Storm of the Century Read online

  HATCH slides close to MIKE, almost humming with shame.

  HATCH Mike, I

  MIKE

  (doesn't look at him) Shut up. Get away from me.

  HATCH

  When you've had a chance to think about it, you'll understand. You'll come around. It's the only thing we can do. What else is there? Die for a principle? Every one of us? Including those who're too young to understand why they're dying? You need to think about it.

  MIKE at last looks up.

  MIKE And if it's Pippa that Linoge ends up taking?

  A long silence as HATCH thinks. Then he meets MIKE'S eyes.

  HATCH

  I'll tell myself she died as an infant. That it was a crib death, something no one could help or foresee. And I'll believe it. Melly and me, we'll both believe it.

  ROBBIE hammers on the podium some more with the gavel.

  ROBBIE

  Oyez, oyez this question has been called. Do we or do we not give Mr. Linoge what he has asked for, pursuant to his promise that he will leave us in peace? How say you, Little Tall? Those in favor, signify in the usual way.

  There is a moment of BREATHLESS SILENCE, and then, at the back of the room, ANDY

  ROBICHAUX raises his hand.

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  ANDY I'm Harry's father, and I vote yes.

  JILL ROBICHAUX I'm his mother, and so do I.

  HENRY Carla and I vote yes.

  LINDA ST. PIERRE raises her hand. So does SANDRA BEALS, and at the podium, ROBBIE raises his.

  MELINDA (raises her hand) Yes. We have no choice.

  HATCH No choice.

  He raises his hand.

  URSULA I vote yes it's the only way.

  251

  She raises her hand, and so does TAVIA.

  JACK Got to.

  Up goes his hand. ANGELA takes a long, loving look at the sleeping BUSTER, then raises her own.

  The eyes of everyone in the room turn to MOLLY. She kneels, kisses RALPHIE on the fairy saddle on his nose, then rises to her feet. She speaks to them all ... but in a way, she speaks only to MIKE, her face pleading for understanding.

  MOLLY

  To lose one in life is better than to lose them all in death. I vote yes.

  344 STEPHEN KING

  She raises her hand. Soon other hands go up. THE CAMERA RANGES AMONG all the folks we have come to know, watching as every hand goes up ... save one.

  ROBBIE draws the moment out, looking at the forest of raised arms and solemn faces. To give these people the credit they're due, they have made a terrible decision . . . and know it.

  ROBBIE

  (soft) Those opposed?

  The raised hands go down. MIKE, still looking at the floor, hoists his hand high in the air.

  ROBBIE I count all in favor save one. The motion is carried.

  120 INTERIOR: THE REGULATOR CLOCK, CLOSE-UP.

  The minute hand reaches 9:30, and the CLOCK CHIMES ONCE.

  121 INTERIOR: RESUME TOWN MEETING HALL NIGHT.

  The doors open. LINOGE steps in, his cane in one hand, the small chamois bag in the other.

  LINOGE

  Folks, have you reached your decision?

  ROBBIE -j Yes . . . we've voted in favor.

  LINOGE

  Excellent.

  He walks along the back row, then pauses when he reaches the center aisle. He looks at the parents.

  LINOGE

  You've made the right choice.

  STORM OF THE CENTURY 345

  MOLLY turns away, sickened by this smiling monster's approval. LINOGE sees her revulsion, and his smile broadens. He makes his way slowly down the center aisle, holding the bag of marbles out before him.

  252

  He mounts the steps, and ROBBIE moves away from him rapidly, his face full of terror. LINOGE

  stands by the podium, looking at his hostages with a kindly smile.

  LINOGE

  You've done a hard thing, my friends, but despite what the constable may have told you, it's also a good thing. The right thing. The only thing, really, that loving, responsible people could have done, under the circumstances.

  He holds out the bag by the drawstring, so it hangs down from his hand.

  LINOGE

  These are weirding stones. They were old when the world was young, and used to decide great issues long before Atlantis sank into the African Ocean. There are seven white stones in here . . .

  and one black one.

  LINOGE pauses . . . smiles ... a smile that shows the tips of his fangs.

