[Shadows] One Final Mercy - Outline - With Music
OFM outline with music:
DEFTONES - CHANGE (IN THE HOUSE OF FLIES) (ACOUSTIC)
I. (Prologue) Crazed confusion as Vinseth discovers Rejo's body, then is shot by Lareh. "Forgotten hallways like black streams where deep waters ran." "REMEMBER YOUR COURSE"
YOKO KANNO - GOODNIGHT JULIA
II. Bella and Madelleine Duvalle in the hopsital, outside Vinseth's room in the ICU ward. Duvalle isn't sure why Bella wants a Dark Mage partner. She reassigns Bella from the Roth murders to the theft of the Token of Baishivo.
THE TEA PARTY - BAZAAR
III. Bella discovers Bata Vahai in her apartment (cacti explode and she calls the Mandragora Arcanus). He warns her about the Token, then asks for news of Vinseth. Bella trades a favor for a favor: she'll continue to investigate the Roth murders if Bata will watch over her daughter. Bonus shot of Lareh in here somewhere.
7 PERCENT SOLUTION – BUILT ON SAND
IV. The office. Bella visits the site of the theft, reviewing the security tape, and then interviews the four security guards on duty. None of them remember anything but a strange black smudge. Plants droop. The tapes show a person who is not a security guard and is NOT the black smudge, but is right beside it, though the security guards don't mention it.
RACHEL LEMONDS – THE LOCAL ESTABLISHMENT
V. Bella goes out for coffee with Maria Santosa and Michelle Ducret, priming them for information on the Roth case, learning that there was no sign that the door was forced. She discusses the possibility of Black Magic being used to affect a person's mind.
GODSMACK - VOODOO
VI. Lareh, going steadily crazier. "Black hallways like black streams where deep waters ran," and THY BODY IS AN UNFAMILIAR THING. He strangles a young woman, then writes "REMEMBER YOUR COURSE" on her forehead with a permanent marker.
THE ROLLING STONES – PAINT IT BLACK
VII. 4AM cell phone call: Vinseth is awake, but his son is dead. Cacti explode and bamboo grows thorns. Bella rushes to the hospital and is greeted by a furious Vinseth. Black magic throws things everywhere, a Kazshivo spins crazily. Bella loses her temper and throws honeysuckle all over his bed.
SOUL COUGHING – MURDER OF LAWYERS
VIII. Lareh digs through a dumpster with a nasty dagger. Nearby, Bella goes out for coffee with Bata Vahai, discussing the "black smudge". Conversation turns to what the Token might do. Bata insinuates that the Token is a demonic relic, and therefore extremely powerful--rather than affecting a demon, it affects any human it touches. Bella isn't so sure: they haven't had anybody suddenly grow four more arms or start setting things on fire.
SWITCHBLADE SYMPHONY - MONSTERS
IX. Later. An alley. "Mouth full of black waters and the salt is all tar." Lareh comes across the Badhvahai. It nearly kills him, but just as its hands close around his neck, something intervenes, and the Badhvahai becomes Bata Vahai. Lareh stumbles away, but it should be noted that his hands are covered in blood, and "REMEMBER YOUR COURSE" is written on a wall in a sticky red-brown substance.
UEMATSU NOBUO – THE OATH
X. Rejo and Chada Roth's funeral. It's a military affair; both Vinseth and Bella attend, though Vinseth is wheelchair-bound. His fury is evident. Bata spends much of the funeral with his hand on Vinseth's shoulder.
DEAD CAN DANCE - OMAN
XI. Bella visits Cazgo and notes that she seems ill. Dereth notes that Bella is still wearing her gun, to which Bella says nothing in reply. He comments that the Taint is clinging to her. Afterwards, Bella meets up with Bata again. Bata again warns her that just because nobody is taking the Token seriously doesn't make it harmless. It was locked away for a reason.
