SONS OF BELIAL

*****

Officer Brian MacIssac: Hey! Hey, Lady, are you all right?
Melanie Sawchuck: Emite hanc mulerium! [Release this woman!]
MacIssac: What? Hey? Hey, lady? Dispatch, this is Badge 1037. Request an ambulance on Massy Lane near Dundas. I have an unconscious female, mid thirties in a Dodge Aries. License number, Romeo, Kilo, Papa, Nine, Six, Eight....
(Melanie wakes up, and hits MacIssac with her car)

Nick: How's MacIssac?
Reese: Oh. Broken arm, probably a concussion, otherwise okay. Shouldn't you two be on the Slater homicide?
Nick: Yeah. We're waiting on the prelims and there could be more to this than it seems.
Tracy: We picked up a squawk on the 89th. Um, a car went over the expressway, a little after MacIssac radioed it in, and the license plates matched.
Reese: Someone in the car?
Nick: Pretty badly burnt. We have to wait on the autopsy to get a positive ID, but the car was registered to a Melanie Sawchuck. She lives over on Homewood. Can we talk to him?
Reese: I doubt you'll get anything. Hardly knows his own name.
Tracy: Hey Brian, you feel like talking?
Reese: I told you so.
Nick: Let me try. *Tell me what happened.*
MacIssac: She's alive. I've got a pulse.
Nick: *The woman in the car?*
MacIssac: I can't understand what she's saying.
Nick: *Try to remember the words.*
MacIssac: Emite...hanc...mulerium....

Reese: That make any sense to you?
Nick: It sounded like Latin. Who knows.
Reese: Well, look, until something moves on the Slater thing, you might as well run with this.

Natalie: Burn victims. My worst nightmare. Here, put some of this wintergreen gel under your nose.
Nick: How are you doing?
Natalie: Well, that's the second jar I've been through tonight.
Nick: Do we have anything yet?
Natalie: It's Melanie Sawchuck all right, dental records confirm.
Tracy: You had to go into her mouth?
Nick: What else?
Natalie: Well, I'm about to start an internal but I don't really think that you want to stick around for that.
Nick: No, it wouldn't be my first choice.
Natalie: Oh, and records called with a 'next of' for you. The only living relative is a brother. Name is Eric Sawchuck. There's the number.
Nick: Thanks.

Nick: Mr. Sawchuck? Detective Knight, Metro Homicide. This is Detective Vetter.
Eric Sawchuck: I'm not interfering with any of the patrons of this establishment, sir. Isaiah, Chapter 55, Verse 7. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man, his thoughts, for the Lord sayeth, 'There is no peace unto the wicked.'
Nick: This is about your sister Melanie. I'm afraid she's dead.
Tracy: You do have a sister named Melanie, don't you?
Eric: Yes. What happened?
Nick: She drove her car off the Gardener Expressway.
Tracy: Do you have any reason to believe that Melanie was suicidal?
Eric: As there is God within us all, so too must there be the devil, and we cannot know until the very end which shall prevail.
Tracy: Great.
Eric: She was a woman of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.
Nick: Isaiah, Chapter 53, Verse 3...it's paraphrased.
Tracy: Do you know of anyone that wanted to hurt Melanie?
Eric: No. I'm sorry she's dead, God rest her soul, but I can't help you. (He walks away.)
Tracy: Well, fanatic or flake, I'd say he definitely has his emotions under control. Do you think he knows something?
Nick: Possibly. Or it could be just what it looks like--another suicide.

Natalie: There wasn't a whole lot of work on, but I did come up with one fascinating anomaly. She had traces of lamb's blood in her stomach.
Tracy: Lamb's blood?
Natalie: And no traces of anything else. My guess is that she drank it, though for the life of me, I can't figure out why.

