HUNTED

*****

Schanke: (on phone) My...Myra, can I just interject something here? When am I going to have time to visit the Gulf of St. Lawrence? I mean, the whales can wait. Ma...mating season is a month.... You want to watch whales mate? Why, Honey? Yeah, right, Captain. Listen, I got to get going. Work is just piling up here. Yes, I'll call you later. I love you too.
Nick: I hope that's Myra.
Schanke: You know, she says we never talk. So, I call her up and she ends up doing all of the talking. Usually about the vacation we'll never have.
Nick: At least she's including you in her plans.
Schanke: Yeah. Is that the file on the court yard killing?
Nick: Yeah, William Bartholomew Yates.
Schanke: Oh...Bartholomew...got to love it, huh? See what we miss on our day off? Anyway, you're wasting your time.
Nick: Maybe. But is it a comfort to know you're wasting it with me?
Schanke: Nick, nobody saw, smelled, tasted nothing. Unless you want to believe the word of one of those zombies in the court yard. You know, one of them actually thinks he's Napoleon.
Nick: Rasputin.
Schanke: Yeah, right. One of those dictators.
Nick: Look, the perimeter team found a slug embedded in the wall.
Schanke: Yeah, might get us something. The Captain's pushing forensics on it.
Nick: They find a gun?
Schanke: No, they think he was firing blind. Never saw him drop it. One minute he's got the gun, the next minute he's dead. The gun's nowhere.
Nick: So where'd the gun come from?
Schanke: Yeah, and what about those damn watches? I mean, six identical watches and six killings in less than a month. I mean, this guy is...is first class. I mean he's real slick!
Nick: What are you, a fan?
Schanke: You want to know what I like to call him? The garbage man.
Cohen: Just came through. The bullet in the wall and the one that killed Yates were both 9mm hollow points. And from different guns. But they were clean. Nothing to trace.
Schanke: Monsieur le garbage strikes again.
Cohen: We're not looking so great on this, are we? Six bodies in our little piece of heaven in less than a month. What the hell is going on?
Schanke: I'm telling you, Captain, it's the garbage man.

Natalie: A single shot. Blew up his heart. Death was instantaneous. Oh, come on, this can't be a surprise to you guys.
Schanke: Nick's got the hots for the shooter. I call him the garbage man.
Natalie: I've got the prelim on the blood work. You want to hear it?
Nick: Will I like it?
Natalie: The victim was wired very, very tight. Methamphetamines and PCP. His histolic pressure had to be way up over two-fifty. With the drugs that this guy had in him, he was a walking timebomb. Another thing, you saw the knife he had? Look at this.
(Nat shows him several scars from cuts)
Nick: He was a knife fighter who momentarily took possession of a semi-automatic weapon.
Natalie: As if someone was giving him a fighting chance.
Schanke: Like I said, the killer's the garbage man.
Nick: Okay, Schank, I'll buy it. Why the garbage man?
Schanke: Because he takes out the trash. (Laughs, then stops) Well, I liked it.
Natalie: I don't like the pattern to these killings.
Nick: The first two were old, homeless. Easy pickings. Number three was a laborer. Number four a bike currier. Good shape so far, but number five was a small-time street punk.
Natalie: And now a wired, skinhead knife-fighter. Each of the victims is more dangerous. Your killer--it's a game to him. He kills for the thrill.

England: Early-mid 19th century

Janette: Enough of this! I'm bored and I'm hungry.
LaCroix: Good, it will make the feeding all the better.
Nick: What feeding, we'll never find anything on foot. I say we take to the air.
Janette: Use our powers.
LaCroix: No, no, no, no, no, where's the challenge in that?!
Janette: Right now I'd prefer a meal to a challenge.
LaCroix: Have you gone soft as well? Have you never hunted?
Nick: We hunt every night!
LaCroix: Oh yes, the fat sleepy flock in the towns and villages. But *this* is different, out here the smells are stronger, the sounds are clearer, our senses are enhanced, sharpened by the thrill of the chase. We do not need our powers for this. You see, there is no greater ecstasy than to kill in this way.
Nick: What are we hunting?
LaCroix: The hunter. (laughs) A master of the woods. One who lives as we do, for the kill. What greater challenge could there be than a chase through the moonlit forest in pursuit of a predator?!