KANNO YOKO – MOUTH ON FIRE
XII. Security cameras: Bella watches through the security tapes and finds just a flash of the culrprit's face in the footage. They isolate the image and run it through a database, though that will take days. Later, Bella watches the security footage of who entered Vinseth's apartment building, and sees Lareh's face.
CHEB KHALED – ALECH TAADI
XIII. Magical research time! Bella visits the Vabren desert--specifically the village of Ahteir--and asks after legends of Baishivo. She encounters Koresth, who tells her that anything of Baishivo's absolutely must be locked up. Baishivo was a handmaiden to Zintzne, and often heard His words. "Just because a man really does hear the gods speak does not make him sane."
LIVE – LAKINI'S JUICE
XIV. Bella prays for guidance in the Temple of Kailo and notices that yes, the Taint really is clinging to her. Meanwhile, Lareh kills another woman and son, shooting the husband in the right shoulder (exactly what he did to Vinseth) and writes again "REMEMBER YOUR COURSE". This time, though, he leaves honeysuckle wrapped around the woman's neck.
DELIRIUM - WISDOME
XV. Bella visits Vinseth, discusses what she's found on both cases. Vinseth manages to drink from a cup using his left hand, and confirms Koresth's answers and (maybe) tells a legend about the last time the Token was loose.
ARID - DEARLY DEPARTED
XVI. Morning. They find no match in the face database, but the previous agent assigned to the case hands over a fingerprint he took. When asked why he didn't turn in this evidence immediately, he can say only, "Forgotten hallways like black streams where deep waters ran." He kills himself immediately after. Bella calls in Maria Santosa, who confirms that a curse was active.
MARILYN MANSON – HEART SHAPED GLASSES (ACOUSTIC)
XVII. Vinseth is moved from the hospital to his apartment. Bella helps him settle in, then snoops around. Asks the doorman about the shot of Lareh entering the building, and is told that Lareh ("Mr. Vihar," to the doorman) visited many times. A serious "!" moment, which Bella almost discusses with Michelle Ducret and Maria Santosa at the next opportunity. She DOES brings up the "Remember" murders, which both Michelle and Maria say are "copy-cat killings done by somebody even crazier than the Roth murderer." Which is true, up to a point. Lareh is crazier than he used to be, and he's copy-catting himself.
HIM – RIP OFF THE WINGS OF A BUTTERFLY
XVIII. The fingerprint matches to Vihar Lareh. Moment of recognition for B; she puts together his driver's license photo and the shot of the man in the apartment building lobby. Bella goes to Bata and asks him to scry for her. He refuses, but says that he believes Lareh may be the one behind the "Remember" murders. Later, we spot Bella going door to door in some slums with the photo of Lareh she wanted Bata to scry with.
PAUL OAKENFOLD – SOUTHERN SUN
XIX. Bella updates Madelleine Duvalle on her findings, receiving full authorization for a "hard-target search." Bella immediately issues a warrant for his arrest and checks his credit card records, then searches for use of his subway pass. Neither the cards nor the pass have been used since two weeks before the theft of the Token. Shot to her interviewing a young woman, presumably his girlfriend, and asking where "Vihar" can be found. She receives no answer.
PLACEBO – SPECIAL NEEDS
XX. "I made it to the kitchen." "...is that why there's vomit on the floor?" "Well, it did hurt."
BOOGIEPOP PHANTOM – CRISS-CROSS
XXI. Lareh stumbles blindly along a crowded street. "Feet in the black waters and the tar is sticking to them." He suddenly shouts "REMEMBER YOUR COURSE!" and grabs the nearest person, who happens to be a young man, and slits his throat. The police show up, but Lareh becomes a black smudge and disappears. Bella is called to the scene. She performs a scrying ritual and smiles: yes, it was him, and this is a teleportation she can actually trace. Or, rather, she knows who CAN trace this teleportation.