Spain: 1578

Sancho: The Blood of the Lamb. The Blood of the Lord. To repel evil.
Ario: Come, sit with me, friend. Tell me how you came to be among us.
Nick: They took us as we slept. Said we were in league with the Devil.
Ario: And offered no evidence? As it is with all their victims. The Inquisitors have put thousands to death in His name to rid the world of evil.
LaCroix: This God and this Devil are a mere human contrivance. And convenience. They are the justification for slaughter without the tricky business of accountability.
Sancho: You are also a non-believer?
Nick: If there is a God, he has not yet shown himself to me. (LaCroix laughs)
Sancho: For the sake of your souls, do not abandon your faith. Though there may be evil within you, there is God also. You must believe this. It is all that will save you from the exorcism.
Ario: When you speak of God...when you are pronounced to be demons and face the exorcism, how will your pleas save you when you are made to drink the blood of the lamb, and your flesh is consigned to the fire?

Tracy: Nick, are you in there?
Nick: Yeah. I think we should find more out about Melanie Sawchuck.
Tracy: Sure. Any particular reason?
Nick: Never hurts to be thorough. Come on.

Tracy: So, you mind telling me why you're so familiar with biblical quotes?
Nick: It's always a good idea to know what the other side is up to.
Tracy: Right. So, do we have a murder here? (Goes over to the window) Hey, there's blood on this glass. Like someone fell through the window.
Nick: Or was thrown?
Tracy: (The room suddenly got colder) Did you feel that? (As Nick picks up a book on exorcism) What?
Nick: The lamb's blood Natalie found in Melanie Sawchuck. In medieval times, certain Christian denominations used lab's blood in...exorcisms.

Reese: Nick's serious about this exorcism thing?
Tracy: That room got cold, Captain. I can't explain it.
Reese: There's got to be a rational explanation. Didn't you say that the window was smashed? And it is October.

Nick: Thanks for coming down, Mr. Sawchuck. Okay, we'll get straight to the point. We have reason to believe that your sister, Melanie, was undergoing an exorcism around the time she died. Can you confirm that? Do you know if your sister, Melanie, underwent an exorcism recently? Mr. Sawchuck, you'll feel better if you tell me the truth. I know you're a spiritual man, you don't want to tell me lies. I know that.
Eric: She was sick. Tormented. I tried sending her to doctors, psychiatrists.... No one could help. But I knew. Her sickness was one of the soul. The goodness in her was being consumed by evil. Oh there is a devil, Detective, and he's every bit as real as you or I.

LaCroix: Tell me...Sancho, how does a man of such faith as yours come to be called a demon?
Sancho: I owned valuable land near Barcelona that I refused to give to the church. That was my heresy!
LaCroix: Ah...yes. None greater in the eyes of the Inquisitor. And Ario?
Sancho: He is said to be marked by the beast.
Ario: I am no more a demon that you are.
LaCroix: (Laughs) I quite agree. Why give glory to a devil other than yourself?
Inquisitor: (comes in with guards and points to Ario) He is next. Fire!

Eric: Satan takes hold of people, Detective. He sends forth his angels to seek out the weak, those who no longer believe the Lord's light is within them. And through his angels, Satan promises strength, power, and eternity. He is a seducer. He seduced my sister and captured her soul. There's only one way to deal with that. He had to be driven out.
Nick: You sent her to an exorcist.
Eric: I wasn't there.
Nick: A priest.
Eric: At one time he was.
Nick: Have you any idea why your sister would drive off the expressway?
Eric: To free herself of the demon's influence. Isn't it obvious? Our beliefs compel us to act against Satan. If we do not, his darkness will continue to devour the world, until the world is dead.
Nick: A name. What is the exorcist's name?
Eric: Vanderwal. Doctor Max Vanderwal.

Reese: Do you buy a word of what Sawchuck said?
Nick: I really don't know yet. We'll see what Vanderwal has to say.
Tracy: Do you really believe the Devil exists?
Nick: Well, a lot of people do. Maybe that's all it takes.
Reese: Well, I've gotta admit, you just have to look around these days, it's not hard to see the signs. Although, if the devil did make her do it, I'd like to see anyone try and prosecute him. Look, just confirm Sawchuck's story. If Vanderwal's got a solid alibi, we'll be able to put this one to bed as a crazy lady suicide.

