Oh, man.
Fucking-A. Burger, burger.
Aw, no fuckin' cheese.
Fuck you!
No!
Okay, move over.
- Hmm. - Yeah.
Okay. Here we go.
One, two, three.
Wait.
Oh. No, no, no.
Very good. Good job there.
Ooh, look at that.
Whoa.
What do you call it when people burn up like that?
No working during lunch.
You liar. That's not what you call it.
Oh, you...
Very funny! Give me that.
- Oh, I dropped it. - Stop.
Well, the Paradise definitely makes our list
for Best of the and Sleazy in LA.
Hey, I knew you'd make us late.
That's research.
Well, that's great for you old-timers,
but I'm new.
Hey, we're partners. We look out for each other.
So what about tonight?
What happened to that, uh,
no strings attached, let's have fun?
What? You'd really like to meet my parents tonight?
Yes.
Okay.
Listen, I was thinking maybe I could do a story
on that woman who burned. - Let's go.
Listen, I really want to do a story
on that woman who burned.
I don't think it's right for the Eye.
I'm sick of being at the calendar.
I want to be a reporter.
You could get Eli to give me a chance.
Not really the kind of story we do here.
Hank, he'll listen to you!
Okay.
Police continue to investigate the bizarre suicide
that occurred earlier... - Boy, she was a pretty hot one, huh?
Where you been?
Tried a new restaurant.
Yeah, what was the special?
Chicken à la Kim?
Aw, come on, man.
- He's back. - Hey.
Huh?
Male Reporter: Our captivating top story:
police are still investigating
the strange and bizarre incident that occurred... - Weird.
No ID.
They said they know nothing about her.
- Hi, Eli. - Hi.
- This would make a great story. - Spontaneous combustion.
Yeah, this sort of thing's been documented.
It's kind of bizarre, some good material there.
You know, maybe we should do something on this.
- I was thinking maybe I... - Hank, why don't you jump on it?
It could be a lead-off on a cover piece.
You know, like, "Incredible, Unexplained Mysteries," you know, uh...
spontaneous combustion. - The Devil's Triangle.
How about those little pyramids that sharpen razor blades?
- Just stop. - Why do you hate me?
Hey, a woman just died here!
This is bullshit!
I get... I get images of flames.
You give something a name and that explains it?
A woman died here!
Spontaneous combustion, that means nothing!
Oh, Kim, uh, classifieds.
Um, have you gotten them posted today?
Yes.
Good, good, good job. Come on in, guys.
Listen, I've been working real hard around here...
I haven't seen anybody work harder their first month.
Eli, maybe...
Oh, um...
Could you make some fresh coffee, please?
Thanks.
Boys will be boys.
Have a little patience. - Yeah.
The only way to get anything around here is if you have a dick.
So how are things going with Hank, anyway?
I don't know.
I'm supposed to have dinner with his folks tonight.
So are you gonna go?
Damn it, Janice! Why do we need men anyway?
Newitt Street?
I'm gonna do it anyway.
Huh?
- Did you see it? - Does not work.
Did you see what happened last night,
the girl jumped, did you see that?
Can not help but see it, live upstairs.
Too much noise: siren, police, reporter.
Who was she?
She not from around here.
She burned, scorched real good.
Nothing left, waist down.
How did she get up to the roof?
Through building, from any apartment in building.
What you think she do up there?
Could be hooker, huh?
Thank you and Merry Christmas.
Excuse me.
Get away from me! Leave me alone!
No, Ricky. Now you go back up.
Hey, I'm really sorry.
He really ought to be institutionalized.
Can I help you?
I'm looking for a book on...
spontaneous combustion.
You were in the right place.
"Unexplained Natural Phenomena."
Thank you.
This wouldn't have anything to do
with the woman who died last night?
I'm sorry. I'm Kim Levitt.
I'm not undercover or anything.
Um, I work for the LA Eye.
I'm an investigative reporter.
I'm doing a story on the suicide.
Yes, the natural combustion.
I'm Fima. I own this place.
Oh, is it true that I can get to the roof
from any of the upstairs apartments.
Yes.
There's an access at the end of the hallway.
