The Crow: City of Angels Page #21

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his lips...

The action harkens back to the moment when Sarah painted Ashe's

face - a parallel ritual turned on its head.

CUT TO:

INT. JUDAH'S CAMPANILE - CAMERA OBSCURA - NIGHT

Judah turns towards us, his transformation now complete. We see

that he has painted himself a parody of Ashe's irony mask in

the Crow's own blood.

SARAH:

watches with a mixture of mounting horror and morbid curiousity.

JUDAH:

scoops up a handful of the Crow's blood and brings it to his

lips.

CLOSE ON JUDAH'S LIPS

as he drinks, letting the overflow trickle down over his chin

and neck.

CLOSE ON JUDAH'S FACE

his once-pallid features now glow with a kind of beatific radiance.

WE RISE UP:

from Judah, up and up into the darkest reaches of his tower.

Judah is LAUGHING, laughing in the face of Death itself.

CUT TO:

EXT. JUDAH'S TOWER - STREET

Ashe lies amidst a field of shimmering glass shards and flowers.

THE MASKED CELEBRANTS

slowly gather around Ashe, craning their necks for a view of

the fallen angel.

CLOSE ON ASHE'S FACE

Relaxed, peaceful, even. For a moment, we aren't sure whether

or not Ashe's soul has fled.

The peripheral noise from the street festival dies away. We're

in the eye of the hurricane now. Once again, time seems to shudder

to a stop. And the only thing we hear are...

THE CROWS:

Thousands of them, filling the heavens with their KEENING WAILS.

Ashe slowly opens his eyes, tentative. When you're this deep

in the bosom of bliss, the last thing you want to do is waken,

but waken he does...

ASHE'S POV - THE SKY ABOVE JUDAH'S TOWER

is black with crows. And endless army of carrion-creatures, swirling

madly about.

BACK TO SCENE:

Ashe sits up, stares at the crows, fascinated, frightened. Then

his eyes fall to the faces of the people around him. We are in

dream-time now, blurring the edges of reality.

A CHILD:

wearing a skull mask pushes to the front of the crowd. He stares

at Ashe a moment, then lifts the mask from his face...

It's Danny.

ASHE:

(CONFUSED)

Danny...?

Ashe rushes to Danny's side, holding him tight, his disbelief

overpowered by the unfettered joy of seeing his son once again.

ASHE:

What are you doing here?!

DANNY:

It's time to go back, Dad.

Ashe looks up at the screaming crows above them.

ASHE:

Is that why they're here?

DANNY:

(NODDING)

They're the souls who came before you. They're crying for the

people they've lost.

(BEAT)

Now they're crying for you.

ASHE:

But Sarah still needs me.

DANNY:

You don't understand, Dad. You work for the dead, not the living.

Your work here is done.

Ashe reaches for his son's shoulders, all but pleading with him.

ASHE:

I can't go, not yet, not now...

DANNY:

You have to.

ASHE:

Danny, I can't leave her like this...

The CRIES of the crows grow louder as the sky above becomes darker.

A shadow passes over Danny's face. He Seems Saddened. For a moment,

it seems as if another entity creeps into Danny's voice.

DANNY:

If you turn your back on the dead now, you'll be trapped between

the worlds. You'll never be allowed to cross over.

(BEAT)

You'll be alone, Dad. Forever.

Ashe hesitates a moment, realizing the enormity of what he is

about to do. It's an agonizing choice.

ASHE:

I have to stay.

Danny nods.

DANNY:

I know.

Danny reaches out to touch Ashe's painted face...

DANNY:

(FORLORN)

Good-bye, Dad.

As Danny says his parting words, the SOUNDS of the world around

them come rushing back with startling clarity. Danny starts to

turn away...

ASHE:

Danny, wait...!

WHAM! Ashe bolts up from the bed of flowers and glass. The spell

is broken. Was he dreaming...?

No, there's Danny slipping back into the crows, the mask pulled

down over his face once again.

Ashe reaches for Danny, spinning him around, pulling off the

mask...

...only it's not Danny! It's a drunken DWARF with f***ed-up teeth

who's laughing his ass of at Ashe. Ashe recoils, horrified, then

spins around, suddenly finding himself face to face with...

JUDAH:

standing just a few yards away, emerging from the doorway of

his tower. He got the anti-Crow blood mask on his face. His eyes

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