03x04 - Night's Black Agents

[bunniefuu]

Previously on "Salem"...

John: The expl*si*n came from Deerfield.

Every settlement between there and here is being emptied out, and the people are coming here for refuge.

So I need to take my men...

Treasurer Putnam: Leave us unarmed?

Sentinel: Know what it is?

Sebastian: I know what it can do.

Attend to your next delivery.

Man: You witch!

Stay away from me.

(screams)

(crow squawks)

I control you now.

Alice Land recently joined a brothel.

I will see to this matter, the brothel in Salem, myself.

Welcome to my Bird's Nest.

Do you see any birds you'd like to share a nest with?

Heard you been asking questions about Mercy Lewis.

There ain't no Mercy Lewis.

(gasping)

(cat yowls)

(purring)

I take from you every power I gave.

(screams)

(vomits)

♪

(panting)

Anne: Cotton?

Cotton.

(gasps)

Cotton, time to come home.

Angry Anne: Don't be a fool!

You'll die out here.

Puritan Anne: A man must leave his father and mother and cleave unto his wife...

Sexy Anne: I want you, Cotton.

My thighs are aching for your weight.

I want to feel you inside me again.

Crying Anne: Why must you hurt me?

All the things I will do for you.

Things no woman has ever done, or let you do.

I will make us no longer two...

Threatening Anne: but one flesh.

What God has joined together let no man split apart.

That's what they'll do when they catch you!

Split you in... two... I'm too alone without... you... I need you. Love you.

Destroy you.

Puritan Anne: So disappointed in you...

Anything you want.

Nothing!

I want nothing from you!

But there is nowhere for you to go.

Boston!

I will tell them the awful truth about Salem, and they will raze this town!

Tell them everything?

Then they will hang you for the m*rder of your father.

So, let them hang me.

So long as they believe me.

I will tell them all!

Cotton, no!

Searching for something?

A missing husband, perhaps?

(rat squeaking)

I've given him some freedom to stretch his legs.

Oh, his legs will be stretched.

And broken on the rack once our Dark Lord catches up to him.

But, Dear Sister... the Dark Lord told us to look after one another.

And I can help you.

We can help each other.

What do you want?

Tell me what happened to Mary.

You were there.

He wrenched from her all the powers he had granted her, as if he was turning her inside out.

I do not know how she survived it.

But she did?

She did survive.

That is something at least.

Why do you care so much?

I love her.

Then you're a fool.

Love makes fools of us all, as you now see.

Wait. You said you would help me.

Oh, Dear Sister, I will help you.

I will tell the Dark Lord everything.

You have no hope on your own of catching your husband.

If Cotton makes it alive to Boston, either the Dark Lord will k*ll us, or the Puritans will burn us.

("Cupid Carries A g*n" plays)

♪ Pound me the witch drums ♪
♪ Witch drums ♪
♪ Pound me the witch drums ♪
♪ Pound me the witch drums ♪
♪ The witch drums ♪
♪ Better pray for hell ♪
♪ Not hallelujah ♪

(warbling)

(whimpering)

Sentinel: Calm yourself.

You're still reeling from the loss of your powers.

In time, you will once again get used to being a mere creature.

Now leave us.

She still can't be trusted.

Have no fear.

In her condition, she couldn't hurt a fly.

(whimpering)

I could have k*lled you, or wiped your memory and left you a blank slate.

But then you wouldn't have remembered who I am... your son.

I remember you.

And I hate you.

Good.

Hate is just a shadow of love.

Where there is one, the other is sure to follow, and there is nothing more powerful than the two combined.

(whimpering)

♪

If it were any other man proclaiming from the rooftops that the Devil had come to Earth, they'd laugh.

Speak of mass panics or delusion of fanatics...

This is not any other man.

This is Cotton Mather. He will be believed.

Anne: I wasn't the one sitting next to him when he drowned my familiar!

If Cotton makes it to Boston and tells the truth about Salem we shall be surrounded by troops and cannons.

Let them come. No army of mere men can take us.

Boy: No!

I will have things as I wish them, or all will pay.

