"No!" "Don't let the demons take you." "Don't let the demons take you." "Don't let the demons take you." "Don't let the demons take you." "Within the souls of every hellspawn... the battle is waged." "What scraps of humanity can they hold on to?" "What master will they serve?" "Every hellspawn, all the way back to the primordial past... has lost their struggle with the darkness." "Each one sank into the pit... to sit at the right hand of Malebolgia... to wait for the final battle against the light." "Choose, hellspawn." "What master do you serve?" "I serve no master!" "He came to you again, didn't he?" "The Black Knight will keep coming to you... tormenting you... until you choose." "How do you know my dreams?" "Within you are the remnants of other hellspawns from the past." "You and I are connected... across the millennia." "You're nothing like me." "You can't know what I teel." "It's time you heard the cold, hard truth." "I'm nearly out of time... and you are the only hope I have to finish my journey." "Look, old man, I don't know how you know about the dreams I have." "Maybe I yelled out." "But that's all it was-- a bad dream." "Humans dream, not dead men who have sold their souls." " Get away trom me!" " Violence is all you know." "You thrive on it, but it only sends more souls to your master." "It makes him stronger." "I have no master." "Yes, you do." "Malebolgia." " And he chose the right man." " Look at me." "I'm not a man anymore." "You were a man once." "You can be a man again." "The one you call Malebolgia... he can't be real." "He is real, and you know it!" "What do you want from me?" "I want you to remove that scarlet shroud." "A hellspawn can be tree of the curse." "How can you know that?" "Because I am tree." "Where we going tirst?" "What about that club we used to go to on 42nd?" "Hey, college boy." "You been gone too long." " We don't go there anymore." " Yeah." "In fact, you don't ask where we go." "We go where l drive." "Yeah, we go where he drives." "There's nothing like a Saturday night." "Joey, you can have a real woman tonight, not that college peach fuzz." "Jesus!" "Come on, Frankie." "You know I'm going out with Gina." ""You know I'm going out with Gina."" "Hey, Petey, you were always the smartest guy in school." "How come you didn't go to college?" "I had some good business opportunities." "I know a sweet setup when I see it." "That's what separates me ffom the rest of the dumb fucks in this neighbofhood." "I hear that." "What are we doing at Orvetti's?" "He's closing up." "For old times' sake, like when we was kids cruising' the old neighborhood." "Remember how Mr. O used to slip us candy on the sly so his old lady wouldn't see?" " Remember that, Petey?" " Yeah." "He was cool." "Last of the guys from the old country." "When my Mom got sick, and after, when she was gone... he used to bring groceries to the apartment." "That's right." "Let's go in, see what's up with him." "Mr. Orvetti, you closing up?" "Hey, I'm never closed tor you boys." "You should come down to the neighborhood more." "You got any ot that cannoli you used to give my pops?" "Forget about it!" "I got cannoli, I got everything." "Here, mangia, mangia." "Eat, eat, eat." "Look at you kids. I see men in my store, not little boys anymore." "Hey, Mr. O, it's Joey." "Jesus!" " Why the fuck did you do that?" " Just doin' a tavor tor the guy." "Holy shit!" "That's the way it's done, Frankie." "Quick and easy." "It gets a little messy sometimes, but, hey, forget about it." "What's done is done." "Jesus, Petey, what'd you do to my cannoli?" "There's tucking' brains in it now!" "How am I supposed to eat this shit?" "I been around a little longef than you, Frankie, so listen to me a little bit." "If you wanna get noticed, you gotta do tavors." "I don't want any part of this." "It the cops ask me, I'm gonna tell 'em what you did." "Shut up, Joey." "I'm not going to prison tor this, Petey, you dumb fuck!" "Stand still." "I got my eye on you." " You killed him for nothin'!" " Easy, kid." "Come on." "Shit, Bobby, you gotta tell me what's happenin' here." "Hey, Frankie, listen, don't worry." "All fight?" "It's nothing." "Get in the fucking car." "Let's just go." "Come on." "Okay, what's done is done." "He's dead." "Just gotta keep it together, keep it cool." " l'm gonna get sick." " Lighten up, man." "Have a little toke." "Relax a little." "Let me outta here." "I can't breathe, man." "Shut up!" "Just shut up, all of youse." "I gotta wofk things out." "I'm gonna puke!" "Be a man." "There's an alley