"Lord of Illusions" -- by Clive Barker



	TITLE SEQUENCE


	As the credits run, we INTERCUT the following two sequences:


	EXT. NEVADA DESERT - IDOLS - DAY


	A SLOW DRIFT through a collection of crudely constructed,
	surreal, six-foot tall "IDOLS."  Like modern demons. 
	Grotesque.  Disturbing. WE LAP DISSOLVE between details of
	their twisted anatomies:  headlamp eyes, bright metal claws,
	broken glass teeth.

	EXT. NEVADA ROADS - DESERT - DAY

	Two vehicles, one a Volkswagen "bus" decorated with stylized
	flames, the other a '66 Thunderbird, speeding along a series
	of eerily empty desert roads, somewhere in a wilderness of
	sand and heat.

	END CREDITS.

				CUT WIDE TO;

	EXT. NEVADA DESERT - DAY

	A violent WIND HOWLS around, but through the sand we-can just
	make out a large, ominous building:  the HOUSE of William
	Nix.  Its walls are white-washed and scrawled with GRAFFITI. 
	The "family" of IDOLS surrounds the doorway, guarding it. ON
	SCREEN, the words:  '"Nevada - Thirteen Years Ago"

	EXT. NIX'S HOUSE - DAY

	We're at the front door now, which stands open.  Leaning
	against the door-frame is a scrawny, wild-eyed YOUTH, about
	sixteen.  His name is BUTTERFIELD.  He's got a brooding,
	almost sultry look on his face.  One of his eyes is black,
	the other milky blue.  He's whittling something with a
	scalpel. Distantly, the sound of CAR ENGINES.  Butterfield
	narrows his eyes.

	BUTTERFIELD'S P.O.V.

	The Volkswagen "bus" and Thunderbird are approaching the
	house.

				BUTTERFIELD
			(softly)
		Swann...?

	He turns from the door.  In his haste he drops the WOOD he's
	whittling.  He's been carving a DEATH'S HEAD.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - ROOMS AND CORRIDORS - DAY

	The house no longer serves any domestic function.  It has
	become the temple and dormitory of Nix's small apocalyptic
	cult.  As we go through the house with Butterfield we glimpse
	a little of what life here is like. 

	The rooms are murky, and chaotic.  The walls, PAINTED with
	scenes of cities and landscapes BURNING, and creatures from
	some unspeakable nightmare ATTACKING, RAPING, and DEVOURING
	helpless humanity.  The atmosphere is joyless, and
	oppressive. 

	The passages become progressively darker as the boy makes his
	way to the heart of the house.  Only OIL LAMPS, set on the
	floor, light these claustrophobic corridors.

				BUTTERFIELD
		Master?

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - MEDITATION ROOM - DAY

	A dozen CULTISTS sit cross-legged on the floor in front of
	their leader, WILLIAM NIX.  His black hair grows to his
	shoulders.  His eyes are deep and glittering, his voice
	seductive.  A terrifying yet charismatic presence. 

	All the Cultists - who are a cross-section of obsessives -
	wear the same simple T-shirts, painted with the cult's SIGIL. 
	They watch Nix in adoration. 

	As Nix speaks, he juggles a FLAME, passing it from hand to
	hand with casual ease...

				NIX
		And the fire said to me:  Nix, Nix,
		you're my instrument. From now on,
		you'll be called the Puritan...

				CULTISTS
			(murmuring)
		Puritan...

	NIX You will find a few good men and women, and together,
	together you will cleanse the world.

				CULTISTS
		Yes...

	Butterfield enters. 

				BUTTERFIELD
		Master?

	Nix looks up.

				BUTTERFIELD
		Swann's here. 

	Nix rises, smiling.

				NIX
			(to Cultists)
		We'll come back to this. Get about
		your business. 

	As the Cultists disperse, Nix and Butterfield exit into

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - SANCTUM - DAY

	A place of nightmares. Hanging from the middle of the ceiling
	is another grotesque SCULPTURE, three times the bulk of a
	large man, and made of metal, fly-blown animal parts and
	knotted rope.  It is vaguely cruciform, but its swaying,
	creaking bulk is not even faintly Christian.  It is a
	perverse, sickening image, evoking insanity and agony.

	From the shadows in the corner, we hear a young girl's soft
	SOBBING.

				NIX
		Hush...

	Nix goes to the GIRL.  She is twelve; beautiful, blonde, and
	presently in a state of mortal fear.  She sits, bound, in a
	fetal position, her face soaked with SWEAT and TEARS, her
	mouth BLOODIED, her cheek BRUISED.

				NIX
		I said hush.

				GIRL
		Please.  Let me go.

	From the opposite corner the SCREECH of Nix's pet BABOON. 
	Nix goes to it.  The animal is large and lethal.

				NIX
			(to Baboon)
		What is it?

	The Baboon pulls on its chain, staring at the Girl and baring
	its teeth as it screeches.

				NIX
			(to Girl)
		I think he's in love.

	He unshackles the Baboon.  The animal pads toward the Girl,
	trailing its chain.

				GIRL
		Keep it away from me.

	Nix catches hold of its chain.  Holds it back.  The Baboon
	starts screeching again, scrabbling at the Girl, its NAILS
	catching her arms and legs, drawing BLOOD.

				GIRL
		Please... please...

	Nix watches her terror dispassionately.

				BUTTERFIELD
			(also watching, wide-
		eyed)
		Want me to shoot Swann?

				NIX
		You don't like him, do you?

				BUTTERFIELD
		He wants your magic.

				NIX
		Maybe.  Go fetch him.

	Butterfield exits.  Nix advances on the Girl.

				GIRL
		What are you going to do?

				CUT TO:

	EXT. NIX'S HOUSE - DESERT - DAY

	The two vehicles come to a halt outside Nix's house.

	From the Thunderbird steps PHILIP SWANN, a nineteen- year-old
	with shoulder-length hair and brilliant blue eyes.  He's not
	conventionally handsome, but he's certainly striking. 

	From the passenger seat steps CASPAR QUAID, a black man,
	studious and intense.  From the bus emerges MURRAY PIMM,
	skinny and jittery, and JENNIFER DESIDERIO, a woman with a
	steely gaze.

				SWANN
			(to all three)
		Are we ready?

				JENNIFER
			(cool)
		Say the word.

				PIMM
			(very nervous)
		Look, maybe we should think this over.

	On Swann, as he brings from his car three very bizarre pieces
	of METALWORK.  We get only a tantalizing glimpse of them, as
	he slips them into his pocket.

				SWANN
		No.  He's gone too far.

				PIMM
		So he took a child.

				JENNIFER
		He'll kill her.

				PIMM
		No he won't.

				SWANN
			(determined)
		He's not going to get the chance.

	Quaid checks a gun, then slips it into his belt.

				QUAID
		If he gets in our fucking heads he'll drive us crazy.

				SWANN
		So stay out here.

	Swann starts towards the House.  Jennifer is the first to
	follow, with the other two on her heels.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - HALLWAY - DAY

	Butterfield comes to the door, as Swann steps inside.

				BUTTERFIELD
		He's expecting you.

	Behind Swann, Quaid and Pimm exchange nervous looks.

				SWANN
			(to others)
		Look around.  If you find 'the
		child, yell.  She's got blonde
		hair, that's all I know.

	Butterfield turns away, smiling to himself.  Swann follows
	him.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - "MEDITATION" ROOM - DAY

	Quaid looks into a large circular room where FIVE CULTISTS
	(three men and two women) still sit.  One of the women is
	breast-feeding a baby.

				1ST MAN
		Hey, Quaid.  I thought you said you
		weren't coming back.

				QUAID
		I changed my mind.

				1ST WOMAN
		Come and join us.

	She smiles a crazy smile.  Reaches out for Quaid.  A SNAKE
	appears from around the back of her neck.  Quaid recoils. 

	And now we see that there are snakes everywhere.  In the
	Cultists' clothes and hair.  Even on the baby.  Quaid turns
	away.  And - shock! - there's a SNAKE on the door frame,
	winding around his hand.  He strikes it to the ground, and
	drives his heel down on its head.

				SNAKE-HANDLER CULTIST
			(angry)
		Don't do that!

	The Snake-Handler gets up.  Quaid retreats from the door. 
	Snake-Handler picks up the dead snake and, lifting it above
	his head, dribbles its BLOOD onto his face.

	INT.   NIX'S  HOUSE  -   "BEDROOM"   -  DAY

	Jennifer enters a gloomy room.  She goes to a mattress where
	a BLONDE GIRL lies with her bare back to us.

				JENNIFER
		Don't be afraid.

	The Blonde Girl, BARBARA, turns over.  She has a dirty cloth
	pressed to a wound between her breasts.  It is not the Girl,
	of course.  She stares up at Jennifer, clearly drugged.

				BARBARA
		I'm not... want to see?

	She pulls the cloth away.  She has carved the cult SIGIL into
	her FLESH.  The BLOODY KNIFE lies beside her. Jennifer
	retreats to the door, and exits back out into --

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - PASSAGEWAY - DAY

	Pimm is standing against the wall, clutching a CRUCIFIX. He
	is ashen with terror.  Jennifer snatches the crucifix from
	his white-knuckled fingers.

				PIMM
		He's going to kill us all...

				JENNIFER
		Where did Swann go?

	Pimm points down the passageway towards Nix's room.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - PASSAGEWAY OUTSIDE NIX'S SANCTUM - DAY

	Swann wipes sweat from his upper lip, then reaches down to
	his belt, to check the GUN tucked out of sight at his side. 
	He turns the door handle.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - SANCTUM - DAY

	Swann steps inside.  Nix's chair has its back to him. The
	folds of Nix's robe are visible, however.  Swann hears a
	muffled SOBBING from the far side of the room. 

	On the Girl, now gagged and lying amongst bones and filth.

	Swann starts towards her, his footsteps barely audible.  As
	he approaches the chair - the Baboon leaps at him screeching!

	He reaches for his gun.  The chair topples.  The Baboon, half
	dressed in Nix's robes, bounds towards Swann. 

	Swann FIRES at it.  The bullet blasts off half its head.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - PASSAGEWAY - DAY

	On Quaid, who draws his GUN as three CULTISTS appear in the
	passageway that leads to Nix's Sanctum.

				QUAID
		Stay the fuck away!
			(yells)
		Pimm!  Get over here!

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - SANCTUM - DAY

	PAN UP from the twitching Baboon corpse to Swann as he
	struggles with the Girl's gag.  He has laid his gun on the
	ground beside her.

				SWANN
		You're going to be okay.

	Out of focus, behind him, the cruciform sculpture swings
	round.  Nix is hanging on it, like an idol on a grotesque
	altarpiece. 

	The Girl sees Nix over Swann's shoulder.  Terror crosses her
	face.  Swann turns.

				NIX
		I knew you'd come. 

	He reaches down to Swann.

				NIX
		I've got so much power to give
		you, Swann.  All you have to do
		is...beg.

				SWANN
		Fuck you.

				NIX
		You don't think I've got it to
		give?

				SWANN
		No!

	Suddenly. Nix swoops down on Swann. apparently defying
	gravity.

				NIX
		You're wrong.

	He catches hold of Swann with one hand and drives him back
	against the wall.

				NIX
		I could eat your fucking soul,
		Swann.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - PASSAGEWAY - DAY

	Jennifer, reaches the door of the Sanctum.  Butterfield steps
	from the shadows.  His KNIFE flashes as it strikes Jennifer's
	hand.  BLOOD SPURTS.

				JENNIFER
		Fuck!

	She retreats, staunching her bleeding hand.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - SANCTUM - DAY

	Nix has Swann trapped against the wall and is working his
	fingers against Swann's temples.  Working, working, like a
	psychic surgeon plying against the belly of a patient.

				NIX
		You want to know what the world
		really looks like?

	Swann struggles, but he can't get free of Nix's hold. 

	And now -- horribly -- Nix's fingers slide beneath the skin
	of Swann's temples, without a drop of blood being spilt.

				NIX
		Want to see flesh with a god's
		eyes?

	Swann SCREAMS as Nix's mind-hold seizes him.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - PASSAGEWAY - DAY

	Quaid levels his gun at Butterfield, who is guarding the
	Sanctum door.  Jennifer is at Quaid's side.

				SWANN (V.O.)
		Aah!

				QUAID
		Get away from the door!

	Butterfield shakes his head.  Quaid FIRES.  The bullet.
	strikes the wall beside Butterfield's head.  He retreats,
	growling like a rabid animal.  Quaid kicks the Sanctum door
	open, and enters.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - SANCTUM - DAY

				QUAID
		Swann?

				NIX
			(to Quaid)
		Here he is.

	Swann stumbles into the middle of the room, the whites of his
	eyes blood-red.

				NIX
		Take a look, Swann!  These are your
		friends.

	On Swann, reeling like a drunkard as he looks up at Quaid and
	Jennifer.

				JENNIFER (V.O.)
		What have you done to him? 

SWANN'S P.O.V.

	of Quaid and Jennifer.  To Swann's eyes, their faces seem to
	be MORPHING.  Their humanity is MELTING AWAY. What's left is
	like a jellyfish with black, soulless eyes:  PRIMEVAL MUCK.

				QUAID (V.O.)
		Swann.  It's okay.

	Quaid reaches for Swann, who retreats in horror, shaking his
	head violently.

				SWANN
		Don't touch me.  He's got... got
		into my head.

				NIX
		You want to be like that, Swann? 
		Mud and shit?

	Swann turns away from Quaid and Jennifer in disgust.

	SWANN'S P.O.V. 

	of Nix, his arms outstretched in welcome.  His face has an
	aura of pulsing light.

				NIX
		Come here.  Share the power.

	ON a GUN, leveled. .We don't see by whom.  The trigger is
	pulled. 

	The bullet strikes Nix's back and explodes out of his chest.

	ON SWANN, staring at Nix. 

	SWANN'S P.O.V. of Nix, as the aura of light dies. 

	Just for a moment - a terrible moment - Swann glimpses
	something else. MORPHING out of Nix's features.  A NIGHTMARE
	FACE with waves of DARKNESS emanating from the middle of its
	forehead. 

	Swann covers his eyes.

				NIX
			(raging, terrifying)
		Swann!  Swann!

	Nix staggers, letting out an ungodly HOWL, and drops to his
	knees, clutching the WOUND.  As he falls, he reveals the
	ashen Girl, who is still holding Swann's smoking GUN.

				NIX
			(a roar)
		Help me!

	Swann shakes his head, ridding himself of Nix's mind-
	control.

				SWANN
		Jesus-

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - PASSAGEWAY OUTSIDE SANCTUM - DAY

	Pinon stands guard, his gun pointed on several cultists.

				1ST CULTIST
			(with distressing
		confidence)
		You can't kill him.

				2ND CULTIST
		He'll just rise up again!

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - SANCTUM - DAY

	On Nix, doing just that:  rising up.  Right hand clamped to
	his bloody chest, left hand reaching for Swann.

				NIX
		Help me!

	Quaid FIRES at him again. Strikes his shoulder.  And again. 
	Strikes his leg.  Nix collapses to the ground,

				JENNIFER
		Quickly!

	They have come prepared for this.  Swann now takes from his
	jacket the three strange pieces of METALWORK.  There are
	SCREWS in then all.

				NIX
			(seeing)
		Swann?  What are you doing?

				SWANN
		Binding you.

	He clamps one of the pieces over Nix's EYES.  It fits like an
	eyeless mask.  Nix thrashes and SCREAMS.  Swann lays his
	hands on the side of the mask, and  LIKE MAGIC -- his touch
	makes the screws tighten of their own accord, grinding into
	Nix's flesh and bone with a gut- wrenching SOUND.  BLOOD runs
	from the screw-holes.

				NIX
		Fuck you, Swann!  Fuck you!

	Now the second piece, over his MOUTH.

				NIX
		Sw

	He's silenced.  The piece screws itself into-his head, like
	the first.  And now comes the third and final piece:  over
	the nose and into the ears.  Again, it screws itself into
	place. 

	Swann has done all he can.  He retreats from Nix's body, as
	it continues to convulse.  We go from face to ashen face, as
	each man and woman watches and waits.  Why won't he die? 

	And now, at last  the violence of Nix's death-throes
	diminishes.  Nix's body bends like a bow, arching off the
	ground, and with one last, terrible spasm, he dies.

				GIRL
			(quietly)
		Is it finished?

				SWANN
		It's finished.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - PASSAGEWAY - DAY

	The Cultists' faces slacken, as though some mental hold Nix
	had upon them has disappeared.  Then they start to retreat,
	their confidence and courage gone. 

	Pimm steps into the Sanctum.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - SANCTUM - DAY

	The five assassins, including the Girl, stand around Nix's
	body.  Swann has his arm around the Girl.

				PIMM
		Dead?

				QUAID
		Dead.

				PIMM
		What now?

				SWANN
		We bury him so deep no one will
		ever find him.

				CUT TO:

	EXT. NIX'S .HOUSE - WIDE SHOT - DUSK

	The wind has died away.  It's eerily calm.  Butterfield
	dashes towards camera, then halts. 

	HE LOOKS BACK, as Nix's killers load his huge, limp CORPSE
	into the back of Murray Pimm's bus. 

	ON Butterfield.  He watches, with a feral look on his face.

				FADE OUT

				FADE IN

	EXT. LOS ANGELES - MONTAGE - DAY

	The city looks magical in the spring light, its palms and
	gleaming towers, its rivers of sun-baked traffic, evoking
	some fantastical metropolis.  This, for all its smog and
	congestion, is a city of exoticism and enchantments.

	ON SCREEN, the words:  "LOS ANGELES - THIRTEEN YEARS LATER"

	EXT. STARDUST HOTEL - DAY

	The facade of this small HOTEL off Hollywood Boulevard needs
	a lick of paint, and the neon sign is blinking fitfully, but
	it has a certain charm.

	INT. STARDUST HOTEL - LOBBY - DAY

	A large deteriorating mural of Hollywoodland, depicting a
	host of 50's movie stars, dominates the lobby. 
	At the front desk - with his back to us at present - stands
	HARRY D'AMOUR.  He is having difficulty getting the pretty
	but vacant BLONDE at the reception desk to comprehend his
	name.

				BLONDE GIRL
		How'd you spell that again?

				HARRY
		D.A.M.O.U.R.  D'Amour.  Harry
		D'Amour.

				BLONDE GIRL
		D'Amour.

				HARRY
		Right.

				BLONDE GIRL
		Isn't that French for something?

	ON THE BELLBOY, approaching Harry from the front door.

				BELLBOY
		Mister D'Amour?

				HARRY
			(to Blonde)
		Yeah.  It's French.

				BLONDE GIRL
		For love, right?

				BELLBOY
		Mister D'Amour?

				HARRY
			(to Blonde)
		Right.

				BLONDE GIRL
			(grinning)
		That's so cool.

				BELLBOY
		Mister D'Amour?

	Harry turns.  He's wearing a washed-out Grateful Dead t-
	shirt, an Italian cut linen suit, and glasses.  He's
	handsome, unshaven, 35-ish, with an open easy smile.

				HARRY
		Yeah?

				BELLBOY
		You haven't paid the cab.  He won't
		give us your bags 'til you pay him.

				HARRY
		How much?

				BELLBOY
		Thirty-five bucks.

				HARRY
		Tell him he can keep them. The
		Bellboy looks puzzled.

				HARRY
		Just kidding.

	Harry gets out his wallet and hands over four ten-dollar
	bills.

				HARRY
		I've got my life in there.

	INT. HARRY'S HOTEL ROOM - DAY

	On the suit-case, which is now on the bed.  Harry flings it
	open.  Inside, mingled with the clothes, a bizarre collection
	of items, which he tosses out onto the coverlet.  A GUN.  A
	CRUCIFIX.  A STATUE of Shiva, the Hindu Lord of creation and
	destruction. 

	ON HARRY, as he heads into the bathroom.  Turns on the
	shower.  Starts to undress.

	EXT. STARDUST HOTEL - DUSK

	Harry, his hair still wet from his shower, steps out into the
	sun.  Squints.  Puts on sunglasses.

				HARRY
		Hello, L.A.

				BELLBOY
		Have a nice evening, Mr. D'Amour.

				HARRY
		You bet.

	EXT. MELROSE RESTAURANT - NIGHT

	Harry stands, in a shabby doorway across the street from a
	classy restaurant.  It's RAINING.
	ON TAPERT, a middle-aged, balding man with a very pretty
	WOMAN opposite him, sitting at a table close to the window. 
	Tapert makes a joke (unheard).  The woman laughs. 

	ON HARRY, chewing on a hamburger, as he speaks into his tape
	recorder.

				HARRY
		Nine-eighteen p.m.  Tapert's either
		got a great sense of humour or he's
		paying her to laugh.
			(looks at hamburger in
		disgust)
		Jesus.

	On Tapert, as he rises from the table.

				HARRY
			(into tape recorder)
		He's finished.

	Tapert exits the restaurant, and crosses the street. Harry
	tosses his half-eaten hamburger away, and goes to his car.

	EXT. HARRY'S CAR - MELROSE - NIGHT

	Harry pulls the parking ticket off the windshield, screws it
	up and gets in.

	INT. HARRY'S CAR - MELROSE - NIGHT

				HARRY
			(into tape)
		Nine twenty-six p.m.  He's off
		again.

	He turns the key in the ignition.

				CUT  TO:

	EXT. QUAID'S OFFICES - SILVERLAKE - NIGHT

	In neon blue and purple, a sign blazes in a store window.  It
	reads:  TAROT CARD AND CRYSTAL READINGS - $15 SPECIAL

	ON TAPERT, as he hurries across the street, and through the
	door beside the store window. 

	WE PAN OFF the door as Harry's car comes to a halt on the far
	side of the street. 

	Harry gets out of the car.  Stares at the sign in the window,
	puzzled.

				HARRY
		Superstitious?

	He starts across the street.  Suddenly:

				TAPERT (V.O.)
		Oh my God!

	Tapert emerges, his face white with terror.  He stumbles to
	his car, and he's away.  Harry freezes, caught between the
	need to follow Tapert and sheer curiosity. He gives in to the
	latter, and steps inside.

	INT. QUAID'S OFFICES - STAIRWELL - NIGHT

	An illuminated ARROW points up the stairs.  Harry ascends,
	past faded PHOTOGRAPHS of Caspar Quaid with famous faces.

	At the landing, the passageway turns ninety degrees. Harry
	halts, and takes out his GUN. 

	There's a strange RUMBLING SOUND approaching from round the
	corner.  Harry chances a look.  There's a short length of
	passageway, leading to an open door.  From the threshold a
	CRYSTAL BALL rolls towards Harry, BLOOD- SMEARED.  This is
	the source of the rumbling.  Harry stops the ball before it
	falls down the stairs. 

	Dead silence.  After a beat, Harry creeps towards the open
	door.  He pushes it open.  Inside, chaos.  The fake antique
	FURNITURE is splintered, the ASTRAL CHARTS slashed.

	INT. QUAID'S OFFICES - WAITING ROOM - NIGHT

	There are two offices.  In the front, a Waiting Room, into
	which Harry now steps.  Beyond it, through a door that stands
	narrowly ajar, the Fortune Telling Room. 

	From out of the Fortune Telling Room, a MOAN.

				QUAID (V.O.)
		Ahh. . .

	Harry crosses the Waiting Room, reaching into his jacket for
	his gun.  Suddenly, a nightmarish FIGURE leaps from the
	shadows. 

	His name is RAY MILLER.  He's as crazy as a rabid dog, teeth
	sharpened, eyes wild.  Nix's SIGIL is tattooed on the middle
	of his forehead.  He STRIKES the GUN from Harry's hand and
	goes for his throat. 

	Harry reaches out behind him, picks up a phrenologist's BUST
	and SMASHES it on Miller's skull. 

	Miller reels back.  Harry makes a dash for the door to the
	Fortune Telling Room.

				MILLER
		Fuckhead.

	INT. QUAID'S OFFICES - FORTUNE-TELLING ROOM - NIGHT

	A mysterious, candle-lit space.  In the middle of the room, a
	table.  At it sits Quaid. thirteen years older. He has been
	tortured close to death.  Several small SCALPELS protrude
	from his chest and neck.  His life is ebbing away.  On the
	table in front of him, a fan of TAROT CARDS, BLOOD-SPATTERED.

	Harry races in through the open door from the Waiting Room.

				HARRY
		What the fuck!?

	Harry picks up the PHONE.  It's dead.  Miller charges at the
	door.

				HARRY
		Shit!

	Harry SLAMS the door in Miller's face, and locks it. 

	As he does so, the candles FLICKER.  Harry looks up.  A
	FIGURE looms from the darkness behind Quaid.  He's in his
	late twenties:  an androgynous, disturbing sight. His long
	hair is drawn back into a pony-tail.  His mismatched eyes -
	one black, one milky blue, tell us that he is Butterfield. 
	His hands are BLOODY, and he carries one last SCALPEL.

				HARRY
			(to Butterfield)
		Don't touch him."

	Butterfield strokes the wounds on Quaid's cheek.  Quaid sobs
	in pain. 

				BUTTERFIELD
		What are you going to do about it? 

	Miller's hand tears at the wood around the lock from the
	other side.  His fingers appear, scrabbling to tear the lock
	out.  Harry doesn't move, or Miller will be through.

				BUTTERFIELD
			(to Harry)
		Ever watched a man die?  If you
		watch very closely, you can
		sometimes see the soul escaping. 
		And if you're very quick, you can
		catch it.

				QUAID
		Please... Butterfield... I wasn't
		there.  Ask Pimm.

				BUTTERFIELD
		Pimm's dead.  Jennifer Desiderio's
		disappeared.  They knew the Puritan
		was coming home. 

	As this exchange goes on, Miller pulls the lock out of the
	door and starts to THROW HIMSELF against it from the other
	side.  It's all Harry can do to keep himself from being
	pitched across the room.  He looks around for some means of
	defense.  There's a crack in the drapes to the left of the
	table.  Behind it a WINDOW.

				BUTTERFIELD
		So do you.  You've seen the future. 
		Haven't you?

				QUAID
		Yes.

				BUTTERFIELD
		And are you afraid?

				QUAID
		Yes.

	Suddenly, Harry steps aside.  The door's flung open. Miller
	CHARGES in.  Harry catches hold of his arm, and THROWS him
	against the drape.  The window CRACKS; the drape comes down
	around Miller.  Amber STREETLIGHT floods in. 

	Butterfield is momentarily distracted.  Harry STRIKES the
	scalpel from his hands. 

	Miller, meanwhile, is struggling to free himself from the
	folds of the drapes.  Harry lands a solid KICK to the man's
	belly.  Miller is THROWN back against the cracked window,
	which SHATTERS.  Still wrapped in the drape, he FALLS OUT. 

	Harry turns back to arrest Butterfield, but he's already
	making his escape.  Harry starts after him.

				QUAID
			(to Harry)
		Don't leave me.

	He turns back.  TEARS are pouring down the man's face. Harry
	goes back to comfort Quaid, as Butterfield escapes down the
	stairs.


				HARRY
		You need an ambulance.

				QUAID
			(in pain)
		Too late.  Why are you here? Did
		you cone... up here for a reading? 

	Quaid takes hold of Harry's hand.

				HARRY
		NO ... I...

	Quaid stares at Harry's HAND.  Fascinated, he momentarily
	forgets his pain.  He traces the lines with bloody fingers.

				QUAID
			(quietly)
		My God.

				HARRY
		What?

				QUAID
		You've taken some strange
		journeys in your life.

				HARRY
		Yeah.  You could say that.

				QUAID
		You're drawn to the dark side, over
		and over.  And it's drawn to you.
			(looks at Harry)
		You don't like that.

				HARRY
		Not much.

				QUAID
		You can't change it.  You have to
		walk...
			(coughs)
		...walk the line between Heaven and
		Hell.  It's your destiny.  Accept
		it.

	Harry takes his hand from Quaid's grip.  Quaid winces in
	pain.

				HARRY
		Hold on.

				QUAID
		I'm not afraid to die.  There's
		something terrible... coming
		home...

				HARRY
		The Puritan?

				QUAID
		Yes...

				HARRY
		Who is he? 

	Quaid shudders, and dies.

				HARRY
			(softly; sadly)
		Shit.

	He looks away, down at the CARDS.  All have been turned over
	but ONE.  He turns it.  The card is the Ten of Swords which
	pictures a prostrate man against a thunderous sky, pierced by
	all ten swords.  An image of death and desolation.

	EXT. QUAID'S OFFICES - ALLEY BEHIND BUILDING - NIGHT

	The flashing LIGHTS of two patrol cars illuminate the scene. 
	DETECTIVE EDDISON, a surfer-turned-policeman with buzz-cut
	blond hair, heads along the alley with Harry.  He's midway
	through taking Harry's statement. There are already two
	OFFICERS examining the drapes.  We can't yet see the body.

				EDDISON
			(to Harry)
		What were you doing up there?

				HARRY
		I'm a private detective.  I was
		hired to follow somebody for a few
		days.  A guy called Tapert.
		Insurance fraud.

				EDDISON
			(writing)
		Tapert.  So, now I've got Tapert,
		Butterfield.

				HARRY
		Tapert's got nothing to do with
		this.  He came here to get his palm
		read.

				EDDISON
		What makes you so sure?

				HARRY
			(shrugs)
		I got a file on him two inches
		thick.  He's a petty fraudster.
		This is something else.  Ever heard
		of someone called the Puritan?

				EDDISON
		New one on me.
			(to Officer)
		Okay.  Let's see him.

	OFFICER #l shakes his head, and opens up the drape. Broken
	GLASS drops from the folds, but that's all. Miller has gone.

				EDDISON
		Where the fuck is he?

				HARRY
		He got up and walked.

				EDDISON
			(looking up at window)
		After that fall?. He must have
		broken half his bones.

	WE MOVE IN ON HARRY, as he stares down at the drape.

				HARRY
		I don't think he'd have given a
		shit.

				CUT TO:

	INT. BUTTERFIELD'S APARTMENT - NIGHT

	The rooms are spartan.  Nothing on the walls.  Nothing on the
	floors.  Very little furniture. 

	Butterfield sits beside the window, obsessively combing his
	long hair.  There is something feminine about him now:  his
	voice a whisper, his stare distracted.  If we didn't guess it
	already, we're in the presence of a madman. 

	Miller is squatting against the wall, picking shards of GLASS
	out of his torso.  It hurts, but he's enjoying himself.

				BUTTERFIELD
		D'Amour... D'Amour... Why do I know
		that name?

				MILLER
		I know him.  I saw him.

	He stops to pull out a particularly large piece of glass,
	sighing with pleasure.

				MILLER
		I saw him on T.V.  Some kid got
		possessed and he saved the little
		bastard's life.

				BUTTERFIELD
		He's a priest?

				MILLER
		No.  He's just a guy who's got a
		nose for this shit.
			(a beat.  A smirk)
		Like you.

	A long beat of silence.  Butterfield combs.  Miller digs for
	glass.

				BUTTERFIELD 
		I don't want him getting in the
		way.

				MILLER
		He won't. 

	Another silence.

				BUTTERFIELD
			(dreamily)
		We've all of us waited too long to
		have the homecoming spoiled.

				MILLER
		What do you mean, "all of us?"

				BUTTERFIELD
		You didn't think it was just going
		to be you and me?  A lot of people
		believed in Nix. They haven't
		forgotten his promise.

				MILLER
		About?

				BUTTERFIELD
		Death.

				MILLER
		What about death?

				BUTTERFIELD
			(a beat)
		It's an illusion.

				CUT TO:

	EXT. PHILADELPHIA STREET - MORNING

	On screen:  Philadelphia 

	A suburban street.  Early morning light.

	INT. SUBURBAN HOUSE - PHILADELPHIA - MORNING

	CLOSE-UP of a PHOTOGRAPH of the Cultist with the Painted
	Face, from the opening scene, standing outside Nix's house in
	Nevada.  His name is Norman Sanders. 

	ON NORMAN, thirteen years older, looking down at the
	photograph.  He lays it down, beside a letter, on which two
	words are written: "Homecoming Time."

	Norman smiles to himself.  Goes to the wardrobe.  Gets out a
	small suitcase.  His WIFE'S BODY is slumped in the wardrobe,
	glassy-eyed. 

	CLOSE UP of letter -

				CUT TO:

	INT. KITCHEN IN MIAMI HOUSE - DAY

	- and DRAW OUT from the letter to a different interior, a
	different domestic circumstance. 

	On the screen:  Miami. 

	BARBARA - the blonde girl who carved the cult's sigil into
	her chest - is washing her hands.  She casually dries them,
	and picks up the letter, walking past her HUSBAND and SON,
	both DEAD at the breakfast table, BLOOD spreading around
	their heads.  When she gets to the door she steps over the
	body of her DAUGHTER, who has also been shot trying to escape
	her mother's murder spree. 

	ON THE RADIO, George Harrison sings "My Sweet Lord."

				RADIO
		"I really want to see you, Lord,
		And it won't take long, my Lord, My
		sweet Lord..."

				CUT TO:

	EXT. SAN ANTONIO 200 - REPTILE HOUSE - DAY

	On screen:  San Antonio. 

	A ZOO-KEEPER wanders into the darkened interior of the
	Reptile House.

	INT. REPTILE HOUSE - DAY

	The Zoo-keeper's benign expression changes at the sight of
	the chaos inside.  The glass cases have been SMASHED. Another
	KEEPER lies on the ground, his face pulped.  A few SNAKES
	slither around his body, but most of them have gone.

				CUT TO:

	EXT. SNAKE-HANDLER CULTIST'S CAR - DAY

	The Snake-Handler Cultist drives at speed.

	INT. SNAKE-HANDLER CULTIST'S CAR - DAY

	PAN UP from another letter'- with the same message - on the
	dashboard, to the crazed face of the Snake-Handler. PAN TO
	the back of the car.  IT SEETHES WITH HUNDREDS OF SNAKES.

	EXT. SWANN'S MANSION - DAY

	It's early morning in Bel-Air.  The sun shines down on a
	millionaire's paradise:  a huge house surrounded by a jungle
	of trees and blossoms.

	EXT. SWANN'S MANSION - POOLSIDE - DAY

	The blue water glitters in the noon-day sun.  And a WOMAN --
	her body perfectly proportioned -- glides under the surface,
	emerging at the shallow end, where the housekeeper CLEMENZIA
	is setting a tray on a table.

				CLEMENZIA
		Coffee, Mrs. Swann?

	Mrs. Swann's name is DOROTHEA.  She is a beautiful and
	sensual woman.

				DOROTHEA
		Thank you. 

	She dries off.

				DOROTHEA
		Where's Mr. Swann?

				CLEMENZIA
		In his study.
			(a beat)
		He got something on his mind?

				DOROTHEA
		Why?

				CLEMENZIA
		Bad mood today.

	INT. SWANN'S MANSION - STUDY - DAY

	Venetian blinds shut out most of the sunlight, but a lamp
	burns on the desk (huge), showing us the furniture (leather),
	the books (innumerable), and the figure of SWANN, sitting
	behind the desk smoking a CIGAR.  He's lost some hair and
	some colour over the years, but he still has the same
	hypnotic eyes.

	He studies the L.A. TIMES in front of him.

