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Previously on Salem[]

Mary Sibley: [voiceover] Previously, on Salem

[Anne Hale is shown on the streets of Boston, and then with Cotton Mather in his house.]

Anne Hale: It is as if the Angel of Death himself has descended upon the town.

Cotton Mather: The witches' Grand Rite.

Anne Hale: Please return to Salem.

[John Alden is shown with Petrus in his hut. Mary Sibley is shown in the Salem Meeting House.]

John Alden: Find out who Mary Sibley is backing for magistrate and I find the next witch in line.

[Dr. Samuel Wainwright is shown kissing Mary Sibley's hand.]

Mary Sibley: You may be God's gift to Salem, Dr. Wainwright.

[Countess Von Marburg is shown in her stateroom with her son, Sebastian.]

Countess Von Marburg: The Grand Rite was led by one Mary Sibley.

[Mary Sibley and Tituba are shown in Mary's Boudoir, then the scene shifts to the Crags, where Hell-Blood is oozing from the orifices of the corpse of one of the plague victims.]

Mary Sibley: The comet will soon blaze overhead, terrifying all for only three nights. The Crags will be filled with Hell-Blood.

[Little John is shown kissing Mary Sibley, who is visibly disturbed by his actions.]

Tituba: Mercy Lewis killed our witches, true witches, the Elders!

[The Elders are shown hanging from the scaffold in the Salem commons. The word "WAR" is spelled out in flames in front of the House of the Seven Gables. One of the militia-men is shown throwing a lit torch into the Crags, setting Mercy Lewis and her followers alight, on Mary Sibley's orders.]

Mary Sibley: Kill them! Kill them all!

[The girls scream as they are burned.]

Mary Sibley: You wanted war. Now taste war.

[Mercy Lewis looks up at Mary Sibley, screaming as she is burned.]

[Reverend Lewis is shown inside his house. A badly burned Mercy Lewis appears in the doorway behind him, with a knife in her hand.]

Mercy Lewis: (hoarsely) Father... your baby's home.

Knocker's Hole[]

[The episode opens on Knocker's Hole. Indistinct conversations and the barking of a dog can be heard. A little girl emerges from one of the wooden structures, carrying a bucket.]

Woman: (offscreen) We're going to need more water.

[The little girl walks past a pair of rats as she makes her way down the crude wooden steps. She empties her bucket of slops on a refuse heap, where more rats are scurrying about, and turns at the sound of children's laughter. She sets down her bucket and follows the sounds of giggling and laughter to the well, from which the sound appears to be coming. She uses a rope and pulley to draw a bucket of water from the well. When she looks into the bucket, a pale, wet, deformed hand grabs her by the front of her dress and drags her into the well. The little girl screams.]

Opening Credits[]

The House of the Seven Gables[]

[A manservant serves breakfast to Mary Sibley and Little John, and then leaves the room. Mary watches as her son picks up his meat in both hands and gnaws at it.]

Mary Sibley: You must use your fork. You act as though raised by wolves. I suppose in some ways you were. [She lifts her fork to demonstrate.] You hold the fork like this and you use the knife to push the food onto the prongs. [Little John attempts to follow her directions, with little success.] First, the cloth. [She lifts her napkin from her lap to show it to him, and rises from her chair so Little John can see her hold it in front of her skirt.] You place it in your lap like so. [Little John looks down at his lap.] What do you hide there? Come, now, show me what it is.

[Little John takes a dead dove from his lap. Its neck is broken.]

Little John: It reminded me of you, Mother. So beautiful.

Mary Sibley: Its neck. Did you find it so?

Little John: It found me.

Mary Sibley: Take the bird and bury him in the garden. As hard as it may be to part with something so... beautiful, that is what we must do with things that are dead to us.

Salem Streets[]

[A cart with two corpses is drawn through the streets. John Alden covers the lower half of his face and walks through the streets, past the door of a house on which a red cross is being painted, while another corpse is loaded onto a cart. He emerges from the street to look out on the town square.]

Outside Salem Jail[]

[Several women are shown in a jail cell. One of the women is visibly sick with the plague. Selectmen Wendell Hathorne and Alexander Corwin, as well as a crowd of other townspeople, are in the vicinity. A man is complaining to Hathorne, as Mary Sibley approaches.]

Man: My wife is locked up with a woman who has the pox. You have to let her out. My wife's no witch, and she don't deserve to be damned to death with the pox!

Mary Sibley: What would you have us do, sir? Let known thieves and suspected witches run loose among the good citizens of Salem?

Hathorne: Without a magistrate to hear their cases, they'll be locked in with that plagued woman for weeks. A certain death sentence, and with no trial. What do you suggest, my dear Mrs. Sibley, or do you need to confer with your ever-silent husband?