up ahead." "You made a big mistake, Frankie, bringing him." "I ain't gonna lie to you, Frankie." "Joey ain't gonna make it home tonight." "He's just sick, Petey." "l-l'll take care of him." "He's not from the streets." "He didn't get into the Afmy like us." "You don't understand." "I'm sayin', he's not gonna make it home." "At all." "So you do it, Frankie." "You take care ot him right now." "Come on." "Move." "Let's go." "Come on." "Move." "Let's go!" "What's going on, Frankie?" "What's going on?" "Talk to me." "Come on, man." "Don't joke around." "Frankie, what are you doing?" "I'm your best friend." "Put the gun away." " You think he'll do it?" " lf Frankie's smart." "I don't wanna stay out all night burying bodies." "I thought we were buddies, Frankie." "What are you doing?" "Don't shoot me, man." " l'm begging you!" "I don't want to die!" " Shut up, Joey!" "It's your fault." "You brought this on youfself." "It you hadn't opened your mouth to Petey" "Frank, it's me, Joey." "Why are you doing this, man?" " You know I wouldn't give you up." " Shut up!" "What's happening, old man?" "The portal is opening... preparing to receive a soul." "Strange." "It teels" "Familiar?" "Yes." "You yourselt came through." "You just don't remember." "I don't want to look at your face!" "What's done is done, Joey." "Why don't you kill your good buddy somewhere else?" "Jesus Christ!" "I'm sick of seeing you punks in my alley." "What are you, some kind of treak?" "Get the tuck outta here" "You're just taking up space, breathing my air." "This boy wants to be a killer like you." "It looks like you're going to show him how." "I want you gone." "Why are you doing this, kid?" "You don't owe them anything." "You think I want to shoot him?" "Joey tucked up. I brought him into this, and now they think I'm a rat too." "They made me." "This isn't even my fucking gun." "Get out!" "You think you control what goes on here?" "You're damn fight." "You have a lot to learn, hellspawn." "It's taking too long." "Maybe Ffankie didn't have the guts." " Then they're both dead." " Yeah, they're both dead." "Shit." "What the hell's going on?" "Am I dead?" "Am I dreaming?" "What?" "No." "There's gotta be a way." "Am I being punished?" "is that it?" "I can't believe this!" "What's happened?" "There's no way out for you, Frankie." "The bullet waits." "Which side are you on?" "I'm on my side!" "Mister, in my neighborhood... you take care of business or business takes care of you." "I don't have to choose shit!" "Why don't you two faggots go tuck oft!" "Who is the real executioner here?" "Anyone who would murder his best friend isn't worth keeping alive." "You think he's the only one who has sacrificed a friend?" "You had choices about killing too." "You're no better than him." "I was a soldier stuck in a lot ot dirty little wars." "I took orders." "This kid's just taking orders too." "His life depends on it." "You remember your buddy, don't you?" "The friend you sacrificed in the jungle?" "What did you say?" "You let him die at the hands of the enemy... while you survived." " l don't want you in my head, old man." " Do you remember your friend Sykes?" "Sykes." "You could have saved him." "Your position, man." "I want to know your unit's position." "Don't tell him anything, Al." "How about you, maricon?" "Would you like to live?" "Don't tell them anything" "Sykes!" "They're coming, man." "It took hours before your friend's body stopped moving." "There was the smell of his blood... the sound of the machete hacking through bone... his moaning, the little whimpers before he died." "Do you remember those sounds?" "Do you remember the blood, how thick?" "Your feet were sliding on it." "When it was your turn, what was the only thing you could think of?" "Do you remember what that was?" "The one thing you would give anything for?" "You'd better kill me." "Do you remember?" "Secure the area!" "Cut our men otf that pole!" "Now!" "Major Forsberg, sir, we didn't tell them anything, sir." "Jesus." "All the map coordinates we gave you were bogus, in case you were captufed." "Do you remember what you did... even after you were rescued?" "They're just... women and childfen, Al." "Don't give in to the demons." "I can guide you out ot here." "Listen to me, Al." "Look at me." "Don't let the demons take you." "You hear me, soldier?" "Don't let the demons take you." "And the way you telt." "You remember that, don't you?" "Don't you?" "Yes!" "Yes!" "It felt good." "I'm glad I killed the little prick." "I scattered his brains all over the