"My God." "I think this is it." "We don't know that yet." "We will." "We will, my friend." "What are you doing?" "Not here." "We gotta get it to the States, under controlled conditions." "For all you know, it could disintegrate before we could even read it." "For God's sake, keep your lights on." "I'm trying, John." "It won't stay on." "We gotta get the scroll to Hitchcock." "He's the one paying our way." "John, re-seaI it." "We have to leave here." "Yes, you're right." "You and Jones start on down." "No" "I'II follow you." "No!" "Oh, no!" "And how long have these disturbances been going on?" "Since early fall." "But no one, so far, has been harmed by the apparition." "So, alex?" "Leave it to me." "Be careful." "It's supposed to snow, right?" "Oh, yeah." "Before you all go charging off there's one other piece of news." "A donation from RandoIph Hitchcock." "That the guy who got in trouble with the State Department for buying up those oil wells in the middle East?" "The same." "Why would he want to donate to the Winston Rayne collection?" "RandoIph knew my father quite well and we traveled together." "And in fact more than 20 years ago he was a member of this Legacy House." "So I invited him to come here tonight with some kind of spectacular artifact he's discovered." "I'd Iike you all to meet him, the one thing he requested." "Tonight?" "Eight o'cIock, in the study." "Eight o'cIock." "Here we are, sir." "Have a nice evening." "RandoIph." "Come in." "When I got your message I couId hardly believe it came from you." "I don't know why." "It only took me 2 1 years to send it." "Ladies and gentlemen RandoIph Hitchcock." "These are my colleagues." "rachel Corrigan." "pleasure." "My pleasure, I'm sure." "Nick BoyIe." "hello, Nick, how are you?" "Good, thanks." "Father philip CaIIaghan." "alexandra Moreau." "hello." "Nice to meet you." "Enchanted." "well, Derek, it wouId seem that you have raised a fine family here." "It makes me all the sorrier I never had one of my own." "I'm sure Derek has told you that I was once upon a time, a member of The Legacy myself." "But due to a tragic accident and perhaps an even more tragic misunderstanding I was forced to leave." "I have always regretted that." "As have I." "I've wondered, all these years, how to make amends." "But it wasn't until I came upon this that I felt sure I'd found it." "I can't imagine a better place for the mysteries contained herein to be unraveled than the Winston Rayne hall of Antiquities." "I don't mind telling you it took me three expeditions to find this scroll." "Expeditions?" "Where?" "To Qumran where the Dead Sea scrolls were found." "What exactly is this?" "That is what I'm hoping The Legacy can tell me." "As I'm sure you're aware the Dead Sea scrolls were found in cliffside caves." "eleven caves in all." "Yes, exactly." "But less weII-known is the fact that the original scrolls refer to other scrolls and to a twelfth cave which has never been discovered." "And you found it?" "I found the twelfth cave." "And discovered this inside it." "But what's it written in?" "It looks almost like...." "Sumerian." "But it's not." "No, it isn't." "There are many unanswered questions about this scroll." "What it says, what this parchment is made of and when, precisely, it dates from." "That's why I was hoping The Legacy could examine and preserve this." "I would love to take a crack at deciphering it." "Derek, your cohorts are chomping at the bit already." "Yeah, look what you've done now." "Oh, RandoIph." "Thank you again." "You know how sorry I am, and always have been for what happened to alicia." "I've never actually forgiven myself." "well, it's time you did." "It's over, Derek." "It's taken me years to realize that, but now I have realized it." "Now you must do the same." "Thank you." "So you'd Iike to oversee the work on the scroll?" "unless you want to fight me for it." "I'm glad to see you and your old friend reconciled after all these years." "So am I." "So am I." "Burning the midnight oil?" "Just making some notes." "So you and Hitchcock used to raise some hell together, huh?" "Yeah." "Quite a Iong time ago." "Who's the babe?" "RandoIph's fiancée." "Her name was alicia." "If you hadn't educated me I would have felt certain that she was with you." "Hitchcock's a better man than