MULVEHILL: "...as wax melts before the fire, so the wicked perish at the presence of God." [Leland snarling] "Behold the Cross of the Lord. Flee, bands of enemies." MULVEHILL: "St. Michael the Archangel, "prince of heavenly armies, defend us against the spirits of wickedness." -[Leland moaning] -"The Lion "of the tribe of Judah, the offspring of David hath conquered." [Leland sobbing]
How am I doing?
Fine. It's only a first session. The most difficult possession is diabolical subjugation. You sold your soul willingly to Satan. That is not undone simply. So we have to do this again?
-And again. -How many times?
As long as it takes. -When is our next session? -In a month. In the meantime, I'll assign you a spiritual counselor: someone who can check on you and keep you from evil influences. Think of it as a sponsor in Alcoholics Anonymous. Maybe that should be David, because he knows me so well.
I think that's a good idea. And then I'll assign you a possession help group. People who are in the same position -as you. -[phone vibrating] LELAND [fading]: Oh, that sounds great. I'm finally seeing light at the...
DUKE: Thanks for coming to see us. We'll just tell you the best we can. This is our son. Wyatt. He's our only child.
Was our only child. He went out to the grocery store on September 14th at 4:33. And he never came back. -We contacted the police... -You talked to the police?
MICHELLE: We call every week.
DUKE: I think they've gotten sick of us. They still insist that he's a runaway.
BEN: So he's never contacted you again?
We don't think so. You don't think so?
Well, someone contacted us the next day. Someone who sounded like our son. What did he say?
He was screaming. Uh, but there was too much interference. We couldn't understand what he said. He said, "Save me." We couldn't understand any more. And, um, he never called us again.
So, Mr. and Mrs. Sawyer, we don't get involved in police cases. Um, we do...
...assessments, um, for... possible, um...
We do cases that have some demonic or spiritual component. -Uh... -Yes. Usually our colleague David is here to fill you in on this. Explain. Yeah.
Would you, um, would you come with me, please?
Of course.
This was Wyatt's room. He loved writing in here. Doing his homework. He was a good student. Um, we would really love to help, but we feel like this is more a matter for the police. DUKE: We called the Church last week because we were cleaning up in here. MICHELLE: Duke thought we had to move on. We can't keep this as a museum forever. -[doorbell rings] -Oh, I-I'll get that.
So I started cleaning up in here last week. And, uh, I found this. Yeah.
A pentagram?
That's why we called you. We took a picture, but the police were uninterested. Just so you know, our son was never into the occult. Oh, um, this is David, who we spoke to on the phone.
We think this might have something to do with people who kidnapped him. Maybe Satan worshippers... Can I take a look at his computer?
We don't have his password. We found some phrase carved into his desk. But it didn't work. We've tried capitalizing it all, leaving out all the dashes, but... none of it made a difference.
Hello. -Hi, Mom. -Hi. -Hi, Mom. -How was school?
LYNN: Like there was this one crash where just a small baby survived.
-Hey, Mom. -Hmm?
Can you survive a plane crash?
Isn't everybody just dead? Um, I guess it depends how bad the crash is. Does it matter if you pray?
I don't think so. What are you doing? Um, I'm trying to figure out what "El Game" is. "El Game," like Spanish?
I don't know. Is this about your work? Are there, like, ghosts or something?
-What is this? -Let me see. I don't know. It could be someone's computer password. I can't find anything online. Oh, it-it's the Elevator Game.
-What? -Oh, I bet you're right. Those are the floors you have to take. I heard people die from that. Wait, what is the Elevator Game?
It-It's a Japanese game. Look. [typing]
[man speaking Japanese] How do you know all this?
It's part of our education, Mom. We're growing up. -No, you're not! -[laughter] WOMAN: Hi. Welcome to the instructions to the Elevator Game. If you're brave and you want to chance it, this is what you'll need. A building with at least 13 floors. And an elevator that is empty. -Get on the elevator. -LILA: Is this your case, Mom?