Mary Sibley: I will confer with my husband, who I assure you is far from silent, and in due time, when the evidence is heard...

Hathorne: Your due time has left the magistrate's seat vacant, the witchcraft trials all but ceased, and the plague to run rampant. [He turns to address the assembled crowd.] I assure you, good people, there will be a magistrate by sunrise. As town treasurer and next-highest officer among the selectmen, it is natural that I should step in as magistrate.

Mary Sibley: Might I remind the generous Mr. Hathorne that Salem will not be ruled by one man?

Hathorne: And certainly not by one woman.

Mary Sibley: Fine. We shall gather the selectmen and hold an election. [She begins to walk away.]

Hathorne: A vote it will be, then. Today.

Mary Sibley: [Turns back to face Hathorne] I know that my husband, Mr. Sibley, would like to be there, and I need time to make arrangements.

Hathorne: Uh, tonight then.

Mary Sibley: We shall decide the position of magistrate over supper at the Sibley house. Good day, sirs.

[John Alden, hidden in the back of the crowd, turns to leave. Mary Sibley and Tituba walk away together.]

Mary Sibley: George is the only way to get Hathorne to back down, and evoking his name is not enough anymore.

Tituba: Then what is?

Mary Sibley: Worry not. I have it under control. This town is but the living form of my orrery, and both run like clockwork. No man can stop the hours ringing in the changes.

Tituba: Clocks are often stopped, Mistress. It takes but a well-placed finger. I fear the boy has been a distraction to you.

Mary Sibley: The boy is my son, and the only thing that distracts me is the nagging thought of what horrors may have been inflicted upon him in the years before I knew of his existence. What did you do to him? If he is forever damaged...

Tituba: Patience, Mary...

Mary Sibley: I have none for you anymore, you who lied and hid him for all those years.

Tituba: [Catches Mary by the arm to keep her from stalking away.] You weren't ready. Perhaps you're still not. I can take him back to the woods at any time.

Mary Sibley: Never again, or I will stop everything we've begun. I will let the comet pass, the Crags run dry, and the Grand Rite will have been for nothing. Do not test me.

Streets of Salem[]

[Reverend Lewis walks through the street, carrying a bible. He encounters Dollie Trask, just outside the Lewis House.]

Dollie Trask: Reverend Lewis. I'm so sorry for your loss.

Reverend Lewis: Hmm.

Dollie Trask: I miss her so. Mercy was my last true friend.

Reverend Lewis: We'll see how true a friend you really are. Come with me.

[Reverend Lewis moves to the door of the Lewis House. He opens the door and gestures for Dollie to follow him inside. Dollie follows him.]

Meeting House[]

[Alexander Corwin enters the Meeting House. The only other person we see is Mary Sibley, who is seated on a pew in the second row. Corwin sits down on the pew in front of her.]

Mary Sibley: Hathorne sought to humiliate me in front of a nescient congregation, and you did not utter a word on my behalf.

Corwin: (nervously) I was concerned to draw attention.

Mary Sibley: Well, in not drawing attention, Mr. Corwin, you have drawn a line. I must know which side you stand.

Corwin: Yours, my lady. You know I've been your silent servant all these years.

Mary Sibley: Well, you shall be silent no more. The role of magistrate cannot fall to an unsympathetic foe. It must be a witch. That is why you are to challenge Hathorne as candidate.

Corwin: But he is most popular with the other selectmen.

Mary Sibley: With Mr. Sibley's endorsement, no selectman will dare vote against you.

[Unseen and unheard by Mary Sibley and Alexander Corwin, a figure moves on the balcony above them.]

Corwin: We are vulnerable. You have brought our kind to the center of the stage when we are hated most.

Mary Sibley: I have completed the Grand Rite. The consecration is well underway. Soon we will taste freedom like you have never known before. But for now, we must continue the charade of Puritan rule, and we must control it.

Corwin: I fear I will disappoint you.

Mary Sibley: [Leans forward to speak in Corwin's ear] Well... 'tis not me you ought to worry about disappointing.

[As Mary Sibley leaves the Meeting house, viewers can see John Alden standing on the balcony, his face still covered. Mary Sibley looks up, and viewers see that, from her perspective, there is nobody there. She leaves the Meeting House, leaving John Alden alone with Corwin.]

Lewis House[]

[Reverend Lewis pushes Dollie Trask into a room, closing the door behind her. She sees a hunched figure move to hide behind a mirror and gasps in fright.]

Dollie Trask: Who goes there? [The figure moves slightly, part of its head becoming visible.] Please, won't you come out? You frighten me.

[The figure emerges from behind the mirror, revealing it to be Mercy Lewis. She is badly burned, her hair scorched from her scalp. When she walks, she is hunched over with pain, and when she speaks, her voice is hoarse and wheezing.]

