"God, watch over my daughter." "Keep her from the path of sin." "Deliver her from the evil of Satan and all his demons." "In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, amen." "Amen." "I wish you didn't have to go so far." "Don't worry, I'm gonna be fine." "It's just college." " I love you." " Oh, I love you." "All right, already, I'm comin'." " What?" " Erica?" " Yeah." " I'm Angie." "Your new roommate?" "Oh, hey." "Oh, yeah." "OK, come on in." "I thought you were supposed to be here tomorrow night." "Well, I'm pretty sure I said the twenty-fourth." "Doesn't matter." "You're here now, right?" "Here's the quick tour." "Living room." "Kitchen." "Bedroom." "My side." "Your side." "And we'll talk about the closet later." "Didn't you say in the email that there was a bed?" "There was." "However, the bitch that lived here before you, decided last minute that she was gonna take it, even though it wasn't hers." "You'll have to crash on the couch until you find one." "I don't really have money to buy one." "We'll talk about it tomorrow, OK?" "OK." "The apartment is great." "Mm-hm." "My roommate?" "She's, she's really nice." "No, I haven't had a chance to look yet." "I'm sure there's a church close by here somewhere, yes." "I promise." "Mom, I have to go now." "Yeah, I love you too." "Bye." "Sorry." "Should watch where I'm goin'." " Are you all right?" " I'm fine." "Excuse me." "Hail Mary full of grace." "Be careful." "That's so sad." "Yup." "Table..." "Desk..." "Motorcycle." "Sell your eggs." "Where are all the friggin' beds?" "What do you think happened to her?" "Who knows?" "Last year, this girl went missing." "Her mom was on the news, the police did a full manhunt." "Turns out she moved to Colorado with her boyfriend and just didn't tell anyone." "It happens all the time." "Course, they did find some girl down in Redding all hacked up last month." "Did they ever catch the guy?" "I never heard anything about it if they did." "Not one fucking bed - are you kidding me?" "Every time I come up here, there's like a million of 'em." " You find one?" " No, it's for a job babysitting." " That's a Montague area code." " What does that mean?" "It's out in farm country." "It's the boonies." "Oh." "Well, I'm gonna check it out anyway." "Suit yourself." "There another one of these boards on the other side of campus." "Let's go see if there's any beds on it." "Now, here we have a painting by Hans Aachen, entitled Saint George Slaying the Dragon." "Now, Saint George is the patron saint of England, and is venerated throughout Christendom for his example of bravery, in the defence of the poor and the downtrodden." "Keep in mind that during this era of religious artistry, that dragons were not just the mere machinations of evil derived from the minds of simple village folk, but were in fact, symbolic representations of the devil himself." "In this particular picture, Saint George slays the dragon." "Once again, displaying the classic archetype that good will defeat evil and God will defeat..." "Satan." "Good." "Now, on to the works of Evelyn Munyan." "Hi, I was calling about the babysitting job." "Seven twenty-four Lancaster Road." "Got it." "OK." "I'll see you in a few." "Hey, there." "You must be Angie." " Angie, I'm Jim Stanton." " Hi." "We appreciate you coming out here." "Know what a long drive it is." "Oh, it wasn't that bad." "You made it." "Hi." "Violet Stanton." " It's nice to meet you." " Nice to meet you." "And this... must be Sam." "He's a little shy at first, but that's just till you get to know him." " Isn't that right, Sam?" " That's quite a cowboy outfit you have there." "Yeah, he never takes the thing off." "He even sleeps in it most nights." " Mm-hm." " Really?" "Well, if I had a cool cowboy hat like that, I probably wouldn't take it off either." "I did the same thing when I was his age." "I had this ballerina outfit I wore all the time." "Oh, I love ballet." "Do you still dance?" "Actually, I never danced." "I just liked to wear the outfit." "Oh." "So, um, on the phone, you said something about needing a sitter for a gathering?" "Oh, yeah." "Well, the gathering is when all the local ranchers