Yes?
Can I help you?
Help.
What happened? You scrape your hand?
Come on in and, uh,
we'll fix you right up.
I haven"t seen you around here. What"s your name?
My God. You"re hot.
You come on in now. Sit over here.
Damn.
Because I remember a scripture that talked about the time...
of Herod and the land of Canaan when the slaughter...
of the innocent children of Israel ran the streets red with blood.
Red! Red! Amen! Hallelujah!
You fall off your bike?
Now go ahead and lie back. Let me put this in your mouth.
Come on now! You're hot!
Lie back. Open. There.
I'll take a look at that hand.
That's really deep.
You shouldn't be this far out.
Oh, my God!
The Norman Rockwell age is dead.
That"s according to social scientist Gareth Waltrip.
Waltrip"s recent study on small-town life in America...
claims that America"s small towns have suffered a loss...
of 15% of their population over the last decade.
And more decay is expected to come.
The report cites the sale of small farms, deterioration of family life...
and the allure of the urban economy as the primary causes.
Welcome home.
Hi, Mom. How you doing?
Hi, Grace.
Thank you for coming. I didn"t know what else to do.
It's okay, Mom. I'm here now.
Hi, Doc.
Hello, Grace.
It's certainly nice to have you back.
The dean okayed me for one semester, but he wasn't real happy about it.
Maybe you shouldn't have come.
I just... Doc?
Maybe I... I shouldn't have called.
It's okay, Mom.
Hi, Grace.
And who are you? Are you the fairy princess?
No. I'm Margaret.
- This is a costume. - Oh.
I had a crown butJames took it.
He did? Where is James?
Outside.
And what's he up to?
Margaret, let go of your sister.
It's okay, Mom.
He is with that damn bike.
He never listens anymore. You know, he won't listen to me!
- He never listens to anything I say to him. - Mom, it... it's okay.
Grace, will you walk me to the car?
Sure, Doc.
- Welcome to Psycho Central. - Hey, James.
God, I had no idea she was this bad.
The nightmares are what made her finally call.
Now, if it had gotten worse,
I would've called you myself personally.
But I gave her a prescription...
so that she'll sleep through the night.
The really important thing is to just simply get her out of the house.
- She hasn't left the house? - Well, agoraphobia's a funny thing.
She'll come out, but she won't take one step...
past this end of the walkway here.
- You're kidding. - That is it.
Now, what we have to do is...
relax her.
Try not to let her hear any bad news.
When she sees the world as a safe place, she"ll come around.
Why, good afternoon, ladies.
Is she here for the children, Doc?
Yes, ma'am.
That and her mother.
Oh, my God.
Jane and Rosa Nock.
They don't have much, but what they have they...
Well, they try to share it with my homebound patients.
Probably left some turkey pot pie for your mother.
Oh, uh, Dr. Larson,
I, um, I hate to even ask this.
You"ve done so much.
While I'm here I've nothing coming in, so...
- I was wondering... - Say no more. You've got your old job back.
Thanks.
L"ll see you first thing in the morning.
To those who take strong drink, He shall send angels.
Please... Please, God, help me.
I have come for the children.
Charles Manson. Scorpio. Killed eight people and an unborn baby.
Flavorite food: Pistachio ice cream.
Lovely.
Great guitar player. Could've been a rock star.
- I got all 30 of them. - Hmm.
Who says kids don't have heroes anymore?
Grace, how long are you going to stay?
I'll stay 'til Mom's feeling better.
They should just throw her in the cracker factory and call it a day.
James.
Is Mom a crackpot?
Look, Mom's just... She's sick.
And sometimes she gets real nervous and then she gets afraid.
But you and I both know there's nothing to be afraid of, right?
- I'm not afraid of anything. - Good.
Now sleep tight.
Grace.
I like you better than Mom.
Go to sleep.
And then the thermometer drops.
And then...
it breaks.
And then...
the boy...
When I turn,
he tries to...
Come on, Mom. We can beat this thing.
Now, let"s get this place cleaned up, okay?
That's all I can remember.
I can never, never remember how it starts.
It happens every night like that.
It's just a nightmare.
Just take the pills Doc Rob gave you and it'll go away.
Why don't you go upstairs?
I'll finish up here.
Thanks, Grace.
Mom, we're not Catholic.
I know.
Crazy.
Does the word "recycling" mean anything to you?
Grace, I'm hot.
Okay. Time.
Blech.
Well, you've got a little fever, but I think you'll live.