Especially you.

So, your Cotton will not make it to Boston. Will he?

No, My Lord. I promise.

He's miles to Boston.

Miles of dark woods filled with Injuns and beasts and witches.

Yes... night's Black Agents.

And we will call on friends in Boston.

His door shall be watched, and the North Church, too.

Every shadow 'cross every road into Boston shall hold one of our own.

Tell them all there shall be such a reward for whoever finds him... and such pain for you should they fail.

♪

(man panting)

(bird chirping)

(chuckles)

What astonishing powers you have.

(sighs)

What have you done to me?

(chuckles)

Only reminded you that we need not strain for a far-off Heaven when our bodies may take us there here on Earth.

You are wise beyond your age.

(chuckles)

We may fashion ourselves whatever we aspire to.

We can become anything.

We might even fashion ourselves into the rulers of Salem.

But I am pressed and pulled from all sides.

As Magistrate... and head of the Selectmen...

(chuckles)

I must try and obey the designs of those whose fortunes we need to build this town into a city.

While keeping the love, or at least the votes, of those who still must earn their livelihood.

This refugee crisis which divides us all... is my curse.

But every curse contains a blessing, as every blessing contains a curse.

For example, there are sure to be many poor, lost birds among these refugees... birds in desperate need of our nest.

Girl?

Are you in here?

Hello?

What are you doing down there?

All the shouting and fighting outside...

I was afraid.

Okay.

(horse snorting)

It's a lot of cold and hungry people out there.

But... I'm here.

It's safe now.

And I can't just keep calling you girl.

What's your name?

Dorcas.

I brought you this, Dorcas.

My mother's shawl was soft like this.

Where is your mother?

She got sick... while we were in the jail.

You were in jail?

A neighbor said we were witches.

My mother said if that was true, we wouldn't be so poor.

But no one believes us.

They thought even you was a witch?

I was chained to a wall.

I couldn't even touch her as she d*ed.

They chained a little girl to a wall.

So many innocents d*ed... like Dollie.... while real witches walked free and still do.

If only I could get one in my hands, and I know which one I want... Mercy.

Would that bring Mama back?

Or Dollie?

Don't suppose it would.

But what else can I do?

Make sure there are no more Dollies.

I believe I have a notion.

You are even more beautiful in your misery.

Be thine own palace, or the world's thy jail.

That's a true one.

Come, Mary.

You may step out of your jail anytime.

It is but your mood.

Please stop.

I thought you rather liked poetry.

I once loved poetry, but now it hurts my ears... to hear of things I will never know again.

Such as?

Love.

I am two fools, I know.

For loving, and for saying so.

Have you ever considered that the love you think you have lost was never worth pursuing?

I know how you feel about John Alden, but he will simply never be your equal.

And you know it.

Love is a conversation.

You cannot deny, our words mingle as free and equally as our lips might, if you but let them.

You think John Alden is the man who stands between you and I?

If not Alden, who then?

You know very well... my son.

Now, I want to be alone with my thoughts.

Very well... but have a care.

You are without magic, in a house full of dark secrets.

♪

(indistinct conversations)

(panting)

(witch laughs)

(horse neighs)

(dog whines)

Mr. Stoughton.

Is it really you?

Cotton? Cotton Mather?

Oh, don't be daft.

What would Cotton Mather be doing in the middle of...

Age of Miracles! It is.

Why, Cotton, we haven't seen you since your graduation party.

Oh, and what a party it was.

Do you remember, Will?

Aye, how could I forget?

Cambridge never saw such a spread.

Mr. and Mrs. Stoughton, please.

Do you have room for one more?

Room for the son of Increase Mather?

Why, what kind of Puritans would we be if we didn't?

(laughs)

Just what were you doing in the road way out here, Cotton?

I have urgent business in Boston.

Boston. Providential, indeed.

Precisely our destination.

You are hardly dressed for business, Cotton.

Urgent or otherwise.

I can explain. I, um...

Are you back on the bottle, son?

Oh, no need to be shy.

Everyone in Cambridge knew of your struggle.

