Previously on Salem
[Note: Dialogue in bold italics is spoken in the Mohawk tongue. Elder 1 = The one with pustules on her face.]
Mary Sibley: [voiceover] Previously, on Salem.
[Isaac Walton is shown with the Malum in his hand. The top slides open. The tiny heart inside explodes.]
Cotton Mather: The witches completed their dreaded Grand Rite.
Little John: Tell me about my father.
Mary Sibley: I loved him more than anything but he is dead.
Mr. Eliot: Cotton Mather, you are confined to Boston and forbidden from returning to Salem.
Mary Sibley: It's time to face what you really are.
Anne Hale: There is nothing I care to learn from you!
Dr. Wainwright: I have found him. He is quite possibly the saviour of Salem.
Countess Von Marburg: Who is it that led the Grand Rite?
Mr. Eliot: To answer that, we must go to Salem ourselves.
[Elements of the ritual performed by the Mohawk tribe on John Alden are shown.]
John Alden: Do I have your protection?
Shaman: The witch believes you are dead.
John Alden: By the time she sees me coming, every witch in Salem will be dead.
Cotton Mather: War is on.
Mary Sibley: [to Mercy Lewis] If you defy me, only horror awaits you.
Cotton Mather: The battle has begun.
Mercy Lewis: It is I, not Mary Sibley, who...
[Elder 1 spits in Mercy's face. Mercy and her girls are shown tearing the Elders apart.]
Cotton Mather: And the front line is in Salem.
Tituba: Mercy Lewis killed our witches, true witches, the Elders!
[The Elders are shown hanging from the scaffold. The word "WAR" is spelled out in flames in front of the House of the Seven Gables.]
Salem
[Night. A few men work to take the Elders down from the scaffold. The militia men prepare their muskets. Mary Sibley stands among them, taking the lead.]
Mary Sibley: Courage, men. This is our ultimate battle. We have every reason to believe the Crags are the last refuge of the Salem witches. For the sake of all our people, your wives and children, it's clear what must be done. We end it here.
Crags
[Mary Sibley leads the militia men through the woods to the Crags. Some of the men carry torches, others carry barrels. They reach the Crags, where Mercy Lewis and her followers are sleeping among the corpses. At Mary's nod, the militia men break open the barrels, which are revealed to contain liquid. The noise wakes Mercy Lewis up but she doesn't move. The liquid in the barrels is thrown over Mercy Lewis and other girls in the group, who begin to wake up. Mary nods at one of the militia men, who throws a torch into the Crags. The Crags are instantly ablaze and the sound of shrieking can be heard as Mercy Lewis and the girls catch fire.]
Mary Sibley: [Pointing at the moving girls] Witches! Suffer not one to survive and torment us more! Kill them! Kill them all!
[The militia men take aim with their muskets and shoot at any of the girls they see moving. Mercy Lewis, badly burned, looks up at Mary Sibley and shrieks in pain and rage.]
Mary Sibley: You wanted war. Now taste war.
Opening Credits
Woods
[Note: Dialogue in bold italics is spoken in the Mohawk language.]
Shaman: [Presenting John Alden with a dagger.] Weapons. From the Spirit Guides. [John Alden unsheathes the dagger. The blade glows red. The Shaman passes him another object.] You will be protected from the eyes of the witches. [He hands John Alden a medicine bag.] You will be able to hunt unseen. But use these weapons wisely. They will take a toll on you and your soul.
Meeting House
[Mary Sibley stands at the front of the meeting house, addressing the assembled congregation from the pulpit. George Sibley and Reverend Lewis are shown sitting in the front. Partway through Mary's speech, a flashback is shown of her standing above the Crags in the daylight, rolling ashes in her hands as she looks down on the charred bodies below. She lets the ashes fall down into the Crags.]
Mary Sibley: We are the people of Salem. God's chosen people, given this land on which to build a new world of faith and freedom. But even God's gifts come at a price. A dreadful price. Mercy Lewis and the daughters of Salem fell under the Devil's tragic influence. You all saw what they did last night. Slaughtered two old innocent beggars from the outskirts of town, hung and burned like animals on the stocks. An act of war on all of us. I weep for our lost children but such are the casualties of this war on witches. We must be willing to bear any burden, pay any price. It is up to us what kind of land this shall be: a Heaven on Earth or a Hell.