Nick: What if these people were being hunted? You said it looks like a thrill sport for the shooter. It might be exactly that.
Natalie: Someone's hunting people.
Schanke: Hey, why not? It's instinct. We were born to hunt. It's in our blood. Okay, okay, so it's not necessary any more. But if you want to understand man's primal self, you've got to understand that it's all about the hunt. Man against nature.
Natalie: Against nature. That's perfect.
Schanke: You know what I mean.
Nick: Schanke, people are dying here.
Schanke: Geez, Nick, would you relax, it's just a philosophical conversation. But we do have a problem. Our shooter extraordinaire is out there is having a major field day. Any ideas? That's what I thought.

Schanke: I got Yates' rap sheet here. Drug bust, wounding with intent, assault. Big surprise, huh? Oh, yeah, and the department psychologist did a profile of the doer. Get this--they checked the fazes of the moon against the hits. They think the guy's a werewolf or something.
Nick: Well, nobody ever said that psychology was an exact science.
Schanke: Amen to that.
Nick: We've got victims numbers one and two here and here. Barely a block and a half apart. Numbers three and four here and here. Number five there, and now Yates here.
Schanke: Killer likes his patch, doesn't he?
Nick: We're so lucky.
Schanke: What's the news, Captain?
Cohen: Don't bother. That's the last of the uniform reports. Now we've got more of nothing.
Nick: Captain, why don't Schanke and I go undercover? Get on this guy's turf.
Schanke: Yeah...we could go street. I'll hit up department wardrobe for an outfit.

Nick: Hey buddy?
Schanke: Yeah?
Nick: Got some change?
Schanke: I think so.
Nick: What's with the uh, the trenchcoat? I thought you were supposed to wear an outfit from department wardrobe.
Schanke: I was. (Then, handing Nick some change) Here you go. (Pulls out the edges of his coat) This is all they had left.
Nick: It looks good on you.
Schanke: Thanks. Keep your head on a swivel, this place is a hornet's nest with snakes in it, okay?
Nick: Let's lift up some rocks and see what we can find. Thanks for coffee. (He leaves)
Schanke: Stay in touch. (Someone comes up to him with a baseball hat) No! What do I look like, a bank machine?

Schanke: Just for laughs...where'd you get this? (Holding up a bag with a gun)
Biker: That cop's dead. I shot him.
Schanke: Well, thanks for the confession. That's real thoughtful of you. But, are you the legally registered owner of this fine 9mm semi-automatic weapon?

Biker: Didn't you hear what I said? I shot him. He just...stood there.
Schanke: Yeah, right. Do you think we're stupid my friend, huh? (Schanke shows off the kevlar vest he has on)
Biker: No. It didn't look like...it looked like it was just...him.
Schanke: Right, right. Okay. Could we just concentrate? Concentrate. Where'd you get this gun?
Biker: I found it.
Schanke: You found it. Great.

Walter Tretheway: Who is it?
LaCroix: (the three not visible to Tretheway) His senses are sharp. He will make stimulating sport.
Tretheway: Who's there?
LaCroix: Weary travellers.
Tretheway: The woods are dangerous at this time of night. Hardly the place for a lady.
Janette: Finally. Some courtesy. Thank you, good sir.
Tretheway: You are welcome at my fire.
Nick: Thank you.
Tretheway: Have you come all the way from the village?
LaCroix: Much further.
Tretheway: Where are you headed? There is nothing in this direction clear to the coast.
LaCroix: We're hunting.
Tretheway: You've no weapons.
LaCroix: True. How's the game?
Tretheway: Always a challenge.
LaCroix: Then the kill must be all the more satisfying.
Tretheway: I don't kill for satisfaction. I kill for food.
LaCroix: Oh for sake...do you not bask in the kill? Do you not relish the control you have over life and death?
Tretheway: Night is getting chill. I must return home. I'm overdue, you see. My wife frets for my safety.
LaCroix: Ah.... Then have a safe journey.
(Tretheway leaves)
LaCroix: Come, let us savour the chase. Not too quickly now.... Allow the anticipation to build, let it rise slowly within you until to resist is almost unbearable and then, then, we kill!

Schanke: Excellent bust, partner. 9mm and everything. Creeps got a record, crimes of violence. Think this could be our guy?
Nick: He was a target, Schanke. He had the watch. The killer's still out there.
Schanke: Are you absolutely sure this isn't our guy? So much for an early night. How about we stop at the ME's office and see that this isn't our gun.
Nick: It isn't.
Schanke: Humor me a little, all right? Got to love kevlar. Great stuff.

