Inner Darkness is the fourth episode of season 1 of Children of Cade. It is the fourth episode of the series overall.
Plot
Ellen finds herself in a dark hellscape with her estranged father Arcadius. While there, dark revelations are made and Ellen is forced to make a tough choice.
Cast
- Zendaya as Ellen
- Halson Sage as Karis Salvatore-Lockwood
- Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester
- Shelley Hennig as Meredith Sulez
- Riley Voelkel as Freya Mikaelson
- Wole Parks as Arcadius
- RJ Cyler as Sable
Previously On...
DEAN (V.O.): Previously on Children of Cade…
KARIS: I’m sorry about Dean. He can be a bit of a hot head.
ELLEN: That's an understatement. The guy pointed a damn gun at me, Karis. Yeah. Definitely a hot head.
ELLEN: DIE!!!
ARCADIUS: Oh how I've missed you.
"Chapter 1"
FADE IN:
INT. MIKAELSON MANSION – LIVING ROOM – NIGHT.
Ellen is laying on the couch, her body limp and her veins black. Her eyes are black too and she’s staring lifelessly up at the ceiling. Karis is pacing around the room, her eyes red from crying.
KARIS: Oh Ellen, please don’t die! Please don’t die!
Meredith walks over and hugs her close. Her eyes are red too.
MEREDITH: It’s okay, honey. Everything’s going to be alright.
But Meredith is unsure herself. Dean is kneeling next to Ellen, watching her. Freya walks in with a mortar filled with a strange earthy looking substance. She begins spreading it a little on Ellen’s head. Dean grimaces.
DEAN: What the hell is that?
FREYA: A concoction of herbs and other spiritual ingredients. Hopefully it can get Ellen out of this state.
DEAN: And if it doesn’t?
Freya looks at Ellen, worried.
FREYA: Then… she’ll have to get out of this on her own.
INT. DARK DIMENSION
Ellen backs away from Arcadius, terrified beyond words. She readies a fireball in her hand. Arcadius gives a small smile.
ARCADIUS: You’re afraid, child. I can sense that.
ELLEN: Damn right, I’m afraid! You deserted me and my mom, put me on a world where my powers are feared, and now you’re right here. You shouldn’t be here!
ARCADIUS: That may be true. But I only did those things because…
ELLEN: Because why?
ARCADIUS: Because I love you. And I believed that you could make your own way. And, from what I’ve been seeing, I think I’m right.
Hearing this, Ellen calms a little. She begins looking around the room.
ELLEN: What is this place?
ARCADIUS: It’s the Dark Dimension. A realm for those unfit to go to Paradise. I’ve resided here ever since the destruction of my original realm.
ELLEN: Wait… Paradise. Like Heaven?
ARCADIUS: Yes.
ELLEN: So… oh no… am I dead?!
ARCADIUS: No, no! Not dead. But not exactly living either. You’re in here until you decide what you want to do.
ELLEN: Wait… what I want?
ARCADIUS: Yes, yes. But enough of that. I want to show you something.
Arcadius waves his hand over the wall. The fleshly material departs and reveals a doorway outside. He gestures for her to go forward. Ellen takes a deep breath in before walking out with him.
EXT. DARK DIMENSION
The Dark Dimension certainly lives up to its name. Dark clouds swirl around a swirling red vortex in the sky. On the ground things aren’t any better, with it looking like a dilapidated and corrupted version of New Orleans. Ellen looks around in terrified awe.
ELLEN: Okay so this is where you’re living now.
ARCADIUS: Yes, indeed it is. After Hell was destroyed, I was forced to migrate here. I must say I made a good choice.
He turns around to look at her.
ARCADIUS: All the worst souls in the universe come here. I’ve met them all. The Salvatore brothers, Sage Meddenhall, Qetsiyah, and Silas.
ELLEN: Silas? Holy shit. What happened to him?
ARCADIUS: These days he goes by “she.” And I… dealt with her. She was an old fool who got what she deserved.
ELLEN: Okay then…
The two keep walking across the landscape until they get to a hillside. Once they reach the top, they find the entrance to a cave but it’s sealed off by a large wooden door bound by chains. Arcadius smiles as he walks up to it and places his hand on the wood. It shakes violently, causing Ellen to jump back.
ELLEN: What the hell is in that thing?!
ARCADIUS: Ellen… this is the reason you were brought here tonight. Why I brought you to this world. You will free your brother.
Ellen is shocked by this and her eyes widen.
ELLEN: Brother?!
Arcadius grins like a mad man and walks over to her. He takes her hands into his and walks her over to the door. He places her hand on it.
ARCADIUS: Can’t you feel him? He’s in there, just waiting to get out.