The House of the Seven Gables (Mary's Boudoir)
[Mary Sibley stands in front of a orrery, which has a figure of a comet above the planets and a clear glass sphere at the centre.]
Mary Sibley: Witch blood fall, black earth rise. Hear my call, make me wise. Time for tell, for me alone, when all mankind its sins atone.
Tituba: Pretty words. But as you well know, words without blood are nothing but air.
Mary Sibley: For once cease your shriking, harpy. [She pricks her finger with a needle and drips blood on the clear glass sphere. A ticking sound can be heard.] I am mistress of blood as well as words. Observe this exquisite movement. See here, this is the clock, the clock of the doom that hangs over Salem, over the Puritans, over this whole land.
Tituba: And over you too should you fail. Know that you shall never truly possess that boy as your own son if you do not complete the great task.
Mary Sibley: Save your breath. I've already sown the witch seeds, and today plague bodies begin to be dumped into the Crags to await their transformation. The comet will soon blaze overheard terrifying all for only three nights. By the time it passes in fiery glory, the Crags will be filled with Hell blood, the gate will open, and our Dark Lord at last incarnates. For once, lay aside all your suspicions and grudges, my dark sister. Exult. We have long lain in their grim gutters but our eyes have always remained on the stars above. And now our time is at hand.
Tituba: Indeed, you have done marvelously well. But there remains one flaw in your gem.
Mary Sibley: And what is that?
Tituba: Against all judgement, you entrusted the Malum to that idiot, Isaac, and now, he is near awakening and will most likely tell your handsome doctor exactly how this pox began. [She takes a vial of poison out of her pocket and hands it to Mary.] You must fix it, for good.
Hospital
[The makeshift hospital is full of patients lying on cots. Several women move among the sick acting as nurses. Dr. Wainwright conducts Mary Sibley through the hospital.]
Dr. Wainwright: Well, on the one hand, the news is almost all grim. The number of victims increases exponentially. At this rate, there may not be anyone alive here in a fortnight.
Mary Sibley: Almost all grim? That sounds entirely grim.
Dr. Wainwright: Ah, yes, but then there is your Isaac. He is finally conscious.
Mary Sibley: And what says he?
Dr. Wainwright: So far, only one word. Mary.
Mary Sibley: Isaac and I are childhood friends, it's true. May I see him.
Dr. Wainwright: Certainly. This way. I hope the sight of you will revive him sufficiently to tell us what we so desperately need to know, how he first encountered this dreadful pox.
Mary Sibley: Dr. Wainwright, might I have a quiet moment alone with him first? It might help.
Dr. Wainwright: Of course.
[Isaac Walton is lying on a bed in a quiet corner of the hospital. Mary Sibley looks at him for a moment before uncorking the vial of poison she carries and mixing it with water in the glass next to the bed.]
Isaac Walton: Mary? Is that you?
Mary Sibley: Yes, sweet Isaac, it is I.
Isaac Walton: I'm so sorry.
Mary Sibley: Sorry? What on Earth for?
Isaac Walton: It's all my fault.
Mary Sibley: Calm yourself, Isaac. What's your fault?
Isaac Walton: [Weeping softly] All this. All of this death. See, at the last moment I lost faith. I didn't do as you told me. If I did as you said, perhaps none of this would have happened.
Mary Sibley: Hush now. What's done is done. And it was wrong of me to put you in such danger. Let us never speak of this again, to anyone.
Isaac Walton: As you say, I will do. Please, a drink. A drink. [He reaches for the glass by the bed but Mary Sibley knocks it over, spilling its contents.]
Mary Sibley: I'm so sorry, Isaac. Rest here. Let me get you a fresh glass of water.
Crags
[A badly burned arm emerges from the ashes and charred corpses.]
The House of the Seven Gables (Parlour)
[George Sibley sits in his wheelchair, breathing heavily. Little John stands in front of him, softly humming "Mama's Gonna Buy You A Mockingbird". He holds a pincushion in one hand. He kneels down in front of George Sibley, taking a needle from the pincushion, and pushes it under George's toenail while he grunts in pain. He then pulls the needle out of George's toe and moves to push it into his eye. George is unable to close his eye. Just before Little John can stab George's eye with the needle, Tituba catches his arm from behind, stopping him.]
Tituba: Now what do you think you're doing?
Little John: Playing, ma'am.