  LINOGE

  You're eager for me to be gone, and I don't blame you. Will one parent of each child come forward, please? Let's finish this up.

  122 INTERIOR: THE ISLANDERS.

  Realizing for the first time on a gut level what they have done. Realizing also that it's too late to turn back.

  123 INTERIOR: LINOGE, CLOSE-UP.

  Smiling. Showing the tips of his fangs. And holding out the bag. It's time to choose.

  FADE TO BLACK. THIS ENDS ACT 5.

  Act 6

  124 EXTERIOR: THE REACH NIGHT.

  The snow has stopped, and now MOONLIGHT beats a gilded track across the reach toward the mainland.

  125 EXTERIOR: MAIN STREET NIGHT. Snow-clogged and silent.

  126 EXTERIOR: THE TOWN HALL NIGHT.

  Dark on the right, BRIGHTLY CANDLELIT on the left, where the meeting hall is.

  127 INTERIOR: THE MEETING HALL NIGHT.

  Slowly, slowly, the parents come down the center aisle: JILL, URSULA, JACK, LINDA, SANDRA, HENRY, and MELINDA. At the rear of the group is MOLLY ANDERSON. She looks pleadingly at MIKE.

  MOLLY

  Mike, please try to understand

  MIKE

  Do you want me to understand? Go back and sit with him, then. Refuse to take part in this obscenity.

  MOLLY I can't. If you could only see . . .

  253

  MIKE is looking down between his legs at the floor. He doesn't want to look at her, doesn't want to look at any of it. She sees this and goes on, sorrowfully, up the steps.

  The PARENTS range themselves in a line on the stage. LINOGE looks at them with the benign smile of a dentist assuring a child that this won't hurt, this won't hurt at all.

  346

  STORM OF THE CENTURY 347

  LINOGE

  It's perfectly simple. You each draw a stone from the bag. The child whose parent draws the black stone comes with me. To live long . . . see far . . . and know much. Mrs. Robi-chaux? Jill?

  Would you start us, please?

  He offers her the bag. At first it seems she won't reach into it ... or can't.

  ANDY

  Go on, honey do it.

  She gives him a haunted look, then reaches into the bag, feels around, and comes out with her hand tightly clasped around a stone. She looks as though she might faint.

  LINOGE Mrs. Hatcher?

  MELINDA takes a stone. SANDRA is next. She reaches toward the bag . . . then draws away.

  SANDRA

  Robbie, I can't! You!

  But ROBBIE doesn't want to be that near LINOGE.

  ROBBIE Go on! Draw!

  She does, and stands back, little mouth quivering, her hand clasped so tightly around the stone that the fingers are white. Next is HENRY BRIGHT, feeling around a long time, rejecting one (or two) in favor of another. Then JACK. He chooses fast, then steps back and gives ANGIE a desperate, hopeful smile. LINDA ST. PIERRE draws one. That leaves URSULA and MOLLY.

  LINOGE

  Ladies?

  URSULA You go first, Molly.

  348 STEPHEN KING

  MOLLY No. Please. You.

  URSULA plunges her hand into the bag, takes one of the two remaining stones, then steps back, fist clenched. MOLLY steps forward, looks at LINOGE, and takes the last stone. LINOGE tosses the empty bag aside. It flutters toward the stage . . . then DISAPPEARS IN A DIM BLUE GLOW before it ever reaches the boards. No reaction from the ISLANDERS; their si
lence is so thick and tense you could cut it with a knife.

  LINOGE

  All right, my friends; so far it's done very well. Now, who has the courage to show first? To put fear aside and let sweet relief rush in to take its place?

  No one responds. They stand, eight parents with their hands clenched before them, each in utter 254

  white-faced terror.

  LINOGE

  (genial)

  Come, come have you never heard that the gods punish the fainthearted?

  JACK

  (cries out) Buster! I love you!

  He opens his hand. The marble he holds is WHITE. The AUDIENCE MURMURS.

  URSULA steps forward. She holds out her closed, trembling fist. She nerves herself up, and her hand springs open. This marble is also WHITE. The AUDIENCE MURMURS AGAIN.

