[theme music]
[lightning crashes]
[wings flutter]
[lightning crashes]
[music continues]
[lightning crashes]
[cars honking]
[instrumental music]
[turns up the volume]
[music continues]
[indistinct chatter]
Hey, Richard Kinnell.
I love your books. I'm a fan.
Thanks.
No. I'm a fanatic.
Mr. Kinnell, it's an honor. I'm Betsy Wright from Pen.
- So nice to meet you. - Betsy.
Uh, this way, please.
[siren wailing in distance]
[indistinct chatter]
- 'Keep it moving, okay?' - Thank you.
Thank you. Ohh.
- The hand of glory. - I made it myself.
Thank you. Here you go.
Good.
I get at least ten of those a year.
- How was the drive, Rich? - Oh, heh! Dreadful, thanks.
I've been trying your cell phone all morning.
- No service? - No phone.
You turned it off, you son of a bitch.
I'm wrestling with some ideas.
How do you think I feel when my one client
won't take my call?
I apologize.
You still love me?
- Ten percent of the time. - Mm.
Please make sure we connect after this panel.
Warner Brothers wants to shoot "Night Vision."
They brought the Brink's truck.
Mr. Kinnell, Mr. Kinnell
uh, where do you get your ideas?
Mr. Kinnell, do you ever scare yourself?
[eerie music]
- Richard, Richard! - So..
You got to check this out, huh?
Cool, huh? Yeah!
C-c-could you sign it for me?
How about a signature? Come on.
- Come on, buddy. Let's go. - Come on, guys.
- Come on. - I'll return. I love you!
Let's go. Put your shirt back on.
Was that me?
Yeah, if it is, you need a waxing.
- Uh, Sarah. - Richard.
Will, Will.
Uh, will you two excuse me?
[instrumental music]
Are you comfy, Richard?
No, but I'm wealthy.
My caboose has landed its own reality show.
Let me know if you find my dignity up there.
[chuckles]
I have a problem, don't I?
Well, atypical cells have appeared in your colon
and spread to the lower intestine.
'I want you back next week for an upper GI.'
What is it?
- It's nothing yet. - Oh, come on, Josh.
You're withholdin'.
I am, but until we know more..
But it's serious.
'We'll just take another look at it.'
[exhales sharply] Yeah.
Frigged by the fickle finger of fate.
Sorry?
I mean, I'm not surprised.
My mother died at 44
and my father at 36.
You're looking for a reason.
Oh, yeah. There are lots of reasons..
Red meat, cigarettes, unprotected sex.
Look, the reason is the same for all of us, alright?
We are mortal.
I imagine, you know, writers
they enjoy a great measure of control over their work.
You control what your characters say.
'You control what they do.'
'You even control the weather.'
Medicine's different, Richard.
We're accustomed to a significant degree of chaos.
Yeah. Man plans and God laughs, huh?
'When can we have another look at this?'
[cars honking]
Oh, move it! Come on, knuckleballs.
What are you, blind or blind and drunk?
Damn it.
Please, God, it better be nothin'.
I'll die when I'm ready to die.
[thuds]
[dramatic music]
[bell tolls]
[indistinct chatter]
[man on TV] 'Physical fitness has never been so cheap.'
'You can do it..'
[male #1] 'Mom, we've gotta get back on the road.'
[dog barking]
Mm-hmm.
[barking continues]
[eerie music]
Oh, you're a smug one.
What do you know I don't know?
[thud]
Aren't you Richard Kinnell?
Yes, I am.
I should have known you'd go right for that. It's so you.
It is, isn't it?
I'm Judy Diment. I live down the street.
Um, what can you tell me about this painting, Judy?
It's original. The artist was Bobby Hastings.
He's the reason I'm selling off all the Hastings' things.
The house was theirs.
They even left a dog.
The subject looks like a rock and roll cannibal.
[Judy] 'Bobby was like that.'
He wore the same T-shirt day in and day out.
It had a picture of the Led Zeppelins on it.
By the end, Bobby was just skin and bone, dirty all the time.