So, what's the goal of this game?
-To end up in hell. -What?
-Shh! Just watch the video. -Instead, push the button for the fourth floor. When you arrive, again, don't get off, but when the doors start to close, put your arm out and stop them from closing all the way. I heard that's the most important part. Push the button for the second floor. Don't get off. Instead, push the button for the 13th floor, and at the same time, hold in the emergency call button. No, that's the most important part. When you arrive at the 13th, you'll see a strange woman get on. Don't look at her. Don't meet her eyes. If you meet her eyes, you'll never be able to leave hell. Now, with the other woman beside you, push the button for the first floor. An alarm will sound, and you will next find yourself in the nether region. It will be dark, and in the distance you'll see a red cross. Get out. Look around. Don't stay longer than 12 minutes. If you do, you will be haunted. In fact, if you do any part of this game wrong, you will be haunted. Okay. I'll just watch this later... No, no, no! Mom, Mom. Come on. Mom, you can't start something and not finish it. Many have asked: in what way am I haunted?
There are many disagreements about this, but most believe you will be haunted by all the souls of whoever died in the building. Okay, no, we need to try this now.
Never look the woman in white in the eye. And never, ever interrupt the game in the middle. If you are so unfortunate to be haunted, paint this somewhere in your room. LEXIS: The woman in white sounds really cool. LILA: Bet there's a lot of haunted people out there. I bet she's killed so many people. -Maybe we should get this. -Yeah. Can we just do it, like, anywhere?
This is Mom's job. Come on. You know you want to try this. Come on. -Maybe. -I know it, you know it, we all know it. Okay, Ben, yeah. I'll meet you there in 20. Great. Bye. What are you guys doing? You look like -the Children of the Corn here. -Ow. We're going. No, you're not. This is work. That's why we're getting involved. Elevator Game! ALL: Elevator Game! Elevator Game! Elevator Game! Lynn, you watch the girls, I'll pay you to babysit. Oh, I-I wish I felt up to it. Mom, I'm just afraid I'm too young. [others giggle] Lexis, you've got your math tutor in ten minutes. But we don't, Mom. We can still go. That's not fair. Mom! Hey, we're just smarter than you. Okay, stop it. I promise I'll take you next time, okay?
LAURA: Let's go! Whoo! -See ya, wouldn't want to be ya! -[others clamoring] Bye!
BEN: So this is the moment he disappeared?
Yep. There he is. He gets on the elevator, see. KRISTEN: And you showed this to the police?
DOORMAN: Yep. Look. That's his floor. -Are you guys seeing this? -Hey, it's crazy. -Hey, move. -No, no, no. Girls, girls, girls, girls, girls, girls, we talked. We talked. That's okay. Here. It never opens. And I have video of all the other floors, and they never open either. And now...
This is ten minutes later.
He's gone. -Whoa. -He's in the nether region. I know, that's why I said "whoa." He was talking to me, not to you. Okay, shh. What did the police say about this? We don't have a surveillance camera on the top-roof floor. They think he got off there and then took the stairs down. Why?
LILA: Because they can't explain it. He's in the nether region, waiting for us to save him. We got to save him, Mom!
Hmm. What's this?
Your rosary.
How sweet. Just for me?
Everybody in spiritual counseling receives one. Open it. -Maybe later. -No, now.
Are you expecting me to catch on fire or something?
I have no expectations.
Jesus looks unhappy. Put it around your neck.
No-no! No! N-No. How do I look?
I need you to pray the rosary in the morning and at night. Here. These are the Joyful Mysteries.
Okay. I have a question about the Church for you, my spiritual counselor. Why is the Church so bad to its African American members?
Last I looked-- this morning-- there are only 250 Black priests in the United States. That means you're rather an oddity. How does that make you feel?
Exceptional. Hmm. Have you ever heard of Father William Aitcheson?