Mercy Lewis: You can no longer recognize your old friend beneath these hideous scars.

Dollie Trask: Mercy? Is that really you?

Mercy Lewis: Where were you when we all burned?

Dollie Trask: Do you not remember? It was you who sent me in town for provisions. It was you who saved me.

[Mercy Lewis comes closer to Dollie Trask, until their faces are just a few inches apart.]

Mercy Lewis: Then I must have saved you for a good reason. How did I not notice what a lovely creature you are? You can walk among the living. You'll be the means of my vengeance.

Dollie Trask: (gives a slight, nervous smile) I would do anything for you.

Mercy Lewis: Good. [She lays her hand on the side of Dollie's face.] Mary Sibley will not see us coming.

Hospital[]

[Isaac Walton is lying on a cot inside the makeshift hospital. His face is covered in black pustules and clear blisters. His eyes are ringed with red. Dollie Trask, her face covered by a cloth, sits down on the bed next to him, carrying a glass of water. She dips her finger in the water and uses it to wet his lips. Isaac opens his eyes. Dollie lowers the cloth covering her face.]

Isaac Walton: At last. I'm dead. And you... a heavenly creature to welcome me.

Dollie Trask: It's just me... Dollie.

Isaac Walton: What else but an angel would risk all in a horrible place like this, to sit vigil with a wretch like myself?

Dollie Trask: Believe me, Isaac, I am not going anywhere. I will stay by your side.

The Road to Salem[]

[A horse-drawn carriage is shown driving on the road. Cotton Mather and Anne Hale are inside the carriage.]

Anne Hale: These past few days, Cotton, it's been such a comfort being with you.

Cotton Mather: I must admit, when I first opened my door in Boston, the sight of your face brought me greater joy than I would have expected. It is you, Anne, who has been a great comfort to me.

Anne Hale: I believe my father died thinking his only child was consumed with hatred for him.

Cotton Mather: Never. He admired your spirit. He was proud of you. Something my father never felt toward me. Faced with his infinite disapproval, I cursed him in the worst way, behind his back, like a coward.

Anne Hale: You are no coward, Cotton.

Cotton Mather: I despised him. Now I feel lost without him. Before he was gripped by madness, he would have known what to do. He would have delivered us from the pox, and he would have rid Salem of every last witch. [He sighs]

Anne Hale: And you agree with him, that there is no way to save a witch but kill them? I hate to think that all their souls are forever damned. My father said that... that there are ones who are born into it, who have no choice... perhaps they could be saved.

Cotton Mather: Hmm. My father would have said "No"... that we are all predestined to good or evil.

Anne Hale: And what do you say?

Cotton Mather: I believe there is always a choice. I believe our... choices dictate our destiny.

Anne Hale: Then there is salvation. And where there is salvation, there is hope.

Hospital[]

[Isaac Walton is lying on his bed. He hears the sound of footsteps, and Mary Sibley approaches to sit by his bed.]

Mary Sibley: My dear Isaac.

Isaac Walton: I am at Death's door. I know where it leads once it be opened. Satan himself waits to torture me for eternity.

Mary Sibley: Now, what has convinced your mind of such a thing?

Isaac Walton: Isaac the Fornicator. Many years have passed, but a sin is a sin, and I am doomed to pay for it.

Mary Sibley: No, you have paid plenty in this life. You have a good soul, and the Lord I believe in does not care what you do on this Earth. What Lord would create bodies capable of such pleasures, then punish us for knowing it?

Dr. Wainwright: [offscreen] What Lord indeed? [He is shown standing several feet behind Mary Sibley, who turns to face him.] Very advanced words for a stern Puritan mistress like yourself. See, I would have thought you'd consider the body a constant source of pain and temptation to Hell, like your husband.

Mary Sibley: My husband is entirely correct. Life with him has been both a pain and a constant temptation to Hell. But I'm not convinced God intended it so.

[As Dr. Wainwright speaks, he moves about the hospital, tending to patients. Mary Sibley follows.]

Dr. Wainwright: Your friend Isaac improves, and with him, the chance to save many. Now, the blood I drew from him could be used to guard the unaffected.

Mary Sibley: You would spread his infectious blood? Curious. But if it helps others, that is indeed good news.

Dr. Wainwright: Why, you must seek more than good news to risk so much coming here, where no one willingly enters and few leave alive.

Mary Sibley: No, it is you who are the risk to me. You operate here under my approval, yet they call you "necromancer" and speak of corpse bothering.

Dr. Wainwright: Well, I doubt very much anything bothers a corpse.

Mary Sibley: Do not jest, Doctor. We hang men for such things in Salem.

Dr. Wainwright: Well, it seems there's little in Salem you don't hang men for... or women.

Mary Sibley: Do you fear nothing?

