Channel Zero (2016) s03e02 Episode Script

Father Time

1 [EERIE MUSIC.]
People go missing.
Will you make sure nothing happens to me and my mom? Yeah, of course.
- [DOOR BANGS OPEN.]
- [WOMAN SHRIEKS.]
Okay, someone took them.
An hour before CPS arrives to remove the kid? My sister, Zoe, she suffers from mental health issues.
It's the beginning of the end of you.
[WHIMPERS.]
Joseph Peach.
He would be almost 130 if he were still alive.
I need to get out of here.
Nice to meet you, Zoe.
[MELLOW MUSIC.]
What a funny question, Timmy.
What do you mean, why do we eat pigs? That's like asking, why do we eat chicken or any of these other kinds of meat? We eat meat because of the food chain.
Do you know what the food chain is, Timmy? Well, the first thing to know about the food chain is that we're on top of it, and everything else is lower down.
You know how Rascal catches rats in the alley behind the house? Well, that's because he's higher up on the food chain than they are.
[LAUGHS.]
It's just how things work.
Animals that get eaten are supposed to get eaten, and sometimes there were just too many of them anyway.
But don't you worry about a thing, Timmy.
You just tuck in and enjoy your meal, 'cause Mama made it real nice.
[DING.]
[CRICKETS CHIRPING.]
[EERIE MUSIC BUILDING.]
[THUNDER BOOMING.]
[LINE RINGING.]
- Hey - Hey, you're not actually gonna leave a voice mail, are you? [SIGHS.]
[BEEP.]
Hey, Zoe, it's me.
Um, listen, I get the point.
Just It's time to call me back, okay? [LOCK SCREEN CLICKS.]
[SIGHS.]
[MEWLS.]
[PHONE CLATTERS.]
- [LOW EERIE TONES.]
- What are you doing? Father Time.
What? Where? Where? [LOW SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC.]
- There! - [SQUEAKS.]
- [GROANS.]
- [SIGHS.]
Jeez, Zoe.
Ugh.
I still think we should've gotten that chinchilla.
It's basically a hairless ferret.
No, it's not.
[GIGGLING.]
Yes.
Stop, Zoe.
Please, don't do that.
Please, please, please, please, please, please.
Zoe, stop it.
Zoe, stop.
- [GLASS SHATTERS.]
- [DOOR SLAMS.]
Was that Mom? [SINGING SHAKILY.]
Mom? I was weary and ill at ease And my fingers wandered idly Over the noisy keys [DOOR CREAKING.]
I knew not what I was playing Or what I was dreaming Mom? [PHONE BUZZES.]
Hello? Alice.
Who is this? This is Dave from Collections.
I'm calling about your overdue student loan payments.
You've been hard to reach This isn't Alice's number.
Alice is dead.
[PHONE BEEPS.]
Alice I want you to show me exactly where you saw him.
[MEWLS.]
[LOW EERIE TONES.]
Last night in Butcher's Block, Zoe saw something.
What kind of something? [TENSE MUSIC.]
I don't know, and she wouldn't say.
But Zoe was terrified.
So let's retrace your steps.
So is this it? Yep.
[DOG BARKING DISTANTLY.]
Hey, uh, you seen the little girl who lives in this house today? Last night? Ever? [DOORKNOB CLACKING, BANG ON DOOR.]
Wow.
I shouldn't have let Zoe leave.
I wouldn't have let her go if I didn't think she was gonna get on that bus.
Well, is she going to your mom's or what? No.
She hasn't seen my mother since we sent her away.
Have you? [WIND RUSTLING.]
[EERIE MUSIC BUILDING.]
Playing or what I was [DOG BARKING DISTANTLY.]
[LAUGHS SOFTLY.]
I don't know, she just She's not the same now, you know? Now she just She's gone.
[SIGHS SOFTLY.]
I just need Zoe to text me back so I know that she's all right.
[EERIE MUSIC.]
You really think that guy I saw has something to do with the people disappearing in Butcher's Block? You were the one who said he looked exactly like Joseph Peach.
I think this is it.
- He said his house was here.
- It was.
The real Joseph Peach, the house was right there.
How did the Peach family disappear? Mm, it was 1952, two years after I was born.
A group of workers came here to the house looking for Peach.
They broke the door down, and the house was empty.
Why did they go after him anyway? Oh, there had been rumors since the 30s Weird and religious shit, you know, like, occult stuff and all that.
And then after his daughters were killed, he got even weirder.
Wait, killed how? Murdered.
Murdered.
In Butcher's Block.
They never caught the guys who did it, either.
And after that, people started disappearing.
Immigrant workers, you know, like, around the plant.
The guys who came here looking for Peach they found something in the basement.
Papers never said what it was, but they burned the house to the ground.
[GRASS RUSTLING.]
