Lost Souls Page #20

WOMAN:

Helloooo - do you live around here?

(Peter ignores her)

How do I get to the turnpike?

The car behind her HONKS impatiently.

IRKED MOTORIST:

THERE'S FIVE F***ING CARS BEHIND YOU,

A**HOLE!

Peter turns to the woman.

PETER:

(doesn't give a sh*t)

Lady, I don't know.

Offended, the woman drives off. Peter turns back to Maya,

who's suddenly grabbed Townsend's Bible and furiously flips

through it.

MAYA:

Wait a minute. The message. He used

French, he knew he couldn't say it

directly. The arc "sank" or "cinq" c-i

n-q. It's French for five. The sun

"set" or pronounced like "sept". The

French word for seven. The arc "sank"

again.

(then)

It's five-seven-fie. Book chapter and

verse!

She finally stops at a specific section she was looking for.

MAYA (CONT'D)

Book five, Deuteronomy, chapter seven,

verse five.

(reads)

"But this shall you deal with them. You

shall break down their altars and burn

their graven images with fire."

PETER:

And what's that mean?

She knows.

EXT. GAS STATION - AFTERNOON

The Range Rover pulls up. Peter gets out. He's got a five

gallon gas can. Maya enters the gas station MINI-MART. A

clock reads 4:
05. Afternoon NEWS plays on a TV.

NEWSCASTER:

An international group of scientists

will assemble in Geneva later this week

in an attempt to determine the cause of

diminishing daylight, a phenomenon which

has baffled the world's finest

scientific minds. In local news, the

case of accused killer George Viznick

ended in a mistrial today. Prosecutors

vowed to press for a new trial

immediately.

Maya hands the clerk some money and glances outside at Peter

filling the gas can.

EXT. SAINT BENEDICTUS - AFTERNOON

It looks quiet and serene in the afternoon light. Peter and

Maya approach carefully. They see a collection of cars in

front of the church. Unkempt and dirty, a few pedestrians

stare at them. The gas bumps conspicuously against Maya's

thigh.

EXT. SAINT BENEDICTUS - SIDE ENTRANCE

Peter pulls out Claire's gun. They step inside.

INT. SAINT BENEDICTUS - CONTINUOUS

Peter and Maya pass through the vestry and edge their way

into the main cathedral. A MASS is in progress. A lay

READER has memorized the text.

READER:

God appears and God is light to those

pour souls who dwell in night.

Peter and Maya move in suddenly from the vestry, onto the

altar, behind the reader. Maya's shocked by the packed-to

capacity church. The crowd inside immediately switch their

focus to Maya and then to Peter, who's just moved up onto the

altar, standing unknowingly directly under the CROSS.

READER (CONT'D)

But does a human form display...

The reader sees the stares from the crowd, stops, and turns

to Maya and Peter. The reader is wearing a small inverted

cross around her neck.

READER (CONT'D)

Welcome!

In the crowd, Maya sees the little girl from the diner. Maya

is stunned. The little girl catches Maya's glance, giving

her a sly smile and then looks away. Her mother appears

beside her. Unnerved, Maya looks at Peter, desperate.

MAYA:

Eight minutes...

Then, the priest at the front of the church, standing quietly

next to the reader, turns slowly toward Peter, oddly very

calm. And we see it's Father James. He smiles. Charming,

gracious.

FATHER JAMES:

(looking at gas can)

Did you really think you could just burn

the church down. That some ritualistic

hocus pocus could just end this?

Alarmed, Peter looks at Maya, but her gaze is locked on

James. Then Peter glances down at the dripping gasoline can

in Maya's hand and as she sets it down.

FATHER JAMES (CONT'D)

Lareaux was never free of us. He led

you here.

(he starts to sing softly)

"Get me to the church on time."

Peter moves toward James, putting the gun to his uncle's

head.

PETER:

(barely able to stand it)

You f***ing bastard.

FATHER JAMES:

Don't you get it?

(re:
Maya)

They had their 2,000 years. Now it's

our turn.

PETER:

So all that bullshit about God and

faith.

FATHER JAMES:

It was perfect. The harder I pushed,

the more you pulled away.

PETER:

(beyond anger, beyond tears)

You lied to me my whole life.

Everything you said, everything you did.

FATHER JAMES:

Everything I did, I did for you. I love

you, Peter. Think of it. I'm giving

you a gift, absolute power and

knowledge.

PETER:

You raised me, like a son.

FATHER JAMES:

You are my son. Don't you see the

opportunity that lies before you?

PETER:

(putting it together)

You killed my parents.

FATHER JAMES:

I had to. There was no other way.

Their deaths were part of the greatest

legacy I could have given you.

Peter moves the muzzle of the gun into James' carotid artery.

CLOSE ON MAYA:

The realization floods her.

MAYA:

Don't! That's what they want.

FATHER JAMES:

It will be my ultimate sacrifice!

MAYA:

If you commit murder, you accept evil.

One by one, people in the congregation begin to rise. Peter

can't believe what he sees. Susan and Mrs. Quintana.

Stunned, Peter lets the gun lower a moment and then, as he

turns back to Maya, he's too late.

James has moved behind Maya, holding a long-bladed knife at

her throat. James anchors it at her neck, forming a

shimmering upside down Cross, Runic symbols carved into the

Sterling handle.

Peter pivots, pulling up the gun again, aiming it back at

James.

PETER:

Drop the knife.

He c*cks the gun.

FATHER JAMES:

She's going to die right in front of

you.

Peter looks at Maya. Her expression gives him the permission

to do the unthinkable.

MAYA:

(softly)

Let him kill me.

Peter's thrown off. Maya lets her eyes blink closed. For a

moment, no one moves. The knife glints off the stained

glass.

CLOSE ON:

Peter. Thinking. Unraveling.

FATHER JAMES:

(big smile)

You have no idea how much you look like

your mother right now.

Peter FIRES, an ECHOING REPORT, bouncing from the Cathedral

ceiling to the Travertine floor. Father James falls,

mortally wounded.

WILLIAM:

And you thought I was the family f***

up.

Peter sees William approaching from the pews.

WILLIAM (CONT'D)

Thank you, Maya. You served us well.

Stunned, Peter gulps a mouthful of air, lifts his gun and

shoots William in the eye. Immediate. The bullet powers

through William, lodging in Mrs. Quintana. She COUGHS up a

GURGLING choke, eyes wide. And as she dies gripping her

neck, she doubles over the back of a wooden pew.

The crowd reacts. Maya grabs hold of Peter edging him back

toward the vestry and out of the church. As the Congregation

starts to press forward, Peter swings the gun back up and out

toward them. It glistens off the Chalices. They stop, wary

and as Maya and Peter finally turn their backs on the crowd,

they take off past the sacred Eurcharistic relics.

INT. VESTRY/SAINT BENEDICTUS

Through the vestry and out the back door.

EXT. STREET - DUSK

Peter and Maya sprint for the Rover.

INT. RANGE ROVER

Peter and Maya speed up the street. They turn the corner and

continue up a street undergoing construction. Fenced by

sawhorse barricades, it's equipped with flashing warning

lights.

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