Indeed.

Salem is too full of temptations for me.

In Boston, I may restore myself.

Well, God loves no man more than a repentant sinner.

Prodigal sons and all that.

And if God has seen fit to deliver you into our hands that we may carry you home... the blessing is all ours.

Too true, my dear.

All ours.

(both laugh)

♪

It's clear where your interests lie, Hathorne.

You dance to the tune of the Mansion, while you protect filthy thieves and beggars instead of those who work hard, pray hard, and get nothing.

You've not done nothing since the att*ck on Deerfield to make us safer.

I think of nothing all day and night but protecting us.

Even now our foremost Indian fighter, John Alden himself, tracks our enemies.

John Alden? Where is he?

Either slaughtered or fled to save himself.

Seriously, Hathorne, I don't know if it's merely sheer incompetence or outright malevolence that make you such a... such an abject failure as a leader.

(bell dinging)

Who protects us from the French and the Indians?

Men: Hathorne!

Who leads the rebuilding of our church?

Hathorne!

Nonsense.

Putnam.

What kind of name is that anyway?

Sounds French.

(laughter)

Three cheers for Hathorne!

All: Hathorne! Hathorne! Hathorne!

(indistinct conversations)

(Indistinct conversation)

It's far too cold and dangerous to spend the night on the streets.

Especially for such a pretty girl.

I'll take you to my little nest.

Follow me.

(dog whines)

Where am I?

You're in my cozy kingdom... my kitchen.

Hearth and home, dear Cotton... hearth and home.

(gasps)

(dog barks)

Oh, patience, Little Lady.

You'll have to wait for the leftovers.

(dog growls)

(whimpers)

He don't understand the speech of animals.

Speech of animals?

(dog barking)

Oh, the little darling.

She says she's just been biting your father's burning balls in Hell.

What?!

No.

No, not you.

You two are witches.

And that little thing is your familiar?

Oh, of course.

And the very best. Who's the very best?

Who's the very, very best? Oh, God, please!

There will be no talk of him in this house.

That being said, our prayers have been answered.

Praise the Dark Lord.

Praise his unholy name.

But you attended my father's sermons faithfully.

Fine words your father always spoke.

Fine words.

But then we moved to the country and began to farm.

Soon we learned the dark secrets that working the land brings.

Your father's sermons were fine for city folk, but once you dedicate yourself to reaping and sowing, it's the voice of the moon you hear.

And it tells a different tale.

Once we made our pact, our grain grew high.

Our traps were always filled.

Your god is nothing but words.

Ours don't muck about.

He gives us what we want.

And now, finally we have a gift for him... a gift fit for the king.

I beg of you. Please. No.

(shouts)

We have been promised such great reward!

(chuckles)

But, you know, William, it occurs to me that the reward might climb higher.

How is that, Dear?

Well, if the Dark Lord is offering a great reward now, how much greater a reward will he offer later when none have found Mather?

But we have found him.

(sighs)

So, why not let the Dark Lord fret a little longer... and perhaps sweeten the reward for his return?

Oh.

Oh.

Haven't I the cleverest of all wives?

(both laugh)

(groaning)

But now, it will seem suspicious if we are not seen to be still searching for Mather.

So you must go rejoin the hunt and pretend to search and wait some time before coming back.

And by then I will have Cotton all ready!

Oh, come here.

Oh.

(both smooch)

(chuckles) Off with you.

(groaning)

(sighs)

Now...

(muffled screams)

My work here is never done.

♪

Nothing from nothing ever yet was born.

But all from all may yet be torn.

In each resides a secret power.

That sleeping yet awaits its hour.

Woman: Mary Sibley. MAN: Mary.

(echoing) Save us.

Save us.

Save us.

Save us.

More stones. Stones. More stones.

Spare us! I am innocent.

(echoing) No more witch than you.

(echoing) Save us!

Save us!

More stones.

Save us. More stones.

Men crushed beneath stones.

Innocents, whole families even, m*rder*d as witches.

(echoing) And how many d*ed from the plague you spread, Mary Sibley?