Izzy? Izzy! Izzy! - Izzy, wait! - Alice, hey! Hey, where are you going? Izzy? [INSECTS CHIRPING.]
[BIRDS TWITTERING FAINTLY.]
[FOREBODING MUSIC.]
[THUNDER RUMBLING FAINTLY.]
[WHISPERING.]
What the hell? [THUNDER BOOMING.]
[OMINOUS MUSIC BUILDING.]
[HIGH-PITCHED BUZZING.]
[GROANING.]
[SHARP RINGING.]
[CROW CAWING.]
[LOW EERIE MUSIC.]
Hello again.
Are you all right? Do you believe in God? What? God.
Do you believe in him? I don't know.
Why do you want to know that? Might be important.
I believe in a higher power of some kind, yeah.
So do I.
Do you believe this maggot was created by a higher power? Maybe in his own image.
Do you go to church? No.
So you believe in God but you don't worship him? I just do it in my own way.
You just try to be good and take care of people? Yeah.
Is it enough? I'm I need to go.
You don't have to worry about your sister, Zoe.
She'll be all right.
[CROW CAWING.]
[FOREBODING MUSIC.]
[INDISTINCT POLICE RADIO CHATTER.]
Okay, uh, a staircase.
You didn't believe me about the little girl either.
Does it make your job easier to just not believe what I'm saying? So where is it, then? I don't know.
I don't know how long I was out for.
This is a big park, okay? She got turned around.
Okay, uh, the guy on the stairs.
Yeah, um, he was far away, but he was wearing like, a A 1950s-style suit.
It was a blue suit.
Okay.
[LAUGHS.]
Oh, man, come on I'm going back and forth here what I dislike most about cops.
You know what? It's your tone of voice.
Tone of voice, wow, okay.
Well, you know, I know exactly who you are, and you know what? I am so glad journalism is dead.
Were you even old enough to read when I wrote those stories about your dad? Uh, who's the chief of police right now? Oh, my dad, and you know what? - He cleaned up the force.
- Oh, yeah? That is a matter of opinion.
Oh, a matter of opinion, huh? I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
But could we just please figure out who this guy is? Yeah, uh, this guy Was this, uh, after the staircase disappeared or before? [BONES SHATTERING.]
[HAMMER POUNDING.]
[LOW TONES BUILDING.]
[DOOR CREAKS.]
He knew that I had a sister, her name And I know that I didn't say any Shh, listen.
[FAINT BANGING.]
[SOFT, EERIE PIANO MUSIC.]
Hello? [FAINT BANGING.]
[MUSIC BUILDING.]
Oh, my God, Zoe.
Where have you Are you okay? Alice.
Where have you been? Alice, you don't have to worry anymore.
Alice.
I'm cured.
[SOFTLY.]
Aww.
It's okay, buddy.
I gotcha.
Snip, snip.
Yeah, that's a good baby.
You are sweet, yes, you a [OMINOUS MUSIC.]
[THUNDER RUMBLING.]
[GASPING.]
[MURMURING UNINTELLIGIBLY.]
[THUNDER RUMBLING.]
[OMINOUS MUSIC BUILDING.]
Good, 'cause I didn't want one.
Good, so you can watch me eat mine.
- See? - Todd, for real.
- [LOUD BANG.]
- Whoa! - [GRUNTING.]
- [ELECTRICITY CRACKLING.]
Hey, hey, stop! Stop! Hey.
Hey, hands.
Hands in the air now.
Do it.
[CHUCKLING SINISTERLY.]
- Ma'am? - Down on the ground.
Ma'am? Did you hear me? I said down on the ground.
Whoa, easy, Officer Vanczyk.
You never know who you might be manhandling.
Oh, you haven't seen manhandling.
When I say to get down, you [GRUMBLING.]
I would say you have a big mouth for a little man, but you don't smell like a man.
- What? - [HANDCUFFS CLICK.]
You smell like a Like a mouse [CHUCKLES.]
Or like nothing at all.
Okay, yeah, say some weird shit like that up in county.
See what happens.
You're gonna be picking up your teeth in a plastic bag on your way out.
What's your name? Peach.
Okay, you don't wanna give me your real name, that's cool.
See how funny you think this shit is in a couple hours.
You know what, Officer Vanczyk? I'm gonna make a special project out of you.
[BLUESY MUSIC.]
[CAR ENGINE TURNING OVER.]
[LOW, HARSH.]
You whore.
You whore.
You whore.
[THROATY, PHLEGMY INHALE.]
[HISSES.]
[GIGGLING.]
You seem to command a lot of respect here.
[CHUCKLES.]
Do they have nicknames for you? If I gave you a nickname, it would be Mouse.
[GIGGLING.]
[EERIE TONES BUILDING.]
Okay, be nice, Jeff.
Good-bye.