jungle." "When you pulled that trigger... you made the eyes ot Hell turn toward you that day." "You made Hell take notice." "You're lying!" "You don't know a damn thing about me!" "You gave Hell a new player." "That moment was the beginning." "You made them look at you, crave you." "Spawn was born on that day." "That's why they turned me into a monster?" "They put the right tace on you, hellspawn." "You're just like Frankie here." "When you were still human you gave up your humanity." "Hey, uh, Gramps." "This Night of the Living Dead stutf is really freaking me out." "I didn't choose Hell." "What am I doin' talking to a bum about Hell?" "There ain't no Hell." "I gotta get out of here." "You get me out ot this goddamn tog." "No. lt's done." "Time to choose." "The trigger has already been pulled." "The target chosen." "Why are you doing this, Frankie?" "Don't shoot, Petey." "What's it gonna be, Frankie?" "You did the right thing, Frankie." "Tonight you made your bones." "It you had killed them..." "Malebolgia would just have had more soldiers." "Malebolgia would just have had more soldiers." "Why does Malebolgia play these little games?" "He didn't make Frankie pull that trigger." "Frankie made the choice to be a killer, just like you did." "Hell can't make you choose." "They don't have that power." "You justified it." "I'm not buying into your little drama, old man." "Why?" "Because you refuse to trust me." "Then tind someone else." "There must have been someone you believed in some time in your lite." "Don't give in to the demons." "Forsberg." "I trusted him." "He was a rock." "Not anymore." "Don't let the demons take you." "Major Forsberg, how have you been?" "I hope my friends have been treating you well." "Shh." "I have come tor you." "How does one find humanity in an alley?" "How does one regain one's soul... in an abandoned church?" "For this newest hellspawn... this alley is a way station... his special purgatory." "In sickness and in health... until death do you part." "He lurks here in the shadows... amid this human debris... waiting... just inside the portal from Hell." "But this is not his domain." "His domain is that burned skin... his shell of necroplasm... and the scarlet shroud... which hovers around him... protecting him and possessing him... at the same time." "I'm sorry I made you stay here again, honey" "Where is the old man?" "Why isn't he here?" "I don't know." "He's a ghost." "Like you." "He just appears." "Al, what's happening to your tace?" "He's laughing at me." "It's okay, man, it's okay." "Look, it's just the church bells, man." "Come on." "It's Sunday morning." "Stop it!" "Leave me alone!" "I am still alive." "Did you think you could strike a deal with Malebolgia... and then renege?" "This is a graveyard." "I can teel the death." "Yes." "Look afound you." "These artitacts are all that remain from heIlspawns of the past." "They were cursed, like you." "This is their shrine... a reminder of what may be your fate." "Maybe you're not a crazy old bum." "What do they call you?" "I have had many names... and this time they call me Cogliostro." " How long have you been hiding here?" " Hiding?" "I've been here tor many years." "You see, I'm the night curator ot antiquities." "This is how I have kept these relics sate... while I waited tor you." "Waited?" "In every age a hellspawn is sent." "I tried to guide them as I've tried to guide you... but they are lost souls." "I'm not them." "This is your tomb." "What deal did you strike with him?" "It was the time ot knighthood... the time ot the mist." "After the endless battles and the slaughter of innocents... it was I who was sent by Malebolgia... to collect the souls... and ride with them in the air at night-- the ride of the dead." "But never to die." "There was no honor in that, not for a knight." "My honor had been taken from me." "I turned away from killing." "The black arts drew me." "I struggled with the evil inside... and used sorcery to free myself." "In that time... I was known as Merlin." "It you are the Black Knight, then I want answers." "Your flesh rebels against you." "The shroud attacks you." "You wallow in selt-pity." "You're lost." "I don't want to hear any more talk!" "You claim to be some kind of wizard." "Show me what this goddamn shroud is good tor." "No." "You will, old man." "This is not the alley, hellspawn !" "I make the rules in this place!" "You are in my domain!" "They may have taken your honor... but they stole my life." "I came back for Wanda... but she sees me as a monster." "Do