"Vincent:" "This is where the wealthy and the powerful rule." "It is her world," "A world apart from mine." "Her name..." "Is catherine." "From the moment I saw her, she captured my heart" "With her beauty," "Her warmth and her courage." "I knew then, as I know now," "She would change my life..." "Forever." "Catherine:" "He comes from a secret place, far below the city streets," "Hiding his face from strangers," "Safe from hate and harm." "He brought me there to save my life." "And now, wherever I go, he is with me in spirit." "For we have a bond stronger than friendship or love." "And although we cannot be together," "We will never, ever be apart." "¶ ¶" "Hey!" "Father:" "These are lovely, rebecca." "I do believe they're the finest candles you've made for us." "You said that last year." "It was true last year." "And the year before." "I love making the winterfest candles." "They're special." "Do we get to take them up now?" "Rebecca:" "The first batch is ready for delivery." "I don't see why not." "Bet I finish first." "I bet you won't." "Will so." "Won't." "This is not a race." "You have been given an important" "Responsibility, understand?" "Good." "Well, you have your lists, now off you go." "Hey, no fair!" "Be careful up there." "It wasn't so long ago that I was" "Delivering the candles, instead of making them." "I remember." "Especially the year" "When you fell and twisted your knee." "Sometimes we have to fall, father," "To learn how to get up." "Mouse was the worst." "That first year I made the candles," "He broke half of them with that catapult of his." "Our poor helpers thought" "That someone was flinging missiles at them." "And you and devin had your fair share" "Of misadventures as well, as I recall." "A few." "But we always made our deliveries." "And I..." "Think I still remember how." "Vincent, it's beautiful." "Remember how I told you when I was little," "I was afraid of the dark?" "Well, my mother gave me a candle" "To light at the bedside" "Before I went to sleep." "It was just a tiny, little thing," "A birthday candle." "Somehow it made it all right." "I've loved candles ever since." "This is no ordinary candle." "This is for winterfest." "It's a special time for us." "We have other celebrations, all the holidays" "And traditions we share with your world, but..." "Winterfest is our own." "It's a time to remember the past." "Dream of the future." "Each year, we deliver these candles to our helpers" "In the world above." "Without their light, our world would be dark." "Our lives would be cold without their warmth." "The candles are our way of saying" "That they are a part of us." "Everyone, the entire community is agreed." "This year's winterfest will be incomplete" "Unless you are there." "Hmm." "You might want to reconsider that move." "Samantha, you've left your knight undefended." "No?" "I'm finished!" "I..." "What are you doing here?" "Playing chess." "Check." "And mate in one." "You can't have made it first." "I ran all the way." "I took the subway." "I'm looking forward to winterfest." "There are a few helpers I can still beat." "Don't think of yourself as a bad player, father." "Only a very good teacher." "Is the great hall in order?" "One of the tables needed some repairs." "Cullen and I carried it up to his workshop." "Good." "Good." "A third of a century." "It's hard for me to believe it, vincent." "You were only a babe in arms that first year." "My oldest memory is of a winterfest." "I must have been three or four." "I remember a cold, dark room." "My footsteps echoed all around me." "I was frightened." "Devin held my hand." "And then they lit the candles and the darkness pushed back." "When I glimpsed the tapestries for the first time..." "It took my breath away." "It was john who hung those tapestries." "Paracelsus?" "He was the one who discovered the great hall." "For a time, he thought" "Of making it his chamber." "Even then, his dreams were..." "Large." "But he was exiled before the first winterfest." "Yes." "Afterwards, we..." "Needed a way to heal ourselves." "It was barely enough to fill one table then." "The children laid the places." "The wound was so raw." "He had been part of us for so long." "What happened, father?" "A mistake was made." "There was a place laid for each of us." "And an empty chair..." "Where john always used to sit." "I took it away." "Pascal's father removed the place setting." "Not a word was spoken." "We just Went on." "Well, that's history now." "Dead and gone." "So tell me," "Did you talk to mouse about the raccoon?" "Yes." "Yes." "He promises solemnly" "That arthur will remain at home this year." "Bring me the face." "Without the face, I cannot do it." "(vincent's voice):" "Whatever you require, tamara," "That you shall have." "You talk so sweet." "That voice