Okay, people just don't get rid of schizophrenia overnight Never in the history of psychiatry.
You're experiencing anosognosia, and we've dealt with this before.
We haven't.
Mm-mm, it's different.
No, it's not.
This is a symptom of your illness.
You are not recognizing that you have an illness.
Ugh, God, I hate this.
I will never, ever get used to this.
I mean, where did you even get that shirt? Okay, you you left the house, and then what happened? [SOFT EERIE MUSIC.]
I met a man.
Wait a minute.
Did he tell you his name? Joseph? Joe? It was like a dream.
What happened, Zoe? Would you please calm down for me? What did he do? He talked to me.
Talked to you about what? I can't quite remember.
But the air was trembling all around him.
And I heard, like, this humming or buzzing.
And I realized it was flies Thousands and thousands of flies.
And they came together all in one voice and it said He could fix me.
[WIND HOWLING.]
And he did.
Zoe, there's something bad happening in this city, and I think you were right to leave.
No, I don't wanna leave anymore.
I feel like myself again.
It's like he extracted something from my brain.
I'm better.
Oh, God, I am so sorry about everything I said before About you being scared.
And if you do get sick I'm not gonna get sick.
I can be here for you.
I can look out for you.
I can look out for you.
[WHIMPERS SOFTLY.]
Are you wearing Mom's perfume? [KNUCKLES CRACKING.]
Don't do that.
[CRACKING CONTINUES.]
Yeah, that.
I got misophonia.
[CRACKING CONTINUES.]
Some sounds make me sick.
[CRACKING CONTINUES.]
I get sick.
I get rage.
[CRACKING CONTINUES.]
So we got a problem, huh? I don't.
To me, you're just energy waiting to be converted into a different kind of energy.
What? Calories.
[ICY RINGING TONE.]
I hate to get blood on my suit.
[LOW BOOMING TONES.]
[TOY CLATTERS.]
[PANTING SOFTLY.]
[INDISTINCT OVERLAPPING VOICES.]
[RADIO STATIC BUZZING.]
- I cured you.
- [WHIMPERS.]
[UNSETTLING STRING MUSIC.]
[LOW BOOMING TONES.]
[DISTORTED, ECHOING.]
But there is a side effect.
[UNSETTLING SOUNDS, BUZZING.]
The process will change you.
[LOW BOOMING TONES.]
[SOUNDS AND BUZZING FADE.]
[GAGGING.]
[SNICKERING, LAUGHING.]
[PANTING.]
[GRUNTING.]
[LOW EERIE TONES.]
[SLOSHING SOUNDS.]
[MOANS.]
[CRACKING, SLOSHING SOUNDS.]
[SPLAT.]
[SIGHS.]
Mmm, mmm.
[EERIE JAZZY MUSIC PLAYING.]
[GASPS.]
- [CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS.]
- [SIGHS DEEPLY.]
- [INDISTINCT CHATTER.]
- [BODY BAG ZIPPING.]
[CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS.]
[EXHALES DEEPLY.]
[CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS.]
[OFF-KEY WHISTLING.]
[CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS.]
[WHISTLING CONTINUES.]
[OMINOUS MUSIC.]
[CELL DOOR CLICKS.]
[DOOR CLICKS.]
- Hey, Dad, uh - You okay, Luke? Yeah, yeah, um, who's gonna take him into the box? It's not our problem now.
Send him for eval and NICS.
Well, what about mobile site? Shouldn't we keep him here? I mean, Dad, he He killed and ate a guy in the precinct.
This could get really complicated.
I think we And that's why we're kicking it down the road.
- Okay.
- Uh, I can Remember that little brown and white dog, that little stray mutt you used to feed? Yeah, yeah.
You came home from school and found that little dog by the yard, stone dead.
You tried to pick him up, crying and puking at the same time.
Your brothers were soldiers from the day they were born, but you You were always sensitive, Luke.
I want you to go home, take a couple days off, okay? [EERIE MUSIC.]
- Hmm.
- [SIGHS DEEPLY.]
[DISCORDANT PERCUSSION.]
[RHYTHMIC PERCUSSIVE MUSIC.]
[CURIOUS CHA-CHA MUSIC.]
[CAR ENGINE WHIRS, FADES.]
Oh Oh Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh Oh-oh, oh-oh, oh - [TWIG SNAPS.]
- [MUSIC STOPS.]
[CRICKETS CHIRPING.]
[BIRD HOOTS.]
[EERIE TONES BUILDING.]
[CURIOUS CHA-CHA MUSIC CONTINUES.]
Ah-ah-ah-ah Ah-ah-ah [CAT MEWLS SOFTLY.]
[MEWLS.]
[INDISTINCT OVERLAPPING VOICES.]
[MEWLS.]
[DRAMATIC TONES BUILDING.]