	ON THE OPEN PAGE

	"Fortune Teller Brutally Murdered," the headline announces. 
	Underneath, a PHOTOGRAPH of Quaid's wrecked room.  WE CLOSE
	IN on the photograph, and catch a glimpse of Harry, standing
	looking at the chaos.  CAMERA. MOVES DOWN to the text
	beneath, and on to the name "Harry D'Amour." 

	ON SWANN, pensive as he studies the paper.

				DOROTHEA (V.O.)
			(softly)
		Hey... 

	He looks up, startled.

	DOROTHEA The sun's shining out there. Dorothea is dressed in
	a white robe now.  She literally brings light into this
	gloomy room.  On the shelves behind Swann are a number of art
	brut figurines, vaguely recalling the idols outside Nix's
	"temple."

				DOROTHEA
		Bad show last night?

				SWANN
			(wearily)
		The usual.  Full house. Standing
		ovation.  I tell them it's magic...

				DOROTHEA
			(distastefully)
		... they believe you.

				SWANN
		Yeah.
			(a beat)
		Remember Quaid?

				DOROTHEA
		Sure.

				SWANN
		Somebody killed him.

				DOROTHEA
		Oh God.

				SWANN
			(disturbed)
		I just saw him.

	A difficult silence.  Then Swann crosses to the door.

				SWANN
		I'm putting in a new illusion
		tonight.  Will you be there?

				DOROTHEA
		Sure.  You want me to find out
		about Quaid?  I mean, the funeral?

				SWANN
		No.
			(superstitiously)
		I'm not going near him.

	INT. SWANN'S MANSION - LOBBY - DAY

	VALENTIN is overseeing the hanging of a new piece in Swann's
	collection:  a huge, framed POSTER from a late nineteenth
	century magic spectacular.  Valentin is fifty or so, his gray
	hair combed back close to his scalp. Immaculately dressed in
	a distinctively European fashion.  Precise.  Cautious. 
	Elegant. 

	He orders the TWO PICTURE-HANGERS in a clipped fashion.

				VALENTIN
		Higher.  Another inch.  The left
		hand side's too low.

	Dorothea descends the stairs, dressed for the day.

				DOROTHEA
		Valentin?

				VALENTIN
			(to Hangers)
		Good.  There.
			(to Dorothea)
		Yes?

				DOROTHEA
			(gives him the newspaper)
		You saw this?

	Valentin nods.  They walk back through the house together,
	while the picture-hanging goes on behind them.

				DOROTHEA
		I want you to find this man D'Amour
		for me.

	She passes the newspaper to Valentin.  He looks down at it.
	ON NEWSPAPER.  

	C.U. of Harry's blurred PICTURE.

	INT. HARRY'S HOTEL ROOM - DAY

	Harry is sprawled on the bed, in his under shorts.  A shaft of
	sun darts between the drapes, missing his face by inches. 

	Somebody is knocking on the door, hard.

				HARRY
			(waking)
		What...?

	He rolls over.  The sun strikes his eyes.  He winces.

				HARRY
		Shit.

				VALENTIN (V.O.)
		Mr. D'Amour?

				HARRY
		Go away.

				VALENTIN (V.O.)
		It's one in the afternoon.

				HARRY
		What are you, my mother?

				VALENTIN (V.O.)
		I need to speak to you, Mr.
		D'Amour.  About last night.

	Harry gets up and stumbles to the door.  He opens it a
	little.  The face of VALENTIN is visible through the crack.

				HARRY
		Whatever I said, I didn't mean it,
		okay?  I get a few drinks inside me --

				VALENTIN
		We've never met.

				HARRY
		Then what do you want?

				VALENTIN
		I'm here to offer you a job.

				HARRY
		I'm going back to New York in--
			(consults his watch)
		Shit!  I'm outta here.

				VALENTIN
		Have you got a job that'll pay you
		five thousand a day?

	A beat.  Then Harry takes the chain off the door.

				HARRY
		Do I get lunch?

				CUT TO:

	EXT. SANTA MONICA BLVD. - DAY

	A white SEDAN glides along the boulevard.  At the wheel,
	Valentin.  Beside him, Harry.

	INT. SEDAN - DAY

	Harry is eating a burrito and sipping coffee.

				HARRY
		Whose is the car?

				VALENTIN
		Mine.

				HARRY
		Nah.  You're driving it too
		carefully.

				VALENTIN
			(sparring)
		Maybe I just bought it.

				HARRY
		Somebody's been smoking in here for
		months.

	He pulls open the ashtray. Pulls out a cigar-butt.

				HARRY
		Havanas.  You're not the
		smoker.  So who is?

				VALENTIN
			(laughs)
		You could almost pass for a
		detective, D'Amour.
			(a beat)
		I work for the best illusionist in
		the world.

				HARRY
		Philip Swann?

				VALENTIN
		You know of him?

				HARRY
		I saw him in Vegas once.

				VALENTIN
		Are you a gambling man?

				HARRY
		When I can afford to lose. Swann's
		quite a magician.

				VALENTIN
		Never call him that.  He's strictly
		an illusionist.

				HARRY
		What's the difference?

				VALENTIN
		Illusions are trickery. Magicians
		do it for real.

	EXT. HOLLYWOOD CEMETERY - GATES - DAY

	The sedan turns into a driveway.

	EXT. HOLLYWOOD CEMETERY - DAY

	The sun beats down on a pristine panorama of palms and white
	marble tombs.  Harry and Valentin walk towards a large
	mausoleum.

				HARRY
		Any movie stars buried here?

				VALENTIN
		Probably.

				HARRY
		It's not a bad place.  Warm.
		Great view.

				VALENTIN
		I don't think the dead much care.

				HARRY
		Are you sure?

				VALENTIN
		Are you a believer, then?

	Valentin gives him an inquisitive look.

				HARRY
		I've signed on for them all in my
		time.  Hindu.  Catholic. You can't
		have too many saviours.

	Harry's gaze is on the mausoleum now; or rather on the woman
	in white standing in its cool shadows:  Dorothea Swann.  She
	wears a wide-brimmed hat.

				HARRY
		Who is she?

				VALENTIN
		Swann's wife.

				CUT TO:

	VALENTIN sitting on the mausoleum steps reading a book.  He
	glances up. 

	Harry and Dorothea are wandering between the graves, deep in
	conversation.

				DOROTHEA
		I want you to help me help my
		husband.  I know he's in some kind
		of trouble.  And it's something to
		do with the man you saw murdered.

				HARRY
		Did your husband know Quaid?

				DOROTHEA
		Yes.  They weren't close, but they
		saw each other once in a while.  I
		think Philip believes all that
		stuff with the tarot cards.

				HARRY
		You don't?

				DOROTHEA
		I think we make our own futures.

	Harry makes an approving MURMUR.

				HARRY
		What's the connection?

				DOROTHEA
			(covering now, but well)
		I don't exactly know. 
		Philip doesn't like to talk about
		the past.

				HARRY
		Why not?

	Dorothea stops talking.  Takes off her sunglasses.  Her gaze
	is troubled, but direct.  There is an attraction between the
	two of them that simmers beneath the dialogue.

				DOROTHEA
		He's a secretive man.

				HARRY
		And you don't ask questions?

				DOROTHEA
		We don't share our lives the way a
		lot of people do.

				HARRY
		Does that mean...?

				DOROTHEA
		We haven't slept in the same bed
		for years.

				HARRY
		But obviously you still care what
		happens to him.

				DOROTHEA
		We wouldn't be having this
		conversation if I didn't. Swann's
		one of the most remarkable men
		alive.

	Harry, frowns.

				DOROTHEA
		You don't believe me.

				HARRY
		He's an illusionist.  It's not
		exactly brain surgery. 

	Dorothea stares at him. 

				HARRY
		Sorry.  You asked.

				DOROTHEA
		No.  You're right.  He could have
		been something more. Maybe a lot
		more.  But people get lost.  Even
		good people. Too much fame.  Too
		much money,

				HARRY
		Where do I sign? 

	Dorothea LAUGHS lightly.

				DOROTHEA
		Will you take the job, Mr. D'Amour?

				HARRY
		Harry.

				DOROTHEA
		Harry.

				HARRY
		I'm no bodyguard.

				DOROTHEA
		That's not what I'm asking for. I
		want somebody who can find out what
		Philip saw in those damn cards. 
		And stop it from happening.

				HARRY
		When do you want me to start?

				DOROTHEA
		Come to the show with me. Tonight I
		want you to see him with an
		audience.  They love him.

				HARRY
		Do you?

	The question catches Dorothea off guard.

				DOROTHEA
		I didn't marry him for love, Mr.
		D'Amour.  Tonight?

				HARRY
		Sure.

	Dorothea makes a little smile, and walks away.  Harry watches
	her go, exhaling an appreciative breath at the sight of her
	departing figure.

CUT TO:

	INT. HARRY'S HOTEL ROOM - DUSK

	Harry's talking on the phone while he dresses for the
	theatre.

				HARRY
		You're not listening to me, Loomis.

				CUT TO:

	INT. LOOMIS' OFFICE - MEW YORK - NIGHT

	LOOMIS, a slob of a man, is in his office, eating pizza.

	INTERCUT PHONE CONVERSATION

				LOOMIS
		The case is closed. Harry. Tapert's
		given us a full confession.  Get
		your ass back to Mew York.

				HARRY
		No.  I'm taking a couple of weeks'
		vacation.

				LOOMIS
		You never took a fucking vacation
		in your life, Harry. What's going
		on?

				HARRY
		I got to go.  I'm late.

				LOOMIS
		Call me tomorrow.

				HARRY
		There's other guys as good as me,
		Loomis.

				LOOMIS
		Yeah.  But not as cheap.  Call me.

				HARRY
		A couple of weeks.

				LOOMIS
		One question.

				HARRY
		What?

				LOOMIS
		Who is she?

	Harry can't help but smile to himself.

				LOOMIS
		I thought so.  'Night, Harry.

	Click.  Harry puts down the phone.  Glances at himself in the
	mirror.  Raises a rueful eyebrow.

				CUT TO:

	EXT. WILTERN THEATRE - NIGHT

	CRANE DOWN from a looming STANDEE of Swann, perched above the
	theatre marquee.  SPOTLIGHTS rake the skies. The sidewalk
	below is jammed with AUDIENCE MEMBERS, STAR-SPOTTERS and
	PHOTOGRAPHERS.  This is a flashy, prestigious event.  LIMOS
	are disgorging scantily- dressed STARLETS and smiling MONEY
	MEN; a NEWS TEAM is interviewing audience members as they
	file in. 

	The atmosphere is noisy and excited.  Amid the throng, Harry. 
	He makes his way inside.

	INT. WILTERN THEATRE - AUDITORIUM - NIGHT

	The atmosphere, is closer to a rock concert than a
	conventional stage show.  Security people with walkie-
	talkies roam the aisles; the audience buzzes with barely
	controlled hysteria. 

	Harry heads down the aisle, eyes on the stage.  A star-lit
	CURTAIN covers it.  Six rows from the stage is Dorothea,
	already in her seat.  She smiles lavishly, happy to see him.

				DOROTHEA
		I'm glad you could make it. 

	Harry takes a seat beside her.

				HARRY
		Hey, this is a big deal for me. You
		know what seats like this cost in
		New York?

	INT. WILTERN THEATRE - STAGE - NIGHT

	Center-stage, behind the closed curtains, Swann is ready for
	the opening of the show.  TECHNICIANS buzz around him like
	flies.

				SWANN
		Valentin!

	Valentin emerges from the wings, patting the PANTHER that is
	waiting there.

				SWANN
			(irritated)
		Valentin!

				VALENTIN
		I'm here.

				SWANN
		The guy with Dorothea.  Is that who
		I think it is? 

	Valentin nods.

	ON SWANN, his expression unreadable.

				SWANN
		He's young.

	MUSIC strikes up.  A dramatic, Wagnerian chord. Valentin
	hurries away.  Swann's expression becomes very focused.

				1ST TECHNICIAN
			(to Swann)
		Ready?

				SWANN
		Ready.

	Swann rises up into the flies.

				1ST TECHNICIAN
		How the fuck does he do that?

				2ND TECHNICIAN
		It's wires, man.

				1ST TECHNICIAN
		I never seen no wires.

				2ND TECHNICIAN
			(sarcastic)
		So what is it?  Magic?

	INT. WILTERN THEATRE - AUDITORIUM AND STAGE - NIGHT

	The LIGHTS are DIMMING.  Harry glances across at Dorothea,
	whose gaze is intent. 

	The LIGHTS go OUT.  The MUSIC SWELLS, and the CURTAINS fly
	apart.  A spectacle worthy of Seigfried and Roy is about to
	blast our senses!  Magic for the 90's:  a wild, erotic ride
	into mystery.

				SWANN (V.O.)
		Ladies and gentlemen.  You are
		standing on the threshold of a
		miracle...

	A vortex of SMOKE and LIGHT swirls in the middle of the
	stage. 

	The vortex BLAZES -- 

	And suddenly Swann SWEEPS DOWN out of the flies, as the floor
	of the stage opens and the head of a glittering, razor
	toothed DRAGON emerges in a cloud of CRIMSON SMOKE. 

	Swann raises his hands above his head and a SPEAR
	miraculously appears in his grasp.  He descends on the
	dragon.  It's a classic image:  St. Michael smiting the
	Devil.  Swann drives the spear down the throat of the dragon. 
	The theatre SHAKES at its dying ROARS.  Then the head cracks
	open, and out of the dragon's mouth emerge a dozen scantily
	dressed DANCERS, male and female.  Swann throws down the
	spear, and where it strikes the stage his PANTHER appears. 

	A ROAR of APPLAUSE from the audience.  Swann's plain white
	tunic falls away from him as he descends.  By the time his
	feet touch the stage he is dressed in a star- shot TUXEDO. 
	The PANTHER licks his hand in welcome. The MUSIC comes to a
	crescendo.  The DANCERS freeze in their erotic dance.  In the
	sudden hush, Swann speaks in a whisper.

				SWANN
		My friends ... come with me...into
		the Great Beyond.

	A barrage of LIGHTS and MUSIC erupt. 

	The AUDIENCE APPLAUDS wildly. 

	ON HARRY and Dorothea.

				HARRY
		He's good.

				DOROTHEA
		You haven't seen anything yet.

	INT. WILTERN THEATRE - LOBBY - NIGHT

	The doors SQUEAK as a gust of WIND blows through them. 

	Butterfield stands in the lobby, listening to the muted
	SOUNDS of MUSIC and APPLAUSE.  Then he offers his ticket to
	the TICKET-COLLECTOR and steps inside.

	INT. WILTERN THEATRE - AUDITORIUM AND STAGE - NIGHT

	A new musical motif hangs in the air:  MUSIC announcing
	danger. 

	The AUDIENCE watches intently, nervously. 

	ON HARRY and DOROTHEA.

				DOROTHEA
			(a whisper)
		This is the new illusion.

	ON STAGE, Swann is bound to a spinning WHEEL, while the
	DANCERS, dressed like Boschian DEMONS, cavort around him,
	somersaulting and leaping over eruptions of yellow FLAME. 
	It's a scene from Daniels Inferno.  Above him. a dozen
	glittering SWORDS - six feet long - are descending.  He
	struggles to free himself.  The MUSIC gets more exciting as
	the wheel spins faster and faster. 

	Suddenly, a sword DROPS.  It falls between Swann's
	outstretched legs, skewering the wheel.  Then ANOTHER, close
	to his head. 

	ON HARRY.  He's tense.  Excited. 

	BACK TO STAGE.  Swann is free I  He throws off the last
	shackle and uses it to thrust into the mechanism of the
	wheel.  There's a theatrical BLAZE of white-hot SPARKS.

	The wheel slows.  He starts to step off it, as another of the
	the swords DROPS. 

	The AUDIENCE GASPS.  Swann smiles, and TRIPS. 

	As he FALLS, the sword runs through the middle of his back,
	carrying him down to the still-spinning wheel, and pinning
	him there.  Some of the DANCERS continue to cavort.  Some
	stop. 

	More GASPS from the audience. 

	ON HARRY, having a -- 

	FLASHBACK:  Harry's hand turns over the final tar of card. 
	The scene on the stage is that image coming to life. 

				HARRY 
		There's something wrong... 

	ON Swann, as a second sword FALLS, skewering his thigh, and a
	third, running through his buttock, and a fourth and fifth,
	until TEN SWORDS have entered his body. 

	ON THE AUDIENCE, not certain whether this is a trick or not.

	The MUSIC has stopped.  In the silence, somebody GIGGLES
	nervously.  A couple of PEOPLE break into APPLAUSE, but it
	dies away in a matter of moments.

	ON DOROTHEA AND HARRY

				DOROTHEA
		No. . .

	ON THE STAGE, Swann raises his head and looks out at his
	wife, his eyes already glassy with imminent death.  He
	reaches out towards her, and then sags on the wheel, dead. 

	There are GASPS now from the audience.  Murmurs of disgust;
	sobs of horror.

				1ST AUDIENCE MEMBER
		What happened?

				2ND AUDIENCE MEMBER
		It's a trick.

				3RD AUDIENCE MEMBER
		Somebody help him.

	The curtains start to close.

	ON Dorothea, tears of shock filling her eyes.

				DOROTHEA
			(to Harry)
		I've got to get to him!

	The AUDIENCE is rising now, as the horror of what they've
	seen sinks in.  There is panic.  A few people have fainted. 
	One or two are even praying. 

	Harry carves out a path down to the stage for Dorothea
	against the flood of the exiting crowd.

				HARRY
		Out of the way!  Out of the way!

	He helps Dorothea onto the stage, and lifts the curtain so
	she can duck beneath it.

	INT. WILTERN THEATRE - STAGE - NIGHT

	Chaos.  PEOPLE running, sobbing, puking; some simply standing
	watching.  Valentin is already at the body, with the STAGE
	MANAGER at his side.

				VALENTIN
			(to Stage Manager)
		Get then out of here, for God's
		sake --

				STAGE MANAGER
		You heard him!  It's not a fucking
		show!

	He starts to physically push the crowd back.  Harry grabs his
	arm.

				STAGE MANAGER
		Who are you?

	Harry uses his grip to gently but efficiently move the STAGE
	MANAGER out of Dorothea's way.  She goes to Swann's body,
	which has been removed from the wheel.

	INT. WILTERN THEATRE - AUDITORIUM - NIGHT

	The audience is clearing now.  But Butterfield is coming
	towards the stage, with an ambiguous look on his face. Is he
	enraged?  Or puzzled?  Or both?

				MILLER
		Psst!

	Miller stands at an open door, leading below the stage.

	Butterfield enters.

	INT. WILTERN THEATRE - STAGE - NIGHT

	Dorothea kneels at Swann's side.  A few yards from her, Harry
	examines the mechanism of the wheel.

				DOROTHEA
			(softly)
		Swann... 

	A DOCTOR appears.

				DOCTOR 
		I'm a doctor.  Let me through. 

	The Doctor checks Swann's body.

				DOCTOR
			(to Dorothea)
		I'm sorry...

	Harry has discovered a CABLE snaking down beside the device. 
	He's suspicious.  He slips round to the back of the
	mechanism, and climbs down beneath the stage, tracing the
	cable as he goes.

	WILTERN THEATRE - BELOW STAGE - NIGHT

	It's an eerie, shadowy space, filled with the PROPS that are
	used in the show, including the DRAGON we saw at the
	beginning.  From above we hear FOOTSTEPS and VOICES, muted
	and echoing. 

	The cable ends in bare wires.  Whatever was here has been
	taken. 

	A NOISE, behind Harry.  He swings round.  Sees a shadowy
	FIGURE ducking away.

				HARRY
		Hey!

	He gives chase.  Loses the man in the shadows.  Stops and
	listens for movement. 

	Suddenly, Miller steps out of the shadows with a plank of
	wood and smashes it into Harry's face!

	Harry reels back.  Falls to his knees, BLOOD running from his
	nose.  Miller pulls Harry's GUN out of his jacket.

				MILLER
		Got you, fucker!

	Harry is facing the dragon's head, dazed.  And now, out of
	the dragon's mouth, comes Butterfield. 

				BUTTERFIELD
		Who did this, D'Amour?  Who killed
		Swann? 

	Harry is barely holding on to consciousness.

				HARRY
		You did.
			(a beat)
		Didn't you?

				BUTTERFIELD
		Why would I do that?

				HARRY
		Beats me.

	Butterfield is a foot from Harry now.

				BUTTERFIELD
		You don't have a clue what you're
		into, do you?

				HARRY
		Deep shit? 

	Butterfield hits him.

				BUTTERFIELD
		Who did this?

				HARRY
		I told you --

	Butterfield hits him again.

				BUTTERFIELD
		Who did this?

				HARRY
			(raises his hand)
		All right.  It was...

	Butterfield comes a little closer.

				HARRY
			(feigning a near collapse)
		... it was...

	Butterfield leans in.  And Harry grabs him by the balls --
	literally -- rising as he does so.

				BUTTERFIELD
		Aah!

	Harry THROWS Butterfield aside. Butterfield hits the ground
	in agony, and Harry swings round to protect himself from
	Miller, who's leveling Harry's gun. 

	He FIRES once, missing Harry by inches.  Harry catches hold
	of a ROPE underfoot and pulls it, tripping Miller, who
	TOPPLES backwards into the mouth of the dragon.  The GUN GOES
	OFF again, the bullet BLOWING APART the dragon's JAW
	MECHANISM. 

	Miller starts to sit up, his body splayed between the
	dragon's steel teeth.  He has Harry in his sights. 

	-- something CREAKS.  He looks up.  The dragon's jaw is
	closing, FAST.  He starts to scramble to his feet.  Too late! 
	The teeth SLAM CLOSED on his body.  Sudden death. 

	Harry looks round to see Butterfield retreating into the
	shadows.  Then he's gone.  Harry looks down at Miller's
	BLOOD, which is pooling around his feet.

				HARRY
		Deep shit...

				FADE OUT

				FADE IN

	INT. POLICE STATION - EDDISON'S OFFICE - NIGHT

	Harry sits at Eddison's desk, looking exhausted and bruised. 
	Eddison has just finished taking his statement.

				EDDISON
		And this Butterfield guy--

				HARRY
		--vanished.

				EDDISON
			(frustrated sigh)
		Another fucking magician. Jesus.

	Harry looks past Eddison and sees an ashen, tearful Dorothea
	being taken into another office.

				HARRY
		Are you finished with me?

				EDDISON
		For now.  Are you planning to go
		back to New York?

				HARRY
			(watching Dorothea)
		No.  Not yet...

	INT. POLICE STATION - OTHER OFFICE - NIGHT

	Dorothea sits alone, staring at the wall.  Harry enters.

				HARRY
		Are they treating you okay?

				DOROTHEA
			(nods)
		I heard what happened.  It looks
		like somebody murdered him.

				HARRY
		I'm sorry I got into this too late. 
		But if you want me to stick around,
		maybe dig where the cops don't
		look...

				DOROTHEA
		I don't know where you'd start.

				HARRY
		Well... how about some of the other
		illusionists?

				DOROTHEA
		They won't tell you anything.

				HARRY
		I can be very persuasive.

				DOROTHEA
			(a beat)
		Yes.  I think you probably can.
			(another beat)
		We'd need to talk about your fee.

				HARRY
		Forget the fee.  If I find
		Butterfield, maybe we'll talk about
		money.  If I don't...
			(he shrugs)
		...my gamble.  Either way... I
		get to spend some time... here.

	The way he says this, it's plain "here" doesn't mean L.A., it
	means near -Dorothea.  And by the tiny smile on her face,
	it's also plain she knows it.

				CUT TO:

	EXT. MAGIC SHOP - HOLLYWOOD BLVD. - DAY

	Noon.  Bright sun.  Busy street.  Harry, now wearing a
	bandage on his cut face, enters.

	INT. MAGIC SHOP - DAY

	A wonderland for illusionists.  Books, props, masks, tricks,
	etc.  Two or three CUSTOMERS browse.  Harry glances at them
	all, then targets a MAN in late middle age, who is browsing
	through books, one-handed.  His other hand constantly
	manipulates a card, concealing and revealing it in a dozen
	ways.  He doesn't even look at his hand.  His name is WALTER
	WILDER. 

	Harry stands beside him.  Scans the shelf.

				HARRY
		Where'd you learn that?

				WILDER
		What?

				HARRY
			(points)
		That.

				WILDER
		At birth.  I don't know you --

				HARRY
		Harry D'Amour.

				WILDER
		I know all the kids coming up. Got
		to stay ahead of the game. But I
		don't know you.

				HARRY
		I'm in from New York.  I came to
		see Swann.

				WILDER
		What a tragedy.  It was just a
		matter of time, of course, but it's
		not good for the business.

				HARRY
		Was he taking a lot of risks?

				WILDER
		You don't know the half of it. I'm
		Walter Wilder, by the way.

				HARRY
		Not the Walter Wilder? 

	Walter beams.

				WILDER
		The one and only. 

	He hands Harry a card.

				WILDER
		Want to try?

	Harry tries to emulate Wilder's card manipulation through the
	rest of this conversation.

				WILDER
		You know Vinovich?

				HARRY
			(not a clue)
		Sure.  Vivovich.

				WILDER
		He knew Swann way back.  He says
		there were a lot of drugs, a lot of
		crazy shit.

				HARRY
		I'd love to... you know... hang
		with some of you guys.

				WILDER
		People are pretty cagey.  Who do
		you know?

				HARRY
		For what?

				WILDER
		For an introduction.

				HARRY
		Well... nobody.

	Wilder takes a moment to assess Harry, who is attempting to
	manipulate the card he's been given with charming ineptitude.

				WILDER
			(magnanimously)
		You do now.

	EXT. MAGIC CASTLE - DUSK

	The castle is faux, of course, but it has a Gothic charm. 

	Harry and Walter wander towards the front door.  Harry is
	knotting a newly-bought tie.

				HARRY
		I only wear ties for funerals.

				WILDER
		You don't get in without one. It's
		like a gentlemen's club for
		illusionists.  Except most of us
		aren't gentlemen.

	INT. MAGIC CASTLE - CORRIDORS - NIGHT

	The interior is murky and atmospheric, the walls covered with
	illusionists' posters. 

	Walter leads the way through the long corridors, past rooms
	where illusionists are performing close-up magic for
	audiences of well-heeled patrons.  Walter nods and waves to
	half a dozen people on their way through the house, up the
	stairs and towards the bar.

HARRY
		Are they all in the business?

				WILDER
		It's not a business. Harry. It's a
		vocation. 

	Wilder points to a locked door.

				WILDER
		That's what they call the
		Repository.  Every magic secret
		known to man's locked up in that
		room.

				HARRY
		Have you been in?

				WILDER
		No.  There's only three keys.
		Vinovich has got one, of
		course.
			(beat)
		He's a little crazy, by the way. 
		And he's a mean drunk. Otherwise,
		he's a real charmer.

				CUT TO

	INT. MAGIC CASTLE - BAR - NIGHT

	Later.  A drunken VINOVICH is holding court.  He's in his
	40's:  a flamboyant and loquacious man with a heavy (and
	fake) middle-European accent.  At the table - besides Harry
	and Walter - are:  Vinovich's starlet/nymphet girlfriend
	LAURA; an Asian-American illusionist called BILLY WHO; and
	two of Vinovich's adoring courtiers, an overblown,
	overdressed female illusionist - DEBRA DEVINE - and a thin,
	waspish fellow in a spangly suit:  the AMAZING QUENTIN. 

	In the conversation that follows we go back to Harry
	repeatedly as he studies this extraordinary group.

				VINOVICH
		It's more than entertainment. We're
		opening people's heads up.  Putting
		miracles back into their boring
		little lives.

				BILLY
		But they're fake miracles.

				VINOVICH
		Houdini believed he had spirit
		guides.

				HARRY
		You believe that?

				VINOVICH
		I think we walk a narrow path,
		between... between...

				HARRY
		Heaven and Hell?

	Vinovich stares hard at Harry, trying to figure out whether
	he's being sarcastic or not.

				VINOVICH
		Trickery and divinity.

				HARRY
		Are you saying that sometimes
		the miracles are real?

				VINOVICH
		No.  I'm saying they were always
		fake.  The saints, the messiahs,
		they were just illusionists.

				HARRY
		So could you walk on water?

				VINOVICH
			(deadly serious)
		I could reproduce any miracle
		that's ever been performed, with a
		little preparation.

				HARRY
		What about Swann's miracles?

	The smug smile on Vinovich's face dies.  Furtive glances are
	exchanged around the table.  Only Billy Who makes a tiny
	smile.

				VINOVICH
		They weren't worth a damn.

				HARRY
			(goading)
		I heard he was the best.

				VINOVICH
		If he was so good why's he so dead?

	Vinovich begins to look suspicious.

				HARRY
		You tell me.  No?  I thought you'd
		maybe have a theory.

				VINOVICH
		Oh, I've got plenty.

				HARRY
		I'd like to hear them. 

	Vinovich rises.

				VINOVICH
		I'm not saying another word.
			(to Wilder)
		You damn fool.  He's a
		journalist.

				HARRY
		Just tell me about Swann.  Or are
		you too scared?

				VINOVICH
		He was a freak.  Everything he did
		was tainted.

	Harry rises.  Looks straight at Vinovich, unintimidated.

				HARRY
		With what?

				VINOVICH
		Evil.  He was evil.
			(to Laura)
		Come on.

	She rises.

				VINOVICH
			(to the rest)
		Say nothing to this man if you wish
		to keep my company.

	He stalks away.  Harry calls after him, across a now-
	silenced bar.

				HARRY
		Great accent, by the way.  Is it
		Brooklyn?

				VINOVICH
			(pure Brooklyn)
		Fuck you.

	EXT. MAGIC CASTLE - PARKING LOT - NIGHT

	Harry heads to the car.

				BILLY (V.O.)
		Harry!

	Harry turns.  Billy approaches, glancing behind him to see
	that he's not being watched.

				BILLY
		I gotta be careful.  If Vinovich
		sees me talking to you.  He's an
		asshole, but he's a powerful
		asshole.

				HARRY
		They go together.

				BILLY
			(lowered voice)
		I've heard a name.  Someone they
		talk about in whispers.

				HARRY
		Who?

				BILLY
		Nix.

				HARRY
		Nix?

				BILLY
		Like in nothing.  Nobody.  Nix.

				HARRY
		Who is he?

				BILLY
		I think maybe he taught Swann.
			(hands Harry a card)
		This is me.  See ya around. 

	Billy hurries away.

				CUT TO:

	INT. HARRY'S HOTEL ROOM - NIGHT

	Harry lies on his bed, dozing.  The CAMERA CREEPS IN on him.

				DOROTHEA (V.O.)
		... I want somebody who can find
		out what Philip saw in those damn
		cards... 

	Harry frowns in his semi-doze.

				DISSOLVE TO:

	FLASHBACK - QUAID'S ROOM

				BUTTERFIELD
		Ever watched a man die?

	The image darkens, and fades up a beat later on Quaid.

				QUAID
		Please... I wasn't there... Ask
		Pimm.

				BUTTERFIELD
		Pimm's dead.  Jennifer Desiderio's
		disappeared...

				BACK TO:

	INT. HARRY'S HOTEL ROOM - NIGHT

	Harry is still asleep.

				CUT TO:

	FLASHBACK - QUAID'S ROOM

				QUAID
		I'm not afraid to die.  There's
		something terrible... coming
		home...

	A long silence. 

	SUDDENLY, a telephone RINGS.

				BACK TO:

	INT. HARRY'S HOTEL ROOM - NIGHT

	HARRY sits up, shocked awake.

				HARRY
		Shit!

	He picks up the receiver.

				HARRY
		This is D'Amour.
 
           
			CUT TO:

	INT. SWANN'S MANSION - DOROTHEA'S BEDROOM - NIGHT

	She sits up on her bed, dressed in a silk robe, and nothing
	else, drinking a SCOTCH, talking on the phone. The primary
	source of illumination is the massive T.V. set in the wall
	opposite the bed.

				DOROTHEA
		Harry... I know it's late.

	INTERCUT PHONE CONVERSATION

	There should be a subtle eroticism pervading this exchange. 
	Both of them on beds, in different bedrooms. Each aroused by
	the other's voice, and frustrated not to be able to see and
	touch them.

				HARRY
		That's okay.

	As he speaks, Harry scrawls Jennifer Desiderio on the title
	page of the Gideon's Bible beside the bed.

				DOROTHEA
		How did it go today?

				HARRY
		I went up to the Magic Castle. You
		were right.  He didn't have a lot
		of fans up there.

				CUT TO:

	INT. SWANN'S MANSION - KITCHEN - NIGHT

	Valentin, on the kitchen PHONE, is listening in.

				DOROTHEA (V.O.)
		They were jealous of him.

				HARRY (V.O.)
		Why?  Because he had you?

				BACK TO:

	INTERCUTTING: HARRY - DOROTHEA - VALENTIN

				DOROTHEA
		He... didn't have me..  I told you-

				HARRY
		You didn't marry him for love.

	DOROTHEA'S BEDROOM

	She's a little uncomfortable now.

				HARRY
		So why did you marry him?

				DOROTHEA
		That's my business. Harry.

				HARRY
		Just curious.
			(a beat)
		Back to business.  Ever heard of a
		man called Nix?
			(silence)
		Dorothea?

				DOROTHEA
		Yes... I'm here.  And no.  I don't
		know the name.

				HARRY
		What about Jennifer Desiderio?

				DOROTHEA
		It doesn't ring a bell.  I have to
		go.

				HARRY
		Okay.  I'll keep digging.

				DOROTHEA
			(uneasy)
		Yes.  You do that.

	She puts down the phone, and swallows a mouthful of scotch. 
	She's shaking.  She gets up.  Paces the room. Then she picks
	up the phone again.

	INT. HARRY'S HOTEL ROOM - NIGHT

	On the pad beside the bed, Jennifer's name, surrounded by
	Harry's doodles.  The phone RINGS. 

	CUT WIDE:  The room is empty.

	EXT./INT. QUAID'S OFFICES - STAIRWELL - NIGHT

	The Tarot Card and Crystal Readings sign is dark now. Harry
	heads up the stairs, past the PHOTOGRAPHS, to the door of
	Quaid's Waiting Room. 
	It has been locked and taped by the police.  Harry has come
	prepared.  He takes out a small crowbar and levers off the
	locks.

	INT. QUAID'S OFFICES - WAITING/FORTUNE TELLING ROOMS - NIGHT  

	Harry enters, FLASHLIGHT on.  He crosses the Waiting Room and
	enters the Fortune-Telling Room where Quaid died.  On the
	TRACK -- a remote, eerie presence -- we hear Quaid's SOBS,
	Miller's SHOUTS, and, as Harry's flashlight illuminates the
	blood-spattered table:

				BUTTERFIELD (V.O.)
		If you watch very closely, you can
		sometimes see the soul escaping.

	Harry is spooked.  He starts to search the room, opening
	cabinets and drawers.  Quaid's hordes of mystical bric-a-brac
	are stashed everywhere.  Boxes of crystals, religious
	statues, elaborate cards, incense, etc.

	He pulls open a drawer, and notices that a rosary is wedged
	in a niche at the base of the drawer.  He pulls the drawer
	out, empties its contents on the table, and examines it. 

	Using the crowbar, he forces the drawer apart.  It has a
	false bottom.