you wish to find the answers?" " What are you prepared to do?" " l am going to get my life back." "If you won't help me, I'll find the answers somewhere else." "One of your ofticers tound a report on a cop killed in the alley." "Jason, you're a busy man." "Why are you spending your time reading our New york City police reports?" "Chiet Banks, if I didn't teel you served a purpose tor me... I wouldn't have gotten you nominated for police commissioner... and we wouldn't be having this conversation, would we?" "Mr. Wynn, I didn't mean to imply that" "The report was written by an ofticer named Max Williams." "Twitch." "Smart cop." "Thorough." "His partner is Sam Burke, a meat-and-potatoes guy." "Your smaft cop descfibes the shooting death... of one ot your best ofticers, killed in the alleys." "The dying man's last words on Earth were "red cloak. "" "Find the man in the red cloak." "Don't move in on him until you call me." "Consider it done." "Damn thing's no good." "Sights are ott or something." "Yes, sir." "Worthless piece of shit." "It's jammed." "Fortunately." "I can usually shoot the dick oft a squirrel trom here." "Look at this junk." "Your lack ot aim is surely the gun's fault, sir." ""Lack ot aim"?" "What, Twitch, you think you can do better?" "You know, you've really lost your sense ot humor." "You're too serious." "You gotta learn to lighten up a little." "Let's just see now." "Lucky son ot a bitch." "Give me that gun." "Burke." "I thought you were banned from the range after that incident last week." "Hey, I been cleared ot that one." "It was his fault." "He should've ducked." "You're at a disadvantage." "Your gut keeps you too tar from the target." "Hey, Twitch, I think the chiet just cracked a joke." "This is your report on one ot ours that was killed in the alleys?" "We closed that case. lt was our collar." "That cop was killed by a crazy priest." "Before he died that cop said there were two ot them." "That leads me to believe that maybe the priest had a playmate." "He also said something about a red cloak." "I remember." "That's a detail I shouldn't have missed, Chief." "Get me a pefp." "I don't care it you gotta eat, breathe and sleep those alleys... and I don't care how much shit you step in." "You should feel right at home there, Burke." "Check it out." "You're missing the point, Lisa. I don't want you to have fun in New York." "I want you to have a lonely, exhausting trip... which indicates to me you're writing a story that will spill a lot of ink." "Let's cut the bullshit." "It I wasn't the best, you wouldn't have sent me." "You got a thing for these psychos, Lisa." "You always manage to get close to them." "Yeah, well, my job is to hunt them down." " They all give oft the same scent." " What scent is that?" "Evil." " Hey, Lisa." " Yeah?" "You're spooky." "Now tell me what you have." "This guy wears a red cloak." "Hey, he's no joke." "He murders people." "I'm gonna find him and deliver to you his head on a platter." "Like dolls' eyes." "Foufth time with this zombie, we don't have shit." "The guy has no prints, no name." "As soon as he starts in about "the dead guy's back," l'm gone." "I can't do a fitth dance with this twisted sister." "Nice digs." "Good thing you're gettin' some RR." "A walltlower, huh?" "You see this?" "This is a forensic report that says that your DNA matches... the cells tound underneath the nails of a dead bum." "We also have witnesses that say you killed this less fortunate tellow." "We found this nearby." "He's dead." "I saw him burnt to a crisp." " But he's back." " That's it. I'm gone." "Come on, Twitch." "Who's back from the dead?" "He looked at me with those green eyes." "That cloak, it reached out and touched me like it was alive." "Did you say "cloak"?" "He's gonna drag me back to Hell." "Tell me, who's come from Hell?" "Simmons." "Al Simmons." "What the hell are you doin'?" "Just checking some details, sir." "How's the chili dog?" "Kinda light on the onions." "That may signal a slight improvement in air quality." "Yeah, yeah, yeah." "What a comedian." "I'm gonna grab a soda." "You came in looking for me." "Why?" "Shall we have a seat?" "You wrote some articles for The Washington Post... about a soldier named Al Simmons." "That's old news, Detective." "Why the interest?" "I was just wondering if you could offer me anything that was too... sensitive to put in print." " Like?" " You tell me." "Member of a special ops group." "Saved the president a tew years back." "But you already knew all that before you came in the door." "I'm