Stephen Metcalfe - Writer & Director

Only experience where I remember screaming at people. I still think this is a good idea.

THE APPRENTICE
EXT. CHICAGO - DAY
Establishing. Downtown. The train station.
INT. TRAIN STATION - DAY
A good looking if scruffy young man, SEBASTIAN SHAW, mid-20’s, makes his way across the concourse. Old, suede jacket. T-shirt. Duffle. Worn book bag over his shoulder. He looks at a schedule board and moves on.
INT. TRAIN PLATFORM - DAY
Passengers are boarding. An announcement details the stops between Chicago and New York. Sebastian moves down the platform. And is bumped - hard - by someone.
SEBASTIAN
- whoa. Excuse me.
Instead of apologizing, the man turns glares. He is thin and hairless; wears dark clothes and a long grey coat.
MAN 1
Watch where you’re going.
SEBASTIAN
I was.
Two other men - also with shaved heads and in long coats - step up. One - odd tattoos on his face.
TATTOOED MAN
Rensen. Not now.
Man 1 hesitates, turns away. Tattoo stares at Sebastian.
SEBASTIAN
What are you guys, a bad rock band?
A dismissive smirk. Tattoo turns away. The three men proceed down the platform; looking for someone among the last minute boarders. Something ominous about them.
INT. THE TRAIN - MOVING - CONT.
Establishing. Hours later. Sebastian is in a window seat, reading. A portly man is in the isle seat next to him, dozing.
THE MAN IN BLACK (O.C.)
You’re in my seat.
Sebastian glances over - and up. Standing in the isle is a charismatic looking black man, 50’s. He is dressed in a black suit and a long, black, glove-leather coat.
PORTLY MAN
Whataya talkin’ about? I been sitting here since Detroit.
The black man’s voice is deep, resonant - reasonable.
THE MAN IN BLACK
I think you’d be much more comfortable in the next car.
To Sebastian’s surprise -
PORTLY MAN
Yeah. I’ll be more comfortable in the next car.
He rises and moves away. Weird.
THE MAN IN BLACK
May I?
There are other seats. But -
SEBASTIAN
Have a party.
The black man sits down. Sebastian focuses on his book.
THE MAN IN BLACK
Going all the way to New York?
SEBASTIAN
... yeah.
THE MAN IN BLACK
Me too.
Great.
THE MAN IN BLACK
Chicago to New York. Most people would fly.
It’s a question.
SEBASTIAN
I don’t like to fly. I like trains.
THE MAN IN BLACK
Ah. Me too.
Sebastian goes back to his book.
THE MAN IN BLACK
You’re a journalist, aren’t you.
SEBASTIAN
(a beat)
... have we met?
THE MAN IN BLACK
(ignoring the question)
Sebastian Shaw. You were one of the youngest correspondents in Aphganistan back in oh-one. And then the Mid-East. And you don’t like to fly because when you were seventeen, you were in a plane crash. Your parents were killed. Only you survived.
SEBASTIAN
All right, what’s going on here?
THE MAN IN BLACK
(ignoring the question; smiling)
The palm of your hand. May I see it?
SEBASTIAN
No.
THE MAN IN BLACK
Let me see your hand.
He can’t help himself. Sebastian holds out his hand.
THE MAN IN BLACK
Remarkable lines. Unique. Has anyone ever told you that?
SEBASTIAN
...yes.
THE MAN IN BLACK
Of course. The fortune teller in Bucharest. You went on a lark with friends and she threw you out.
SEBASTIAN
Who are you? How did you know that?
THE MAN IN BLACK
She told me. It wasn’t easy, she was terrified. I’ve been searching for you a long time, Mr. Shaw.
What? The door at the end of the car opens and the shaven-headed men in the grey coats enter. Their eyes go right to the black man - and then to Sebastian.
THE MAN IN BLACK
As have others.
The three men sit in the facing seats at the front.
SEBASTIAN
Okay, this has been a real funny. Now where are the hidden cameras?
THE MAN IN BLACK
You and I are going to get up and move to the rear of the train.
SEBASTIAN
What?
THE MAN IN BLACK
Those men sitting right there are here to kill you.
SEBASTIAN
That’s crazy.
THE MAN IN BLACK
But it’s the truth. You know it is. You feel it.
Sebastian does feel it. It’s like a sense of dread.
THE MAN IN BLACK
Get up and go. I’ll follow.
Sebastian rises, steps into the isle and moves. The black man follows. The three men spring to their feet.
IN THE NEXT, LESS CROWDED CAR -
Sebastian enters. The black man behind him.