I live upstairs.
Oh, would you like some?
Yes, thank you. I haven't had any lunch.
Did you know her?
No.
Did you ever see her before?
No. $9.56.
Oh, let me.
The guy down the street thinks maybe she was a hooker.
- The butcher? - Mm-hmm.
He thinks all women are whores.
There's got to be some logical explanation for the burning.
No, there is no logical explanation.
Oh, not this one, thank you.
Oh, read this. I think you'll find this really useful.
I don't think there's anything in here on spontaneous combustion, though.
I didn't charge you for it.
It's a gift.
I can't.
Thank you.
Why don't you come to our picnic tomorrow?
I'll write down the address?
And this will be your invitation.
Thank you.
I hope you'll come.
Could you show me up to the roof, please?
Oh, sure.
Katherine, will you cover for me please?
Come with me.
That's the roof access.
I don't think you'll find any clues left.
The police were very thorough.
Thanks.
Fima?
Huh?
Eww.
Ugh.
Voicemail: Hello, this is Kim.
Leave me a message and I'll call you back.
Hey, Kim. Hank. Where are you?
My mom cooked this whole dinner.
I can't believe you haven't called.
Please call me when you get this message.
Ooh.
Damn it.
What?
What are you doing? Are you coming or what?
Yes, I'm coming. I'm changing. Five minutes.
Why don't you try one of these?
I think you will really like them?
Oh, thank you.
Their from an old family recipe.
Delicious.
I'd like to propose a toast.
Merry Christmas to everybody,
and welcome, Kim.
Merry Christmas.
Hank's mother: Welcome, Kim.
Merry Christmas. - Merry Christmas.
Honey.
Do you know where all that beer goes?
Excuse me?
Neither do I.
What can I say?
That's a new one, Dad.
Yeah, well, I told that to you last year.
It always works.
- What's in there? - Ask him.
So you excited?
Yeah.
Do you have your tree up yet. It's almost Christmas.
Not yet.
Lonnie, Kim's Jewish.
Oh, Jesus.
What is it, dear?
So you don't have the tree or Christmas.
She celebrates Chanukah.
Actually, I'm not religious.
It's the time of year, really.
See, all kinds of cultures
have always celebrated something at this time
and Chanukah and Christmas are just different holidays
that deal with it in different ways.
Bullshit.
- Gus. - No, bullshit.
Dad.
So, uh, you work on the newspaper with Hank?
Well, we don't exactly work together.
Kim works on the calendar,
and she also does the classifieds for us.
Right.
Sounds interesting.
Well, I think a woman's place is in the home,
raising a family.
These are really good.
You know, woman was made from the rib of man.
I, uh, I think that's in your bible too.
Dad, that's a myth.
It's an allegory. It's all relative.
You know, that's the trouble with you kids today.
You think everything is relative.
Well, let me tell you something, pal.
It is God-damned real
and you had better believe that.
Kim, don't take it so seriously.
Hey, it doesn't matter.
You're right. It doesn't matter.
They're from a different world from us.
You know, I think you're from a different world from us.
I still can't believe you took that story from Eli
and you didn't even want it.
You didn't even want to do it.
And then you just ignored what we were talking about.
Kim, he's the boss.
You didn't even stand up for me.
Kim.
Come on, let's go back to my place.
Get off of me! What is wrong with you?
Why are you always jumping on top of me?
You're like a dog in heat.
What's the matter with you?
I'm just as good as you, you know,
you and Eli and Jeff, and I'm sick of it.
I'm gonna do what I want whether you like it or not.
And I'm gonna do the story I want to do.
You know, with an attitude like that, you're gonna lose your job.
Oh, yeah, well, fuck my attitude,
and fuck the job, and fuck you!
Kim.
Kim!
Kim?
Kim, are you all right?
Kim, open up! It's me!
Janice?
Kim, it's me, Janice.
What's the matter?
What happened? Are you all right?
I'm worried about you. I tried your phone, but it was out.
What's been going on here?
It must have been something I ate.
Have you seen a doctor?
It's nothing like that. I don't need a doctor.
Thank you.
Do you want a ride to work?