[INDISTINCT OVERLAPPING VOICES.]
[CAT YOWLS.]
[INDISTINCT OVERLAPPING VOICES.]
[MEWLS.]
[FOOTSTEPS PATTERING LIGHTLY.]
Okay, talk me through this.
You think that all these stories The urban legends, the staircases That they're all connected to the disappearances? What about the police, what about the people in Butcher's Block What do they think? There's a story the kids tell Kind of a bogeyman, you know, in the bad parts of the city.
They call him The Butcher.
You've probably seen the murals White face, bloody mouth.
They say it's Joseph Peach Went mad with grief and rage after his daughters were killed.
Now, when people disappear, they say The Butcher took them.
Zoe didn't disappear, though.
Something happened to her.
I just need to know what.
[GLASS SHATTERS.]
[FOREBODING TONES.]
I thought you said Zoe was asleep.
Yeah, she is.
[DOGS BARKING DISTANTLY.]
[CRICKETS CHIRPING.]
[BARKING CONTINUES.]
[SOLEMN PIANO MUSIC.]
[FOOTSTEPS PATTERING.]
"Join us for dinner and spirits.
Tonight at midnight.
The playground in the park.
" [EERIE, DREAMY MUSIC.]
Whatever happens, stay calm.
[CHILLING RINGING TONE.]
I really think I'd like something completely different.
I'm I'm bored.
[CHUCKLES.]
Okay, I'm always bored Oh, boy.
Oh, here we go again.
Come.
Come.
We're waiting for you.
Some people would say it's impolite to bring an uninvited guest, but I say I don't care about what people say.
Come, come, sit down.
Welcome.
Make yourself at home.
I hope you're not vegan.
[LAUGHS SOFTLY.]
[FOREBODING MUSIC BUILDING.]
[EERIE, DREAMY MUSIC PLAYING FAINTLY.]
[SOFT INDISTINCT CHATTER.]
What did you do to my sister? I did a procedure she requested.
What procedure? I'd be happy to show you.
Who are all of you, and why are you pretending to be the Peaches? They're not pretending.
Robert, the eldest son.
Edie, his wife.
Aldous, the bachelor brother.
Grandma Ruth.
Evelina, his wife.
And that is Joseph.
We are the real Peaches.
But you may call me Peachy.
Today we celebrate togetherness.
Each year, there is a moment when it's suddenly summer.
The grass is a deeper green, and the air is pregnant.
Isn't it cruel to To know that a day like this could be our last? My daughters went for a walk to feed the swans, and they never returned.
Killed by vermin from Butcher's Block, who we punish accordingly.
Too bad they taste like shit.
[PEACHES LAUGH.]
Pshaw, come on.
God The higher power of some kind Bless this family, and bless the bones of our enemies.
Our sisters, who are not gone but changed a little bit into a different kind of energy.
They dance with the fireflies in the whispering wind.
[WIND RUSHES.]
[CRICKETS CHIRPING.]
We will always remember.
Amen.
What happened to my sister? I want to know what happened.
[EERIE WARBLING TONES.]
[LOW RUMBLING TONE.]
[CLOCK CHIMING.]
I lightly paralyzed you.
Don't fight.
[CHIMING CONTINUES.]
First things first.
Let me show you.
No pain, minimal blood.
Don't be afraid.
[SOFT EERIE TONES.]
[TOOL CREAKING.]
[SLOSHING SOUNDS.]
[SLOSHING, CRACKING SOUNDS.]
[TOOL WHIRRS, GRINDS.]
You can look now.
All right? See? Can you see it? Now, with a little probing, I can get to your deepest trauma.
Let's see.
[GASPS SOFTLY.]
[SOFT DRAMATIC STRING MUSIC.]
Mom? It's your mother, isn't it? And your sister.
Mom? We go a little deeper.
Hold on.
So much struggle, so much pain.
[SHRIEKS.]
[KNIFE SHINGING.]
[SOBBING.]
[KNIFE CLATTERS.]
[GASPS.]
Let me try one more thing, one more thing, one more thing.
Ah, there he is, Mr.
Schizophrenia The beast in your brain.
Call him Father Time.
If he wakes up, you'll be just like your mother and sister.
Confusion and pain They'll eat you alive.
Actually, it's not a matter of if, but it's a matter of when.
Come upstairs.
Join the family.
Bring your sister.
You remind me of my daughters.
[WHIMPERS SOFTLY.]
[MEWLS SOFTLY.]
[EERIE TONES.]
[GASPS.]
[EXHALES SHAKILY.]
[FLY BUZZES.]
[OMINOUS MUSIC BUILDING.]
[FLIES BUZZING.]
[EERIE, DREAMY MUSIC.]
Oh, my God.
[RETCHING.]
[WHIMPERS SHAKILY.]
[COUGHING, GAGGING.]

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