A strange, haunting noise comes from the organ pipes at the back of the room. Everyone turns to look, the senator pauses.

ANGLE ON LANGDON, now on his feet, slightly drunk. Determined, perhaps triumphant:

Suddenly something explodes forth from underneath the organ. Something huge and bestial, although invisible, is soaring down the hall -- tables fly, people are thrown, lights smash, and people scream as it carves a line toward the stage.

The 'beast' rips at his poster -- a frenzied slashing with harsh, noisy breathing -- before swarming back out from where it came.

Senator Shaw is thrown backward against his own poster, raised up high, suspended for a moment in midair, before being brought down with a violent crash -- dead.

Guests turn to look again. The senator seems anxious. People mutter.

INT. CITY HALL -- NIGHT

SENATOR SHAW: "… and it's true we have made some progress, but there is no reward for idleness. So just as the odious saloons have been banished…"

The strange noise gets louder.

Sounds of anguish and panic from the crowd as Shaw Sr. fights through the debris toward his son's torn and bleeding body.

SENATOR SHAW: "… so now the pool halls, and these private parlors…"

ANGLE ON SENATOR SHAW'S BODY, his face brutally scarred. Shaw Sr. looks devastated as he crouches beside his son.

LANGDON: "WITCHES!"