Who is there?

Have you forgotten me, Mary Sibley?

I have not forgotten you.

Look behind you.

Remember me now?

I am Rebecca Nurse.

Just one of many innocents k*lled as witches by witches.

I gave my every waking hour to help the poor.

Even raising their children when they couldn't afford to keep them.

And my reward?

You had me hanged as a witch.

Leave me be!

It was... It was not my fault.

I had no choice.

You always had a choice.

You still have a choice.

Crowd: (speaks indistinctly)

Rebecca: You, who never felt for any of your victims, now feel what I felt.

Abandoned by all, even by God, and hanging from the neck until dead.

(screaming)

Sentinel: Memory... the greatest curse of all.

I, being what I am, can never escape mine, but you can.

Would you escape the horrors of your past, Mary Sibley?

Come.

Let me show you the way.

Wait, wait, wait. I'm not here for that.

I'm not here for that.

Or for that, either.

Go get your things. I'm here to rescue you.

Mercy's already rescued us.

She hasn't rescued you.

She's turned you all into whores.

My uncle turned me into a whore.

At least with Mercy, I get to keep some of my earnings.

That's because she wants something else.

You don't know the things she's done.

She wants your blood.

(indistinct conversations)

Mercy takes a cup of our blood.

Men take all of it.

(indistinct conversations)

Come.

The girls here aren't the ones in cages.

The men are, especially the ones who serve her.

They got no choice but to obey.

She keeps their manhoods locked up in her room.

(indistinct conversations)

Oh, hello. Come here.

(indistinct conversations)

Hello, gentlemen.

Sit down. Sit.

Man: Plethora of choices.

(indistinct conversations)

Bevy of beauties before me.

(birds cooing, chirping)

(bird chirps)

Men: (gasps, groaning)

(speaking French)

Then there was the time John Alden, single-handed, took out an Abenaki camp.

k*lled 12 braves with his bare hands and freed the hostages.

Even a frog-eating, blue coat Frenchie like you must have heard of that one.

Alden, Alden, Alden.

(speaks French)

Okay, English.

Who is this legendary John Alden?

I am.

(gasps)

♪

(humming)

Mather remains at large, I'm afraid.

How disappointing.

I dearly wanted him alive.

Now, I suppose I have no choice.

♪

(humming)

(whimpering)

(panting)

Please, stop.

Think of what you're about to do.

It's not too late.

I-It's never too late to repent.

God is most forgiving.

Oh, well, if it was up to your God, we would all be naked and ignorant in wretched Eden.

(coughing)

Who clothed us?

Who taught us to till the soil?

Who gave us the gift of fire that transforms animals into meat and grain into bread?

Your God?

(chuckles) No.

No.

'Twas our Dark Lord and his Fallen Angels.

It is to them we owe all that we are.

He is coming to claim his kingdom.

And we rejoice.

You risk an eternity of suffering in Hell when, with one act of grace to me, you could gain an eternity in Heaven!

Please!

I don't want your pie in the sky when I die.

I want my pie now.

And I prefer to have a meat pie.

No!

Stop, my dear!

Our Dark Lord wants him greatly...

Oh, just as I foresaw. but he insists on having him alive.

Alive?

But he will taste horrid alive.

I'm not sure he intends on eating him.

Not eat him? Nonsense.

Surely as soon as the Dark Lord tastes my dish, he will give us even more!

Very risky, my dear.

Very risky.

William, are you questioning my cooking?

Of course not, but we mustn't risk angering him.

You saw what he did to that Essex hag.

Are you calling me a hag now?

Did I say hag?

Yes, you said hag.

I did not say hag. No, no.

I would never call you a crone or a hag.

Oh, William, I can't take this anymore.

No.

(screams) William!

(dog yelping)

No!

(sobbing)

(screams)

♪

(crow cawing)

(wings flapping)

(cawing intensifies)

(grunting)

(groans)

(cawing fades, thumping)

(whimpering)

(gasps)

If you would live... come.

I know you.

You are a witch.

Whatever I be, if I served him... would I have saved you?