  ROBBIE

  Let's see, Sandra. Show it.

  SANDRA

  I ... I ... Robbie, I can't ... I know it's Donnie ... I know it is ... I've never been lucky . . .

  STORM OF THE CENTURY 349

  Impatient with her, contemptuous of her, in a frenzy to know one way or the other, he goes to her, seizes her hand, and pries the fingers open. We can't see, and at first we can read nothing from his face. Then he seizes what she holds, and lifts it up so they can all see. He's GRINNING

  SAVAGELY; looks like Richard Nixon at a political rally.

  ROBBIE

  White!

  He tries to embrace his wife, but SANDRA pushes him away with an expression beyond disgust this is outright revulsion.

  Now it's LINDA ST. PIERRE's turn to step forward. She holds out her closed hand, looking down at it, then closes her eyes.

  LINDA ST. PIERRE

  Please, God, I beg of you, don't take my Heidi away.

  She opens her hand, but not her eyes.

  ANOTHER VOICE

  White!

  The AUDIENCE MURMURS. LINDA opens her eyes, sees the stone is indeed WHITE, and begins to WEEP, closing her hand again and holding the precious stone to her breasts.

  LINOGE

  Jill? Mrs. Robichaux?

  JILL ROBICHAUX

  I can't. I thought I could go through with it, but I can't. I'm sorry She heads for the stairs, still holding her clenched fist in front of her. Before she can get there, 255

  LINOGE points his cane her way. She is driven back at once. LINOGE now dips the silver wolf's head at her hand. She tries to hold the fingers closed and can't. The stone drops to the stage, rolls like a marble (which is what the stones look like), and

  350 STEPHEN KING

  THE CAMERA TRACKS IT. It finally stops, resting against one of the legs of the town manager's table. It's WHITE.

  JILL collapses to her knees, SOBBING. LINDA helps her to her feet and embraces her. Now there is only HENRY, MELINDA, and MOLLY. One of them has the black stone. We INTERCUT their spouses. CARLA BRIGHT and HATCH are watching the stage with passionate, terrorized fascination.

  MIKE is still looking at the floor.

  LINOGE

  Mr. Bright? Henry? Will you favor us?

  HENRY steps forward and slowly opens his hand. The stone is WHITE. He all but deflates in his relief. CARLA looks at him, smiling through her tears.

  Now it's down to MOLLY and MELINDA, RALPHIE and PIPPA. The two mothers look at each other with LINOGE smiling in the background. One of them is about to cease being a mother, and both of them know it.

  128 INTERIOR: MOLLY, CLOSE-UP.

  She's imagining:

  129 EXTERIOR: BLUE SKY DAY.

  Flying high above the clouds is LINOGE, but now the V is very short. Of the eight children, only RALPHIE and PIPPA are left, each gripping one of LINOGE'S hands.

  130 INTERIOR: RESUME STAGE NIGHT.

  LINOGE

  Ladies?

  MOLLY looks a thought at MELINDA. MELINDA catches it and nods slightly. The women hold out their closed fists, hand to hand. They look at each other, frantic with love, hope, and fear.

  MOLLY

  (very soft) Now.

  STORM OF THE CENTURY 351

  131 INTERIOR: THE CLOSED HANDS, CLOSE-UP.

  They open. In one is a white "marble"; in the other is a black. There are MURMURS, GASPS, and CRIES OF SURPRISE from the audience . . . but we can't tell not yet. We see only the stones lying on the open palms.

  132 INTERIOR: MOLLY'S FACE, EXTREME CLOSE-UP.

  Wide eyes.

  133 INTERIOR: MELINDA'S FACE, EXTREME CLOSE-UP. Wide eyes.

  134 INTERIOR: HATCH'S FACE, EXTREME CLOSE-UP. Wide eyes.

  135 INTERIOR: MIKE, EXTREME CLOSE-UP.

  256

  Head down . . . but he can't keep it that way, despite his intention not to participate in this, even passively. He raises his face and looks toward the stage. And we must read the loss of his son first on this man's face we see incredulity, then the dawn of a terrible understanding.