Dr. Wainwright: Nothing from you, Mary Sibley.

Mary Sibley: Well, that is a great deal of trust in a woman you hardly know.

Dr. Wainwright: Well, there are some things and people one knows in a single glance. Come with me.

Knocker's Hole[]

[The Little Girl who was dragged into the well in the first scene of the episode is shown climbing out of it. Her gown and hair are wet and her face is dirty. She walks away from the well, staring straight ahead.]

Hospital[]

[Dr. Wainwright shows Mary Sibley into a room that is being used as an office and laboratory of sorts. There are anatomical drawings on one of the walls. Samples, medicine bottles and assorted apparatus are on shelves and on the top of a cupboard. The drawings attract Mary's attention.]

Mary Sibley: You have a fine hand. You make a body look as beautiful without the skin as with it. [She picks up a drawing from a table to examine it.]

Dr. Wainwright: I only wish my hand was as adept at uncovering the mysteries beneath the skin. This plague... it's like no other. It's not transmitted by vermin, nor by the simple cough, but some other means.

Mary Sibley: Hathorne wonders if you really came to town to cure the plague or to humor some dark obsession with the dead.

Dr. Wainwright: Both.

Mary Sibley: [turns to face him] So, tell me, in all this science, this impiety against God, what is it you're looking for?

Dr. Wainwright: I seek the materiality of the soul, its embodiment, and, likewise, the soul that lives in all things. If we can understand the physical seat of the soul, and we understand the spiritual nature of all things, then we might learn to do so much.

[As she listens to him speak, Mary Sibley smiles slightly, interested in, and perhaps even impressed by, his words.]

Mary Sibley: You sound like a witch.

Dr. Wainwright: Well, perhaps so. Perhaps, in their own misbegotten way, witches are scientists.

Mary Sibley: Well, then Hathorne would be right, and scientists are also witches.

Dr. Wainwright: But I do not seek to hurt anyone. I am searching for the very organ that proves God's existence within us.

Mary Sibley: [steps closer to Dr. Wainwright] And where is it?

Dr. Wainwright: A chamber, deeply protected within the chest, if you believe Aristotle. Descartes saw it residing in the brain. But I believe it's right about here... [He places his hand on the base of Mary's neck, beneath the ruff she wears.] The crossroads between body and mind. They're calling the small organ hidden just there the thyroid, from the Greek "thyreoiedes" - "shield shaped". I think it is the seat of the soul.

Mary Sibley: But how do you know?

Dr. Wainwright: That's the theory, but I believe I can prove it. But it might hurt.

Mary Sibley: [Removes her ruff, exposing her neck] Prove it.

Dr. Wainwright: [Wraps his hand around Mary's neck] I'll try and be gentle.

Mary Sibley: Don't bother.

[Dr. Wainwright squeezes Mary Sibley's neck, grunting with effort. After approximately fifteen seconds, her eyes begin to close and he immediately lets go. Mary doubles over, gasping. Wainwright bends forward to speak to her, excited.]

Dr. Wainwright: Did you feel it?

Mary Sibley: What?

[Mary Sibley straightens. Her breathing is shallow and rapid as she recovers.]

Dr. Wainwright: Your soul on the verge of leaving your body. Did your vision begin to darken? Your pulse quickened, and rapid thoughts, like... like pictures flitting past your mind's eye.

[Mary Sibley nods confirmation to his questions, beginning to share a little in his enthusiasm.]

Mary Sibley: Yes.

[Dr. Wainwright takes Mary Sibley's face in his hands and kisses her for several seconds before she pulls away.]

Mary Sibley: What on Earth were you thinking?

Dr. Wainwright: Well, I wasn't. Thinking, that is. [Holds her by the upper arms] But tell me, how did it feel to be completely in another's control, over your very life, your very soul?

Mary Sibley: I know such a feeling, and this was not it.

[Mary Sibley walks away, picking up her cloak before leaving the room. Dr Wainwright smiles slightly as he watches her leave.]

Streets of Salem/The House of the Seven Gables (Exterior)[]

[The Little Girl walks through the streets, breathing heavily. Her gait is awkward and she pays no attention to any of the people in the street. She reaches the House of the Seven Gables, and walks past the boundary wall to the side of the house. She stops in front of the wooden water tank, bending over it and retching, vomiting foul dark fluid into the water. Once she is finished vomiting, she runs away, livelier and seemingly in control of her actions once more.]

The House of the Seven Gables (Mary's Boudoir)[]

[George Sibley sits in his wheelchair, watching Mary Sibley suckle her toad familiar.]

Mary Sibley: There. Hmm. [She smiles at her toad as it stops suckling, then rises and moves towards George Sibley.]