Nick: Dr. Vanderwal?
Dr. Max Vanderwal: Yes?
Nick: Detective Knight. Detective Vetter.
Vanderwal: I see.
Tracy: May we come in?
Vanderwal: Actually, now isn't a very good time. I'm...I'm rather busy.
Nick: This shouldn't take too long. (He walks in) We've been informed that you used to be a priest. Did you retire?
Vanderwal: Excommunicated. The Church frowned rather considerably on my adherence to the old ways of our religion.
Nick: Such as using lamb's blood in excrcism?
Vanderwal: Yes. An obscure practice, now condemned as sacrilegious, but one I find very effective in instances where Satan has a particularly strong grip on a person.
Tracy: So you are an exorcist?
Vanderwal: It sounds rather frightening, doesn't it? Sometimes it is. At any rate, I've...I've never denied it. I go where I can do what must be done.
Tracy: Don't you live in Toronto?
Vanderwal: If evil took up permanent residence here, then so would I.
Nick: Did you know that Melanie Sawchuck was dead? You don't seemed surprised.
Vanderwal: No. She was here last night, for a session that didn't go at all well. The demon in her was very powerful. I had hoped with a few more attempts we might succeed. She went home. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, that's all I know.
Tracy: Are you suggesting that the devil killed Melanie?
Vanderwal: Isn't that what you're suggesting? Tell me how she died.
Tracy: Her car went off an unfinished section of highway.
Vanderwal: Hmm. Suicide. If that's what you want to call it. How many suicides are ever fully understood?
Nick: We're not sure it was a suicide.
Vanderwal: Perhaps you never will. I don't suppose you know what it's like to be tormented by evil, Detective Knight? You're wondering what's in that room. I'll show you. You should see for yourself what evil can do. (They go in the room) This is Michael. He's in the middle of his fourth session. To a psychologist, he exhibits all signs of clinical depression, but I knew the moment he came to me.
Tracy: You think he's possessed?
Vanderwal: If you doubt it, watch. I'm speaking to Michael.
Michael: Too bad, Michael isn't here just now.
Vanderwal: Then who am I speaking--
Michael: I have several names. Take your pick.
Vanderwal: Der octortanten Domini patris quoro nunc omnes demones in ov loco. I seal this room with the blood of Jesus and bind all demons to return whence they came.
Michael: Stop it! You're hurting him! You're hurting Michael!
Vanderwal: We do not wrestle with flesh and blood, but with powers. With the rulers of darkness of this age. En nominae Jesu. En pero. Un eum oc corpus nos. Release this man.
Michael: Must stop it! Stop it!
Vanderwal: I command thee! Corpus eum en pero. (Michael looks up at Nick)
Michael: You...are...mine! (Nick staggers backwards, and the vampire reveals itself for a moment)
Vanderwal: En nominae de Patris, de Filio, y de Spirito Sancto. (He makes the sign of the cross over Michael) He is clean. The demon has been driven out.

Tracy: Tell me that was all smoke and mirrors back there. That was some very elaborate put-on. Like the wizard said, 'Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain'.
Nick: What?
Tracy: You know, from the Wizard of Oz? You know, I've had my eyes opened to some pretty weird things lately, stuff that I only thought happened in movies and books but, I cannot accept that what we saw at Vanderwal's was a demon being exorcised. You know, Vanderwal is a charlatan. And a very dangerous one at that. Look what he puts people through. Nick? (Nick sees a man in the street and swerves, Tracy doesn't see anything) Nick! Are you okay? What's the matter?
Nick: Nothing. I thought there was a cat.

Nick: Police, freeze! Put your gun down and let her go.
Barnes: I swear. I'll blow her head off!
Nick: Let her go. *Put your gun down on the ground and let the girl go now.* Take her inside the store. Make sure nobody else is hurt. I've got this, go. *Put your gun down.*
Barnes: My God.... What are you? Stay away from me! (Tracy comes out of the store) All right. All right, I'll do it. Forgive me, God. (He shoots himself) Tracy: Oh my God!