get together, and help each other sort out the new calves and brand 'em." " Then they get vaccinated and wormed." " Oh, wow." "We mostly work weekends, so that's when we'd need you to watch Sam the most." "That's perfect." "You'll have to forgive the disaster zone." "We are under construction, as you can see, so we're a little upside down." " Would you like some homemade lemonade?" " That'd be great." "OK." "Be right back." "So, are you restoring the entire house?" "Uh, one room at a time." "I really didn't think it was gonna be this much work." "Hm." "How long have you been doing it?" "I thought we were gonna be finished with the whole house in two months, but with plumbing and foundation, let's just say we're going on just over a year now." " Wow." " I know." "Thank you." "So, tell me a little bit about yourself." "I'm eighteen." "I'm in my first year at Adams Community College." "Oh, great." "What are you studying?" " Art history." " Nice." "Where are you from?" "I just left Bakersfield for the first time." "Bakersfield." "Don't they have a community college in Bakersfield?" "Oh, yeah, they do." "Um, but the art history programme is better here." "Really?" "Do you have any brothers or sisters?" "No, just me and my mom." "Mm." "Hm." " May I use your restroom?" " Oh, sure." "Of course." "The sink is broken in the one downstairs, so use the one at the top of the stairs." "I'm sorry." "Did I scare you?" "No, not at all." "I just wasn't expecting..." " I'm sorry." " Well, it's no problem." "Hey, honey, you know where those small bungees are?" "Get a grip, Ange." "Hi, Sam." "I think she's great." "Oh, hi." "So, we have talked it over, and decided that we would love for you to watch Sam on Friday night," " if that's OK with you." " Yeah, Friday will be fine." "Terrific." "I'd like to take my beautiful wife out on the town before things get a little bit busy around here." "Are you stalking me?" " Excuse me?" " I'm the guy you ran into the other night." "Oh." "Hi." "Looks like we're neighbours." "I live in the building next door." "I'm Rick." "Angie." "Nice to meet you, Angie." "You, too." "Hey, uh, maybe we could get a bite to eat later or something." " I have to study." " Ah." "That's cool." "I probably should, too." "Maybe some other time." "Hi." "Hey!" "Angie, this is Hal." "Yeah." "It's nice to meet you." "Have a seat." "Hey, you want some?" "No." "I'm OK, thank you." "So, uh, you need a bed, huh?" " Yeah." " You can totally have mine." "Absolutely." "It's like the coolest bed ever." " Really?" " Yeah." "That bed has seen more action than you could believe." "It's like good luck or something like that." "That's..." "That's great." "You can come over to my place on Saturday, and I'll help you move it." " Thank you." " Yeah." " Oh." "Who the..." " You dropped some on your shirt." "Are you sure you don't want some?" "Really, thank you." "But um, I have to get going." "I'll see you later, and thanks again for the bed." " Hey." " Hey." "Twelve years of Catholic school, church every Sunday." "Altar boy - the whole shebang." "Couldn't get out of it if I tried." "D'you mind if I ask you a personal question?" "Depends on the question." "Why are you always so jumpy?" "I don't know." "I'm not usually like this." "It's just..." "Do you ever feel like someone's watching you?" "What, do you mean like a guardian angel?" "No, like..." "like someone's stalking you." "But..." "Someone's stalking you?" "You've been here for what, like a week and you already have a stalker?" "I'm so jealous." "I don't know." "It just feels like someone is." "Maybe it's just being away from home and all, that's got me nuts." "It sounds like you've got a lot on your mind." "Yeah." "I guess I do." " How's your vanilla?" " It's good." "Yeah?" "Nah, chocolate's still better." "Well, my stalking duties end here." "Wait." "I thought I was stalking you." "Right." "Sorry, I keep getting that part mixed up." "What are you doin' tomorrow night?" "Oh, I have to work." "Maybe, um, maybe we could do something on Saturday, though?" "I'd like that." "Well, good night." "Good night." " Angie, you are the... twenty-seventh?" " That's