I thought." "Back then, the three of us were inseparable." "Whatever happened to her?" "She died." "I'm sorry." "Have you come to wish me a bon voyage?" "Think you can handle this?" "What, the pennywhistle Inn?" "Trust me." "You okay?" "Of course." "Why?" "I don't know." "It looks like you could use a good night's rest." "Did you sleep at all last night?" "Not much, actually." "Bad dreams, I'm afraid." "Take care." "call me if you need me, okay?" "No." "No, no, please." "please don't go." "The house isn't really haunted." "It's just the plumbing." "It's just very loud." "It just" "You'II never get our business again." "It's not ghosts, really." "Another satisfied customer, I see." "please, it's not as bad as it seems." "really." "Rent me a room, and tell me all about it." "You're serious?" "absolutely." "well, Iet me take your bags." "Great." "Come on in." "Here we go." "Okay, thank you." "Now, this is an incredible room." "Are all the rooms this nice?" "I wish I couId say they were." "This is the best of them all." "After my parents died last year and left this place to me..." "..." "I spent all I had renovating it." "well, it's great." "Everybody always wants to stay in a quaint bed-and-breakfast but nobody wants to share a bath." "So I had them put in this customized bathroom." "Even one of these shower massage heads." "AII right, then, I'II take it." "You might want to think twice about that." "This is the room where three people have seen the ghost." "Once, it was standing by that window." "Once, he was standing at the foot of the bed and once...." "Once what?" "Once he even tried to get into bed with a guest." "Thank you, sir." "What was that tune you were playing just now, Derek?" "honestly, I don't know where it came from." "Must have heard it someplace before." "I hate to be the one to interrupt such inspiration, barging in here like this" "Oh, no, no, no." "Not at all." "I certainly understand your eagerness to decipher the scroll." "well, it took me such a hellishly long time to find it I suppose I just can't wait to discover what we have." "Do you know anything?" "These things take time." "We're working on it." "And unless the protocols have changed since my day the laboratory would be off-Iimits to anyone except members of The Legacy." "Is that right?" "well, that's still the protocol, yes." "But given the circumstances, I think an exception can be made." "please." "wonderful." "I'd Iike to be able to say the place hasn't changed a bit but it has, and all to the good, apparently." "RandoIph was wondering if we've made any progress with the scroll yet." "No, we've run some tests on the parchment and ink." "Nothing yet." "What about the age?" "Have you been able to determine that?" "Carbon dating's done just outside of Stanford University's campus." "I'd give them a phone call and ask if they'd run the test again." "precisely what date did they give you?" "1 1 ,000 B.C., plus or minus 200 years." "Isn't that impossible?" "From everything that I understand and I would bow to your expertise on this but as far as I know, no written language had been invented at such an early date." "True." "And we've never seen writing like this before." "I seem to have bestowed more questions than answers on The Legacy, eh?" "Derek?" "You all right?" "Why wouldn't I be?" "RandoIph I think we've done enough here." "It's better if you go now." "Yes." "Of course." "Good luck." "Yeah." "I never meant to do any of it." "I never meant to hurt anyone." "God is my witness." "I was as much in the dark as anyone." "I knew no more than Conway or Jones." "May God's word protect me." "They can't blame me." "Not for that." "I was doing what I'd been paid to do." "Just as they were." "We all went into this with our eyes open." "Wide open." "Derek?" "I got your call." "I...." "Are you all right?" "What?" "Your face, I can...." "I can see it in the window." "It's...." "What the hell's going on?" "Just a momentary lapse." "Nothing really." "I don't believe you." "I said it was nothing!" "Excuse me, I just...." "So, what are you doing here?" "You called me." "I was seeing a patient." "You asked me to come." "Don't you remember?" "It was a mistake." "Maybe you're pushing yourself too hard." "You know, "fools rush in...."" "I'm not a fool!" "Excuse me?" "You heard