AT THE THIRD CHAPEL,

Vittoria pushes the plastic aside, gun in front of her. There's

a sudden movement to her left, she whirls --

--- and a rat scurries away.

AT THE FOURTH CHAPEL,

Langdon pushes the plastic aside, steps inside --

-- and GASPS.

Moving behind him, we see a Christian chapel like no other we've

ever seen. Finished entirely in chestnut marble, overhead it

has a domed cupola with a field of illuminated stars and the seven

planets (as known in Galileo's day).

Further down the wall, there are tributes to earth's four seasons

but most incredible of all are the two huge structures that

dominate the room from either side.

47.

Pyramids. Ten feet high.

Vittoria steps in behind him.

LANGDON

Pyramids. In a Catholic church.

This is it.

Behind them, the plastic rustles, as if drawn by a wind, and as

Langdon turns, he hears, faintly, a DOOR CLOSING far away.

He turns back, eyes drawn to the floor. There is a large oval

medallion there, with a skeleton carved into it. It's slightly

off center, raised. As if it's been opened recently, and

hurriedly replaced.

LANGDON (cont'd)

The demon's hole.

IN THE DEMON'S HOLE,

we're looking up now as the medallion GRINDS to the side. Faces

peer down at us -- Langdon, Vittoria, Olivetti, and Vincenzo. They

recoil from a stench.

UP TOP,

Langdon squints, trying to see inside.

LANGDON

Anybody got a flashlight?

Vincenzo hands him one. Langdon shines it down into the crypt.

There are shapes, but thirty feet down and hard to make out.

There's one in particular, in the darkness, seems too short to be

a person, but it's moving slightly.

OLIVETTI

Can you tell what it is?

LANGDON

Not from up here.

He reaches down, rattles the ladder that leans against the wall of

the crypt. Takes a deep breath, looks at the others.

LANGDON (cont'd)

Those guns. Keep 'em handy?

48.

IN THE DEMON'S HOLE,

Langdon reaches the bottom, still shining the light at the figure

in the distance. It's brighter here, he can see it's flesh-

colored, but still indistinct. He takes a step toward it --

-- and something CRUNCHES under his feet.

He shines the light down. He's standing on a pile of human skulls

OLIVETTI

(calling down)

You okay?

LANGDON

More or less.

He takes two more steps, closer to the swaying figure on the other

side of the crypt. He can now clearly see a man's naked back.

LANGDON (cont'd)

He's here! I think he's -- sitting.

(moves closer)

Hello?

(closer still)

Are you all right?

It's a human figure. As Langdon draws close, he sees the source

of the movement --- rats, gnawing at the dead body.

They scurry away as Langdon comes around the front, and we pull

back to see what he sees.

It's Cardinal Lamasse.

He's been buried in the earthen floor of the crypt up to his waist

his jaw broken, his mouth crammed full of dirt.

But that's not the worst of it. Langdon GAGS as he sees the

blackened word that has been branded into the red flesh of the

Cardinal's chest. It's an ambigram, like we've seen before, but

this time it says --

EARTH.

CUT TO:

INT SISTINE CHAPEL DAY

Cardinal Mortati sits regally at the main altar at the front of

the Sistine Chapel as the electors, one by one, cast their votes

in the traditional manner.

49.

An AFRICAN CARDINAL at the front of the line kneels before him.

AFRICAN CARDINAL

(SUBTITLED)

I call as my witness Christ the Lord,

who will be my judge that my vote is

given to the one who before God I

think should be elected.

The African Cardinal stands, holds his ballot over his head, t

lowers the ballot to the altar, where a plate sits atop a large

chalice.

He places the ballot on the plate, then picks up the plate and

uses it to drop the ballot in the chalice. He then replaces the

plate over the chalice, bows to the cross, and heads for his seat.

The next cardinal steps up to repeat the process.

Date: 2015-12-18; view: 558