SEBASTIAN
Who are you.
THE MAN IN BLACK
A friend. Keep moving.
Sebastian looking back. The three men enter now.
SEBASTIAN
Who are the cueballs?
THE MAN IN BLACK
Acolytes. Followers of the Darkness.
SEBASTIAN
I saw them in Chicago. They were looking for someone.
THE MAN IN BLACK
Yes. Me. Move!
They hurry down the car. The men following.
IN THE NEXT AND LAST CAR
They enter and move down the car. It’s empty of people. Sebastian suddenly turns to face the black man.
SEBASTIAN
I’m not going another step until you tell me what’s going on.
THE MAN IN BLACK
I made a mistake. By making contact with you, I told them who you are. I should have waited.
SEBASTIAN
Waited - waited for what?
THE MAN IN BLACK
For you to come to me.
The men in grey coats now enter. They stop.
THE MAN IN BLACK
Go the end of the car. Get down.
Sebastian hesitates, then moves. The black man turns.
THE MAN IN BLACK
No further, gentlemen.
TATTOOED MAN
Are you so eager to die, McClellan? There are three of us.
THE MAN IN BLACK
Unfair odds. For you.
Sneering, the Acolyte raises a hand - and before Sebastian’s incredulous eyes - a ball of energy forms and bursts and blazes like a bolt down the car at the black man. The black man raises a hand - and creates a shield of energy - the shield deflects the bolt which explodes out and through the roof of the train. Raising his other hand, the black man sends an energy bolt of his own sizzling down the car. It hits the Acolyte, knocking him back. The hands of other Acolytes blaze. They project energy bolts of their own. Not at the black man but at Sebastian. The walls of the train explode around him.
THE MAN IN BLACK
Get down!
Sebastian throws himself behind a seat. The black man fires back - a second Acolyte goes down. The third Acolyte throws a ball of energy. The energy transforms - into a knife. The energy in the black man’s hand becomes a sword and with it, he sweeps the knife aside. Energy turns to sword in the third Acolytes hand. He attacks. The blades ring as they thrust and parry. The black man disarms the Acolyte who turns and runs.
THE MAN IN BLACK
Sorry. Not today.
He throws the sword like a knife. As it hits the fleeing Acolyte in the back, it bursts into energy. The man goes down. Sebastian rises. Before his disbelieving eyes, the bodies of the Acolytes fade to nothingness.
SEBASTIAN
This... is impossible.
Wind whips through the car. The black man’s coat flutters around him.
THE MAN IN BLACK
Nothing is impossible. Not anymore, not for you. You are the chosen one. You are the light that will slay the darkness. We will meet again soon.
The black man spreads his arms as if they were wings. He streaks up through the hole in the roof of the car and disappears into the night.
FADE TO BLACK.

ACT I
EXT. NEW YORK CITY - MID-TOWN - DAY
Establishing. Two days later. Sebastian enters off the street. T-shirt is different, suede jacket’s the same. Band aid on his forehead is new.
INT. THE NEW YORK JOURNAL - OFFICES - MORNING
The New York Journal is a successful, hip, New Yorker-like weekly, specializing in features, travel, investigative journalism and cutting edge reviews. The people who work here are young and intently focused. Unlike Sebastian, they wear their expensive educations on their very fashionable backs.
AT A DESK AND CUBICLE -
Sebastian throws down his satchel and starts to dump the contents on his cluttered desk. Books, notebooks, laptop, floppy disks. A black man wearing a crisp dress shirt and tie and wire rimed spectacles approaches. He is TRAVIS HICKS, 20’S, fact checker extraordinary.
TRAVIS
Do not flirt with the secretaries, do not get coffee and do not pass go. Proceed directly to Mordecai’s office. He is expecting you.
SEBASTIAN
Gee, I’m fine, Travis, how are you?
TRAVIS
Sebastian, give me a break. He told me to deliver you to him the minute you got in or it was my ass.
SEBASTIAN
Meaningless threats. Here. I brought you a gift from Chicago.
He hands Travis a Styrofoam box.
TRAVIS
I’m touched. Three day old, deep dish, vegetarian pizza. I’m very touched.
SEBASTIAN
Those’s aren’t veggies - that’s cheese.
He moves away. Travis throws the box onto Sebastian’s desk with the rest of the junk and follows.
INT. OFFICE FLOOR - DAY
Sebastian follows Travis past cubicles buzzing with activity and more fashionable, hard working people.
TRAVIS
Heard it was a rough trip.
SEBASTIAN
Nah. Piece of cake.
