"Mmm..." "[KISSING SOUNDS]" "[WOMAN LAUGHING]" "[MOANING]" "Mmm." "I, um..." "I've got to go." "Hey..." "Just wait." "No, I--I, I'm first up, you know?" "They'll get somebody else." "Uh...no." "I--I..." "No, I can't." "I can't d..." "I can't do this anymore." "Hey, what do you mean?" "I..." "I don't know, I'm..." "It's sick, you know?" "That's all." "[SIGHS]" "[DOOR CLOSING]" "What are you doing?" "I was, um, I was just..." "You were with someone in here." "No, I wasn't." "Who was it?" "Skip?" "I said I was alone." "Okay, okay, fine." "I just thought I heard a man's voice." "Come on, the meeting's started." "Let's go." "Hello, my name is Skip, and I'm an addict." "Hi, Skip." "Uh..." "I was in love... with a bottle." "We slept together, we worked together, and... we got fired together, and, uh...if--if booze was..." "my demon, then, uh... 12 Steps To Recovery has... has been my angel of mercy." "It didn't happen overnight, and, uh..." "I never would have made it without my sponsor, Monica." "What is this, some kind of sick joke?" "[GUN COCKS]" "Hey..." "Geez!" "[¶]" "NARRATOR:" "He was brought across in 1228." "Preyed on humans for their blood." "Now he wants to be mortal again..." "To repay society for his sins..." "To emerge from his world of darkness..." "From his endless forever night." "Thanks for your help." "I appreciate it." "Your name, please?" "Angie W." "[CHUCKLES] Angie W., Tricia S., Tony D." "Don't any of you people have any last names?" "Look, I heard the gunshot," "I saw the fire, just like a hundred other people, all right?" "Can I go now?" "Yeah, yeah, you can go." "Hey, but first, uh..." "Can I bum a smoke, please?" "[LAUGHS] Sure." "Thanks." "I really appreciate it." "All right, here." "Right." "Having a rough time?" "Nasty, nasty habit." "I'm handling it." "That's what they all say." "Seriously, I'm just down to one a day, a pack a month, tops." "Really." "And, um, how many more do you bum?" "A few, and you must be Clara B., right?" "Clara Barton?" "No." "Monica." "Monica Howard." "You're the first one who's given me a full name." "Well, the 12 steps are anonymous and talking to the police is not part of the program." "Yeah, right, right." "So, uh..." "How well did you know Skip Holling?" "I was his sponsor." "He was, um..." "a really nice guy." "You know, he was doing really well with his recovery." "Did he have any, uh... friends, enemies, any relationships?" "Probably all three." "You know, I don't think I'm much help." "We just talked about booze, that's it." "Right." "Thanks, thanks, uh..." "If I have any more questions?" "Yeah, you can--you can reach me here, Detective..." "Schanke, Don Schanke." "Hi." "Thanks." "Monica, if you don't mind me asking, what was your..." "Addiction?" "Yeah." "I do mind." "I was hoping she'd say "balding married men."" "[TELEPHONE RINGING]" "[ANSWERING MACHINE CLICKS]" "Yeah, Nick Knight." "I'm either in bed or incommunicado, so if you want to leave your name and number, go ahead." "SCHANKE:" "Hey, Nick, got any bad habits?" "NICK:" "You want me to go undercover as what?" "A member of the 12-step program." "Aw, come on, captain." "It makes sense, Nick." "You weren't at the crime scene, and..." "Nobody knows you're a cop." "There's a bit of a catch-22 here, captain." "I know." "Your vacation." "Look, I wouldn't have called you in if I didn't need you." "Tell him." "They're stonewalling, Nick." "Nobody wants to say diddly about the victim because it's part of their code or something." "It's a dead end." "Unless I become one of them." "Got any bad habits?" "Maybe it'd do you some good." "Nat, what do you think of 12-step programs?" "I think they can be very helpful for some mortal addictions." "How about the more exotic ones?" "You know my theory about that." "It's the blood that keeps you from coming over." "I try, Nat." "I really do, I really try." "Do you think a 12-step can make me give it up?" "No one can answer that for you, Nick, but it wouldn't hurt you