From the Underworld - Treatment
CAULDRON OF CHANGES: EPISODE 1 – FROM THE UNDERWORLD
Pitch black.
A flame appears in the darkness and rapidly grows as the fire takes hold. The figure of a woman can be seen tied to a stake, surrounded by the growing flames. She is about to be burnt alive and once she starts to scream there’ll be no stopping her until the flames suck the last breath from her lungs.
An old Land Rover hurtles out of the darkness and as it screeches to a halt a powerful looking woman, CATHERINE WILLIAMS, leaps out and runs towards the fire. She’s tall and thin with long white hair, almost athletic in her movements even though we can see she’s in her 60s or 70s. Before she can reach the burning figure another woman steps out of the darkness, directly in her path. ALICIA GABRIEL is as tall as Catherine, dark-haired, her beauty marred by a scar on her forehead and a cruel set to her lips. She’s dressed in a long leather trench coat, immaculate in contrast to Catherine’s jeans and sweater. As soon as she speaks we can hear her strong American accent. Catherine’s far too late if she thinks she can save her friend from the flames. Catherine isn’t intimidated. “Get out of my way you bitch!”
Alicia holds up her left hand. We can’t see what she’s holding but when she starts to squeeze Catherine drops to her knees and clutches at her chest. She has just enough breath to tell Alicia she isn’t powerful enough to stop her but Alicia just smiles in response. As her smile broadens other figures, all dressed in the same uniform of leather trench coats and boots step into the light. One by one they emerge – man, woman, man, woman - forming a ring around Catherine. When they’re all there Catherine is surrounded by thirteen people – a regular coven. Each holds something in their left hand. One by one they begin to squeeze the unseen objects. As they squeeze Alicia speaks an incantation in a language we don’t recognise. Catherine tries to stagger to her feet but as the spell travels around the circle and Alicia’s powerful voice rises to a howl she is forced back to her knees. She’s choking, balled into a foetal position on the grass. There’s a look of disbelief in her eyes. She really didn’t think anyone would have the power to do this to her.
The fire is at its fiercest. There’s no hope for the staked woman, she’s already dead. Catherine realises that this really is it – there’s no way out. Despite the pain she has to gather the last of her strength and power. She closes her eyes, trying to cut off as much of the pain as she can. She starts to speak to someone unseen. Alicia’s torn – she desperately wants to hear what the old woman’s saying but she has to finish the spell. Alicia can’t hear what Catherine’s saying but we can. She calls out a name several times – “Owen.” Her voice is now a harsh rasp but we can just hear it. She’s telling Owen that it is his time and that he must find the cauldron. He must find Cerridwen’s cauldron and use it before it’s too late. The effort’s too much for her. She tries to haul in one more breath but it’s as though her chest is crushed beyond repair. She falls back, dead.
When she’s satisfied that Catherine’s dead, Alicia nods to her companions. One by one they open their hands to reveal that they are holding … nothing. Alicia is the last to open her hand which contains a crushed and bloody animal heart. She drops it to the ground. Her voice is full of venom when she speaks. Whatever power Catherine was appealing to at the end it was too late now, far too late. She’s glad the old bitch is dead and now she’s gone there’ll be no helping the others, Crows or Magpies. Soon the New Golden Dawn will be ready to crush them and all of the others like them.
Alicia draws a single white rose from inside her coat. She carefully places it on top of the crushed animal heart and grinds it into the mud with the heel of her boot. She bends, plunges her hands into the bloody mess before smearing the fragments of heart, blood and petal on Catherine’s face. “I don’t know what you had in mind old woman but we’re sending you to hell. Call me old fashioned but I believe in the old ways – thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.”
Eastern Europe: A dense forested area. It’s early morning and the light is just penetrating the trees, lighting up the ground fog that lies close to the ground. The ruins of a castle in the background give it the look of a fairy tale; the kind that might give children nightmares. A figure is seated on the ground at the foot of a gigantic oak tree. OWEN WINTER sits naked beneath the single blanket wrapped around his shoulders, the campfire at his feet nearly spent. He’s a young man – 19 years old with short black hair that has a curl to it. His skin is darkly tanned as if he’s spent a long time outdoors. He has dark piercing eyes but right now they’re out of focus. There’s paint and ashes smeared on his face but underneath it all you can see his rugged good looks. Owen’s twitching, talking in his drug-induced state. There’s an old man sitting some distance away, cross-legged, statue-like. His eyes are hooded but you can be sure he’s watching his apprentice.