- The end, what? - Suicide.
Bobby was just 23.
He was the tortured genius type, you know
but still living at home.
It was the drugs.
Uh.. [clears throat]
Uh, do you have any other paintings, Judy?
No.
One fine Tuesday
Bobby took all his paintings and sketches out
into that side yard, except for that one
I guess and burned them.
Bobby must have had 70 or 80 plus of his sketchbooks.
Iris, that's Bobby's mother
said most of them were real bad
lots worse than the stuff that'd curl your hair.
Most of them have sex stuff in them.
Really?
In the garage, they found
over a hundred of those little bottles
they sell crack cocaine in.
This is where Bobby used to paint.
[electricity crackling]
'Anyway, I guess he finally reached the end of his chain.'
'No pun intended.'
Aren't drugs awful, Mr. Kinnell?
They certainly were.
When Iris found him hanging right there..
[instrumental music]
...there was a tiny note pinned on his shirt.
It said, "I can't stand what's happening to me."
Really?
Um, I feel the same way.
Okay, um, so how much do you want for the painting, Judy?
[Judy] 'Forty-five dollars.'
Oh, quiet!
Who's gonna buy that dog?
He won't listen to me. I'll be honest with you.
'I started at 70, but nobody likes it'
'so now it's marked down.'
Where in the world do you get all those crazy ideas?
[instrumental music]
Given the choice, I'd rather live.
[music continues]
[crows cawing]
Uh-oh.
So sorry.
I stopped at a yard sale on the way.
Oh? Did you find any treasures?
I always do.
- Well, let's see. - Okay, okay.
This one's gonna blow your pantyhose off.
'Well, that's a charming thought.'
- Well? - Oh, Richard.
It's horrible. I hate it.
Oh, come on. It's not that bad.
'Oh!'
"The Road Virus Heads North."
Fitting, isn't it?
Who would paint such a thing?
I'm surprised you weren't more sensitive to it yourself.
You're the master of fear.
'You always were an imaginative fella.'
- 'I didn't notice the tattoo.' - 'It's those teeth.'
No, no, no. I saw those.
It looks different in this light.
'The sky looks darker than I remember.'
Anyway.
Thanks for lunch.
- 'You liked it?' - Delicious.
Huh? Ahh.
A penny for your thoughts.
Oh, um..
I had a checkup today..
My very first colonoscopy.
And, uh, they found somethin'.
I have to go in for more tests.
Wow.
Have they done a biopsy?
Next week.
Well, that's not so bad.
It's not so good.
You're thinkin' about my sister.
It's not like it was in her day.
Uh, what am I, 50?
Mom was 40 when she got sick.
- Yeah. - Mm-hmm.
But she had four good years.
[Richard] 'You know that, uh, that artist that hung himself'
he left this simple note.
It said, "I can't stand what's happening to me."
Oh, stop that talk.
It's self-pity.
Get busy living.
You've got 50 more books to write.
Fifty? Ooh.
I got to stop off at Sally's on the way home.
She's watching Hobo for me, you know?
You and Sally gonna get together?
No. We're just friendly.
Well, maybe you could use a little more friendly
in your life, hmm?
Hmm, no, thanks.
One time around the park with Sally is enough for any man.
[chuckles]
Well, now, Richard
I know you're gonna be fine.
You just have to keep a good attitude.
That's most important.
And you can start by gettin' rid of that horrid picture.
Oh, auntie.
Oh, I'm serious.
When you get to the Saco River
I want you to pull off into that break-down lane
and throw it over.
Ah, look at me, Richard.
I'm 63.
My secret is simple.
Fill your life with flowers.
You hear that, "road virus"?
'Aunt Trudy wants you to go for a swim.'
No, a sink.
I love you.
A bushel and a peck.
[engine cranks]
[instrumental music]
[cutlery clanking]
[crows cawing]
[dog barking]
Shh!
Quiet, you crazy dog.
Sorry. Sale's over.
[screaming]
[whimpers]
[car engine cranks]
[engine idling]
[instrumental music]
Fill your life with flowers.