like you." "I do my homework." "You know what, Twitch?" "I like you." "You're a good cop and I'm a good reporter... and I know a tlutf job when I hear it, so let's cut the bullshit." "You tell me something, I'll tell you something." "Ladies tirst." "I wasn't allowed to print the tact that Simmons was burned alive on a mission... that the NSC says didn't happen." "Your turn." "I'm working the alley murders." "Looking tor a guy with a red cloak." "I have a perp down at Bellevue that got a good look at this guy in the alley." "Says he has a burned tace." "Now you tell me Al Simmons was burned alive." "Coincidences do happen." "I don't believe in coincidences." "Thank you tor your time, Ms. Wu." "I see the way you look when you talk about Al." "You really loved him." "He was my husband." "No." "I mean, he was the one." " ls this going to show up in the paper?" " This is just you and me." "What you said betore... about Al?" "You're right." "He was that one." "Just hearing his voice excited me." "When he touched me" "Atter he died I ached for him." "For months I'd sleep with his shirt or his robe." "Anything that smelled like him." "Mommy, where are you?" "Mom?" "Mommy!" "Mommy's in here, sweet girl." "There you are." "Ah, you're a pretty lady." "I remember you." "I've never seen her take to someone so quickly." "You have a way with her." " ls she Al's child?" " No." "Al couldn't give us a child." "What's happening with the NSC and Tefry?" "He lost his job." "Come on, Cyan." "I'm glad he's not there." " Up, Mommy." " We're a lot better oft now." "Hmm." "Jason Wynn will topple oft the mountain." "It is just a mattef ot time." "We almost lost evefything, and I still can't get Terfy to talk about it." "He stays away for days at a time." "Maybe he's protecting you." "Sometimes the truth is brutal." "It's driving us apart." "Something's wrong." " But he won't let me inside." " Maybe you haven't grieved Al's death." "Do you sometimes feel that he's still with you?" "You've seen him, haven't you?" "The creature." "Twice." "I've seen what he's capable of, and I haven't told anyone." "You know who it is, don't you?" "He spoke my name." "There was something in his voice." "I think you should go now." "It you can hear me, Al... I know you're with me." "I feel it." "Wanda." "I'm hungry, Mama." "I ask you to step out where l can see you... very respecttully." "I warned the last cop not to come into my alley." "Afe you threatening me?" " What would you do about it?" " I'd shoot you between the eyes." "Did you kill him?" "The police officer?" "You've got some hard bark on you for a little guy." "I didn't kill him." "Murders have occurred in this alley." "One victim was a homeless man." "We have a suspect who wears a skull face-- a ritual ot some kind." "Chapel." "I lett him alive for you." "This man you call Chapel" "We have him locked away." "he's quite completely insane." "So, naturally, when he described you we didn't believe it." "You believed it." "You're here." "He claims you're Al Simmons... a soldier who was burned alive five years ago." "What do you think?" "I think you somehow survived a government cover-up." "You're closer than you think." "Can you get me closer?" "You wanna be a knight in shining armor?" "Go play cops and robbers." "Forget all about this." "I wouldn't want to see your body dumped in my alley." "Contirm Chapel's involvement." "Chapel was just a puppet." "The NSC was pulling the strings." "Who's the puppet master?" "What difference does it make?" "Do you think you can stop them, little man?" "I can do my best." "You were a soldier once, a hero to your country." "What happened to your code ot honor?" "When you play with matches... you can get burned." "Don't come down to these alleys again." "One of your officers has accessed some of my files, Chief Banks." " Why?" " I don't know anything about it." "The only guy here capable of doing that would be Twitch" " Ofticef Williams." "You asked about him before." "He's working on the killings in the alley." "Find out what he knows." "And after I get the information from Ofticer Williams?" "I understand that New York's finest who are killed in the line of duty... are given quite a hero's bufial." "Just tell me where to send the flowers, Chief Banks." "I spoke with a red-cloaked man here in this place." "I believe he's still somewhere in these alleys." "I'm gonna take a look around." "This goes all the way up to a high otficial in the NSC." "And who would this otficial be?" "The only man who could make decisions at this level is