Ellen shivers and her eyes go black. She gasps.
ELLEN: H-He’s… angry.
ARCADIUS: Yes, he is. He’s very angry. But that anger is good. With that anger, he will be the scourge of humanity. My boy, the bringer of death. The bringer of destruction. Oh, it’ll be gorgeous!
Ellen shouts in fear and backs away from the door. She looks at him, a look of fury in her eyes.
ELLEN: You brought me here to help you end the world! You don’t love me. I’m just a pawn in your weird little apocalypse idea!
ARCADIUS: No! You don’t understand, my child. We could rule the world together as a family. His brawn, your kindness, my intellect. Together we will rule the mortal world and turn it into a new Hell.
Ellen shakes her head.
ELLEN: No! I’m not helping you with this!
ARCADIUS: (voice rising) Yes you will! That is final.
ELLEN: No. I’m not gonna end the world. Not for you, not for whatever monster you have behind that door. And screw off with this “we could be a family” bullshit! You had your chance to be there for me but you weren’t there. All those nights I spent afraid of being who I was, being afraid of what I was and where were you? You were here, waiting for me to just take your hand and be convinced that you were a loving father. Well I’m not buying it. I have a family now and they’re a Hell of a lot better than whatever you can come up with.
As she speaks, Arcadius is getting angrier and angrier. The fury and rage in his eyes is loud, fierce, and terrifying. But despite this, Ellen speaks proudly.
ELLEN: My real family loves me. My real family supports me even when I’m not being the greatest person in the world. So I think I’ll stay with them.
ARCADIUS: So that’s just it, hmm? You would rather stay with these flawed creatures then be with the winners?
ELLEN: Yeah, that is it. And do you know why? Because, despite all of their flaws, some humans are pretty alright. Sure, they all do terrible things like murder and steal and destroy… but they also love. Which is something you can’t do. So up yours, dad.
Arcadius, having taken all of this in, scoffs in disbelief. Ellen stands her ground and her arms begin smoking.
ARCADIUS: Fine then. Have it your way.
Arcadius raises his hand, ready to strike, but Ellen is prepared. Her arms catch fire and her eyes go black. She raises her own hand and BLASTS ARCADIUS BACK with fire. He screams in pain and soon disintegrates into dust. Ellen stops.
ELLEN: Wow. That was easy.
She turns around and looks to the rest of the dimension.
ELLEN: Now to figure out how to get out of here.
She begins walking down the hill. After getting most of the way down there, an inhuman BELLOW echoes across the landscape. A DARK SHADOW flies in the clouds. A shadow much bigger than her. It is soon joined by hundreds, no, millions of smaller monstrous looking shadows.
ELLEN: Oh no…
She begins running down the valley at full speed. She appears as a moving blur as the shadows move out of the clouds, revealing themselves as more GARGOYLES. She keeps running until she sees a dilapidated shop. She runs to it and gets inside.
"Chapter 2"
INT. DARK ANTIQUE SHOP
Ellen slams the door shut and breathes a heavy sigh of relief. She locks the door and walks down the aisle. All of the antiques in the shop are either on the floor or smashed. She keeps walking and stumbles across some demon statues.
ELLEN: Woah…
The demon statues suddenly awaken and all stare at her with manic grins. They all laugh at her creepily. Ellen quickly walks down the aisle and, as she walks, a flame lights on the ground and dust swirls around it. Arcadius rises from the ashes but he’s in bad shape. His suit is burned and the flesh on his right arm is completely burned off, revealing the bone.
His head is now a flaming skull with his eyes still intact and his legs are covered in boils. He snarls at her.
ARCADIUS: Look what you’ve done to me, daughter.
Ellen turns around and sees his burnt form. She screams in terror and backs away. She’s preparing to run, which he senses.
ARCADIUS: You can’t run from me! You can’t run from your fate!!
He lunges at her with his boney arm raised.
ELLEN: STAY AWAY!!!!
She flings her arm upward, causing Arcadius to be rocketed back by an invisible force. He lands with a loud thud and Ellen takes off. Arcadius sees this and growls before pounding the ground. Black veins spread across the floor and chase after her.
Ellen keeps running and running until she reaches a dead end.
ELLEN: Damnit!
She looks back and sees the veins getting closer and closer. Without anything else to do, she stares up at the ceiling.
ELLEN: Help!!! Somebody help me!!
INT. MIKAELSON MANSION – LIVING ROOM – NIGHT.
Ellen’s body begins to squirm and convulse. Everyone sees this and rushes to her side.
DEAN: What the hell’s going on?!
FREYA: I don’t know.
KARIS: What if she’s dying?!
MEREDITH: Karis, don’t think like that, honey.