				HARRY
			(smiles)
		Yes...

	In the secret compartment, some papers and an address book. 
	He flicks to "D."

				HARRY (CONT'D)
		Desiderio...

	There it is.  Jennifer Desiderio, and an address.  He pockets
	the book.  Then, sensing a presence behind him, he pulls out
	his gun and whirls around, his flashlight beam revealing --

	-- Valentin!

				HARRY (CONT'D)
		What the fuck are you doing here?

				VALENTIN
		Looking for you.  I tried the
		hotel.

				HARRY
		Why'd you come here?

				VALENTIN
		You're a detective, with no clues. 
		Where else are you going to look? 
		I'm going to keep this brief.
			(he takes out an envelope)
		Here's thirty thousand dollars.

				HARRY
		What for?

				VALENTIN
		A ticket home,

				HARRY
		You didn't hire me.  She did.
		If she wants me off the job, I
		want to hear it from her.

				VALENTIN
		She doesn't want to see you. She's
		had enough pain.  Enough churning
		over the past.  She wants it all
		left alone.

				HARRY
		Left alone?  Somebody's been
		murdered.

				VALENTIN
		Yes.  It's regrettable

				HARRY
		Fuck regrettable!  I want to know
		why.

				VALENTIN
		What for?  You need to stay busy?

				HARRY
			(a confession)
		I like to know why things happen.

				VALENTIN
		Why people die?
			(shakes his head)
		Give it up, D'Amour.  Go home.

				HARRY
		No.

	Harry crosses to the door, brushing past Valentin.

				VALENTIN
		Don't try and see her, D'Amour.
		Just leave her alone.  Let her
		heal.

	He glances back at Valentin.

				HARRY
		Lock up, will you?

				CUT TO:

	EXT. ST. LUKE'S SANITORIUM, PASADENA - DAY

	ON THE ADDRESS BOOK, in Harry's hands.

	Harry looks up - with some surprise - not at a house but at a
	building, the sign on which reads, "St. Luke's Sanitorium".

	INT. ST. LUKE'S SANITORIUM - DAY

	The place is bland and functional throughout, the walls
	decorated with sun-faded reproductions of great paintings. 
	Nothing disturbing.  Harry is talking to D.A. TOFFLER -
	black, fortyish, softly spoken - and a Nurse.

				TOFFLER
		Jennifer's only ever had one
		visitor.

				HARRY
		A Mister Quaid?

				TOFFLER
		Right.  And he's dead, isn't he?  I
		saw it on the news. Jennifer
		doesn't know.  And frankly, this
		isn't the best tine for her to be
		told.

				HARRY
		I won't say anything.

	INT. ST. LUKE'S SANITORIUM - CORRIDORS AND WARD - DAY

	Toffler excorts Harry through -the place.  There are
	distressing scenes on every side.  Nothing melodramatic no
	screaming, no fits.  Just a subtle, pervasive air of despair. 
	Blank, empty FACES in blank, empty rooms.

				TOFFLER
		Jennifer's been with us four years. 
		She was coming on nicely. 
		But just the last month or so,
		she's worse than ever.

				HARRY
		What's her problem?

				TOFFLER
		She has no real grip on reality.

				HARRY
			(a joke)
		Does anybody?

				TOFFLER
			(deadly serious)
		Oh yes.  We have to agree what's
		real and what's not. That's what
		holds us together.

				HARRY
		And what does Jennifer think's
		real?

	They've come to french windows, which are wide open. Sitting
	outside in the sun is Jennifer, with her back to us.

				TOFFLER
			(quietly)
		Jennifer thinks the Devil's coming
		for her.
			(louder)
		Jennifer?

	Jennifer turns.  She looks terrible.

	EXT. ST. LUKE'S SANITORIUM - GROUNDS - CITY STREET - DAY

	Harry and Jennifer walk amongst the flower-beds, with the
	Nurse keeping a watch from a discreet distance. Throughout
	the scene we HEAR the SOUND of earth being dug, which
	steadily gets louder as they walk.

				JENNIFER
		Have we met before?

				HARRY
		No.

				JENNIFER
		Only I forget.  They give me pills,
		you know, to keep me... even...
		and... I forget things,

				HARRY
		Well, you didn't forget me.  I just
		came because I wanted to know if
		you knew a man called Butterfield.

				JENNIFER
		Maybe... I... don't...

				HARRY
		What about Philip Swann?

				JENNIFER
		I knew Swann.
			(sudden vehemence)
		He's a fucking liar.

	A WORKMAN saunters past, carrying pipes.

				HARRY
		Why's that?

				JENNIFER
		He said he knew how to protect us. 
		But he didn't know anything.  He
		made us think it was over and done
		with.

				HARRY
		What is?

				JENNIFER
			(tears nearing)
		I don't want to think about it. If
		I think about it he'll hear me. 
		He'll find me.

				HARRY
		Swann?

	Ahead now, the site where the workmen are digging a hole,
	laying pipes.  The CAMERA doesn't focus on this action, but
	we're aware of it.

				JENNIFER
		I told you.  I don't --

	She stops.  Looks ahead of her.  Her face is suddenly ashen
	and clammy.  Harry follows her gaze to: 

	The hole.  Somebody is in it, digging.  Earth emerges in
	shovelfuls, piling up beside the hole.

				JENNIFER (CONT'D)
			(screaming)
		God no!  Oh God no!

	She backs away from the hole.  The Nurse grabs hold of her.

				NURSE
		Calm down!

	She delivers the Nurse a backhand SWIPE.  The Nurse is flung
	back.

				JENNIFER
		He's not going to get me!

	She races down towards the street.  Harry goes after her.

				JENNIFER (CONT'D)
		He's not!  He's not!

				HARRY
		Who's not? 

	He catches up with her.

				JENNIFER
		Nix! Nix!

				HARRY
		Is he the Puritan?

				JENNIFER
		Yes! Yes!

				HARRY
		And he's dead?

				JENNIFER
		No.  He's coming back.  He's
		digging his way out!

	The Nurse appears behind Harry.

				NURSE
		I'll take care of her now.

	Jennifer struggles in Harry's grip.

				NURSE
		Let go of her, Mr. D'Amour!

	The Nurse breaks Harry's hold on Jennifer, who slips away
	instantly, racing towards the street.

				HARRY
		Jennifer!

	She scrambles up over a wall, and flings herself from the
	top.  There's a SCREECH of brakes, then the smashing of
	metalwork and glass.  Harry gets to the wall before the
	Nurse.  Hoists himself up onto it.  Looks down.

	HARRY'S P.O.V. OF STREET

	Jennifer is dead in the middle of the street, beneath the
	wheels of a car.  The DRIVER is out, and yelling
	incoherently. 

				HARRY
		Jesus.

	He slips back down the wall, and leans against it.

	He looks towards the hole.  The Workman has stopped digging. 
	His mud-encrusted hands emerge, and for a moment, before his
	head appears, the image is eerily like somebody climbing from
	a grave.  Harry closes his eyes.

				HARRY
			(very quietly)
		Jesus.

	EXT. LOS ANGELES - DUSK

	The sun is setting, the city giving way to night.

	INT. HARRY'S HOTEL ROOM - DUSK

	Harry's on the phone.



				HARRY
		I want to speak to Dorothea.

				VALENTIN (V.O.)
		I'm afraid she's not in.

				HARRY
		When will she be in?

	INT. SWANN'S MANSION - STUDY - NIGHT

	Valentin on the phone in the study.

				DOROTHEA
		Who is it?

	Valentin puts the phone down.

				VALENTIN
		Crank call.  I'll get the number
		changed.

				DOROTHEA
		No word from D'Amour?			    

	Valentin shakes his head.

				VALENTIN
		It's better he's gone.  He would
		have done more harm than good.

				DOROTHEA
		Harm to whom?  Me?  I don't think,
		so.  Try him again at the hotel.

				VALENTIN
		I left three messages already.

	Dorothea nods, plainly sad at Harry's desertion.  She turns
	and leaves the room.

	INT. HARRY'S HOTEL ROOM - NIGHT

	ON BILLY WHO'S CARD, in Harry's hand.

				HARRY
			(on phone)
		Billy?  It's Harry.  Suppose I
		wanted to get into the repository
		at the Magic Castle?

				CUT TO:

	INT. MAGIC CASTLE - SKYLIGHT ROOM - NIGHT        

	THE PLACE IS EERIE BY NIGHT:  ALL MASKS AND SHADOWS. 

	PAN UP TO THE SKYLIGHT.  HARRY IS CUTTING AWAY A PANE OF
	GLASS.  BILLY'S BEHIND HIM.  THE PANE STARTS TO FALL. WITH
	LIGHTNING REFLEXES, BILLY REACHES THROUGH AND CATCHES IT.

				HARRY
		You've done this before.

				BILLY
		I've had my moments.

	INT. MAGIC CASTLE - HALLWAY OUTSIDE REPOSITORY - NIGHT

	Harry's manipulating the lock.

				BILLY
		I'm sure they'll have this place
		rigged.

				HARRY
		How?

				BILLY
		It'll be something hokey. 

	CLICK! The door opens.

				BILLY
		Houdini'd been proud of you.

	INT. MAGIC CASTLE - REPOSITORY - NIGHT

	Undusted shelves piled high with manuscripts, old books, and
	posters in every direction.

				BILLY
			(impressed)
		Whoa...

	On the wall, plaster LIFE-MASKS.  In glass cases, the tools
	of the great magicians:  KNIVES, KEYS, GUNS, WANDS, even an
	IRON MAIDEN.  Billy is in awe.  He wanders around wide-eyed
	while Harry scans the shelves. The dialogue runs as they
	investigate.

				BILLY
		I hear Mrs. Swann's quite a babe.

				HARRY
		You heard right.

				BILLY
		You ever been married?

				HARRY
		Yeah.  She was killed in a car
		crash.  Her lawyer was driving. She
		was filing for divorce.

				BILLY
		Why?

				HARRY
		My life was too weird for her.

				BILLY
			(grinning)
		I love weird.

	Harry has seen a small SIGIL carved onto one of the shelves.

				HARRY
		Billy?  This was on Miller's
		forehead.  Any idea what it is?

				BILLY
		Nope.

	Harry presses it.  The entire bookcase opens up, CREAKING.

				BILLY
		What did I tell you?  So fucking
		hokey.

	Inside, there is a small shelf.  On it, FILES and PAPERS.

				HARRY
		What have we got here?

	Ever-eager, Billy steps into the recess.  And -- 

	two spiked, latticed gates close on his arm! 

	Harry grabs the gates before they snap closed, inches from
	skewering Billy's flesh and bone!  He keeps them open, his
	sinews straining.

				HARRY
		Grab the files!

	Billy reaches in and pulls out a handful of the files. As he
	steps out of range. Harry lets go and the gates close with a
	CLANG!

				BILLY
		Jesus!

	He slams the files down.  He's trembling.

				BILLY
		I could have lost my fucking hands.

				HARRY
		That would have kept you out of the
		Magic Circle.
			(he studies the files)
		Which was presumably the idea.
			(a beat)
		These are about Nix.

	Harry takes a sheaf of papers, and hands them to Billy.

				HARRY
		You go through these.  Go on!

	Reluctantly, Billy does so.  Harry picks up a faded
	PHOTOGRAPH of the doorway to Nix's HOUSE (with the sigil
	painted on it) and BUTTERFIELD the child standing in the sun. 
	There are other CULTISTS standing around.  And in the DOORWAY
	-- a barely visible figure (and all the more intimidating for
	that) - is NIX.

				HARRY
		Wait a minute...

	He stares at the boy's face.  The eyes are clearly different
	colours.

				HARRY
		That's Butterfield...

				BILLY
			(points to nan in)
		doorway)
		And who's that?

	ON HARRY, staring at the ambiguous presence. 

	ON THE PHOTOGRAPH of the shadowy figure.

				HARRY
		At a guess?  The Puritan.  Nix.

	Billy picks up an ETCHING, water-stained and dirty.  It shows
	a horror we recognize:  a man's HAND pressed into the FLESH
	of another man's HEAD.

				BILLY
		Take a look at this.

				HARRY
			(looking at it)
		A Nix specialty?

	Billy is getting subtly spooked now.  He puts the etching
	down and starts to go through others in the series.  We
	glimpse them as he does so.  In one, a MAN regurgitates a
	serpentine form made of FLAME.  In another, a MAN stares at
	his own HAND which is STRIPPED OF FLESH.  There is no bone
	beneath.  Only a form of solid blackness.  In a third, we see
	a HEAD with a slit in the middle of the brow, emanating
	DARKNESS.

				BILLY
		I don't know any of these tricks...

	Harry studies the etchings.

				HARRY
			(a slow burn)
		Maybe they're not tricks.

				BILLY
			(mystified)
		I mean, there's no instructions--
			(realizes what Harry said)
		What do you mean, they're not
		tricks?

				HARRY
		What did Vinovich say? Something
		about walking a path between --

				BILLY
		Trickery and divinity.  Yeah, he
		says that all the time.

				HARRY
		That's because he knew.  He'd seen
		these files and knew.

				BILLY
		Knew what?

	Out of the corner of his eye. Harry sees a motion between the
	book-stacks.  Billy frowns.  Harry puts his fingers to his
	lips.  Gestures for Billy to take cover. Billy backs away. 
	Harry slowly turns in the direction of the motion. 

	Something eerily sepulchral is gliding between the stacks.  A
	figure in a straight-jacket with his head bowed.

	Harry takes out his gun. 

	Billy disappears around the back of one of the stacks. Harry
	goes after the apparition. 

	The TRACK is completely silent. 

	Suddenly, the creature appears behind Billy!  It looks up,
	its face that of a psychotic:  burning eyes, manic smile. 

	It tears open its straight-jacket and reaches for Billy, who
	backs away.

				BILLY
		Harry!

	Books tumble on top of Billy as he stumbles against the
	shelves.

				BILLY
		Where the fuck are you?

	Harry appears, and puts his gun to the PSYCHO'S head.

				HARRY
		Okay.  Hold it right there.

	The gun goes through the Psycho's skull, as though it's made
	of smoke. 

	Harry waves his hands through it.  It's completely ethereal. 

	But it's still terrorizing Billy.

				BILLY
			(in mortal terror)
		Get it off me!

	Harry glances around.  Sees a LIGHT flickering between some
	books.  FIRES at it.  The light goes out.  The "Psycho"
	vanishes.  Billy is left hyper-ventilating on the ground.

				HARRY
		Hokey enough for you?

				BILLY
		I'm out of here, man!  Are you
		coming?

	Harry picks up a handful of papers from the Nix file.

				HARRY
		I'm coming.

	Billy is already out of the room.  For a moment. Harry pauses
	to look back at the other files, sealed behind the spiked
	gates. 

	As he does so --

	-- the proiector sparks into life one last time, and the
	"Psycho" appears --ROARING - at Harry's shoulder.

				HARRY
		Ah, shaddup!

	He FIRES at the projector a second time.

	On the GUN SHOT --

				CUT TO:

	EXT. MAGIC CASTLE - NIGHT

	Billy and Harry are parting.

				HARRY
		Thanks, Billy.

				BILLY
		Hey, anytime.
			(a beat)
		Actually, no.  This was enough. 

	They shake, and part.

	EXT. SWANN'S MANSION - FRONT DOOR - NIGHT

	Harry waits on the doorstep.  Valentin opens the door.

				VALENTIN
			(quietly)
		I can't let you in.

				HARRY
			(stepping in)
		Yeah, I know.

				VALENTIN
		You want more money, is that it?

	Harry pushes him aside.

	INT. SWANN'S MANSION - VARIOUS - NIGHT

	Harry starts to go through the house, opening doors.

				HARRY
		Dorothea?

	He sees candle-light through a partially open door. Starts
	towards it.

				VALENTIN
		Leave her alone --

				HARRY
		Shut up!

	He pushes open the door.

	INT. SWANN'S MANSION - CASKET ROOM - NIGHT

	The room is a museum of Swarm's career.  Posters, and
	memorabilia everywhere.  And in the middle of the room,
	Swann's sealed CASKET, surrounded by flowers and candles. 
	Dorothea is standing beside it, head bowed.

				DOROTHEA
		This is the way he wanted it... no
		autopsy, no embalming. Nobody
		meddling with his body...

	Harry approaches, slowly.

				DOROTHEA
		Flesh is a trap.  That's what he
		used to say.  Flesh is a trap and
		magic sets us free.
			(a beat)
		Why did you come back?

				HARRY
		I didn't leave.  I was just digging
		around.

	Dorothea looks up at him.

				DOROTHEA
			(uneasy)
		What did you find?

				HARRY
		Jennifer Desiderio, for one.
			(he watches her for a
		response)
		She threw herself in front of a car
		this afternoon.

	Dorothea can't disguise her distress.

				DOROTHEA
		Oh Christ.

				HARRY
			(a beat)
		Why don't you tell me the truth?

	INT. SWANN'S MANSION- STUDY-- NIGHT-

	Dorothea pours herself a drink, while Harry spreads the
	PHOTOS and the PAPERS from the repository on the table.

				HARRY
		Nix ran some kind of cult, right? 
		Some kind of Charlie Manson deal?

				DOROTHEA
		It was more than that, I think.

				HARRY
		He was the real thing, right?

				DOROTHEA
		Swann said he could do stuff, yes.

				HARRY
		Stuff?

				DOROTHEA
		He could get into people's heads. 
		Make them see things. Terrible
		things.  And he could levitate. 
		Juggle fire.

				HARRY
		He taught all this to Swann?

				DOROTHEA
		Some or it.

	INT. SWANN'S MANSION - HALLWAY OUTSIDE STUDY - NIGHT

	Valentin is listening at the door.

	INT. SWANN'S MANSION- STUDY-- NIGHT-

				HARRY
		So Swann was performing magic. not
		illusions?
			(Dorothea nods)
		And what?  You thought he should be
		using it to cure cancer, not making
		millions.

				DOROTHEA
		I told you --

				HARRY
		Too much fame.  Yeah, I guess
		that'd turn anybody's head.
		Including yours.

				DOROTHEA
		No.

				HARRY
		You said you weren't with him for
		love.

				DOROTHEA
		I wasn't.

				HARRY
		 What then?

				DOROTHEA
		I was grateful to him.  I owed him
		my life.  And he loved me. He
		couldn't always show it, but he
		felt it.

				HARRY
		He thought Nix was coming back,
		didn't he?

	Dorothea is pouring herself another drink.  The glass slips
	from her hand.  It SHATTERS.  Harry goes to help her.  They
	stoop together, very close.  The sexual attraction is almost
	palpable. Dorothea cuts herself on a shard of glass.

				DOROTHEA
		Shit!

	They are very close to each other.

				HARRY
			(reassuring)
		It's okay.

				DOROTHEA
		No it isn't.  You can't help me.

				HARRY
			(tenderly)
		I'm here, aren't I?

	He kisses her.  She kisses him back, hard.

				HARRY
		Nothing's going to happen to you.  

				DOROTHEA
			(seductive)
		Nothing?

				HARRY
			(smiles)
		Nothing you don't want. 

	They kiss again, passionately.

	INT. SWANN'S MANSION - LOBBY - NIGHT

	Valentin breaks into the shadows, as Harry and Dorothea cross
	the darkened lobby and head upstairs.  Then Valentin crosses
	to the phone and dials.

	INT. SWANN'S MANSION - DOROTHEA'S BEDROOM - NIGHT

	A room of illusions.  Walls lined with mirrors, and warm,
	flattering lighting, bathing the naked forms of Dorothea and
	Harry as they make love, sitting on the floor.

	It is a deeply passionate, but slow, sensual coupling.

	INT./EXT. SWANN'S MANSION - LOBBY - NIGHT

	Valentin opens the front door.  There's a wind blowing. The
	palms churn against the night sky...

	INTERCUT

	Roiling, wind-filled pains with the glistening, urgent bodies
	of Harry and Dorothea.

	INT. SWANN'S MANSION - DOROTHEA'S BEDROOM - NIGHT

	Harry cradles Dorothea in post-coital languor.

				DOROTHEA
			(whispers)
		I was so afraid.

				HARRY
		Don't be.  Nix can't hurt you now.

				DOROTHEA
		Are you sure?

				HARRY
		I'm sure.
			(kisses her)
		He's dead.

				DOROTHEA
		I know.  I'm the one who shot
		him.

	ON HARRY. He's startled, to say the least.

				DOROTHEA
		I was twelve.  Nix took me hostage,
		to get Swann to come to him.

				HARRY
			(realizing)
		And they all came...

				DOROTHEA
		Yes.

				HARRY
		Quaid and Jennifer--

				DOROTHEA
		And Pimm and Swann.  Only Nix was
		ready for them.

	There's a NOISE downstairs.

				DOROTHEA
			(nervous)
		What was that?

				HARRY
		It's okay. 

	Harry slips out of bed.

	INT. SWANN'S MANSION - STAIRS - LOBBY - NIGHT

	Harry descends the stairs, buttoning up his trousers (which
	is all he wears).  He has his gun.

				HARRY
		Valentin? 

	Dorothea appears behind him.

				DOROTHEA
		Harry?  Wait!

	Harry's at the bottom of the stairs now.  Across the hall, in
	a passageway, an eerie SILHOUETTE.  We can make out no detail
	of clothing or face.

				HARRY
		What the hell-?

	Suddenly, the shadowy FIGURE comes at Harry.  A BLAST of
	ENERGY bursts against Harry's face.  As it breaks against his
	skin, we see (for three frames or so) a glimpse of Harry's
	skull.

				HARRY
			(in pain)
		Aah!

	Harry FIRES at the figure.  The shadows fold up around the
	Stranger like an origami puzzle.  He's gone.

				DOROTHEA
		It's him!  It's Nix!

	Harry goes out into the passageway.

				HARRY
		Valentin!  Get some lights on!

	As if in reply to the command, a burst of vivid white FIRE
	erupts behind Harry.  He swings round to see the Stranger
	"unfolding" out of the shadows again, defying physics and
	physiology to do so.  The FIRE is at his feet, like a serpent
	writhing on the ground.  It comes at Harry.  Harry FIRES at
	it, but it comes at him faster still, rising to burn Harry's
	leg.  He retreats, the FIRE racing after him. He makes for a
	door, and flings it open.  He's in -- 

	INT. SWANN'S MANSION - CASKET ROOM - NIGHT     

	The FIRE follows him across the ground and STRIKES his hand. 
	Harry drops the GUN.  Looks up to see the Stranger in the
	doorway, arm raised to will the fire-serpent on.  But then,
	he hesitates.  Harry glances round, and sees that the
	Stranger - whose face is still a dark smear - is staring at
	the CASKET.

				HARRY
		Somebody you know?

	Dorothea appears behind the Stranger.  Sees Harry, burned and
	sweating, cornered against the casket.

				DOROTHEA
		Oh my God!

	The Stranger looks round.  Harry snatches up the GUN,
	supporting his burned hand with -his good hand.  Levels the
	gun at the Stranger.  The FIRE raises its head, like a cobra.

				HARRY
		Which goes first?  My face or
		your heart?

	The Stranger draws a deep breath.  The Fire-Serpent withers
	and dies.

				DOROTHEA
		Who in God's name are you?

	She reaches for the Stranger, who simply folds up again; gone
	into darkness.  The WIND blows through the house, masking his
	exit.

				DOROTHEA
		Are you all right?

				HARRY
		Find Valentin!  Find him!  Get him
		in here!

	Dorothea disappears.  Harry takes one of the candle-holders
	and jams it under the casket lid.  Wood splinters.  He starts
	to force off the lid. 

	Valentin and Dorothea enter.

				VALENTIN
		What are you doing?  This is
		sacrilege.

	He starts towards Harry.  Dorothea goes after him and catches
	hold of his arm.  Her expression is a mingling of fascination
	and dread, as Harry gets his fingers under the casket lid and
	pulls. 

	Inside, Swann's corpse.

				VALENTIN
		Are you satisfied now?

				HARRY
		No.

	Harry holds Valentin back with one hand, and puts his finger
	into the corpse's mouth.

				DOROTHEA
		Harry?

				HARRY
		It's all right.  It's not
		hurting...

	He now has four fingers in Swann's mouth and seizes hold of
	his lower jaw.  It cracks -- 

	-- and comes away in a little rain of plaster and latex.

				HARRY
		...plaster doesn't bleed.

	He tosses the jaw to Valentin.

				HARRY
			(to Dorothea)
		It looks like you're not a widow
		after all.

	INT. SWANN'S MANSION - STUDY - NIGHT

	Harry interrogates Valentin in a white fury, while Dorothea
	binds Harry's hand.

				HARRY
		You rigged the illusion to fail,
		right?

				VALENTIN
		Yes.

				HARRY
		You paid off the doctor.  You set
		up the fake body.  Yes?

				VALENTIN
		Yes.

				HARRY
		And then... because I was
		getting too close to something --
			(at Dorothea)
		--or someone, you called Swann

				VALENTIN
		I tried to pay you off.

				HARRY
		Was that Swann's idea?

				VALENTIN
		No.  It was mine.  I didn't want
		any more bloodshed. That's why we
		went to all this trouble, so
		there'd be no one for Nix to come
		after.

				HARRY
		Nix is dead and buried, for
		fuck's sake.

				VALENTIN
		Haven't you seen enough to know
		that doesn't matter?

	ON HARRY.  He looks as though he's beginning to think maybe
	Nix's resurrection is plausible.

				HARRY
		I want to see Swann face to face.

				VALENTIN
		Why don't you leave this alone? Let
		everybody think it's over?

				DOROTHEA
		What about me?

				VALENTIN
		Nix was never interested in you. 
		It was always Swann. 

	A beat.

				HARRY
			(to Dorothea)
		Maybe Valentin's right.  We should
		let it alone. 

	A BELL starts to TOLL-

				HARRY
			(con't.)
		He went to all that trouble to be
		dead.  Maybe we should let him stay
		that way.

	The TOLLING carries over into

	EXT. HOLLYWOOD CEMETERY - DAY

	WE CRANE DOWN from a high angle on a GRAVE, surrounded by
	MOURNERS.  The graveside service has just ended, and the
	Mourners are beginning to disperse.  Dorothea is there
	amongst them, of course.  So are several faces we recognize: 
	Vinovich, Wilder, Billy Who, Swann's Stage Manager, his
	Dancers, his Technicians.  There are also several members of
	the PRESS, and thirty or fourty other Mourners, some of whom,
	to judge by their dress and manner, are also illusionists. 

	Harry stands some distance from the crowd, watching (hidden)
	from the doorway of a mausoleum.  His eyes are on Dorothea as
	she goes amongst the Mourners, receiving unheard words of
	condolesence.

	EXT. WILTERN THEATRE - DAY

	The standee of Swann is being demolished by two WORKERS. They
	are taking hammers to it, smashing it to pieces.

	INT. WILTERN THEATRE - STAGE - DAY

	The stage is starkly lit with working lights, the auditorium
	in darkness.  Swann's equipment - including the partially
	dismantled Dragon's head - is heaped on the stage. 

	Valentin wanders through the boxes to the place where Swann
	"died."  He stares down at the BLOOD on the stage.

	EXT. WILTERN THEATRE - DAY

	THE 1st WORKER throws the cut-out head of Swann's standee
	down into the street.

				1ST WORKER
		Watch out!

	On the HEAD, as it strikes the sidewalk at somebody's feet. 
	We don't see who.

	EXT. HOLLYWOOD CEMETERY - DAY

	Harry catches sight of somebody close to the gates of the
	cemetery.  Dark glasses, a beard, an anonymous black suit. 

	Harry smiles slightly, and slips off between the mausoleums.

	EXT. HOLLYWOOD CEMETERY - PARKING LOT - DAY

	The BLACK-COATED MOURNER gets into his car. 

	On Harry, as he gets into his.

	INT. WILTERN THEATRE - STAGE - DAY

	Valentin hears something in the auditorium.  Looks up.

				VALENTIN
		Who's there?

	He reaches into his jacket to draw a GUN. There's a NOISE. 
	He swings round.  Too late.

	Butterfield has a scalpel at his throat.  He kicks Valentin
	to the ground.

				BUTTERFIELD
			(conversationally)
		I've sometimes thought, if I'd had
		another profession, I would have
		been a surgeon.

	On Valentin, staring up in terror. 

	Valentin's P.O.V.- of Butterfield, upside down, above him,
	the scalpel glittering.

				BUTTERFIELD
		To be able to heal with one little
		cut.

	On Valentin again, as Butterfield's blade touches his cheek,
	just beneath his eye.

				VALEMTIN
		No. . .

				BUTTERFIELD
		Let's say those eyes of yours were
		giving you trouble.

				VALENTIN
		Please.

				BUTTERFIELD
		I could scoop them out.

				VALENTIN
		Don't.

				BUTTERFIELD
		So tell me where Nix is buried.

				VALENTIN
		I don't know.

	Butterfield pushes the blade into Valentin's skin. 

	CUT WIDE, as Valentin thrashes, his face obscured by
	Butterfield's body.

				VALENTIN
		Wait!

	On Valentin again.  There is a small cut beneath his eye, but
	that's all.

				VALENTIN
		I'll tell you.

				BUTTERFIELD
		You'll do more.than that.

	EXT. L.A. STREET - SEMI-DERELICT BUILDING - DAY

	A bad neighborhood, to judge by the state of the streets. 
	Harry gets out of his car and crosses to a gate, topped with
	barbed wire.  He peers through the bars. 

	Harry's P.O.V. of the STRANGER from the funeral disappearing
	into the building.  He glances back towards the street.  We
	get a glimpse of a bearded face beneath the brim of his hat. 

	Harry slides out of sight.  Waits until the Stranger has gone
	inside.  Then he's up, over the gate, braving the barbed
	wire.

	INT. -SEMI-DERELICT BUILDING - DAY		   

	It's been a hospital.  Now the echoing corridors and wards
	are deserted, littered with reminders of old suffering. 
	Rotting mattresses; spilled boxes of surgical supplies. 

	Harry explores this tiled labyrinth, looking for some sign of
	the Stranger. 

	He enters a shadowy room.  Birds fly UP into his face! 

	As he retreats, another SOUND, a little distance from him. 
	GUN in hand, he heads towards it, and steps into

	INT. SEMI-DERELICT BUILDING - OPERATING THEATRE - DAY

	Narrow shafts of light through the circular viewing window
	fall on an operating table, and looming pieces of discarded
	equipment.  Eerie.  Disturbing. 

	Harry scans the shadows as he advances into the room.

				HARRY
		I knew you wouldn't be able tn stay
		away.

	Silence.  Harry notices the beard and glasses on the
	operating table.

				HARRY
		You had to see who wept for you the
		most.

	Silence.

				HARRY
		A lot of people are going to be
		really pissed off when they
		discover you're still alive.

				SWANN (V.O.)
		They'll never find out. 

	Harry looks up.

	Svanrt is hovering in the air above him.  The veins in his
	temples bulge and throb.  This trick requires a lot of
	concentration.

				HARRY
		Look, Ma, no wires.

				SWANN
		You shouldn't have followed me,
		D'Amour.

				HARRY
		How the fuck do you do that?

				SWANN
		Now I'm going to have to kill you.

				HARRY
		I don't think so.  You need me
		alive.

				SWANN
		Why?  So you can fuck my wife?

	Swann swoops down towards Harry, who levels his gun.

				HARRY
		Be careful.  Funerals make me
		trigger-happy.

	Swann stops, inches from the ground.

				HARRY
		You know, it's such a fucking
		waste.  You can do shit most of us
		can only dream about, and you go
		around pretending it's some trick.

				SWANN
		Illusionists get. Las Vegas
		contracts, D'Amour.  Magicians get
		burned.

				HARRY
		Or murdered, like Nix.

				SWANN
		He deserved it.

				HARRY
		Maybe he doesn't see it that way. 
		Maybe he's digging his
		way out of the hole you put him
		right now.  That's what you're
		hiding away from, isn't it?

				SWANN
		I did it for Dorothea.

				HARRY
		Oh yeah?

				SWANN
		Now that I'm dead, the spotlight's
		off her.

	Harry grabs Swann, literally pulling him down to earth. Now
	they're face to face.  Eye to eye.  Swann, for all his
	posturing, is afraid.

				HARRY
		So Nix won't come looking for her?

				SWANN
		It's me betrayed him.

				HARRY
		And she shot him I  I think that'd
		piss me off if I were Nix.

				SWANN
			(despairing)
		I don't know what else to do.

				HARRY
		Help me.

	On Swann, his face a churning mass of rage and fear.

				HARRY
		Listen.  If he's back from the
		dead, then he is some kind of god. 
		And he'll find you, wherever the
		fuck you are. 
		And if he's just another phony
		Messiah, then you can stage the
		greatest come-back in history.

	ON Swann.  This doesn't sound like such a terrible idea.

	EXT. NIX'S HOUSE - LATE AFTERNOON

	A car comes to a halt outside the house, where six vehicles
	are already gathered.  The SNAKE-HANDLING Cultist gets out. 
	SNAKES seethe out of the open car door.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - VARIOUS - LATE AFTERNOON

	We MOVE THROUGH the shadowy interior, catching sight of
	several CULTISTS as we go.  They all have looks of barely
	suppressed ecstasy on their faces. 

	We are moving towards the Sanctum, and it's getting darker. 
	A MATCH is struck, and an OIL-FLAME sputters into life.  We
	see NORMAN'S gleaming face. On the wall is a PICTURE of Nix,
	floating over a scene of apocalyptic destruction. 

	Norman brushes away thirteen years' accrual of DIRT. Beneath,
	Nix's expression is as rabid and terrifying as ever.  Norman
	grins.

				CUT TO:

	EXT. LIQUOR STORE - LATE AFTERNOON

	A small, garishly-lit liquor store.  Harry's car pulls into
	the lot.  Swann gets out, his disguise back on. Heads into
	the store.  Harry, agitated and impatient, follows him.

	INT. LIQUOR STORE - LATE AFTERNOON

	Swann is at the cashier's desk, with a bottle of cheap
	brandy.

				SWANN
		Is this the best brandy you've
		got?

				CASHIER
		If that's what's on the shelves.

	Swann produces a thousand dollar bill out of thin air.

				SWANN
		Can you change a thousand for me?

				CASHIER
			(amazed)
		You're shittin' me.

				HARRY
		Can we go?

	Swann starts to COUGH.  A QUARTER falls from his mouth.

				HARRY
		Oh Jeez.

				SWANN
		Will that do?  No?

	Swann coughs again.  Puts his hand to his mouth.  A DELUGE of
	QUARTERS runs between his fingers.

				SWANN
		That better? 

	The Cashier gapes.

				CUT TO:

	EXT. SWANN'S MANSION - POOLSIDE - GROUNDS - DUSK

	The house could not look more reassuringly calm.  A SWAN
	struts beside the pool.  A long, HUSHED MOMENT...

				SHOCK CUT TO:

	DOROTHEA'S DREAM

	A BABOON SHRIEKS, its mouth filling the frame. 

	CUT WIDE, to reveal the Baboon, racing around Nix's Sanctum,
	crazed. 

	Hanging on the sculpture that swings from the roof is a
	shadowy figure.  Is it Nix?  We can't quite see.  Black BLOOD
	runs from the figure and splashes on the ground.