Tituba: Well, we must all have our amusements but do not let your mother catch you at such playing, understand?
Little John: Yes, ma'am.
Hale Cottage
[Wendell Hathorne uses his walking stick to knock on the door of the Hale Cottage. Anne Hale opens the door.]
Anne Hale: Mr. Hathorne.
Wendell Hathorne: Greetings, my dear girl.
Anne Hale: How may I help you?
Wendell Hathorne: No, it is I who am here to help you.
Anne Hale: Oh, I thank you for whatever kindness you may intend but I'm rather busy at present...
[Wendell Hathorne pushes past her to enter the house. Anne sighs. She is then seen preparing tea.]
Wendell Hathorne: No one can replace your father, either in your life or the life of the community, but someone must try.
Anne Hale: Sugar?
Wendell Hathorne: No, thank you. Your father was a most impressive man. How far he rose during his years here in Salem. After all, he alone of the senior selectmen was not a founder.
Anne Hale: No. He came here only after some years in the West Indies.
Wendell Hathorne: I envy your father his grit. He is... was what they are now calling a "self-made man". Whatever that may mean, given that we are all made by God. But still, how impressive, and wise too, to have made a fortune. I don't know any Hales back in old England. Do you know your ancestors?
Anne Hale: No. My father was the only one of his family to make the crossing.
Wendell Hathorne: Ah, I see. Too bad. Family is everything, and a tall family tree, planted with deep roots, blessed with wide, plentiful branches, is the best guarantor of a successful life. So, with no cousins, the task of preserving and expanding your father's fortune falls on your lovely but narrow shoulders.
Anne Hale: I suppose so.
Wendell Hathorne: It's a dangerous world for an orphan girl, filled with predators who would take your fortune and your innocence. In whom you place your trust and your troth will be the most important decision of your life. [He takes her hand in his.] And I trust when the time comes, you will make the correct one. [He kisses her hand. His nose begins to drip blood, and droplets land on Anne's hand. He pulls away from Anne, taking a handkerchief from his pocket and pressing it to his nose.] Oh, excuse me. The air is rather dry today.
[Anne Hale can see the tea set on the table rattle slightly in response to her emotions. Wendell Hathorne does not notice this.]
Wendell Hathorne: I should go. I shall return for you, my dear.
[Once he is gone, Anne Hale exhales in relief, the rattling of the tea set stopping.]
Salem Street
[Anne Hale, wearing a cloak and carrying a travel bag, walks through the streets until she reaches a place where several coaches are waiting. She approaches one of the militia men.]
Anne Hale: Excuse me, where are those coaches heading?
Militia Man: Boston, Jamestown, New York.
Anne Hale: I'd like to purchase passage to...
Militia Man: May I see your travel permit?
Anne Hale: Since when does one need a permit to travel?
Militia Man: Sorry, miss. New orders from the selectmen. Part of the quarantine effort. You'll need to apply to them or Mrs. Sibley for a permit.
Tituba: Miss Hale?
Anne Hale: Did she send you to stop me?
Tituba: She? Oh no. Our mistress has no idea that I'm here.
Anne Hale: She may be your mistress but none of mine.
Tituba: That would be a mistake, Miss Hale. You really must learn the virtue of patience.
Anne Hale: You speak to me of virtue? I detest everything she and you stand for. Everything you're doing, turning this town into a pit of death, seizing powers never intended. I want nothing from her or you.
Tituba: In truth, I share your discomfort at some of her actions but, for the time being, stay still and learn from her.
Anne Hale: I cannot bear it, I must get out of this place!
Tituba: But where will you go?
Anne Hale: Away. Anywhere but here.
Tituba: Well, you know where to find me, and I you.
Hale Cottage
[Anne Hale returns to her cottage. As she sets down her travel bag in the parlour and removes her cloak, she can hear a rattling sound and follows it to the study. The travel mask is moving on the table. It stills as soon as she touches it. She picks it up and slowly brings it to her face. A street in Boston can be seen through the eye holes. As soon as the mask is close enough to her, it fixes itself to her face. She vanishes and the mask clatters to the floor.]
Boston Street
[Anne Hale appears in the middle of a street in Boston. None of the passers-by seem to notice her sudden appearance. The voices of traders can be heard. It is raining heavily and she shivers, looking around her. She sees the name "MATHER" carved above the door of one of the houses and knocks on it. Cotton Mather opens the door.]