Natalie: It's not the same gun. The murder weapon has six lans(?) with a right hand twist.
Schanke: You sure?
Nick: Thanks, Nat.
Natalie: So what's the story on this biker?
Nick: He admits to a manslaughter conviction, he's got the gun. It's like you said--a step up.
Natalie: A more dangerous victim. So...our killer is escalating the kick. God, how sick do you have to be to get your thrills like this?

Janette: There!
LaCroix: No, that way.
Nick: He's clever and fast.
LaCroix: You see, Nicholas, how the hunt has aroused you? How the scent of the prey intoxicates? (continues)
Janette: How can we get ahead of LaCroix?
Nick: We might not have to get ahead of him, if we begin to think like the prey.
Janette: But our prey is a hunter!
Nick: Well, then perhaps he understands what it is to think like us. We must do the unexpected. I'm going back to his camp.
Janette: Nicolas, the thrill is in the chase!

Schanke: The forces of evil never rest. Come on. (leaves)
Natalie: Nick?
Nick: It's nothing, Nat. Another time, another place.

Biker: I got nothing to say.
Schanke: Sure you do. I want you to tell us all about what you were doing down there.
Biker: I was digging for worms. You want some? Oh, yeah, so what. You're going to do bad cop good cop on me, now. You're going to rough me up, and he's going to be my pal. Ohh...
Nick: No. I don't rough you up, and he's not your friend. That would be too clichéd. We like to do things differently around here. We like an open, honest exchange of information. You give us direct answers to specific questions. Anything else is unacceptable. I don't like confrontation. I *hate* it. Anytime.
Biker: I was in this bar.
Nick: Which bar?
Biker: Hog Heaven.
Nick: Parkdale or North York.
Biker: Parkdale.
Nick: What time?
Biker: Oh, three hours....
Nick: Come on, keep going.
Biker: So I get back from the John.
Schanke: What were you doing in the John?
Biker: What do you think I was doing--
Nick: Buying or selling? We can nail you either way.
Biker: Geez, I was taking a leak.
Schanke: Spare me the details. So...?
Biker: So, I get back to the table and there's this itty bitty tape recorder...sittin' there.
Schanke: Did you just have a stroke?
Biker: No. I figured you guys were going to interrupt me again.
Nick: We probably will.
Schanke: Please. Continue.
Biker: So, there's a note on the tape recorder that says 'play me'.
Schanke: Handwritten or typed?
Biker: Hand...no.... Typed.
Nick: Did you still have the note?
Biker: Why would I keep the note? I played the tape, okay? And this weird voice says--
Schanke: Define weird.
Biker: All messed up.
Nick: Electronically.
Biker: I don't know, maybe.
Schanke: What did the voice say?
Biker: It said...there's two million in cash, and it was all mine. All I had to do was go get it.
Schanke: So you left the tape recorder?
Biker: No, nobody saw anything. The place was crowded and I was drinking alone.
Schanke: Aw...bad hair day.
Biker: I was fighting with the old lady, okay?
Schanke: My sympathies.
Nick: Do you still have the tape recorder?
Biker: No, I tossed it in the Don.
Nick: Where was the cash supposed to be?
Biker: It was in that parking lot where I uh....
Nick: Where you shot me.
Schanke: Yeah, where you shot my partner. What else?
Biker: The voice said that there was going to be somebody hunting me.
Nick: Somebody? Nothing more specific?
Biker: No. No, and then there's a watch strapped around the tape recorder, and it's counting down to zero, and I got as much time to pick up the cash as is left on the watch. That's it. That's all I know.
Nick: You never saw anyone the whole time you were being hunted?
Biker: No. Are you done?
Nick: For now.

Schanke: I haven't had that much fun grilling someone since Myra drove the Cordoba into a ditch! I mean, did we have that guy, or what?
Cohen: Tell me you got something.
Nick: He says he got a tape message offering him two million dollars to let himself be hunted across the city.
Cohen: Hunted? What for?
Schanke: (???) there's a thrill killer. Sets his victims up with cash.
Cohen: And the watch?
Schanke: Supplied anonymously, free of charge. It counts the victims down to the trill of victory and the agony of defeat.
Cohen: And that's it? No other motive?
Nick: None that we can figure.
Cohen: You sure he's on the level?
Schanke: Nobody could make up a story like that.
Cohen: Twenty years on the force and there's always something new to amaze and disgust.
Schanke: So where do we start now, Captain?
Cohen: Talk to Monique Belleveau with the RCMP behavioral science unit. She'll issue a psych profile and coordinate with the Bureau and Interpol.
Nick: I can tell you one thing they're find. Our killer has brains and money.
Cohen: A rare combination. Let's get on this fast, gentlemen, before this nut strikes again.
Schanke: (Picks up phone after Cohen leaves) Monique Belleveau, please.