-I have. -Good. I was just reading about him this morning. A priest in Arlington arrested for burning crosses in the yards of Blacks and Jews for the Ku Klux Klan. In 1974. Yeah, but just four years ago, 60% of white Catholics voted for Trump. Only 26% of Hispanic Catholics did. It's about abortion. Maybe. Next time you're in one of your seminary classes, look at all the white students around you. That's a lot of white. My guess is they see you as a diversity hire. Look at this job that you're doing-- assessing. There must be a dozen other priests that want to be assessors, but the Church only wanted a Black one. It looks good.
Okay. Our time is up for today. The thing I don't understand is, how do you deal with the racism here?
I'll see you again in three days.
And leave that on.
-Okay, I'm pushing the buttons. -No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! -You always... -I'm the oldest! No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Everybody out. -Everybody out. -[girls protesting] -What? -I can watch them, if you want. LAURA: It's not fair!
Everybody in. -Okay, I'm pushing the buttons. -No, no, no, it's me! Um, only Ben pushes the buttons. Ben the Magnificent! Yes, the all-powerful. Okay, here we go. -What's first? -Eighth floor. -Eighth floor. -Eight. -[elevator dings] -All right. Here we go!
-Okay. -And, uh, this puts us in hell?
If no one gets on before we finish. -BEN: Ooh... -[girls laughing]
-Come on. -Okay, so we don't get off. -We push the fourth floor. -Oh. -Okay. Fourth floor. -All right. -Here we go. Fourth floor. -All right. [feet stomping] Do you feel like an idiot?
I've never stopped feeling like an idiot -on this job. -[elevator dings] Okay, we don't get off, but when the doors start to close, we... GIRLS: We put our arms out and stop it. -Okay. -Whoa, whoa, Mom! -No! -[girls clamoring] -Mom, you have to pay attention! -I'm sorry! -Come on. -I'm so sorry. Okay. All right. Thank you. -Now where? -The second floor. Second floor, here we come. -Getting spooky! -[girls scream, laugh] Hell, here we come. Okay, now the 13th. And we push the call button at the same time. BEN: Oh, there's no 13th.
Seems like the building is superstitious. So what do we do now, elevator gods? Well, I mean, the 14th floor is technically the 13th, right? So, we could just press the 14th and the call button. -LYNN: Yeah, sounds good. -LAURA: Yeah. BEN: Okay. -[alarm ringing] -Oh. -Oh, that's not good. -LAURA: Oh, my God, that is loud. DOORMAN: Is everything all right?
Um, yeah, sorry, we just pushed the button accidentally. I got somebody waiting to use the elevator down here. -You shush! -I'm so sorry. We'll be right down. Are we going to be haunted now? But we weren't the problem. There was no 13th floor. -Yeah. -BEN: Guys, we never did this. All right?
What happens in the elevator... -ALL: Stays in the elevator. -[dings]
We didn't go to the rooftop. That's why it didn't work. I think we push the 12th floor, not the 14th. Maybe, maybe it was the 12th floor. Don't do that.
It works. What works?
The Elevator Game. That's what you're doing, right?
Don't. It's not safe. They were in love. Wyatt and Felicia.
She was my best friend. Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom, stop, stop. Do you know what happened to her?
Lynn, shh. Do you know what happened to her?
CAROLINE: Are you guys investigators or something?
And a singing group.
We are looking into Wyatt's disappearance.
He played the game. So it's true?
He and Felicia were into it. She was in love with him. And then Wyatt was just gone. He was playing the game, but he never came back. That's why Felicia wanted to ride the elevator here: to do the same thing. So, she disappeared, too?
Well, the police think they ran off together. But she didn't want to end up like her boyfriend, so she was on the phone with me the whole time, in case something went wrong. Do you want to hear it?
-Yes. -Yes, absolutely.
FELICIA: Okay, I'm hitting the first button. That's Felicia. I waited in the lobby while she went up. FELICIA: Okay, now the fourth floor.