Cotton Mather: Miss Hale? What on Heaven and Earth are you doing here?
Woods
[John Alden walks alone in the woods. He stops, listening intently to the sounds around him and looking around. He whirls around when he hears a voice near him, and sees Petrus standing right next to him.]
Petrus: The ranters are right. This is the end of the world and the dead walk.
John Alden: I was told a friend of the Indians lives in these woods.
Petrus: And so he does.
John Alden: Who are you?
Petrus: Some call me Petrus.
John Alden: Petrus. Yes, I remember that name. Are you a witch?
Petrus: Whatever I may be, I have been much engaged on your behalf. I showed Mary Sibley your funeral.
John Alden: So you're on our side?
Petrus: A circle has no sides. Come, alive or dead, you are still the most wanted man in the colony.
Salem Streets
[The corpses of plague fatalities are thrown onto a cart, drawn by two men.]
Man: Bring out the dead! Bring out the dead! Bring out the dead!
[A woman is shown weeping as she watches her husband's corpse being taken away. Dr. Wainwright follows her out of the house. Mary Sibley watches from a short distance away.]
Woman: Dear husband.
Dr. Wainwright: I'm sorry but we must take him.
[Reverend Lewis and Wendell Hathorne approach.]
Reverend Lewis: How dare you? I have sent diggers to prepare a resting place for him! You have no business taking him!
Dr. Wainwright: Reverend Lewis, these bodies must be removed from the town. It is far too dangerous to keep them within the village.
Wendell Hathorne: Where would you take them?
Dr. Wainwright: Mary Sibley informed me that you have a place outside of town where you sometimes dispose of bodies.
Wendell Hathorne: The Crags?
Dr. Wainwright: Sir, it is a matter of the health of the entire community.
[As they speak, Mary Sibley slowly moves closer to them.]
Reverend Lewis: You may have dedicated yourself to the health of the citizens but I am responsible for their souls!
Mary Sibley: Gentlemen. It is precisely this degree of argument and dissension, in full view of a public that look to us for unity, that is the most dangerous of all.
Wendell Hathorne: Did you order that all bodies, Puritan good men and good women, be dumped into the Crags like slaves and common criminals, without the benefit of prayer or service?
Mary Sibley: Mr. Hathorne, these are extraordinary times, with extraordinary dangers, and they call for extraordinary measures.
Dr. Wainwright: We would do best if all those who fall to the pox were interred some distance from the centre of town, and farther away from the waterfront and the well, lest they aid in the spread of the pox.
Crags
[A cart laden with four bodies is drawn to the Crags, where the ground is still smoking from the fire at the beginning of the episode. The bodies are tipped into the Crags and left to roll down to join the charred skeletons there. A figure watches from behind a tree for a moment before running away.]
Petrus' Hut
Petrus: I am glad at least they didn't send you back unarmed. I sense them, your tools of power. A witch dagger to kill, a moon stone to see, and a medicine bag to be unseen. It hurts to hide. I should know. I've been hiding my whole life.
John Alden: How many witches in Salem?
Petrus: How many thorns on a rose? One hundred is not enough if you wish to protect the flower, and one is too many...
John Alden: How many!
Petrus: What matter the exact number?
John Alden: Because I intend to kill every last one of them, so it would be helpful to know how many, and their names.
Petrus: But the names I know, you know. Mary Sibley. Tituba. Magistrate Hale.
John Alden: Who else?
Petrus: I cannot say.
John Alden: Then what good are you to me?
Petrus: No man knows his own worth. But I will tell you that there is one less witch in Salem since you left. Hale is dead.
John Alden: How?
Petrus: Wrong question.
John Alden: And the right question is?
Petrus: What now?
John Alden: [Draws a dagger and holds it to Petrus' ear.] You need to start talking or you'll be deaf as well as blind.
Petrus: Salem will need a new magistrate soon.
John Alden: So? What do I care for Puritan politicking?
Petrus: Mary Sibley is determined to place another of her hive in that powerful position.
John Alden: Find out who Mary Sibley is backing for magistrate and I find the next witch in line. [He slits Petrus' throat.]
Mather House
[Note: Dialogue in italics is spoken telepathically.]
[Anne Hale is sitting in a chair at a table. The room is dimly lit by candles. Cotton Mather hands her a cup of tea.]