to give it a shot." "When I came here three years ago..." "I was on my knees, almost literally." "I felt like a complete and total failure as a human being." "I hated myself." "I couldn't see any way out of my addiction." "Essentially, it's like feeding the beast-- this big, ugly, greedy beast that demands to be fed over and over and over again." "Is this your first meeting?" "Hi." "Yeah, actually, it is." "My name's Nick." "I'm Monica." "Hi." "Your words were an inspiration." "Thanks." "Yeah, she's great, isn't she?" "This is Hillary." "Hillary, this is Nick." "Hillary, it's a pleasure." "Hi." "Listen, if this is your first time, you shouldn't feel pressured to join this group." "There's others in the city you might want to check out." "Hillary's right." "It's really important that you trust the people you're going to be looking to to help you..." "And who'd you rather look to for help than Monica?" "You come here to get off drugs, and you meet Monica." "That's a pretty good deal." "I'd marry her tomorrow if she'd give me the word." "Henry, settle down." "You're going to scare Nick off." "Well, that's the idea." "Less competition." "We'll, um, talk later, right?" "Yeah." "I'm his sponsor." "Look, why don't I take you over to Angie?" "She's got books and pamphlets." "Nick, it's going to be rough, but we're all here for you, and if you need any help, just call me, okay?" "Here." "Any time." "Thanks." "Uh..." "where do I start?" "The first step is admitting to someone that you love and trust that you're powerless before your addiction." "That's not going to be easy." "No, it's going to hurt like hell, but the program works, it really does." "Hi there." "STONETREE:" "So how do we know it's the same killer?" "Similar MO." "Kills with the victim's... choice of drug." "Uh, Lewis..." "mind if I bum one?" "Thanks." "If the killer knows their addictions..." "He knows them pretty well." "Maybe very well, if you know what I mean." "When?" "Fairly close to the time of death." "After the meeting?" "Yep." "How about the last victim?" "Uh-huh, that's why I checked." "Okay." "Well..." "Let's make some connections, uh..." "Do we have the, uh... members' last names?" "Yeah, and the telephone numbers." "Sign-in sheet from the meeting." "Though, I got to tell you, I feel a bit like Judas." "It's not like you're one of them." "Schanke..." "um..." "What would you say if..." "What would you say if I told you that I was an addict?" "[LAUGHS] Yeah, right, and I'm the Maharishi." "Hey, wait, wait, wait, I'm serious." "I'm talking to you, here, okay?" "Seriously." "An addict?" "Wait, wait, we're not talking about the red wine in the refrigerator, are we, because..." "No, no, no, absolutely not." "You're perfectly all right, Nick." "You're perfectly fine." "Absolutely not." "Trust me." "[LAUGHS]" "So much for step number one." "Yeah?" "What's step number two?" "[POURING]" "Hi, my name's Nick, and I'm an addict." "It's the hunger that drives me, and it's not for, um... for booze, or crack, or junk." "It's for, um..." "I drink blood so that I can live forever." "LACROIX:" "What's so terrible about that?" "You have to fight it, Nick." "You don't have to listen to him." "She's right, Nicholas, don't listen to me." "Listen to your hunger." "Listen to the beast in your veins calling to you." "I can help you, Nick." "I'm here for you." "Who can help your hunger?" "Your craving for the warm, sweet taste of blood." "You can beat it, Nick." "Surrender!" "Yield to your thirst." "[GROWLING]" "Is it always this bad?" "Sometimes it's worse." "Our worst victims are ourselves, you know." "Not with me." "It's like... walking through a door for the first time." "You might fall 13 stories onto the concrete, but you have to trust that the pain means that you're getting better." "What is it?" "What?" "Um..." "I, uh, I just fell 13 stories, and it didn't hurt a bit." "You help a lot." "Thank you." "That makes me feel really good." "These days, that's a rare emotion