Years ago...
when I was first on the force,
I heard about somebody called the Engineer.
I always thought it was just a...
some campfire story to scare academy cadets and rookies.
And then today,
I heard his name again.
You know what I'm talking about?
- Oh, please, continue what you were... - Answer my question!
What do you know about the Engineer?
I've returned to this file many times.
It was 1986, my first year as department counselor.
He was a veteran like you, good at his job.
Until he caught a case where everything led to one man...
known only by his street name, the Engineer.
This detective began to mistrust his own instincts.
Self-doubt grew into paranoia.
And in his delusions,
he elevated the Engineer into a figure of almost supernatural power.
He said the Engineer knew everything about every cop on the force,
especially him.
His anxiety rapidly shifted into a deep depression...
till one day he came to work, sat down behind his desk...
and shot himself in the head.
What do you see there?
The detective had it with him when he shot himself.
I must admit that I was intrigued enough to actually go and look for it,
but when I checked the evidence archives,
it was gone.
So it's probably either lost or destroyed by now.
All that's left of it is the picture.
What is it?
You couldn't get it out of your head. I think you know.
You're right. I did some research.
It's called the Lament Configuration.
It appears in occult literature here and there throughout the centuries.
What do they say about it?
They say it's a window or a gateway.
You open it,
they come for you and they tear you apart.
"They"?
Some call them Cenobites. Others call them demons and say they take you to hell.
Well, they didn't take me to hell.
- You opened the box? - Yeah, last night.
I had some... nightmare,
and...
ever since then,
I've been seeing...
them.
Am I going crazy?
I'm more of a psychiatrist than I am a priest.
Ask me if I believe in the devil, I don't know what to say.
But ask me about this box,
from what I've seen and read,
I believe it's real.
But the history's consistent.
It opens, they come for you...
and they leave.
So if you're saying they left you behind,
and you're still seeing them,
then maybe they're still here.
I live in a world of facts,
of close attention to detail.
No matter how confusing the mystery,
no matter how difficult the puzzle,
the answer is always seen and the end is natural as rain.
Everything... every process, no matter how complex,
is a piece of reality in the end.
And the design can be understood.
All things can eventually be explained.
But maybe some facts are in the eye of the beholder.
Mommy, wait!
And maybe some explanations are not of this world.
Help me!
Where have you been? You've not called me. I have paged you.
Told you I was working a case.
Why do you keep lying to me, Joseph?
You cannot keep doing this. We...
Oh, my God. What happened to you?
I got jumped by a couple of guys, but I'm all right.
Daddy, are you home yet?
No, sweetheart, I'm just... I'm here for a little while, and then I gotta go.
Come in here with me.
- When are you coming home? - Shh.
Sweetie, just go back to sleep.
It's okay.
Hello?
Hi. How are you?
Wait! Hello?
That was your mother.
- What? - She said that she had a visitor.
Someone that you were looking for, or something like that?
I think that she said he was some kind of engineer.
I don't want you to leave this house.
Do you understand me?
I want you to lock all the doors and the windows.
Do you remember how to use this? Do you remember?
Yes! Are you in some kind of trouble?
Yes, I am. We are.
Daddy?
- Just do as I say. - Daddy?
Please, just tell me something!
Daddy!
- It's okay, baby. - I want my daddy.
Daddy's gone.
Can I help you, sir?
Yes, I'm here to see Art and Mary Thorne. I'm their son, Joseph.
I didn't know the Thornes had a son.
Did they have any other visitors today?
Are you sure you're really their son?
Look, lady, this is an emergency.
They had no other visitors today,
or any other day that I can remember.
You'll have to sign in. Room 116.
Sir, you have to check in.
Sir, please slow down.
What a fine-looking boy.
Mom, you guys okay?
Why don't you visit us, Joe?
He gets a little worse every day.
We never see you anymore.
We don't like it here.
I don't know, Mom. L... I try.
Help me!
Joseph Thorne?
You put that thing away.
Mom? Mom, let me in.
Please, no.
Oh, God!
Stop!
Hello?
Oh, h i. How are you?
Wait. Hello?
- That was your mother. - What?
She said that she had a visitor.
Someone that you were looking for, or something like that?
I think that she said he was some kind of an engineer.
Sir? Sir, wait!
That man had a gun!
Don't you fuckin'move!
Drop it!
Turn around.
I'm with the Denver P.D.
I'm a detective. I'm looking for the Thornes.
Yes, we've been expecting you.
If you had only shown some identification...
- I'm their son. - I didn't know the Thornes had a son.
They're not here, sir.
We called the police almost an hour ago.
They've been missing since dinner, and we've searched all around.
They just seem to have vanished.
So strange.
Mr. Thorne isn't able to leave the bed anymore...
and they've never been prone to wander,
like some of our...
Hey. Your wife said you might be here.
Tony.
Look, I know you have no reason to trust me right now,
but I just got a little note from the Engineer.
- I want you to come with me to this address. - Captain wants to see you.
Did you tell him about Daphne?
No, not yet. You're outta control, Joe.
Well, then come with me! We can catch this son of a bitch!