George Sibley: [hoarsely, his eyes filling with tears] Please. No more. End this. H-h-h-have mercy. I... I beg you.

Mary Sibley: You have finally lost your appetite for defiance.

George Sibley: [groans] Enough. I cannot endure any longer. [He begins to weep.] Just kill me.

Mary Sibley: Now, you know too well the Hell I can make of your existence. [George Sibley whimpers at the sight of the toad in her hand.] But imagine the Heaven I might grant you in relief. [She gently places her knee between his legs.] I might ask you what a good meal would mean to you, the touch of young flesh, life surging through your feeble appendages once more. [She moves away, placing the toad in a glass case.] I have a proposal for you. An old rival of yours has reared his head; Wendell Hathorne.

George Sibley: He knows... what you are?

Mary Sibley: [scoffs] George, if those tepid men saw me for what I truly am, they would soil themselves in fear, as you so often have. But that needn't be so. For perhaps the first time ever, your interests and mine share common ground. Hathorne not only made advances to your wife in public, but he tried to strip you of your lands. Outside these walls, George Sibley is a giant amongst men, the last of the founders, but Hathorne seeks to destroy that. I hardly think it's a sin to protect what you've worked so hard to achieve, George. Your life as you know it may be over. Do you want your legacy and your legend to die, as well? You look a fright. I'll prepare a tonic of cayenne to sharpen the tongue.

[Mary Sibley pushes George Sibley in his wheelchair towards the mirror.]

George Sibley: To say what? What do you want from me?

Mary Sibley: To endorse Corwin as magistrate, and maintain the illusion that you and you alone control Salem, and your wife, with an iron grip. And silence your bitter enemy, Hathorne.

[George Sibley looks at his reflection in the mirror, a grimly determined expression on his face.]

Lewis House[]

[Reverend Lewis enters a bedroom occupied by Mercy Lewis and Dollie Trask, averting his eyes at the sight of his daughter.]

Mercy Lewis: You can't look at me, Father? You don't want to see your daughter?

Reverend Lewis: Please, I...

Mercy Lewis: You never shied away before. You wanted to see all the delicacies of your beautiful daughter.

Reverend Lewis: Mercy, please...

Dollie Trask: Perhaps I should take my leave.

Mercy Lewis: No. You will bear witness to all that is to come.

Reverend Lewis: Mercy, if you have any humanity left in you, return to me what is... most vital.

Mercy Lewis: [standing to look her father in the eye] You'll be reunited with the shriveled remnants of your manhood when you've fulfilled every errand I demand. And now I need you to strike the first blow against dear Mary Sibley.

The House of the Seven Gables (Parlour)[]

[Mary Sibley, Wendell Hathorne and other members of the board of Selectmen stand in the parlour while a manservant serves drinks. Hathorne and Mary stand face to face, a little apart from the others.]

Hathorne: A wise choice to keep the Council's gathering intimate. Uh, I was rather hoping to receive the appointment of magistrate from your husband personally but it seems, as usual, his ventriloquist will have to do. [chuckles]

Mary Sibley: Mr Hathorne, your vigor for the peace and prosperity of Salem is an inspiration. But a magistrate is merely the arbiter of the common law, and many know the common law. But only a man as gifted as yourself, however, may make sense of all the complex calculations required of a treasurer. No, you are far too valuable a man to be wasted as magistrate. Instead, George supports a most fair, if less numerate man...

George Sibley: [offscreen] Alexander Corwin.

[Hathorne turns to see George Sibley wheeled into the room by Nathaniel. George is clean, shaved and wearing a black suit.]

Hathorne: George. Ah, it's a true honor to have you back in our presence.

George Sibley: Yes. My wife has carried out my demands. [coughs] And they are many.

[The men all chuckle at his jest. Mary Sibley smiles demurely. Hathorne looks uncomfortable.]

George Sibley: Yet she meets... [clears his throat] with challenges.

Hathorne: I... I assure you, any exchanges have been in the spirit of civic debate.

George Sibley: Good, as we still need your governance... [clears throat] of treasury.

Mary Sibley: Nathaniel, fetch us a bottle of claret from the cellar while we wait on Mr Corwin. [She moves to stand next to George Sibley's wheelchair, placing her hand in his.]

Streets of Salem[]

[Alexander Corwin walks through the street. John Alden is lying in wait for him. As he passes his hiding place, Corwin appears to sense something amiss. He looks behind him but sees nothing. Corwin continues on his way, walking down a deserted side street. John Alden follows. As Corwin turns a corner, John Alden looks down and realises that he is standing between two patches of wet mud. The sound of squelching footsteps can be heard and footprints appear in the mud. John Alden unsheathes his witch dagger and stabs downward. Corwin becomes visible, crying out in pain and dropping his own dagger. John Alden snatches a large stone from the ground and uses it to strike Corwin in the head, knocking him unconscious.]