Jason Wynn." "My instinct is that the suspect we have down at Bellevue... is one ot his assassins." "That's quite a story, Twitch." "Sounds like you have a very solid lead." "You've done well, Ofticer." "The department is proud ot you." "Thank you, sir." "Officer down!" "Get a goddamn ambulance down here!" "Jesus, he's bleedin' hard from his head!" "Officer down!" "Do you hear me, goddamn it!" "Twitch is down!" "Twitch, can you hear me?" "This is Sam." "Listen to me." "Nobody dies tonight." "You heaf me?" "You're not gonna die in this shithole alley." "Hey, Burke." "I saw the guy with the red cloak." "He came out of nowhere, shot your paftner." "I chased him, but he just vanished." "Look what he did to Twitch." "Oh, sweet Jesus." "I'm gonna kill that fucker for what he did to my partner!" "Wait tor backup!" "Burke!" "You hear that, you piece ot shit?" "I'll fuckin' kill you!" "Glad you guys could make it." "But you're a little late." "The son of a bitch is gone." "I knew you would come." "They're swarming through the alleys." " l can't go back till they're gone." " There's always sanctuary for you here." "Why do they hunt you?" "What have you done?" "They think I killed a cop." "I can't hide from them anymore." "You have to stop the senseless killings." "The people I kill deserve to die!" "You project your evil onto others and then kill them... thinking you've destroyed that evil." "You'fe no difterent from the other hellspawns... and they're all dead." "It is all foretold here in the Book of Knowledge." "That's just a musty old book." "It means nothing to me." "Thefe's only a single book like this one... written a long time ago, in the time ot the mist." "It can help you break the curse and defy Malebolgia." "He made me a prisoner inside this shroud." "I escaped the shroud." "You can do the same and be tree." "It tights against me." "I can't control it." "Yes, you can." "To be master ot the shroud... you must be mastef ot youf heart." "My heart is dead." "That's what Malebolgia wants you to believe." "Yes, he did choose a man whose heart was dark... but now, inside you, there is some good." "Malebolgia is the mind killer... and he will seep in like a sickness, if you let him." "The shroud controls your flesh... but there is a way to keep it from controlling youf mind and heart." "How do I fight against an enemy I can't see, that I know nothing about?" "A part ot you is the enemy." "You have to bury the man you once were, because he's damned." "Become a new man, a bettef man." "Only then will the shroud serve you." "Don't preach to me!" "I need to know" " Can this thing give me my body back?" "It can give you any form you choose." "So you'll have your tace back." " What then?" " l want to see my wife as I used to be." "A man." "I nevef had the chance to tell her good-bye." "That's all I ask." "There is a cost." "I don't give a damn !" "I've already lost everything." "There's nothing more to lose." "You will be vulnerable... in your human form." "In time your skin will decay... and you will return to the torm you are now." "Are you strong enough for that?" "Whatever you do, thefe will be consequences." "Show me, old man!" "Allow the shroud... to envelop you." "Here you go." "Twitch." "Hey, buddy." "You're gonna make it." "I told 'em you're gonna be okay." "Back in business." "I'm sorry." " Who are you?" " lt's me, Twitch." "Sam Burke. I'm your partner." "Of course." "My partner." "Cyan, child." "Stay out of those chocolates... and get an apple like Granny told you to." "All right, Granny." " l'll get it, Granny." " That's all right, child." "I'll get it." "Who could that be?" "Yes?" "Can I help you?" "I'm-- l'm looking for Wanda Blake." "And who is this that's asking?" "Just an old friend of hers back in town." "Well, now, I know most of Wanda's triends." "Hi, it's me, Cyan!" "I'm sorry to have bothered you." "Would you like to come in and wait for her?" "No." " l've made a mistake." " Please don't go." "At least not yet, Al." "Granny?" "What?" "You think I still wouldn't know you?" "I visit youf grave every Sunday... to talk to you... and pray for you." "I prayed that you'd answer me in some way." "I could use a few prayers." "Just last night I had a dream... that you were in a darkened church... lookin' for the Lord." "You always did see more than the others." "It is you." "You have come trom Heaven, haven't you?" " An angel to watch over us." " Granny." "I wish I was the pefson you want me to be." " Here, kitty, kitty." " You've always had a good heart, Al." "You just