right." "...female student that we've spoken to since Rebecca Miller went missing, and you all have every reason to be concerned." "Now, we've put extra squad cars on the streets, and I know that campus security is very aware of the situation." "Why would someone put this on my door?" "People have been putting these things up everywhere." "My door was the only one in the entire building." "Let me give you my card." "If this guy tries anything, you call me up and we'll come straightaway." " Thank you." " OK." "No!" "Come on!" " Car trouble?" " Yeah, kind of." "Pop the hood." "I'll take a look at it." "Geez, I am gonna be so late!" "I'll tell you what." "I'll give you a ride, and then I'll come back and take a look at your car." " Are you sure?" "It's kinda far." " It'll be my pleasure." "You weren't kidding when you said this place was out here." "I'm sorry." "I really appreciate you doing this." "Don't be sorry." "I'm happy to do it." "Thanks." "You're welcome." "So, uh, call me in a few, and I'll let you know if you need to take it to a mechanic." "You're sweet." "Remind me to offer to fix your car more often." " Hi, Mr Stanton." " Hi, Angie." " Is that your boyfriend?" " No, just a friend." "I had a little car trouble, so he gave me a ride." "Huh." "Nice friend." "Yeah." "He is a nice friend." "Hm." "Is there any chance you could give me a ride home?" "I don't see why not." "Psst." " Ah, here." "I'll take that." " Thanks." "You weren't kidding about the cowboy outfit." "Like I said, he never takes the thing off." "You wouldn't believe what a pain it is to get him to take a bath." "Sam couldn't stop talking about you after you left the other day." "Really?" "I wasn't sure he even liked me." " Oh, no, no, no, no, he loves you." " Oh." "It's just, you know, he gets very quiet when he first meets people." "Oh." "OK, so let me just show you a few things." "Here is the TV remote." "Sam is a heavy sleeper, but you might want to keep it low, just in case." "And here is the phone with all the contact numbers that you could possibly need." " Keys to the Jeep, in case you need it." " Got it." "Help yourself to anything in the refrigerator, but the bottom row is Sam's." "He's on a special diet, so don't feed him anything that's not in those containers, just in case he wakes up hungry." "So, we all set?" "I think so." "Are you sure you don't have any questions?" "Oh, come on." "She's fine." " We're running late anyway." " OK, OK." " Do you have any idea when you'll be back?" " We shouldn't be gone more than three or four hours." "Just make yourself at home." " We'll see you later." " Have a good night." " OK, thanks." " Don't forget to call." "Don't start playing games with yourself." "It's just an old house." "There's a heart attack waiting to happen." " Hello?" " Hi, it's me." "Hey there, me." "How's the babysitting going?" "The kid driving you crazy yet?" " No, it's like he's not even here." " I guess that's good, right?" "I just wanted to let you know you don't have to come get me." "Mr Stanton's gonna give me a ride." "Oh." "I was actually looking forward to it." "In fact, you called right at the moment of truth." "Oh, I'm good." "Your starter connection was bad." "I took it apart, put it back together and reconnected it." "Thank you so much." "So, uh, I'll see you later?" "OK, I'll see you later." "Stanton residence." "Hello?" "Rick, is that you?" "I'm sorry." "Whoever this is, I can't hear you." "I'm gonna hang up now." "Hello?" "That was fast." "Did you just try calling me?" "No." " Oh." "OK." " Are you OK?" "I'm fine." "Someone just tried calling, and I thought it might be you." "No, wasn't me." "OK, well, I will call you later." "OK." "Maybe a little TV will help." "Woo-woo-woo-woo,ha-ha!" "Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much." "Thank you..." "It would be a good idea not to leave it on at full volume, if you don't want it played too loud." "I hope that didn't wake him." "He does sleep like a rock." "Oh, God, you scared me." "I'm sorry, did I wake you up?" "Hungry." "Oh." "OK, let's go get you something to eat." "Your mom said you can only eat the food on the bottom..." "You want me