The Lazarus Project Page #4

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You got out.

But Katie and Lisa didn't.

You blamed yourself.

You couldn't handle the guilt.

You disappeared

after several months.

Then you were arrested burglarizing

an empty warehouse in Dallas.

You were placed in care...

...and you came here shortly after

to continue treatment.

I'm not a patient.

I work here. I'm a groundskeeper.

You and Robbie tend the grounds.

You both enjoy it.

Right, and I have a cabin

on Plowers' trail.

I have a dog.

The old smith cabin?

It's been empty for three years.

There's no dog, Ben.

We don't allow animals

at the Mount.

You're lying to me.

Why are you lying to me, Ezra?

They're not dead.

I'm gonna prove it to you.

Hi, I'm Lisa Madison,

and I've been selling homes...

... in the Marietta, Powder Springs

area for over a year now.

I know the area and the people...

... because I live in Marietta

with my daughter.

They made my dream a reality.

RealTops made it all possible

for me.

- They can make it possible...

- Who's that, Ben?

- Bye.

- I don't...

I don't know.

Come on, it's late.

Let's walk you to your room.

We'll talk more in the morning.

Ben! Don't!

No, no. No.

Come on, let's go.

Let's go.

Hey.

Hey!

Let me out!

Ezra, let me out!

Ezra, let me out!

Let me out!

No, no.

Ezra! No, no!

Thank you.

Ben, hi.

- Hi.

- You doing better?

I was hoping

you weren't still mad at me.

About what?

What happened at the cabin.

I'm sorry,

I don't remember any cabin.

Ben?

Are you okay?

I was talking to a man.

An angel.

And he warned me

that if I didn't accept my life here...

...then I would die.

That death would find me.

And...

A couple of times,

I would have sworn...

...that I saw a demon or something.

And I would have tried

to leave sooner...

...but I was afraid.

- Those were all hallucinations?

- Yeah.

Yeah, the angel

is a subconscious representation...

...of your desire to heal.

The angel was asking you

to accept this life...

...which meant getting better.

But your mind struggled,

because to heal...

...it would also mean

letting go of Lisa and Katie.

Yeah.

So you manifested fears

and images of death...

...to keep you here.

I wanna start over.

I wanna forget.

You don't have to forget.

You just have to move on.

I wanna be outside

working the grounds again.

All right.

We'll move you back to your old room,

away from Building Number 5.

Do you sleep with the light on?

Light on?

Yeah.

I can't sleep in the dark.

I need that light on.

If not, I'm afraid that when I wake,

everything will be gone...

...and it'll only be me left

in the world.

Does that sound crazy?

No. It doesn't sound crazy.

Do you like it here, Ben?

I'm okay with it.

I like it here.

It's better than my old life.

That's great, Robbie.

Ben.

No one's ever treated me

like you do.

Like a friend.

That's because you are my friend.

My best friend.

Are you sure you want something

with shepherd in it?

- Positive.

- Well, we have one.

Small thing, really. Well-mannered.

How long has this dog been here?

Not long. About a week.

You're just like me.

What happened?

- He's disappeared.

- Not for long.

He'll turn up.

Find Ben.

It's him.

Okay, go in.

Ben, I stopped by your room.

You weren't there.

I was worried.

Ben?

Ben's not here.

He went home.

Ben. What are you doing here?

Take it easy, Ben. Take it easy.

Ben, take it easy.

Since when do angels bleed?

Ben, listen to me.

Ben, listen to me. Calm down.

Ben. Relax.

Ben, calm down.

So it never happened?

- It never happened?

- No.

Then they're alive.

Ben, think of what you're doing.

- No!

- Ben.

You lied to me.

Why did you do this?

Rehabilitation, Ben.

What if instead of killing people,

we could change them...

...by providing them with new lives,

environments?

- Insane.

- No.

It all starts in the mind.

What people do, why they do it...

...the selfish choices, it's all in here.

In our heads.

What if we could fix

human beings, Ben?

Fix them before they've even made

those mistakes.

Then they wouldn't be human.

- No, no, you don't understand.

- Don't you move.

I understand.

I understand.

You tried to convince me

I was crazy, Ezra.

You wanted me to believe

that if I left, I'd die.

That bus never crashed.

You told me my family was dead.

You're not rehabilitating people, Ezra.

You're torturing them.

I saved your life, Ben.

Like you saved William's.

A different case. He didn't do well.

You pumped him full of drugs.

- You did the same thing to me.

- The drugs just loosened the anxiety.

You made him nuts.

He was seeing things.

I was seeing things.

- He made a choice.

- He had no choice.

You killed him, Ezra.

You may as well pushed him

off that cliff yourself.

You'd be buried, Ben.

Dead. Mud and worms.

We gave William

a second chance at life.

- The same chance we gave you.

- I didn't ask for one.

Can't let you leave, Ben.

I'm not so sure you can stop me.

I found your files, Ezra.

I made a copy.

- Where's the hard drive?

- Hidden, somewhere safe.

And it'll stay that way

as long as I make it home.

Otherwise, it will go

to every paper in the country.

Now I'm gonna go home, Ezra.

And the only way you can stop me

is if you kill me.

Kill you?

Ben, as far as the world

is concerned...

...you're already dead.

Ben.

What we're doing,

we're doing for the right reasons.

Mommy, I had a dream

about Daddy.

He lived in the woods

with big trees and stuff.

I went to see him, but he was sad.

I told him about the bird.

What bird, honey?

The jaybird.

The bird that didn't die.

Maybe Daddy's like the jaybird.

Maybe someday

he's gonna come back too.

Don't think that way, honey.

Don't think that Daddy ever left.

Because he didn't.

He's still here with us.

I know he is.

Mommy, what's the greatest thing

you ever saw?

I don't think I've seen it yet, baby.

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