DEAN: Okay, everyone, just calm down!
Suddenly Ellen grabs Dean’s hand and he gasps. His eyes go black as well and his body becomes limp like Ellen’s. The three girls look shocked.
"Chapter 3"
CUT TO:
INT. DARK ANTIQUE SHOP
Dean suddenly materializes next to Ellen. She looks at him with relief.
ELLEN: Dean!
She hugs him close and Dean hugs her back.
DEAN: Ellen, it’s gonna be okay alright? We’re gonna get you out of here.
Ellen nods and looks at the veins. Dean instinctively draws his gun and starts shooting at them. The bullets hit the veins and they pop, sending out black sludge. Ellen smiles.
ELLEN: Yes! You get them!
DEAN: Yep I did. It’s all in the hand really.
Ellen laughs a bit before Dean puts his gun away. They take each other’s hands and run down the aisle. Ellen stops him from walking outside.
ELLEN: Wait. There’re more gargoyles out there.
DEAN: Seriously?
ELLEN: Yes. Just wait here a bit.
Ellen opens the door just a crack and peaks outside. They seem to be gone and Ellen opens the door completely. She gestures to Dean to come with her and he does. They walk out together.
EXT. DARK DIMENSION
Dean and Ellen walk through the landscape. Dean has his gun out and surveys the skies a bit, keeping watch.
DEAN: So why did Arcadius bring you here?
ELLEN: It isn’t good, trust me.
DEAN: Tell me. I can handle whatever it is, really.
ELLEN: (sighs) he wants me unleash my brother who will supposedly be the “scourge of humanity.”
DEAN: Huh. Getting some déjà vu there.
Ellen looks at him confused before disregarding it.
ELLEN: He has him stuck in a weird cave up on a hill. Come on. I’ll show you.
The two begin walking toward the hill. As they do, Arcadius watches them closely from the shop. Soon the two arrive at the cave. The door is rattling even harder now and she places her hand on the door.
ELLEN: I can sense him. He’s getting restless.
DEAN: That’s your brother. He’s in there.
ELLEN: Yep.
She looks at the door. Dean steps closer… until Arcadius wraps his boney hand around Dean’s throat and holds him back. Ellen turns around and screams.
ARCADIUS: Well what have we got here? A Hunter caught off guard?
DEAN: (strained) you… you burning piece of shit…
Arcadius chokes him harder. Ellen is beyond scared now.
ELLEN: Stop! Don’t hurt him!
ARCADIUS: Then do what I called you here to do. Free your brother!
DEAN: (strained) D-don’t do it, Ellen!
ELLEN: I… I can’t…
ARCADIUS: Free him or your hunter friend dies!
Ellen looks at Dean and he looks back at her pleadingly.
DEAN: (quietly) Ellen… don’t do this. Don’t w-worry about me. Everything’s going to be okay, I promise.
ELLEN: I want to believe that, Dean. I really do.
She stares at him for a solid minute before she turns around to face the door. She raises her hands up to it.
ELLEN: But I can’t.
She waves her hands over the door and the chains all fall to the ground. Arcadius grins and throws Dean to the ground. Ellen runs over to him and helps him up while Arcadius walks over to the gate. The doors SPRING OPEN, revealing a dark void.
ARCADIUS: Rise, my son. Rise! Rise! RISE!!!
A powerful gust of wind blows past them. He turns back to them and smiles sinisterly.
ARCADIUS: Goodbye for now, my sweet child.
He snaps his fingers and a swirling tornado surrounds the both of them. They hold on to each other before…
CUT TO:
INT. MIKAELSON MANSION – LIVING ROOM – NIGHT.
Ellen and Dean both snap out of their trance with Ellen screaming bloody murder. The three girls run over to them both and Karis hugs Ellen tightly.
ELLEN: NO!!!! NO!!!
KARIS: Ellen, what’s wrong?!
Dean looks at Meredith sadly.
DEAN: He… he made her do it. It wasn’t her fault, I swear.
MEREDITH: Who forced her to do it?
Dean sighs and gets up, walking over to Ellen and hugging her tightly along with Karis. Meredith joins in as the clock chimes 3:00.
Epilogue
EXT. FOREST - NIGHT.
The forest is quiet. No animals make a sound. The only sound is a DEEP RUMBLING coming from one spot. The spot shakes and quivers before it blasts open, revealing a hole. The hole resembles the entrance to the cave in the Dark Dimension.
A figure steps out and it's a young African American man. He looks to be in his early twenties and is dressed in nothing but a loin cloth. He looks around at the forest before walking away as the spot closes.
End of Episode.
Revelations
- Arcadius faced Silas at one point.