Reese: Now, this guy, Barnes, was wanted for homicide, rape. He did time for armed robbery too. IA won't be a problem.
Tracy: It looked like he was gonna put his gun down, but, I don't know...guess he just lost it.
Reese: No big surprise there either. Suicidal tendencies. See, while he was on the inside, he tried to kill himself on two different occasions. Psyche reports claimed the voices told him to. I don't know. Third time lucky, I guess. Look. The point is, you saved that woman's life tonight. That's all anyone cares about. Period. Damn! Is it freezing in here, or is it just me?
Tracy: Um... You don't look well.
Reese: Me and half the precinct. (Nick walks off) I had to send five guys home tonight.
Tracy: So, they still haven't found that smell?
Reese: No. They think there's a sewer pipe ruptured somewhere in the building, that's coming through the system.
Tracy: Yeah, I can't believe it. No wonder everyone's sick. This can't be healthy.
Reese: Yeah, tell me about it.
Tracy: (Walks over to Nick's desk...he's shaking) Nick? Nick, are you okay?
(The maintenance guy working nearby is electrocuted and Tracy and Reese rush there.)
Tracy: Oh my God. Reese: Get the paramedics in here!
Tracy: You're gonna be all right. Just don't move.

Nick: Who do you pray for, friend?
Sancho: My family. If I die, my wife and children must be cared for.
LaCroix: And who will do that? Your God as well? The same god that would allow your flesh to be incinerated?
Sanchez: It is not for me to question.
LaCroix: Of course not, because once the question is asked, it must be answered.
Sancho: God is in all of us. Even you, though you serve the devil.
LaCroix: I serve no one!
Sancho: Then you are without purpose.
LaCroix: Perhaps, but at least I do not deceive myself.
Sancho: (After Nick approaches him) Please.
Nick: You have nothing to fear from me.
Sancho: You? Who cannot walk in the daylight. The lamb's blood and crosses repel you. Tell me you are not an angel of the devil.
LaCroix: Yes, Nicholas. Do tell.

Inquisitor: It is time.
LaCroix: Enjoy.
Sancho: I beg you, your Grace. Have mercy.
Inquisitor: Let mercy be the Providence of God. You will be exorcised and your flesh will be put to the flame. If you are the innocent that you claim to be, God will take you into his kingdom. That is something only a demon would fear. Bring him!
Sancho: No! Please, your Grace.
Inquisitor: (To Nick and LaCroix) Both of you back!
Sancho: I am innocent. In the name of God, help me!
Nick: (Revealing the vampire Release him!
LaCroix: Really Nicholas, such crass showmanship.
Nick: I am the demon you seek. I am the devil's servant. This man refused to join us. His faith has twisted his mind.
Inquisitor: You may go. God be with you. Bring oil and fire. Go! Quickly!

Tracy: Nick's not answering. Maybe he went right to bed?
Reese: He looked like he needed some sleep. I've never anyone look so pale.

Eva: Hi. You look like you could use a drink. Care to join me? (Nick takes her invitation, and kisses her) Is that a yes?

LaCroix: Why Nicholas...what a pleasant surprise to see you like this.
Nick: Get out!
(Nick lets Eva go...and LaCroix catches her by the arm.)
LaCroix: For your own sake, my dear, you will breath not a word of this. (She leaves) Finally, you have come to your senses, Nicholas.
Nick: Please help me, LaCroix. I can't control myself.
LaCroix: Good. Although a little more discretion might be in order.
Nick: Something's happened. Something terrible. There was an exorcism. It wasn't mine. But I was there. Something happened. I think the demon came into me.
LaCroix: Don't be ridiculous, Nicholas. It is merely your true nature coming to the fore.
Nick: No!
LaCroix: Listen to me, Nicholas. There are no such things as demons and devils.
Nick: You must take me to him.
LaCroix: Who? What are you talking about?
Nick: Vanderwal. He's an exorcist.
LaCroix: I will take you to no such man.
Nick: (Grabs LaCroix by the neck) You will take me or I will be destroyed.
LaCroix: I do not take kindly to coercion, Nicholas.
Nick: (Takes LaCroix' hand in his) Please help me, LaCroix. Please....

Vanderwal: Yes, I suppose it could be possible after all. You see, the devil doesn't just go away after he's been rejected. He always seeks refuge. Usually in the conflicted, those that wage war with themselves. It's this inner turmoil that opens the door to let the demon enter. You don't want to believe any of this, do you?
LaCroix: My thoughts on the matter are irrelevant. I'm merely indulging Nicholas.
Vanderwal: Look, whether we speak literally or figuratively, God and the Devil reside in each of us. Question is, which one of them is motivating us?
LaCroix: Are you going to do this or not?
Vanderwal: Which one! Nicholas, look at me. Is that you Nicholas?
Nick/Demon: Yes.....
Vanderwal: Why don't I believe you? Who are you? What's your name?