CAROLINE: Be careful, Felicia, okay?
FELICIA: Nothing's happening yet. But if anything does, tell my parents I love them.
CAROLINE: Don't be so melodramatic. You're going to be fine.
FELICIA: Okay, I don't know what to do. There's no 13th floor.
CAROLINE: Okay, come back down.
FELICIA: No, wait, hold on. Let me think. What would Wyatt do? What would... [call breaking up]
CAROLINE: Felicia? Say it again. -I couldn't hear you. -FELICIA: Hello?
I said, press two, and then the call button. I got it, I got it! CAROLINE: Felicia, what's going on?
That's it? No...
-[girls clamoring] -We're heading home. -We're heading home. -No! Ow, ow, ow. -Shh! I don't want to go home. -Home, home, home. We have to figure this out, Mom. I have a thought.
I have a friend I can ask. I-I'll see you later. -Okay, bye. -All right. [overlapping chatter] LAURA: We should get ice cream! [chatter fades] -[door closes] -[line ringing] Hey, Vanessa. Can we talk?
God is bigger than your troubles. He is bigger than the world's troubles. He is bigger than this.
Okay, effective use of gestures. David?
It's widely acknowledged that America's original sin is race, is slavery. -America's tremendous wealth... -David, I thought your homily was on God's love. It is. I'm just starting from a position of race. Ah. I like you're trying to address today's problems today. The only worry is how controversy for controversy's sake is perceived. This is not controversy for controversy's sake. Well, you might want to tinker with the opening. "Race" is one of those words that can shut people's minds to your real message. But... race is my real message.
[chuckles] I'll reserve judgment.
Please. [indistinct chatter nearby]
What?
They will never let you deliver that. They'll whittle away at it until you're saying "God is love." [laughs]
David, third year. Kevin, fourth year. You're the one who's never in class. Yeah, they have me doing some assessing. Mm. You're being groomed.
For?
Being a figurehead. The great Black hope of the Catholic Church. [Kevin chuckles] I'm getting some people together tonight. Some, uh, renegade Catholics. Why don't you come?
Uh... sure. Okay, I'm here. What do you want?
A minute. Ben, you don't call me for a month. Then out of the blue... And-and I want to apologize. Okay. You're forgiven. Take care.
The Elevator Game.
The Ansolina apartments. Upper West Side. One kid disappeared a year ago. His girlfriend one month after that.
How do you know it was the Elevator Game? The best friend of the girl recorded it on an iPhone.
This is just about the case and not about us. I know.
What kind of recording?
Audio.
Did they get to the nether region?
Not sure. You want to hear it?
FELICIA: Hello? I said, press two, and then the call button. I got it, I got it!
CAROLINE: Felicia, what's going on?
What do you think?
Are you coming?
Yeah.
MILA: Behold the Ansolina. In 1907, one of the premier buildings on the Upper West Side, and one of the most haunted. 323 people died here during the 1918 Spanish Flu and they were stored in the cool of the subbasement until they could be collected. They still haunt it. Isn't there a story about the elevator? MILA: Thank you for asking. In 1963, a 14-year-old girl was taking her dog for a walk. She got on the elevator, but her dog ran out the closing doors. She tried to stop the elevator from going down, but she got stuck in the doors. She struggled to get out, but at that moment, the elevator dropped. That's right. Cut her in half. She lived for ten minutes, and the legend is she kept calling for her dog, "Tiffany! Tiffany!" Ever since then, residents of the building hear her, crawling down the halls, pulling herself along. And they called her the Teke-Teke Girl, because that's the sound she makes at night. "Teke... teke... teke," as she uses her nails to drag herself along the halls.
You can take pictures now.
And that is why they call her the Teke-Teke Girl. That's the sound that her fingernails make as she crawls along the hall. -[train horn blowing] -Wow, I don't know what to say. That's some story. So Vanessa thinks we need to finish the game, or we'll be haunted. By who?