me." "What are you doing?" "You're sweating." "I'm fine." "Come on, hot water." "Harper!" "Open up." "How can you stand this?" "What did you do with the money I paid you?" "blood money." "I gave it away." "To Jones' and Conway's families." "Very noble of you." "also rather pitiful." "I won't be staying." "What is it you want?" "I want the scroll back." "You can't be serious." "Why?" "Why?" "You need to ask me that?" "Two men have died already." "You know its power." "It has to be destroyed." "And you think this collection of clutter is going to keep you safe?" "I'm alive, aren't I?" "You're alive because of me." "And you will stay that way if you keep your mouth shut." "Forget you ever saw the scroll." "It's good advice." "Take it." "What advice did you give Derek Rayne?" "Derek Rayne." "So you do get out." "The scroll belongs to him now." "It will do with him as it sees fit." "You've got to get the scroll back." "Conway and Jones..." "I've got to get it back." "I've got to burn it!" "It's the only way to make it stop." "It's the only way to end this." "I'II see what I can do." "Derek." "What the hell are you doing here?" "Sorry, I had to see you." "So I broke in through the side entrance." "I couldn't help myself." "I keep seeing this image." "Fire." "Something burning." "And this sound of voices." "Voices?" "You're hearing voices?" "I've heard them before." "Her name was alicia." "alicia Summers." "She and randolph Hitchcock were due to be married a Iong time ago." "Who took this picture?" "I did." "Just before...." "It was supposed to be a simple operation." "Get in, get data, get out." "We'd have been fine, except alicia wouldn't listen." "She was supposed to meet us at the car but she came looking for me." "This thing we'd been tracking grabbed her and ripped her apart." "And when she died, it was as if the world opened up and...." "And you could hear this sound cries of the damned." "Voices screaming." "It was horrible." "And RandoIph loved her so much." "And what about you?" "Did you love her too?" "Yes." "I've never said it to anyone before but yes, I did." "The visions...." "But everything you've told me there wasn't any fire." "No, nothing like that." "And yet, it's the image of fire I keep seeing." "Derek." "You know that people who are born with the ability to see things that no one else can see...." "There is a certain instabiIity." "There is a danger of losing touch with reality." "That's why I came here to see you." "Before something terribly wrong happens again." "Who's this?" "The original owners of the house, the Cartwrights." "I thought of enlarging that picture and hanging it up in the front hall." "I wonder what happened to them?" "I don't know." "They built the house and when their son died of pneumonia, they sold it." "You said these disturbances began this fall?" "Yes, that's right." "I remember it was just after the workmen finished with their renovations." "The longest time, I thought it was just that they had done something wrong like maybe hanging the new doors off-kiIter, something like that." "These renovations, did they include the room I'm in?" "Oh, yes, that was the biggest part of the job." "Get away." "I've killed two men already, Mr. Rayne." "What's one more?" "What do you want?" "To save your life." "That's all." "Have we heard from Derek?" "No." "rachel called." "Said she spoke to him this morning." "Oh, yeah?" "Did she say what was wrong with him?" "Not really." "How is it coming with the translation?" "That's a good question." "Got an answer?" "No." "No answers." "I can't make head nor tail of it, and neither can the computer." "I've had this scroll carbon dated half a dozen times and the answer keeps coming up the same, 1 1 ,000 B.C." "Yeah, and we both know that can't be right." "The composition analysis of the ink and the parchment showed up this morning." "Great." "So what's it made of?" "flax, rice paper, papyrus?" "Skin." "Skin." "What kind of skin?" "Sheep?" "Goat?" "Human." "Human?" "And the ink is blood." "Here, have a look." "See the movement?" "Yeah." "Human blood?" "Yes." "The ink, or blood is motile." "The scroll is alive." "Hitchcock?" "You know him, as well?" "Yes, too well." "He's my friend." "Is he?" "What are you talking about?" "Nothing." "Or something that came between you." "So