"Good morning, London." "It's another brilliant overcast day today." "You want any of this?" "No, thanks." "I got what I need." "Thanks for making me look good, guys." "Again." "Shit." "Amy Klein, nice of you to join the meeting." "20 minutes late." "So, what about the story, then?" "I couldn't get a verification on it." "Oh." "You're kidding?" "We'll send someone up." "Thanks again for your contribution, Klein." "Great job, Amy." "Thanks." "Hey, Klein." "Nice reporting." "How about you show me what you learned?" "You want me to show you what I learned?" "Right here?" "Right now?" "Maybe later." "Maybe not." "Hey, Amy." "Good morning." "It's half past four." "Charles, Amy's here." "Bye." "I detect that unique and ubiquitous combination of nicotine and patchouli oil that can only signal the arrival of the delightful and world-famous Amy Klein." "Eat me, Charles." "You know, it's exactly that lack of respect for authority that got you fired from the "New York Post. "" "I wasn't fired." "I was reassigned." "Of course." "Lucky for you, I opened my doors when I heard that you'd become available." "And, by the way, I don't recall ever being thanked properly for this reassignment." "I seem to remember a similar reassignment for you, Charles." "Well, look on the bright side." "We're back in the trenches together, just like old times." "Don't get sentimental on me." "If this is about me being late with my follow-up story," "I've got it all right here." "I was just about to..." "It's not about your story." "Though I'm sure you're working your usual insightful magic on what will prove to be yet another eye-opening exposé." "I expect nothing but brilliance in 5,000 words." "Or less." "But this, my dear... is better." "What, then?" "We're being sued again?" "Somebody mailed us this thing about two weeks ago." "What is it?" "Porn or something?" "Something." "Amy, with your encyclopedic knowledge of skankology, have you ever heard of Deaders?" "Yeah, me." "I owe two months' salary on my credit cards." "No, not "debtors. " Deaders." "D- e-a-d-e-r-s." "No, Charles, I've never heard of Deaders." "Watch the tape." "This is something you must see for yourself." "Don't be frightened." "Fear is where you go to learn." "That's Anna." "She isn't ready yet." "I don't think she's learned the truth yet from him." "Winter." "This is where Katia will commit herself for you to see." "It won't be pretty." "I'm Marla." "Official dead activist." "Hi, me." "There she is." "And I have to show you this." "Don't be frightened." "She's here." "I don't like this part." "Shh." "Do you become one of us of your own free will?" "Yes." "Good." "Are you afraid?" "Yes." "Good." "Fear is the place we go to learn." "Say it for me." "My skin isn't real." "My eyes aren't real." "My bones, my heart, my veins, and nerves, and flesh, and meat aren't real." "Go on." "I'm not... real." "I'm not real." "I'm not..." "Holy shit, Charles." "Just keep watching." "I am not real." "I'm not real." "I'm not real." "I'm not real." "I am not real." "I'm not real." "Oh, my God." "Did you call the police on this?" "Just watch." "This is sick." "Tell me this is some kind of special effect." "I'm alive." "I'm okay." "I'm okay." "What the fuck?" "Exactly what I said." "Maybe miracles don't just happen at Lourdes." "Who says they happen there?" "Might you, by some chance, be interested in pursuing this?" "You have anything besides the tape?" "Just a return address on the envelope." "In Bucharest." "Romania?" "Very good." "It's where the Eurotrash kids looking for a good time are heading these days." "Amsterdam is so '90s." "I still have my finger on the pulse, even though I know you think I don't have one." "Ticket, hotel, per diem." "You know me too well." "It's what keeps me up at night." "Now's the part where I'm supposed to say, "Be careful. "" "Amy." "Call me when you get settled." "Go away." "Go on." "Get out of here." "Have you lost something?" "Yeah." "I..." "I'm looking for my sister, Marla." "You don't know your sister's last name?" "Of course I do." "Look, Marla's a friend of mine, and she's missing." "I just need five minutes in there, and then I'll know all I need to know." "Hmm?" "Ohh." "Does it always smell like that in there?" "Like what?" "Right." "Hey." "Five minutes." "Ugh." "Hello?" "God." "Aah!" "Oh, no." "Aah!" "Oh, fuck!" "Shit." "Shit." "Aah!" "What are you doing in here?" "Aah!" "Aah!" "Aah!" "Aah." "Whoever you are." "You were meant to find me today." "We all have the same story." "It's what brought us here." "You wouldn't be here if you didn't belong here, too." "I thought if you saw it and started believing it, it might help." "Help all of us." "I'm starting to feel pain." "My eyes hurt." "The light really, really hurts." "And I don't know how to get back." "I just don't want to be here anymore." "I want to end it." "But I can't." "He'll expose your own demons to you, and he'll ask you to join him." "But don't, because there is