The Dark Half Page #7

a vessel, a stolen body, if you like.

It just happened to be there,

wholly by accident, and Stark used it.

He took it for his own.

Stark is a conjuration...

...an entity created by

the force of your will.

We all have something

of the beast inside us.

We can either suppress it or encourage it.

In your case, you encouraged it too much.

In your subconscious,

you wanted it to live.

You wanted it so badly,

it actually came to be.

Your characters have always

been vividly written, Thad.

I wanted him to live.

God forgive me, it's true.

A part of me has always

admired George Stark.

Admired his simple, violent nature.

A man who doesn't stumble over things,

who never looks weak or silly.

A man with a straight,

sharp answer for everything.

Yes. But he's a bastard.

Half of me is a bastard.

My dark half.

George Stark is my dark half.

Yeah, but surely you don't

want him to stay alive.

I mean, you can't still admire him

after all that he's done.

- No.

- If you don't want him, he can't remain.

You're the one with life, real life.

He's trying to take it away from you.

But if you're not willing to give it up...

...what can he do?

Kill you?

That would be suicide, wouldn't it?

Why didn't I see that? He can't hurt me,

so he's going after the people around me.

Exactly.

I found something in Barringer's here.

Something about sparrows.

Whippoorwills, loons and sparrows...

...are psychopomps.

- What?

From the Greek.

It means "those who conduct".

In this case,

those who conduct human souls...

...back and forth between the land

of the living and the land of the dead.

(phone rings)

Hello?

Thad! It's for you.

I'm not gonna write your book, George.

You're dead. And dead you're gonna stay!

(Stark) You're wrong, old Hoss.

You wanna get started.

Start by nightfall or you'll be a sorry

son of a b*tch. You won't be the only one.

See if you can figure out where

I'm callin' from, Thad. (toy squeaks)

(hangs up)

No!

- That was quick, Hoss.

- What have you done to them?

Not a thing... yet. Not to your people.

I had to do a few things to that

state trooper watchin' your house.

What's left of him is out

in his bubble-mobile drawin' flies.

- Let me talk to Liz.

- No time. Gotta go, buddy-roo.

Me and the family, we gotta ride. I think

you know where we're all be headin'.

Endsville, Thad.

That place where

all rail service terminates.

Oh. In case you're wonderin',

I cut the tracer on your phone here.

I figure this is private business,

just between you and me.

(hangs up)

The trace...

Jesus, the phone trace. They heard

my call, they wouldn't let her go.

He's got Liz, Reggie. He's got my children.

Be careful. Remember, he knows as

much about you as you know about him.

Don't let him seduce you. Don't...

They've come to take one of us away,

haven't they?

- Which one?

- The loser, of course.

I do hope it's not you, Thaddeus.

I'd hate to think of George Stark

taking over your lecture group.

- (Thad) Why isn't he aware of them?

- I don't know.

- Let's take it as a good sign.

- I thought you knew about this sh*t.

I don't know about any of it.

Nobody does, except the Almighty, and...

...he seems to be on sabbatical.

In the end, it's what you believe.

I wish I had a talisman to give you,

or a silver bullet...

...or a stake to drive

through the monster's heart.

- But it's not that simple.

- You've given me all I need.

Thanks, Reggie.

Good luck. It'll be interesting to see

who's sitting in your office next week.

- I'll be there.

- Wear a red carnation so I know it's you.

I got a dead officer. I call that trouble.

We're pretty sure that Beaumont did it.

- (Alan) Why's that?

- Well, he's outta here.

He apparently took his family with him,

unless he cut them up.

He killed that doctor in Bangor.

We got a positive ID from the receptionist.

If he's heading to his place up there...

...it would be real nice if you

were there to stop his f***ing clock.

You got it. Fine.

Come on.

Oh, sh*t.

(sirens)

Just keep on goin'.

Keep on goin'.

Me and Thad, we're gonna be doin' some

collaboratin', just like we always done.

When it's over,

if you haven't pissed me off too bad...

...I might just decide to let you go.

But you understand,

it all depends on what kinda mood I'm in.

If I'm in a good mood, a peaceful mood...

...who knows what kinda turn

things might take?

When all this is over I might

settle down up this way...

...and I sure would want you

to think kindly of me.

I like it here. I purely do.

Yeah, I could get real comfortable here.

(chuckles)

Dream on, motherf***er.

This is no dream, Beth.

Thad owes me.

Maybe he knew how to write

before I showed up...

...but I taught him to write

stuff people wanna read.

Ain't no good writin' a thing

if people don't wanna read it.

That's why I says Thad owes me.

So you come after me,

you come after my children.

You're a coward.

You would do better

not to say things like that.

Hell, I didn't want any of this trouble.

Believe it or not,

I prefer to steer south of trouble.

This writin' we gotta do,

I tried to do it by myself.

It was comin' along good, too.

Well, then I developed this, uh...

...physical problem.

I guess you noticed.

Well, don't worry. I'll be better soon.

Thad's gonna make me well.

All's he got to do is write this one last

story and I'll be rockin' and rollin' again.

Now, of course,

he might start feelin' poorly...

...and workin' so... close together and all...

...he might just go and catch

whatever this is that I got.

That'd be a shame. I don't wish

the boy any harm, truly I don't.

I hope it turns out different.

But I got the feelin' that one or the other

of us is gonna have to fold his hand.

And when it comes down to that

it's better him than me.

My God.

- Oh, my God, you really are...

- You're disturbin' my peaceful mood.

You are disturbin'

the peaceful frame of mind I'm in.

You are disturbin'

my peaceful frame of mind.

(Elvis Presley)

I wonder if... you're lonesome tonight.

You know, someone said that the world's

a stage, and each of us must play a part.

- Fate had me playing in love...

- Liz.

Oh, God, Liz. Are you all right?

Huh? Are you OK?

The kids. Where are the kids?

Right here, Hoss.

(switches music off)

Hello, Thad. How are you, old buddy?

- You look a little peaky.

- You don't look so hot yourself.

(Stark chuckles)

Lf... I do what you want me to do...

...you promise not to hurt them.

If I do what you want...

...will you leave them alone?

I will. I promise.

You have my word,

the word of a Southern man...

...which is not given lightly.

- Let me have them.

- You can have one.

Liz, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for all this.

- I'm gonna go upstairs with him.

- No. Thad, you can't.

We don't have a choice.

He can't hurt me. He won't. But he

can hurt you if you give him a reason.

Don't be thinkin' about breakin' loose,

don't be thinkin' about the telephone...

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