Inside Owen’s Vision: He’s a huge black crow soaring and sweeping above a forest canopy but in his vision it’s subtly different to the forest he’s truly in, more open, greener, lighter. In a clearing he sees a woman beckoning to him. As he comes closer we can see the beauty in the face of this powerful woman. She seems to glow with an inner light. This is the real Catherine not the old woman we watched in her death throes. He flies to her arm and perches there. “Owen – my time is over. You must find the Cauldron before it’s too late. Listen to me Owen. The Crow is your true form and Cerridwen’s Cauldron is your destiny. Go and find it before it’s too late for all our kind. You have part of the map even if you don’t know it. You’ll know who has the rest of it.” She raises her arm forcing him back into flight. Suddenly the sky is black, his grandmother is receding, the forest is fading into the dark. A forlorn “caw” escapes from his beak as the darkness closes around him and all we can hear is the frantic beating of wings.
Owen wakes, sitting up, perfectly sober. He looks around, finds his backpack and begins dressing. The old man is surprised, raises himself from the vigil and begins to argue with Owen. He can’t just go, he hasn’t completed his training. They’re both speaking Romanian but Owen’s accent is clearly English. The argument gets hotter, the old man insisting Owen stays. Owen finishes dressing, stands perfectly still and speaks calmly. He has to obey the vision before he can repay his debt to the old man. There’s no mistaking the authority in his voice now. The old man holds his eyes without backing down but he nods his understanding. Owen sets off at a run into the forest.
An autumn day in WHITBY: In the harbour, waves crash onto the pier and sweep along the walkways. It’s too dangerous to be out walking here but that doesn’t stop Alicia. She leaves the imposing gothic building that houses the British headquarters of the New Golden Dawn and begins walking towards the town centre oblivious to the chaotic weather around her.
In Whitby railway station a young woman with black hair in a bob cut, MAYA, is sitting drinking coffee. At first sight she looks look a Goth girl but on closer inspection she is wearing dark makeup and is dressed more like a forties film star. She’s 21 but she can easily pass for much older if it suits her purposes. She’s as glamorous and cool as it is possible for a young woman to be. Alicia joins her at the table. “The New Golden Dawn won’t help you if this goes wrong. Are you sure you can go through with it?” Maya is certain she can. There’s an exchange of looks. We can see there’s steel in Maya’s eyes but there’s something even harder in Alicia’s expression. She spells it out for Maya. Even though she’s agreed to infiltrate the Magpies in order to destroy them, the New Golden Dawn will deny any involvement if she’s caught. That’s the way it has to be. Maya makes a quip about Mission Impossible but Alicia’s not laughing. Even so Maya’s not intimidated by the older woman. She gets up to leave - it’s time for her to catch her train.
Newtown Cemetery: Owen, back from the jungle and looking tanned and fit, is walking amongst the gravestones. He stops at a fresh grave and places a single white rose on the fresh earth. As he’s doing this a woman, CERYS ROBERTS, is approaching the grave. She’s smaller than Owen, has a rather severe haircut and an athletic build. She’s wearing a tracksuit right now and it’s not a fashion statement. Aged 29 she has a no-nonsense air about her. She’s good looking but she’s made no effort to enhance her looks.
Owen’s perfectly aware of the woman’s approach but does not turn to face her. As he straightens up from placing the rose Cerys puts a hand on his shoulder. He turns and they embrace but the gesture is an awkward one for both of them. Formalities over, Cerys launches into Owen. Why wasn’t he around to help the Coven when his grandmother died? What the hell did he think he was doing in Romania? She knows Catherine always said Owen should lead the coven but why? Cerys will do a better job and he knows it.
Owen gives as good as he gets. Cerys needn’t worry if she wants to keep the old coven going – they are just a bunch of losers. What he was doing in Romania is his business but she can be sure it’s connected with magic. He intends to keep his grandmother’s heritage alive but he’ll do it his own way. Soon the two are toe to toe, each resenting the other but there’s a spark of attraction between them too. This is no good, they should be working together. It’s hard to do but they’ve both got to step back. Neither of them blink but they both take a step back literally and mentally. This is a pattern that will repeat itself in their relationship. It’s a power struggle underpinned by a sexual attraction that they won’t admit even to themselves.
What really happened to Owen’s grandmother? The coroner said she was just found dead of a heart attack in her cottage. But they both know Catherine was the fittest woman in Newtown. Cerys thinks that she was murdered, maybe by a rival coven, the Magpies. The whole setup was weird – Catherine was dead at home but her Land Rover was found in the middle of nowhere in a field that looked as if a whole troupe of people had camped out for the night. There’s another thing – Jill, one of the coven members disappeared without trace the same night but no-one seems to have bothered tracing her; she was single woman with no known relatives. There’s definitely a cover-up going on here. Anything could happen in this town – even the police were in the pocket of the Magpies.