for me." "The murders." "Yeah." "Skip and Henry." "You met Henry at the meeting." "Yeah, you were his sponsor, right?" "Yeah, I sponsored both of them." "This whole thing is so bizarre." "You know, you get really close to people, and then they die, and it's..." "How close, Monica?" "It's a standing, hard-line rule." "No romance between sponsors and members, and frankly," "I find the question" "I didn't mean to pry." "I just need to know..." "establish the rules, I guess." "I've never accepted help from anyone." "Of course." "Trust is earned, not given." "It takes time to build." "You take as much time as you need, Nick." "I just want you to know that I'm here for you." "Okay?" "Thanks." "Everywhere you go these days, you've got people telling you there's something wrong with you." "You buy more than a six-pack of beer, and the guy behind the counter is giving you the fish eye." "Or a pack of cigarettes." "Exactly." "Why should I feel guilty about buying a pack of cigarettes every now and then?" "I mean, I don't smoke like a chimney," "I gave it up, but every once in a while, you know, I ought to be able to take a puff without everybody looking at me like I've got "Property of Betty Ford"" "tattooed on my forehead." "But you don't have a problem?" "See?" "You're doing it." "No." "No." "I definitely and emphatically do not have a problem, and neither does Nick." "Hey, hey, wait a minute." "You look great." "Your cheeks." "They actually look rosy." "Must be the French fries." "You ate French fries?" "With lots of ketchup." "That's incredible." "Wait a minute." "Am I missing something here?" "I had three falafels for lunch yesterday." "Did I get this kind of reception?" "I guess I'm in recovery." "It certainly seems to agree with you." "Monica's been a great help." "I don't know, but I think this is it, Nat." "I'm not sure, I just..." "Just do me a favor, okay?" "Don't get your hopes up too high." "A little jealousy, perhaps?" "No." "No, just a little realism." "What'd you get on the victim?" "From the angle of the arm wound, the killer is right-handed." "Also, I found identical skin cells under both the victims' fingernails." "Two back-scratchers." "I see a pattern here." "Any of the women linked to both victims?" "Monica Howard." "They both had her as their sponsor." "You get a sponsor yet?" "Monica Howard." "[CHUCKLES]" "Okay, if everyone could please take a seat, we'll get the meeting started." "I don't think there's a better sponsor in the city." "I was a mess when I came in here with Monica." "She guided me through." "Just suddenly seemed to make life worth living, you know?" "Yeah, she seems to have that sort of magic effect on people." "Yeah, she really does." "All right, welcome." "Let's start this out right." "Is there anyone here who has anything they'd like to share with us?" "Hi, my name's Nick, and I'm an addict." "Hi, Nick." "Hi." "Well, It's been three days since I've stopped abusing." "I'm still alive." "[ENGINE STARTS]" "You've been following me." "I, uh...do you think we could talk?" "I was so proud of you at the meeting tonight." "Well, I'm making real progress because of you." "It's the connection that we've made." "I think it comes through that." "You've connected with a lot of people." "You seem to have a talent." "Mm, yeah, but... with us, I think it's a little different." "Thanks." "I have, um, this sense about you." "That you're on the edge..." "a very sharp edge, like me." "I guess it makes me feel really close to you." "That's why we have to fight so hard." "Mmm..." "Yeah." "Wow." "A work in progress." "Wow." "Yeah." "It's my beast." "Ah, the beast within." "It's a good description for it, isn't it?" "The way it gnaws at you..." "The way it chews your insides?" "Yeah, yeah, it's a good description." "Sometimes, though, it gets to be too much... too much to hold in, and you just want to..." "give it a rest." "Just say, "what the hell." Just let it out." "That's why you have to control