Constantine Page #8

He's surfing the ether. Allowing his sixth sense toguide him. His hands move down and across the stacks of

newer periodicals, fingers probing the layers ofinformation.

Left hand suddenly stops.

Hennessey's eyes open. He removes the layers of periodicalson top of his left hand, leans close. Edges his fingersaway and sees an OBITUARY. A name --Isabel Dodson.

EXT. L.A. STREETS -EVENING

John walks the streets, numb to the world. A rat

scurries past near the curb. Then another. Several

crows fly by.

Above him is a BILLBOARD -"YOUR TIME IS RUNNING OUT."

Doesn't matter that below it is --"TO BUY A NEW CHEVY."

The point is crystal clear. John shakes his head, breaksout laughing which quickly turns into a coughing fit.

He leans to a gutter. Another rat scoots past. John

barely notices. Then a frog jumps past. But it's the

crab crawling by that finally catches John's gaze.

(CONTINUED)

41.

CONTINUED:

VOICE OF MAN (O.S.)

Hey, buddy, you got a light?

John turns, settles on a silhouetted figure standingbehind him, unlit cigarette butt in its mouth.

OLD MAN:

(coughs)

We gotta stick together, right?

John gathers himself. As he walks over to this OLD MAN,

he rummages through his coat pocket, retrieves amatchbox.

The box shudders as a high-pitch FLUTTERING filters frominside. Old Man winces as his entire body VIBRATES.

John realizes --this is Beeman's matchbox, the one withthe screech beetle inside. And now he knows --a beat

too late.

Old Man attacks.

John is knocked onto his haunches. As the Old Man closes

in, he's revealed in more detail. Body and face areactually an intricate puzzle, an assemblage of cityvermin. Rats, insects, crows, frogs, crabs --all held

together in the shape of a man.

John scampers backwards, just inches from this being'soutstretched grasp. He shakes the matchbox and the

screech beetle inside flutters again.

Old Man/Demon cringes as his entire body vibrates apartfor a second, then snaps back together. He GRABS onto

John with fingers of squirming vermin. Snake wrapsaround his wrist. Crab snaps at his skin.

John shakes the beetle box harder --causing the parts tovibrate even further. Old Man grabs John's head andvermin of various leg count crawl right onto John's face.

John's had enough --shakes the matchbox violently, thensmashes it against the sidewalk.

BEETLE lets out a death SHRIEK and the Old Man

stutters --his parts vibrating so wildly you canactually see the b.g. through the seams.

John scampers loose, grabs a road barricade and swings itwith all his might. Old Man form shatters on impact.

(CONTINUED)

42.

CONTINUED:

The entire mess collapses to the ground in a flood ofscattering critters. John starts stomping on them asthey scatter into the city.

John stands there, shocked and concerned. What the hell

is going on?

INT. ANGELA'S APARTMENT -DAY

That surveillance VIDEO FOOTAGE from Ravenscar playsagain. There's Isabel in her nightgown walking acrossthe roof.

Spread out on a cluttered coffee table is Isabel's casefile. CORONER'S REPORT is opened. Let's see "NO DRUGS

IN SYSTEM" and the biggie --"Cause of Death --SUICIDE."

Angela sits on the couch in her robe. Disheveled and

distraught. She's taking this hard.

ANGELA:

I'm sorry, Isabel...

She lowers her head. And in that brief moment of

silence --

ISABEL (V.O.)

(on TV)

Constantine.

Angela snaps back to the TV, freezes in shock.

There's Isabel ready to jump but this time she's lookingright back AT us --at Angela. Then she's gone.

Angela quickly rewinds the tape and watches the sequenceagain. This time Isabel doesn't look back. This time

there is no name. But Angela did see it. Did hear it.

She sits for a second. Stunned.

INT. MIDNITE'S OFFICE

John paces as Midnite works on that Universal orrery,

adjusting components but balance continues to elude him.

JOHN:

A few months, maybe a year.

That's it. End of story. Game

over.

(MORE)

(CONTINUED)

43.

CONTINUED:

JOHN (CONT'D)

(as Midnite doesn't

react)

Well, don’t break down on myaccount.

MIDNITE:

What do you want from me? A

shoulder to cry on?

JOHN:

This bastard attacked me right outin the open --on Sepulveda noless.

MIDNITE:

They don't like you, John. You've

deported how many back to Hell?

JOHN:

That's just it --this wasn't some

possession or wayward half breed,

it was a full-fledged demon.

Here. On our plane.

MIDNITE:

Right.

JOHN:

I know what I saw.

MIDNITE:

You must have just crossed overand didn't even realize it --

JOHN:

I didn't cross over --It was on

this side. Here.

MIDNITE:

--it's wet out, you're wanderingaround aimlessly, not to mentioncompletely emotional --

JOHN:

Emotional?!

John slams a fist against the counter. The orrery almosttopples but Midnite saves it. Decades of work almost

lost.

Midnite glares at a desperate John.

(CONTINUED)

44.

CONTINUED:

MIDNITE:

Okay, so you saw something. We've

seen a few small ones slip throughnow and then.

JOHN:

It's more than that... first the

girl, then this.

MIDNITE:

John, you know my connections.

Any shifts or tremors in theplanes and I'd hear about it.

John just shakes his head, looks up --convinced.

JOHN:

Something's coming.

Midnite sighs, gives up with him.

INT. LAPD OFFICE -LATER

The name JOHN CONSTANTINE is center screen on a

monitor --typed into the police station's SEARCH ENGINE.

Angela sits alone in the squad room, rain streakingacross the windows.

Interpol comes back with results and a list of priorsscroll under John's name.

Must be a hundred PARKING VIOLATIONS. Several SPEEDING

tickets and a few RECKLESS ENDANGERMENT. In fact John's

license has been REVOKED.

But it's the other incidents that draw Angela in.

BRIEF CLOSEUPS:

Of specific words in a few HEADLINES --"Occult activityon the rise..." "Claimed possession is refuted byBishop..." "Satanic cult dissolved..."

Accompanies with an assortment of unusual case photos.

--BLOOD PATTERNS on a WALL --Odd SYMBOLS burned into a

ceiling. A cross burnt to a crisp.

--JOHN in handcuffs looking back at a mother holding herson in her arms. A younger and more noble FatherHennessey stands beside them, looking grateful.

(CONTINUED)

45.

CONTINUED:

Another line --"INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE to PROSECUTE."

Angela scrolls, sees cities listed where John has made

waves --LONDON --PARIS --ROME --BUDAPEST --MOSCOW.

Stops on the one that matters --LOS ANGELES. And

there's an address.

Angela hits PRINT and the HP HUMS away.

A desk PHONE RINGS. Angela quickly looks around, seesshe's the only one here. She gets up, answers it.

ANGELA:

L.A.P.D. This is Dodson, hello?

Dead air. The next PHONE RINGS. Angela reaches for itwhen the NEXT ONE RINGS, and the NEXT, the NEXT.

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