[car honking]
[tires screeching]
Uh, so much for flowers.
[thudding]
Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!
[tires screeching]
[dog barking]
Oh, for God's sake.
[creaking]
[grunts]
[eerie music]
Rosewood.
He's in Rosewood?
It's impossible.
[music continues]
[dog barking]
Hi.
No wonder that kid killed himself.
[dog barking]
Nice legs.
Be sure you eat your fiber.
[engine sputtering]
'Huh, what painting?'
I don't see any painting.
[birds chirping]
[dog barking]
Aah!
Jade!
[honking]
Down. Morstead, down!
Come here. Come here. Sorry, Richard.
Rescue dogs are loyal, but needy. Good girl.
Did he need to eat my wiper?
It's okay now. You can come out.
There. Oh, sorry, Richard.
Your dog's inside.
Hey, is he always so thirsty?
I can't keep him away from the toilet.
Maybe he's got a salt imbalance.
I'm just saying I'd look into it.
How was the writing conference?
Fine.
You feeling less threatened
by your popularity?
Sally, um, thanks for watching Hobo.
- Can you bring him out? - You're not coming in?
- Quiet. - No, it's late. It's late.
I have.. what..
I got two more hours to get up to derry.
Oh, I understand. You probably have someone waiting.
- No. Nobody's waiting. - Oh, my God.
What happened to our car?
I mean your car.
Did someone break in?
Ah, it's a long story.
Were they tryin' to steal your painting?
Huh?
'I bet you stopped at a consignment shop.'
'You're always treasure hunting.'
[eerie music]
Ew.
But I destroyed it.
[Sally] 'Oh, tell me you didn't buy that.'
'Or is it a gift from one of your sick fans?'
'Richard?'
Are you okay?
I destroyed that. I threw it in the river.
God, you're not well. Look at you. You're bone white.
[woman on TV] 'The stock market..'
Hey, you look better.
You got some color back.
[whimpers]
Richard, you're acting weird.
You're freaking out your own dog.
The yard sale was in Rosewood, New Hampshire.
What yard sale?
The yard sale where I bought the painting.
When I bought it this afternoon
the firebird was crossing the Zakim Bridge in Boston.
Now it's in Rosewood.
The painting is changing.
It's following me.
- You're drinking again. - No.
- The pills? - No.
Then what is it?
Richard, you had a checkup after the writing conference.
I mean, what did your doctor say?
He found something.
- What did he find? - He didn't say.
Why didn't you tell me this?
Were you expecting to drive home alone
and keep this inside?
Now, tell me exactly what the doctor said.
Whatever he said is the least of my worries.
Right now, there is the distinct and terrifying possibility
that I might be losing my mind.
You're not losing your mind, Richard.
You just had a terrible day.
I think you need a healing.
- Oh.. - Yes, a healing.
We've got to get you out of these clothes first.
Come on out back.
[woman on TV] '...will be able to take advantage.
'of valuable federal tax credits'
starting in 2006.
We interrupt now for a breaking local news story.
A Rosewood woman has been brutally murdered
while doing a favor for an absent friend.
'Thirty-eight-year-old Judith Diment'
'was conducting a yard sale outside her neighbor's home'
'when she was savagely attacked.'
'Neighbors heard a loud car'
'accelerating away from the vicinity along Route 1.'
[Sally] Okay, so we have to adorn your chakras in crystal.
Do you think that crystals will tame a runaway imagination?
[Sally] Yes, they will.
My God, it's hot in here.
Well, that's the point.
Your body is releasing toxins.
Okay, now take this.
It's a flower extract to combat fear.
- Open up. Come on. - I'll take a pint.
You have to educate yourself about health, Richard.
You're a writer. Do your research.
'Knowledge is power'
'power to fight.'
Mmm. Fight. Yeah.
That's what Aunt Trudy said.
[engine revving]
[intense music]
[bell tolling]
[music continues]
[glass shatters]
Uh!
Hey, welcome back.
You feel better?