Good. I wanna live.
Keep this washcloth on your head.
If you need anything during the night, just yell.
- Grace. - Okay.
James is feverish too.
Oh, great.
What do you think it is? I mean...
It's probably just the flu, Mom. Kids get sick.
Cavalry's here.
You never were the fucking Brady Bunch.
Tell me about it.
So, looks like I'm gonna be joining you in Doc Rob's office.
No. You won't.
You're lookin' at the new nurse at Grand Island Junior High.
- No way! - Yeah.
You can hear those teen boys' hormones just poppin' clear down the hall.
And everything's exactly the same.
How'd we grow up so fast?
You grew up a little quicker than me.
Thanks for your support.
Just maybe you should think about coming home to stay.
Look,
I'm just here to get Mom on her feet, then I'm going back to school.
Open up.
- Come on, Michael. Help me out here. - Uh-huh.
- Tastes like a strawberry. - You lie.
Michael. I'm sorry.
He usually doesn't mind having his temperature taken.
- It's okay. I'll just have to get the digital.
Hello. Clinic.
Well, just keep an eye on the fever and don"t let it go above 102.
I have to go. L"m sorry. Good-bye.
So, are you going to that new treatment center in Denver?
This week. The special kid needs special treatment.
I'm not the one who needs the special treatment.
Have you got a decent clotting agent at the house?
Yeah, we've got plenty of it around the house...
and we all know how to use it in case of an emergency.
Well, I'd say you've got the same fever as these other kids.
But hemophilia is serious business. I don"t want you to get cut anymore.
One hundred percent operational, captain.
- Are you excited about this move? - Yeah.
I'll be with you guys in just a minute, okay?
We'll get to you two next. Hang in there, okay?
So, what do you think?
Why don't you tell me, Doctor?
I don't know. Flevers, shakes.
Definitely flu of some kind. But no nausea, no diarrhea. No sinus.
Viruses are always changing.
That's what makes 'em such a fun date.
I think I'll keep the more serious ones here tonight.
I hope you don't have any plans.
Mmm.
Come to me.
He's also 103.
She reads the same. Flour patients and no fluctuation?
Mom!
Dad.
Mom. Mom.
Plenty of wet towels, yes.
If it goes two-tenths of a point higher, bring him in.
Grace.
Charlie, honey. Oh, my God.
- Marcus? - Dad.
Jesus, these kids are going up fast.
We've gotta break this. Prep an ice bath.
- Charlie, I'm putting you in. - No! Mom!
- Is it ready? - Almost!
Honey, I'm gonna cool you off.
No! Mom!
I'm comin' in. Grab the other one.
Mom!
You've got to stay there and cool off.
We have to cool you down.
- Grace! - I"ll get the last one.
Calm down. One more time.
Come on. Help me out here.
Lie down. Down, down.
Grace!
Okay. That's it. We're done.
- Are you warm enough? - Yeah.
Okay. Well, go to sleep.
She was calling for you... by the road.
But she's come in now.
Thanks. Thank you.
I'm gonna head off.
You keep an eye on 'em for the rest of the night,
but call me immediately if anything changes.
Okay, Doc.
You still sure you want to go into medicine?
That's it. Very nice.
Okay. All set. Go say hello to Dad.
Hey.
You can take him home today if you want, but he seems fine.
- Just like that? - Well, he's asymptomatic. All the kids are.
Thanks.
So... that's it?
Looks like it.
- Whatever it was, it's gone. - Whew.
Hail Mary, mother of God,
pray for us sinners now...
Hail Mary, mother of God.
Mary, mother of God.
Mary, mother of...
Now and at the hour of death...
God!
Sirens]
Let"s go, kid. Bedtime.
Big day tomorrow. Big move.
So you'll be a smaller fish in a much bigger pond. That's okay.
- I liked being a big fish. - Hey.
So, when we get to Denver, you can run for mayor.
...the slaughter of the innocent children of Israel...
ran the streets red with blood.
Red! Red! Amen! Halleluiah!
According to God"s plan...
I can't pry that kid away from that idiot box. We ought to leave it here.
- It's not an idiot box when Oprah is on. - That's educational.
Marcus, what did I just get done telling you?
Go to bed. We're moving in the morning.
I can't go.
Donald? Donald!
- Sandra? - No! No!
Sandra!
Marcus! Sandra!
Margaret, did you burn yourself here?
No.
You weren't playing in any leaves, maybe poison ivy?
Okay. Sleep tight.