terrible he's never forgiven you." "alicia?" "A woman." "Now, there's a reason." "Shut up." "See?" "Scars buried deep inside your soul." "Scars he's never forgiven." "He has." "He told me." "No." "Never!" "RandoIph Hitchcock never forgives anyone for anything." "Nor does the scroll." "The scroll?" "It will drive you mad." "You will hear things that no one said." "You will see things that aren't there." "No one can help you, Mr. Rayne." "The scroll will take your sanity." "And then it will take your life." "Precautions, Mr. Rayne." "Take great precautions." "We're brothers now." "Like it or not." "Oh, my...." "That's it, isn't it?" "This was your room." "The one they tore out." "Poor baby." "In the name of Adoshem, eternal and everlasting one prince of princes, lord of light angel of absolution...." "Let no evil penetrate this sacred circle." "Have mercy upon me and let thine angels come and take up their abode in this place." "Protect thy humble servant from the powers of the night and the demons of the pit." "Make of my spirit a beacon of righteousness." "Make of me a pillar of light and cleanse my soul of all impurity." "Derek?" "When did you get in?" "Late." "After midnight." "We were worried about you." "The scroll it's not Sumerian." "It's PaIeo-Hebrew." "The earliest form I've ever seen." "And I suppose now you can read this?" "Yeah, I did." "well, what does it say?" "It's a confession." "To what?" "Murder." "It's the first murder confession ever made." "I don't follow you." "It's the confession of Cain to the killing of his brother, abel." "And it's his curse:" "exile madness and death for whomever possesses the scroll." "Oh, my." "God, I should have known." "Fire." "When did this happen?" "Last night." "The call came in after midnight." "Was there anyone inside?" "Who are you?" "Derek Rayne." "I knew a man who claimed he lived here." "If he was in there when it went up, there won't be much left." "AII we've found so far are odds and ends burnt beyond recognition." "Any idea what started it?" "Hard to say." "Given the way it went up, I'd say it was arson." "My God." "I'm here, Rayne." "Drive." "Just drive." "Derek I received your message." "It's been many years since I received a summons to this house." "well, what have you discovered?" "I'd love to know what it says." "I think you know, RandoIph." "I think you know." "You knew when you brought it to The Legacy." "I gave that scroll to you." "would you Iike it back?" "You've never forgiven me for what happened to alicia that night have you?" "No." "You were in love with her weren't you, Rayne?" "Did you think I was blind?" "She loved you." "Yes, she did!" "She loved me, Derek, not you!" "Is that why you had her killed?" "I would never have done anything to put alicia in danger." "No?" "Wasn't it you who led us into that bloody disaster?" "If it had not have been for you...." "Hadn't been for you, she'd still be alive." "She'd be my wife." "If it hadn't been for you." "You think you know now what the scroll says?" "Did you decipher the lettering yourself?" "Or have you been talking to a raving lunatic named John Harper?" "John Harper is no lunatic." "So you did know the man." "I still know him, RandoIph." "He's alive." "There." "My friend, you are wrong." "He's dead." "And now so are you." "You seemed suicidal." "I didn't think you would actually try...." "No, you tried." "But I can't go without the scroll." "Are you mad?" "The scroll doesn't belong to you." "It belongs to him." "Curse and all." "I bequeathed it to Derek Rayne." "Look." "Look at his forehead." "It even bears the mark of Cain." "Harper, no!" "Don't!" "It's mine now." "I found it." "And I'II put an end to it." "No!" "It has to be destroyed." "You fool!" "No!" "No, you can't have me!" "Harper." "Harper." "He can't hear you." "Hitchcock." "He's getting away." "You want him?" "No, not for now." "Derek...." "It's gone." "I know who you are." "You're Benjamin, aren't you?" "And this is where you died here in the nursery." "cold, it's so cold." "I know you are." "But if I warmed you up and got them to redo your room would you stop wandering through the house at night?" "cold." "well, come on then, little guy." "Come on." "There you go." "You've been cold way too long." "There." "Get some sleep now." "Sweet little boy."