The House of the Seven Gables (Dining Room/Corridor)[]

[George Sibley, Mary Sibley, Hathorne and the selectmen are dining. George is eating with great relish. The clock chimes and the time is shown to be half past seven. A place has been set at the table for the absent Corwin.]

Hathorne: The hour wanes, George.

Mary Sibley: Mr. Corwin has surely been detained by something critical.

Hathorne: It appears that all who find the election of magistrate important are present. Corwin has clearly had a change of heart. Since, as you say, we all know the common law, we're all aware that no one may be appointed to a post in absentia. I submit myself again in his stead, and call for a vote now.

Mary Sibley: Mr. Sibley always insists we finish dessert before business. Corwin will show.

Hathorne: Not only am I disturbed by the authority you allow your wife, George, your mouthpiece in Salem, one might even say your Regent, but I am also grown weary by this dinner's charade. [He bangs the table in frustration.] If you are truly the head of this household, Sibley, I insist that you call for a vo...

George Sibley: We wait.

[Hathorne is visibly displeased but does not dare to argue.]

Mary Sibley: Well, I am comforted to know there's at least one true gentleman left in this town. [Tituba appears in the doorway, catching Mary's eye.] Gentlemen, if you'll excuse me a moment.

Selectman #1: Of course.

Selectman #2: Please.

[Several of the selectmen briefly rise from their chairs as Mary Sibley leaves the room. She joins Tituba in the corridor outside the dining room.]

Tituba: Corwin is nowhere to be found.

Mary Sibley: George will have no choice but to put Hathorne forward if Corwin is absent, so we must drag his cowardly feet from the hole they are hiding in.

Abandoned Building[]

[Alexander Corwin is tied to a wooden pillar. His hands are tightly bound together, and each finger is individually immobilized with complicated knots.]

John Alden: Cotton Mather was right. Bind a witch with the right knot to iron and dead wood, he's as neutered as a freshly cut steer.

Corwin: You are gravely mistaken. I am no witch.

John Alden: Bullshit, Corwin. I stabbed thin air and then I caught you. What would you call that if not witchcraft?

Corwin: You have to believe me!

John Alden: [points his witch dagger at Corwin's neck] This is no ordinary knife. But if it were, it would still serve to separate the skin from your body in one thick sheet. I've seen the Indians do it. I've learned the trick myself. But seeing as this is no ordinary knife but one which holds a special hurt for witches, I can't imagine what it would do to you, but I sure am curious.

Corwin: What would you have of me?

John Alden: Names of every witch in Salem.

Road to Salem[]

[NOTE: Militia Man #1 = The tall one with beard, Militia Man #2 = The shorter, clean shaven one.]

[The carriage carrying Cotton Mather and Anne Hale arrives at a point where two members of the militia are standing guard.]

Militia Man #1: Stop! Stop!

Militia Man #2: Whoa!

Militia Man #1: [holding up a hand to signal that the carriage should stop] Halt!

[The carriage stops. Anne Hale and Cotton Mather look out the window.]

Anne Hale: The long arm of Mary Sibley, no doubt. She ordered a blockade. All roads in and out of Salem.

Cotton Mather: Good evening, sirs.

Militia Man #1: No passage, on account of the pox. Orders of George Sibley, lest you have a pass.

Cotton Mather: [opens the door of the carriage and leans out] It is exactly his wife, Mary Sibley, with whom I seek audience. Now, let us pass.

Militia Man #1: For a price.

Cotton Mather: I beg your pardon?

Militia Man #1: Pay or turn back around.

Cotton Mather: You dare extort a man of the cloth, and a fine young lady from one of Salem's founding families?

Militia Man #1: Man of the cloth? Well, I'll be damned. If it isn't Cotton Mather!

[Militia Man #1 grabs Cotton Mather by the front of his suit and drags him out of the carriage, knocking him to the ground and kicking him.]

Anne Hale: Cotton!

Militia Man #1: Coward! Fled his post and left us to rot!

[As Militia Man #1 continues to kick Cotton Mather, Anne Hale alights from the carriage. Militia Man #2 reaches out to grab her and she backs away, screaming.]

Anne Hale: No! No!

Militia Man #2: Come here, pretty!

[Militia Man #2 catches Anne Hale around the waist and lifts her up. Cotton struggles to her aid.]

Cotton Mather: Leave her alone!

Anne Hale: Let me go!

[Militia Man #1 cocks a pistol, grappling with Cotton Mather while Militia Man #2 carries Anne Hale a few yards away, tossing her to the ground and lying on top of her.]

Anne Hale: Don't touch me! No!