	NOW WE SEE DOROTHEA, being pulled by the Cultists towards the
	falling gouts of dark fluid --

	-- she struggles, SOBBING --
			 CUT TO:

	INT. SWANN'S MANSION - DOROTHEA'S BEDROOM - NIGHT

	She tosses around on the bed

				BACK TO:

	DOROTHEA'S DREAM

	-- Dorothea has a GUN in her hand.  The Cultists shake it
	from her grip, and pull her directly under the BLOOD -- as it
	SPLASHES on her upturned face --

	INT. SWANN'S MANSION - DOROTHEA'S BEDROOM - NIGHT

	A SOUND. Dorothea wakes, distressed by the dream.  She gets
	up and goes out onto --

	INT. SWANN'S MANSION - LANDING - DUSK

	Looks down the stairs.

				DOROTHEA
		Who's there?

	Silence.  Then, Valentin speaks behind her.  She jumps.

				VALENTIN
		I'm sorry.

	BLOOD runs from his cut face.

				DOROTHEA
		Jesus.  Valentin.  What did you do
		to your face?

				BUTTERFIELD (V.O.)
		It was me.

	She turns.  He's on her in a heartbeat, pressing her back
	against the wail.

				BUTTERFIELD
		Guess who we're going to see?

	INT. HARRY'S CAR - DUSK

	Harry drives.  Swann takes a throatful of brandy.  Then he
	stares at Harry.

				SWANN
		You think I'm an asshole.

				HARRY
		Didn't know you read minds.

				SWANN
			(a warning)
		I can do a lot of shit, D'Amour. 
		But you know that.
			(an apology)
		So I like playing games with
		people.  Gives them something to
		wonder about...

				HARRY
		Is that all?

				SWANN
		I distract them from their banality
		for a few minutes. It's like a
		public service.  It doesn't mean
		much in the end. They're all going
		to die.

				HARRY
		And you're not? 

	Silence for a moment.

				SWANN
		Oh, I was going to discover the
		secret of the universe.  That's why
		I liked Nix.  He promised me all
		these explanations.

				HARRY
		And he didn't have them?

				SWANN
		He had something.  He showed me how
		to bend the rules.  A little
		levitation.  A few fireworks.

				HARRY
		Is that all?

				SWANN
		No.
			(a beat)
		At the end... when we had him
		cornered, he got into my head. He
		showed me what we really look like,
		when the veneer's gone.  Jelly. 
		Shit...

				HARRY
		And you believed him?

				SWANN
		I saw it with my own fucking eyes! 
		See, that's his best trick.  No
		illusions.  Just the truth.
			(he looks at Harry)
		Are you ready for that? 

	Harry grabs the brandy bottle from Swann.

				SWANN
		Hey!

	Harry drinks.

				SWANN
		Thought not.

	EXT. SWANN'S MANSION - NIGHT

	PAN DOWN from the palms to Harry's car, outside the front
	door.

	INT. SWANN'S MANSION - VARIOUS - NIGHT

	Harry puts his head in the study, the library, the bedroom.

				HARRY
		Dorothea?

	Now he's on the landing.  Swann's below.

				SWANN
		She's not here.

	Harry spots Valentin's BLOOD on the carpet.

				HARRY
		Did she know where Nix was buried?

				SWANN
		No.

				HARRY
		Who else did?  Did Valentin?

				SWANN
		Yes.

				HARRY
		Jesus!

	EXT. DESERT HIGHWAY - NIGHT	 

	Butterfield's SEDAN crosses the desert, under a sky full of
	stars.

	INT. BUTTERFIELD'S SEDAN - NIGHT       

	Valentin drives.  Butterfield and Dorothea are in the back. 
	Dorothea is handcuffed. 

	He has a bag open at his feet.  One by one he takes out a
	series of extraordinary instruments.  Dorothea looks on,
	confounded.

				BUTTERFIELD
		Like the look of these?  I made
		them myself, to set him free.

				DOROTHEA
		Why did you wait so long?

				BUTTERFIELD
		I didn't have the skill to
		resurrect him.  I had to teach
		myself.  And that took time.

				DOROTHEA
		And you think he'll be in a fit
		state to resurrect, after thirteen
		years?

				BUTTERFIELD
		If he was just a man like me, then
		no.  But he's not.

				DOROTHEA
		What is he?

				BUTTERFIELD
		Maybe he'll show you.

	ON DOROTHEA, terror in her eyes.

	EXT. NIX'S HOUSE - NIGHT

	Now there are a dozen vehicles parked around the house.
	Through the windows, the flickering of oil-lamp FLAMES.

	There is a low, ominous CHANT floating from the house.

	It has no words, but it is steadily BUILDING in intensity. 
	We DRIFT towards the front door.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - PASSAGEWAY - MEDITATION ROOM - NIGHT

	Now we move down the passageway to the Meditation Room.

	Inside, SEVENTEEN CULTISTS kneel in a circle.  They are all
	CUTTING OFF THEIR HAIR, and throwing it into the FIRE that
	blazes in the centre of the circle.  They hack
	indiscriminately, with KNIVES, SCISSORS and RAZORS, their
	eyes wild.  BLOOD runs down their faces and necks from nicked
	ears and scalps.

	And still the CHANT BUILDS, and BUILDS...

				NORMAN
		He will come!  He will come! He
		will come!

	EXT. DESERT - NIX'S GRAVE - NIGHT

	Wide.  A few rocks, and emptiness. 

	The headlamps of Butterfield's sedan burn in the darkness,
	illuminating the dig.  Valentin is in the grave, digging. 

	ON Butterfield, as he stands at the edge of the hole,
	watching the work.  Dorothea stands a yard or two behind him.

				BUTTERFIELD
		Anything?

				VALENTIN (V.0.)
		Not yet.

	Butterfield squats at the edge of the hole and suddenly
	reaches out for Valentin, hauling him close.

				BUTTERFIELD
		If you've lied to me to me --

				VALENTIN
		I swear... this is the place Swann
		told me about.  The rocks...

	On Dorothea, who uses Butterfield's distraction to take a few
	steps back towards the open car door. 

	Dorothea's P.O.V. of Butterfield, back to her, interrogating
	Valentin.

				BUTTERFIELD
		Five more minutes.  Hear me? And
		you'd better not --

	A SOUND behind him.  Butterfield wheels round.  On the ground
	beside the open car door, the instruments.

				BUTTERFIELD
		What the fuck are you playing at?

	He goes to pick them up.  Dorothea steps from behind the
	door, with the sharpest in her hand.  She slashes at him. 
	Opens a WOUND across his arm.

				BUTTERFIELD
		Aah!

	He comes at her suddenly, striking the instrument from her
	hand, and slamming her against the car.  He hits her.  Once.
	Twice.  Then --

				VALENTIN (V.O.)
		Butterfield!

	Butterfield goes to the edge of the grave, picks up the
	flashlight and trains the beam on Valentin.

				VALENTIN
			(blinded)
		In the corner...

	The beam goes to the corner of the grave. 

	A mummified HAND is sticking out of one of the walls.

				BUTTERFIELD
			(to Valentin)
		Keep away from it.

	Butterfield jumps down into the grave, and goes to the hand. 
	The TRACK is silent, but for Butterfield's shallow breath. 
	He reaches out to touch Nix^s fingers...

	Closer... 

	Closer... 

	He touches the hand - and the wall of sand comes down with a
	ROAR!

	He jumps back as Nix's corpse, his head still sealed by the
	mask rolls into view.

				VALENTIN
		Oh Christ!  Oh Christ!

				BUTTERFIELD
			(reverentially)
		It's him... it's him.

	On Dorothea, sliding down the car in despair.

				CUT TO:

	INT. HARRY'S CAR - NIGHT

	The car is static; the engine still running.

				HARRY
		They got here before us.

				SWANN
		Looks that way.

	EXT. NIX'S GRAVE - NIGHT

	Harry gets out of the car and starts towards the open grave.

	HARRY'S MOVING P.O.V. OF THE GRAVE

	Harry reaches the grave's-edge.  It's totally dark.  He peers
	in.  On his heel, as the ground CRUMBLES beneath his weight. 
	Harry slides into the grave.

				HARRY
		Shit!

	He's in darkness now.  He gets to his feet, and starts to try
	and scramble out.

				HARRY
		Swann?  Swann!

	Silence.

	Suddenly, a hand is laid on his shoulder!  Harry swings
	round.  It's Valentin.  He has been badly cut up. 

				VALENTIN
		D'Amour --

				HARRY
		Shit...

				VALENTIN
		Help me.

	He collapses into Harry's arms.

				HARRY
		Swann!

	INT. HARRY'S CAR - NIGHT

	Indecision is written all over Swann's face:  to help or not
	to help?

				HARRY (V.O.)
		Swann!

	He decides.  Gets out.

	EXT. NIX'S GRAVE - MIGHT

	Swann goes to the graveside, terrified.

				HARRY
		Give me a hand.  I got Valentin.

	Together, Harry and Swann lift Valentin out of the grave and
	lay him in the blaze of the headlamps.

				VALENTIM
		He's got Dorothea. 

				SWANN
		And Nix?

				VALENTIN
		Him too.

				HARRY
		We've got to get you to a hospital.

				VALENTIN
		Don't bother.

				HARRY
		Shut up.  We've lost enough lives
		already.

				VALENTIN
		I'm sorry, D'Amour...

				HARRY
		What about?

				VALENTIN
		... Looks like you're going...
		to lose... one more.

	Valentin dies.

				HARRY
			(despairing)
		... no...

				SWANN
		He's better off this way.

				HARRY
			(furious)
		Nobody's better off this wav!

				SWANN
		You don't get it, do you? We're
		shit. D'Amour.

	He puts his foot beneath Valentin's body.  It rolls back into
	Nix's grave.

				SWANN
		That's where we're all going.

				HARRY
		In my time, and nobody else's.

	ON THE EMPTY GRAVE, as we HEAR the SOUND of Harry and Swann
	getting into the car.  The doors SLAM.  The CAR LIGHTS
	retreat.  The grave is left to DARKNESS.

	EXT. NIX'S HOUSE - NIGHT

	The house is silent now.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - PASSAGEWAYS - NIGHT

	We TRACK through the house.  The CULTISTS, all Seventeen of
	them, stand in the passageways, looking toward Nix's sanctum.

	ON THE SANCTUM DOOR.  Butterfield emerges.  He is wearing
	WHITE now.

				BUTTERFIELD
		Do you wish him to be amongst us?

				CULTISTS
		Yes...

				BUTTERFIELD
		Will you come to him on your
		knees?

				CULTISTS
		Yes...

				BUTTERFIELD
		Be ready.

	Now we see that the Cultists have BOTTLES in their hands. 
	With looks of ecstatic fervour on their faces, they SMASH the
	bottles to the ground at their bare feet. Then they pick up
	MORE BOTTLES, and SMASH them, littering the ground with razor
	sharp pieces of GLASS. 

	ON Butterfield, smiling.  He steps back into the Sanctum.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - SANCTUM - NIGHT

	HIGH, WIDE SHOT of the room, as Butterfield approaches the
	BODY of Nix.  It lies on a table, surrounded by bowls of OIL. 
	Bandages, soaked in oil, are laid over its limbs.  Beside its
	head, Butterfield's INSTRUMENTS are laid out. 

	ON Dorothea, crouched in the corner of the room, terrified as
	she watches Butterfield remove the multi- part MASK screwed
	into Nix's face.  He works with surgical precision.

				DOROTHEA
		Listen.  You've got everything you
		want.  You don't need me. .. 

	A piece of the mask comes away from the cheek.  A subtle
	POWER plucks at dust around the room, disturbing it minutely. 
	We CUT CLOSE to Dorothea's face throughout this sequence (on
	occasion her eyeball fills the screen) as she sees these
	signs of disturbance in the ether, growing in magnitude.

				BUTTERFIELD
		No, but he will.  After what you
		did to him.

	He pulls a piece of the mask from Nix's mouth.

				BUTTERFIELD
		He'll want vengeance.  Simple PS
		that.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - PASSAGEWAYS - NIGHT

	The bottle-breaking has ceased.  The Cultists stand,
	breathless with anticipation.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - SANCTUM - NIGHT

	On Nix's emaciated mouth.  The lips TWITCH. 

	On Dorothea.  The DUST moves around her. 

	And Nix DRAWS BREATH. 

	On Butterfield, TEARS in his eyes.

				BUTTERFIELD
		Oh my Lord.  He's coming home...

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - PASSAGEWAY - NIGHT

	The whisper runs through the congregation:

				CULTISTS
		He's coming home... he/s coming
		home...

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - SANCTUM - NIGHT

	ON Dorothea, eyes wide.

				DOROTHEA
		Christ in Heaven.

	ON Nix, as his body starts to thirstily soak up the oils. 
	His withered flesh starts to REHYDRATE; his veins start to
	THROB. 

	Butterfield is watching the process in amazement. Nix's HANDS
	move up to his face, where the last portion of the mask is
	still screwed over his eyes.

				BUTTERFIELD
		He's with us...

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - PASSAGEWAY - NIGHT

				CULTISTS
		He's with us... He's with us...

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - SANCTUM - NIGHT

	Unnoticed by Butterfield, who has his eyes on Nix, Dorothea
	gets to her feet and creeps away to the door. Very quiet
	TRACK. 

	Suddenly, the snake-handling Cultist steps into view, snakes
	coiled around his face and fingers!

				DOROTHEA
		Oh God!

	Butterfield looks up. 

				BUTTERFIELD
		Hold her!

	On Nix, as he starts to pull at the mask on his face.  It
	comes away with a moist, WRENCHING SOUND.  At last, we see
	his eyes.

	NIX'S P.O.V.

	The candle-lights blaze, BLINDING his sensitive eyes.

				NIX
			(fury to agony)
		Aaarrrgh!

	He gets up and flings himself around the room, knocking over
	all the lights but two.  Then he strikes Butterfield to the
	ground, and slams his foot on Butterfield's neck, knocking
	him unconscious.  It's a terrifying, almost demoniacal
	display of instant physical superiority.  Throughout, he
	literally ROARS in rage.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - PASSAGEWAY - NIGHT

	The Cultists SCREAM in sympathy, letting out years of
	repressed frustration.  Many of them are dancing on the
	shards of glass now, crazed.

				CUT TO:

	EXT. DESERT NEAR NIX'S HOUSE - NIGHT

	Harry's car is parked a quarter mile from Nix's house. He is
	getting out.  Swann stays put. 

	The SOUND of SCREAMING is carried towards them on the wind.

				HARRY
			(spooked)
		Jesus... what the hell's going on
		in there?

				SWANN
		At a guess... they just resurrected
		him.

				HARRY
		Fuck.

	Harry starts towards the house. After a beat, Swann gets out
	of the car and follows.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - SANCTUM- - NIGHT

	On Butterfield, as Nix removes his foot.  Butterfield is out
	for the count. 

	On Nix, as he stops screaming.  His face is grotesquely
	disfigured by the mask, the flesh stained and corrupted. 

	The SCREAMING of the Cultists is dying away.

				NIX
		Children...

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - PASSAGEWAY - NIGHT

	The Cultists all face the Sanctum door, awaiting instruction.

				NIX
		Will you suffer to come unto me?

	One by one, the Cultists fall to their knees.  We never see
	flesh pierced by broken glass.  But we HEAR IT, and see the
	agony on the Cultist's faces.  They start to sob.

	Then, Nix appears in the doorway, mostly hidden by shadow.

				NIX
		I've come back to share the wisdom
		of the grave.  Will you hear it?

				CULTISTS
		Yes... yes...

				NIX
		Follow me then.

	He steps out of the doorway.  The Cultists let out sobs of
	adoration.  Nix locks at Dorothea.

				NIX
		Do I know you, child?

	He reaches for her.  Pulls her close to his body. Dorothea
	keeps her self-possession; but only just.

				NIX
		Oh yes... I do, don't I?  No gun
		this time, child?
			(a beat)
		Where's Swann?

				DOROTHEA
		I don't know where he is.

	Nix picks her up, so that her feet are inches off the ground.


				NIX
		He'll come.  We've got unfinished
		business, he and I.

	Then he carries her down the passageway to the Meditation
	Room, walking on the glass, apparently indifferent to the
	wounds he's receiving. 

	The Cultists follow.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - MEDITATION ROOM - NIGHT

	Nix strides into the middle of the room.

				NIX
			(whispered to Dorothea)
		Something terrible's going to
		happen.  But if you hold on to me,
		very tight, you may live a little
		longer.

	The Cultists enter the room, knees and hands BLOODY.

				NIX
			(to Cultists)
		Are you ready for my wisdom?

				CULTISTS
		Tell us... tell us...

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - SANCTUM - NIGHT

	Harry pushes open the window, and climbs in.  Swann follows. 
	He is frozen by the memory of what happened here. 

	ON SWANN, as the TRACK fills with eerie ECHOES of that
	terrible event.  Nix's SCREAMS.  The GUN-SHOTS.  The sound of
	the SCREWS GRINDING into Nix's flesh.

				SWANN
			(in terrified awe)
		This is where we killed him.

				HARRY
			(looking at table)
		You didn't try hard enough.

				SWANN
		I can't... I can't go any
		further...

	Harry nods, and gently detaches his arm from Swann's panicked
	grip.  He crosses to the door. 

	Suddenly. Butterfield reaches out of the darkness, and
	catches hold of Harry's leg. throwing him to the ground. 

	He has one of the INSTRUMENTS in his hand.  He STABS at
	Harry, striking the ground between Harry's legs.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - MEDITATION ROOM - NIGHT

				NIX
		Here is my wisdom.

	He stamps on the ground.  CRACKS spread from his foot in all
	directions. ON THE CULTISTS, amazed by this manifestation of
	power.

				BARBARA
		Show us. Puritan.

				NORMAN
		Yes, show us!

				ALL
		Show us!  Show us!

	With a ROAR, a PIT four or five feet across opens up beneath
	Nix and Dorothea.  Nix HOVERS over it.  It's utterly dark;
	perhaps bottomless. 

	Dorothea SCREAMS!

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - SANCTUM- - NIGHT

	Hearing Dorothea's CRY, Harry looks back towards the
	passageway.  Butterfield pulls the instrument out of the
	ground and stabs at Harry a second time.  But Swann catches
	hold of his arm.

				SWANN
			(to Harry)
		Whatever he's doing to her, stop
		him!

	And Harry's up and away --

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - PASSAGEWAY - NIGHT

	-- he dashes over the glass --

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - MEDITATION ROOM - NIGHT

	On Nix, Dorothea clasped close to him.  He REVOLVES as he
	floats over the chasm below then.

				NIX
			(to unseen Cultists)
		You see, I escaped the grave. So I
		have to give something to the grave
		in return.

	On the Cultists, listening to their lord with love in their
	eyes. 

	A SLIT OPENS in the middle of Nix's forehead, above the
	bridge of his nose (this is an image we saw in the prints in
	the library), and from it comes a WAVE OF DARKNESS.  As Nix
	REVOLVES, the darkness STRIKES the GROUND around the
	Cultists.

	At first they don't realize what's going on.  They think this
	is some kind of bizarre blessing. 

	Then the ground starts to LIQUIFY beneath them.

				NORMAN
		What's happening?

				NIX
		I have to give something back. So
		I'm giving you.

	They're starting to SCREAM now as they sink into the ground. 
	They struggle, of course, but the earth seems to be hungry
	for them.  They are dragged down, THRASHING as they SINK.

				BARBARA
			(sobbing)
		Why?  Why?

				NIX
		You're not worthy.  None of you. 
		Only Swann was worthy. You just
		waited like lambs.

	Harry appears in the doorway.  Nix, still swinging round, has
	his back to Harry.

				NIX
		Well I'm not your shepherd.

	Harry surveys the horrific scene in front of him.  The ground
	is now re-solidifying around the Cultists, some of whom have
	disappeared from view completely, some of whom still reach up
	out of the dirt.  The scene has a surreal beauty to it
	despite its horror.  SCREAMING FACES locked in the solid
	ground.  TWITCHING HANDS the same. Harry starts towards Nix
	and Dorothea, GUN levelled.  So far, he has avoided Nix's
	gaze.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - SANCTUM - NIGHT

	Butterfield and Swann are locked in a life-or-death struggle. 
	They tumble back against the table upon which Nix was
	resurrected.  It collapses under them, and for a moment Swann
	is stunned.  Butterfield snatches up one of the instruments
	and STABS at Swann, who rolls out of the way in the nick of
	time. 

	The BLADE catches him in the arm, however.

				SWANN
		Aah!

				BUTTERFIELD
		Go on, bleed.
			(he slashes at Swann
		again)
		Go on!  Go on!

	Butterfield comes after him, and Swann backs off against a
	wall.  He SPITS out a serpentine FLAME, which races across
	the floor and leaps at Butterfield's face!

				BUTTERFIELD
			(screaming)
		No!

	He falls backwards, his face ON FIRE.  Swann doesn't wait to
	watch him die, but races out into the passageway, BLOOD
	running from his wound.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - MEDITATION ROOM - NIGHT

	Harry is staring up at Dorothea as he very gingerly crosses
	the still-sticky ground.  He's a yard from the edge of the
	pit now. 

	Nix swings round.

				NIX
		You're not Swann.  Who are you?
			(a beat) )
		Oh... I know what you want. He lets
		Dorothea slip from his arms.  

	Harry flings himself towards the hole and CATCHES HOLD of
	Dorothea's arm before she falls away into the abyss.  His GUN
	goes spinning across the ground, back towards the door
	leading to the passageway.

				DOROTHEA
		Oh God!

				HARRY
		Hang on!

	Nix reaches down to torment Harry.  But before he can make
	contact

				SWANN (V.O.)
		Nix!

	Nix looks up.

				NIX
		There you are. 

	Suddenly, Nix isn't interested in Harry and Dorothea. He
	steps onto solid ground, and walks towards Swann, his tone
	suddenly conversational.

				NIX
		I've had a lot of time to think
		about you.  Where I went wrong...

	With Nix's back turned, Harry pulls Dorothea back out of the
	chasm.

				SWANN
		And?

				NIX
		I should have been honest with you,
		right from the start.  I wasn't
		born to show people the error of
		their ways.  I was born to murder
		the world.

	ON HARRY, as he leads Dorothea to the door.  Harry glances
	back into the room.

				NIX
		You could still help me do that.

				SWANN
		Why would I want to?

				NIX
		Because you've got nothing else to
		live for.

				SWANN
		Not true.

				NIX
		The woman has a new love in her
		life.  Your friends are dead.
		Nobody's left to save you, but me

	He lays his hands on Swann.  Draws him into an embrace.

	ON HARRY and Dorothea.

				HARRY
			(to Dorothea)
		I've got to help him.

				DOROTHEA
		You can't.

				HARRY
		Nix has got to have a weak spot. 
		Everybody's got a fucking weak
		spot.

	A NOISE. He turns, and suddenly --

	Butterfield is there!  His face is horribly burned, but he's
	still very much alive.

				BUTTERFIELD
		Bastard!

	He launches himself at Harry, driving them both back into the
	BROKEN GLASS.  A FIGHT ensues, carrying them out into the
	Passageway. 

	Nix has Swann in a bear-hug.

				NIX
		Will you help me? 

	A beat.  Then Swann nods.

				SWANN
		Yes.

	Nix lets him go.

				NIX
		You know I'll kill you when we're
		done.  I have to.

				SWANN
		Yes.

				NIX
		But until then... it's you and
		me... the way it always was.

				SWANN
		Yes.

	Dorothea, at the doorway, watches this bizarre exchange.
	Swann's eyes flicker towards her.  Nix turns.

				NIX
		Wait... you still feel something
		for that bitch?

				SWANN
		No!

				NIX
		Liar!

	Nix makes a gesture, and Swann is flung against the wall,
	pinned there like a fly, legs off the ground.

				NIX
		Will!  You!  Never!  Learn!?

	With each word, Nix almost casually throws a gesture in
	Swann's direction, and though there is six feet between them,
	they have the force of terrible blows.  One to the ribs. 
	They CRACK.  One to the face.  It BLEEDS.  One to the legs,
	one to the arms.  They all BREAK.  Then Nix turns towards
	Dorothea.

				NIX
		She's just flesh, Swannnie-boy.
		I'll show you!

	He moves towards Dorothea.  Swann falls to the ground,
	broken.

				SWANN
		Harry!

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - PASSAGEWAY - NIGHT

	The fight between Butterfield and Harry continues.

				SWANN (V.O.)
		Harry!  Stop him!

	Harry looks up.  Sees Dorothea retreating from the door, and
	running off into the darkness. 

	Butterfield comes at Harry again.  Harry's got no more time
	for this creep.  He delivers Butterfield a backhand swipe,
	and Butterfield lands face down in the glass.  We don't see
	the impact.  HEARING it's enough. 

	Harry looks down at the body.  Then --

				NIX (V.O.)
		Where is she? 

	Harry turns.

	Nix is on him like a luoaernaut. treading on Butterfield's
	body as he comes at Harry!

				NIX
		Where did she go?

	Nix GRABS hold of Harry's head with one hand and PRESSES the
	fingers of -the other hand against Harry's TEMPLES. He
	struggles to get free, but Nix is simply too powerful.

	Nix's fingers slowly SLIDE BENEATH the skin of Harry's
	temples.  As before, there's no blood.

				NIX
		You've got Swann's disease. You
		think a little courage, a little
		love, and it'll all be all right. 
		Wrong!

	His fingers slide all the way in!

				HARRY
		Oh God!

	Harry wrests himself free of Nix, and stumbles away. His eyes
	are BLOOD-RED.  Nix is a few yards behind him.

				NIX
		Tell me where she is... and I'll
		make it go away...

	Harry is reeling around in the grip of a nightmare.

	HARRY'S P.O.V.

	The apocalyptic images on the walls seem to move!  A face
	SCREAMS!  FIRE blossoms! 

	ON HARRY, verging on insanity.

				HARRY
		Oh God... oh God...

	HARRY'S P.O.V.

	Harry sees a WOMAN, wrapped in the sickly-sensual embrace of
	some glistening, barely visible OBSCENITY.  We can't see her
	face.  Only her mouth is visible in the coils of her
	devourer.

	ON HARRY

	as he approaches the wall, on which this woman is painted. 
	Reaching out for the image.

	HARRY'S P.O.V.

	The Woman reaches for Harry.

				WOMAN           
		Help me.

	ON HARRY

	as he touches the wall.

				HARRY
		Dorothea!

	He starts to SCRATCH out the plaster on which the image is
	painted.

				HARRY
		Dorothea!  Dorothea!

	HARRY'S P.O.V.

	Darkness swallows the image of the woman.  She is still
	screaming when she disappears.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - MEDITATION ROOM - NIGHT

	ON SWANN, dragging his broken body to the door.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - PASSAGEWAY - NIGHT

	ON HARRY 

	literally beating his head against the wall!

				HARRY
		No!  No!  No!

				DOROTHEA (V.O.)
		Harry...

	Harry stops.  Dare he believe this is truly her voice?

				DOROTHEA
		It's not real, Harry-

	Harry turns around.  Dorothea is there.

	HARRY'S P.O.V.

	For a moment, he sees Dorothea as she is.

	ON HARRY, relief flooding his face.  Then --

	HARRY'S P.O.V.

	-- the image MORPHS.  Dorothea's beauty is replaced by
	primeval muck. 

	ON HARRY, appalled.  Dorothea grabs hold of him.

				DOROTHEA
		Harry.  Listen to me. Whatever's
		good between us, believe it.

	Harry's face is deathly white, and pouring SWEAT.  He's
	fighting the delirium.  Or doing his best.


				HARRY
		... oh... God...

				DOROTHEA
		I'm here, Harry.

				HARRY
		...yes?

				DOROTHEA
		Yes.

	Nix steps from the shadows of the doorway behind Harry.

				NIX
			(to Dorothea)
		There you are, child. 

	Harry starts to look round.

				DOROTHEA
		Don't look.

				HARRY
		I... have... to.

				NIX
		Come on, child.  I want Swann to
		see you die. 

	Harry turns and looks at Nix.

	HARRY'S P.O.V.

	Nix's face darkens as it MORPHS.  And the flesh in the middle
	of his brow UNFOLDS, revealing a dark, pulsating THIRD EYE.

				NIX
			(to Harry)
		What are you looking at?

	ON DOROTHEA, who has gone to the door of the Meditation Room
	and now slips inside. 

	ON HARRY, staring up at Nix.

	ON DOROTHEA, re-emerging from the Meditation Room.  In her
	hand, Harry's GUN.  Harry looks round at her.

				HARRY
			(points to his brow)
		There... there!

	ON NIX, as he looks up at Dorothea. 

	ON DOROTHEA, as she raises the GUN.  She FIRES. 

	The bullet STRIKES Nix's FOREHEAD.  He sinks to his knees,
	BLOOD pouring down his face from the hole where his third EYE
	used to be.

	ON HARRY, as Nix's mind-hold falters.  He leans against the
	wall, shaking.

				DOROTHEA
		Harry?

				HARRY
		I'm okay.  I'm okay.

	Harry opens his eyes.  Looks up at her.

	HARRY'S P.O.V.

	The last of the MORPHING fades.  He sees Dorothea as she
	actually is.  Dorothea goes down to comfort him, and they
	embrace. 

	Suddenly, a ROAR from Nix.  They look towards him --

	-- it isn't over. 

	One last, terrifying transformation is overtaking Nix as he
	kneels in the GLASS.  His sallow flesh is running in STREAMS
	up his body towards the DARK HOLE in the middle of his
	forehead --

				NIX
		One... last... illusion...

	-- his humanity is disappearing, vanishing into the vortex of
	the bullet wound.

				DOROTHEA
		Oh my God.

	Harry and Dorothea start to get up... 

	Nix is no longer human.  He is a shape of gleaming DARKNESS,
	stripped of features.  He opens his mouth, the only visible
	element on his body is his toothed maw, which looses an
	utterly inhuman SHRIEK!

				SWANN (V.O.)
		... D'Amour...

	Harry glances through the door into the Meditation Room.
	Swann is on the threshold. 

	Nix RISES now.  He is a terrifying spectacle, his bulk
	somehow more intimidating than ever in this simplified form. 

	He comes at Dorothea, who has no choice but to back away into
	the Meditation Room.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - MEDITATION ROOM - NIGHT

	The pit still yawns in the middle of the floor. Dorothea is
	backed towards it by Nix. 

	When Nix SPEAKS, his voice is not remotely human.  It is
	DEMONIACAL.

				NIX
		I am the purest of the pure.  I am
		the darkest of the dark...

	Harry is at the door now, starting towards Nix.

				SWANN
		Harry.  You can't kill him. 

	Harry crouches beside Swann.

				HARRY
			(whispers)
		He did something with the ground.

				SWANN
		Yes?

				HARRY
		Can you do it?

				SWANN
		I don't know.

				HARRY
		Try.

	ON DOROTHEA.  She's a couple of yards from the pit now.

				NIX (V.O.)
		I'm beyond Heaven.  I'm beyond
		Hell.

	Suddenly, Harry lunges at Nix, grabbing hold of his legs. 
	Nix topples.

	ON SWANN, who puts his hands on the ground.  Closes his eyes. 

	A wave of LIQUIFICATION runs through the ground from Swann's
	broken fingers -- 

	-- the Cultists' bodies MOVE in the softening ground, like
	corpses in surf, and ROLL towards the pit, their dead faces
	resurfacing --

	Barbara's body floats past Nix, and disappears over       
	the edge of the pit.

				HARRY
			(to Dorothea)
		Get out of here!

	The ground is very liquid now, and the corpses are lodging
	around Nix as they're all carried towards the pit.  So's
	Harry, of course. 

	Nix tries to get up, but he's too late.  The corpses weigh
	him down, the ground is too fluid for him to get a proper
	hold, and Harry still clings to his legs.

				NIX
		No!  No!  No!

	He's at the edge of the pit.

				DOROTHEA (V.O.)
		Harry!

	Harry looks round.  Dorothea's behind him, risking the
	flowing ground to offer him a hand. 

	Nix starts to fall into the pit.  At the last minute, he
	reaches for Harry, as -- 

	-- Harry is pulled out of reach bv Dorothea. 

	Together they stumble to THE DOOR, where Swann still lies. 
	They look back to see 

	NIX, as he goes over the edge of the pit and FALLS SCREAMING. 

	At the door, Dorothea lifts up Swann's head.  He's dead. She
	closes his eyes.

				CUT TO:

	INT. THE PIT

	What we are about to witness is the longest fall-to-his-
	death by any villain in the history of cinema... 

	Nix is falling through rock.  Still SCREAMING.  He CRASHES
	against a layer of stone, which his body smashes to
	smithereens.  And as he falls --

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - PASSAGEWAY - NIGHT

				DOROTHEA
		Is it finished?

				HARRY
		I think so.

	No it's not.  Nix keeps falling, breaking through another
	layer of rock as he descends deeper and deeper into the
	earth. 

	And now... there's a hint of FIERY LIGHT below.  He's
	approaching MAGMA.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - PASSAGEWAY - NIGHT

				DOROTHEA
		Come on...

	She puts her arms around him.  Kisses him, sobbing with
	relief.

	INT. THE PIT

	Nix hits a layer of molten rock, and, SCREAMING, he
	disappears.  A BURST of dark, roiling ENERGY erupts from the
	spot where he sank, and starts up the pit --

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - MEDITATION ROOM - NIGHT

	The room TREMBLES.  There's a ROAR in the earth.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - PASSAGEWAY - NIGHT

				HARRY
		What the fuck? 

				DOROTHEA
		Harry-?

				HARRY
		Out!  Out! 

	They race for the front door --

	INT. THE PIT

	-- the wave of ENERGY, like a howling, dark WIND, ascends at
	a breath-taking rate

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - PASSAGEWAY - NIGHT

	Harry and Dorothea race for the open air, as

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - MEDITATION ROOM - NIGHT

	The ENERGY ERUPTS from the pit.

	EXT. NIX'S HOUSE - FRONT DOOR - NIGHT

	Harry and Dorothea stumble out, into the night --

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - VARIOUS - NIGHT

	The ENERGY howls from room to room, ERODING the images off
	the walls, BLOWING out the doors, DESTROYING all the
	resurrection equipment in the Sanctum --

	EXT. NIX'S HOUSE - DESERT - DAWN

	Harry and Dorothea stumble to the car.  They look back at the
	house, as the cacophony of destruction dies down. 

	ON THE RIM OF THE SUN, as it peeps over the desert horizon.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - VARIOUS - DAWN

	The SUNLIGHT creeps through the rooms as the DUST settles.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - MEDITATION ROOM - DAWN

	The hole in the floor CLOSES UP, and is SEALED... SILENCE
	reigns.

	EXT. NIX'S HOUSE - DESERT - DAWN

	Harry and Dorothea get into the car.  Harry glances back at
	the house.  Nothing.

				HARRY
			(quietly)
		It's finished.

	EXT. NIX'S HOUSE - FRONT DOOR - IDOLS - DAWN

	ON THE IDOLS and the FRONT DOOR, virtually destroyed by tine.