Okay.
16-Crash-21, Foothill.
A male white, thin build, 20 to 25 years in a rear yard...
I'm not saying that you did, and I'm not saying that you didn't.
We do have ourselves a little situation here, now don't we, Donald?
Sheriff, I don't know what happened in that house tonight,
but something attacked us, Sheriff.
And now something"s wrong with my boy.
It never looks good for the husband, Donald.
Look at him, Sheriff. Look at him.
Marcus! Marcus, you stay near now. We"re gonna need you.
Marcus! Smitty, watch this guy.
Marcus!
Marcus?
Come on, son!
I know you've seen some scary things tonight, son,
but if you come on back we can help you.
Marcus!
Come on in, son!
Marcus!
All right, son! I'm gonna count to three.
You better come in or you're gonna be in big trouble.
One...
two...
three!
Sheriff.
- All right, son. - Sheriff.
We"re gonna get ya. - Sheriff.
Sheriff.
Marcus?
Sheriff.
- What was that? - Oh, my God!
There"s a gate down there.
They went through here.
Okay, good idea.
Grace?
Grace!
What's the matter, honey?
You feel okay? You hot again?
Help me.
- Yaaah! - Aaaaah!
Mrs. Nock?
We heard about your trouble.
Something's wrong with my boy.
Sandra's dead.
They think I did it. I need a place to hide.
There's no need to explain.
Ow! Why do you need it?
Well, our machine will tell us what the blood is made out of.
Gross.
Now let's see what this will do for those little markings there.
- Ow! - That doesn't hurt. It's supposed to feel good.
I don't like it.
- Did Mom ever tell you you had any allergies? - No.
Well! You two are in early.
Oh, she had some little rashes. I wanted to get a look at them and take some blood.
Want me to take a peek?
Oh, I don't think it's anything. It's probably just an allergy.
I'm gonna run her to school.
So, how's your mother holding up?
She's gettin' there. The medication seems to help, and the house is shaping up.
Have you considered coming back?
Oh, Doc, I just want to handle this thing with Mom. Then I can think.
Enough said.
Police are still searching for Donald Atkins.
He"s wanted for questioning regarding the bizarre double murder...
of his wife and Sheriff Biggs last night.
Atkins fled the crime scene and shortly afterward...
police discovered the body of the sheriff in a nearby cornfield.
Apparently, the sheriff was searching for the couple"s son, Marcus.
At the moment, there is no sign of either father or son.
Police are asking that anyone...
with any information on the two contact them immediately.
Oh. Janet.
I'm sorry, Dr. Robbie, but they've been acting so strangely.
Ever since they got sick, they just won"t listen to me.
I thought they were teasing me, you know, but I don't...
How're you doin' there, Scott?
I'm not Scott.
Oh, then you must be Scott.
- I'm Zeke. - I'm Caleb.
I told them to stop. They just won"t quit, Doc. What do you think it is?
What I think it is is they're pulling your leg,
and I think you're about to collapse from exhaustion.
Now, go on home and get you some sleep. I'll keep them here tonight.
- Are you sure? - I will keep an eye on them.
I don"t want to see you back here "til you"ve had ten solid hours.
Okay.
Well, now. All right.
You want to tell me what's going on here, Charlie?
I'm not Charlie.
Do you boys know how old I am?
Well... I"m pretty old.
I've lived here in Grand Isle my entire life.
I was around during the Second World War.
I was around during the Depression.
Did you know that?
But when I was a boy here, there was a set of twins...
a couple years older than I was.
They weren't bad boys, but they had a lot of...
bad things and sad things in their lives.
Do you know what I"m getting at?
Ezekiel and Caleb Cuff.
Do you know what happened to the Cuff boys?
They were killed by their father.
One of them was shot...
and the other was cut with a knife.
Do you think that is a funny thing?
It is not.
And I don't think your little joke is a funny thing, either.
I'm going to suggest to your mother...
that she blister your little behinds...
real good.
You understand me, Scott?
I'm not Scott.
I take the pills. I do. I take them.
But it just gets worse.
Shhh. It'll be okay, Mom.
It will.
The dream is getting worse, Grace.
I close my eyes...
and he's there.
The boy is there.
I told you to wait out front, young man.
Where is your brother?
In bed.
It's too late for that.
You boys have been looking for trouble,
and now you are going to get it!
Doc!
All right, boys. That's enough!
Boys!
Yaaaaaah!
He's back.
Oh, my God!
Hello?