  MIKE (to his feet)

  NO!!! NO!!!

  352 STEPHEN KING

  SONNY, LUCIEN, and ALEX grab him when he tries to lunge forward, and wrestle him back to his seat.

  136 INTERIOR: MOLLY AND MELINDA, ON STAGE.

  They continue to face each other, almost forehead to forehead, frozen, their hands now open held out. In MELINDA'S is the seventh white stone. In MOLLY'S is the black one.

  MELINDA'S face breaks in delayed reaction. She turns, blinded by tears, and walks toward the edge of the stage.

  MELINDA

  Pippa! Mummy's coming, love

  She stumbles on the stairs and would go headlong, if not for HATCH, who is there to catch her.

  MELINDA, hysterical with relief, doesn't even notice. She fights free of her husband's arms and runs up the center aisle.

  MELINDA

  Pippa, honey! It's all right! Mummy's coming, sweetheart, mummy's coming!

  HATCH turns to MIKE.

  HATCH Mike, I

  MIKE only looks at him a look of pure, poisonous hate. "You condoned this, and it has cost me my son," that look says. HATCH cannot bear it. He goes after his wife, almost slinking.

  MOLLY has been stunned through all of this, looking down at the BLACK MARBLE, but now she begins to realize what has happened.

  MOLLY No. Oh, no. This isn't . . . This can't be ...

  She throws the stone away and turns to LINOGE.

  STORM OF THE CENTURY 353

  MOLLY

  It's a joke! Or a test? It's a test, isn't it? You didn't really mean . . .

  But he did really mean it, does really mean it, and she sees that.

  MOLLY

  You can't have him!

  LINOGE

  Molly, I feel your grief keenly . . . but you agreed to the terms. I'm sorry.

  257

  MOLLY

  You fixed it somehow! You wanted him all along! Because . . . because of the fairy saddle!

  Is this true? We will never know if we imagined the FLICKER in LINOGE'S eyes ... or actually saw it.

  LINOGE

  I assure you that's not so. The game, as you'd say, was straight. And since I believe that long, drawn-out farewells only add to the pain

  He starts toward the stairs, on the way to claim his prize.

  MOLLY

  No, no, I won't let you

  She tries to attack him. LINOGE gestures with the cane, and she is flung backward, hitting the town manager's table and rolling over it. She lands in a SOBBING HEAP on the floor.

  LINOGE, at the lip of the stage and the top of the stairs, regards the ISLANDERS who look like people waking up from a communal nightmare in which they have done some terrible, irrevocable thing with BEAMING, SARDONIC PLEASURE.

  354 STEPHEN KING

  LINOGE

  Ladies and gentlemen, residents of Little Tall, I thank you for your attention to my needs, and I declare this meeting at an end . . . with a suggestion that the less you say to the outside world about our . . . our arrangement, the more happy you are apt to be ... although such matters are, of course, u
ltimately up to you.

  Behind his back, MOLLY gets to her feet and comes forward. She looks all but insane with shock, grief, and incredulity.

  LINOGE

  (pulls on gloves, watch cap)

  With that, I'll take my new protege and leave you to your thoughts. May they be happy ones.

  He starts down the stairs. His path to the center aisle brings him close to where MIKE sits. MOLLY

  rushes forward to the edge of the stage, her eyes so big they seem to fill the whole top half of her face. She sees that MIKE'S guards are no longer doing their job; LUCIEN, SONNY, and the others are sitting back, looking at LINOGE, their jaws agape.

  MOLLY

  (shrieking) Mike! Stop him! For God's sake, stop him!

  MIKE knows what will happen if he goes for LINOGE; a single wave of the cane, and he will be peeling himself off one of the walls. He looks up at his wife his estranged wife now, one supposes with HORRIBLE DEAD EYES.

  MIKE Too late, Molly.

  She reacts first with dismay, then with CRAZED DETERMINATION. If MIKE will not help her right the mistake they've made, she will do it herself. She looks around . . . and sees ROBBIE'S little pistol, now lying on the podium. She seizes it, whirls, and plunges down the steps to the floor.