Tape (The Hunter): Detective, do you recognize this voice?
Schanke (on tape): Tell him to go to hell, Nick. Don't ever--
Tape (The Hunter): By the time you listen to this, you will have thirty minutes to rescue your partner. The watch is already counting down. At the end of that time, a small but powerful bomb will explode under him. You can find him in the old Harrison generating station. There will be two ground rules. One, you must do this alone, unarmed, and on foot or your partner will die. And two, while you're hunting for your partner, I'll be hunting you. Oh, and one more thing.... Ordinarily the prize would be two million in cash, but what would cash be to one of your kind? Yes, I got a good look at you earlier tonight. I know what you are. I know what I'll be dealing with.

LaCroix: Where is Nicholas?
Janette: He stayed behind. He is using his wits. Odd. There's something about this area....
LaCroix: Yes, it is...familiar. We've been here before. He's led us back to where we began!
(Tretheway aims a crossbow at LaCroix, and Nick tackles him)
LaCroix: Congratulations, Nicholas. To reward you for your cleverness, I give you the honour of the kill.

Nick: As a hunter, you know why I do this. We are not that different, you and I.
(Nick kills Tretheway, taking his blood)
LaCroix: Now you know what it means to truly be a hunter. Now you feel the thrill, the exhilaration that only death can give!

Schanke: You know, this is not going to work. You're just buying yourself a whole lot of trouble, pal. In about five seconds this place is going to be crawling with cops. You cannot kidnap a cop and get away with it!
(The Hunter removes his blindfold and walks around in front of him)
Schanke: You're a woman.
The Hunter: Been this way all my life.
Schanke: Look, there's a psycho running around here loose. If you can just cut me free, maybe I can protect you from him when he comes back.
The Hunter: (she laughs) You know, it's refreshing to realise that some things never really do change. Just like every man I've ever met, you're sure that I'm your protector. You're just the hero to do it(?). You just don't get it.
Schanke: You're the guy.
The Hunter: In a matter of speaking.

Schanke: What the hell is this all about?
The Hunter: You don't know, Detective?
Schanke: No.
The Hunter: It's about sport.

Schanke: So why me?
The Hunter: I knew that your partner couldn't be lured with money. His kind doesn't need money, do they? I wonder what that must be like.
Schanke: What must be like?
The Hunter: Discretion, is it? There's hardly any point, really.
Schanke: Why are you doing this? Why kill all those people?
The Hunter: I like it. It's wonderful. And it's an exquisite challenge. Tell me, Detective, what is the one thing human beings have fought for throughout history?
Schanke: I don't know....food.
The Hunter: I can see why you say that, Detective. Power, control--in itself the greatest thrill. And to kill...is the ultimate control. To rival the gods. And that lofty high power can be consuming an insatiable addiction to drink in with every pore.
Schanke: What's with the bullets?
The Hunter: Oh, I'm just stuffing these hollow points with garlic. Nothing you need to be concerned about. They're just to, ah, soften him up a bit.
Schanke: You know, you are one huge roadmap of sickness, Lady, you know that? Nick is not going to show up, and all you're doing is getting yourself in deeper and deeper.
The Hunter: Deeper and deeper.... Just the way I like it. Now, I really should get going, but ah.... Mind the bomb, now. It's an anti-personnel thing, it's lethal within about oh....twenty feet. (Puts it under his chair) If you wriggle around too much, it will go off. So will you.

The Hunter: Congratulations, Detective, on getting this far. Your partner is so near...and yet so far. Unfortunately, there's no more underground access to him. Now you have me to deal with.
(Shoots him with her gun with the 'garlic bullets', and Nick moves forward, but backs off from the sunlight)
The Hunter: It's true then? About the sunlight? Well. How exciting. When I saw you last night, realised what you must be.... Took my breath away. A creature designed to hunt, to kill. The perfect adversary.
Nick: (moving toward her) *Come to me.... Take me to him....*
The Hunter: Well, was um, interesting.
Nick: Take me too him, and I'll let you survive.
The Hunter: Oh, no no no no no, Detective, I'm the one in control here. I say who lives and who dies.