Doc?
I don't want to hurt you. The kids. Where are the kids?
You were testing them. You saw Marcus Atkins. Where is he?
He's gone. Disappeared with the sheriff.
Something was wrong with him.
He saw what had happened. He was in shock.
Wait a minute. You murdered Sandra.
No, I didn't kill her! Something happened in the house. Something happened to Marcus.
He was sick. They were all sick.
It was just a virus, but it's gone now.
- It did something to him. The fever. - No, that's impossible.
Then why are you here?
What is that?
Blood tests for my sister.
- What does it say? - I don"t know. L"m not a doctor.
What does it say?
The readings don't make any sense.
There must have been something wrong with the machine.
Something is wrong with her.
She has it too.
Whatever happened to my boy is going to happen to her...
and the rest of them, all of them.
All I want to do is find my boy, bury my wife...
and get the hell out of this godforsaken town.
Why do we have to do it again? Ow.
The machine that analyzes blood didn't do it right last time, so we needed some more.
But we don't like it.
Well, I had to do it too.
Okay, guys, let's get you to school.
Margaret, are you feeling all right?
James? James.
I can't get the door.
I can't get it.
Margaret, what's wrong?
I'm not Margaret.
What do you want?
I haven't seen you around here.
What's your name?
Whew! My God, you're hot!
You stay right here.
Damn!
I remember a scripture...
that talked about the time of Herod in the land of Canaan...
when the slaughter of the innocent children of Israel ran the streets red with blood.
Red! Red! Amen! Halleluiah!
According to God"s plan, those children of Israel...
We're going to see the doctor right now, okay?
Margaret, look at me.
Jesus.
Something's wrong with my boy. You said he was better.
- We're doing everything we can. - His teeth are falling out. He's calling himself names.
- What's wrong? - I've got a lot to do.
You're not a doctor. I want to see Doc Rob.
So do I, but right now I'm all you've got, so sit down and let me do my job.
Okay, now listen up. Mrs. Becker, take room one. You're first.
Mrs. Amos, room two. Mrs. Crandall, room three.
Mary Anne, get back here. You're my new nurse.
Put this in your mouth and bite on it.
Come on, Doc.
Where's Doc Rob? I have complete chaos at the school.
There's no answer. He must be on his way in.
I ran a blood test on her that was totally off the scale.
And Margaret's teeth, she pulled out every one of her fillings.
Grace.
I don't wanna be in charge when their heads start doing 360's and they're hurling pea soup.
Get blood from these kids, give them gauze to chew on and find Doc Rob.
James!
James?
Jamie?
Mom?
Mom!
Jamie?
We"ll show Doc Rob the blood tests and give you a call.
- I appreciate it. Thank you. - Thanks for coming by.
- What the hell is going on? - That was County General.
They"re sending out the toxicology team in the morning.
A voodoo doctor might be a better idea.
I want to know where the fuck Rob is!
And where are all the files on these kids?
Every medical record on a child is missing.
Doc Rob must've taken them. I'm gonna take these results and go by his house.
He"s an old man. Maybe he kicked it.
Grace, don't even think about it.
What?
Mary Anne, this blood sample...
Mine looks fine, but the kid's is...
What is it?
Where are my boys? Doc Rob has my boys.
I'm going to get them right now.
Mary Anne, this blood is not properly oxygenating.
It's decayed. It's like it's mixed with something dead.
That's it. Check, please. I'm out of here.
- Mary Anne, come on. - No way, Grace! This shit is creeping me out big time!
Run the rest of those samples and look for something chemical.
I'm going to Doc Rob's. Come on, Margaret.
Come on. Get in the car.
- Leave the child. - Look, we have to find a doctor.
Leave the child. You and I have someplace to go.
Margaret, you have to stay with Mary Anne for now.
Okay, drive. Let's go.
Mrs. Nock, this is Grace.
I know who it is. Come.
Listen.
Harvest moon's up.
Do you know what that is?
Traveling preachers.
Tent revivals.
Old-time religion.
Those preachers wanted our money.
And we wanted to believe.
There was a boy...
that boy...
born of sin to a young girl.
It was a scandal... back then.
She up and left him.
One of those travelin' preachers took him in.
So the boy took to preachin'.
Like it was in his blood.
He had the gift, he did.
We'd come from miles around just to hear him.
He"d scorch you with the fear of hellfire,
then raise you up to Heaven, that boy.
They called him Josiah.
Josiah, the amazing boy preacher.