no turning back." "And above all, don't open the box." "He needs for you to open the box, but don't." "It's now up to you to stop this." "Please." "Go to the central subway station." "At the south end, wait for the last car." "Tell Joey I sent you." "He'll show you to them." "Please." "Please do it for us." "Open it?" "Open what?" "Aah!" "Aah!" "Aah!" "Don't think for a moment you are not in danger." "Aah!" "Aah!" "Hello." "Help us, Amy." "What?" "I'm looking for Joey." "He's in the back." "Yeah!" "Ah." "Now here comes a daring soul." "A person committed to a just cause." "Another seeker of the truth, no doubt." "Are you Joey?" "I've been called worse." "I have the pleasure of meeting..." "Amy Klein." "Somebody named Marla sent me here to talk to you." "Mm?" "I'm looking for a girl named Katia." "And a man." "A man named Winter." "The plot thickens." "Don't tell me you're mixed up with those motherfuckers." "Oh, jeez." "Moral-quandary time." "What should he do?" "Why don't you just tell me what you know about the Deaders?" "You first." "What do you think they do?" "I think they bring the dead back to life." "Who are they, Joey?" "Some say he's like this fucked-up guru." "Some think he's not human, or they think he's not real." "But they all live together in this house." "Those who believe, I mean." "Where is it?" "If you don't tell me, someone here will." "You know, that's the problem." "You've got this fucked-up, self-destructive thing going on." "And that is making me very unhappy." "Panduri and Kovacs." "Okay?" "The northeast corner." "Two doors down." "There are some stairs that go all the way down." "But once you get mixed up with them, chances are you never get loose." "Amy Klein!" "Don't do it." "Don't go there." "Change your name, go somewhere else, become something else." "Can't do that." "I got that fucked-up, self-destructive thing going on." "Yes, you do." "Only he can bring you back." "Aah!" "No!" "Where?" "Where is he?" "Where'd he fall?" "Well, the men have looked." "And he wasn't there." "You don't seem terribly surprised." "What do you want me to tell you?" "I saw him." "Yeah." "So you've said." "Can you tell me again just what it is that you saw?" "I'm standing on the platform, and I see this..." "He had his back to the train." "That's him." "That's the guy." " It's him." " Hey." " Hey, it's him." " Hey!" "Hey!" "I saw what you did to Marla." "Stop!" "Get the fuck off me!" "Get off me!" "I know who you are!" "That's the guy." "Get the fuck off me!" "Stop him!" "What the fuck are you doing?" "Let go of me!" "You won't get away with this!" "Hey!" "You are lucky to have a boss like me." "Once again, I have saved your small but relatively shapely behind." "At least you got to travel." "What were they gonna charge me with, anyway?" "Charge you?" "They were thinking of shipping you to the asylum for observation." "Believe me, you go in there, you don't come out." "Got your stuff?" "Why did you give me this story, Charles?" "Who else would have taken it?" "They're gonna think it's bullshit, or they're gonna be too afraid." "But Amy Klein." "Tell me it's real, Amy." "It's real." "Or I'm crazy." "Either way, it's a good story." "You see, Amy, for the average person, the hunger for knowledge is like the hunger for food." "We want to know just enough to take the edge off our appetite." "Then we're satisfied, and we stop." "But you are a glutton." "You can't help overeating." " I don't hear you complaining." " No, that's the point." "That's why I still need you." "'Cause all that stuff I don't eat, I still want." "So I send you in to do the eating for me so I get to experience it without actually suffering any mental indigestion." "Thanks a lot." "So, I do all the suffering." "Nobody's forcing anything down your throat, correct?" "No." "I'm not here to save people, and I'm not here to judge them." "I take them as they come and use them as they pass by." "You know, there's something vaguely demonic about you." "Did you know the word "demon"" "comes from the Greek word for "knowledge"?" "No, I didn't." "American education." "Hop in." "I'll give you a lift." "No, thanks." "I need the fresh air." "Then walk back to your room, lie in your coffin until the daylight hours have passed, as is your habit, then go get me my story." "Panduri and Kovacs." "Damn it." "Aw, shit." "Hello?" "Is anybody there?" "Hello?" "Is somebody there?" "What the hell?" "Whoa!" "Aah!" "Aah!" "Oh, God!" "No!" "No!" "No!" "No, no!" "Aah!" "Shh." "Follow me." "One of us." "Amy Klein." "You know me." "I chose you." "You didn't choose me." "I came here to help Marla and the others." "And what makes you think they need help?" "Tell me, Amy Klein, were you afraid when you saw Marla?" "Of what you found?" "Yes." "What is it?" "You might say it's a family heirloom passed down through many generations." "Left here as a gift." "The way to cheat death." "An entrance to a world of everlasting pleasure." "It rightfully belongs