yourself." "I'm not so sure about that." "I'm really not so sure." "You're not sure?" "It's just so hard to be sure all the time." "Mmm..." "Oh, Monica, go home." "Come on, I need my sponsor." "I need you too." "I need to be close to you." "I've been dreaming about you, and when I wake up, and I'm reaching for you, and you're..." "I can't believe you're not there." "Monica..." "You're here with me now." "Go home." "Go home." "Don't you get self-righteous with me." "You hear me?" "I'm trying to recover, Monica." "Come on, Nick." "Recovery is just the spaces between fixes." "It's not like doing something about the need once in a while is going to make it any stronger." "God knows, the need can't get any stronger." "Monica, don't do this to me." "Okay, don't do this to yourself." "Oh, just a little warmth, that's all I need." "How am I supposed to get the strength to recover if I don't get any relief?" "I helped you with your addiction." "Why can't you help me with mine?" "Go home!" "Nick, please, please, please, please?" "Go." "[SIGHS]" "Why do you all have to be the same, huh?" "Coming after me bleeding with your addictions." "God forbid I should weaken for a fraction of an instant." "Does that make me a monster?" "It never goes away, Nick." "Our beasts are on our backs forever." "There's no magic bullet, there's no cure, and you'd better learn how to carry your beast on your back." "I'm going to go get some help now with or without you, and...it's going to feel really, really good." "[LAUGHING]" "This is the humanity you seek?" "This is your mortal strength?" "I told you, Nicholas, you're wasting your time." "Come on, Nicholas, where is it?" "The last bottle?" "Think." "Where did you hide it?" "Think..." "[CACKLING]" "[TELEPHONE RINGING]" "[ANSWERING MACHINE CLICKING ON]" "Yeah, Nick Knight." "I'm either in bed or incommunicado..." "SCHANKE:" "Yo, Nick." "I got some news about Monica Howard." "Brace yourself." "She's got a rap sheet." "That's right." "For giving massages at the Windsor Arms Hotel." "She's been busted three times." "The last one was two months ago." "Can you beat it?" "A love junkie." "Stonetree wants her brought in for questioning, and guess who drew the gig?" "You did, you lucky bastard, and by the way, what I said earlier about the addiction stuff..." "Stricken from the record, pal." "I apologize." "You're my partner, and I'll take you any way I can get you." "Bye." "[MACHINE BEEPS]" "Good." "[¶]" "¶ The night is full Of empty fire ¶" "¶ The hounds of hell Whisper desire ¶" "¶ There's no way To mark the time ¶" "¶ There's no reason To the rhyme ¶" "¶ The night calls my name ¶" "¶ The night calls my name ¶" "Soif?" "There's no way out, is there?" "No answers." "No great shining light around the corner." "Might as well embrace it, sit back, and enjoy the ride." "I'm revamping myself, Janette." "From now on," "I say I'm a vampire, and I'm proud of it." "To hell with the mortal world." "Huh." "And what brought about this sudden change of heart?" "Their weakness." "Their false hopes." "Their lies." "Their humanity?" "What strength is there in mortality?" "None." "What advantage?" "The ability to die?" "Well, sign me up for that, straight away." "Oh yeah, I'll be first in line." "Maybe you've had enough." "I'm hungry." "I feed." "Your eyes..." "I can't have a scene, Nicholas." "Dance." "Work it off a little." "Yes." "[TELEPHONE RINGING]" "That'd better be him, and he'd better have Monica Howard." "Schanke." "Yeah, what's going--Yeah?" "[SIGHS]" "Yeah, yeah, right, right." "Okay, we'll be right over." "Found him." "[¶]" "¶ In the darkest Reaches of the heart ¶" "¶ You find a crossroads there ¶" "¶ Without a sign Without a mark... ¶" "What is this place?" "It's a private club." "For VIPs and denizens of the night." "I think you belong." "I'm not sure." "Maybe it's just your makeup." "How does it make me look?" "Like death." "Is that sexy?" "Oh, it's more than that." "It is to me." "Death?" "Sexy." "Oh, yes." "Death's