Uh, by the Teke-Teke Girl. But how do we finish the game if there's no 13th floor?
[swallows, exhales] [clanging in distance]
-Mom! -Fuck! [laughs] Oh, Jesus Christ. -Sorry. -No, no, no. I was almost done with this. Just heading out. Actually, would you mind, um, staying for another hour?
So-- I-I need to go... do something. -Sure. -Great. -Uh, sweetheart? -Yeah? Um, I want to keep doing this, watching the kids. I only worry about driving home late at night. Oh, my gosh. You go. I'll stay home. No, no, that's-that's not what I meant. I... I was wondering if I-I could put a bed out in your office for next time. That way I could be close by if you need me. I mean, it doesn't have to be permanent. Just, you know, when it gets late like this. Yeah, I'll-I'll think about it. Okay. Okay. Thank you. I... I just really want to be close to my granddaughters. It's, um, something that my therapist suggested, so...
[raspy exhale] [gasps]
Help! Help me! [straining] [hissing] -[shrieks] -Help! Somebody help me! -[shrieking] -I'm stuck!
Help!
-[hissing] -[screaming]
Kurt, it's Kristen. Sorry, this is an emergency. Your prescription, it's supposed to stop hallucinations. Yeah, it's not. It's causing more.
KEVIN: Brother David. You came. Okay. Time to thrust you into the middle of an argument. You ready?
Yeah. Sounds like the perfect end to my day. You're a fig leaf for them. KEVIN: Oh, my God, here we go. Well, what would you call it?
These PWIs like the Catholic Church. They laugh at you thinking you can change them. And whenever someone calls them out on being racist, they point to the both of you, saying, "Oh, look, we've got Black priests." And what do you do, Logan? Every time I see you, you're on to another cause, another savior. You don't like something, you just quit. What's wrong with that?
You don't take any responsibility. You're all for Bernie Sanders. Then he's a sellout. BLM is "virtue signaling," so you just go on to the next. You just join and quit, brother. No, no, no. I don't owe my allegiance to anyone who doesn't deserve it. I'm not a pawn. I'm not someone who allows myself to be represented by something I don't believe in. But I believe in it.
The Catholic Church?
And God. Jesus Christ, His son. Peter, the rock. The Nicene creed. The whole nine yards. Oh, my God. [laughs] What a step up. Uncle Tom becomes Father Tom. -[others gasping] -Whoa, whoa, whoa, I got him. I got him. LOGAN: Get off me... You all right, man?
I... I'd better go. Yeah. It was nice seeing everyone.
Hey.
Peace. I'm on your side. I just have a question. I'm not in the mood to talk, man. I believe in God. I believe in Christ. I'm a minister in a Gospel Church here in Queens. The Gospel Four Square. On 17th. Come there and you'll be home. What the Catholic Church doesn't do, we do.
There is no 13th floor. So how do we continue the game if there's no 13th floor?
Have you tried stopping the elevator between the floors?
Yes, I have. -You did? -Yeah. What happened?
Nothing. Maybe they renumbered the floors so no one would play. Good luck. So what are you thinking?
I don't know.
David, I'm worried about your homily. Just try to couch the racial language more carefully. -Race incites. -It loses its teeth if I couch it, Father. This is a homily you're giving to a real parish. At a real Mass. I know. That's why I'm using it as a real test. Uh, a real test of...?
God's message of peace.
You have a high regard for yourself and-and your worth to the Church?
I do.
FELICIA: Okay, I don't know what to do. There's no 13th floor. Hold on. Let me think. What would Wyatt do? What would... Yeah, what would he do? No 13.
CAROLINE: Felicia? Say it again. I couldn't hear you.
FELICIA: Hello? I said, press two, and then the call button.
Okay, she pushes the second floor and the call button.
"Press two and the call button." Number one and number three: 13. It's not the floor two. It is two buttons.