Come on. Get in.
- It's gone. - Like magic.
- What'd you do with it? - Don't ask.
Sally.
It's in the trash where it belongs.
Did it change?
I didn't look.
No. I mean, was it still the yard sale?
I told you I wouldn't look and neither should you.
- Here. - What's this?
I.. I-I want you to stay at the Lighthouse Inn tonight.
- Richard. - No, please.
If you do, I'll be able to sleep.
I'm not afraid of your painting.
I know. Just humor me.
Thank you for the healing.
You're welcome.
Oh, and Hobo thanks you, too.
Anytime, Hobo.
Hey.
Find your way back.
Maybe I will.
Maybe I'll beat this thing inside me and..
...just, um, surprise everyone.
[engine cranks]
- Bye. - Bye.
[electricity crackling]
[eerie music]
[instrumental music]
[house alarm beeps]
Home, Hobo. Home.
No more yard sales.
[key pad beeps]
[shower running]
[eerie music]
I sent her away.
[nails screech]
I know what you are.
You're a disease growin' in my body.
If I die, you die.
'I want you to think about that.'
Killing me would be your suicide.
We need each other to live.
I'm not your damn disease
you egomaniac.
I'm what you don't know.
I'm your fear.
[grunts]
[engine idling]
Aaah!
[panting]
[spits]
[instrumental music]
[laughter on TV]
Rosewood police tell us that today's murder
is not the first tragedy in this neighborhood.
'Just last year, a boy next door'
'committed suicide in this same house.'
[man on TV] 'It's very sad, Claudia.'
[Claudia] 'Very sad for the Diment family and all their friends.'
'I'm Claudia Clemmens reporting from Rosewood.'
It's real.
[dramatic music]
This is real.
No.
Aunt Trudy's.
[telephone rings]
- Hello. - Trudy.
[Aunt Trudy] 'I know it encourages burglars'
'to say things like this'
'but I've gone to Kennebunk to watch a movie.'
'If you intend to break in'
'please don't take my china pigs.'
'If you want to leave a message, do so at the beep.'
[beep]
Trudy, call me when you get back home.
I don't care how late it is. Just call me.
Oh, God. Please not Aunt Trudy.
Send them by the coast road.
Please send them down the coast road.
No. No!
No!
[grunts, glass shatters]
[dramatic music]
[Hobo barking]
[Hobo whimpers]
[clock ticking]
[telephone rings]
- Trudy? - Yes, dear.
What is it? Are you alright?
I'm better now.
[Aunt Trudy] 'What's wrong? Your-your voice sounds all funny.'
'It's trembling. What is it?'
'It's that picture, isn't it? It's that damn picture.'
Well, yeah. You were right. It..
It's evil
so I burned it in the fireplace.
[Aunt Trudy] 'Well, good. Scatter the ashes, too.'
'You were worried about me, weren't you?'
'Because you showed it to me?'
Yes.
'Fire was the right idea.'
'That-that's how they used to kill evil, right?'
[Aunt Trudy] 'Well, you've used it a few times in your books.'
Heh! You're right. I did.
[Aunt Trudy] 'Oh, I'm fine, Richard. You get some sleep.'
'You've had a hard day, hmm?'
'You've got to stay strong and healthy.'
'We'll talk tomorrow?'
I think so.
[Aunt Trudy] 'Goodnight, dear.'
[thunder rumbling]
[rain splattering]
[Hobo panting]
He would have been here by now
even if he'd taken the coast road.
[engine revving]
[Hobo barking]
[eerie music]
[exhales sharply]
[Hobo snarling]
[dramatic music]
[barking continues]
[lock clinks]
[door creaking]
[Hobo growls]
[barking]
[glass shattering]
[Hobo whimpers]
Hobo.
Take it! Take it! It's yours!
[dramatic music]
[doorknob rattling]
[shatters]
[Richard] Go away! Leave me alone!
Aah! Uh!
[grunting]
[engine idling]
Damn you.
Blood.
I'm goin' outside I think.
[grunts]
[instrumental music]