	WE DRIFT THROUGH THEM, INTERCUTTING WITH:

	EXT. HARRY'S CAR - DESERT ROAD - DAWN			   

	Harry's car speeds away, leaving a plume of dust as

	THE CREDITS ROLLTITLE SEQUENCE


	As the credits run, we INTERCUT the following two sequences:


	EXT. NEVADA DESERT - IDOLS - DAY


	A SLOW DRIFT through a collection of crudely constructed,
	surreal, six-foot tall "IDOLS."  Like modern demons. 
	Grotesque.  Disturbing. WE LAP DISSOLVE between details of
	their twisted anatomies:  headlamp eyes, bright metal claws,
	broken glass teeth.

	EXT. NEVADA ROADS - DESERT - DAY

	Two vehicles, one a Volkswagen "bus" decorated with stylized
	flames, the other a '66 Thunderbird, speeding along a series
	of eerily empty desert roads, somewhere in a wilderness of
	sand and heat.

	END CREDITS.

				CUT WIDE TO;

	EXT. NEVADA DESERT - DAY

	A violent WIND HOWLS around, but through the sand we-can just
	make out a large, ominous building:  the HOUSE of William
	Nix.  Its walls are white-washed and scrawled with GRAFFITI. 
	The "family" of IDOLS surrounds the doorway, guarding it. ON
	SCREEN, the words:  '"Nevada - Thirteen Years Ago"

	EXT. NIX'S HOUSE - DAY

	We're at the front door now, which stands open.  Leaning
	against the door-frame is a scrawny, wild-eyed YOUTH, about
	sixteen.  His name is BUTTERFIELD.  He's got a brooding,
	almost sultry look on his face.  One of his eyes is black,
	the other milky blue.  He's whittling something with a
	scalpel. Distantly, the sound of CAR ENGINES.  Butterfield
	narrows his eyes.

	BUTTERFIELD'S P.O.V.

	The Volkswagen "bus" and Thunderbird are approaching the
	house.

				BUTTERFIELD
			(softly)
		Swann...?

	He turns from the door.  In his haste he drops the WOOD he's
	whittling.  He's been carving a DEATH'S HEAD.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - ROOMS AND CORRIDORS - DAY

	The house no longer serves any domestic function.  It has
	become the temple and dormitory of Nix's small apocalyptic
	cult.  As we go through the house with Butterfield we glimpse
	a little of what life here is like. 

	The rooms are murky, and chaotic.  The walls, PAINTED with
	scenes of cities and landscapes BURNING, and creatures from
	some unspeakable nightmare ATTACKING, RAPING, and DEVOURING
	helpless humanity.  The atmosphere is joyless, and
	oppressive. 

	The passages become progressively darker as the boy makes his
	way to the heart of the house.  Only OIL LAMPS, set on the
	floor, light these claustrophobic corridors.

				BUTTERFIELD
		Master?

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - MEDITATION ROOM - DAY

	A dozen CULTISTS sit cross-legged on the floor in front of
	their leader, WILLIAM NIX.  His black hair grows to his
	shoulders.  His eyes are deep and glittering, his voice
	seductive.  A terrifying yet charismatic presence. 

	All the Cultists - who are a cross-section of obsessives -
	wear the same simple T-shirts, painted with the cult's SIGIL. 
	They watch Nix in adoration. 

	As Nix speaks, he juggles a FLAME, passing it from hand to
	hand with casual ease...

				NIX
		And the fire said to me:  Nix, Nix,
		you're my instrument. From now on,
		you'll be called the Puritan...

				CULTISTS
			(murmuring)
		Puritan...

	NIX You will find a few good men and women, and together,
	together you will cleanse the world.

				CULTISTS
		Yes...

	Butterfield enters. 

				BUTTERFIELD
		Master?

	Nix looks up.

				BUTTERFIELD
		Swann's here. 

	Nix rises, smiling.

				NIX
			(to Cultists)
		We'll come back to this. Get about
		your business. 

	As the Cultists disperse, Nix and Butterfield exit into

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - SANCTUM - DAY

	A place of nightmares. Hanging from the middle of the ceiling
	is another grotesque SCULPTURE, three times the bulk of a
	large man, and made of metal, fly-blown animal parts and
	knotted rope.  It is vaguely cruciform, but its swaying,
	creaking bulk is not even faintly Christian.  It is a
	perverse, sickening image, evoking insanity and agony.

	From the shadows in the corner, we hear a young girl's soft
	SOBBING.

				NIX
		Hush...

	Nix goes to the GIRL.  She is twelve; beautiful, blonde, and
	presently in a state of mortal fear.  She sits, bound, in a
	fetal position, her face soaked with SWEAT and TEARS, her
	mouth BLOODIED, her cheek BRUISED.

				NIX
		I said hush.

				GIRL
		Please.  Let me go.

	From the opposite corner the SCREECH of Nix's pet BABOON. 
	Nix goes to it.  The animal is large and lethal.

				NIX
			(to Baboon)
		What is it?

	The Baboon pulls on its chain, staring at the Girl and baring
	its teeth as it screeches.

				NIX
			(to Girl)
		I think he's in love.

	He unshackles the Baboon.  The animal pads toward the Girl,
	trailing its chain.

				GIRL
		Keep it away from me.

	Nix catches hold of its chain.  Holds it back.  The Baboon
	starts screeching again, scrabbling at the Girl, its NAILS
	catching her arms and legs, drawing BLOOD.

				GIRL
		Please... please...

	Nix watches her terror dispassionately.

				BUTTERFIELD
			(also watching, wide-
		eyed)
		Want me to shoot Swann?

				NIX
		You don't like him, do you?

				BUTTERFIELD
		He wants your magic.

				NIX
		Maybe.  Go fetch him.

	Butterfield exits.  Nix advances on the Girl.

				GIRL
		What are you going to do?

				CUT TO:

	EXT. NIX'S HOUSE - DESERT - DAY

	The two vehicles come to a halt outside Nix's house.

	From the Thunderbird steps PHILIP SWANN, a nineteen- year-old
	with shoulder-length hair and brilliant blue eyes.  He's not
	conventionally handsome, but he's certainly striking. 

	From the passenger seat steps CASPAR QUAID, a black man,
	studious and intense.  From the bus emerges MURRAY PIMM,
	skinny and jittery, and JENNIFER DESIDERIO, a woman with a
	steely gaze.

				SWANN
			(to all three)
		Are we ready?

				JENNIFER
			(cool)
		Say the word.

				PIMM
			(very nervous)
		Look, maybe we should think this over.

	On Swann, as he brings from his car three very bizarre pieces
	of METALWORK.  We get only a tantalizing glimpse of them, as
	he slips them into his pocket.

				SWANN
		No.  He's gone too far.

				PIMM
		So he took a child.

				JENNIFER
		He'll kill her.

				PIMM
		No he won't.

				SWANN
			(determined)
		He's not going to get the chance.

	Quaid checks a gun, then slips it into his belt.

				QUAID
		If he gets in our fucking heads he'll drive us crazy.

				SWANN
		So stay out here.

	Swann starts towards the House.  Jennifer is the first to
	follow, with the other two on her heels.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - HALLWAY - DAY

	Butterfield comes to the door, as Swann steps inside.

				BUTTERFIELD
		He's expecting you.

	Behind Swann, Quaid and Pimm exchange nervous looks.

				SWANN
			(to others)
		Look around.  If you find 'the
		child, yell.  She's got blonde
		hair, that's all I know.

	Butterfield turns away, smiling to himself.  Swann follows
	him.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - "MEDITATION" ROOM - DAY

	Quaid looks into a large circular room where FIVE CULTISTS
	(three men and two women) still sit.  One of the women is
	breast-feeding a baby.

				1ST MAN
		Hey, Quaid.  I thought you said you
		weren't coming back.

				QUAID
		I changed my mind.

				1ST WOMAN
		Come and join us.

	She smiles a crazy smile.  Reaches out for Quaid.  A SNAKE
	appears from around the back of her neck.  Quaid recoils. 

	And now we see that there are snakes everywhere.  In the
	Cultists' clothes and hair.  Even on the baby.  Quaid turns
	away.  And - shock! - there's a SNAKE on the door frame,
	winding around his hand.  He strikes it to the ground, and
	drives his heel down on its head.

				SNAKE-HANDLER CULTIST
			(angry)
		Don't do that!

	The Snake-Handler gets up.  Quaid retreats from the door. 
	Snake-Handler picks up the dead snake and, lifting it above
	his head, dribbles its BLOOD onto his face.

	INT.   NIX'S  HOUSE  -   "BEDROOM"   -  DAY

	Jennifer enters a gloomy room.  She goes to a mattress where
	a BLONDE GIRL lies with her bare back to us.

				JENNIFER
		Don't be afraid.

	The Blonde Girl, BARBARA, turns over.  She has a dirty cloth
	pressed to a wound between her breasts.  It is not the Girl,
	of course.  She stares up at Jennifer, clearly drugged.

				BARBARA
		I'm not... want to see?

	She pulls the cloth away.  She has carved the cult SIGIL into
	her FLESH.  The BLOODY KNIFE lies beside her. Jennifer
	retreats to the door, and exits back out into --

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - PASSAGEWAY - DAY

	Pimm is standing against the wall, clutching a CRUCIFIX. He
	is ashen with terror.  Jennifer snatches the crucifix from
	his white-knuckled fingers.

				PIMM
		He's going to kill us all...

				JENNIFER
		Where did Swann go?

	Pimm points down the passageway towards Nix's room.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - PASSAGEWAY OUTSIDE NIX'S SANCTUM - DAY

	Swann wipes sweat from his upper lip, then reaches down to
	his belt, to check the GUN tucked out of sight at his side. 
	He turns the door handle.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - SANCTUM - DAY

	Swann steps inside.  Nix's chair has its back to him. The
	folds of Nix's robe are visible, however.  Swann hears a
	muffled SOBBING from the far side of the room. 

	On the Girl, now gagged and lying amongst bones and filth.

	Swann starts towards her, his footsteps barely audible.  As
	he approaches the chair - the Baboon leaps at him screeching!

	He reaches for his gun.  The chair topples.  The Baboon, half
	dressed in Nix's robes, bounds towards Swann. 

	Swann FIRES at it.  The bullet blasts off half its head.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - PASSAGEWAY - DAY

	On Quaid, who draws his GUN as three CULTISTS appear in the
	passageway that leads to Nix's Sanctum.

				QUAID
		Stay the fuck away!
			(yells)
		Pimm!  Get over here!

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - SANCTUM - DAY

	PAN UP from the twitching Baboon corpse to Swann as he
	struggles with the Girl's gag.  He has laid his gun on the
	ground beside her.

				SWANN
		You're going to be okay.

	Out of focus, behind him, the cruciform sculpture swings
	round.  Nix is hanging on it, like an idol on a grotesque
	altarpiece. 

	The Girl sees Nix over Swann's shoulder.  Terror crosses her
	face.  Swann turns.

				NIX
		I knew you'd come. 

	He reaches down to Swann.

				NIX
		I've got so much power to give
		you, Swann.  All you have to do
		is...beg.

				SWANN
		Fuck you.

				NIX
		You don't think I've got it to
		give?

				SWANN
		No!

	Suddenly. Nix swoops down on Swann. apparently defying
	gravity.

				NIX
		You're wrong.

	He catches hold of Swann with one hand and drives him back
	against the wall.

				NIX
		I could eat your fucking soul,
		Swann.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - PASSAGEWAY - DAY

	Jennifer, reaches the door of the Sanctum.  Butterfield steps
	from the shadows.  His KNIFE flashes as it strikes Jennifer's
	hand.  BLOOD SPURTS.

				JENNIFER
		Fuck!

	She retreats, staunching her bleeding hand.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - SANCTUM - DAY

	Nix has Swann trapped against the wall and is working his
	fingers against Swann's temples.  Working, working, like a
	psychic surgeon plying against the belly of a patient.

				NIX
		You want to know what the world
		really looks like?

	Swann struggles, but he can't get free of Nix's hold. 

	And now -- horribly -- Nix's fingers slide beneath the skin
	of Swann's temples, without a drop of blood being spilt.

				NIX
		Want to see flesh with a god's
		eyes?

	Swann SCREAMS as Nix's mind-hold seizes him.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - PASSAGEWAY - DAY

	Quaid levels his gun at Butterfield, who is guarding the
	Sanctum door.  Jennifer is at Quaid's side.

				SWANN (V.O.)
		Aah!

				QUAID
		Get away from the door!

	Butterfield shakes his head.  Quaid FIRES.  The bullet.
	strikes the wall beside Butterfield's head.  He retreats,
	growling like a rabid animal.  Quaid kicks the Sanctum door
	open, and enters.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - SANCTUM - DAY

				QUAID
		Swann?

				NIX
			(to Quaid)
		Here he is.

	Swann stumbles into the middle of the room, the whites of his
	eyes blood-red.

				NIX
		Take a look, Swann!  These are your
		friends.

	On Swann, reeling like a drunkard as he looks up at Quaid and
	Jennifer.

				JENNIFER (V.O.)
		What have you done to him? 

SWANN'S P.O.V.

	of Quaid and Jennifer.  To Swann's eyes, their faces seem to
	be MORPHING.  Their humanity is MELTING AWAY. What's left is
	like a jellyfish with black, soulless eyes:  PRIMEVAL MUCK.

				QUAID (V.O.)
		Swann.  It's okay.

	Quaid reaches for Swann, who retreats in horror, shaking his
	head violently.

				SWANN
		Don't touch me.  He's got... got
		into my head.

				NIX
		You want to be like that, Swann? 
		Mud and shit?

	Swann turns away from Quaid and Jennifer in disgust.

	SWANN'S P.O.V. 

	of Nix, his arms outstretched in welcome.  His face has an
	aura of pulsing light.

				NIX
		Come here.  Share the power.

	ON a GUN, leveled. .We don't see by whom.  The trigger is
	pulled. 

	The bullet strikes Nix's back and explodes out of his chest.

	ON SWANN, staring at Nix. 

	SWANN'S P.O.V. of Nix, as the aura of light dies. 

	Just for a moment - a terrible moment - Swann glimpses
	something else. MORPHING out of Nix's features.  A NIGHTMARE
	FACE with waves of DARKNESS emanating from the middle of its
	forehead. 

	Swann covers his eyes.

				NIX
			(raging, terrifying)
		Swann!  Swann!

	Nix staggers, letting out an ungodly HOWL, and drops to his
	knees, clutching the WOUND.  As he falls, he reveals the
	ashen Girl, who is still holding Swann's smoking GUN.

				NIX
			(a roar)
		Help me!

	Swann shakes his head, ridding himself of Nix's mind-
	control.

				SWANN
		Jesus-

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - PASSAGEWAY OUTSIDE SANCTUM - DAY

	Pinon stands guard, his gun pointed on several cultists.

				1ST CULTIST
			(with distressing
		confidence)
		You can't kill him.

				2ND CULTIST
		He'll just rise up again!

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - SANCTUM - DAY

	On Nix, doing just that:  rising up.  Right hand clamped to
	his bloody chest, left hand reaching for Swann.

				NIX
		Help me!

	Quaid FIRES at him again. Strikes his shoulder.  And again. 
	Strikes his leg.  Nix collapses to the ground,

				JENNIFER
		Quickly!

	They have come prepared for this.  Swann now takes from his
	jacket the three strange pieces of METALWORK.  There are
	SCREWS in then all.

				NIX
			(seeing)
		Swann?  What are you doing?

				SWANN
		Binding you.

	He clamps one of the pieces over Nix's EYES.  It fits like an
	eyeless mask.  Nix thrashes and SCREAMS.  Swann lays his
	hands on the side of the mask, and  LIKE MAGIC -- his touch
	makes the screws tighten of their own accord, grinding into
	Nix's flesh and bone with a gut- wrenching SOUND.  BLOOD runs
	from the screw-holes.

				NIX
		Fuck you, Swann!  Fuck you!

	Now the second piece, over his MOUTH.

				NIX
		Sw

	He's silenced.  The piece screws itself into-his head, like
	the first.  And now comes the third and final piece:  over
	the nose and into the ears.  Again, it screws itself into
	place. 

	Swann has done all he can.  He retreats from Nix's body, as
	it continues to convulse.  We go from face to ashen face, as
	each man and woman watches and waits.  Why won't he die? 

	And now, at last  the violence of Nix's death-throes
	diminishes.  Nix's body bends like a bow, arching off the
	ground, and with one last, terrible spasm, he dies.

				GIRL
			(quietly)
		Is it finished?

				SWANN
		It's finished.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - PASSAGEWAY - DAY

	The Cultists' faces slacken, as though some mental hold Nix
	had upon them has disappeared.  Then they start to retreat,
	their confidence and courage gone. 

	Pimm steps into the Sanctum.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - SANCTUM - DAY

	The five assassins, including the Girl, stand around Nix's
	body.  Swann has his arm around the Girl.

				PIMM
		Dead?

				QUAID
		Dead.

				PIMM
		What now?

				SWANN
		We bury him so deep no one will
		ever find him.

				CUT TO:

	EXT. NIX'S .HOUSE - WIDE SHOT - DUSK

	The wind has died away.  It's eerily calm.  Butterfield
	dashes towards camera, then halts. 

	HE LOOKS BACK, as Nix's killers load his huge, limp CORPSE
	into the back of Murray Pimm's bus. 

	ON Butterfield.  He watches, with a feral look on his face.

				FADE OUT

				FADE IN

	EXT. LOS ANGELES - MONTAGE - DAY

	The city looks magical in the spring light, its palms and
	gleaming towers, its rivers of sun-baked traffic, evoking
	some fantastical metropolis.  This, for all its smog and
	congestion, is a city of exoticism and enchantments.

	ON SCREEN, the words:  "LOS ANGELES - THIRTEEN YEARS LATER"

	EXT. STARDUST HOTEL - DAY

	The facade of this small HOTEL off Hollywood Boulevard needs
	a lick of paint, and the neon sign is blinking fitfully, but
	it has a certain charm.

	INT. STARDUST HOTEL - LOBBY - DAY

	A large deteriorating mural of Hollywoodland, depicting a
	host of 50's movie stars, dominates the lobby. 
	At the front desk - with his back to us at present - stands
	HARRY D'AMOUR.  He is having difficulty getting the pretty
	but vacant BLONDE at the reception desk to comprehend his
	name.

				BLONDE GIRL
		How'd you spell that again?

				HARRY
		D.A.M.O.U.R.  D'Amour.  Harry
		D'Amour.

				BLONDE GIRL
		D'Amour.

				HARRY
		Right.

				BLONDE GIRL
		Isn't that French for something?

	ON THE BELLBOY, approaching Harry from the front door.

				BELLBOY
		Mister D'Amour?

				HARRY
			(to Blonde)
		Yeah.  It's French.

				BLONDE GIRL
		For love, right?

				BELLBOY
		Mister D'Amour?

				HARRY
			(to Blonde)
		Right.

				BLONDE GIRL
			(grinning)
		That's so cool.

				BELLBOY
		Mister D'Amour?

	Harry turns.  He's wearing a washed-out Grateful Dead t-
	shirt, an Italian cut linen suit, and glasses.  He's
	handsome, unshaven, 35-ish, with an open easy smile.

				HARRY
		Yeah?

				BELLBOY
		You haven't paid the cab.  He won't
		give us your bags 'til you pay him.

				HARRY
		How much?

				BELLBOY
		Thirty-five bucks.

				HARRY
		Tell him he can keep them. The
		Bellboy looks puzzled.

				HARRY
		Just kidding.

	Harry gets out his wallet and hands over four ten-dollar
	bills.

				HARRY
		I've got my life in there.

	INT. HARRY'S HOTEL ROOM - DAY

	On the suit-case, which is now on the bed.  Harry flings it
	open.  Inside, mingled with the clothes, a bizarre collection
	of items, which he tosses out onto the coverlet.  A GUN.  A
	CRUCIFIX.  A STATUE of Shiva, the Hindu Lord of creation and
	destruction. 

	ON HARRY, as he heads into the bathroom.  Turns on the
	shower.  Starts to undress.

	EXT. STARDUST HOTEL - DUSK

	Harry, his hair still wet from his shower, steps out into the
	sun.  Squints.  Puts on sunglasses.

				HARRY
		Hello, L.A.

				BELLBOY
		Have a nice evening, Mr. D'Amour.

				HARRY
		You bet.

	EXT. MELROSE RESTAURANT - NIGHT

	Harry stands, in a shabby doorway across the street from a
	classy restaurant.  It's RAINING.
	ON TAPERT, a middle-aged, balding man with a very pretty
	WOMAN opposite him, sitting at a table close to the window. 
	Tapert makes a joke (unheard).  The woman laughs. 

	ON HARRY, chewing on a hamburger, as he speaks into his tape
	recorder.

				HARRY
		Nine-eighteen p.m.  Tapert's either
		got a great sense of humour or he's
		paying her to laugh.
			(looks at hamburger in
		disgust)
		Jesus.

	On Tapert, as he rises from the table.

				HARRY
			(into tape recorder)
		He's finished.

	Tapert exits the restaurant, and crosses the street. Harry
	tosses his half-eaten hamburger away, and goes to his car.

	EXT. HARRY'S CAR - MELROSE - NIGHT

	Harry pulls the parking ticket off the windshield, screws it
	up and gets in.

	INT. HARRY'S CAR - MELROSE - NIGHT

				HARRY
			(into tape)
		Nine twenty-six p.m.  He's off
		again.

	He turns the key in the ignition.

				CUT  TO:

	EXT. QUAID'S OFFICES - SILVERLAKE - NIGHT

	In neon blue and purple, a sign blazes in a store window.  It
	reads:  TAROT CARD AND CRYSTAL READINGS - $15 SPECIAL

	ON TAPERT, as he hurries across the street, and through the
	door beside the store window. 

	WE PAN OFF the door as Harry's car comes to a halt on the far
	side of the street. 

	Harry gets out of the car.  Stares at the sign in the window,
	puzzled.

				HARRY
		Superstitious?

	He starts across the street.  Suddenly:

				TAPERT (V.O.)
		Oh my God!

	Tapert emerges, his face white with terror.  He stumbles to
	his car, and he's away.  Harry freezes, caught between the
	need to follow Tapert and sheer curiosity. He gives in to the
	latter, and steps inside.

	INT. QUAID'S OFFICES - STAIRWELL - NIGHT

	An illuminated ARROW points up the stairs.  Harry ascends,
	past faded PHOTOGRAPHS of Caspar Quaid with famous faces.

	At the landing, the passageway turns ninety degrees. Harry
	halts, and takes out his GUN. 

	There's a strange RUMBLING SOUND approaching from round the
	corner.  Harry chances a look.  There's a short length of
	passageway, leading to an open door.  From the threshold a
	CRYSTAL BALL rolls towards Harry, BLOOD- SMEARED.  This is
	the source of the rumbling.  Harry stops the ball before it
	falls down the stairs. 

	Dead silence.  After a beat, Harry creeps towards the open
	door.  He pushes it open.  Inside, chaos.  The fake antique
	FURNITURE is splintered, the ASTRAL CHARTS slashed.

	INT. QUAID'S OFFICES - WAITING ROOM - NIGHT

	There are two offices.  In the front, a Waiting Room, into
	which Harry now steps.  Beyond it, through a door that stands
	narrowly ajar, the Fortune Telling Room. 

	From out of the Fortune Telling Room, a MOAN.

				QUAID (V.O.)
		Ahh. . .

	Harry crosses the Waiting Room, reaching into his jacket for
	his gun.  Suddenly, a nightmarish FIGURE leaps from the
	shadows. 

	His name is RAY MILLER.  He's as crazy as a rabid dog, teeth
	sharpened, eyes wild.  Nix's SIGIL is tattooed on the middle
	of his forehead.  He STRIKES the GUN from Harry's hand and
	goes for his throat. 

	Harry reaches out behind him, picks up a phrenologist's BUST
	and SMASHES it on Miller's skull. 

	Miller reels back.  Harry makes a dash for the door to the
	Fortune Telling Room.

				MILLER
		Fuckhead.

	INT. QUAID'S OFFICES - FORTUNE-TELLING ROOM - NIGHT

	A mysterious, candle-lit space.  In the middle of the room, a
	table.  At it sits Quaid. thirteen years older. He has been
	tortured close to death.  Several small SCALPELS protrude
	from his chest and neck.  His life is ebbing away.  On the
	table in front of him, a fan of TAROT CARDS, BLOOD-SPATTERED.

	Harry races in through the open door from the Waiting Room.

				HARRY
		What the fuck!?

	Harry picks up the PHONE.  It's dead.  Miller charges at the
	door.

				HARRY
		Shit!

	Harry SLAMS the door in Miller's face, and locks it. 

	As he does so, the candles FLICKER.  Harry looks up.  A
	FIGURE looms from the darkness behind Quaid.  He's in his
	late twenties:  an androgynous, disturbing sight. His long
	hair is drawn back into a pony-tail.  His mismatched eyes -
	one black, one milky blue, tell us that he is Butterfield. 
	His hands are BLOODY, and he carries one last SCALPEL.

				HARRY
			(to Butterfield)
		Don't touch him."

	Butterfield strokes the wounds on Quaid's cheek.  Quaid sobs
	in pain. 

				BUTTERFIELD
		What are you going to do about it? 

	Miller's hand tears at the wood around the lock from the
	other side.  His fingers appear, scrabbling to tear the lock
	out.  Harry doesn't move, or Miller will be through.

				BUTTERFIELD
			(to Harry)
		Ever watched a man die?  If you
		watch very closely, you can
		sometimes see the soul escaping. 
		And if you're very quick, you can
		catch it.

				QUAID
		Please... Butterfield... I wasn't
		there.  Ask Pimm.

				BUTTERFIELD
		Pimm's dead.  Jennifer Desiderio's
		disappeared.  They knew the Puritan
		was coming home. 

	As this exchange goes on, Miller pulls the lock out of the
	door and starts to THROW HIMSELF against it from the other
	side.  It's all Harry can do to keep himself from being
	pitched across the room.  He looks around for some means of
	defense.  There's a crack in the drapes to the left of the
	table.  Behind it a WINDOW.

				BUTTERFIELD
		So do you.  You've seen the future. 
		Haven't you?

				QUAID
		Yes.

				BUTTERFIELD
		And are you afraid?

				QUAID
		Yes.

	Suddenly, Harry steps aside.  The door's flung open. Miller
	CHARGES in.  Harry catches hold of his arm, and THROWS him
	against the drape.  The window CRACKS; the drape comes down
	around Miller.  Amber STREETLIGHT floods in. 

	Butterfield is momentarily distracted.  Harry STRIKES the
	scalpel from his hands. 

	Miller, meanwhile, is struggling to free himself from the
	folds of the drapes.  Harry lands a solid KICK to the man's
	belly.  Miller is THROWN back against the cracked window,
	which SHATTERS.  Still wrapped in the drape, he FALLS OUT. 

	Harry turns back to arrest Butterfield, but he's already
	making his escape.  Harry starts after him.

				QUAID
			(to Harry)
		Don't leave me.

	He turns back.  TEARS are pouring down the man's face. Harry
	goes back to comfort Quaid, as Butterfield escapes down the
	stairs.


				HARRY
		You need an ambulance.

				QUAID
			(in pain)
		Too late.  Why are you here? Did
		you cone... up here for a reading? 

	Quaid takes hold of Harry's hand.

				HARRY
		NO ... I...

	Quaid stares at Harry's HAND.  Fascinated, he momentarily
	forgets his pain.  He traces the lines with bloody fingers.

				QUAID
			(quietly)
		My God.

				HARRY
		What?

				QUAID
		You've taken some strange
		journeys in your life.

				HARRY
		Yeah.  You could say that.

				QUAID
		You're drawn to the dark side, over
		and over.  And it's drawn to you.
			(looks at Harry)
		You don't like that.

				HARRY
		Not much.

				QUAID
		You can't change it.  You have to
		walk...
			(coughs)
		...walk the line between Heaven and
		Hell.  It's your destiny.  Accept
		it.

	Harry takes his hand from Quaid's grip.  Quaid winces in
	pain.

				HARRY
		Hold on.

				QUAID
		I'm not afraid to die.  There's
		something terrible... coming
		home...

				HARRY
		The Puritan?

				QUAID
		Yes...

				HARRY
		Who is he? 

	Quaid shudders, and dies.

				HARRY
			(softly; sadly)
		Shit.

	He looks away, down at the CARDS.  All have been turned over
	but ONE.  He turns it.  The card is the Ten of Swords which
	pictures a prostrate man against a thunderous sky, pierced by
	all ten swords.  An image of death and desolation.

	EXT. QUAID'S OFFICES - ALLEY BEHIND BUILDING - NIGHT

	The flashing LIGHTS of two patrol cars illuminate the scene. 
	DETECTIVE EDDISON, a surfer-turned-policeman with buzz-cut
	blond hair, heads along the alley with Harry.  He's midway
	through taking Harry's statement. There are already two
	OFFICERS examining the drapes.  We can't yet see the body.

				EDDISON
			(to Harry)
		What were you doing up there?

				HARRY
		I'm a private detective.  I was
		hired to follow somebody for a few
		days.  A guy called Tapert.
		Insurance fraud.

				EDDISON
			(writing)
		Tapert.  So, now I've got Tapert,
		Butterfield.

				HARRY
		Tapert's got nothing to do with
		this.  He came here to get his palm
		read.

				EDDISON
		What makes you so sure?

				HARRY
			(shrugs)
		I got a file on him two inches
		thick.  He's a petty fraudster.
		This is something else.  Ever heard
		of someone called the Puritan?

				EDDISON
		New one on me.
			(to Officer)
		Okay.  Let's see him.

	OFFICER #l shakes his head, and opens up the drape. Broken
	GLASS drops from the folds, but that's all. Miller has gone.

				EDDISON
		Where the fuck is he?

				HARRY
		He got up and walked.

				EDDISON
			(looking up at window)
		After that fall?. He must have
		broken half his bones.

	WE MOVE IN ON HARRY, as he stares down at the drape.

				HARRY
		I don't think he'd have given a
		shit.

				CUT TO:

	INT. BUTTERFIELD'S APARTMENT - NIGHT

	The rooms are spartan.  Nothing on the walls.  Nothing on the
	floors.  Very little furniture. 

	Butterfield sits beside the window, obsessively combing his
	long hair.  There is something feminine about him now:  his
	voice a whisper, his stare distracted.  If we didn't guess it
	already, we're in the presence of a madman. 

	Miller is squatting against the wall, picking shards of GLASS
	out of his torso.  It hurts, but he's enjoying himself.

				BUTTERFIELD
		D'Amour... D'Amour... Why do I know
		that name?

				MILLER
		I know him.  I saw him.

	He stops to pull out a particularly large piece of glass,
	sighing with pleasure.

				MILLER
		I saw him on T.V.  Some kid got
		possessed and he saved the little
		bastard's life.

				BUTTERFIELD
		He's a priest?

				MILLER
		No.  He's just a guy who's got a
		nose for this shit.
			(a beat.  A smirk)
		Like you.

	A long beat of silence.  Butterfield combs.  Miller digs for
	glass.

				BUTTERFIELD 
		I don't want him getting in the
		way.

				MILLER
		He won't. 

	Another silence.

				BUTTERFIELD
			(dreamily)
		We've all of us waited too long to
		have the homecoming spoiled.

				MILLER
		What do you mean, "all of us?"

				BUTTERFIELD
		You didn't think it was just going
		to be you and me?  A lot of people
		believed in Nix. They haven't
		forgotten his promise.

				MILLER
		About?

				BUTTERFIELD
		Death.

				MILLER
		What about death?

				BUTTERFIELD
			(a beat)
		It's an illusion.

				CUT TO:

	EXT. PHILADELPHIA STREET - MORNING

	On screen:  Philadelphia 

	A suburban street.  Early morning light.

	INT. SUBURBAN HOUSE - PHILADELPHIA - MORNING

	CLOSE-UP of a PHOTOGRAPH of the Cultist with the Painted
	Face, from the opening scene, standing outside Nix's house in
	Nevada.  His name is Norman Sanders. 

	ON NORMAN, thirteen years older, looking down at the
	photograph.  He lays it down, beside a letter, on which two
	words are written: "Homecoming Time."

	Norman smiles to himself.  Goes to the wardrobe.  Gets out a
	small suitcase.  His WIFE'S BODY is slumped in the wardrobe,
	glassy-eyed. 

	CLOSE UP of letter -

				CUT TO:

	INT. KITCHEN IN MIAMI HOUSE - DAY

	- and DRAW OUT from the letter to a different interior, a
	different domestic circumstance. 

	On the screen:  Miami. 

	BARBARA - the blonde girl who carved the cult's sigil into
	her chest - is washing her hands.  She casually dries them,
	and picks up the letter, walking past her HUSBAND and SON,
	both DEAD at the breakfast table, BLOOD spreading around
	their heads.  When she gets to the door she steps over the
	body of her DAUGHTER, who has also been shot trying to escape
	her mother's murder spree. 

	ON THE RADIO, George Harrison sings "My Sweet Lord."

				RADIO
		"I really want to see you, Lord,
		And it won't take long, my Lord, My
		sweet Lord..."

				CUT TO:

	EXT. SAN ANTONIO 200 - REPTILE HOUSE - DAY

	On screen:  San Antonio. 

	A ZOO-KEEPER wanders into the darkened interior of the
	Reptile House.

	INT. REPTILE HOUSE - DAY

	The Zoo-keeper's benign expression changes at the sight of
	the chaos inside.  The glass cases have been SMASHED. Another
	KEEPER lies on the ground, his face pulped.  A few SNAKES
	slither around his body, but most of them have gone.

				CUT TO:

	EXT. SNAKE-HANDLER CULTIST'S CAR - DAY

	The Snake-Handler Cultist drives at speed.

	INT. SNAKE-HANDLER CULTIST'S CAR - DAY

	PAN UP from another letter'- with the same message - on the
	dashboard, to the crazed face of the Snake-Handler. PAN TO
	the back of the car.  IT SEETHES WITH HUNDREDS OF SNAKES.

	EXT. SWANN'S MANSION - DAY

	It's early morning in Bel-Air.  The sun shines down on a
	millionaire's paradise:  a huge house surrounded by a jungle
	of trees and blossoms.

	EXT. SWANN'S MANSION - POOLSIDE - DAY

	The blue water glitters in the noon-day sun.  And a WOMAN --
	her body perfectly proportioned -- glides under the surface,
	emerging at the shallow end, where the housekeeper CLEMENZIA
	is setting a tray on a table.

				CLEMENZIA
		Coffee, Mrs. Swann?

	Mrs. Swann's name is DOROTHEA.  She is a beautiful and
	sensual woman.

				DOROTHEA
		Thank you. 

	She dries off.

				DOROTHEA
		Where's Mr. Swann?

				CLEMENZIA
		In his study.
			(a beat)
		He got something on his mind?

				DOROTHEA
		Why?

				CLEMENZIA
		Bad mood today.

	INT. SWANN'S MANSION - STUDY - DAY

	Venetian blinds shut out most of the sunlight, but a lamp
	burns on the desk (huge), showing us the furniture (leather),
	the books (innumerable), and the figure of SWANN, sitting
	behind the desk smoking a CIGAR.  He's lost some hair and
	some colour over the years, but he still has the same
	hypnotic eyes.

	He studies the L.A. TIMES in front of him.