Great crowds would gather round to listen.
And he made them adult preachers rich as kings, he did.
But somethin' was wrong.
Summer after summer,
the tents would come around,
and the boy was still just a boy.
Oh, shit.
Every summer,
the amazing boy preacher would be the same age,
the same size.
They knew if he grew up, the money would stop.
So them wicked preachers...
tried everything: Kept him from sleep,
fed him quicksilver...
poison.
To stunt his growth, but it didn"t work.
But it just made the boy crazy.
Finally,
they took the step.
Gave him over.
Wh... What do you mean, "gave him over"?
The darkness keptJosiah small.
But we learned the secret, left the tents.
Preachers didn't have no use forJosiah no more,
so they left him.
Like his mother done.
He done them preachers back good.
With a harvestin' scythe.
Up on the Spelling ranch.
In the dark of night.
Jesus Christ.
So we did what we had to.
Townspeople...
dragged that boy out of the house.
Dragged him out to the cornfield...
and burned him up.
- And the boy cried. - I could feel him.
All through the night...
I could still feel it.
Long after he should"ve been dead.
Next day we searched the fields,
gathered every one of the bones,
the ashes.
And deep in a well...
we sealed the soul of that wicked boy preacher.
He's found a child. One like himself.
And when that like child takes his place,
Josiah will take them all.
What do you mean, "like child"?
Left. Abandoned.
You must kill the boy.
Send his spirit to hell!
Take back the like child!
Don"t make my mistake!
- Let's go. - It all starts with a lie, girl.
- It all starts with a lie. - Let's go.
Take back the child!
What is it? What do you know?
This thing has got my boy. You tell me what you know now.
Margaret is the like child. I abandoned her and I lied to her.
Your sister?
She's my daughter. Get in the fucking car.
Margaret, I think it's time to go.
Margaret!
Margaret?
Margaret!
- Grace! - Oh, my God.
Margaret!
- We have to find her! We've gotta get her back! - Wait a minute. Hold on.
- Look. Look at this. What is this? - It's mercurochrome ointment.
Margaret hated it. That stuff and fillings. They"re both made of mercury.
- The boy. The boy was poisoned with quicksilver. - Right.
Quicksilver is mercury.
Where's the supply closet?
Rosa.
It"s time.
Your boy's come home.
I am Ezekiel and I bring Him my flesh.
I am Caleb and I bring Him my flesh.
Let"s take the truck.
No, no, no. You drive.
By the looks of the moon, we got about an hour.
- Where are we going? - Spelling farm.
That's where he killed those preachers and where the townspeople burned him.
Right, but what are we gonna do when we get there?
I don't know, but I see a lot of blood flowing.
And if my son gets as much as a cut on him, he's gonna bleed to death.
Let's go.
I'm Herbert.
He comes with the blood of children.
With my soul, He will lead them.
What are you doing?
Spiking these shells with mercury.
If this kid really hates this stuff, then this oughta send him right back where he came from.
Watch it! Where the hell are you going?
Short cut.
We bring Him our flesh.
We bring Him our flesh!
These two red ones, they're filled with mercury. Use these on the bad kid.
The black ones, they're regular 12-gauge, all right?
- And what do we use those for? - I hope not to shoot children.
Oh, my God.
That's Marcus.
Grace, come on. Let's go. Let's go.
- What the fuck was that? - I don't know. Come on. Let's go.
Come on.
Damn. I hope we brought enough of this stuff.
Grace. Grace. I gotta get Marcus.
You keep the gun.
Margaret?
Hang in there.
Marcus, hang in there.
Don't die on me now.
Just hang in there, buddy. This'll do it, okay?
This is gonna do it. Just hang in there, okay?
Margaret?
My God.
Bastard.
Oh.
I hope she can swim.
Doc? Oh, shit.
Shit! Black ones.
Shit!
I hope you can swim.
Hey, you"re gonna be all right.
You"re gonna be all right.
Come on. Come on!
Come on, Margaret.
Come on. Come on.
Thank God.
Are you okay? Are you okay?
I don't think those are so funny anymore.
Well, I think she'd be happy about that.
Come on. Let's go.
Okay, let"s say good-bye to Marcus and Donald.
Take care of Mommy, you hear?
- Thanks a lot, Grace. - Thank you.
- Bye, Marcus. - Bye.
Mom, who will bring our stuff to our new house?
That will be the moving men.
It"ll be fun.
Now, you ready?
Ready, James?
James? James!
Let's go.