incredibly sexy to me." "Then maybe you'd like to die a little." "[SNARLING]" "Nicholas!" "[SNARLING]" "[GASP]" "[GROWLING]" "¶ It's only hard to understand ¶" "What the hell is her problem?" "I don't see him." "There's a back room over there." "What did I say to you?" "What?" "Keep away from me!" "He needs to be alone." "Both of you go, please." "Look, he's dangerous." "He's had too much to drink." "No." "I'm going in there." "It's your neck." "What the hell is going on with Nick?" "Let me talk to him alone, Schanke." "Okay, okay, sure." "Hey, Nick, whatever you're going through," "I'm with you, buddy." "Hang in there!" "Thank you." "[SNARLING]" "Come to ogle the beast?" "I came to help." "You all come to help, don't you?" "Take my hand." "Back off, Nat!" "What happened tonight?" "[SNARL] I was riding on this wagon, then someone pushed me off." "[GASPS] Monica." "Aren't you the one who said, "Be realistic, Nick"?" "Well, I've just had a fair dose of reality... a good, hard look at the mortal soul." "What secrets are you hiding, Natalie?" "What kind of betrayal?" "Come on, Nick." "Are you writing some sort of medical paper on me now?" "Or maybe you're just seeking some dark sexual thrill." "What is it, Natalie?" "All right, that is enough." "Because there is no hope, is there?" "No cure." "From Monica, from you..." "it's all a bluff." "Oh, what?" "Did somebody tell you there was an easy cure, Nick?" "Because they were lying." "You have to find the answer within yourself, and just because Monica failed you doesn't give you an excuse to" "She betrayed my trust!" "My hope." "Come on, Nick, she's an addicted co-dependent." "She lost control!" "She's a murderer." "A suspect." "No, no." "She's a killer, like myself." "An irredeemable, uncontrollable beast." "Now, that's the way it is." "That...is my reality." "Do you know where she is?" "Oh, that's right." "I'm supposed to bring her in, aren't I?" "Nick, let Schanke do it." "No, no, no, no, this is perfect." "This makes perfect sense, Nat." "Monica says that recovery is just the space between fixes." "I think I'll show her what backsliding really is." "[SNARLING]" "Nick!" "Hey, man, do you want a rubdown?" "I got a nice girl up here for you." "Where's Monica?" "She's with someone right now" "MONICA:" "Why is this happening to me?" "[SNIFFING] I didn't do this." "I didn't do this." "Oh, my God." "I swear I didn't do this." "She didn't do it, Nat." "It was something you said about finding it within myself." "I ran up to the room and saw her with the body." "It all seemed to go away." "It was like the cop in me took over." "Well, maybe that's part of the equation." "Aren't we supposed to acknowledge and apologize for any pain we might have caused?" "Hey, that's okay." "No one said that this was going to be easy." "Monica's innocent, Nat." "Well, the needle jab of the second victim and tonight's knife slashes were made with the killer's right hand, so unless she's a lefty," "I'd say you don't have a leg to stand on." "Hey, will you two let me in on what's going on here?" "And how the hell did you get here from the Raven so fast without a car?" "Schanke, um, I truly apologize for my behavior tonight and any pain that I might have caused you." "You're not going to give me an answer, are you?" "Can we set up an interrogation with Monica tonight?" "She's down at the station." "Why not?" "Why not?" "Because it's bad for you, that's why not." "I want you to write down every 12-step member that you've had a relationship with." "It's a very long list." "We have all night." "You're not betraying anyone, Monica." "You can't think of it that way." "It's a little too late not to betray anyone, isn't it, Nick?" "Okay, so she's left-handed." "That doesn't mean she didn't do it." "Well, that, along with her alibi, means we don't have enough to hold her." "Oh, that makes me feel real comfortable." "The killer's on that list." "I hope so, because there are 20 names here." "Some