need to follow it." "The Bible says..." ""lf you see and hear with your heaft... you'll be shown the mysteries of His kingdom."" "The atterlife is not what the good book says, Granny." "Why don't you come inside?" "I was wrong to come." "I wanted to see Wanda." " l was afraid." " What could you be atraid ot?" "That I would never see her again." "Nothing can keep you and Wanda apart." "Not death, not anything." "Just wait tor her, watch over her." "She'll join you in Heaven one day." "You always had taith, Granny." "You're the only one who knows I've come back." "This is my granny." "She can't see." "She sees more than most." "I think Wanda knows... that you are still with hef." "That's the sad man." "How is our patient?" "You just join us?" "Feeling okay?" "I have a sevefe headache." "What's your name?" "I'm Twitch." "I mean, what is the name on your birth ceftificate?" "He knows his own name, Doc." "Don't you, Twitch?" "Maximilian..." "Percival Williams." "The bullet shattered on entering your skull-- that's the good news." "The bad news is that we couldn't remove the largest fragment." "It's in a real precarious spot, so... you'll have a little house guest tor a while." "Doc, stop holding our hands." "Tell us what the damage is here." "You see, he suffers from edema." "Until the swelling in his brain goes down... we won't know the extent ot the damage." " l'll check back later." " Yeah." "You do that, Doc." "Sir, you look like you've lost some weight." "A little." "You weren't around to get me do" "Hey, partner!" "You remember me!" "It's hard, sir." "My memory... it feels shattered... like a puzzle that tell to the floor." "I'm searching tor the pieces." "They said if you ever did wake up, you'd be a veggie." "We got a lot ot work ahead ot us." "You just need a lot of rest." "Help me." "Sam." "Don't let them put me away in some warehouse." "I want to get this guy." "We'll get him." "What should I do with you?" "I shot the bastard point-blank, Wynn." "Not even the doctors have figured out how he pulled through." "Your inability to do the job has put you in a very difficult position..." "Chief Banks." "We'fe both in a ditticult position." "This creature told Twitch about you." "He'll eventually put the pieces back together." "When he does, you be there." "Here he comes." "I'll be close by." "I've been waiting for Wynn to step wrong." "If this information is what you say it is..." "Wynn will go away." "Then your problems will go away, Mr. Fitzgerald." "Fofget me." "What about my family?" "My wite and little girl." "Mr. Sullivan, I want assurance that they'll be safe." "I can't assure that." "What?" "There is a cancer, Mf." "Fitzgerald." "A cancer that has spread through the NSC all the way to the top." "My job is to destroy the enemy within... whoever they are... wherever they hide." "Judy, what's taking so long?" "I want the vice president on the phone now." "Sir, l-- They said he's not available." "What do you mean, he's not available?" "He and I have this phone call every day." "That's what they told me, sir." "I'm sorry." "Thought you should know... I was strolling through Central Park today... and there were two men talking on a park bench." "Did you hear me?" "Clearly. I was just thinking that a maggot like yourself... wouldn't have the balls to tuck with me like you are... it the two men on the bench were not a great threat to me." "Something, I'm sure, is to your advantage." "One man was Terry Fitzgerald." "And the other man?" "Vice chairman of the NSC..." "Richard Sullivan." "The guy who's been circling over you like a vulture." "I'll have to repay the favor some day." "Hey, Wynn." "You're a tree agent now." "With what you know... you just became... the most dangerous man... on Earth." "You got my message." " Where's Cyan?" " She's at Granny's." " l told you to bring her." " She's sate there." "I didn't like what I heard in your voice." "Are you telling me you needed to keep her safe from me?" "I'm her daddy, remember?" "Lately you scare me, and you're scaring Cyan." "Pack your bags." "We'll pick up Cyan on the way." "What's going on?" "You've been gone two days." "You don't even tell me where you've been." "By morning Jason Wynn will no longer be the director ot the NSC." "He'll be brought up on charges of treason." "When he realizes I was the one who dropped the dime on him... he'll come atter me." "We can't stay here any longer, Wanda." "We have to go." "And start all over?" "No." "There are laws in this country" "Laws?" "Are you serious?" "You really believe being