I don't think so.
Um...
I'll be in a little later.
I'm working on something right now.
Oh, boy.
Eli was pissed as hell
when you didn't show up for work yesterday afternoon.
Boys will be boys.
Welcome to our party.
It's the solstice. - It's so pretty here.
Here, I brought this for you.
Oh, thank you. Perfect.
Come on.
Look what Kim brought? - Ah.
- Katherine, did you meet Kim? - No.
Kim, this is Katherine Harrison.
She's our wise mother.
Old crone, really.
I think I saw you at the store.
So happy to meet you.
It's nice to meet you too, Katherine.
This is Jane E. Na. Jane teaches dance at the music center.
- I'm glad you could join us. - Thank you.
I'm so glad you could make it.
I thought you might have to work.
Well, in a way, this could be construed as work.
Katherine: You're a reporter?
Yeah.
Kind of.
You know, I'm really interested
in the suicide at your building.
I don't know what it is about that woman burning,
but when I first saw that, I could almost feel it.
I never heard a thing.
You were there?
Yes, I spent the night at Fima's.
What do you think could have possibly caused something like that?
She wasn't strong enough.
- You knew her? - No. No, we didn't.
You like the wine? - Yes, thank you.
You know, Fima,
that book you gave me,
there's a picture of a woman
with nothing but fire from the waist down.
Lilith, she was Adam's first wife.
She was made from the same dirt,
but she wouldn't let him lay on top of her.
- Lilith? - She left Adam
and consorted with Power of Night.
She was the serpent that tempted Eve.
Spirit of all that crawls.
It's my job. I think it's driving me crazy, literally.
You know, I'll probably lose my job because of this.
Katherine: What do you mean?
Well, Eli didn't give me this story.
I'm just doing it myself.
Good for you.
You know what? I don't really think I care
if I do lose my job.
I'm ready for a change.
To Kim.
At solstice.
The turning point.
Do you want to go for a walk?
Sure.
Do you want to come, Kim? - No thanks.
I think I've had too much to drink.
Okay.
I'm glad you came.
Kim!
What the hell are you doing?
Come on, let's go.
Eli's having a shit-fit.
Eli, she was out on an interview.
We have a way of doing things around here.
Exactly.
Assignments come from my desk.
I asked Janice.
Kim's already finished the Classifieds
and the calendar for the whole week.
Hank, uh, really feels that you'd be invaluable
on the spontaneous combustion story.
And if you can do it
and keep up with your other work,
I guess I don't really have any objections.
Hey.
You could have said something.
How did you know where I was?
I asked Janice.
Hey.
Janice,
did you tell Hank where to find me?
Did you have a good time?
How did you know where I was?
Well, you told me.
That's funny. I don't remember saying anything.
Listen, Eli gave me that assignment.
That's what you wanted.
Yeah, that's what I wanted.
Okay, listen. I'll take the picture. You handle the text.
I'll give you first position on the byline.
Fima's the woman who owns the bookstore.
Is that the woman from the park.
Yeah, she lives upstairs.
Does she have any idea what happened?
She said she doesn't.
That's where she jumped from.
How do you get up there?
Well, someone's been living up here.
The cops said there were no witnesses.
Kim...
I'm sorry.
I'm really sorry.
Sometimes I just don't think.
Will you give me another chance?
Listen, thank you for helping me with Eli today.
I care about you.
Let's go.
I want to stay up here a little while.
You think you can find something else?
Who knows?
Fima?
Kim?
So you do live behind this door, huh?
What a nice surprise?
Come in. - Thank you.
I had a wonderful time today.
I'm glad.
I was hoping you'd stop by.
I just made a pot of tea. Would you like some?
I would love some. Thank you.
Good. Make yourself at home.
You left so abruptly.
Yeah, well, the job, you know.
Did you lose it?
Huh, no, actually,
I got just what I wanted.
Good.
So you see...
you have to be careful of what you want
because you might just get it. - Might just get it.
It's true.
So I've heard.
Come on, sit down.
You see the imagination is a powerful thing.
If you don't limit it with narrow-minded thinking and fear
virtually anything is possible.
Elder bark.