Cotton Mather: There. It's good to see you can still smile, Miss Hale. So tell me, what brings you to Boston? Is your father in town on business?
Anne Hale: My father... [She begins to sob. The windows behind her fly open.]
Cotton Mather: [Hurries to close the windows before coming to kneel down next to her.] Dear Miss Hale, what is it?
Anne Hale: My father and my mother... both dead.
Cotton Mather: Dead?
Anne Hale: From the pox.
Cotton Mather: The pox? Salem is gripped by pox?
Anne Hale: It is as if the Angel of Death himself has descended upon the town.
Cotton Mather: A pox. Is this it?
Anne Hale: What?
Cotton Mather: The Malum. Evil unleashed. The apple opened. The witches' Grand Rite.
Anne Hale: I don't understand.
Cotton Mather: I feared something like this. They wouldn't listen. But a pox. Ha! This, they can't ignore. They must do something.
Anne Hale: They? What about you? You must do something!
Cotton Mather: Me? I am... I am banned from even speaking about Salem. I am explicitly forbidden by the Elders from returning. Perhaps in a month or two, they will reconsider and relent.
Anne Hale: We do not have months, we may not have weeks! I fear all will be dead by then. Please, Reverend Mather...
Cotton Mather: Cotton. I think after all we've been through, you may now call me Cotton.
Anne Hale: Cotton, please return to Salem.
Cotton Mather: Even if I could, what use? Everything I did turned to dust or... or worse. Simply put, Miss Hale, I am a failure.
Anne Hale: Back in Salem, it was my doubts soothed by your calm confidence. It pains me to find you sunken in doubt.
Cotton Mather: Since the incidents in Salem, my father's death, I... I doubt everything. I've even begun to doubt the existence of witches.
Anne Hale: No. Never doubt there are witches.
Cotton Mather: Miss Hale... Anne, has something else happened? I mean, to you? You know you may tell me anything.
[There is a knock on the door. Cotton Mather answers the door to find Countess Von Marburg outside, carrying a basket over one arm.]
Cotton Mather: Countess. This is a day of surprises. What brings you here?
Countess Von Marburg: Cheese, wine, pork and sausages. A bachelor alone rarely feeds himself properly. Though I find you not nearly alone as I expected.
Cotton Mather: Countess Palatine Ingrid Von Marburg, may I present Anne Hale, newly arrived from Salem.
Countess Von Marburg: From Salem. Oh my dear, my poor dear, you must tell us everything. Everything. It's so hard to believe any of it. Who can imagine such horrors...
[Countess Von Marburg continued to speak but her spoken words become inaudible. She can be heard communicating telepathically with Anne Hale.]
Countess Von Marburg: I thought I smelled a witch in Boston.
Within
[Anne Hale gasps as she emerges from a bathtub in the middle of a woodland grotto of sorts.]
Anne Hale: Where am I?
Countess Von Marburg: Within.
Anne Hale: Within? Within what?
Countess Von Marburg: Your soul.
Anne Hale: Who are you?
Countess Von Marburg: Oh, my dear, I have had so many names. Hecate, Medea, Bathory are just a few. I'm the Swallower of Souls, She Who Flowers From Her Own Womb. I'm the Last of the First. The last of the true witches.
Anne Hale: What do you want with me?
Countess Von Marburg: To help you discover your true nature. Your bright light has been buried 'neath the caul of half-wit half-breeds of the so-called Essex witches. Imagine my surprise to find that, of all the hives that survive, it is the weak-blooded Essex witches who have done the undoable, complete our Grand Rite. What I want to know is who.
Anne Hale: Who?
Countess Von Marburg: Oh yes, who, my little owl. Who amongst the Essex hive has initiated the Grand Rite?
Anne Hale: I don't know.
Countess Von Marburg: Oh, do not lie to me. Ever. There could be no greater error than that. You do know, and you will tell me.
Anne Hale: No, I do not know, truly. I know nothing of the witches. I... I didn't even know I was one.
Countess Von Marburg: Oh no, I see that now. You do not even know what it is that you do know. I am deeply desirous of knowing who it was that performed the Grand Rite. My own triumph was stolen by that pestiferous pus-headed killer, Increase Mather.
Anne Hale: You know Increase Mather?