TRAVIS
So maybe next time you’ll fly.
SEBASTIAN
Travis, how many times I gotta tell you - planes go down.
And now, the concern beneath the bantering showing:
TRAVIS
Seriously, we were worried about you.
SEBASTIAN
... I appreciate it.
TRAVIS
So where’d you spend last night?
SEBASTIAN
Youngstown, Ohio.
TRAVIS
I think I’d rather go down.
So much for serious. They continue on.
INT. OFFICES - CONT.
They move down a hall and approach an office -
TRAVIS
By the way, if John leaps up and runs screaming from the room, don’t take it personally.
- and they hear yelling.
JOHN MORDECAI (O.C.)
For God’s sakes - no! What don’t you understand here, the N or the O!?
SEBASTIAN
Bladder acting up again?
TRAVIS
Aggravation seems to aggravate it.
JOHN MORDECAI, 50’s, and bearded, an ex-college radical, comes out of the office. On his heels is a attractive, young woman, GWEN SHEPARD, 20’s.
GWEN
Aw, come on, John, it’s a good piece!
JOHN MORDECAI
It’s about dogs, Gwendolyn.
GWEN
It’s about people who own dogs. People who go to dog shows.
JOHN MORDECAI
They should get a life.
(to Sebastian)
Where have you been?
SEBASTIAN
It was a tough commute, John.
JOHN
I’m on my way to the can. Walk with me -
GWEN
John!
JOHN MORDECAI
- us, that is.
(to Travis)
You. Go check some facts.
And now, as they move -
GWEN
You said human interest, John. This is human interest - !
JOHN MORDECAI
Sebastian, are you interested in Pedigree showdogs?
SEBASTIAN
As food or fur?
GWEN
You’re disgusting.
JOHN MORDECAI
I’ll take that as a no. You are human, Shaw, are you not?
GWEN/SEBASTIAN
Barely./Last time I looked.
JOHN MORDECAI
Case closed.
GWEN
(at Sebastian)
Thanks a lot.
SEBASTIAN
Hey, I walked into this.
GWEN
John - !
JOHN MORDECAI
(turning into the men’s room)
Thank you, Gwendolyn!
She starts to follow him in. The door closes. She stops, fuming.
SEBASTIAN
Dogs, huh?
GWEN
All the drug smugglers and eco-terrorists were taken. By you.
Obviously blaming the whole thing on him, she turns and stalks away. Sebastian enters the men’s room.
IN THE MEN’S ROOM -
He goes and leans against a sink as John finishes up.
MORDECAI
You okay?
SEBASTIAN
Yeah. Fine.
JOHN MORDECAI
How’d the interview go?
SEBASTIAN
Dickinson is not running for President in O4. He said - and I quote - the state of Chicago is a hell of a lot worse than the state of this country.
JOHN MORDECAI
I wouldn’t bet on it. So what really happened on the train?
SEBASTIAN
(hesitating)
Like the report said, John, it must have been a bomb of some kind.
JOHN MORDECAI
What kind?
SEBASTIAN
They don’t really know.
JOHN MORDECAI
Who planted it and why?
SEBASTIAN
They don’t know that either.
JOHN MORDECAI
I’m not asking what they know, Sebastian, I’m asking what you do.
Sebastian is silent. Then:
SEBASTIAN
Not much.
JOHN MORDECAI
That surprises me, that surprises me very much. I think it might be interesting if you find out.
SEBASTIAN
I plan to.
JOHN MORDECAI
We’re on the same page then. Oh, and have the interview transcribed and on my desk by the end of the week.
He exits. Sebastian sits, lost in thought.
ON THE OFFICE FLOOR -
Travis is working at a word processor when someone sits down on his desk. He looks up. It’s Sebastian.
TRAVIS
Looking for something?
SEBASTIAN
Yeah, a friendly face. That ain’t it.
Travis follows Sebastian’s gaze. Across the room, Gwen is ripping up pages and throwing them in the wastebasket. She looks up, sees Sebastian looking. She feigns a smile and then turns away.
TRAVIS
Why don’t you two just stop delaying the inevitable and start dating again?
SEBASTIAN
We drove each other crazy when we were together, Travis, you know that.
TRAVIS
You’re still doing it so well, you might as well be sleeping together.
SEBASTIAN
Take a look at something for me, will you?
Sebastian passes Travis some sheets of paper. On them are articles and photos downloaded off the internet about a man - the black man on the train.
TRAVIS
Cortez McClellan?
