Meet tanner smith, circa 1916—
Disciple of a young writer named jack london.
Tanner smith, now consigned to what is affectionately known
By the bowery boys as "the ref":
A grim sojourn into solitude, despair,
Pain, and sooner than he knows
A curious corner
In the twilight zone.
I've been watching you.
I know.
Are you going to tell your father?
Why would i do that?
I wouldn't want to get you into trouble.
You'd be worth it.
You're so pretty.
Does your hair always shine like that?
Almost always.
I saw you go into the library.
I like to read.
So do i.
Books about wolves.
You better go.
I wouldn't want you punished.
I want to see you again... Talk to you.
I don't think that would be wise.
I'm not wise.
I'm just hungry for someone.
I'm tanner, tanner smith.
I've got to go.
Wait.
Can i see you again?
Please?
We'll have to be careful.
Shh!
I dream about you.
So you say.
No, it's true.
Pretty dreams.
The trees are as high as the sky.
Do you ever dream about me?
Sometimes.
What is it?
The dreams frighten me.
They're dark sometimes.
Winds are blowing and i hear strange sounds.
I wake up fearing i'll be calling your name
And my father will hear.
I have another book for you, tanner.
Another jack london.
I know how you like stories about wolves.
A wolf mates for life, amy.
Did you know that?
For all his life, he'll never know another.
I have something for you, too.
It's lovely.
It was my mother's.
Really?
No.
That ain't true.
I don't want to lie to you, amy.
I don't ever want to lie.
Then where did you get it?
I picked it off a drunk in shanham square.
But i never hurt no one, amy.
You've got to believe that.
Sure, i had a real gift for picking pockets
But it was just a way of surviving.
I had to do it.
It's just the way on the streets.
Understand?
I don't care about all that.
I know what you really are.
I love you, tanner.
My sweet, gentle tanner.
Amy.
Dear amy.
Kiss me, tanner, kiss me.
"thus sayeth the lord:
I will deal with thee even as thou hast done!"
No, no!
Just like your mother.
In the hay at dusk
With any filthy scamp that winks an eye.
A wolf steals a lamb from the flock, eh?
Well, my young sir.
To me belongeth vengeance and restitution.
I have warned you time and time again
To stay away from the scum in this place.
They are animals, beasts, to be caged away
From the decent people of this world.
I have taught you the scriptures, girl.
I have prayed that you would live by them.
And i will not have my flesh betray
Their righteousness.
I hate you!
And if you should choose to disobey me again
And crawl to him in the night
I'll know it.
I'll see that he's found dead in some dark hallway.
No!
There, there, girl.
It will be all right.
No, it won't be all right!
He'll kill tanner if i ever see him again.
I know him.
He'll do it.
Well, now, amy.
You know the hokey ain't going to let that happen.
You?
You're nothing but a broken down old bum.
What could you do?
I just want to die.
That's what i want...
To be dead.
No, no, amy, dying ain't the answer...
Not for you, not for tanner...
Because you're young and you're in love.
You must never give up hope.
I'm sorry for what i said.
I didn't mean it, hokey.
Amy?
Have you seen her?
Her father didn't hurt her, did he?
Not her spirits, boy.
She's a bright arrow.
She has the power to soar above her father's deviltry.
You know where she might be?
She spends her evenings in the library
Poring over the books like she's searching for something.
I've got to see her.
No, tanner, you can't.
Her father told her he'd have you done in
If she saw you again.
I don't care.
No, tanner, you mustn't.
I've got to see her.
Tanner, no, no.
Amy?
Tanner!
You shouldn't be here.
My father.
I know. The hokey told me.
But i had to see you. I had to.
I've missed you so much.
Amy, we've got to find a way out of here.
I've thought of everything.
There isn't any way.
Except...
Except what?
Come with me.
It's probably the oldest book in the world.
What is it? What's it got to do with us getting out of here?
Just listen to me, tanner.
I'm listening, but i don't get it.
I just don't understand, amy.
You believe in the human soul, don't you?
I guess i do.
Tanner, this book is all about releasing the soul
To renew its existince into another time and place.
Look, you see these lines?
Yes, i see them.
But what does it have to do with us?
I don't know if it's really true.
But the book says by concentrating on the lines
You'll soon be able to see a door.
And if you persevere
You'll be able to open that door
And pass right through it.
Pass right through it?
But to where, amy?
Where?
A better world, tanner, a free world.
Amy?
Daughter?
Amy?
Amy!
Tanner!
I had this dream...
Like you or someone was calling me.
And then the gate was open.
Tanner, there's no time.
My father will know that we're meeting.
But we're outside.
We could run away right now.
No, tanner, it wouldn't work.
He'd find us no matter where we went.
I can hardly breathe without you.
How can i live without you?
Tanner...
Tanner, listen to me.
I have found the only real way out.
It's in that book i showed you.
It's another world, tanner, a younger world.
What are you talking about?
I don't understand you.
Please believe in me, tanner.
When the time comes, you'll know.
But, amy...
I love you, tanner.
I'll always love you.
Get this piece of paper to him.
Make him believe.
Promise me.
I promise, amy.
I promise, but i don't think he'll believe me.
If you're convinced, he'll believe you.
Amy, are you sure of what you're doing?
For the first time, i do feel hope.
Now, remember, hokey
I may seem dead, but i won't be.
My mind and spirit will just separate from my body.
But amy, if you seem dead, your father will think you are
And he'll try to bury you.
I don't know what will happen.
But i'll be free.
Amy?
Amy, wake up.
Oh, amy.
No!
Why would you leave me?
Why?
Guards!
She's dead!
You... You...!
Guards!
She killed herself because of you.
Damn you!
Take him to the hole and lace him up tight.
You killed her!
And you're going to rot in hell for it!
Hell?
That's your home, young sir.
A true disciple of your master, you are.
Amy, why didn't you wait?
Tanner?
Hokey?
She's dead.
No, tanner, i swear.
I saw her.
She left her body
Moving into the other world.
How can that be?
She told me how she did it and how you can do it, too.
"so...
"shalt thou avow unto the lord thy god?
Thou shalt not slack. Repay it."
For the lord thy god shall surely require it of thee.
Thou art my battle ax and my weapon of war.
And the enemy is the son of the morning—
The disciple of lucifer.
This is our last chance.
Please believe me and do as i say.
They're together, running free
In a place where you...
No one can hurt them again.
A tale told on wintry nights when the moon is full
Of living with wolves and learning to howl
Of love that transcends worldly pain
And running free...
In the twilight zone.