Nick/Demon: I am the Son of Belial....
Vanderwal: The evil in him is very powerful. I need your help.
LaCroix: This is all nonsense.
Vanderwal: And yet you are here. Could it be that you feel compelled to suspend this belief? Are you responsible for his turmoil? Is it you that opened the door to let the devil into him? The devil you try so hard to dismiss. Help me. Help him.
LaCroix: I...can't.
Vanderwal: Nicholas knows you, trusts you, that may be the difference in the end. Otherwise we may lose him.
(Nick vamps out)
Nick/Demon: He is already lost. Nicholas belongs to me. He is mine. He no longer needs you.
LaCroix: He is my creation. My son. I won't let you take him from me.
Vanderwal: You...also?
LaCroix: Yes.
Vanderwal: Little wonder you find all this a little hard to believe. To admit the Devil is to admit God, and yet you see both before you. Then help us.

LaCroix: Nicholas! Stop this. Stop it!
Nick/Demon: You are weak, LaCroix. Nicholas is weak. You have no power over me.

Vanderwal: What made you chose this one?
Nick/Demon: De Brabant has been many people, all of them murderers. They are inside, restrained by some sickening moral conscience. They want to be unleashed, they want to kill again. Oh...Nicholas and I will make a fine pair. He has real potential. I want to develop it.

Tracy: I'm sure he's okay, Natalie. He probably stopped at the drug store on the way home.
Natalie: Yeah...ah yeah, you're probably right. Look, when did this, uh, whatever it is, come over Nick?
Tracy: I don't know. He was acting strange on the back from Vanderwal's.
Natalie: Vanderwal's?
Tracy: Eh...it's a long story.
Natalie: Why don't you just uh, give me the highlights.

Nick/Demon: I have revived...revived the vampire's taste. I've revived the vampire's taste for death. The goodness he has cultivated...cultivated. It has been driven...driven out. I will be with him forever...forever...I will be with him forever. I will be with him forever.

Nick/Demon: You cannot save them all.
LaCroix: Fight Nicholas!
Nick/Demon: This is not your fight, LaCroix. You are one of us. You belong to us!
LaCroix: Listen to me, Nicholas. You must fight this demon. There is goodness in you, there is God in you, use it!

Natalie: Nick? Nick...it's Natalie. Nick, don't!

Vanderwal: Nicholas. You're back. You're back.
Natalie: Oh my God, Nick, what happened?
Vanderwal: For the devil to be driven out, one must first believe that God has not abandoned the soul. Torn as he is by good and evil, Nick does have faith.

Nick: Come, LaCroix. He saved us.
Sancho: You were the hand of God. He spared me through you. I don't understand what you are, but there is God in you. You're actions are proof of that.
LaCroix: His actions suited his needs, and nothing more. Come Nicholas!
Nick: Thank you.
Sancho: Go now. Go in peace.

Vanderwal: And your acceptance of that, helped to save him.
LaCroix: I did what was necessary to reclaim him.
Vanderwal: Yes, of course you did.
LaCroix: *This never happened.*

Natalie: Nick? I, ah, was just on my way in to the office. You booked off, right? Listen, I can stay here with you if you want.
Nick: No.
Natalie: It's no trouble, really. I-I could just....
Nick: I'm fine.
Natalie: It's over, Nick. Hey, you beat the devil. Not bad for a day's work.
Nick: You can't imagine what it's like.
Natalie: Maybe not, but we all have our demons.
Nick: Not like this. (Nick turns to Natalie, partially vamped out)
Natalie: Don't! Don't do that.
Nick: It's all right. Don't be afraid. I think that what happened set me back a bit, set us back a bit. I don't know how much. But I haven't felt such a powerful need for human blood in a long time.

Nightcrawler: In courts and palaces he also reigns, and in luxurious cities, where the noise of riot ascends above their loftiest towers, and injury and outrage, and when night darkens the street, then wander forth the Sons of Belial, flown with insolence and wine. Paradise, lost.