of tires. She's oblivious, then...

               Erin wheels, slashes across his wrist. The Glock falls,
               Erin grabs it, levels it at the Captain. Her finger tense
               on the trigger.

                                     CAPTAIN
                              (re: gun)
                         I know you too well. You won't do
                         it.

                                     ERIN
                         You don't know me at all.

               BAM! She pulls the trigger, simultaneously wrenching the
               gun, aiming just enough off that...

               THE CAPTAIN yells in pain, rushes his hand to his ear, a
               bloody mess. He starts advancing again toward her and Erin
               pulls...

               THE TRIGGER again, again, again. No click, no blast.
               NOTHING.

               RESUME the Captain takes the gun from her. Shows her the
               CLIP he's carrying in his hand. Slams it into the gun.

                                     CAPTAIN
                         One in the chamber. That's all you
                         get.

               Erin SCREAMS as he drags her off now and...

                                                                 CUT TO:

               INT. MYSTERY ROOM - NIGHT

               THE CROW flies UP toward the small entry window. Alex
               follows, bullets exploding around him as he hauls himself
               up toward the windowledge.

               EXT. POLICE STATION - ROOFTOP

               ERRRKKK. The SOUND of a car in a hurry audible as Alex
               hauls himself out the small window. Runs to the edge,
               spotting...

               FAR BELOW a dark sedan leaving in a rush, wrapping around
               the corner of the police station now.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      83.


               INT. DARK SEDAN - TRAVELLING FAST - NIGHT

               The Captain nervous at the wheel. He looks over his
               shoulder...

               Erin's in the back seat, cuffed to the door handle.

               INT. POLICE STATION - MYSTERY ROOM

               The Sergeant and crew utterly speechless taking in the
               carnage.

                                     SERGEANT
                              (crossing himself)
                         Holy mother of God. The devil
                         himself.

               He looks up, where Alex vanished. Starts to climb.

               EXT. POLICE STATION - ROOFTOP - NIGHT

               Alex dashes over the articulated roof, trying to keep in
               sight...

               HIS MOVING POV partially obstructed, of the sedan below.
               Speeding around another corner now...

               ALEX alters course to cut the sedan off, jumping up onto a
               PARAPET where he totters over the vertical face as the
               sedan turning onto the street below.

               THE SERGEANT AND CREW emerge on the roof. Acquire target
               Alex Corvis.

                                     SERGEANT
                         Stop or...! Don't jump!

               WITH ALEX as he takes a flying dive off the building,
               intercepting...

               EXT. POLICE STATION - STREET #

               The Dark Sedan careening up the street leaving the city.
               WAM!

               INT. DARK SEDAN - TRAVELLING - NIGHT

               WAM! ERRRK! The Captain nearly jumps out of his skin, barely
               keeping control.

                                     CAPTAIN
                         What the fuck?

               Erin perks up in the back seat. Battered. Ever hopeful.

               EXT. CITY STREETS #6 - DARK SEDAN

               WIDE. As the speeding car passes under a streetlight, we
               see a HUMAN FIGURE standing on top of it, legs spread,
               arms upstretched.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      84.


               PUNCH IN... CLOSE. The Figure, Alex, strikes downward,
               right THROUGH the glass moonroof.

               CRASH!  IN THE SEDAN the Captain horrified as Alex's hand
               yanks his own right off the wheel and up, through the
               moonroof...

               ON THE ROOF OF THE SEDAN Alex kneels now, holding the
               Captain's arm up as he jacks the sleeve down exposing...

               THE ZIGZAG PATTERN, THE MORTIFIED FLESH held in Alex's
               hand like the trophy it is.

                                                          FADE TO BLACK.

               INT. GARRISON'S PRISON - EXECUTION CHAMBER - NIGHT

               Alex's voice appears. Calm. Unhurried.

                                     ALEX'S VOICE
                         The Jolt, eight amps at two to
                         three thousand volts. It lasts a
                         few seconds. The current surges
                         and is turned off.

               FIND ALEX'S FACE in the darkness. Moving as he performs
               some unseen task. Intent, focussed.

                                     ALEX'S VOICE (CONT'D)
                         They wait for the body to cool,
                         then check to see if the heart is
                         still beating.

               FIND ERIN, in the darkness, listening to Alex's voice.

               She touches her mouth, little drops of dried blood where
               the wounds are already healing.

                                     ALEX'S VOICE (CONT'D)
                         If it is... ba-boom, ba-boom...
                         another jolt is applied.

               SLOW FADE IN as our eyes adjust to the dim light.

                                     ALEX'S VOICE (CONT'D)
                         Experts say unconsciousness occcurs
                         before pain has time to register.
                         They agree electrocution does not
                         "hurt," could not hurt. But it
                         does. Unimaginably. Believe me.

               We're in the death chamber. Dark. Claustrophobic.

               The only light a few panel indicators and spill from the
               door open from the adjacent observation room to the outside.
               Alex looks at the phone on the wall. Silent.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      85.


                                     ALEX
                         I don't expect a call from the
                         Governor. Any last words? Captain,
                         my Captain?