	ON THE OPEN PAGE

	"Fortune Teller Brutally Murdered," the headline announces. 
	Underneath, a PHOTOGRAPH of Quaid's wrecked room.  WE CLOSE
	IN on the photograph, and catch a glimpse of Harry, standing
	looking at the chaos.  CAMERA. MOVES DOWN to the text
	beneath, and on to the name "Harry D'Amour." 

	ON SWANN, pensive as he studies the paper.

				DOROTHEA (V.O.)
			(softly)
		Hey... 

	He looks up, startled.

	DOROTHEA The sun's shining out there. Dorothea is dressed in
	a white robe now.  She literally brings light into this
	gloomy room.  On the shelves behind Swann are a number of art
	brut figurines, vaguely recalling the idols outside Nix's
	"temple."

				DOROTHEA
		Bad show last night?

				SWANN
			(wearily)
		The usual.  Full house. Standing
		ovation.  I tell them it's magic...

				DOROTHEA
			(distastefully)
		... they believe you.

				SWANN
		Yeah.
			(a beat)
		Remember Quaid?

				DOROTHEA
		Sure.

				SWANN
		Somebody killed him.

				DOROTHEA
		Oh God.

				SWANN
			(disturbed)
		I just saw him.

	A difficult silence.  Then Swann crosses to the door.

				SWANN
		I'm putting in a new illusion
		tonight.  Will you be there?

				DOROTHEA
		Sure.  You want me to find out
		about Quaid?  I mean, the funeral?

				SWANN
		No.
			(superstitiously)
		I'm not going near him.

	INT. SWANN'S MANSION - LOBBY - DAY

	VALENTIN is overseeing the hanging of a new piece in Swann's
	collection:  a huge, framed POSTER from a late nineteenth
	century magic spectacular.  Valentin is fifty or so, his gray
	hair combed back close to his scalp. Immaculately dressed in
	a distinctively European fashion.  Precise.  Cautious. 
	Elegant. 

	He orders the TWO PICTURE-HANGERS in a clipped fashion.

				VALENTIN
		Higher.  Another inch.  The left
		hand side's too low.

	Dorothea descends the stairs, dressed for the day.

				DOROTHEA
		Valentin?

				VALENTIN
			(to Hangers)
		Good.  There.
			(to Dorothea)
		Yes?

				DOROTHEA
			(gives him the newspaper)
		You saw this?

	Valentin nods.  They walk back through the house together,
	while the picture-hanging goes on behind them.

				DOROTHEA
		I want you to find this man D'Amour
		for me.

	She passes the newspaper to Valentin.  He looks down at it.
	ON NEWSPAPER.  

	C.U. of Harry's blurred PICTURE.

	INT. HARRY'S HOTEL ROOM - DAY

	Harry is sprawled on the bed, in his under shorts.  A shaft of
	sun darts between the drapes, missing his face by inches. 

	Somebody is knocking on the door, hard.

				HARRY
			(waking)
		What...?

	He rolls over.  The sun strikes his eyes.  He winces.

				HARRY
		Shit.

				VALENTIN (V.O.)
		Mr. D'Amour?

				HARRY
		Go away.

				VALENTIN (V.O.)
		It's one in the afternoon.

				HARRY
		What are you, my mother?

				VALENTIN (V.O.)
		I need to speak to you, Mr.
		D'Amour.  About last night.

	Harry gets up and stumbles to the door.  He opens it a
	little.  The face of VALENTIN is visible through the crack.

				HARRY
		Whatever I said, I didn't mean it,
		okay?  I get a few drinks inside me --

				VALENTIN
		We've never met.

				HARRY
		Then what do you want?

				VALENTIN
		I'm here to offer you a job.

				HARRY
		I'm going back to New York in--
			(consults his watch)
		Shit!  I'm outta here.

				VALENTIN
		Have you got a job that'll pay you
		five thousand a day?

	A beat.  Then Harry takes the chain off the door.

				HARRY
		Do I get lunch?

				CUT TO:

	EXT. SANTA MONICA BLVD. - DAY

	A white SEDAN glides along the boulevard.  At the wheel,
	Valentin.  Beside him, Harry.

	INT. SEDAN - DAY

	Harry is eating a burrito and sipping coffee.

				HARRY
		Whose is the car?

				VALENTIN
		Mine.

				HARRY
		Nah.  You're driving it too
		carefully.

				VALENTIN
			(sparring)
		Maybe I just bought it.

				HARRY
		Somebody's been smoking in here for
		months.

	He pulls open the ashtray. Pulls out a cigar-butt.

				HARRY
		Havanas.  You're not the
		smoker.  So who is?

				VALENTIN
			(laughs)
		You could almost pass for a
		detective, D'Amour.
			(a beat)
		I work for the best illusionist in
		the world.

				HARRY
		Philip Swann?

				VALENTIN
		You know of him?

				HARRY
		I saw him in Vegas once.

				VALENTIN
		Are you a gambling man?

				HARRY
		When I can afford to lose. Swann's
		quite a magician.

				VALENTIN
		Never call him that.  He's strictly
		an illusionist.

				HARRY
		What's the difference?

				VALENTIN
		Illusions are trickery. Magicians
		do it for real.

	EXT. HOLLYWOOD CEMETERY - GATES - DAY

	The sedan turns into a driveway.

	EXT. HOLLYWOOD CEMETERY - DAY

	The sun beats down on a pristine panorama of palms and white
	marble tombs.  Harry and Valentin walk towards a large
	mausoleum.

				HARRY
		Any movie stars buried here?

				VALENTIN
		Probably.

				HARRY
		It's not a bad place.  Warm.
		Great view.

				VALENTIN
		I don't think the dead much care.

				HARRY
		Are you sure?

				VALENTIN
		Are you a believer, then?

	Valentin gives him an inquisitive look.

				HARRY
		I've signed on for them all in my
		time.  Hindu.  Catholic. You can't
		have too many saviours.

	Harry's gaze is on the mausoleum now; or rather on the woman
	in white standing in its cool shadows:  Dorothea Swann.  She
	wears a wide-brimmed hat.

				HARRY
		Who is she?

				VALENTIN
		Swann's wife.

				CUT TO:

	VALENTIN sitting on the mausoleum steps reading a book.  He
	glances up. 

	Harry and Dorothea are wandering between the graves, deep in
	conversation.

				DOROTHEA
		I want you to help me help my
		husband.  I know he's in some kind
		of trouble.  And it's something to
		do with the man you saw murdered.

				HARRY
		Did your husband know Quaid?

				DOROTHEA
		Yes.  They weren't close, but they
		saw each other once in a while.  I
		think Philip believes all that
		stuff with the tarot cards.

				HARRY
		You don't?

				DOROTHEA
		I think we make our own futures.

	Harry makes an approving MURMUR.

				HARRY
		What's the connection?

				DOROTHEA
			(covering now, but well)
		I don't exactly know. 
		Philip doesn't like to talk about
		the past.

				HARRY
		Why not?

	Dorothea stops talking.  Takes off her sunglasses.  Her gaze
	is troubled, but direct.  There is an attraction between the
	two of them that simmers beneath the dialogue.

				DOROTHEA
		He's a secretive man.

				HARRY
		And you don't ask questions?

				DOROTHEA
		We don't share our lives the way a
		lot of people do.

				HARRY
		Does that mean...?

				DOROTHEA
		We haven't slept in the same bed
		for years.

				HARRY
		But obviously you still care what
		happens to him.

				DOROTHEA
		We wouldn't be having this
		conversation if I didn't. Swann's
		one of the most remarkable men
		alive.

	Harry, frowns.

				DOROTHEA
		You don't believe me.

				HARRY
		He's an illusionist.  It's not
		exactly brain surgery. 

	Dorothea stares at him. 

				HARRY
		Sorry.  You asked.

				DOROTHEA
		No.  You're right.  He could have
		been something more. Maybe a lot
		more.  But people get lost.  Even
		good people. Too much fame.  Too
		much money,

				HARRY
		Where do I sign? 

	Dorothea LAUGHS lightly.

				DOROTHEA
		Will you take the job, Mr. D'Amour?

				HARRY
		Harry.

				DOROTHEA
		Harry.

				HARRY
		I'm no bodyguard.

				DOROTHEA
		That's not what I'm asking for. I
		want somebody who can find out what
		Philip saw in those damn cards. 
		And stop it from happening.

				HARRY
		When do you want me to start?

				DOROTHEA
		Come to the show with me. Tonight I
		want you to see him with an
		audience.  They love him.

				HARRY
		Do you?

	The question catches Dorothea off guard.

				DOROTHEA
		I didn't marry him for love, Mr.
		D'Amour.  Tonight?

				HARRY
		Sure.

	Dorothea makes a little smile, and walks away.  Harry watches
	her go, exhaling an appreciative breath at the sight of her
	departing figure.

CUT TO:

	INT. HARRY'S HOTEL ROOM - DUSK

	Harry's talking on the phone while he dresses for the
	theatre.

				HARRY
		You're not listening to me, Loomis.

				CUT TO:

	INT. LOOMIS' OFFICE - MEW YORK - NIGHT

	LOOMIS, a slob of a man, is in his office, eating pizza.

	INTERCUT PHONE CONVERSATION

				LOOMIS
		The case is closed. Harry. Tapert's
		given us a full confession.  Get
		your ass back to Mew York.

				HARRY
		No.  I'm taking a couple of weeks'
		vacation.

				LOOMIS
		You never took a fucking vacation
		in your life, Harry. What's going
		on?

				HARRY
		I got to go.  I'm late.

				LOOMIS
		Call me tomorrow.

				HARRY
		There's other guys as good as me,
		Loomis.

				LOOMIS
		Yeah.  But not as cheap.  Call me.

				HARRY
		A couple of weeks.

				LOOMIS
		One question.

				HARRY
		What?

				LOOMIS
		Who is she?

	Harry can't help but smile to himself.

				LOOMIS
		I thought so.  'Night, Harry.

	Click.  Harry puts down the phone.  Glances at himself in the
	mirror.  Raises a rueful eyebrow.

				CUT TO:

	EXT. WILTERN THEATRE - NIGHT

	CRANE DOWN from a looming STANDEE of Swann, perched above the
	theatre marquee.  SPOTLIGHTS rake the skies. The sidewalk
	below is jammed with AUDIENCE MEMBERS, STAR-SPOTTERS and
	PHOTOGRAPHERS.  This is a flashy, prestigious event.  LIMOS
	are disgorging scantily- dressed STARLETS and smiling MONEY
	MEN; a NEWS TEAM is interviewing audience members as they
	file in. 

	The atmosphere is noisy and excited.  Amid the throng, Harry. 
	He makes his way inside.

	INT. WILTERN THEATRE - AUDITORIUM - NIGHT

	The atmosphere, is closer to a rock concert than a
	conventional stage show.  Security people with walkie-
	talkies roam the aisles; the audience buzzes with barely
	controlled hysteria. 

	Harry heads down the aisle, eyes on the stage.  A star-lit
	CURTAIN covers it.  Six rows from the stage is Dorothea,
	already in her seat.  She smiles lavishly, happy to see him.

				DOROTHEA
		I'm glad you could make it. 

	Harry takes a seat beside her.

				HARRY
		Hey, this is a big deal for me. You
		know what seats like this cost in
		New York?

	INT. WILTERN THEATRE - STAGE - NIGHT

	Center-stage, behind the closed curtains, Swann is ready for
	the opening of the show.  TECHNICIANS buzz around him like
	flies.

				SWANN
		Valentin!

	Valentin emerges from the wings, patting the PANTHER that is
	waiting there.

				SWANN
			(irritated)
		Valentin!

				VALENTIN
		I'm here.

				SWANN
		The guy with Dorothea.  Is that who
		I think it is? 

	Valentin nods.

	ON SWANN, his expression unreadable.

				SWANN
		He's young.

	MUSIC strikes up.  A dramatic, Wagnerian chord. Valentin
	hurries away.  Swann's expression becomes very focused.

				1ST TECHNICIAN
			(to Swann)
		Ready?

				SWANN
		Ready.

	Swann rises up into the flies.

				1ST TECHNICIAN
		How the fuck does he do that?

				2ND TECHNICIAN
		It's wires, man.

				1ST TECHNICIAN
		I never seen no wires.

				2ND TECHNICIAN
			(sarcastic)
		So what is it?  Magic?

	INT. WILTERN THEATRE - AUDITORIUM AND STAGE - NIGHT

	The LIGHTS are DIMMING.  Harry glances across at Dorothea,
	whose gaze is intent. 

	The LIGHTS go OUT.  The MUSIC SWELLS, and the CURTAINS fly
	apart.  A spectacle worthy of Seigfried and Roy is about to
	blast our senses!  Magic for the 90's:  a wild, erotic ride
	into mystery.

				SWANN (V.O.)
		Ladies and gentlemen.  You are
		standing on the threshold of a
		miracle...

	A vortex of SMOKE and LIGHT swirls in the middle of the
	stage. 

	The vortex BLAZES -- 

	And suddenly Swann SWEEPS DOWN out of the flies, as the floor
	of the stage opens and the head of a glittering, razor
	toothed DRAGON emerges in a cloud of CRIMSON SMOKE. 

	Swann raises his hands above his head and a SPEAR
	miraculously appears in his grasp.  He descends on the
	dragon.  It's a classic image:  St. Michael smiting the
	Devil.  Swann drives the spear down the throat of the dragon. 
	The theatre SHAKES at its dying ROARS.  Then the head cracks
	open, and out of the dragon's mouth emerge a dozen scantily
	dressed DANCERS, male and female.  Swann throws down the
	spear, and where it strikes the stage his PANTHER appears. 

	A ROAR of APPLAUSE from the audience.  Swann's plain white
	tunic falls away from him as he descends.  By the time his
	feet touch the stage he is dressed in a star- shot TUXEDO. 
	The PANTHER licks his hand in welcome. The MUSIC comes to a
	crescendo.  The DANCERS freeze in their erotic dance.  In the
	sudden hush, Swann speaks in a whisper.

				SWANN
		My friends ... come with me...into
		the Great Beyond.

	A barrage of LIGHTS and MUSIC erupt. 

	The AUDIENCE APPLAUDS wildly. 

	ON HARRY and Dorothea.

				HARRY
		He's good.

				DOROTHEA
		You haven't seen anything yet.

	INT. WILTERN THEATRE - LOBBY - NIGHT

	The doors SQUEAK as a gust of WIND blows through them. 

	Butterfield stands in the lobby, listening to the muted
	SOUNDS of MUSIC and APPLAUSE.  Then he offers his ticket to
	the TICKET-COLLECTOR and steps inside.

	INT. WILTERN THEATRE - AUDITORIUM AND STAGE - NIGHT

	A new musical motif hangs in the air:  MUSIC announcing
	danger. 

	The AUDIENCE watches intently, nervously. 

	ON HARRY and DOROTHEA.

				DOROTHEA
			(a whisper)
		This is the new illusion.

	ON STAGE, Swann is bound to a spinning WHEEL, while the
	DANCERS, dressed like Boschian DEMONS, cavort around him,
	somersaulting and leaping over eruptions of yellow FLAME. 
	It's a scene from Daniels Inferno.  Above him. a dozen
	glittering SWORDS - six feet long - are descending.  He
	struggles to free himself.  The MUSIC gets more exciting as
	the wheel spins faster and faster. 

	Suddenly, a sword DROPS.  It falls between Swann's
	outstretched legs, skewering the wheel.  Then ANOTHER, close
	to his head. 

	ON HARRY.  He's tense.  Excited. 

	BACK TO STAGE.  Swann is free I  He throws off the last
	shackle and uses it to thrust into the mechanism of the
	wheel.  There's a theatrical BLAZE of white-hot SPARKS.

	The wheel slows.  He starts to step off it, as another of the
	the swords DROPS. 

	The AUDIENCE GASPS.  Swann smiles, and TRIPS. 

	As he FALLS, the sword runs through the middle of his back,
	carrying him down to the still-spinning wheel, and pinning
	him there.  Some of the DANCERS continue to cavort.  Some
	stop. 

	More GASPS from the audience. 

	ON HARRY, having a -- 

	FLASHBACK:  Harry's hand turns over the final tar of card. 
	The scene on the stage is that image coming to life. 

				HARRY 
		There's something wrong... 

	ON Swann, as a second sword FALLS, skewering his thigh, and a
	third, running through his buttock, and a fourth and fifth,
	until TEN SWORDS have entered his body. 

	ON THE AUDIENCE, not certain whether this is a trick or not.

	The MUSIC has stopped.  In the silence, somebody GIGGLES
	nervously.  A couple of PEOPLE break into APPLAUSE, but it
	dies away in a matter of moments.

	ON DOROTHEA AND HARRY

				DOROTHEA
		No. . .

	ON THE STAGE, Swann raises his head and looks out at his
	wife, his eyes already glassy with imminent death.  He
	reaches out towards her, and then sags on the wheel, dead. 

	There are GASPS now from the audience.  Murmurs of disgust;
	sobs of horror.

				1ST AUDIENCE MEMBER
		What happened?

				2ND AUDIENCE MEMBER
		It's a trick.

				3RD AUDIENCE MEMBER
		Somebody help him.

	The curtains start to close.

	ON Dorothea, tears of shock filling her eyes.

				DOROTHEA
			(to Harry)
		I've got to get to him!

	The AUDIENCE is rising now, as the horror of what they've
	seen sinks in.  There is panic.  A few people have fainted. 
	One or two are even praying. 

	Harry carves out a path down to the stage for Dorothea
	against the flood of the exiting crowd.

				HARRY
		Out of the way!  Out of the way!

	He helps Dorothea onto the stage, and lifts the curtain so
	she can duck beneath it.

	INT. WILTERN THEATRE - STAGE - NIGHT

	Chaos.  PEOPLE running, sobbing, puking; some simply standing
	watching.  Valentin is already at the body, with the STAGE
	MANAGER at his side.

				VALENTIN
			(to Stage Manager)
		Get then out of here, for God's
		sake --

				STAGE MANAGER
		You heard him!  It's not a fucking
		show!

	He starts to physically push the crowd back.  Harry grabs his
	arm.

				STAGE MANAGER
		Who are you?

	Harry uses his grip to gently but efficiently move the STAGE
	MANAGER out of Dorothea's way.  She goes to Swann's body,
	which has been removed from the wheel.

	INT. WILTERN THEATRE - AUDITORIUM - NIGHT

	The audience is clearing now.  But Butterfield is coming
	towards the stage, with an ambiguous look on his face. Is he
	enraged?  Or puzzled?  Or both?

				MILLER
		Psst!

	Miller stands at an open door, leading below the stage.

	Butterfield enters.

	INT. WILTERN THEATRE - STAGE - NIGHT

	Dorothea kneels at Swann's side.  A few yards from her, Harry
	examines the mechanism of the wheel.

				DOROTHEA
			(softly)
		Swann... 

	A DOCTOR appears.

				DOCTOR 
		I'm a doctor.  Let me through. 

	The Doctor checks Swann's body.

				DOCTOR
			(to Dorothea)
		I'm sorry...

	Harry has discovered a CABLE snaking down beside the device. 
	He's suspicious.  He slips round to the back of the
	mechanism, and climbs down beneath the stage, tracing the
	cable as he goes.

	WILTERN THEATRE - BELOW STAGE - NIGHT

	It's an eerie, shadowy space, filled with the PROPS that are
	used in the show, including the DRAGON we saw at the
	beginning.  From above we hear FOOTSTEPS and VOICES, muted
	and echoing. 

	The cable ends in bare wires.  Whatever was here has been
	taken. 

	A NOISE, behind Harry.  He swings round.  Sees a shadowy
	FIGURE ducking away.

				HARRY
		Hey!

	He gives chase.  Loses the man in the shadows.  Stops and
	listens for movement. 

	Suddenly, Miller steps out of the shadows with a plank of
	wood and smashes it into Harry's face!

	Harry reels back.  Falls to his knees, BLOOD running from his
	nose.  Miller pulls Harry's GUN out of his jacket.

				MILLER
		Got you, fucker!

	Harry is facing the dragon's head, dazed.  And now, out of
	the dragon's mouth, comes Butterfield. 

				BUTTERFIELD
		Who did this, D'Amour?  Who killed
		Swann? 

	Harry is barely holding on to consciousness.

				HARRY
		You did.
			(a beat)
		Didn't you?

				BUTTERFIELD
		Why would I do that?

				HARRY
		Beats me.

	Butterfield is a foot from Harry now.

				BUTTERFIELD
		You don't have a clue what you're
		into, do you?

				HARRY
		Deep shit? 

	Butterfield hits him.

				BUTTERFIELD
		Who did this?

				HARRY
		I told you --

	Butterfield hits him again.

				BUTTERFIELD
		Who did this?

				HARRY
			(raises his hand)
		All right.  It was...

	Butterfield comes a little closer.

				HARRY
			(feigning a near collapse)
		... it was...

	Butterfield leans in.  And Harry grabs him by the balls --
	literally -- rising as he does so.

				BUTTERFIELD
		Aah!

	Harry THROWS Butterfield aside. Butterfield hits the ground
	in agony, and Harry swings round to protect himself from
	Miller, who's leveling Harry's gun. 

	He FIRES once, missing Harry by inches.  Harry catches hold
	of a ROPE underfoot and pulls it, tripping Miller, who
	TOPPLES backwards into the mouth of the dragon.  The GUN GOES
	OFF again, the bullet BLOWING APART the dragon's JAW
	MECHANISM. 

	Miller starts to sit up, his body splayed between the
	dragon's steel teeth.  He has Harry in his sights. 

	-- something CREAKS.  He looks up.  The dragon's jaw is
	closing, FAST.  He starts to scramble to his feet.  Too late! 
	The teeth SLAM CLOSED on his body.  Sudden death. 

	Harry looks round to see Butterfield retreating into the
	shadows.  Then he's gone.  Harry looks down at Miller's
	BLOOD, which is pooling around his feet.

				HARRY
		Deep shit...

				FADE OUT

				FADE IN

	INT. POLICE STATION - EDDISON'S OFFICE - NIGHT

	Harry sits at Eddison's desk, looking exhausted and bruised. 
	Eddison has just finished taking his statement.

				EDDISON
		And this Butterfield guy--

				HARRY
		--vanished.

				EDDISON
			(frustrated sigh)
		Another fucking magician. Jesus.

	Harry looks past Eddison and sees an ashen, tearful Dorothea
	being taken into another office.

				HARRY
		Are you finished with me?

				EDDISON
		For now.  Are you planning to go
		back to New York?

				HARRY
			(watching Dorothea)
		No.  Not yet...

	INT. POLICE STATION - OTHER OFFICE - NIGHT

	Dorothea sits alone, staring at the wall.  Harry enters.

				HARRY
		Are they treating you okay?

				DOROTHEA
			(nods)
		I heard what happened.  It looks
		like somebody murdered him.

				HARRY
		I'm sorry I got into this too late. 
		But if you want me to stick around,
		maybe dig where the cops don't
		look...

				DOROTHEA
		I don't know where you'd start.

				HARRY
		Well... how about some of the other
		illusionists?

				DOROTHEA
		They won't tell you anything.

				HARRY
		I can be very persuasive.

				DOROTHEA
			(a beat)
		Yes.  I think you probably can.
			(another beat)
		We'd need to talk about your fee.

				HARRY
		Forget the fee.  If I find
		Butterfield, maybe we'll talk about
		money.  If I don't...
			(he shrugs)
		...my gamble.  Either way... I
		get to spend some time... here.

	The way he says this, it's plain "here" doesn't mean L.A., it
	means near -Dorothea.  And by the tiny smile on her face,
	it's also plain she knows it.

				CUT TO:

	EXT. MAGIC SHOP - HOLLYWOOD BLVD. - DAY

	Noon.  Bright sun.  Busy street.  Harry, now wearing a
	bandage on his cut face, enters.

	INT. MAGIC SHOP - DAY

	A wonderland for illusionists.  Books, props, masks, tricks,
	etc.  Two or three CUSTOMERS browse.  Harry glances at them
	all, then targets a MAN in late middle age, who is browsing
	through books, one-handed.  His other hand constantly
	manipulates a card, concealing and revealing it in a dozen
	ways.  He doesn't even look at his hand.  His name is WALTER
	WILDER. 

	Harry stands beside him.  Scans the shelf.

				HARRY
		Where'd you learn that?

				WILDER
		What?

				HARRY
			(points)
		That.

				WILDER
		At birth.  I don't know you --

				HARRY
		Harry D'Amour.

				WILDER
		I know all the kids coming up. Got
		to stay ahead of the game. But I
		don't know you.

				HARRY
		I'm in from New York.  I came to
		see Swann.

				WILDER
		What a tragedy.  It was just a
		matter of time, of course, but it's
		not good for the business.

				HARRY
		Was he taking a lot of risks?

				WILDER
		You don't know the half of it. I'm
		Walter Wilder, by the way.

				HARRY
		Not the Walter Wilder? 

	Walter beams.

				WILDER
		The one and only. 

	He hands Harry a card.

				WILDER
		Want to try?

	Harry tries to emulate Wilder's card manipulation through the
	rest of this conversation.

				WILDER
		You know Vinovich?

				HARRY
			(not a clue)
		Sure.  Vivovich.

				WILDER
		He knew Swann way back.  He says
		there were a lot of drugs, a lot of
		crazy shit.

				HARRY
		I'd love to... you know... hang
		with some of you guys.

				WILDER
		People are pretty cagey.  Who do
		you know?

				HARRY
		For what?

				WILDER
		For an introduction.

				HARRY
		Well... nobody.

	Wilder takes a moment to assess Harry, who is attempting to
	manipulate the card he's been given with charming ineptitude.

				WILDER
			(magnanimously)
		You do now.

	EXT. MAGIC CASTLE - DUSK

	The castle is faux, of course, but it has a Gothic charm. 

	Harry and Walter wander towards the front door.  Harry is
	knotting a newly-bought tie.

				HARRY
		I only wear ties for funerals.

				WILDER
		You don't get in without one. It's
		like a gentlemen's club for
		illusionists.  Except most of us
		aren't gentlemen.

	INT. MAGIC CASTLE - CORRIDORS - NIGHT

	The interior is murky and atmospheric, the walls covered with
	illusionists' posters. 

	Walter leads the way through the long corridors, past rooms
	where illusionists are performing close-up magic for
	audiences of well-heeled patrons.  Walter nods and waves to
	half a dozen people on their way through the house, up the
	stairs and towards the bar.

HARRY
		Are they all in the business?

				WILDER
		It's not a business. Harry. It's a
		vocation. 

	Wilder points to a locked door.

				WILDER
		That's what they call the
		Repository.  Every magic secret
		known to man's locked up in that
		room.

				HARRY
		Have you been in?

				WILDER
		No.  There's only three keys.
		Vinovich has got one, of
		course.
			(beat)
		He's a little crazy, by the way. 
		And he's a mean drunk. Otherwise,
		he's a real charmer.

				CUT TO

	INT. MAGIC CASTLE - BAR - NIGHT

	Later.  A drunken VINOVICH is holding court.  He's in his
	40's:  a flamboyant and loquacious man with a heavy (and
	fake) middle-European accent.  At the table - besides Harry
	and Walter - are:  Vinovich's starlet/nymphet girlfriend
	LAURA; an Asian-American illusionist called BILLY WHO; and
	two of Vinovich's adoring courtiers, an overblown,
	overdressed female illusionist - DEBRA DEVINE - and a thin,
	waspish fellow in a spangly suit:  the AMAZING QUENTIN. 

	In the conversation that follows we go back to Harry
	repeatedly as he studies this extraordinary group.

				VINOVICH
		It's more than entertainment. We're
		opening people's heads up.  Putting
		miracles back into their boring
		little lives.

				BILLY
		But they're fake miracles.

				VINOVICH
		Houdini believed he had spirit
		guides.

				HARRY
		You believe that?

				VINOVICH
		I think we walk a narrow path,
		between... between...

				HARRY
		Heaven and Hell?

	Vinovich stares hard at Harry, trying to figure out whether
	he's being sarcastic or not.

				VINOVICH
		Trickery and divinity.

				HARRY
		Are you saying that sometimes
		the miracles are real?

				VINOVICH
		No.  I'm saying they were always
		fake.  The saints, the messiahs,
		they were just illusionists.

				HARRY
		So could you walk on water?

				VINOVICH
			(deadly serious)
		I could reproduce any miracle
		that's ever been performed, with a
		little preparation.

				HARRY
		What about Swann's miracles?

	The smug smile on Vinovich's face dies.  Furtive glances are
	exchanged around the table.  Only Billy Who makes a tiny
	smile.

				VINOVICH
		They weren't worth a damn.

				HARRY
			(goading)
		I heard he was the best.

				VINOVICH
		If he was so good why's he so dead?

	Vinovich begins to look suspicious.

				HARRY
		You tell me.  No?  I thought you'd
		maybe have a theory.

				VINOVICH
		Oh, I've got plenty.

				HARRY
		I'd like to hear them. 

	Vinovich rises.

				VINOVICH
		I'm not saying another word.
			(to Wilder)
		You damn fool.  He's a
		journalist.

				HARRY
		Just tell me about Swann.  Or are
		you too scared?

				VINOVICH
		He was a freak.  Everything he did
		was tainted.

	Harry rises.  Looks straight at Vinovich, unintimidated.

				HARRY
		With what?

				VINOVICH
		Evil.  He was evil.
			(to Laura)
		Come on.

	She rises.

				VINOVICH
			(to the rest)
		Say nothing to this man if you wish
		to keep my company.

	He stalks away.  Harry calls after him, across a now-
	silenced bar.

				HARRY
		Great accent, by the way.  Is it
		Brooklyn?

				VINOVICH
			(pure Brooklyn)
		Fuck you.

	EXT. MAGIC CASTLE - PARKING LOT - NIGHT

	Harry heads to the car.

				BILLY (V.O.)
		Harry!

	Harry turns.  Billy approaches, glancing behind him to see
	that he's not being watched.

				BILLY
		I gotta be careful.  If Vinovich
		sees me talking to you.  He's an
		asshole, but he's a powerful
		asshole.

				HARRY
		They go together.

				BILLY
			(lowered voice)
		I've heard a name.  Someone they
		talk about in whispers.

				HARRY
		Who?

				BILLY
		Nix.

				HARRY
		Nix?

				BILLY
		Like in nothing.  Nobody.  Nix.

				HARRY
		Who is he?

				BILLY
		I think maybe he taught Swann.
			(hands Harry a card)
		This is me.  See ya around. 

	Billy hurries away.

				CUT TO:

	INT. HARRY'S HOTEL ROOM - NIGHT

	Harry lies on his bed, dozing.  The CAMERA CREEPS IN on him.

				DOROTHEA (V.O.)
		... I want somebody who can find
		out what Philip saw in those damn
		cards... 

	Harry frowns in his semi-doze.

				DISSOLVE TO:

	FLASHBACK - QUAID'S ROOM

				BUTTERFIELD
		Ever watched a man die?

	The image darkens, and fades up a beat later on Quaid.

				QUAID
		Please... I wasn't there... Ask
		Pimm.

				BUTTERFIELD
		Pimm's dead.  Jennifer Desiderio's
		disappeared...

				BACK TO:

	INT. HARRY'S HOTEL ROOM - NIGHT

	Harry is still asleep.

				CUT TO:

	FLASHBACK - QUAID'S ROOM

				QUAID
		I'm not afraid to die.  There's
		something terrible... coming
		home...

	A long silence. 

	SUDDENLY, a telephone RINGS.

				BACK TO:

	INT. HARRY'S HOTEL ROOM - NIGHT

	HARRY sits up, shocked awake.

				HARRY
		Shit!

	He picks up the receiver.

				HARRY
		This is D'Amour.
 
           
			CUT TO:

	INT. SWANN'S MANSION - DOROTHEA'S BEDROOM - NIGHT

	She sits up on her bed, dressed in a silk robe, and nothing
	else, drinking a SCOTCH, talking on the phone. The primary
	source of illumination is the massive T.V. set in the wall
	opposite the bed.

				DOROTHEA
		Harry... I know it's late.

	INTERCUT PHONE CONVERSATION

	There should be a subtle eroticism pervading this exchange. 
	Both of them on beds, in different bedrooms. Each aroused by
	the other's voice, and frustrated not to be able to see and
	touch them.

				HARRY
		That's okay.

	As he speaks, Harry scrawls Jennifer Desiderio on the title
	page of the Gideon's Bible beside the bed.

				DOROTHEA
		How did it go today?

				HARRY
		I went up to the Magic Castle. You
		were right.  He didn't have a lot
		of fans up there.

				CUT TO:

	INT. SWANN'S MANSION - KITCHEN - NIGHT

	Valentin, on the kitchen PHONE, is listening in.

				DOROTHEA (V.O.)
		They were jealous of him.

				HARRY (V.O.)
		Why?  Because he had you?

				BACK TO:

	INTERCUTTING: HARRY - DOROTHEA - VALENTIN

				DOROTHEA
		He... didn't have me..  I told you-

				HARRY
		You didn't marry him for love.

	DOROTHEA'S BEDROOM

	She's a little uncomfortable now.

				HARRY
		So why did you marry him?

				DOROTHEA
		That's my business. Harry.

				HARRY
		Just curious.
			(a beat)
		Back to business.  Ever heard of a
		man called Nix?
			(silence)
		Dorothea?

				DOROTHEA
		Yes... I'm here.  And no.  I don't
		know the name.

				HARRY
		What about Jennifer Desiderio?

				DOROTHEA
		It doesn't ring a bell.  I have to
		go.

				HARRY
		Okay.  I'll keep digging.

				DOROTHEA
			(uneasy)
		Yes.  You do that.

	She puts down the phone, and swallows a mouthful of scotch. 
	She's shaking.  She gets up.  Paces the room. Then she picks
	up the phone again.

	INT. HARRY'S HOTEL ROOM - NIGHT

	On the pad beside the bed, Jennifer's name, surrounded by
	Harry's doodles.  The phone RINGS. 

	CUT WIDE:  The room is empty.

	EXT./INT. QUAID'S OFFICES - STAIRWELL - NIGHT

	The Tarot Card and Crystal Readings sign is dark now. Harry
	heads up the stairs, past the PHOTOGRAPHS, to the door of
	Quaid's Waiting Room. 
	It has been locked and taped by the police.  Harry has come
	prepared.  He takes out a small crowbar and levers off the
	locks.

	INT. QUAID'S OFFICES - WAITING/FORTUNE TELLING ROOMS - NIGHT  

	Harry enters, FLASHLIGHT on.  He crosses the Waiting Room and
	enters the Fortune-Telling Room where Quaid died.  On the
	TRACK -- a remote, eerie presence -- we hear Quaid's SOBS,
	Miller's SHOUTS, and, as Harry's flashlight illuminates the
	blood-spattered table:

				BUTTERFIELD (V.O.)
		If you watch very closely, you can
		sometimes see the soul escaping.

	Harry is spooked.  He starts to search the room, opening
	cabinets and drawers.  Quaid's hordes of mystical bric-a-brac
	are stashed everywhere.  Boxes of crystals, religious
	statues, elaborate cards, incense, etc.

	He pulls open a drawer, and notices that a rosary is wedged
	in a niche at the base of the drawer.  He pulls the drawer
	out, empties its contents on the table, and examines it. 

	Using the crowbar, he forces the drawer apart.  It has a
	false bottom.