will get you anything." "Bring me the face, and I will make it yours." "The man who wears it now" "Won't be needing it, will he?" "No, I don't imagine he will." "Will you kill them all?" "They are my friends, my family." "Their world is my world." "Why should I mean them harm, tamara?" "(father's voice):" "Because they disgraced me," "Took away everything:" "Work, home, all I loved." "(pascal's voice):" "Because they stole my systems, my notes," "The journals of my research and explorations." "(mouse's voice):" "Because they chased me from their light," "Hounded me even from my sad refuge" "In the darkness." "You have the voice, but not the words." "The mouse boy doesn't talk so good." "(mouse's voice):" "Okay, good." "Okay, fine." "But even with the voices," "Even with the face..." "If they find you out," "This time they will kill you." "It was all so long ago." "What has their world to do with you?" "(normal voice):" "Their world is mine by rights." "I made them." "I taught them." "But..." "They have lessons" "Yet to learn." "What kind of lessons?" "Poetry lessons." ""that this world," ""which seems to lie before us" ""like a land of dreams," ""so various, so beautiful, so new..." ""hath really neither joy," ""nor love, nor light," ""nor certitude," ""nor peace," ""nor help for pain..." ""and we are here as on a darkling plain," ""swept with confused alarms" ""of struggle and flight," ""where ignorant armies" "Clash by night."" "(footsteps ascending)" "(laughing)" "Narcissa (chuckling):" "Oh..." "You were so good to me today." "I got everything I need." "Beautiful stones, beautiful crystals." "Everything I need." "(chuckles)" "Oh." "Who is there?" "Vincent." "Oh, vincent, so far from home, child." "(chuckles)" "I'm sorry to frighten you, narcissa." "I did not think to meet anyone in such a dark place." "Oh, I know all the dark places." "The black gulfs, the shadows," "The hidden doors." "The dark is my friend, child." "I am not afraid." "(chuckling)" "Vincent." "(sniffs)" "Blood." "What is it?" "(normal voice):" "Only a face..." "And a candle to light my way in the dark." "No." "You are not vincent." "You are the evil one." "Down here there is neither good nor evil." "Only strong and weak." "(gasping)" "Have a care." "The steps are slick." "Let me light your way." "(screaming)" "(screaming continues)" "There are no friends in the darkness, old woman." "In the dark, all men are enemies." "(subway cars rattling overhead)" "Father:" "Also, we need volunteers" "To guide our helpers down." "Pascal has put the word out on the pipes." "Excellent." "Well, william, how are you doing with the food?" "Ought to be plenty, but it'd help" "If we could get an exact count of who's coming and who's not." "Has anyone heard from narcissa?" "She doesn't answer our calls." "Pascal thinks she must be down below the pipes again." "Lana left a candle in her chamber." "If she returns in time, she'll find it there," "But narcissa's nature is a solitary one." "I was just a boy the last time she came to winterfest." "It makes me worry." "We see so little of her." "Mary, it's her choice to live apart from us." "But think of her age." "Her eyes get worse every year." "Vincent:" "Oh..." "Narcissa can see things that are hidden from you and me," "And wherever she might wander, she always finds her way home." "And usually with some outrageous tale of where she's been." "Paracelsus:" "Alas, dear jacob..." "Father..." "I knew him well, tamara." "A fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy." "Tamara:" "We can begin." "Is that the box vulcan made up for you?" "What is it?" "A shadow, dear tamara..." "An echo of what once was..." "And can never be again." "It was 35 years ago that I gave jacob his chessmen..." "A token of my affection..." "Of our friendship." "Tamara:" "Friendship is a wonderful thing." "The arming device?" "On the lid." "Press the rose, and the next time the box is opened..." "Checkmate." "Pretty." "Get on with it." "(wind howling)" "(indistinct voices)" "Here, it's wonderful." "Look-look at this." "(chuckling)" "Man:" "Hurry now." "Just children." "Come along." "Woman:" "Watch your step!" "(indistinct voices)" "(chuckling)" "Girl:" "Hi!" "Hi, how are you?" "There we are." "(wind howling)" "(wind continues howling)" "(door bar thudding)" "(creaking)" "Can I lead you through the dark?" "There is no darkness, vincent, when you're with me." "(indistinct voices)" "Father:" "The world above us..." "Is cold and gray..." "Summer a distant memory." "Our world, too, has known its winters." "So each year we begin this feast in darkness," "As our world began in darkness." "Vincent:" "Long before the city above us raised its towers to the sky," "Men sought shelter in these caverns." "In those days, these tunnels were dark places," "And