               REVEAL the Captain in the chair. A private execution. Erin
               slumped along a side wall. Totally inscrutable. Intense.

                                     CAPTAIN
                         Yeah. Fuck you.

               A long beat of silence.

                                     ALEX
                         Was that it? Well, ok.

                                     CAPTAIN
                         I'm not dying for your goddamn
                         illusions. You got that? You think
                         you and your girlfriend had some
                         rosy future ahead of you? Bullshit.
                         She was already bored, why do you
                         think she was looking around? You're
                         nothing, Corvis! Less than nothing.

               A Figure wipes through frame moving toward the switch. The
               Captain's voice rising as he senses time running out.

                                     CAPTAIN (CONT'D)
                         You can't do this to me you little
                         fucks!  I'll come back, just like
                         you, a big fucking shit spewing
                         bird and three guesses what little
                         bitch I'm taking out first...

               CLOSE. The switch thrown. ZZZZZTTT. PAN UP off the switch
               to...

                                     ERIN
                         You are so dead.

               She glances at the Captain, fibrillating in the chair,
               starts to move off. Then stops, near Alex, looking with
               him at...

               THEIR POV - THE ZIGZAG SCAR fibrillating, as we PUSH into
               seething detail.

               Writhing bodies, human suffering, a hellish miasma that
               draws us in until we turn our heads away, released.

                                                                 CUT TO:

               EXT. GARRISON PRISON - WITNESS ENTRANCE - DAWN

               Alex and Erin exit the visitor's entrance, met by the Crow
               and the first rays of morning light.

               He puts his arm around her and she places her hand over
               his.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      86.


                                     ERIN
                         You want to get some breakfast?
                              (then)
                         What I mean is... I don't know how
                         this works, but...

               He stops, face to face now.

                                     ERIN (CONT'D)
                         In the woods you said you had
                         nothing. But you wouldn't, and I
                         wouldn't if there's some way you
                         don't have to go. Please. At least
                         not right away.

                                     ALEX
                         Erin. I'll always be with you.

               For a split second, she's...

               LAUREN Smiling. Sublime. She kisses him. As the break off,
               it's...

               ERIN AGAIN She hangs on a long moment before letting go.
               Then she spots something...

               ON THE GROUND - A SIGN carried by one of the protestors.
               "Remember the Victim." With a picture of Lauren. Someone
               has written a bold "s" after it. "Remember the Victims."
               ERIN picks up the sign.

                                     ERIN
                         Alex. Look at this.

               She turns to Alex. But he's gone. She tries to keep it
               together as...

               CAMERA BOOMS up leaving her alone outside the prison walls,
               with her memories, and her conscience, and her hopes, which
               is alot.

               As a DUSTDEVIL whips up in the parking lot, she drops the
               sign, and starts to CRY.

                                     ERIN'S VOICE
                         In that moment when Alex went...
                         wherever he went... when he made
                         that choice, I knew I was making a
                         choice too. To be alive. In the
                         world. And it made me cry.

                                                                 CUT TO:

               INT. MYSTERY ROOM - DAWN

               CAMERA FINDS Walsh, laid out on the table now, missing arm
               mercifully away from us. The CROW alights nearby, something
               in its beak.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      87.


                                     ERIN'S VOICE
                         Maybe the world is a bad place but
                         the Captain gone has to be some
                         improvement. And that hope, that
                         tomorrow will be better, is enough
                         to keep me going.

               The Crow flaps off, REVEALING the WHITE KING, laid by
               Walsh's head. CAMERA keeps MOVING, FINDING..

               The Crow, on the stand marked Corvis Brachyrhynchos, stuffed
               and mute.

               Its eyes blink a last time, then are motionless.

                                                            DISSOLVE TO:

               EXT. CEMETARY - LAUREN AND ALEX'S GRAVES

               X-CLOSE. JOURNAL. A not-too-loopy feminine hand, writing
               the words we are hearing.

                                     ERIN'S VOICE
                         When I think of Lauren fighting
                         and dying, it tears me apart, but
                         it also reassures me. That Lauren
                         and Alex were meant for each other.

               REVEAL... Erin is writing the journal, but she's a radically
               transformed wild child.

               A shock of vividly colored dreadlocks, some of the holes
               that stitched her mouth shut kept permanently open by studs.

                                     ERIN'S VOICE (CONT'D)
                         That they're together now. Fighters.
                         United by love. And anger. That
                         they've given also to me.

               She's leaning up against a new headstone.

               "Alex Corvis 1981-1999 Always With Us."

                                     ERIN
                         I love Alex. As my sister always
                         hoped I would. And I love Lauren.
                         And I know, because of this, that
                         love does not die. I'm alive.
                         Thinking of them. Hoping that,
                         sometimes, they're thinking of me.

               Erin stops writing, closes the journal, stands. She takes
               the Locket off her neck, drapes it over Alex's headstone,
               like the one already over Lauren's.

               She stares at the two a moment, then puts her index finger
               to her lips, transfers kisses to the two stones. And leaves.

               THE END