[Anne Hale's eyes glow red and she telekinetically throws Militia Man #2 off her, high into the air. Cotton and Militia Man #1 are fighting and do not notice. Militia Man #2 grunts in pain and a sickening crack is heard as his body collides with something offscreen. The pistol goes off and Cotton Mather gains possession of it, using it to club Militia Man #1 in the head, knocking him out. He runs to Anne's aid, helping her to her feet.]

Cotton Mather: Anne! Are you okay? What happened?

Anne Hale: (breathless) He... he went away. We should go. We should go.

[Anne Hale leads the way back to the carriage, climbing in, with Cotton Mather close behind.]

Cotton Mather: Come on. Come on.

[The coachman, who seems to have sat out the fight, spurs the horses and they continue on their journey. As they drive away, the camera cuts to Militia Man #2, who has been impaled on a spiky tree stump.]

The House of the Seven Gables (Kitchen/Dining Room)[]

[Tituba opens the door leading from the kitchen to the dining room a few inches and looks in on the men, who appear to have finished eating. Hathorne is standing.]

Hathorne: You have to give Corwin a piece of your mind. I only have Salem's interests at heart.

Tituba: A vote is imminent. We can stall them no longer.

[Mary Sibley carries a ram's head with most of the flesh removed from the skull to the table. While Mary speaks, Tituba uses a pestle and mortar to grind various leaves, herbs and flower petals together, then empties them onto a plate.]

Mary Sibley: This is going to have to do for a glimpse of the gutless Corwin so we might bring him here.

[Mary Sibley uses a knife to pry out one of the ram's eyes and drops it onto the plate on top of the plant ingredients. Tituba drizzles liquid from a bottle over the contents of the plate. Mary adds the second ram's eye to the plate.]

Abandoned Building[]

[Alexander Corwin is blindfolded. John Alden presses the witch dagger into his cheek, just below his eye.]

John Alden: Blindness or castration? [taps Corwin on the side of the head with the witch dagger] It's really quite simple.

[Alexander Corwin shudders as John Hale stabs the witch dagger into the pillar to which he is tied, just below his groin area.]

Corwin: I am not too proud to say that I am afraid, but it is of powers f-far greater than you. She fears nothing.

John Alden: Yes. Mary Sibley. Who else?

Corwin: If you know my mistress, you know such attempts are futile. Whatever your quest, you're too late.

John Alden: Names. Now!

Corwin: She sees all. I know she sees me. She will have no mercy. I have felt her pulling at my bound legs, and any moment, she will be peering right at me, even here.

John Alden: Oh, I'm counting on it.

The House of the Seven Gables (Kitchen)[]

[Mary Sibley cuts her palm and squeezes a trickle of blood over the plate with the ram's eyes and plant ingredients. Flames rise from the plate.]

Mary Sibley: By this firelight, bestow unto us the gift of Sight, so we might find our brother Corwin in the shadows of this night.

[The flames fizzle out and smoke rises from the plate. Mary Sibley and Tituba can see Corwin in the smoke and hear him speak. As Corwin speaks, the scene cuts briefly to John Alden in the abandoned building, then back to Mary and Tituba in the kitchen.]

Corwin: For all our crimes, justice is come. If we do not cease all we do, end our witch pox, and lay down all weapons of malice, we will die - every last one of us.

Mary Sibley: [snatches up a scissors and hands it to Tituba] We must hurry.

[Mary Sibley forces the ram's jaws open. In the abandoned building, John Alden watches as Corwin's mouth is forced open and he groans in pain. Mary nods to Tituba, who pulls out the ram's tongue and cuts it out with the scissors. As she does so, Corwin's tongue stretches out of his mouth and he bites it off. John Alden watches in bemused disgust as blood spills out of Corwin's mouth.]

Tituba: Who could do this?

Mary Sibley: Someone with enough cunning craft to counter ours and obscure their faces from our vision.

Tituba: Whoever is out there, they are targeting us.  

The House of the Seven Gables (Exterior/Dining Room)[]

[Mary Sibley stands in the open doorway of the House of the Seven Gables, seeing her dinner guests out. Wendell Hathorne is the last to leave.]

Hathorne: A gracious host, even in defeat.

Mary Sibley: I honour the Council's decision. Congratulations, Magistrate Hathorne.

Hathorne: Shall we dispense with the pleasantries? It is my full intention to shake Salem from the grip of mayhem brought on by you.

Mary Sibley: By all means, but take care. Even a magistrate has his place.

Hathorne: As has a woman. I suggest you start attending to some duties more suited to your gender. What is it, Mary, that gives you such brash confidence to reach so far beyond your station? You are the Delilah in our midst.

Mary Sibley: A strong woman is no more to fear than a strong man.

Hathorne: If George will not humble you, I will.

Mary Sibley: Consider this before you seek to harm our family, my good fledgling magistrate. My husband owns every ship docked in this port, land for a thousand miles, the very bedpan you relieve yourself in, yet we serve those we could rule.