those who dwelt here dwelt in fear and isolation." "Vincent:" "This was a land of lost hope, of twisted dreams," "A land of despair, where the sounds of footsteps" "Coming down a tunnel were the sounds of terror," "Where men reached for knives and rocks and worse" "At the sound of other men's voices." "But at last a few people learned to put aside their fear." "And we began to trust each other, to help each other." "And each of us grew stronger," "Those who took the help and those who gave it." "Father:" "We are all part of one another." "One family, one community." "Sometimes we forget this," "And so we meet here each year" "To give thanks to those who have helped us," "And to remember-- even the greatest darkness is nothing," "So long as we share the light." "Well spoken." "(pulley creaking)" "(onlookers murmuring)" "(baroque music playing)" "(gasps)" "(indistinct shouts)" "Where did it go?" "(chuckling)" "(indistinct conversations)" "Wonderful..." "Where did it come from?" "Who is the artist?" "Those are mysteries we've never solved, catherine." "Perhaps they're enchanted." "(chuckles)" "I used to imagine that they were magic windows," "That if I stared at them long enough and hard enough," "They might open up for me and I could pass through" "To another world." "When I reached out, it was only cloth." "This is a stupid game." "I'm gonna go get some cake." "(clicks)" "(lively tune playing)" "(boisterous voices)" "Well, now..." "Here we go." "Boy:" "How do you do that?" "(balloon pops)" "I know she seldom comes to winterfest," "But it's been so long with no word." "Oh, I'm sure she's fine." "Narcissa is indestructible." "But if it'll help you rest easier," "We'll put together some sort of search," "First thing tomorrow." "You know, you really ought to let me teach you to play chess." "It's a wonderful game." "(hearty chuckling)" "If you really are the greatest magician in the world," "How come you do all of your tricks on subways?" "Ha!" "The little lady's got you there." "No, no, no, no, no." "Those are only token appearances." "(kids groaning)" "Oh, ye-yes, I-I," "I love, I love the subway and the streets." "What broadway theater can compare" "With new york streets?" "Hmm?" "I see it all." "Yes, the men rushing to work," "The children at play, and the girls" "In their beautiful summer dresses" "And everyone wanting a little magic," "And sebastien is there to give it to them." "(laughter, chatter, music playing)" "It must be frightening sometimes," "Knowing that you have the power" "Of life and death in your hands." "Oh, you get used to it." "If you don't, you better get out of medicine." "Otherwise, the stress will eat you alive." "Uh, give me my racket any day." "I screw up, some guy walks out with crooked sideburns," "But at least he walks out." "(laughing)" "I'm sure your work has its own rewards, lou." "It's a thrill a minute." "You want sometime, you can, uh, come" "And watch me sweep out the hair, huh?" "(laughter)" "Here comes charlie." "Ooh, there, look." "Come to say hello." "Ready, steady." "Now, where is he going now?" "He's going over there." "Man:" "All right, all right, all right." "Pascal, are you leaving so early?" "I have to check the pipes." "My dear friend, what's there to check?" "Everyone is down here, including our help." "I don't like to be away too long." "You never can tell." "Pascal, surely you can spare a few hours." "I just want to check the pipe chamber," "Make sure that everything is..." "Still there?" "(chuckling)" "Yes." "(laughing)" "You're smiling." "Our worlds are so different." "Every day, I see people who work just for a paycheck," "But pascal and his pipes..." "That tapping is the sweetest music" "In the world for pascal." "Look." "(laughs)" "Where is he going now?" "There." "(subway cars rumbling)" "(metal clinks on pipe)" "(low, rhythmic ticking)" "(indistinct chatter, waltz playing)" "Peter, those, uh," "Journals you gave me are quite fascinating." "Some of the results they're getting" "With laser surgery these days is incredible." "Makes you wish you had a laser down here, doesn't it?" "Oh, I'd give anything." "Build you one!" "Uh, no, no thank you, mouse." "Ah, chess-- the game of kings!" "Not to mention rooks and pawns." "(laughs)" "Come on, set them up, set them up." "Time for your annual humiliation." "Never again." "Last year, he took my king." "Well, isn't that the whole idea?" "No, the whole idea is that you capture the pieces." "You do not make them disappear." "Ooh!" "Peter, would you care for a game?" "Oh, jacob, have you ever considered" "Consulting a psychologist" "About this streak of masochism?" "(laughing)" "It's going rather well, wouldn't you say?" "Catherine, do you like the music?" "Mm, very much." "I've always loved the waltz." "Father:" "Well, you