to me." "Though there are others who might disagree." "Should I be honored or afraid that you are here with me, Amy Klein?" "You tell me." "Don't dance with me." "Don't think for one second that you're not in danger." "You are in more danger than you ever imagined possible." "Who are you?" "I am here to reclaim what is mine." "And you are here to help me." "It is your destiny to be here." "I can give life back to those who choose the dark over light and will do so much more." "But first, I need your help." "What happened to Marla?" "What did you do to her?" "Marla?" "Why, I accepted her, that's all." "That's all I've ever done for anybody who's come to me." "She didn't want to become one of you." "Whatever the hell you are." "That's why she killed herself." "Or did she?" "Marla will never really die because she's not really alive." "The more she doubts... the deader she becomes." "I know what I saw in that room was real." "It was real, like this flesh." "Do you think this is real?" "This flesh?" "This blood?" "No." "Do you think this thing is a presence?" "In all essential qualities, it is less than nothing." "In all essential qualities, we are less than nothing." "Not solid." "Not here." "And not real." "What did you see?" "What are you afraid of, Amy?" "I'm not afraid of you." "Oh, yes, you are." "You opened the box." "Now I need you to take the next step." "The box and all its powers belong to me." "Get off of me!" "Let me go!" "You're all crazy!" "Let go of me." "Accept my gift." "No!" "Keep still, Amy." "Now give back to me what is rightfully mine." "Get away from me!" "No!" "No more pain." "No!" "Only pleasure!" "Yes!" "Get it together." "No." "No." "Aah!" "What the hell?" "Shit!" "What the fuck is going on?" "No!" "Holy shit!" "No!" "What the fuck is going on?" "This is a dream." "This is a fucking dream." "This is a fucking dream!" "No!" "God, help me!" "What have you done to me?" "Help!" "Aah!" "No!" "No!" "No!" "Oh, it's not real." "This is not real." "Aah!" "Aah!" "Aah!" "Only he can bring you back, Amy." "What the fuck have you done to me?" "Not done." "Nor will I." "Who are you?" "Why did you do this to me?" "Who I am is no concern of yours." "And you may be assured that this is not my handiwork." "Ask yourself this." "When you stand there, your flesh exposed, paddling in a pool of your own blood, why is it that you feel no pain?" "Because I'm dreaming." "Because this is a fucking dream." "No!" "Not a dream." "You have been recruited as a soldier in another man's war." "A war that he can never win." "You opened the box, and your soul belongs to me." "As does his." "The Deaders have discovered an entry into my world." "My domain." "But they can only complete their journey through you, Amy Klein." "And your only way back is through me now." "I am your redeemer." "I am the way." "No!" "Don't even start." "Joey." "Please, I need you to help me." "Help you with what?" "Wow." "Are those real?" "Joey, please!" "I need you to fucking help me!" "You gotta give in, Amy." "You're trying too hard." "Forget about the facts." "Forget about reality." "Just sit back." "Enjoy the ride." "There's nothing you can do about it anyway." "We're all just pieces in Winter's puzzle." "The box." "You're a person who's willing to do anything to find the truth." "That's what I find attractive about you." "That and the fact you got a great ass." "But me and you ain't all that different, really." "We'll do anything to go to the edge, to the extreme." "You know what our biggest problem is?" "Neither of us know when to get off the fucking train." "Joey." "Joey." "Oh!" "Oh, God!" "Oh, God!" "No!" "Aah!" "No!" "Aah!" "No!" "Aah!" "Aah!" "Aah!" "Aah!" "Marla?" "What is happening to me?" "You're dying." "Like me." "Come on, let's go." "Where?" "That's for you to decide." "Marla, look at me." "I just want to go home." "Amy." "You are home." "Marla, wait." "Where are we going?" "Home." "You said you wanted to go home." "Marla." "What happened to you?" "Just think of it this way." "An hour ago, I stabbed you in the heart, yet you're still walking around." "Isn't that a bit unusual?" "Yes." "Why aren't you dead, Amy?" "No!" "Why aren't I?" "I don't know." "Because when it's dark enough, there's no such thing." "There's no difference between being dead and alive." "And now I'm here to help you face your past, Amy." "Your demons." "I didn't choose you to stab me in the back." "Aah!" "Yes, you did." "But it was only a rehearsal, Amy, to get you used to this feeling." "You need to decide what to do next." "Winter wants you because you opened the box." "He needs you because of this." "But you'll help him only if you become a Deader willingly." "And you can't have any doubts." "Guess I screwed up on that part." "Fear." "Fear is where you go to learn." "And sometimes where you stay." "No!" "I'm sorry, Amy." "I told you there's no turning back." "No!" "Aah!" "Good morning." "Amy, calm down." "Calm down." "We're gonna