I think you'll like it.
Hmm, it's bitter.
Oh, you'll get used it.
So, have you found what you're looking for?
I'm feeling a little nauseous.
Oh, that'll pass.
- Do you have a boyfriend? - Mm-hmm.
You remind me so much of my daughter.
She was a beautiful child,
so bright and so full of life.
But I stayed with my husband for too long.
Her name was Lily.
I wanted us to be so close, but...
no matter what I tried, she always resisted
and we ended up fighting.
And of course Bill, he always blamed it on me.
It wasn't until she left school
and she ran away with her boyfriend...
It was like she was trying to remove
every last trace of self-respect.
And it wasn't until then, that I realized...
that it was all Bill's fault.
Tell me...
I bet you and... What's your boyfriend's name?
Hank?
Yes, I bet you and Hank have great sex.
Well, sure we do.
And yet when it's over, you have the feeling
that something is missing?
Nothing's perfect, you know?
Yes, there is this perseity quality to men.
And you have to get it out in order to gain power
of your own self.
Now look what you've done.
Take this.
No, under the saucer.
Okay, okay, that's enough.
Not on the table.
Give it to me.
Take one of these. It'll help.
Kim, eat it.
Here.
It's completely normal.
Katherine: Good.
Now, Ricky.
Earth to earth.
Mother to daughter.
Katherine: Enter.
Make your fear real.
Get it out.
Don't leave.
- No! - What's the matter?
You're not leaving are you?
Just leave me alone?
Oh, but you seemed ill.
Dear, you fell asleep.
Are you all right?
Come on, you don't have to leave.
You have to finish, you know?
What do you want from me?
I want my daughter back.
Get Ricky.
Hank?
Kim, where you been?
What time is it?
What's going on?
Are you okay?
Have you been drinking, Kim?
I want my key back!
I can't deal with this, understand?
What?
I feel sick to my stomach and I have a headache.
Well...
Don't crowd me!
Don't you understand? I need some room!
Kim?
Kim, stop it!
Just calm down.
What are you doing?
Stop it!
It's gonna be all right.
Hey, it's okay.
It's okay, go ahead and cry.
It's okay.
It's gonna be all right.
Hank, is that you?
What are you doing here?
What happened tonight?
It's strange.
You were sleeping.
You look like a little boy in this.
Hmm.
I wish you hadn't woken up.
I like to touch you when you're sleeping,
make you hard.
Relax, relax.
Don't be so tense.
Close your eyes.
I want to fuck you while you're sleeping.
Be still.
Hmm?
And roller skates...
...and ballet shoes...
Laura: ...a Micky Mouse watch,
and a doll.
Kim. No, don't stop.
- Come back. - Who the fuck are you?
Santa Claus killer.
Get the hell of here.
Laura, Laura, okay, all right, you're dreaming.
- Kim? - You're back now.
It's all right. All right.
Hey, Kim, come on. We got to go.
You leave her alone.
What'd you do that for?
Go on! Get out of here!
Now, I don't know who you are,
but I want you out of here.
No, man.
She's got to come with me.
Ah!
Don't fuck with me.
Come on out now!
Come on, Kim!
Hey. Hey, hey, hey!
Get away from there.
Ow.
What do you think I am? Dumb or something?
Please just stop, stop!
Stop! Just leave her alone.
Oh, like you own her.
Hello, this is Kim. I'm not home right now,
Leave a message.
Kim, where are you? Are you home?
Janice! Janice! Call the police! Hurry!
Call the police!
Let me go!
Oh! Let go!
Come on out now.
Kim, are you here?
Oh, shit!
Are you crazy?
Kim. - He was all over me.
- He killed Hank. - I had to!
He hit me first.
Are you okay?
I want you to go back with Ricky now.
He won't hurt you.
You have to finish.
They're waiting for you.
Come on, come on now.
I'll clean up.
Go straight over there.
She's not gonna give you any more trouble.
Well, I'm taking this.
Let me out!
She is awake.
Woman: Let's get her to drink.
- She's drinking. - There we go.
It's almost time.
See? I told you everything was gonna be okay.
Daughter of Isis, fire of Lilith...