A PERFECT CIRCLE – BLUE
XXII. Visiting Vinseth at home! Unfortunately, it's night by the time she gets there. Bella has to let herself in, because the night nurse is catatonic from terror. Bella sighs, takes the night nurse out, and then returns, offering her hand to Vinseth. He takes it, closes his eyes, and tells her that he can follow the Taint that clings to her, but it doesn't go anywhere he knows. An apartment full of blood and iron.
DEAD CAN DANCE - EMMELEIA
XXIII. Bata Vahai sits in an all-night coffee shop with a woman who is never identified (but is Nimje the Beautiful). They speak about "the boy" and "the idealist". Bata reveals that he tried and failed to kill the Idealist. The woman laughs, then says that Zintzne will be displeased with such poor service. The boy in an eight-day coma? Bata stiffens and says that if she's going to mock him, she can leave. The woman smiles widely, revealing two rows of fangs where her rear molars are, and then collapses into a wisp of smoke.
SAY HI TO YOUR MOM - THE FOREST SCARES THE HELL OUT OF ME
XXIV. A 3AM wake-up call: the NEW night nurse (and yes, Bella picks up on this inconsistency) is calling in fright. She doesn't make much sense, but she's curled up in a corner of the bathroom with a lighter and teartracks all over her face. Bella rolls out of bed, drives to Vinseth's apartment, and rages at Vinseth. She is trying to remove a powerful demonic artifact from circulation AS WELL AS bring the murderer of his wife and son to justice. Doesn't he have anything better to do than terrify his nurses? Vinseth looks at her with a straight face and replies, "No."
BOOGIEPOP PHANTOM – FORGET-ME-NOT
XXV. Another visit with Cazgo. Bella spends much of the evening preoccupied. Cazgo attempts to cheer Bella up, but Bella will have none of it. Everywhere, plants droop. And then the call comes in: Vihar Lareh has visited his girlfriend (glimpse of the girlfriend giving this news at knifepoint). Bella parts with Cazgo with a quick kiss on the forehead, tells her to go downstairs and visit with Dyaiva Anpareh. Meanwhile, she calls Dereth and requests backup.
A PERFECT CIRCLE – COUNTING BODIES
XXVI. Arrival at the girlfriend's apartment... but Bella gets there, the girlfriend is dead, and the apartment is full of bodies. Bella stalks Lareh through the apartment, but eventually he makes his escape, running into Dereth (whom he shoots in the right shoulder, then stabs in the leg). Bella follows...
DROWNING POOL - BODIES
XXVII. ...to a subway station. Lareh shoots another man in the shoulder, then grabs a girl by her hair and throws her in front of an incoming train. Bella summons the Mandragora Arcanus (this time with foot-long thorns), but cannot save the girl. Cue a nasty game of magic, with shadows going up against her vines, and then a very brief fist fight. Bella wraps honeysuckle around his throat, attempts to break his neck, and then settles for stabbing him with the Mandragora's thorns.
PLACEBO – FOLLOW THE COPS BACK HOME
XXVIII. Immediate aftermath. Bella and the girl's mother, wrapped in blankets and sitting numbly side-by-side while uniformed officers cordon off the area. Vinseth, lying awake on his couch, watching the news with his gun beside him and his wound re-opened. The Badhvahai, standing in the subway, watching from the shadows. Dereth, bleeding on the floor of the apartment building. Michelle Ducret and Maria Santosa searching Lareh's body for the Token.
DAR WILLIAMS – MERCY OF THE FALLEN
XXIX. Denoument: Bella and Cazgo visit Dereth in the hospital, then eat a meal together with Vinseth (who manages to sit at his dining table). Our last shot of Dereth is him smiling in his hospital bed. After Cazgo leaves the apartment, Vinseth quietly thanks Bella for finding the man who ruined his life (in a Vinsethy fashion). His final shot is a study in shadow as he expresses regret that he didn't kill Lareh. Our last shot of Cazgo is of her hopping over a crack on the sidewalk, while Bella smiles down at her, and Bata watches from the shadows.