SEBASTIAN
He was a Wall Street bigshot in the 90’s. Made a fortune on the street. He’s some kind of philanthropist and society type now.
TRAVIS
Aren’t they all?
SEBASTIAN
I’ve reached the end of what I can find out about the guy. I was wondering if you could take a shot.
TRAVIS
Sebastian, you know how much work I have on my figurative desk?
SEBASTIAN
Nobody’s better at digging than you, Travis.
TRAVIS
Give.
SEBASTIAN
I owe you one.
TRAVIS
You owe me twenty.
Sebastian grins, waves and moves on. Gwen approaches.
GWEN
What’s he up to?
TRAVIS
Hmm? Oh, just the usual.
GWEN
And you’re helping him. As usual.
TRAVIS
The legal term is aiding and abetting but we won’t go there.
Gwen scowls.
EXT. TRI-BECA - DAY
Establishing.
INT. SEBASTIAN’S LOFT APT - DAY
So much for sleeping. Sebastian is at his computer, on line, surfing, exploring. Words and images and articles play across the computer screen. Wicca - Witchcraft - Neo-Paganism - Gothism - Satanism. There are moons and stars and mythical creatures. Adds for stores, newspapers, and books of spells. Sebastian makes notes. The phone rings.
SEBASTIAN
Yeah, hello.
INTERCUT: INT. EDITORIAL OFFICES - CONT.
Travis is at his desk.
TRAVIS
You got a pen ready?
Sebastian reaches for one.
EXT. THE NEW YORK PLANETARIUM - NIGHT
Limos are lined up on Central Park West. People are arriving for a formal affair of some kind. Black tie and elegant. And now Sebastian strides off the sidewalk and up the steps, drawing stares - anything but elegant.
IN THE MUSEUM LOBBY -
Elegant couples are checking in, then moving to a first gallery. Sebastian does not check in. A guy in a ticket - an event organizer - sees and tries to intercept him as he strides for the ball room.
EVENT ORGANIZER
Excuse me - excuse me, do you have ticket?
SEBASTIAN
I’m with the press.
EVENT ORGANIZER
Sir, this is a thousand dollar a plate fund-raiser.
SEBASTIAN
I know. I’m in real need of charity.
He enters.
THE MUSEUM GALLERY
is filled with elegantly dressed people, all of whom seem to know one another, drinking, chatting and munching on hors de huerves. Waiters circle. Sebastian eyeballs the crowd, looking for someone - and then spots him. Cortez McClellan. Elegantly dressed. The center of a group of apparent admirers.
AN OLDER MAN
This was in the Himalayas - am I right, Cortez? Twelve thousand feet and nothing for miles but yaks and abominable snowmen?
Laughter.
CORTEZ MCCLELLAN
Something like that.
A YOUNG WOMAN
But I don’t understand, what is it you were looking for?
CORTEZ MCCLELLAN
Enlightenment, my dear -
And now, Mcclellan sees Sebastian.
CORTEZ MCCLELLAN (cont’d)
... always... enlightenment. Would you all excuse me?
And he leaves them and approaches Sebastian. Sebastian grabbing a glass of champagne off a waiter’s tray as:
CORTEZ MCCLELLAN
Mr. Shaw. Very good. Sooner than I expected.
SEBASTIAN
Expected?
CORTEZ MCCLELLAN
For you to find me, of course.
SEBASTIAN
The only thing you should expect from me is a criminal investigation and a law suit.
CORTEZ MCCLELLAN
Somehow I doubt that.
The event organizer approaches with two security people.
CORTEZ MCCLELLAN
It’s all right. We’re just leaving.
SEBASTIAN
Are we?
CORTEZ MCCLELLAN
Unless you plan on staging a scene.
SEBASTIAN
I like scenes.
CORTEZ MCCLELLAN
You also like knowledge. That’s why you’re here. Shall we?
They turn and walk towards the door. Sebastian handing his empty glass to the event organizer as he passes. Across the gallery, a waiter with bald, hairless head and dark ominous eyes, watches them go.
EXT. THE BUILDING ROOF - NIGHT
A door opens and Cortez comes out. Sebastian following - surprised - hesitating.
SEBASTIAN
Why are we here?
CORTEZ MCCLELLAN
Because it’s private. And because I like the view.
Sebastian doesn’t. McClellan stares out at the city lights.
MCCLELLAN
I’m curious. How did you find me?
SEBASTIAN
Those guys on the train called you McClellan. I tracked you on the net.
CORTEZ MCCLELLAN
There must have been a lot of McClellans.