know, in its time," "The waltz was considered to be quite scandalous." "Uh, wicked, even." "Huh." "Imagine that." "¶ ¶" "(indistinct chatter and laughter)" "Vincent, can I ask you something very personal?" "You know you can ask me anything, catherine." "Do you dance?" "Vincent, you have to come." "There's a sound on the pipes." "Oh." "I-I'm sorry." "I-I didn't mean to interrupt." "What kind of a sound?" "Pascal:" "I don't know." "It's so weak." "Normally, it would be lost in the traffic," "But with the system so quiet..." "But how do you know it's a message?" "I mean, it could be anything." "A loose fitting, a steam rattle." "Vincent:" "Or narcissa." "We must be sure." "I'll return as soon as I can." "This way." "Well, you know, the origins" "Of the waltz are quite interesting." "Comes from the, uh, german word wãlzen," "Meaning to glide, or to-to roll." "Of course, it was made popular in vienna..." "I was so sure." "I guess I must be hearing things." "(quiet clink) wait a second." "(quiet clinking)" "There." "There it is again." "I hear it." "Pascal, where does this pipe originate?" "I'm not sure." "(clangs)" "But I think we're about to find out." "(subway cars rumbling)" "(lively chatter, waltz playing)" "Hmm." "I ought to have my head examined" "For letting you talk me into this." "You can examine it all you like, jacob." "It won't help your game one little bit." "Now, I warn you, I shall watch every moment." "(loud murmuring)" "Woman:" "Who's that?" "(loud, lively chatter)" "Jacob!" "Lay her on the table." "Quickly, clear a space." "Geoffrey, get my bag." "Quickly now!" "Jamie:" "Father will know what to do." "Where did you find her?" "Down in the shattered rooms, below the stone circle." "She must have crawled there." "Her pulse is very weak." "Oh, my god, look at those burns." "We must get her up to the hospital chamber right away." "She's very dehydrated." "(narcissa groaning)" "The evil one..." "Is here." "(low, overlapping chatter)" "(groaning, metal tool clinks)" "(subway cars rumbling)" "(narcissa groans slightly)" "(narcissa groans quietly)" "We need to get some fluid into her." "Mary, give her a rogers iv, large bore." "Vincent." "I'm here, narcissa." "Beware" "The poison rose." "(moans)" "There." "That's better." "What have you given her?" "Something for the pain," "To help her sleep." "Father:" "Oh, vincent, honestly, what's got into you?" "Peter, can you give me a hand?" "Right." "Narcissa never went above." "How could this happen?" "The evil one, she said." "The evil one." "Who's that supposed to be?" "We all know who she meant." "Paracelsus." "Jamie:" "She said he was here." "But did she mean here..." "Or here?" "Cut it out, sebastien." "I hear what the man's saying." "Did she mean here in new york" "Or here in the tunnels or here in this room?" "Well, she can't have meant here at winterfest." "Can she?" "Her injuries..." "She must have been delirious." "Lou:" "Yeah." "Some kind of nightmare, if you ask me." "Like one of your fever dreams." "Perhaps she dreamed that she was burned and broken" "And left to die." "If so, we share the nightmare." "Rebecca:" "Narcissa-- will she survive?" "She is resting fairly comfortably." "Mary is sitting with her." "We'll have to take shifts until she's stabilized." "Her spirit is strong." "She will not die." "But what about paracelsus?" "Did she say anything else?" "Nothing intelligible." "She was delirious." "Something about a poisoned rose." "Father:" "Narcissa lives in a world of demons and spells" "And malign forces." "For her, they exist, but, uh..." "Sebastien:" "Jacob..." "There are more things in heaven and earth" "Than are dreamt of in your philosophy." "Lou:" "Like what?" "Hoodoo and hocus-pocus?" "Narcissa has abilities that none of us understand." "If there is evil among us," "Where is it hiding?" "I see nothing but friends." "People I've known and trusted for years." "Colleagues, helpers." "Sebastien:" "A good illusion" "Makes you think that you can see things that aren't really there." "Perhaps one of these friendly faces" "Is just a passing mirage," "A chimera." "He could be lurking behind this..." "Or this..." "Or even here, lovely though it is." "(chuckling)" "He could be anywhere." "What the hell kind of game are you trying to play," "Scaring everybody?" "Let him go!" "What are you afraid of?" "Maybe you're the one." "Paracelsus is supposed to be" "Some kind of magic man, right?" "Well, the only magician I see is right here!" "(onlookers gasping)" "Stop it!" "Winterfest is a time for brotherhood," "For joy and trust." "If we forget that" "If we allow this day, of all days," "To be tainted with fear" "Then paracelsus will truly have won." "Yes, you're quite right." "William, my dear boy, I..." "I do apologize." "I..." "I ought to be the one to