We can... We can end all this!
Tony, I need you, man. I'm fucking scared here.
Then come in with me. We'll talk to the captain together.
And tell him what, huh? Tell him about the Engineer?
He's not gonna believe my story until I can prove...
that the Engineer is the connection!
He's not the fuckin' connection, Joe! You're the fuckin' connection!
You knew Daphne, Bernie and Jay Cho.
There is no Engineer.
There's just you.
- Son of a... - Get up!
Bitch.
You really think I could kill those people?
You really think I could do that?
You were with the girl, you knew about Bernie...
and there was nothin' on the goddamn videotape, and you knew where to find the finger.
What am I supposed to think, huh?
Come on, man. I didn't mean to do that. Now, come on.
Do you really think I could do those things?
I don't know, Joseph.
You ask me yesterday, I-I'd say, "No fuckin' way," but today,
I just don't know.
You need help, Joe.
Go to hell.
Tony?
No.
Six fingers,
six murders.
Only four fingers left.
Do you know who I am, Detective?
Oh, let me guess.
You're the Engineer.
I got your message,
and I understand your fucking game.
Is the child even alive?
What do you want from me?
I want you to go home, Detective.
Time to go home.
We have an officer down.
Mountain Vista Elementary School.
I don't know the address. I'm not at the scene.
Just get a unit there immediately. Out.
Welcome home, Detective.
It takes hours to die from exposure.
Hours in which no one came home.
No one was here to hear them cry.
Why do you keep lying to me, Joseph?
You can't keep doing this.
Daddy? Are you home?
Yes, baby, Daddy's home. He's here.
I miss you, Daddy.
When are you coming home?
They found Tony.
And the child's finger, the one the killer left in his mouth.
Only this time the print wasn't burned off.
They ran the print taken from the severed finger...
and like a miracle, got a match almost instantly.
What they found doesn't make any sense though, Joseph,
because the child's fingerprint...
Well, it's yours.
I don't understand.
I know.
You even misunderstood me when I told you to go home.
I didn't mean this place.
I meant your first home.
The home you grew up in.
I can help you understand.
You see, I know everything about you, Joseph.
Your file's almost complete.
You're the Engineer.
It's as good a name as any.
What are you?
What I am, who I am, is no concern of yours.
I am not the killer.
To find him,
you must go back to the place from which you started.
Go back, Joseph.
Go home.
Joseph? Joseph Thorne?
Dad?
I made brownies, Joseph, your favorite.
You know why I baked you brownies, Joe?
'Cause you're such a good boy.
I love you, Joseph.
We'll save some of these for your father for when he wakes up from his nap.
Mom?
Why don't you visit us, Joe?
We never see you anymore.
- We don't like it here. - Mom?
Stop!
Dad?
Whatever you want,
as many times as you want it.
Help me!
I trusted you.
Tony, I'm sorry.
Tony, stop!
I trusted you!
That ain't right, you treating me like this, Joe.
Bernie? I'm sorry. I never...
What am I, your whipping boy?
Help me!
You.
Why?
It's all a puzzle, isn't it, Joseph?
Like a game of chess, perhaps.
The pieces move, apparently aimlessly,
but always towards one single objective:
To kill the king.
Who is the king in this game, Joseph?
That is the question you must ask yourself.
Don't you recognize your own flesh,
your own spirit?
I don't understand.
the eternal refrain of humanity...
pleading ignorance, begging for mercy.
"Please, help me. I don't understand. "
This is the life you chose, Joseph.
All the people you hurt,
all the appetites you indulged.
You have destroyed your own innocence,
allowed your flesh to consume your spirit.
You are your own king,
and this is the hell you have created for yourself.
No.
Your flesh is killing your spirit.
No!
Oh, yes, Joseph.
You have forsaken yourself.
Only one finger left now, Joseph.
Only one more death to go.
Welcome to hell.
Jesus. Haven't I earned my money yet?
I'm sorry.
- How'd you do? - What?
The game last night. How'd you do?
Well, we...
We won by seven, but it should've been 20.
Tony no-showed.
I had to go fishin'.
Detective Thorne.
Hey, Joe, it's Daphne.
I'm the girl you were with last night.
Please! I'm still at the motel.
Oh, my God. Oh, God.
What's the matter, Joe? You okay?
No, don't do it!
I lived in a world of facts,
of a reality that I thought I understood.
I believed I was the center of the design...
and I was certain that I knew all the answers.
But now I face the truth about what I've done to hurt those around me,
and in hurting them, what I've done to myself.
I've confronted my own demons,
and now the only thing I know for certain...
is that I will live with them forever.
No!
¤ Dreamed a world ¤
¤ Of lies ¤
¤ Safe as milk ¤
¤ With clouded eyes ¤
¤ Pure is your soul ¤
¤ The trust that we stole ¤
¤ From each other ¤
¤ Underneath the bed ¤
¤ At night ¤
¤ Truth ends up wrong ¤
¤ And right ¤
¤ Dyin'to stay ¤
¤ We're runnin'away ¤
¤ From Eden ¤
¤ We're livin'in the best of all possible worlds ¤