to heat some of this up?" "Diced red meat." "Very rare diced red meat." "Let's get a different one." "I guess it's diced rare meat." "Are you sure you're supposed to have this?" "OK." "Do you want some ketchup or something?" "Careful, you're gonna burn your..." "Hello?" "Please stop calling here." "Did you hear that?" "Good evening, Montague Dispatch." "One moment, please." "Chief..." "Line one." " Dinneli here." " Hi, this is Angie." "I came by your office today." "Oh, yeah." "Hi, Angie, how you doin'?" "I'm not sure." "I'm babysitting at seven-twenty-four Lancaster Road." " That's the Stanton place." "I know it." " I think there's someone outside the house." "Did you see someone?" "Not exactly." "I just keep hearing strange noises, and I keep getting these phone calls where no one talks." " How would you describe the noises?" " I don't know." "Like locks rattling," " like there's someone outside the door." " Angie, calm down." "Now, did you see someone outside?" "No, it just feels like there is." "OK, well, I'm just about to make my rounds, so I will swing by and check it out, OK?" "Thank you." "Sam?" "Sam?" "Sam?" "Sam, are you getting back in bed?" "I think you should brush your teeth... first." "Sam?" "Where are you?" "Are you playing a game with me?" "Come on, Sam!" "I need you to get back in bed before your parents get home." "Hey, buddy, where are you goin'?" "Sam?" "Sam!" "Sam, I'm done playing now, OK?" "You have to get in bed." "I'm serious." "This isn't funny." "You need to go to sleep." "Sam?" "Sam, are you in here?" "It's past your bedtime." "Your mommy is gonna be very, very upset with you." "Do you hear me, young man?" "Hello?" "Who is this?" "Hey, you ruined my surprise." "I'm about 20 minutes away." "Oh, thank God!" "I'm freaking out right now." " Hey, why, what's wrong?" " This guy keeps calling, the kid is playing hide-and-seek and the house is making strange noises." "Whoa." "Angie, slow down." "What's your problem, buddy?" "Hey, Angie, I gotta pull over for a second." "Hold on." "Rick?" "Hello?" "Oh great." "I need a weapon." "Ahh!" "Sam?" "Sam, wait!" "Help, somebody!" "Let go of me!" "Sam?" "Sam, where are you?" "!" "Sam, come on, we have to go!" "Sam!" "Sam, please, I know you're scared." "Look, I'm scared, too, Sam, but we have to go." "Sam, please!" "Why?" "Oh." "Oh, Sam, thank God!" "I need you to come with me, OK?" "Come on." "Come on." " We're just gonna go for a little drive, OK?" " Hungry." "I know." "We'll get you something to eat later, OK, sweetie?" "Oh no, I left the keys in the house." "OK, we're just gonna run inside, we're gonna grab the keys, and we're gonna get out of here, OK?" "Sam, I need you to wait here until I get back, OK?" "OK?" "Wait here." " Evil!" "Evil!" " Sam, run!" "Evil!" "Ah!" "Evil!" "Run!" "Stay away from him!" "Evil!" "Evil!" "Evil!" "Evil!" "Let go!" "Sam, are you all right?" "Hungry." "God help me." "Oh, my God, Sam, no." "Oh, God, baby, are you OK?" "Another goddamn priest." "Son of a bitch, this is Father Nicoletta!" " Thought I killed that fucker in Romania." " Well, I guess you didn't." "You are one tough old bastard." "Last time I saw you, you had an axe sticking' out of the top of your head." " Jim, how did he find us?" " I don't know." "Goddamn!" "Oh, oh, that's just great." "He's still alive." "Just great!" "Come on, baby, let's get out of here." "Well, he's dead now." "They're like fuckin' rats." "Ohh!" "Hold on there, Missy." "You're not going anywhere." "Sorry." "Vi..." "Stop." "We covered our tracks so well." "How did he find us, Jim?" "I don't know." "I don't know." "But where there's one, there's gonna be more." "I thought we finally had a home for once." "There's only one thing we can do." "We have to leave tonight." "And go where?" "We have people in Colorado." "We can stay with them till we get our place set up." "Hon..." "Listen, it's gonna be OK." "OK." "I'll pack our things and you go prepare Sam's food for the trip." "OK." "Wait, there's only one thing - the girl we bagged tonight, she's still got the drugs in her system." "Do your best to bleed her out." "We need both of them." "We can't leave a trail of dead