Come.

Be not afraid.

I know the horrors behind you.

And I know all too well the horrors that lie in front of you.

And I would spare you all to come.

The horrors haven't half begun.

Everyone you ever knew or loved will die... horribly.

And all... all because of you.

There is another way... a sweet, swift way.

I once stood as close to God as I stand to you now.

I knew him well.

He loves nothing more than to forgive those willing to beg him.

Could I but step back in time and beg, I would.

I cannot, but you can.

Loving arms await you to enclose you in his cloudy breast and wipe all the horrors from your heart.

It will be so easy.

Just one small step.

Do it, Mary.

Do it!

I can't.

Jump.

No.

No.

I would go straight to Hell.

I know exactly what punishments await me there, and they are far worse even than what I feel now.

No, silly child!

Don't you see?

Your son has freed you.

A contract you could never break has been broken by the only one that could.

You're no longer destined for Hell.

Free.

Yes, utterly free.

Free to escape it all.

It'll be so easy.

Just one... small... step.

I'm afraid.

Help me.

You do it.

Push me.

Push me.

You can't.

You can't.

(chuckles)

The Dark Lord forbade you from ever harming me.

Or even now, I would be falling into eternity, or onto the Salem common.

Well, I'll not do your dirty work for you.

No. Not now.

I thank you.

Thank you for helping me see.

I do have a choice, unlike you.

Is that why you hate us so, because God created us to be free?

Because he was tired of being surrounded by puppets like you.

I'm no puppet!

I fought. I rebelled.

I am free!

Then act now... freely.

Disobey my son.

Free?

Hardly.

You just found somebody else to pull your strings.

♪

You are out of danger... for the moment.

What do you want?

The question is what do you want?

I want to make it to Boston.

I want to expose this foul witch cult and their Devil who rules from Salem.

I can send you there in an instant, but to what end?

Their army... the world's army cannot stop him.

Then what would you have me do?

You can stop him.

(scoffs)

That's madness.

What could I possibly do that an army cannot?

Your love may conquer all.

There is no one left in Salem that I love.

Not yet.

Your love still sleeps, like we all once slept in our mother's womb.

A child?

My child?

Oh, I can see its little heart b*ating deep in its mother's inner ocean.

Prove it.

Prove it?

I know you, Mather... your past, present, and future.

You who once told a young woman that love is a leap of faith.

With my skills, that door can take you anywhere you wish.

Just step through it, and there you are.

Boston, if that's what you want.

But let me assure you, if you abandon Salem now, you will never see that baby alive.

Is it failure, or is it betrayal?

In the end, there is no difference.

(gasps, groans)

Though virgin no longer, virgin heart still.

Unspoiled, and more importantly, more impotently, unbroken.

(whimpering)

So, unbroken skin seeks to be opened.

Let me write my name in your blood.

(screaming)

All right, friend.

Time to go a-courting.

Who do you work for?

The King of France, idiot.

And Baron Sebastian Marburg?

(grunts)

What is this?

No, no. No, no.

No, no, no. All right, stop.

You'll blow us all to hell.

Is this how you blew up Deerfield?

What's next?

Salem?

Hear that?

What? Hear what?

That.

(men hooting)

♪

How did I come to be here?

I have no power to send myself anywhere.

Essex Elder: We feared you wouldn't survive your Reckoning.

And when you did, that your spirit and mind would be broken beyond repair.

So we have rescued you.

It is not something we will ever manage again.

We shall care for you, hide you here amongst us.

There is no shame in failure, Mary Sibley.

Well, thank you, Mothers.

But no.

No, I have not failed. He has.

He has made a terrible mistake.

He should have k*lled me when he had the chance.

Instead, he freed me.

Now send me back.

You are right.

I couldn't have demanded it if you hadn't the strength, but you do.

(sighs) You are you again... the strongest of us all.

And not a moment too soon.

They are winning.

The tree is dying, and with it will die you and us and all our world.

Well, they picked the wrong witch and the wrong woman.

I shall prove to them that, truly, Hell hath no fury like this woman scorned.