				HARRY
			(smiles)
		Yes...

	In the secret compartment, some papers and an address book. 
	He flicks to "D."

				HARRY (CONT'D)
		Desiderio...

	There it is.  Jennifer Desiderio, and an address.  He pockets
	the book.  Then, sensing a presence behind him, he pulls out
	his gun and whirls around, his flashlight beam revealing --

	-- Valentin!

				HARRY (CONT'D)
		What the fuck are you doing here?

				VALENTIN
		Looking for you.  I tried the
		hotel.

				HARRY
		Why'd you come here?

				VALENTIN
		You're a detective, with no clues. 
		Where else are you going to look? 
		I'm going to keep this brief.
			(he takes out an envelope)
		Here's thirty thousand dollars.

				HARRY
		What for?

				VALENTIN
		A ticket home,

				HARRY
		You didn't hire me.  She did.
		If she wants me off the job, I
		want to hear it from her.

				VALENTIN
		She doesn't want to see you. She's
		had enough pain.  Enough churning
		over the past.  She wants it all
		left alone.

				HARRY
		Left alone?  Somebody's been
		murdered.

				VALENTIN
		Yes.  It's regrettable

				HARRY
		Fuck regrettable!  I want to know
		why.

				VALENTIN
		What for?  You need to stay busy?

				HARRY
			(a confession)
		I like to know why things happen.

				VALENTIN
		Why people die?
			(shakes his head)
		Give it up, D'Amour.  Go home.

				HARRY
		No.

	Harry crosses to the door, brushing past Valentin.

				VALENTIN
		Don't try and see her, D'Amour.
		Just leave her alone.  Let her
		heal.

	He glances back at Valentin.

				HARRY
		Lock up, will you?

				CUT TO:

	EXT. ST. LUKE'S SANITORIUM, PASADENA - DAY

	ON THE ADDRESS BOOK, in Harry's hands.

	Harry looks up - with some surprise - not at a house but at a
	building, the sign on which reads, "St. Luke's Sanitorium".

	INT. ST. LUKE'S SANITORIUM - DAY

	The place is bland and functional throughout, the walls
	decorated with sun-faded reproductions of great paintings. 
	Nothing disturbing.  Harry is talking to D.A. TOFFLER -
	black, fortyish, softly spoken - and a Nurse.

				TOFFLER
		Jennifer's only ever had one
		visitor.

				HARRY
		A Mister Quaid?

				TOFFLER
		Right.  And he's dead, isn't he?  I
		saw it on the news. Jennifer
		doesn't know.  And frankly, this
		isn't the best tine for her to be
		told.

				HARRY
		I won't say anything.

	INT. ST. LUKE'S SANITORIUM - CORRIDORS AND WARD - DAY

	Toffler excorts Harry through -the place.  There are
	distressing scenes on every side.  Nothing melodramatic no
	screaming, no fits.  Just a subtle, pervasive air of despair. 
	Blank, empty FACES in blank, empty rooms.

				TOFFLER
		Jennifer's been with us four years. 
		She was coming on nicely. 
		But just the last month or so,
		she's worse than ever.

				HARRY
		What's her problem?

				TOFFLER
		She has no real grip on reality.

				HARRY
			(a joke)
		Does anybody?

				TOFFLER
			(deadly serious)
		Oh yes.  We have to agree what's
		real and what's not. That's what
		holds us together.

				HARRY
		And what does Jennifer think's
		real?

	They've come to french windows, which are wide open. Sitting
	outside in the sun is Jennifer, with her back to us.

				TOFFLER
			(quietly)
		Jennifer thinks the Devil's coming
		for her.
			(louder)
		Jennifer?

	Jennifer turns.  She looks terrible.

	EXT. ST. LUKE'S SANITORIUM - GROUNDS - CITY STREET - DAY

	Harry and Jennifer walk amongst the flower-beds, with the
	Nurse keeping a watch from a discreet distance. Throughout
	the scene we HEAR the SOUND of earth being dug, which
	steadily gets louder as they walk.

				JENNIFER
		Have we met before?

				HARRY
		No.

				JENNIFER
		Only I forget.  They give me pills,
		you know, to keep me... even...
		and... I forget things,

				HARRY
		Well, you didn't forget me.  I just
		came because I wanted to know if
		you knew a man called Butterfield.

				JENNIFER
		Maybe... I... don't...

				HARRY
		What about Philip Swann?

				JENNIFER
		I knew Swann.
			(sudden vehemence)
		He's a fucking liar.

	A WORKMAN saunters past, carrying pipes.

				HARRY
		Why's that?

				JENNIFER
		He said he knew how to protect us. 
		But he didn't know anything.  He
		made us think it was over and done
		with.

				HARRY
		What is?

				JENNIFER
			(tears nearing)
		I don't want to think about it. If
		I think about it he'll hear me. 
		He'll find me.

				HARRY
		Swann?

	Ahead now, the site where the workmen are digging a hole,
	laying pipes.  The CAMERA doesn't focus on this action, but
	we're aware of it.

				JENNIFER
		I told you.  I don't --

	She stops.  Looks ahead of her.  Her face is suddenly ashen
	and clammy.  Harry follows her gaze to: 

	The hole.  Somebody is in it, digging.  Earth emerges in
	shovelfuls, piling up beside the hole.

				JENNIFER (CONT'D)
			(screaming)
		God no!  Oh God no!

	She backs away from the hole.  The Nurse grabs hold of her.

				NURSE
		Calm down!

	She delivers the Nurse a backhand SWIPE.  The Nurse is flung
	back.

				JENNIFER
		He's not going to get me!

	She races down towards the street.  Harry goes after her.

				JENNIFER (CONT'D)
		He's not!  He's not!

				HARRY
		Who's not? 

	He catches up with her.

				JENNIFER
		Nix! Nix!

				HARRY
		Is he the Puritan?

				JENNIFER
		Yes! Yes!

				HARRY
		And he's dead?

				JENNIFER
		No.  He's coming back.  He's
		digging his way out!

	The Nurse appears behind Harry.

				NURSE
		I'll take care of her now.

	Jennifer struggles in Harry's grip.

				NURSE
		Let go of her, Mr. D'Amour!

	The Nurse breaks Harry's hold on Jennifer, who slips away
	instantly, racing towards the street.

				HARRY
		Jennifer!

	She scrambles up over a wall, and flings herself from the
	top.  There's a SCREECH of brakes, then the smashing of
	metalwork and glass.  Harry gets to the wall before the
	Nurse.  Hoists himself up onto it.  Looks down.

	HARRY'S P.O.V. OF STREET

	Jennifer is dead in the middle of the street, beneath the
	wheels of a car.  The DRIVER is out, and yelling
	incoherently. 

				HARRY
		Jesus.

	He slips back down the wall, and leans against it.

	He looks towards the hole.  The Workman has stopped digging. 
	His mud-encrusted hands emerge, and for a moment, before his
	head appears, the image is eerily like somebody climbing from
	a grave.  Harry closes his eyes.

				HARRY
			(very quietly)
		Jesus.

	EXT. LOS ANGELES - DUSK

	The sun is setting, the city giving way to night.

	INT. HARRY'S HOTEL ROOM - DUSK

	Harry's on the phone.



				HARRY
		I want to speak to Dorothea.

				VALENTIN (V.O.)
		I'm afraid she's not in.

				HARRY
		When will she be in?

	INT. SWANN'S MANSION - STUDY - NIGHT

	Valentin on the phone in the study.

				DOROTHEA
		Who is it?

	Valentin puts the phone down.

				VALENTIN
		Crank call.  I'll get the number
		changed.

				DOROTHEA
		No word from D'Amour?			    

	Valentin shakes his head.

				VALENTIN
		It's better he's gone.  He would
		have done more harm than good.

				DOROTHEA
		Harm to whom?  Me?  I don't think,
		so.  Try him again at the hotel.

				VALENTIN
		I left three messages already.

	Dorothea nods, plainly sad at Harry's desertion.  She turns
	and leaves the room.

	INT. HARRY'S HOTEL ROOM - NIGHT

	ON BILLY WHO'S CARD, in Harry's hand.

				HARRY
			(on phone)
		Billy?  It's Harry.  Suppose I
		wanted to get into the repository
		at the Magic Castle?

				CUT TO:

	INT. MAGIC CASTLE - SKYLIGHT ROOM - NIGHT        

	THE PLACE IS EERIE BY NIGHT:  ALL MASKS AND SHADOWS. 

	PAN UP TO THE SKYLIGHT.  HARRY IS CUTTING AWAY A PANE OF
	GLASS.  BILLY'S BEHIND HIM.  THE PANE STARTS TO FALL. WITH
	LIGHTNING REFLEXES, BILLY REACHES THROUGH AND CATCHES IT.

				HARRY
		You've done this before.

				BILLY
		I've had my moments.

	INT. MAGIC CASTLE - HALLWAY OUTSIDE REPOSITORY - NIGHT

	Harry's manipulating the lock.

				BILLY
		I'm sure they'll have this place
		rigged.

				HARRY
		How?

				BILLY
		It'll be something hokey. 

	CLICK! The door opens.

				BILLY
		Houdini'd been proud of you.

	INT. MAGIC CASTLE - REPOSITORY - NIGHT

	Undusted shelves piled high with manuscripts, old books, and
	posters in every direction.

				BILLY
			(impressed)
		Whoa...

	On the wall, plaster LIFE-MASKS.  In glass cases, the tools
	of the great magicians:  KNIVES, KEYS, GUNS, WANDS, even an
	IRON MAIDEN.  Billy is in awe.  He wanders around wide-eyed
	while Harry scans the shelves. The dialogue runs as they
	investigate.

				BILLY
		I hear Mrs. Swann's quite a babe.

				HARRY
		You heard right.

				BILLY
		You ever been married?

				HARRY
		Yeah.  She was killed in a car
		crash.  Her lawyer was driving. She
		was filing for divorce.

				BILLY
		Why?

				HARRY
		My life was too weird for her.

				BILLY
			(grinning)
		I love weird.

	Harry has seen a small SIGIL carved onto one of the shelves.

				HARRY
		Billy?  This was on Miller's
		forehead.  Any idea what it is?

				BILLY
		Nope.

	Harry presses it.  The entire bookcase opens up, CREAKING.

				BILLY
		What did I tell you?  So fucking
		hokey.

	Inside, there is a small shelf.  On it, FILES and PAPERS.

				HARRY
		What have we got here?

	Ever-eager, Billy steps into the recess.  And -- 

	two spiked, latticed gates close on his arm! 

	Harry grabs the gates before they snap closed, inches from
	skewering Billy's flesh and bone!  He keeps them open, his
	sinews straining.

				HARRY
		Grab the files!

	Billy reaches in and pulls out a handful of the files. As he
	steps out of range. Harry lets go and the gates close with a
	CLANG!

				BILLY
		Jesus!

	He slams the files down.  He's trembling.

				BILLY
		I could have lost my fucking hands.

				HARRY
		That would have kept you out of the
		Magic Circle.
			(he studies the files)
		Which was presumably the idea.
			(a beat)
		These are about Nix.

	Harry takes a sheaf of papers, and hands them to Billy.

				HARRY
		You go through these.  Go on!

	Reluctantly, Billy does so.  Harry picks up a faded
	PHOTOGRAPH of the doorway to Nix's HOUSE (with the sigil
	painted on it) and BUTTERFIELD the child standing in the sun. 
	There are other CULTISTS standing around.  And in the DOORWAY
	-- a barely visible figure (and all the more intimidating for
	that) - is NIX.

				HARRY
		Wait a minute...

	He stares at the boy's face.  The eyes are clearly different
	colours.

				HARRY
		That's Butterfield...

				BILLY
			(points to nan in)
		doorway)
		And who's that?

	ON HARRY, staring at the ambiguous presence. 

	ON THE PHOTOGRAPH of the shadowy figure.

				HARRY
		At a guess?  The Puritan.  Nix.

	Billy picks up an ETCHING, water-stained and dirty.  It shows
	a horror we recognize:  a man's HAND pressed into the FLESH
	of another man's HEAD.

				BILLY
		Take a look at this.

				HARRY
			(looking at it)
		A Nix specialty?

	Billy is getting subtly spooked now.  He puts the etching
	down and starts to go through others in the series.  We
	glimpse them as he does so.  In one, a MAN regurgitates a
	serpentine form made of FLAME.  In another, a MAN stares at
	his own HAND which is STRIPPED OF FLESH.  There is no bone
	beneath.  Only a form of solid blackness.  In a third, we see
	a HEAD with a slit in the middle of the brow, emanating
	DARKNESS.

				BILLY
		I don't know any of these tricks...

	Harry studies the etchings.

				HARRY
			(a slow burn)
		Maybe they're not tricks.

				BILLY
			(mystified)
		I mean, there's no instructions--
			(realizes what Harry said)
		What do you mean, they're not
		tricks?

				HARRY
		What did Vinovich say? Something
		about walking a path between --

				BILLY
		Trickery and divinity.  Yeah, he
		says that all the time.

				HARRY
		That's because he knew.  He'd seen
		these files and knew.

				BILLY
		Knew what?

	Out of the corner of his eye. Harry sees a motion between the
	book-stacks.  Billy frowns.  Harry puts his fingers to his
	lips.  Gestures for Billy to take cover. Billy backs away. 
	Harry slowly turns in the direction of the motion. 

	Something eerily sepulchral is gliding between the stacks.  A
	figure in a straight-jacket with his head bowed.

	Harry takes out his gun. 

	Billy disappears around the back of one of the stacks. Harry
	goes after the apparition. 

	The TRACK is completely silent. 

	Suddenly, the creature appears behind Billy!  It looks up,
	its face that of a psychotic:  burning eyes, manic smile. 

	It tears open its straight-jacket and reaches for Billy, who
	backs away.

				BILLY
		Harry!

	Books tumble on top of Billy as he stumbles against the
	shelves.

				BILLY
		Where the fuck are you?

	Harry appears, and puts his gun to the PSYCHO'S head.

				HARRY
		Okay.  Hold it right there.

	The gun goes through the Psycho's skull, as though it's made
	of smoke. 

	Harry waves his hands through it.  It's completely ethereal. 

	But it's still terrorizing Billy.

				BILLY
			(in mortal terror)
		Get it off me!

	Harry glances around.  Sees a LIGHT flickering between some
	books.  FIRES at it.  The light goes out.  The "Psycho"
	vanishes.  Billy is left hyper-ventilating on the ground.

				HARRY
		Hokey enough for you?

				BILLY
		I'm out of here, man!  Are you
		coming?

	Harry picks up a handful of papers from the Nix file.

				HARRY
		I'm coming.

	Billy is already out of the room.  For a moment. Harry pauses
	to look back at the other files, sealed behind the spiked
	gates. 

	As he does so --

	-- the proiector sparks into life one last time, and the
	"Psycho" appears --ROARING - at Harry's shoulder.

				HARRY
		Ah, shaddup!

	He FIRES at the projector a second time.

	On the GUN SHOT --

				CUT TO:

	EXT. MAGIC CASTLE - NIGHT

	Billy and Harry are parting.

				HARRY
		Thanks, Billy.

				BILLY
		Hey, anytime.
			(a beat)
		Actually, no.  This was enough. 

	They shake, and part.

	EXT. SWANN'S MANSION - FRONT DOOR - NIGHT

	Harry waits on the doorstep.  Valentin opens the door.

				VALENTIN
			(quietly)
		I can't let you in.

				HARRY
			(stepping in)
		Yeah, I know.

				VALENTIN
		You want more money, is that it?

	Harry pushes him aside.

	INT. SWANN'S MANSION - VARIOUS - NIGHT

	Harry starts to go through the house, opening doors.

				HARRY
		Dorothea?

	He sees candle-light through a partially open door. Starts
	towards it.

				VALENTIN
		Leave her alone --

				HARRY
		Shut up!

	He pushes open the door.

	INT. SWANN'S MANSION - CASKET ROOM - NIGHT

	The room is a museum of Swarm's career.  Posters, and
	memorabilia everywhere.  And in the middle of the room,
	Swann's sealed CASKET, surrounded by flowers and candles. 
	Dorothea is standing beside it, head bowed.

				DOROTHEA
		This is the way he wanted it... no
		autopsy, no embalming. Nobody
		meddling with his body...

	Harry approaches, slowly.

				DOROTHEA
		Flesh is a trap.  That's what he
		used to say.  Flesh is a trap and
		magic sets us free.
			(a beat)
		Why did you come back?

				HARRY
		I didn't leave.  I was just digging
		around.

	Dorothea looks up at him.

				DOROTHEA
			(uneasy)
		What did you find?

				HARRY
		Jennifer Desiderio, for one.
			(he watches her for a
		response)
		She threw herself in front of a car
		this afternoon.

	Dorothea can't disguise her distress.

				DOROTHEA
		Oh Christ.

				HARRY
			(a beat)
		Why don't you tell me the truth?

	INT. SWANN'S MANSION- STUDY-- NIGHT-

	Dorothea pours herself a drink, while Harry spreads the
	PHOTOS and the PAPERS from the repository on the table.

				HARRY
		Nix ran some kind of cult, right? 
		Some kind of Charlie Manson deal?

				DOROTHEA
		It was more than that, I think.

				HARRY
		He was the real thing, right?

				DOROTHEA
		Swann said he could do stuff, yes.

				HARRY
		Stuff?

				DOROTHEA
		He could get into people's heads. 
		Make them see things. Terrible
		things.  And he could levitate. 
		Juggle fire.

				HARRY
		He taught all this to Swann?

				DOROTHEA
		Some or it.

	INT. SWANN'S MANSION - HALLWAY OUTSIDE STUDY - NIGHT

	Valentin is listening at the door.

	INT. SWANN'S MANSION- STUDY-- NIGHT-

				HARRY
		So Swann was performing magic. not
		illusions?
			(Dorothea nods)
		And what?  You thought he should be
		using it to cure cancer, not making
		millions.

				DOROTHEA
		I told you --

				HARRY
		Too much fame.  Yeah, I guess
		that'd turn anybody's head.
		Including yours.

				DOROTHEA
		No.

				HARRY
		You said you weren't with him for
		love.

				DOROTHEA
		I wasn't.

				HARRY
		 What then?

				DOROTHEA
		I was grateful to him.  I owed him
		my life.  And he loved me. He
		couldn't always show it, but he
		felt it.

				HARRY
		He thought Nix was coming back,
		didn't he?

	Dorothea is pouring herself another drink.  The glass slips
	from her hand.  It SHATTERS.  Harry goes to help her.  They
	stoop together, very close.  The sexual attraction is almost
	palpable. Dorothea cuts herself on a shard of glass.

				DOROTHEA
		Shit!

	They are very close to each other.

				HARRY
			(reassuring)
		It's okay.

				DOROTHEA
		No it isn't.  You can't help me.

				HARRY
			(tenderly)
		I'm here, aren't I?

	He kisses her.  She kisses him back, hard.

				HARRY
		Nothing's going to happen to you.  

				DOROTHEA
			(seductive)
		Nothing?

				HARRY
			(smiles)
		Nothing you don't want. 

	They kiss again, passionately.

	INT. SWANN'S MANSION - LOBBY - NIGHT

	Valentin breaks into the shadows, as Harry and Dorothea cross
	the darkened lobby and head upstairs.  Then Valentin crosses
	to the phone and dials.

	INT. SWANN'S MANSION - DOROTHEA'S BEDROOM - NIGHT

	A room of illusions.  Walls lined with mirrors, and warm,
	flattering lighting, bathing the naked forms of Dorothea and
	Harry as they make love, sitting on the floor.

	It is a deeply passionate, but slow, sensual coupling.

	INT./EXT. SWANN'S MANSION - LOBBY - NIGHT

	Valentin opens the front door.  There's a wind blowing. The
	palms churn against the night sky...

	INTERCUT

	Roiling, wind-filled pains with the glistening, urgent bodies
	of Harry and Dorothea.

	INT. SWANN'S MANSION - DOROTHEA'S BEDROOM - NIGHT

	Harry cradles Dorothea in post-coital languor.

				DOROTHEA
			(whispers)
		I was so afraid.

				HARRY
		Don't be.  Nix can't hurt you now.

				DOROTHEA
		Are you sure?

				HARRY
		I'm sure.
			(kisses her)
		He's dead.

				DOROTHEA
		I know.  I'm the one who shot
		him.

	ON HARRY. He's startled, to say the least.

				DOROTHEA
		I was twelve.  Nix took me hostage,
		to get Swann to come to him.

				HARRY
			(realizing)
		And they all came...

				DOROTHEA
		Yes.

				HARRY
		Quaid and Jennifer--

				DOROTHEA
		And Pimm and Swann.  Only Nix was
		ready for them.

	There's a NOISE downstairs.

				DOROTHEA
			(nervous)
		What was that?

				HARRY
		It's okay. 

	Harry slips out of bed.

	INT. SWANN'S MANSION - STAIRS - LOBBY - NIGHT

	Harry descends the stairs, buttoning up his trousers (which
	is all he wears).  He has his gun.

				HARRY
		Valentin? 

	Dorothea appears behind him.

				DOROTHEA
		Harry?  Wait!

	Harry's at the bottom of the stairs now.  Across the hall, in
	a passageway, an eerie SILHOUETTE.  We can make out no detail
	of clothing or face.

				HARRY
		What the hell-?

	Suddenly, the shadowy FIGURE comes at Harry.  A BLAST of
	ENERGY bursts against Harry's face.  As it breaks against his
	skin, we see (for three frames or so) a glimpse of Harry's
	skull.

				HARRY
			(in pain)
		Aah!

	Harry FIRES at the figure.  The shadows fold up around the
	Stranger like an origami puzzle.  He's gone.

				DOROTHEA
		It's him!  It's Nix!

	Harry goes out into the passageway.

				HARRY
		Valentin!  Get some lights on!

	As if in reply to the command, a burst of vivid white FIRE
	erupts behind Harry.  He swings round to see the Stranger
	"unfolding" out of the shadows again, defying physics and
	physiology to do so.  The FIRE is at his feet, like a serpent
	writhing on the ground.  It comes at Harry.  Harry FIRES at
	it, but it comes at him faster still, rising to burn Harry's
	leg.  He retreats, the FIRE racing after him. He makes for a
	door, and flings it open.  He's in -- 

	INT. SWANN'S MANSION - CASKET ROOM - NIGHT     

	The FIRE follows him across the ground and STRIKES his hand. 
	Harry drops the GUN.  Looks up to see the Stranger in the
	doorway, arm raised to will the fire-serpent on.  But then,
	he hesitates.  Harry glances round, and sees that the
	Stranger - whose face is still a dark smear - is staring at
	the CASKET.

				HARRY
		Somebody you know?

	Dorothea appears behind the Stranger.  Sees Harry, burned and
	sweating, cornered against the casket.

				DOROTHEA
		Oh my God!

	The Stranger looks round.  Harry snatches up the GUN,
	supporting his burned hand with -his good hand.  Levels the
	gun at the Stranger.  The FIRE raises its head, like a cobra.

				HARRY
		Which goes first?  My face or
		your heart?

	The Stranger draws a deep breath.  The Fire-Serpent withers
	and dies.

				DOROTHEA
		Who in God's name are you?

	She reaches for the Stranger, who simply folds up again; gone
	into darkness.  The WIND blows through the house, masking his
	exit.

				DOROTHEA
		Are you all right?

				HARRY
		Find Valentin!  Find him!  Get him
		in here!

	Dorothea disappears.  Harry takes one of the candle-holders
	and jams it under the casket lid.  Wood splinters.  He starts
	to force off the lid. 

	Valentin and Dorothea enter.

				VALENTIN
		What are you doing?  This is
		sacrilege.

	He starts towards Harry.  Dorothea goes after him and catches
	hold of his arm.  Her expression is a mingling of fascination
	and dread, as Harry gets his fingers under the casket lid and
	pulls. 

	Inside, Swann's corpse.

				VALENTIN
		Are you satisfied now?

				HARRY
		No.

	Harry holds Valentin back with one hand, and puts his finger
	into the corpse's mouth.

				DOROTHEA
		Harry?

				HARRY
		It's all right.  It's not
		hurting...

	He now has four fingers in Swann's mouth and seizes hold of
	his lower jaw.  It cracks -- 

	-- and comes away in a little rain of plaster and latex.

				HARRY
		...plaster doesn't bleed.

	He tosses the jaw to Valentin.

				HARRY
			(to Dorothea)
		It looks like you're not a widow
		after all.

	INT. SWANN'S MANSION - STUDY - NIGHT

	Harry interrogates Valentin in a white fury, while Dorothea
	binds Harry's hand.

				HARRY
		You rigged the illusion to fail,
		right?

				VALENTIN
		Yes.

				HARRY
		You paid off the doctor.  You set
		up the fake body.  Yes?

				VALENTIN
		Yes.

				HARRY
		And then... because I was
		getting too close to something --
			(at Dorothea)
		--or someone, you called Swann

				VALENTIN
		I tried to pay you off.

				HARRY
		Was that Swann's idea?

				VALENTIN
		No.  It was mine.  I didn't want
		any more bloodshed. That's why we
		went to all this trouble, so
		there'd be no one for Nix to come
		after.

				HARRY
		Nix is dead and buried, for
		fuck's sake.

				VALENTIN
		Haven't you seen enough to know
		that doesn't matter?

	ON HARRY.  He looks as though he's beginning to think maybe
	Nix's resurrection is plausible.

				HARRY
		I want to see Swann face to face.

				VALENTIN
		Why don't you leave this alone? Let
		everybody think it's over?

				DOROTHEA
		What about me?

				VALENTIN
		Nix was never interested in you. 
		It was always Swann. 

	A beat.

				HARRY
			(to Dorothea)
		Maybe Valentin's right.  We should
		let it alone. 

	A BELL starts to TOLL-

				HARRY
			(con't.)
		He went to all that trouble to be
		dead.  Maybe we should let him stay
		that way.

	The TOLLING carries over into

	EXT. HOLLYWOOD CEMETERY - DAY

	WE CRANE DOWN from a high angle on a GRAVE, surrounded by
	MOURNERS.  The graveside service has just ended, and the
	Mourners are beginning to disperse.  Dorothea is there
	amongst them, of course.  So are several faces we recognize: 
	Vinovich, Wilder, Billy Who, Swann's Stage Manager, his
	Dancers, his Technicians.  There are also several members of
	the PRESS, and thirty or fourty other Mourners, some of whom,
	to judge by their dress and manner, are also illusionists. 

	Harry stands some distance from the crowd, watching (hidden)
	from the doorway of a mausoleum.  His eyes are on Dorothea as
	she goes amongst the Mourners, receiving unheard words of
	condolesence.

	EXT. WILTERN THEATRE - DAY

	The standee of Swann is being demolished by two WORKERS. They
	are taking hammers to it, smashing it to pieces.

	INT. WILTERN THEATRE - STAGE - DAY

	The stage is starkly lit with working lights, the auditorium
	in darkness.  Swann's equipment - including the partially
	dismantled Dragon's head - is heaped on the stage. 

	Valentin wanders through the boxes to the place where Swann
	"died."  He stares down at the BLOOD on the stage.

	EXT. WILTERN THEATRE - DAY

	THE 1st WORKER throws the cut-out head of Swann's standee
	down into the street.

				1ST WORKER
		Watch out!

	On the HEAD, as it strikes the sidewalk at somebody's feet. 
	We don't see who.

	EXT. HOLLYWOOD CEMETERY - DAY

	Harry catches sight of somebody close to the gates of the
	cemetery.  Dark glasses, a beard, an anonymous black suit. 

	Harry smiles slightly, and slips off between the mausoleums.

	EXT. HOLLYWOOD CEMETERY - PARKING LOT - DAY

	The BLACK-COATED MOURNER gets into his car. 

	On Harry, as he gets into his.

	INT. WILTERN THEATRE - STAGE - DAY

	Valentin hears something in the auditorium.  Looks up.

				VALENTIN
		Who's there?

	He reaches into his jacket to draw a GUN. There's a NOISE. 
	He swings round.  Too late.

	Butterfield has a scalpel at his throat.  He kicks Valentin
	to the ground.

				BUTTERFIELD
			(conversationally)
		I've sometimes thought, if I'd had
		another profession, I would have
		been a surgeon.

	On Valentin, staring up in terror. 

	Valentin's P.O.V.- of Butterfield, upside down, above him,
	the scalpel glittering.

				BUTTERFIELD
		To be able to heal with one little
		cut.

	On Valentin again, as Butterfield's blade touches his cheek,
	just beneath his eye.

				VALEMTIN
		No. . .

				BUTTERFIELD
		Let's say those eyes of yours were
		giving you trouble.

				VALENTIN
		Please.

				BUTTERFIELD
		I could scoop them out.

				VALENTIN
		Don't.

				BUTTERFIELD
		So tell me where Nix is buried.

				VALENTIN
		I don't know.

	Butterfield pushes the blade into Valentin's skin. 

	CUT WIDE, as Valentin thrashes, his face obscured by
	Butterfield's body.

				VALENTIN
		Wait!

	On Valentin again.  There is a small cut beneath his eye, but
	that's all.

				VALENTIN
		I'll tell you.

				BUTTERFIELD
		You'll do more.than that.

	EXT. L.A. STREET - SEMI-DERELICT BUILDING - DAY

	A bad neighborhood, to judge by the state of the streets. 
	Harry gets out of his car and crosses to a gate, topped with
	barbed wire.  He peers through the bars. 

	Harry's P.O.V. of the STRANGER from the funeral disappearing
	into the building.  He glances back towards the street.  We
	get a glimpse of a bearded face beneath the brim of his hat. 

	Harry slides out of sight.  Waits until the Stranger has gone
	inside.  Then he's up, over the gate, braving the barbed
	wire.

	INT. -SEMI-DERELICT BUILDING - DAY		   

	It's been a hospital.  Now the echoing corridors and wards
	are deserted, littered with reminders of old suffering. 
	Rotting mattresses; spilled boxes of surgical supplies. 

	Harry explores this tiled labyrinth, looking for some sign of
	the Stranger. 

	He enters a shadowy room.  Birds fly UP into his face! 

	As he retreats, another SOUND, a little distance from him. 
	GUN in hand, he heads towards it, and steps into

	INT. SEMI-DERELICT BUILDING - OPERATING THEATRE - DAY

	Narrow shafts of light through the circular viewing window
	fall on an operating table, and looming pieces of discarded
	equipment.  Eerie.  Disturbing. 

	Harry scans the shadows as he advances into the room.

				HARRY
		I knew you wouldn't be able tn stay
		away.

	Silence.  Harry notices the beard and glasses on the
	operating table.

				HARRY
		You had to see who wept for you the
		most.

	Silence.

				HARRY
		A lot of people are going to be
		really pissed off when they
		discover you're still alive.

				SWANN (V.O.)
		They'll never find out. 

	Harry looks up.

	Svanrt is hovering in the air above him.  The veins in his
	temples bulge and throb.  This trick requires a lot of
	concentration.

				HARRY
		Look, Ma, no wires.

				SWANN
		You shouldn't have followed me,
		D'Amour.

				HARRY
		How the fuck do you do that?

				SWANN
		Now I'm going to have to kill you.

				HARRY
		I don't think so.  You need me
		alive.

				SWANN
		Why?  So you can fuck my wife?

	Swann swoops down towards Harry, who levels his gun.

				HARRY
		Be careful.  Funerals make me
		trigger-happy.

	Swann stops, inches from the ground.

				HARRY
		You know, it's such a fucking
		waste.  You can do shit most of us
		can only dream about, and you go
		around pretending it's some trick.

				SWANN
		Illusionists get. Las Vegas
		contracts, D'Amour.  Magicians get
		burned.

				HARRY
		Or murdered, like Nix.

				SWANN
		He deserved it.

				HARRY
		Maybe he doesn't see it that way. 
		Maybe he's digging his
		way out of the hole you put him
		right now.  That's what you're
		hiding away from, isn't it?

				SWANN
		I did it for Dorothea.

				HARRY
		Oh yeah?

				SWANN
		Now that I'm dead, the spotlight's
		off her.

	Harry grabs Swann, literally pulling him down to earth. Now
	they're face to face.  Eye to eye.  Swann, for all his
	posturing, is afraid.

				HARRY
		So Nix won't come looking for her?

				SWANN
		It's me betrayed him.

				HARRY
		And she shot him I  I think that'd
		piss me off if I were Nix.

				SWANN
			(despairing)
		I don't know what else to do.

				HARRY
		Help me.

	On Swann, his face a churning mass of rage and fear.

				HARRY
		Listen.  If he's back from the
		dead, then he is some kind of god. 
		And he'll find you, wherever the
		fuck you are. 
		And if he's just another phony
		Messiah, then you can stage the
		greatest come-back in history.

	ON Swann.  This doesn't sound like such a terrible idea.

	EXT. NIX'S HOUSE - LATE AFTERNOON

	A car comes to a halt outside the house, where six vehicles
	are already gathered.  The SNAKE-HANDLING Cultist gets out. 
	SNAKES seethe out of the open car door.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - VARIOUS - LATE AFTERNOON

	We MOVE THROUGH the shadowy interior, catching sight of
	several CULTISTS as we go.  They all have looks of barely
	suppressed ecstasy on their faces. 

	We are moving towards the Sanctum, and it's getting darker. 
	A MATCH is struck, and an OIL-FLAME sputters into life.  We
	see NORMAN'S gleaming face. On the wall is a PICTURE of Nix,
	floating over a scene of apocalyptic destruction. 

	Norman brushes away thirteen years' accrual of DIRT. Beneath,
	Nix's expression is as rabid and terrifying as ever.  Norman
	grins.

				CUT TO:

	EXT. LIQUOR STORE - LATE AFTERNOON

	A small, garishly-lit liquor store.  Harry's car pulls into
	the lot.  Swann gets out, his disguise back on. Heads into
	the store.  Harry, agitated and impatient, follows him.

	INT. LIQUOR STORE - LATE AFTERNOON

	Swann is at the cashier's desk, with a bottle of cheap
	brandy.

				SWANN
		Is this the best brandy you've
		got?

				CASHIER
		If that's what's on the shelves.

	Swann produces a thousand dollar bill out of thin air.

				SWANN
		Can you change a thousand for me?

				CASHIER
			(amazed)
		You're shittin' me.

				HARRY
		Can we go?

	Swann starts to COUGH.  A QUARTER falls from his mouth.

				HARRY
		Oh Jeez.

				SWANN
		Will that do?  No?

	Swann coughs again.  Puts his hand to his mouth.  A DELUGE of
	QUARTERS runs between his fingers.

				SWANN
		That better? 

	The Cashier gapes.

				CUT TO:

	EXT. SWANN'S MANSION - POOLSIDE - GROUNDS - DUSK

	The house could not look more reassuringly calm.  A SWAN
	struts beside the pool.  A long, HUSHED MOMENT...

				SHOCK CUT TO:

	DOROTHEA'S DREAM

	A BABOON SHRIEKS, its mouth filling the frame. 

	CUT WIDE, to reveal the Baboon, racing around Nix's Sanctum,
	crazed. 

	Hanging on the sculpture that swings from the roof is a
	shadowy figure.  Is it Nix?  We can't quite see.  Black BLOOD
	runs from the figure and splashes on the ground.