Nick: So that's what this is about.
The Hunter: You know the answer to that. You spend your whole life killing. You know how it feels. Why we hunt.
Nick: For sport.
The Hunter: Yes. You do understand. All of it. Well, ah...enough idle chit-chat. Let's get on with the game, shall we? Ah, let's synchronize our watches...I make it thirteen minutes, twenty-seven seconds, and counting.... (She shoots at him as he runs off)

Schanke: Oh, don't sneeze now Don, don't. Oh Myra, I'm sorry. I will go on a vacation, honey. If I get out of this, I promise I'll take you on a vacation. And I won't tease you anymore.

LaCroix: There. I told you others(?) we would have fun, didn't I? We must remember this place. Come, it's late. (Leaves)
Janette: What is it?
Nick: I couldn't stop.
Janette: It's done. We enjoyed it. It was thrilling. That's all that really matters. Next time, I get to make the kill. (She leaves)
Elizabeth Tretheway: Walter? Walter, can you hear me? Are you there? Walter, where are you? Oh dear God no. Please no! Oh please, please, God, don't let him be dead. No. No!

Schanke: Oh man, how do I get myself into this stuff? You'll live to see another day, Donny, you'll live to see another day. It'll be okay.

Tape/The Hunger: ...(?) limits, but no accomplishments. I hope to be above the rest. (?)...(?) how can you understand how(?) you don't rise above your limits. Push until they break. The husband, the money, the lovers, the people like you. Just...the things that happened while I was trying to find myself. Who are you? What are your limits? Do you have limits? You and I are so much alike. A greatness in us no one can possibly appreciate. We prey on the weak and stupid. That's why they're here. For us.

The Hunter: (dropping a bottle) Holy water. And here...a chaser. (She lights and then drops another bottle that spreads fire out from where it lands) What would you give me if I let you live? Hmm?
Nick: A taste of hell!
(She drops another chaser)

The Hunter: Ah, so the cross works. I thought it might be myth. (She shoots him again with the garlic) I'm something of an over achiever. You may have guessed. Oh, it can make for a tedious life, especially if one is born...well. There's no obstacle so big that old family money can't overcome. No accomplishment it can't eclipse. And on has to make one's mark in life, wouldn't you say?
Nick: And I'm to admire you? To call you a kindred spirit? You are everything I detest.
The Hunter: Well, well, a vampire with a conscience. No wonder you're losing! (Another shot) I am enjoying this.
Nick: Where is he?
The Hunter: Oh, near.
Nick: Where?
The Hunter: Oh, that would be telling.
Nick: It doesn't have to be like this.

The Hunter: Oh, of course it does. I have to win. (Another shot) And you have to lose! (Another, and Nick goes over the railing)

Schanke: You missed him, didn't you? Get her, Nick!
The Hunter: Shut up.
Schanke: Nick! Nick, she's turned off the lights! Nick, she's wearing night-vision goggles. Nick!

Natalie: Well, that is the last of the garlic. Has the irritation stopped?
Nick: If by irritation you mean the feeling that a thousand scorpions had stung me all at once? Yes, thank you very much. The irritation has stopped.
Natalie: You know, I can't believe how fast your burns heal. Why did you go back out in the sun at the power station? Did you think to yourself, 'oh today would be a good day to spontaneously combust'?
Nick: She was a hunter, Nat. The first thing a hunter does is to understand its prey. She thought she knew what I could, or couldn't do, so I had to do something unexpected.
Natalie: Well, it looks good. I'm glad she missed.
Nick: She didn't. She could have killed me right there and then, but what's the thrill in that, huh? She needed to chase me, to anticipate me, to be better than me. That's why a hunter hunts. Believe me, I know.
Schanke: (coming in) Am I interrupting something?
Nick: No, just seeing my Doc. How're you doing?
Schanke: Oh fine. I spent the morning sitting on a tactical nuclear weapon, and when I get back to the station, Myra's on the blower saying, Donny, you could have called a little bit earlier. And I said, Myra, you won't believe what just happened. And before I can get another word in edgewise, she's saying, oh, what about the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and the whales can't wait, it'll be another year before mating time.
Natalie: (trying to suppress a laugh) Another year before mating time?
Schanke: Yeah, well, it's a long story. At least when I was sitting on that bomb, I had a few minutes to think.
Natalie: Oh, well, you know Schanke, it's...ah, it's very peaceful around here. You could just find a nice place to lie down. I'm sure the others wouldn't mind.
Schanke: Oh, thank you, Natalie. I think I'll just pull up a nice, cold slab. You know she's got a real twisted sense of humor?
Nick: Uh, it's a little dark, yeah. But then, I like dark. (He kisses Nat) Bye.
Schanke: (as they leave) Oh, you like dark, huh? Then you would enjoy some candlelight bowling.