[elevator whirs] [dinging]
What the hell?
Hello?
Hello?!
Hello?
Hello. Hey.
Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey.
No.
No. No. No. No. No! No! No. No.
So, they didn't whittle down your homily?
Nope, they tried. [chuckles] Good for you. So the Church isn't as racist as it could be. Yeah, looks that way. No, you know why they didn't whittle it down?
They didn't need to.
[chuckles] That's your Mass. KAY: On this, the Sixth Week of Ordinary Time, I've asked one of our most passionate seminarians to offer the homily. He's only two months away from ordination, so please offer him your support. David.
It's widely acknowledged that America's original sin is race, is slavery. America's tremendous wealth was built on the labor of people that were kidnapped from their homeland and sold into bondage. -Thank you so much. Bless you. -That was great. Thank you.
Oh, wait, is it all right to hug you?
That was really good. Throwing some sharp elbows there, Father David. I liked it. Well, I had to keep the throng awake. And all 20 of them really perked up. Leland. I just had to show my support for my spiritual counselor. [snickers]
[phone vibrating] Oh, that's Ben. He's been trying to call me. -Hello? Ben? -BEN: Kristen, hey, it's me. -Hello? -Hello?
-Kristen! -Ben!
What? That's weird. That's the fifth time he's tried to call. He called me three times, too. He was supposed to meet me here. What do you think is going on?
When is the last time you saw him?
Uh, last night. Discussing the Elevator Game.
Kristen! Kristen! Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?!
That is not good.
So how long did it take you two?
Wyatt died first, right?
Right. He was probably down here a month before Felicia came through that door, hmm? He thought he'd finally been saved when the elevator arrived. He yelled for her to keep the door open, but she wasn't thinking fast enough. And why would she? Because... elevators come when you call them!
She held him. For another month as she starved.
She probably even fought off the bugs.
And here I am, without anyone to hold. And the swarm of bugs will get me, too. ABBEY: I'm here with you.
Yeah, that's all I needed. Ben, Ben, Ben. I'm here to comfort you.
Oh, my God. What a nightmare.
[speaking Urdu] [Ben yells] [continues in Urdu]
How do you know that? Because your grandma always told you that as a child. In Gharsana, remember?
Remember what it means?
"The dead are tortured in their graves to the point that animals can hear them." It is a hadith. Ugh, what a horrible thing to tell a child.
She wanted me to stay observant. [chuckles] And how did that work out?
Come on, Ben, get comfortable. Lie down next to me, peacefully. And use your last ten percent to write your will.
CAROLINE: Say it again. I couldn't hear you.
FELICIA: Hello?
我話㩒「2」，然後㩒個呼叫掣。 -你有冇試過㩒「2」？ -嗯。 同個呼叫掣。 真係Ben嘅作風，會返嚟呢度諗辦法搞清楚。 咁如果唔係二樓，係咩？
ABBEY: 好甜喎。「Karima，我愛你。」同埋你知唔知最正係咩？
你死咗之後，啲人就會覺得難受。佢哋會擔心你生前對你唔夠好。 -所以做得好。 -殊！
哦，同佢講你臨尾點樣接受咗基督。咁樣會搞到佢個腦亂晒。
哦。「Kristen，我會最掛住你。」
幾好喎。或者你可以俾啲嘢佢哋記住你。你條屍爬滿晒蟲。等你死咗我幫你影相。
[喘氣] [用阿拉伯話唸禱文] 天啊！呢個簡直係虛偽嘅極致。認真？
你知唔知點解你幫到手？
我？
係。
我知道我同緊乜嘢對抗。 - [繼續阿拉伯話] - [𨋢叮一聲] [門打開]
Ben？
留返個𨋢門開住呀！
哦，你搵到我啦，你搵到我啦。[喊]
Ben.
你而家無事啦，老友。你無事啦，Ben。
你無事啦。