dance card." "Hi, my name's Nick, and I have a confession to make." "I've been lying to you for the last couple of weeks." "While I freely admit that I am an addict," "I was also here because I'm a cop." "There's a killer among us in this room tonight, a killer... that some of you may have information about." "Now, this killer knew Monica and her problem intimately." "We have a list of names, and we will systematically begin to go through them, possibly embarrassing some of you, and certainly violating the program's tenet of privacy, but this is going to take time," "during which the killer may have a chance to strike again, so this is why I'm asking you, if you have any information at all, to break the rules of privacy and come forward." "I mean, we--we're not talking about addiction, we're talking about murder here, so we need your help." "Listen, I've left my home phone number at the table at the back." "I'll keep it as private as-- as I possibly can, so please give me a call." "[TELEPHONE RINGING]" "[ANSWERING MACHINE CLICKS] Yeah, Nick Knight." "I'm either in bed or incommunicado, so if you want to leave your name and number, go ahead." "[MACHINE BEEPS]" "Nick, it's Hillary." "I have to see you." "There's something I have to tell you." "Yeah, we're meeting at the 12-step center." "Come on, Nick, it's my bowling night." "All I need you to do is hang on for 20 minutes." "If I don't call you, send in some backup." "Schanke?" "Yeah, yeah, yeah." "I'm holding you personally responsible if my average suffers." "Monica." "Angie told me to meet her here." "Angie's dead." "[WHISPERING]:" "What are you doing?" "What?" "Leave the building." "Call 9-1-1." "Go ahead, do it!" "Nick!" "[GUNSHOT]" "Hello, everybody." "I'm a little nervous." "My name is Hillary H., and I have an addiction." "I'm addicted to looking out for my sister, Monica." "I'm obsessed with saving her." "Everything I do is for her protection." "I'm sharing." "[SIRENS WAILING]" "See, Monica was hurt bad when we were kids." "She has problems because of it." "I couldn't help her then, but I can help her now." "Stay back." "They used her..." "Give her room, Schanke." "all of them." "Skip and Henry..." "And Angie." "All the others." "They didn't love Monica." "You're her sister." "They couldn't love her like you did." "How could I stand there and watch them use her?" "They were taking advantage of her need for comfort, her need to have that dark, wounded space filled with the love of another person." "You did what you thought was right." "Yes." "She was just too weak." "They could not take advantage." "It's a rule." "They deserved to die!" "You can't take advantage of someone who's addicted!" "Give me the gun, Hillary." "It's not fair!" "[CRYING]" "I was the only one who cared about her." "I was the only one." "It's going to be okay." "[SOBBING]" "Ciggy, Schanke?" "You've got to be kidding." "I mean, all I can say is that I like it." "How much?" "A lot." "Good." "A lot, a lot." "Mmm." "It's fabulous." "It makes me quiver right down to" "All right, all right, all right." "I guess I've tortured you enough...for now." "Thank you." "[DOOR OPENING]" "But when we get back," "I think you can help me figure out where to hang it." "What's this?" "Oh, nothing, just something I've been fooling around with." "What, you think I know nothing about art?" "No, it's just that you have a velvet painting of Elvis in your locker." "Very funny." "Interesting." "Very interesting." "Mm-hmm." "I'm seeing a kind of subtextural renaissance of the ideal." "The playful use of light and shadow, if I'm not mistaken, portends almost a stylistic opening, no?" "Unfolding, within the realms of psychological expression." "The nature of self-acceptance, the journey from darkness into light, from doubt into..." "Hope?" "Hope?" "Exactly." "The destruction of the existential, and I'm delighted to see the triumph of the humanistic." "Myra keeps a copy of the Andy Warhol diaries in the john." "[¶]"