	NOW WE SEE DOROTHEA, being pulled by the Cultists towards the
	falling gouts of dark fluid --

	-- she struggles, SOBBING --
			 CUT TO:

	INT. SWANN'S MANSION - DOROTHEA'S BEDROOM - NIGHT

	She tosses around on the bed

				BACK TO:

	DOROTHEA'S DREAM

	-- Dorothea has a GUN in her hand.  The Cultists shake it
	from her grip, and pull her directly under the BLOOD -- as it
	SPLASHES on her upturned face --

	INT. SWANN'S MANSION - DOROTHEA'S BEDROOM - NIGHT

	A SOUND. Dorothea wakes, distressed by the dream.  She gets
	up and goes out onto --

	INT. SWANN'S MANSION - LANDING - DUSK

	Looks down the stairs.

				DOROTHEA
		Who's there?

	Silence.  Then, Valentin speaks behind her.  She jumps.

				VALENTIN
		I'm sorry.

	BLOOD runs from his cut face.

				DOROTHEA
		Jesus.  Valentin.  What did you do
		to your face?

				BUTTERFIELD (V.O.)
		It was me.

	She turns.  He's on her in a heartbeat, pressing her back
	against the wail.

				BUTTERFIELD
		Guess who we're going to see?

	INT. HARRY'S CAR - DUSK

	Harry drives.  Swann takes a throatful of brandy.  Then he
	stares at Harry.

				SWANN
		You think I'm an asshole.

				HARRY
		Didn't know you read minds.

				SWANN
			(a warning)
		I can do a lot of shit, D'Amour. 
		But you know that.
			(an apology)
		So I like playing games with
		people.  Gives them something to
		wonder about...

				HARRY
		Is that all?

				SWANN
		I distract them from their banality
		for a few minutes. It's like a
		public service.  It doesn't mean
		much in the end. They're all going
		to die.

				HARRY
		And you're not? 

	Silence for a moment.

				SWANN
		Oh, I was going to discover the
		secret of the universe.  That's why
		I liked Nix.  He promised me all
		these explanations.

				HARRY
		And he didn't have them?

				SWANN
		He had something.  He showed me how
		to bend the rules.  A little
		levitation.  A few fireworks.

				HARRY
		Is that all?

				SWANN
		No.
			(a beat)
		At the end... when we had him
		cornered, he got into my head. He
		showed me what we really look like,
		when the veneer's gone.  Jelly. 
		Shit...

				HARRY
		And you believed him?

				SWANN
		I saw it with my own fucking eyes! 
		See, that's his best trick.  No
		illusions.  Just the truth.
			(he looks at Harry)
		Are you ready for that? 

	Harry grabs the brandy bottle from Swann.

				SWANN
		Hey!

	Harry drinks.

				SWANN
		Thought not.

	EXT. SWANN'S MANSION - NIGHT

	PAN DOWN from the palms to Harry's car, outside the front
	door.

	INT. SWANN'S MANSION - VARIOUS - NIGHT

	Harry puts his head in the study, the library, the bedroom.

				HARRY
		Dorothea?

	Now he's on the landing.  Swann's below.

				SWANN
		She's not here.

	Harry spots Valentin's BLOOD on the carpet.

				HARRY
		Did she know where Nix was buried?

				SWANN
		No.

				HARRY
		Who else did?  Did Valentin?

				SWANN
		Yes.

				HARRY
		Jesus!

	EXT. DESERT HIGHWAY - NIGHT	 

	Butterfield's SEDAN crosses the desert, under a sky full of
	stars.

	INT. BUTTERFIELD'S SEDAN - NIGHT       

	Valentin drives.  Butterfield and Dorothea are in the back. 
	Dorothea is handcuffed. 

	He has a bag open at his feet.  One by one he takes out a
	series of extraordinary instruments.  Dorothea looks on,
	confounded.

				BUTTERFIELD
		Like the look of these?  I made
		them myself, to set him free.

				DOROTHEA
		Why did you wait so long?

				BUTTERFIELD
		I didn't have the skill to
		resurrect him.  I had to teach
		myself.  And that took time.

				DOROTHEA
		And you think he'll be in a fit
		state to resurrect, after thirteen
		years?

				BUTTERFIELD
		If he was just a man like me, then
		no.  But he's not.

				DOROTHEA
		What is he?

				BUTTERFIELD
		Maybe he'll show you.

	ON DOROTHEA, terror in her eyes.

	EXT. NIX'S HOUSE - NIGHT

	Now there are a dozen vehicles parked around the house.
	Through the windows, the flickering of oil-lamp FLAMES.

	There is a low, ominous CHANT floating from the house.

	It has no words, but it is steadily BUILDING in intensity. 
	We DRIFT towards the front door.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - PASSAGEWAY - MEDITATION ROOM - NIGHT

	Now we move down the passageway to the Meditation Room.

	Inside, SEVENTEEN CULTISTS kneel in a circle.  They are all
	CUTTING OFF THEIR HAIR, and throwing it into the FIRE that
	blazes in the centre of the circle.  They hack
	indiscriminately, with KNIVES, SCISSORS and RAZORS, their
	eyes wild.  BLOOD runs down their faces and necks from nicked
	ears and scalps.

	And still the CHANT BUILDS, and BUILDS...

				NORMAN
		He will come!  He will come! He
		will come!

	EXT. DESERT - NIX'S GRAVE - NIGHT

	Wide.  A few rocks, and emptiness. 

	The headlamps of Butterfield's sedan burn in the darkness,
	illuminating the dig.  Valentin is in the grave, digging. 

	ON Butterfield, as he stands at the edge of the hole,
	watching the work.  Dorothea stands a yard or two behind him.

				BUTTERFIELD
		Anything?

				VALENTIN (V.0.)
		Not yet.

	Butterfield squats at the edge of the hole and suddenly
	reaches out for Valentin, hauling him close.

				BUTTERFIELD
		If you've lied to me to me --

				VALENTIN
		I swear... this is the place Swann
		told me about.  The rocks...

	On Dorothea, who uses Butterfield's distraction to take a few
	steps back towards the open car door. 

	Dorothea's P.O.V. of Butterfield, back to her, interrogating
	Valentin.

				BUTTERFIELD
		Five more minutes.  Hear me? And
		you'd better not --

	A SOUND behind him.  Butterfield wheels round.  On the ground
	beside the open car door, the instruments.

				BUTTERFIELD
		What the fuck are you playing at?

	He goes to pick them up.  Dorothea steps from behind the
	door, with the sharpest in her hand.  She slashes at him. 
	Opens a WOUND across his arm.

				BUTTERFIELD
		Aah!

	He comes at her suddenly, striking the instrument from her
	hand, and slamming her against the car.  He hits her.  Once.
	Twice.  Then --

				VALENTIN (V.O.)
		Butterfield!

	Butterfield goes to the edge of the grave, picks up the
	flashlight and trains the beam on Valentin.

				VALENTIN
			(blinded)
		In the corner...

	The beam goes to the corner of the grave. 

	A mummified HAND is sticking out of one of the walls.

				BUTTERFIELD
			(to Valentin)
		Keep away from it.

	Butterfield jumps down into the grave, and goes to the hand. 
	The TRACK is silent, but for Butterfield's shallow breath. 
	He reaches out to touch Nix^s fingers...

	Closer... 

	Closer... 

	He touches the hand - and the wall of sand comes down with a
	ROAR!

	He jumps back as Nix's corpse, his head still sealed by the
	mask rolls into view.

				VALENTIN
		Oh Christ!  Oh Christ!

				BUTTERFIELD
			(reverentially)
		It's him... it's him.

	On Dorothea, sliding down the car in despair.

				CUT TO:

	INT. HARRY'S CAR - NIGHT

	The car is static; the engine still running.

				HARRY
		They got here before us.

				SWANN
		Looks that way.

	EXT. NIX'S GRAVE - NIGHT

	Harry gets out of the car and starts towards the open grave.

	HARRY'S MOVING P.O.V. OF THE GRAVE

	Harry reaches the grave's-edge.  It's totally dark.  He peers
	in.  On his heel, as the ground CRUMBLES beneath his weight. 
	Harry slides into the grave.

				HARRY
		Shit!

	He's in darkness now.  He gets to his feet, and starts to try
	and scramble out.

				HARRY
		Swann?  Swann!

	Silence.

	Suddenly, a hand is laid on his shoulder!  Harry swings
	round.  It's Valentin.  He has been badly cut up. 

				VALENTIN
		D'Amour --

				HARRY
		Shit...

				VALENTIN
		Help me.

	He collapses into Harry's arms.

				HARRY
		Swann!

	INT. HARRY'S CAR - NIGHT

	Indecision is written all over Swann's face:  to help or not
	to help?

				HARRY (V.O.)
		Swann!

	He decides.  Gets out.

	EXT. NIX'S GRAVE - MIGHT

	Swann goes to the graveside, terrified.

				HARRY
		Give me a hand.  I got Valentin.

	Together, Harry and Swann lift Valentin out of the grave and
	lay him in the blaze of the headlamps.

				VALENTIM
		He's got Dorothea. 

				SWANN
		And Nix?

				VALENTIN
		Him too.

				HARRY
		We've got to get you to a hospital.

				VALENTIN
		Don't bother.

				HARRY
		Shut up.  We've lost enough lives
		already.

				VALENTIN
		I'm sorry, D'Amour...

				HARRY
		What about?

				VALENTIN
		... Looks like you're going...
		to lose... one more.

	Valentin dies.

				HARRY
			(despairing)
		... no...

				SWANN
		He's better off this way.

				HARRY
			(furious)
		Nobody's better off this wav!

				SWANN
		You don't get it, do you? We're
		shit. D'Amour.

	He puts his foot beneath Valentin's body.  It rolls back into
	Nix's grave.

				SWANN
		That's where we're all going.

				HARRY
		In my time, and nobody else's.

	ON THE EMPTY GRAVE, as we HEAR the SOUND of Harry and Swann
	getting into the car.  The doors SLAM.  The CAR LIGHTS
	retreat.  The grave is left to DARKNESS.

	EXT. NIX'S HOUSE - NIGHT

	The house is silent now.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - PASSAGEWAYS - NIGHT

	We TRACK through the house.  The CULTISTS, all Seventeen of
	them, stand in the passageways, looking toward Nix's sanctum.

	ON THE SANCTUM DOOR.  Butterfield emerges.  He is wearing
	WHITE now.

				BUTTERFIELD
		Do you wish him to be amongst us?

				CULTISTS
		Yes...

				BUTTERFIELD
		Will you come to him on your
		knees?

				CULTISTS
		Yes...

				BUTTERFIELD
		Be ready.

	Now we see that the Cultists have BOTTLES in their hands. 
	With looks of ecstatic fervour on their faces, they SMASH the
	bottles to the ground at their bare feet. Then they pick up
	MORE BOTTLES, and SMASH them, littering the ground with razor
	sharp pieces of GLASS. 

	ON Butterfield, smiling.  He steps back into the Sanctum.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - SANCTUM - NIGHT

	HIGH, WIDE SHOT of the room, as Butterfield approaches the
	BODY of Nix.  It lies on a table, surrounded by bowls of OIL. 
	Bandages, soaked in oil, are laid over its limbs.  Beside its
	head, Butterfield's INSTRUMENTS are laid out. 

	ON Dorothea, crouched in the corner of the room, terrified as
	she watches Butterfield remove the multi- part MASK screwed
	into Nix's face.  He works with surgical precision.

				DOROTHEA
		Listen.  You've got everything you
		want.  You don't need me. .. 

	A piece of the mask comes away from the cheek.  A subtle
	POWER plucks at dust around the room, disturbing it minutely. 
	We CUT CLOSE to Dorothea's face throughout this sequence (on
	occasion her eyeball fills the screen) as she sees these
	signs of disturbance in the ether, growing in magnitude.

				BUTTERFIELD
		No, but he will.  After what you
		did to him.

	He pulls a piece of the mask from Nix's mouth.

				BUTTERFIELD
		He'll want vengeance.  Simple PS
		that.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - PASSAGEWAYS - NIGHT

	The bottle-breaking has ceased.  The Cultists stand,
	breathless with anticipation.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - SANCTUM - NIGHT

	On Nix's emaciated mouth.  The lips TWITCH. 

	On Dorothea.  The DUST moves around her. 

	And Nix DRAWS BREATH. 

	On Butterfield, TEARS in his eyes.

				BUTTERFIELD
		Oh my Lord.  He's coming home...

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - PASSAGEWAY - NIGHT

	The whisper runs through the congregation:

				CULTISTS
		He's coming home... he/s coming
		home...

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - SANCTUM - NIGHT

	ON Dorothea, eyes wide.

				DOROTHEA
		Christ in Heaven.

	ON Nix, as his body starts to thirstily soak up the oils. 
	His withered flesh starts to REHYDRATE; his veins start to
	THROB. 

	Butterfield is watching the process in amazement. Nix's HANDS
	move up to his face, where the last portion of the mask is
	still screwed over his eyes.

				BUTTERFIELD
		He's with us...

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - PASSAGEWAY - NIGHT

				CULTISTS
		He's with us... He's with us...

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - SANCTUM - NIGHT

	Unnoticed by Butterfield, who has his eyes on Nix, Dorothea
	gets to her feet and creeps away to the door. Very quiet
	TRACK. 

	Suddenly, the snake-handling Cultist steps into view, snakes
	coiled around his face and fingers!

				DOROTHEA
		Oh God!

	Butterfield looks up. 

				BUTTERFIELD
		Hold her!

	On Nix, as he starts to pull at the mask on his face.  It
	comes away with a moist, WRENCHING SOUND.  At last, we see
	his eyes.

	NIX'S P.O.V.

	The candle-lights blaze, BLINDING his sensitive eyes.

				NIX
			(fury to agony)
		Aaarrrgh!

	He gets up and flings himself around the room, knocking over
	all the lights but two.  Then he strikes Butterfield to the
	ground, and slams his foot on Butterfield's neck, knocking
	him unconscious.  It's a terrifying, almost demoniacal
	display of instant physical superiority.  Throughout, he
	literally ROARS in rage.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - PASSAGEWAY - NIGHT

	The Cultists SCREAM in sympathy, letting out years of
	repressed frustration.  Many of them are dancing on the
	shards of glass now, crazed.

				CUT TO:

	EXT. DESERT NEAR NIX'S HOUSE - NIGHT

	Harry's car is parked a quarter mile from Nix's house. He is
	getting out.  Swann stays put. 

	The SOUND of SCREAMING is carried towards them on the wind.

				HARRY
			(spooked)
		Jesus... what the hell's going on
		in there?

				SWANN
		At a guess... they just resurrected
		him.

				HARRY
		Fuck.

	Harry starts towards the house. After a beat, Swann gets out
	of the car and follows.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - SANCTUM- - NIGHT

	On Butterfield, as Nix removes his foot.  Butterfield is out
	for the count. 

	On Nix, as he stops screaming.  His face is grotesquely
	disfigured by the mask, the flesh stained and corrupted. 

	The SCREAMING of the Cultists is dying away.

				NIX
		Children...

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - PASSAGEWAY - NIGHT

	The Cultists all face the Sanctum door, awaiting instruction.

				NIX
		Will you suffer to come unto me?

	One by one, the Cultists fall to their knees.  We never see
	flesh pierced by broken glass.  But we HEAR IT, and see the
	agony on the Cultist's faces.  They start to sob.

	Then, Nix appears in the doorway, mostly hidden by shadow.

				NIX
		I've come back to share the wisdom
		of the grave.  Will you hear it?

				CULTISTS
		Yes... yes...

				NIX
		Follow me then.

	He steps out of the doorway.  The Cultists let out sobs of
	adoration.  Nix locks at Dorothea.

				NIX
		Do I know you, child?

	He reaches for her.  Pulls her close to his body. Dorothea
	keeps her self-possession; but only just.

				NIX
		Oh yes... I do, don't I?  No gun
		this time, child?
			(a beat)
		Where's Swann?

				DOROTHEA
		I don't know where he is.

	Nix picks her up, so that her feet are inches off the ground.


				NIX
		He'll come.  We've got unfinished
		business, he and I.

	Then he carries her down the passageway to the Meditation
	Room, walking on the glass, apparently indifferent to the
	wounds he's receiving. 

	The Cultists follow.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - MEDITATION ROOM - NIGHT

	Nix strides into the middle of the room.

				NIX
			(whispered to Dorothea)
		Something terrible's going to
		happen.  But if you hold on to me,
		very tight, you may live a little
		longer.

	The Cultists enter the room, knees and hands BLOODY.

				NIX
			(to Cultists)
		Are you ready for my wisdom?

				CULTISTS
		Tell us... tell us...

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - SANCTUM - NIGHT

	Harry pushes open the window, and climbs in.  Swann follows. 
	He is frozen by the memory of what happened here. 

	ON SWANN, as the TRACK fills with eerie ECHOES of that
	terrible event.  Nix's SCREAMS.  The GUN-SHOTS.  The sound of
	the SCREWS GRINDING into Nix's flesh.

				SWANN
			(in terrified awe)
		This is where we killed him.

				HARRY
			(looking at table)
		You didn't try hard enough.

				SWANN
		I can't... I can't go any
		further...

	Harry nods, and gently detaches his arm from Swann's panicked
	grip.  He crosses to the door. 

	Suddenly. Butterfield reaches out of the darkness, and
	catches hold of Harry's leg. throwing him to the ground. 

	He has one of the INSTRUMENTS in his hand.  He STABS at
	Harry, striking the ground between Harry's legs.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - MEDITATION ROOM - NIGHT

				NIX
		Here is my wisdom.

	He stamps on the ground.  CRACKS spread from his foot in all
	directions. ON THE CULTISTS, amazed by this manifestation of
	power.

				BARBARA
		Show us. Puritan.

				NORMAN
		Yes, show us!

				ALL
		Show us!  Show us!

	With a ROAR, a PIT four or five feet across opens up beneath
	Nix and Dorothea.  Nix HOVERS over it.  It's utterly dark;
	perhaps bottomless. 

	Dorothea SCREAMS!

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - SANCTUM- - NIGHT

	Hearing Dorothea's CRY, Harry looks back towards the
	passageway.  Butterfield pulls the instrument out of the
	ground and stabs at Harry a second time.  But Swann catches
	hold of his arm.

				SWANN
			(to Harry)
		Whatever he's doing to her, stop
		him!

	And Harry's up and away --

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - PASSAGEWAY - NIGHT

	-- he dashes over the glass --

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - MEDITATION ROOM - NIGHT

	On Nix, Dorothea clasped close to him.  He REVOLVES as he
	floats over the chasm below then.

				NIX
			(to unseen Cultists)
		You see, I escaped the grave. So I
		have to give something to the grave
		in return.

	On the Cultists, listening to their lord with love in their
	eyes. 

	A SLIT OPENS in the middle of Nix's forehead, above the
	bridge of his nose (this is an image we saw in the prints in
	the library), and from it comes a WAVE OF DARKNESS.  As Nix
	REVOLVES, the darkness STRIKES the GROUND around the
	Cultists.

	At first they don't realize what's going on.  They think this
	is some kind of bizarre blessing. 

	Then the ground starts to LIQUIFY beneath them.

				NORMAN
		What's happening?

				NIX
		I have to give something back. So
		I'm giving you.

	They're starting to SCREAM now as they sink into the ground. 
	They struggle, of course, but the earth seems to be hungry
	for them.  They are dragged down, THRASHING as they SINK.

				BARBARA
			(sobbing)
		Why?  Why?

				NIX
		You're not worthy.  None of you. 
		Only Swann was worthy. You just
		waited like lambs.

	Harry appears in the doorway.  Nix, still swinging round, has
	his back to Harry.

				NIX
		Well I'm not your shepherd.

	Harry surveys the horrific scene in front of him.  The ground
	is now re-solidifying around the Cultists, some of whom have
	disappeared from view completely, some of whom still reach up
	out of the dirt.  The scene has a surreal beauty to it
	despite its horror.  SCREAMING FACES locked in the solid
	ground.  TWITCHING HANDS the same. Harry starts towards Nix
	and Dorothea, GUN levelled.  So far, he has avoided Nix's
	gaze.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - SANCTUM - NIGHT

	Butterfield and Swann are locked in a life-or-death struggle. 
	They tumble back against the table upon which Nix was
	resurrected.  It collapses under them, and for a moment Swann
	is stunned.  Butterfield snatches up one of the instruments
	and STABS at Swann, who rolls out of the way in the nick of
	time. 

	The BLADE catches him in the arm, however.

				SWANN
		Aah!

				BUTTERFIELD
		Go on, bleed.
			(he slashes at Swann
		again)
		Go on!  Go on!

	Butterfield comes after him, and Swann backs off against a
	wall.  He SPITS out a serpentine FLAME, which races across
	the floor and leaps at Butterfield's face!

				BUTTERFIELD
			(screaming)
		No!

	He falls backwards, his face ON FIRE.  Swann doesn't wait to
	watch him die, but races out into the passageway, BLOOD
	running from his wound.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - MEDITATION ROOM - NIGHT

	Harry is staring up at Dorothea as he very gingerly crosses
	the still-sticky ground.  He's a yard from the edge of the
	pit now. 

	Nix swings round.

				NIX
		You're not Swann.  Who are you?
			(a beat) )
		Oh... I know what you want. He lets
		Dorothea slip from his arms.  

	Harry flings himself towards the hole and CATCHES HOLD of
	Dorothea's arm before she falls away into the abyss.  His GUN
	goes spinning across the ground, back towards the door
	leading to the passageway.

				DOROTHEA
		Oh God!

				HARRY
		Hang on!

	Nix reaches down to torment Harry.  But before he can make
	contact

				SWANN (V.O.)
		Nix!

	Nix looks up.

				NIX
		There you are. 

	Suddenly, Nix isn't interested in Harry and Dorothea. He
	steps onto solid ground, and walks towards Swann, his tone
	suddenly conversational.

				NIX
		I've had a lot of time to think
		about you.  Where I went wrong...

	With Nix's back turned, Harry pulls Dorothea back out of the
	chasm.

				SWANN
		And?

				NIX
		I should have been honest with you,
		right from the start.  I wasn't
		born to show people the error of
		their ways.  I was born to murder
		the world.

	ON HARRY, as he leads Dorothea to the door.  Harry glances
	back into the room.

				NIX
		You could still help me do that.

				SWANN
		Why would I want to?

				NIX
		Because you've got nothing else to
		live for.

				SWANN
		Not true.

				NIX
		The woman has a new love in her
		life.  Your friends are dead.
		Nobody's left to save you, but me

	He lays his hands on Swann.  Draws him into an embrace.

	ON HARRY and Dorothea.

				HARRY
			(to Dorothea)
		I've got to help him.

				DOROTHEA
		You can't.

				HARRY
		Nix has got to have a weak spot. 
		Everybody's got a fucking weak
		spot.

	A NOISE. He turns, and suddenly --

	Butterfield is there!  His face is horribly burned, but he's
	still very much alive.

				BUTTERFIELD
		Bastard!

	He launches himself at Harry, driving them both back into the
	BROKEN GLASS.  A FIGHT ensues, carrying them out into the
	Passageway. 

	Nix has Swann in a bear-hug.

				NIX
		Will you help me? 

	A beat.  Then Swann nods.

				SWANN
		Yes.

	Nix lets him go.

				NIX
		You know I'll kill you when we're
		done.  I have to.

				SWANN
		Yes.

				NIX
		But until then... it's you and
		me... the way it always was.

				SWANN
		Yes.

	Dorothea, at the doorway, watches this bizarre exchange.
	Swann's eyes flicker towards her.  Nix turns.

				NIX
		Wait... you still feel something
		for that bitch?

				SWANN
		No!

				NIX
		Liar!

	Nix makes a gesture, and Swann is flung against the wall,
	pinned there like a fly, legs off the ground.

				NIX
		Will!  You!  Never!  Learn!?

	With each word, Nix almost casually throws a gesture in
	Swann's direction, and though there is six feet between them,
	they have the force of terrible blows.  One to the ribs. 
	They CRACK.  One to the face.  It BLEEDS.  One to the legs,
	one to the arms.  They all BREAK.  Then Nix turns towards
	Dorothea.

				NIX
		She's just flesh, Swannnie-boy.
		I'll show you!

	He moves towards Dorothea.  Swann falls to the ground,
	broken.

				SWANN
		Harry!

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - PASSAGEWAY - NIGHT

	The fight between Butterfield and Harry continues.

				SWANN (V.O.)
		Harry!  Stop him!

	Harry looks up.  Sees Dorothea retreating from the door, and
	running off into the darkness. 

	Butterfield comes at Harry again.  Harry's got no more time
	for this creep.  He delivers Butterfield a backhand swipe,
	and Butterfield lands face down in the glass.  We don't see
	the impact.  HEARING it's enough. 

	Harry looks down at the body.  Then --

				NIX (V.O.)
		Where is she? 

	Harry turns.

	Nix is on him like a luoaernaut. treading on Butterfield's
	body as he comes at Harry!

				NIX
		Where did she go?

	Nix GRABS hold of Harry's head with one hand and PRESSES the
	fingers of -the other hand against Harry's TEMPLES. He
	struggles to get free, but Nix is simply too powerful.

	Nix's fingers slowly SLIDE BENEATH the skin of Harry's
	temples.  As before, there's no blood.

				NIX
		You've got Swann's disease. You
		think a little courage, a little
		love, and it'll all be all right. 
		Wrong!

	His fingers slide all the way in!

				HARRY
		Oh God!

	Harry wrests himself free of Nix, and stumbles away. His eyes
	are BLOOD-RED.  Nix is a few yards behind him.

				NIX
		Tell me where she is... and I'll
		make it go away...

	Harry is reeling around in the grip of a nightmare.

	HARRY'S P.O.V.

	The apocalyptic images on the walls seem to move!  A face
	SCREAMS!  FIRE blossoms! 

	ON HARRY, verging on insanity.

				HARRY
		Oh God... oh God...

	HARRY'S P.O.V.

	Harry sees a WOMAN, wrapped in the sickly-sensual embrace of
	some glistening, barely visible OBSCENITY.  We can't see her
	face.  Only her mouth is visible in the coils of her
	devourer.

	ON HARRY

	as he approaches the wall, on which this woman is painted. 
	Reaching out for the image.

	HARRY'S P.O.V.

	The Woman reaches for Harry.

				WOMAN           
		Help me.

	ON HARRY

	as he touches the wall.

				HARRY
		Dorothea!

	He starts to SCRATCH out the plaster on which the image is
	painted.

				HARRY
		Dorothea!  Dorothea!

	HARRY'S P.O.V.

	Darkness swallows the image of the woman.  She is still
	screaming when she disappears.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - MEDITATION ROOM - NIGHT

	ON SWANN, dragging his broken body to the door.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - PASSAGEWAY - NIGHT

	ON HARRY 

	literally beating his head against the wall!

				HARRY
		No!  No!  No!

				DOROTHEA (V.O.)
		Harry...

	Harry stops.  Dare he believe this is truly her voice?

				DOROTHEA
		It's not real, Harry-

	Harry turns around.  Dorothea is there.

	HARRY'S P.O.V.

	For a moment, he sees Dorothea as she is.

	ON HARRY, relief flooding his face.  Then --

	HARRY'S P.O.V.

	-- the image MORPHS.  Dorothea's beauty is replaced by
	primeval muck. 

	ON HARRY, appalled.  Dorothea grabs hold of him.

				DOROTHEA
		Harry.  Listen to me. Whatever's
		good between us, believe it.

	Harry's face is deathly white, and pouring SWEAT.  He's
	fighting the delirium.  Or doing his best.


				HARRY
		... oh... God...

				DOROTHEA
		I'm here, Harry.

				HARRY
		...yes?

				DOROTHEA
		Yes.

	Nix steps from the shadows of the doorway behind Harry.

				NIX
			(to Dorothea)
		There you are, child. 

	Harry starts to look round.

				DOROTHEA
		Don't look.

				HARRY
		I... have... to.

				NIX
		Come on, child.  I want Swann to
		see you die. 

	Harry turns and looks at Nix.

	HARRY'S P.O.V.

	Nix's face darkens as it MORPHS.  And the flesh in the middle
	of his brow UNFOLDS, revealing a dark, pulsating THIRD EYE.

				NIX
			(to Harry)
		What are you looking at?

	ON DOROTHEA, who has gone to the door of the Meditation Room
	and now slips inside. 

	ON HARRY, staring up at Nix.

	ON DOROTHEA, re-emerging from the Meditation Room.  In her
	hand, Harry's GUN.  Harry looks round at her.

				HARRY
			(points to his brow)
		There... there!

	ON NIX, as he looks up at Dorothea. 

	ON DOROTHEA, as she raises the GUN.  She FIRES. 

	The bullet STRIKES Nix's FOREHEAD.  He sinks to his knees,
	BLOOD pouring down his face from the hole where his third EYE
	used to be.

	ON HARRY, as Nix's mind-hold falters.  He leans against the
	wall, shaking.

				DOROTHEA
		Harry?

				HARRY
		I'm okay.  I'm okay.

	Harry opens his eyes.  Looks up at her.

	HARRY'S P.O.V.

	The last of the MORPHING fades.  He sees Dorothea as she
	actually is.  Dorothea goes down to comfort him, and they
	embrace. 

	Suddenly, a ROAR from Nix.  They look towards him --

	-- it isn't over. 

	One last, terrifying transformation is overtaking Nix as he
	kneels in the GLASS.  His sallow flesh is running in STREAMS
	up his body towards the DARK HOLE in the middle of his
	forehead --

				NIX
		One... last... illusion...

	-- his humanity is disappearing, vanishing into the vortex of
	the bullet wound.

				DOROTHEA
		Oh my God.

	Harry and Dorothea start to get up... 

	Nix is no longer human.  He is a shape of gleaming DARKNESS,
	stripped of features.  He opens his mouth, the only visible
	element on his body is his toothed maw, which looses an
	utterly inhuman SHRIEK!

				SWANN (V.O.)
		... D'Amour...

	Harry glances through the door into the Meditation Room.
	Swann is on the threshold. 

	Nix RISES now.  He is a terrifying spectacle, his bulk
	somehow more intimidating than ever in this simplified form. 

	He comes at Dorothea, who has no choice but to back away into
	the Meditation Room.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - MEDITATION ROOM - NIGHT

	The pit still yawns in the middle of the floor. Dorothea is
	backed towards it by Nix. 

	When Nix SPEAKS, his voice is not remotely human.  It is
	DEMONIACAL.

				NIX
		I am the purest of the pure.  I am
		the darkest of the dark...

	Harry is at the door now, starting towards Nix.

				SWANN
		Harry.  You can't kill him. 

	Harry crouches beside Swann.

				HARRY
			(whispers)
		He did something with the ground.

				SWANN
		Yes?

				HARRY
		Can you do it?

				SWANN
		I don't know.

				HARRY
		Try.

	ON DOROTHEA.  She's a couple of yards from the pit now.

				NIX (V.O.)
		I'm beyond Heaven.  I'm beyond
		Hell.

	Suddenly, Harry lunges at Nix, grabbing hold of his legs. 
	Nix topples.

	ON SWANN, who puts his hands on the ground.  Closes his eyes. 

	A wave of LIQUIFICATION runs through the ground from Swann's
	broken fingers -- 

	-- the Cultists' bodies MOVE in the softening ground, like
	corpses in surf, and ROLL towards the pit, their dead faces
	resurfacing --

	Barbara's body floats past Nix, and disappears over       
	the edge of the pit.

				HARRY
			(to Dorothea)
		Get out of here!

	The ground is very liquid now, and the corpses are lodging
	around Nix as they're all carried towards the pit.  So's
	Harry, of course. 

	Nix tries to get up, but he's too late.  The corpses weigh
	him down, the ground is too fluid for him to get a proper
	hold, and Harry still clings to his legs.

				NIX
		No!  No!  No!

	He's at the edge of the pit.

				DOROTHEA (V.O.)
		Harry!

	Harry looks round.  Dorothea's behind him, risking the
	flowing ground to offer him a hand. 

	Nix starts to fall into the pit.  At the last minute, he
	reaches for Harry, as -- 

	-- Harry is pulled out of reach bv Dorothea. 

	Together they stumble to THE DOOR, where Swann still lies. 
	They look back to see 

	NIX, as he goes over the edge of the pit and FALLS SCREAMING. 

	At the door, Dorothea lifts up Swann's head.  He's dead. She
	closes his eyes.

				CUT TO:

	INT. THE PIT

	What we are about to witness is the longest fall-to-his-
	death by any villain in the history of cinema... 

	Nix is falling through rock.  Still SCREAMING.  He CRASHES
	against a layer of stone, which his body smashes to
	smithereens.  And as he falls --

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - PASSAGEWAY - NIGHT

				DOROTHEA
		Is it finished?

				HARRY
		I think so.

	No it's not.  Nix keeps falling, breaking through another
	layer of rock as he descends deeper and deeper into the
	earth. 

	And now... there's a hint of FIERY LIGHT below.  He's
	approaching MAGMA.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - PASSAGEWAY - NIGHT

				DOROTHEA
		Come on...

	She puts her arms around him.  Kisses him, sobbing with
	relief.

	INT. THE PIT

	Nix hits a layer of molten rock, and, SCREAMING, he
	disappears.  A BURST of dark, roiling ENERGY erupts from the
	spot where he sank, and starts up the pit --

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - MEDITATION ROOM - NIGHT

	The room TREMBLES.  There's a ROAR in the earth.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - PASSAGEWAY - NIGHT

				HARRY
		What the fuck? 

				DOROTHEA
		Harry-?

				HARRY
		Out!  Out! 

	They race for the front door --

	INT. THE PIT

	-- the wave of ENERGY, like a howling, dark WIND, ascends at
	a breath-taking rate

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - PASSAGEWAY - NIGHT

	Harry and Dorothea race for the open air, as

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - MEDITATION ROOM - NIGHT

	The ENERGY ERUPTS from the pit.

	EXT. NIX'S HOUSE - FRONT DOOR - NIGHT

	Harry and Dorothea stumble out, into the night --

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - VARIOUS - NIGHT

	The ENERGY howls from room to room, ERODING the images off
	the walls, BLOWING out the doors, DESTROYING all the
	resurrection equipment in the Sanctum --

	EXT. NIX'S HOUSE - DESERT - DAWN

	Harry and Dorothea stumble to the car.  They look back at the
	house, as the cacophony of destruction dies down. 

	ON THE RIM OF THE SUN, as it peeps over the desert horizon.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - VARIOUS - DAWN

	The SUNLIGHT creeps through the rooms as the DUST settles.

	INT. NIX'S HOUSE - MEDITATION ROOM - DAWN

	The hole in the floor CLOSES UP, and is SEALED... SILENCE
	reigns.

	EXT. NIX'S HOUSE - DESERT - DAWN

	Harry and Dorothea get into the car.  Harry glances back at
	the house.  Nothing.

				HARRY
			(quietly)
		It's finished.

	EXT. NIX'S HOUSE - FRONT DOOR - IDOLS - DAWN

	ON THE IDOLS and the FRONT DOOR, virtually destroyed by tine.

	WE DRIFT THROUGH THEM, INTERCUTTING WITH:

	EXT. HARRY'S CAR - DESERT ROAD - DAWN			   

	Harry's car speeds away, leaving a plume of dust as

	THE CREDITS ROLL