Countess Von Marburg: Oh, he and I danced a lively jig, and neither of us left it unmarked. I will tell you all my stories sometime but it's not about me now, it's about you.
Anne Hale: Me? What have I to do with anything?
Countess Von Marburg: You are uniquely placed because of your heritage. Your father did not tell you the whole truth, did he? Well, you must ask him. Ask him who you truly are. You are no mere Essex witch any more than he.
Anne Hale: I cannot ask him.
Countess Von Marburg: Why?
Anne Hale: He is dead.
Countess Von Marburg: Oh, do not weep for him! We must all murder our fathers and mothers, this is the way.
Anne Hale: How did you know I...
Countess Von Marburg: My child, you have so much to learn. I almost envy you the long path to endarkenment that you must walk. When you learn to talk to your father again where he is, then you will be ready to hear what he can tell you. In the meantime, weep no more, unless it is to bring the rain. We will meet again, little owl, and soon. Until then, tell no one that we have met. Their time for knowing me is not yet. And trust me, I will know if you have told anyone, and things will not go lightly for you.
[Countess Von Marburg forces a kiss on Anne Hale and when she pulls away, both of them have blood on their lips.]
Mather House
[The scene shifts back to the Mather House. Anne Hale now has a bloody lip. Countess Von Marburg is speaking to Cotton Mather as if nothing unusual had happened, and holding Anne's hand in hers.]
Countess Von Marburg: ...we are just dying to hear your opinion. Do bring Miss Hale to dine. Sebastian is most anxious to meet you and I know he will be thrilled to make Miss Hale's acquaintance as well. We are all going to be such friends. I just know it.
Salem Port
[John Alden climbs out of the water onto the dock, which is deserted apart from a man nailing boxes shut. John Alden runs up behind the man and breaks his neck, then walks into Knocker's Hole.]
The House of the Seven Gables/The Alden House
[Mary Sibley stands on the balcony outside her boudoir. She notices light and movement in the Alden House and goes to investigate. She enters the house and goes upstairs. Dr. Wainwright grabs her from behind and pins her against the wall by the throat before realising who it is.]
Dr. Wainwright: Good Lord! Mrs. Sibley. What are you doing here?
Mary Sibley: Well, I could ask you the same question! I live directly opposite and know this house to be long unoccupied. When I saw movement, I...
Dr. Wainwright: I knew you were strong and smart but never suspected how brave. To confront a potential robber alone.
Mary Sibley: Well, to be frank, I thought it might be the previous occupant, a man I've known all my life and never had cause to fear.
Dr. Wainwright: Then you're even braver, as I am told the previous occupant was none other than the notorious King of the Witches. Or perhaps, like me, you doubt the very existence of such things as witches.
Mary Sibley: No, I am quite sure of the reality and threat of witches, but I never could believe John Alden was one. But how come you to be here?
Dr. Wainwright: Well, Mr. Hathorne told me the house was empty and seized on account of, well, witchcraft, and I might as well use it myself. Do you have some objection, perhaps some attachment to the house yourself? I surely would do nothing to offend you, of all people.
Mary Sibley: No, ah, Mr. Hathorne was, for once, quite correct.
Dr. Wainwright: You do not like Mr. Hathorne.
Mary Sibley: No more than he likes me.
Dr. Wainwright: Hathorne seems simply unmanned by a strong woman such as yourself.
Mary Sibley: Hmm. And you are not?
Dr. Wainwright: Science teaches what the poets always knew. Woman is not only man's equal but his superior.
Mary Sibley: Really? In what way?
Dr. Wainwright: Well, the most important. Their capacity to endure pain. I mean, even the frailest woman can take far greater pain than the strongest man. I've delivered too many babies to doubt that. Trust me, if men had to deliver a child from an opening in their body that small, the Earth would be a cold, dead place. You look like one who's known pain intimately. Perhaps in this very room.
Mary Sibley: My pain, like my body, is mine alone. You'd do well to remember that. Goodnight, Dr. Wainwright.
[Mary Sibley leaves the Alden House. John Alden watches her from the shadows before looking up at his own house, where he can see Dr. Wainwright moving around inside, carrying a torch.]
Mather House
[Cotton Mather shows Anne Hale to a bedchamber.]
Anne Hale: But where will you sleep?
Cotton Mather: Oh, I have never slept in this room. It was my father's and I find, even in his absence, I am much more comfortable in my old room.