a lawyer is gonna protect us?" "Listen to me." "Wynn has people everywhere." "We can't stay here any longer." "This is my home." "I won't be driven out." "You're right, Wanda." "I'm the one who's the target." "Terry, wait." "Where are you going?" " lt's better it you don't know." " Terry, please." "Don't go." "It's a Chief Banks." "He insists on talking to you." "I don't know a Chiet Banks." "It's the New York Times." "They'd like a statement about the allegations." "I'm not here." "Judy." "Have my car pulled up in back." "Where is he?" "He's out of the ottice." "Hey, what do you think you're doing?" " l'm sorry, Wanda." " l'm glad you came back." "What is it?" "What's wrong?" "I don't know." "For just a moment I thought I saw-- l will always keep you sate." "I love you, Wanda." "I'm looking fof a man." "I wonder if you could help me." "Hey, how 'bout me, baby?" "He wears a red shroud." "You're the only one beside him... who ever called it a shroud." " Where is he?" " Who is it that seeks the shroud?" "Jade." "There's still a price... on your head, hellspawn." "You were the only hellspawn to escape me." "As you can see... I gave up my shroud." "I live now as a human lives." "I live in tear." "Tell the new hellspawn I'm coming for him." "Terry?" "I know you're there." "I have no place else to go." "There is someone else who hunts you." "She is a celestial warrior." " What are you talking about?" " A bounty hunter... sent by the celestial masters." "She was the iron mistress of Genghis Khan." "I'm not interested in a history lesson, old man." "You should be... because he also sent souls to Malebolgia." "Millions of them!" "He slaughtered innocent women and children." "You look a little spooked." " She hunted me as well." " You feafed a woman." "These spawns long betore you... they thought she was weak, too... because she was a woman." "I tried to warn the others also." "They didn't listen either." " That's the skull of Genghis Khan." " l'm not like him." "is there no blood on youf hands, hellspawn?" "Heaven has sent their bounty hunter." "Now she wants your head." "Then let her come." "When the full moon came... the hellspawn stared at it... for a long time... as if expecting to discover some truth... in its cold stillness." "Clarity, maybe." "A measure of peacefulness." "Things he hadn't known for a long time." "But the moon only brought into his world..." "Get your fuckin' hands oft me!" "more savageness." "You see, this is business, Lakesha." "If you're not workin' for me, I lose money." "Why you turn tricks for those fuckin' Russians?" "I treated you like my queen." "I'm not stupid." "I see through you." "You think those nice clothes and fancy college talk makes you better than me." "You're more whore than I am." "You're nothin' but a coward." "is this what you do?" "You kill people with these things?" "You're not a hero." "You're a coward." "Get out ot my house." " Wanda, l-- - l don't even know who you are anymore." "So, Chafles, what you want us to do with her, man?" "She just retired." "Cut her up." "Shit!" "Five-oh." "See you around, Lakesha." "Hey, lady, you okay?" "Officers requesting medical assistance at alley west" "I remember this one." "We busted her a couple ot months ago." "That you, Lakesha?" "I know who did this." "It was Charles, wasn't it?" "Not tor nothin', you don't have to let him beat on you like that." "Come on." "Wanna make a statement this time?" "Lakesha, help us put his black ass in jail, where it belongs." "You gonna bring flowers to my grave?" "Just leave me alone." "Announcing the arrival of Red Traveler 164... from Des Moines, Iowa, gate 53." "She's so innocent... and fresh." "The homecoming queen who came to New York to be a star." " Jesus, you know the drill." " Sure." " Tricks are gonna tear her in half." " Where are you goin', sweetheart?" "The subway." "Hey." "Beat it, or I'll cut you like a fish." "You have to be careful, miss." "This is New York." "You just don't talk to sleazoids like him." "I was hoping to get some directions." "I'm really hungry, and I need a place to stay." " Hey, are you guys security?" " Yeah, what's the problem?" "Listen, would you guys show this girl where the YWCA is?" "And here, buy her some dinner, will you?" " Sure." " These guys will take care of you." "Good luck, miss." "If you need any help, just call me." "You're really nice." "And they told me that New Yorkers might try to take advantage of a girl." "You're a long way from the sticks." " What's your name?" " Lily." "Lily." "Like in lily-white ass?"