Hathorne: You cannot hide behind your husband anymore, Mary Sibley.

Mary Sibley: I am not your enemy. [She offers him her hand and he reluctantly kisses it.] But make me one, and you shall feel my fury.

[Magistrate Hathorne laughs without humour as walks away. Mary Sibley steps back into the house, shuts the door, and joins Tituba in the dining room.]

Mary Sibley: Where's George?

Tituba: Upstairs, pacified again, but we have more urgent matters.

Mary Sibley: George is my power in this town. Never underestimate his importance to us. He is irreplaceable. The same cannot be said for poor Corwin.

Tituba: We vowed to protect one another.

Mary Sibley: Not at the cost of the hive. Corwin will have exposed our identities to this new assailant, unless the assailant already knows who we are.

Tituba: You suspect someone within the hive?

Mary Sibley: What better way to undermine me? After all, this is someone who employs counter-magic to shield themselves.

Tituba: The Seer can lift the veil from our eyes, help us find this witch hunter. I will go now.

Mary Sibley: No, at dawn. It is too dangerous to move about the shadows tonight. I will station two militia men outside the doors. If this was an attempt to lure us out, we are safest here.

[Tituba sighs deeply and slumps over the table.]

Mary Sibley: We cannot let their brutality unravel us. Find peace in sleep.

[Tituba nods. Nathaniel enters the dining room and begins to clear away the dinner dishes.]

Mary Sibley: Nathaniel, pour me a bath.

[Nathaniel goes outside to the water tank, fills a bucket and carries it into the house.]

Hospital[]

[Reverend Lewis and Dollie Trask approach Isaac Walton's bed. He opens his eyes and looks up at them.]

Isaac Walton: Reverend Lewis? A man of the Lord come to pray for my soul?

Reverend Lewis: There is but one destination for you, Isaac, and I have seen it with my own eyes.

Isaac Walton: Huh?

[Reverend Lewis stuffs a cloth into Isaac Walton's mouth, muffling his shouts. Dollie Trask takes a sheet and covers Isaac with it.]

Reverend Lewis: Lord, have mercy on him.  

The House of the Seven Gables (Little John's Room)[]

[Little John is wearing a nightgown and lying in his bed when Mary Sibley enters.]

Little John: I buried the dove as you asked. Are you still cross with me, Mother?

Mary Sibley: Never. Oh, I only ever want to protect you. [She sits on the bed, squeezing Little John's shoulder affectionately.] Now, why are you still awake?

Little John: I'm afraid to close my eyes. Afraid when I open them, you'll be gone.

[Mary Sibley lies down next to Little John, stroking his hair.]

Mary Sibley: Look, just because you can't see me, doesn't mean I've gone.

Little John: But my father went away, didn't he? And he never came back. That's what happens when you die. You go away and you never come back.

Mary Sibley: You and I are not going anywhere. This is our home. And we shall never be separated, not ever again.

Little John: Tell me a story. I like to hear your voice as I fall asleep.

Mary Sibley: Alright. [She puts her arms around Little John and tucks the blanket over him.] Once upon a time, the land was ruled by monsters. They wore fine black suits. They hid behind their fine black book with their fine black beards. And they lived in grand houses. And they ruled by fear. They made everyone fear the woods, trees, and the birds and the animals around them so that they would not dare to venture from their village. And if anyone said anything other than what the monsters wanted them to say, they stole their voices. Now, in this land, there lived a mother. Only she didn't know she was a mother, for the monsters had stolen her son. One day, she found him, and she found her voice. And she swore she would never lose either ever again. [She kisses the back of Little John's head, tears running down her face.] I love you.  

The House of the Seven Gables (Mary's Boudoir)[]

[A copper bathtub has been set up in Mary's boudoir. A lit candle sits on a table next to it. Mary Sibley takes off her dressing gown and moves to the door leading out onto her balcony. She catches sight of Dr. Wainwright at one of the windows of the Alden House, and he sees her. She holds his gaze as she begins to unlace her nightgown, and then closes the door. She moves back over to the bathtub and leans over it. A grumbling noise can be heard and wet footprints appear on the carpet. Mary runs her hand through the water, rippling the surface. When the water settles, she can see her reflection, as well as that of a sodden hag standing behind her. The hag seizes Mary, forcing her into the water and diving in behind her. The scene cuts to Countess Von Marburg in her own bathtub in her state room, her eyes white. Mary struggles underwater as the hag forces a kiss on her. The hag vanishes and Mary surfaces in her bathtub, gasping. She touches her mouth and her hand comes away bloody. The scene cuts back to Countess Von Marburg's state room, and she is shown to have blood on her lips.]


[End Credits]  

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