Anne Hale: [Laying her hand on the side of his face.] You will come to Salem, won't you?
Cotton Mather: Lord knows what the Elders will do, banish me, excommunicate me, but yes, I will return to Salem.
Anne Hale: Thank you. Cotton.
Countess Von Marburg's Ship
[Sebastian Von Marburg is brushing Countess Von Marburg's hair as she sits at her dressing table.]
Sebastian Von Marburg: What did she taste like, Mother?
Countess Von Marburg: Like lemons and honey. Like strawberry and sugar. Like innocence.
[They kiss.]
Sebastian Von Marburg: I can still taste the honey.
Countess Von Marburg: Well, nothing lingers like innocence.
Sebastian Von Marburg: And what did you learn from your kiss? Beyond the sweet taste of her lips.
Countess Von Marburg: All she knew but didn't know she knew. Most importantly, that the Grand Rite was led by one Mary Sibley.
Sebastian Von Marburg: I'd have thought it was her father.
Countess Von Marburg: Oh, no. Hale was a charming and cultured man but wasn't capable of leading the Grand Rite. He was a survivor, and carried always a survivor's guilt and fear. He never would have taken the risk. Ah, but this Mary Sibley, she must be something very special indeed. Not content to survive, she would thrive.
Sebastian Von Marburg: Oh, Mama, I am fascinated already. When shall we meet her?
Countess Von Marburg: Soon, darling, soon. But we must tread carefully. We are no more welcome amongst the gutter hives than we are amongst the Puritans, and if we were to be recognised prematurely, it might be an awkward and bloody thing.
Sebastian Von Marburg: You never mind the blood, Mother.
Countess Von Marburg: No, but like a good carpenter, I prefer to measure twice and cut once. So let us take the measure of this Mary Sibley before we go to Salem.
Sebastian Von Marburg: As always, your beauty is exceeded only by your prudent wisdom. [He moves to kiss her again but she turns away.] I nearly forgot. I brought you a present. [He opens the door of a closet to reveal a young girl, bound and gagged.]
Countess Von Marburg: Oh, what a thoughtful son! Now what did I do to deserve you?
Sebastian Von Marburg: Only everything, Mama. Only everything.
Countess Von Marburg: [Laughs at the girl's fear.] Boo!
Crags
[A close-up of one of the corpses is shown as it begins to collapse, Hell blood oozing out of its orifices.]
The House of the Seven Gables (Mary's Boudoir)
[Mary Sibley watches her orrery as the glass sphere at the centre begins to fill with dark, bubbling liquid. George Sibley is in the room.]
Mary Sibley: Voila, George. The results of an excellent day's work. With the first bodies being delivered to the Crags, we are well underway. You people have no idea what's coming for you. You are so dim, with no more understanding of the celestial movements than ants have. We witches have always understood the skies and known how to predict what is coming. [She pushes George Sibley's wheelchair closer to the orrery.] And what is coming is death for all of you and a new life for us.
[As Mary Sibley speaks, a burned figure is shown sneaking through the streets of Salem.]
Mary Sibley: The comet will be here soon. Our plague turns your dead bodies into wells of Hell blood. The Crags will be filled when the comet passes over, well, and you Puritans will be right for once. The comet really will be a portent of doom. Your doom. All of your dooms.
[The door flies open and Tituba enters.]
Tituba: Well done, mistress, well done. As a reward, you shall have a small taste of the maternal intimacies you may expect when your tasks are complete. Come.
[Tituba leads the way to another bedchamber, where Little John is waiting in a bathtub. The burned figure is shown sneaking up to the Lewis house and looking through the window to see Reverend Lewis at his books. Mary Sibley bathes Little John.]
Mary Sibley: Soon, child, soon we shall be together every day and every night. And then never more be parted.
Little John: When, Mother?
Mary Sibley: When all my work is complete. And all the world shall be yours.
[Mary Sibley kissed Little John on the forehead. He reaches out, takes her face in his hands and kisses her on the lips. She pulls away, visibly disturbed.]
Lewis House
[Reverend Lewis mumbles to himself as he reads one of his books. A hoarse voice speaks the word "Father" from behind him and he turns, revealing that the burned figure is that of Mercy Lewis, who carries a knife.]
Mercy Lewis: Your baby's home.
[End Credits]