bodies all the way to Colorado." "OK." "Come here, honey." "Ah!" "Yeah." "One hell of a night, huh?" "Let me guess." "You're probably wondering right about now what the hell's goin' on." "Bottom line, Angie we gotta feed Sam." "Only problem is he only likes female flesh." "And it can't be any female flesh - it has to be good, clean wholesome female flesh - which, as you can imagine, is not that easy to come by." "Ah." "And you can't just go around grabbing up a whole flock of girls, cos then the local people start gettin' suspicious." "Then you gotta move again." "Last time we went out..." "we took Sam with us - big mistake." "Had to grab a local girl named Rebecca." "You know, I really hate to do that." "That is why we had to get you to baby-sit." "Then eventually, of course, you'd have to find out about Sam." "But then again, you're a nice clean girl, aren't you, Angie?" "You know..." "It is so nice to have somebody out here to talk to." "I'm always out here alone doing this." "Always." "My father..." "used to have a meat packing plant." "Every summer I worked there till I turned eighteen." "Yeah." "You know, I haven't really gotten used to slaughtering human beings, though." "Hence the cut marks." "You know what Sam's favourite cut of meat is?" "No?" "The latissimus dorsi." "Can you believe that?" "Yeah, most people would think it'd be the gluteus maximus, cos of the high fat content, but no, no, he has to have this little thin slice of beef right here." "Go figure." "Never tasted either one of 'em myself, so I couldn't really tell you if they're any good or not." "Goddamn it, I hate giving 'em drugs like that." "Fuckin' pisses me off." "This is not the way I do things, Angie, normally." "I take the girls, I give 'em health food, put 'em away for a couple days." "Lots of water." "Flushes all the drugs right out of their system." "Now, that is good food." "But, I gotta get on the road, so..." "Not that it really affects him that much." "But nothin' seems to affect him much." "Well... priests and churches." "But then again, he's not eatin' them, is he?" "All right." "There." "Oh, come on." "Oh, hey." "No, no, no." "You don't have to worry." "No, listen." "I'm gonna hit you right here in the forehead, right here." "It's only gonna hurt for a split second." "See, it kills the brain, leaves the heart pumpin'." "That way, I can drain all the blood outta you." "Aw, no, no, no, no." "No dying on me yet." "Go ahead, breathe." " Oh!" " You son of a bitch!" "I hope you rot in hell!" "What the hell was that?" "You know what?" "I said it was nice to have you out here." "Guess what?" "It's not that nice." "Jesus Christ!" "Try to be a nice guy, and that's the thanks I get." "Are you happy?" "She's probably already started to coagulate!" "You know, this part used to bother me too, when I first started." "What are doing talking to her?" " I thought you liked her." " Are you serious?" "Well, it's not like I'm out here having sex with her or somethin'." "I didn't say that you were." "It's just you have to kill her in a minute." "Why talk to her - what is the point?" "Hey, I have asked you many times to come out here and help me." " Each time, your response has been, "No."" " You know that is not my thing." "Oh, and... and cutting girls into. bite-sized pieces is my thing?" "Look, I just came out here to tell you that I'm done packing and whenever you're finished here, we can leave." "Hey." "Come here, Vi." "What?" "I'm sorry, OK?" "This night has just got me all worked up." " Kiss?" " Hm." "OK, back to work." "One down, one to go." "You know, we really did like you as a babysitter, Angie." "Hell, you saved Sam from that priest while we were out gettin' him more food." "Not a lot of people would've done that." "Course, you didn't know Sam was the son of the devil at the time, I'm assuming." "You didn't know, right?" "I didn't think so." "Well, Angie..." "It's about that time." "Once again, I'm really sorry about this." "Don't move." "Cos if I don't hit you right in the centre of the forehead, I'm gonna injure you, and I really don't want you to be in any pain." "What the hell?" "Did you call the cops?" "Don't