As above, so below.
Why do we have to do it in here?
Horus, son of Isis, lover of Isis...
Bring down the dark rule.
It's not easy to give birth to yourself.
You have been initiated.
You go.
Now.
Lily.
Lily?
The woman who jumped.
Yes.
She was my daughter.
She was too weak.
But now you've come to take her place.
What did you do to me?
- Well, you did it. - And we're very proud of you.
You're one of us now.
You're free of men and the parasite of fear
they bring us.
I don't believe this. This isn't real.
I've been hallucinating. You drugged me.
No, it's not hallucinations.
You...
gave form to the fear inside you.
You created these things from the power of magic
within you.
What about Hank? Did he really die?
Hank's just a man.
But you're not finished.
We need a life to feed your fears.
Hank had a brother, a boy.
Lonnie?
What are you talking about?
Power...
is responsibility.
You have to nurture your power.
Bring us the boy.
- I can't. - Ricky'll help you.
No!
You have to or the fire will destroy you.
You're crazy!
The boy!
There's no evidence of anything going on here.
He was killed in here. I saw it.
He was stabbed.
I don't see anything.
There's no blood.
He stabbed the door, come on.
The mirror.
Ma'am, are you in therapy?
No! I'm not in therapy!
Well, would you like me to recommend somebody for you?
Merry Christmas.
Hank's not here, is he?
Hank's out of town on assignment.
You knew that. - No, I didn't know that!
I don't know what you're talking about!
You got his job, right?
That's what you wanted, wasn't it?
Ho ho ho, if it isn't the Virgin Mary.
You look wonderful.
Welcome to the family.
Now, you have to bring us the boy.
You have no choice.
You must bring the boy.
You must defeat your fears
or they'll feed on you.
Help me! Please, help me!
Do what she says and it'll stop.
Okay, I'll do what she says.
It stopped.
I'll do what she says.
Hey, come on, smile.
Ho ho ho, come on.
Great.
Well, what the hell's the matter? Don't you like it?
I said I liked it.
Well, smile a little bit.
Will you? - Gus! You know, I think there's
another package under that tree with your name on it.
Let me see if I can find it, hmm?
Well?
No, no, not like that.
I'll get him.
What are you doing?
I'm gonna back you up.
No. Just wait here.
- Hank? - Hah.
Oh, I don't think
Hank's gonna be able to be with us this Christmas, Lonnie.
Well, at least he could have had the decency to call.
- Maybe it is him. - Gus, please.
Hey, no, Lonnie! I told you
not to answer the door by yourself late at night.
- Hank? - Merry Christmas.
Hi, Hank's not with you, is he?
Sure he is. He's out in the car.
Do you want to come out and talk to him?
I knew it.
Hank?
Where is he?
Um, he'll be right back.
So what do you want for Christmas?
Will you just go out there and get him
and bring him back in here?
I want to get some more pictures under the tree.
- Lonnie? - This is great.
This is just great.
Merry Christmas.
Hey, what the hell is going on there?
Jeez! - Just relax, man.
Come on, you filthy scum! Get up!
Come on!
Come on, you...
No! No! No!
I got to go back.
No, wait, you can't.
Hey, wait!
Let me out!
No!
Let me go!
What are you doing?
Don't hurt me!
No!
You have to kill him.
What are you doing to me?
Remember,
your fears aren't real.
Go on, Lily, do it now.
Kill the man.
Become a whole woman.
But he's just a boy.
You have no choice.
You made the decision when you came to me.
This is the final step!
Do it now.
Kill him.
I knew she wouldn't.
Why do you always defy me?
What's the matter with you?
After all that I have done for you!
- Kill him. - Do it.
- I can't. - Kill him.
Kill him now.
No!
Fima?
Run, Lonnie!
No, man, don't hurt her.
You see?
Didn't I warn you?
Why didn't you listen to me?
Now you're going to burn
and I won't have a daughter.
You never cared about me.
You never cared about your daughter
or anyone else but yourself!
Well, I'm not like you!
But you are me.
You are.
No, I'm not you!
I'm not gonna die for you either!
Lonnie?
It's all over now.