Owen’s sure Cerys is right but he can’t see what the Magpies have to gain from Catherine’s death. They want the Cauldron, says Cerys. Not only that But Catherine told her there was some great danger coming into the world and that means the Crows had to get to the Cauldron before anyone else. I thought it was just a metaphor, says Owen. Is he as stupid as that? Of course it’s real and whoever has it has access to unimaginable power. He protests – it’s just like the Holy Grail or King Arthur’s knights – its’ a mystical object that will come to light when the world has need of it. It’s bullshit. But his voice and face say otherwise – he once thought that it was all a myth but his recent experiences say otherwise. Cerys can hear it in his voice too.
So why did Owen come back if it’s all bullshit? It’s time to be honest. He tells Cerys of his vision. Whatever he thought in the past, his Grandmother had told him too that the Crows had to find the Cauldron before it’s too late. Cerys struggles to keep her temper again. This isn’t a game. Maybe Catherine was murdered, maybe she wasn’t but they need to find out and they need to do everything in their power to carry out her last request. What else did she say?
“She said I had part of the map and I would know who had the rest.”
It costs him to admit it but he’s sure she meant Cerys. He’ll work with her but he’s insistent he’s not going to have anything to do with “those other losers” in the old Crow coven. So where is his fragment of the map? He has not the faintest idea. Maybe they should look in Catherine’s cottage. Owen’s going to move in there anyway, go to the local university, study anthropology. Cerys says he should be walking the talk not getting caught up in more theory. But Owen’s not going to rise to this one.
Neither of them notice what is happening to the white rose that Owen laid on the grave. One by one the petals are turning a deep red before withering and falling from the stem. But they’re walking away now, missing the details they should be seeing.
Daytime on the outskirts of Newtown: A hearse is travelling along the road. It is being driven fasten than usual for a hearse but not excessively so. The driver is a beautiful young woman, LUCY BENNETT. She has long flowing black hair and is wearing heavy Goth makeup. The hearse brakes and takes a left turn into the drive of NEWTOWN UNIVERSITY.
In NEWTOWN GYM Cerys is leading a martial arts session. She’s still angry, coming on too hard with the others in the class. It’s clear she outclasses everyone else there. She engages first one then another guy in a one to one challenge but beats them both with ease. You can see she’s disgusted with the poor abilities of her students. Her assistant is leading a group of new members through their paces at the rear of the hall. There’s a young Chinese guy, OLIVER YIP, at the rear of the hall. He’s slim, dark-haired with a quiff that keeps falling over his eyes. As a new member he’s floundering to follow the moves but he has a very determined air about him. Cerys heads towards the beginners group – time to shout at them for a while, see if anyone has potential.
Lucy gets out of the hearse, her heavy velvet coat and full skirts trailing behind her. She enters the university atrium where the Societies Fair is in full swing. She heads for the Goth Society stand. There’s already a bunch of Goths standing in front of the blown-up photographs of moody graveyard scenes and band posters. There’s the sound of an industrial goth track competing with all the other sounds in the crowded hall. The Goth Society is very popular here at Newtown University.
The hall’s full of stands. As well as the society stands there’s the various banks trying to drum up customers and endless mobile phone companies all giving out flyers and freebies. Most of the society stands have some interested customers. The Goth Society is one of the most popular. Nearby there’s a noticeable absence of interest in the Cheerleader Society unless you count the young men leering at the tall blonde girl, CRYSTAL, dressed in full cheerleader regalia including a skirt not much wider than her belt. She’s trying to drum up customers. “Come on girls – don’t be shy about it.” Another American. What’s she doing here? The few girls who are nearby give the stall an even wider berth.
Owen’s in the crowd, alone. A blonde girl, SANDY, approaches him hesitantly. She’s slender, good looking, better dressed than the usual student in a skirt, boots and a smart jacket instead of the usual jeans and trainers. She almost changes her mind and moves away again. What the hell, she’s got nothing to lose. She kisses him on the cheek. He remembers his old girlfriend doesn’t he? He hesitates but then embraces her. Of course he does – it was only last year. Only she wasn’t sure what their status was – he never said it was over, just went without saying anything and never wrote to her. He smiles but doesn’t answer. She’s not going to get an explanation. So what’s he doing here? He’s going to study for his degree like his grandmother always wanted him to do. Sandy is so glad to see him. He must come and meet her friend Lucy.