apologize." "Look, there's some more wine," "And a cake or two that have hardly been touched." "Maybe we could..." "An excellent idea, william." "(chuckles)" "(violin playing elegant tune)" "You think he's here, don't you?" "My mind says it cannot be," "But a small voice inside me whispers yes." "I feel it, too." "It makes no sense." "How could he ever hope" "To bring off such a masquerade?" "There are no strangers at winterfest." "Could he impersonate one of the helpers?" "The helpers are part of us, friends." "Sometimes we drift away from our friends." "We lose track of them" "For a little while..." "And when we see them again, if they seem changed," "We don't think twice about it." "Most of those who were helpers 30 years ago are gone now." "Paracelsus could not know the others." "Surely there must be a few..." "Those who were helpers from the very beginning," "Who knew paracelsus when he was a part of your world." "Only three." "Vincent:" "Peter..." "Lou And sebastien." "(indistinct voices)" "Father, can we borrow your chess set?" "Yes, of course you may." "I left it over there on the table by sebastien." "Geoffrey..." "Watch out for her." "She's gonna spot me a rook." "Peter, did you ever tell father how we met?" "Of course not." "After all, I have your reputation to protect." "Would you believe, she was stark naked at the time?" "Catherine:" "In a hospital delivery room." "(laughs)" "(laughs)" "All you have to do, my dear mouse, is find the red king." "This one." "Oh, dear, oh, dear, oh, dear." "Oh..." "Father said we could." "Catherine:" "The rose." "Catherine:" "Lou." "I thought you might want to have a game of chess." "Try father-- he's the chess player." "Me, I wouldn't know a horse from a castle." "Now, if you want to get a game of five-card stud..." "Well, father's out of my league." "I'll teach you the moves." "Nah, I'll pass." "Lou." "(yells)" "(people murmuring)" "Yours?" "Disarmed it." "(bystanders murmuring)" "We found father's set in the tunnel..." "Where you hid it." "(yells)" "(vincent roaring)" "(continues roaring)" "One step closer, and the child dies." "(paracelsus' voice):" "The hour of unmasking" "Is at hand, it would seem." "(people gasping)" "John." "Paracelsus." "John is dead." "Killed by you, jacob." "Let the girl go!" "So your dear vincent can rend me limb from limb?" "I think not." "No." "Regrettably, it would seem I need a hostage." "Then take me." "I'm the one you want, john..." "Not the girl." "We both know that." "What happened to you, john?" "You were a good man once." "My friend." "Spare me the homilies, jacob." "These poor deluded fools may not know what happened," "But you and I," "We remember..." "Don't we?" "!" "We remember..." "Differently, john." "(people gasping)" "(wind howling, glass breaking)" "¶ ¶" "There's no sign." "He melted away like a shadow." "A shadow that will fall over our world again..." "Unless we find him and stop him." "You took a great risk, father." "Paracelsus might have killed you," "Yet he..." "Let the moment pass." "Believe me, I was as surprised as anyone." "Not that I'm complaining, mind you." "Maybe he feared for his own life." "I'm not sure it was just fear." "In his eyes..." "There was such anger there," "And hatred." "And yet, just for an instant, mind you," "I thought I saw a hint of sadness as well." "(laughs):" "Well..." "I probably imagined it." "At any rate, catherine was our real hero." "How could you possibly know it was lou?" "(sighs):" "Well..." "I ruled out peter" "When he told that embarrassing story of his." "(chuckles) there was no way paracelsus could've known" "That peter delivered me." "And sebastien had been trying" "To get father all day to play chess." "Catherine:" "The last place paracelsus wanted to be" "When that box was opened was across the chessboard." "That left lou." "Well, however you did it, we are deeply grateful," "Dear catherine." "Sebastien:" "And the rest Is silence." "I need to check on narcissa." "Yes, uh, we'll need a guide back up." "Thank you, jacob." "Is this the way we want winterfest to end?" "Each of us slinking away to nurse our wounds, each alone?" "Have we forgotten what this day means?" "Okay, good." "Okay, fine." "(murmuring voices)" "Father:" "Catherine..." "You're a part of us now." "Come, complete the circle." "The darkness..." "Almost engulfed us this year," "But our unity gave us strength." "Our shared light" "Showed us the truth." "As we part for another year," "Let us remember:" "Darkness is only the absence of light," "And all winters end." "(wind blows in distance)" "Can you hear it, vincent?" "Only the quiet..." "And the wind outside, crying to get in." "Listen." "You can hear it if you try." "The music." "Yes." "I hear it." "Catherine..." "That question you asked me earlier?" "I remember." "¶ ¶" "¶ ¶"