SEBASTIAN
I was in Ohio. When I wasn’t playing twenty questions with the cops, I had time on my hands.
CORTEZ MCCLELLAN
Ah, yes, the “cops”. And did you tell them what happened?
SEBASTIAN
You know I didn’t.
CORTEZ MCCLELLAN
They wouldn’t have believed it, would they?
SEBASTIAN
I don’t.
CORTEZ MCCLELLAN
You will.
(then:)
I’m going to tell you a story. It is the very best kind of story because it is true.
CLOSING ON Sebastian as:
EXT. A TOWER COURTYARD - DAY
A line of ragged boys and girls stand in a dusty courtyard. They are being studied by a kind old man in a long robe. All the children have their eyes down but one. This one - a boy who could be a young Sebastian - stares back at the old man, unafraid. The old man smiles and gestures for him to step forward. The boy immediately reaches for the taller boy next to him; his older brother, thin and frightened. The old man studies them both a moment, hesitates, and then nods.
CORTEZ MCCLELLAN (V.O.)
In ancient times, when wizards walked the earth, two orphan brothers, were taken as apprentices by a great sorcerer.
INT. A SANCTUARY - DAY
The wizard and the two boys, older now, stand facing one another, arms outstretched. Mystic energy flow from fingertip to fingertip between them to create a glowing circle. The old man smiles, pleased. The younger boy is also pleased. The face of the older boy shows nothing.
CORTEZ MCCLELLAN (V.O.)
They learned fast and well and their power grew. However the older of the two brothers wasn’t satisfied.
INT. A CASTLE GARRET - NIGHT
The older boy - a young man now - studies books of black magic. On the walls around him writhe the shadows of tormented souls and demons.
CORTEZ MCCLELLAN (V.O.)
In his heart he wished to know the forbidden secret of immortal life - and so he turned to the dark arts.
A door bursts open. The old sorcerer and the younger brother are there. They enter. With an angry gesture, the old sorcerer banishes the shadows from the room.
CORTEZ MCCLELLAN (cont’d)
When his master and younger brother realized what was happening, they tried to stop him. It was too late. The young man struck them both down.
Furious, the older brother rises. He raises a hand. A bolt of energy crackles, knocking the old man back and down. The younger brother rushes to the old sorcerer in horror. The wound is fatal. He looks up at his brother. And sees madness. The older brother raises his hands again - and with another bolt of energy, blasts his sibling off the body of the old wizard.
ON THE OLD WIZARD - He is not yet dead. His eyes are open. And now they fill with swirling moons and stars -
CORTEZ MCCLELLAN (cont’d)
As they lay dying, the old sorcerer cast one last, great spell.
ON THE YOUNGER BROTHER - A wind seems to whip at his lifeless body; seems to snatch his soul and whisk it away to a place of safety.
CORTEZ MCCLELLAN (cont’d)
He decreed that the younger brother would return from beyond death itself to put an end to the older brother’s evil. Only when that evil was ended would his soul be allowed to rest.
BACK TO - THE ROOF -
CORTEZ MCCLELLAN
And so it came to be. Age after age, century after century, he was been reborn. Sent to battle a sorcerer who’s evil would rule this world. And now he has been born again. He is you, Sebastian. Yours is the soul of a wizard murdered 5,000 years ago.
SEBASTIAN
That... is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.
CORTEZ MCCLELLAN
You know in your heart it’s not. The restlessness you’ve always felt, the searching for something you can’t quite put your finger on. It’s all been leading up to now. The Darkness is upon us, Sebastian. Armageddon. Gotterdammerung. The signs are everywhere. Only you can stop it. And you must, for if you fail this time, I feel you will never have the chance again. His power will be too great. And all we hold dear in both mortal and magic world alike, will be lost to his sway forever.
Sebastian hesitates, confused, reeling. McClellan is right - as insane as it sounds, he does know this is the truth. But:
SEBASTIAN
You must have watched a lot of Vincent Price movies when you were a kid.
CORTEZ MCCLELLAN
What?
SEBASTIAN
Maybe you ought to sell this as a comic book. Or better yet a movie.
CORTEZ MCCLELLAN
You haven’t heard a word I said.
SEBASTIAN
Yes, I have. And I say no.
Turning away he retreats across the roof.
CORTEZ MCCLELLAN
Sebastian! Wait!
SEBASTIAN
No! Leave me alone! I’m not the one you want. Even if I believed you, I - I can’t be.
Sebastian turns and hurries from the roof, leaving McClellan alone and shaken.
ON THE SIDE OF A DISTANT BUILDING
A stone gargoyle hisses!