make a sound, you understand me?" "Cos I don't want to kill him, and I really don't want to do you without the hammer." "Good evening, Officer." " How you doin'?" " OK." "How can we help you?" "Sorry to bother you guys so late, but, um, I got a call from uh, the girl who was babysitting for you, named Angie." " She left about a half an hour ago." " Mm-hm." "She in some sort of trouble?" "Well, she had called earlier and said there was someone outside the house." "Really?" "That's funny." "She didn't mention anything to us about it." " She mention it to you, honey?" " No, not at all." "Guess it was a false alarm." "You folks have a good night." " Thanks for stopping by." " Thank you." "He knows." "All right, calm down." "He doesn't know anything." "Dispatch, can you run a plate for me?" "What is he doing?" "Probably trying to find out what doughnut shop to go to." "See?" "OK, OK." "I'm gonna finish the second girl." "Now, have Sam ready to go, OK?" " All right." "OK." " All right?" "You bitch!" "You cut me!" "How does it feel, asshole!" "Ow!" "Come on, Angie..." "there's nowhere to run!" "It's all over now, Angie." "Angie!" "You're really making this harder than it needs to be." "Come on, Angie!" "I didn't ask for this life, Angie." "It was set upon me." "You've seen the boy." "You know the truth." "How can you be in his presence and not believe?" "Did you find your boyfriend, Angie?" "It's too bad he had to die for no reason." "Sam just won't eat male flesh." "I'm gonna bleed you slow - real slow!" "Damn, that hurts!" "Oh..." "Fuck." "I think you cut through a tendon." "Wake up!" "I want you to feel this!" "Good, you're awake." "Tried to be a nice guy, but you didn't like nice, did you?" "Good." "Now the other one." "No." "Drop it, asshole!" "You got any more weapons on you, son of a bitch?" "Get on your knees, now!" "Get on your knees." "How you doin', Chief?" "All the way down." "Don't worry, Angie." "I'll get you outta here." "Behind you!" "Aargh!" "Violet?" "Stop, stop, it's over." " No, no!" " It's over, it's over." "It's OK, it's OK." "They're dead." "They're dead." "Come on." "My car's parked up on the main road." "There's, there's keys in the truck." " Are you sure?" " Yes." "Hold on, I'll be right back." "Where are you going?" " The kid's inside." "I gotta go get him." " No!" "Aargh!" "Don't worry, I'll be back." "It'll just take a second." "No, he's the devil!" "Angie, it's gonna be OK." "No, it's not!" "No, we have to go!" "We have to go!" "No, please!" "Oh, please!" "Let me out of here!" "Hungry." "Please, let me out of here!" "Hungry." "Stay away from me." "Stay away from me, please!" "Hungry." "Go away!" "Sam?" "Sam, look." "There plenty of food in here for you." "See?" "Sam, you don't have to eat me." "Sam?" " No, Sam, please." " Hungry." "Please, Sam." "Stop." "Hungry!" "Still hungry?" "Well, choke on this." "How's she doin'?" "She's lost a lot of blood." " And she's in a coma." " Uh-huh." "You know, I, uh, I don't know when she'll come out of it." "OK." "But when she does, you let me know." "Goddamn slaughterhouse out there." "We need some answers." "Doctor, look, she's awake." "Angie..." "Can you blink for me?" "Good." "Can you see better now?" "Angie?" "No!" "No!" "No!" "Angie, it's OK." "It's OK, you're safe." "Nurse!" "Nurse!" "You're safe." "You're safe." "Rick?" "Yeah." "Oh, God, Rick." "Oh, please don't leave me." "No, I'm not going anywhere." "Angie, I'm gonna have to ask you a couple questions." "Can't you give her a little time?" "No, son, I'm sorry, I can't." "Now, Angie, your friend here said you were babysitting." "Is that correct?" "Yes." "Can you remember what happened to the child?" "What do you mean?" "We couldn't find him." "What?" "We found Chief Dinneli, the parents, and 20 female bodies buried in the backyard." "None of them were children." "But he was in the barn." "He was in the barn!" "Angie, try and remember exactly..." " Let her be." "...where you last saw him." " Miss, can I help you?" " I'm her mother." " Mom!" " It's OK, baby." "I'm here now." " I'll be outside if you need anything, OK, Angie?" " No, Rick, stay." "Please, stay." "We need to pray."