get you out of here." "What?" "Look, I'm trying to get you out of here, back to London." "But with that mess you made in your hotel room, they're not gonna let you go so quickly." "Charles." "That's the best fucking news I've heard in a long time." "Well, there you go." "There's a whole new definition of optimism." "What about Marla and the story?" "Forget about the story." "What's important is you're back here, okay?" "But, hey, you know, this is a great story, too, you know?" "You could call it "My Psychotic Episode. "" "Or "Psychotic." "Episode One. "" "Well, you look a lot better." "Maybe they'll let you use some felt-tip pens to take some notes." "How are we feeling?" "Trapped." "What say we lose the charm bracelets for now?" "Unless, of course, you find all this somehow stimulating." "Don't drag me into your little fantasies, Charles." "Please." "I'm drawing pictures." "They're very lovely." "Mind if I join you?" "Okay." "Want me to draw your picture?" "I would like that very much." "No peeking." "What do you think?" "Marla?" "Marla, you're alive." "You say that like it's a good thing." "Marla, what's happening to me?" "Why am I here?" "Ultimate pleasure." "More than anyone, even those who have solved the puzzle box before us could have imagined." "Conditions of the nerve endings, the likes of which your imagination could not hope to evoke." "At least that's what they say." "Trouble is, Winter can't solve the puzzle." "Only a few chosen ones." "Just the right amount of depravity and loneliness in their souls can." "So he's been on this quest for years." "Searching for that one mythical person." "The one person willing to both join us and who can solve the puzzle." "It wasn't me." "Maybe it's Amy Klein." "Why me?" "Why any of us, Amy?" "We all have a dark past that we keep hidden, even to ourselves." "He uses that against us." "But you're the chosen one, Amy." "You opened the box, and only you can stop him now." "Remember that." "Looks like you're running out of time." "No." "No." "No!" "Leave me alone!" "Ugh!" "Finish it, Amy." "No." "Let all the pain go." "It is time for you to finish your journey." "Aah!" "Yes." "No!" "Come on, Amy." "You got that fucked-up, destructive thing going on." "I don't belong here." "I'm sorry." "You see, you're one of us now." "All you have to do is take the final step." "Yes." "That's it." "I don't think so." "Go to hell." "No!" "It seems that evil does run in the family." "Your lineage is that of a craftsman." "A maker of toys." "You should have stayed in the family business." "I sacrificed my mortal self to that box." "It's mine now." "It belongs to me." "Well, that's where you're wrong." "Painfully wrong." "We belong to it." "You can't hurt me." "You're not the first to say that." "And you won't be the last." "Help!" "Help me!" "No more!" "When you were tempted to live beyond death, you entered into my domain." "Oh, God!" "You should be very careful what you wish for." "Aah!" "Stop!" "Aah!" "It just might come true!" "Aah!" "This world." "It obviously disappoints you all." "That is why you chose to begin this journey." "And since you gave yourselves so willingly, allow me to finish what he started." "Oh, for fuck's sake." "So, Amy Klein." "You opened the box." "You brought us all together." "And now you must pay the price." "It won't be so easy this time." "Yes, your father is with me." "And he is waiting for you." "You're here to stop this, Amy." "Don't let him take you." "Your soul is mine and mine alone." "Only he can bring you back." "There is no way back but through me!" "I didn't give my soul to him." "I'm not gonna give it to you." "Aah!" "No!" "Witnesses say the building at the corner of Panduri and Kovacs simply imploded sometime in the early morning hours." "It is unknown at this time if there were people inside the building or if there was anyone hurt during the collapse of the structure." "There are reports that victims could be heard screaming." "Just talked to the police." "Still nothing." "She's just gone." "Left her hotel." "Left her clothes." "Left her money." "No sign of her anywhere." "See no Amy, hear no Amy." "Do you think something has happened?" "I don't know." "I just don't know." "The firefighters have been on the scene throughout the night." "Too bad." "We may have a story." "The worst of the fires seem to be put out." "I mean, until all this happened." "Other sources say that it is highly unlikely that anyone or anything withstood the impact from the destruction of the building behind me." "This keeps getting better and better." "Your 3:00 is here." "Hmm?" "Miss..." " Turner." " Turner." "Miss Turner." "Yes, pleasure to meet you." "Welcome to the team." "Now, look, I want to show you a tape that I just received." "Now, it's a story you might be able to wrap your head around." "That's, of course, if you're willing." "A small relic found incredibly and mysteriously undamaged." "We'll stay here for the remainder of the day."