- Cathy: Why are you just standing there, Mother? Cory needs to be taken to a hospital. There is no other decision to make!
- [the mother just stands there looking and quivering]
- Cathy: What's wrong with you, Mother? Are you going to just stand there and think about yourself and your money while Cory lies there and dies? Don't you care what happens to him? Have you forgotten that you're his mother?
- Mother: Always, it's you.
- [slaps Cathy]
- Cathy: [slaps her mother back]
- Chris: Cathy!
- Cathy: [shouts] Damn you to hell, Mama, if you don't take Cory to a hospital right now! You think you can go on doing whatever you want with us and nobody will ever find out? If Cory dies, Mama, you'll pay for it! One way or another, I will find a way. I promise you that.
- Cathy: [coming up behind their mother at the wedding] Mother!
- [Corrine turns around]
- Cathy: Do you like my dress? I thought it was appropriate for the occasion.
- Mother: Who are you? How did you get in here?
- Cathy: Have you forgotten us already?
- Carrie Dollanganger: Mama?
- Bart Winslow: Who are you children?
- Cathy: We're the children of the bride!
- Grandmother: Your mother has come home after seventeen years to repent for her sins and for her crime. Not only against your grandfather and me, but against God! Your mother's marriage was unholy! A sacrilege! An abomination in the eyes of the Lord! She did not fall from Grace! She leapt! Into the arms of a man whose veins pulsed with the same blood as hers! Not a stranger, but her own uncle! And you, the children, are the devil's spawn! Evil from the moment of conception!
- Cathy: [shouts] I'm getting my mother!
- [gets up from the bed and runs to the door]
- Grandmother: [shouts] Come back here!
- [Cathy opens the door and sees John and screams and then returns to her bed]
- Grandmother: Sit down, be silent and don't move again until I leave.
- Cathy: Look at us, Mother! Do we look like you with your rosy cheeks and your bright eyes? Look at the twins, Mother! Cory has stomach cramps almost every day, and Carrie has little sores growing on her skin! Do you know or even care that the grandmother has stopped feeding us for more than a week?
- Mother: Stop it! You have no right to talk to me like that! Do you think I've had pleasure while my children have been in pain? You are heartless. When you're ready to treat me with love, I'll be back.
- Cathy: Mother should have prepared us for something like this.
- Chris: What do you mean?
- Cathy: She never allowed us have a... dog, or a kitten.
- Chris: What's that got to do with anything?
- Cathy: Because pets die, Christopher. And if we had had a pet and it had died, then we would have learned something about that.
- Chris: About what? About death?
- Cathy: Yes, death! Death! She should have told us. Somebody should have told us that fathers die too. They die, Christopher. Even if they're young, and they're handsome, and we need them.
- [about Grandmother's house]
- Narrator: Though it's been many years since I last saw it, I'll always remember that even my first impression was one of fear and wonder. My childhood was soon to be lost, my innocence shattered, and all our dreams destroyed by what we would find within.
- Cathy: Christopher, what is it?
- Chris: A copy of Grandfather's will. It's 2 months old. It says if it was ever proven Mom had children from her first marriage, even after he's dead, she'd be disinherited.
- Cathy: Mother's known all this time that we could never be found.
- Chris: She never meant for us to leave that attic.
- Mother: Nonsense, you know I don't have any children. Get out. I'll not have my wedding day ruined by a cruel, evil prank.
- Cathy: *You're* the one who's cruel and evil, Mother, you kept us locked up in that attic and you said you'd come for us after your father died. *You never came!*
- Chris: You couldn't let anybody find out about us, because if you did, you'd be disinherited.
- Mother: It's not true! No, what proof do they have?
- Chris: [holds up a dead mouse] It died from eating the same cookies that Cory ate.
- Mother: Who's Cory?
- Chris: He was your son and my little brother! And you killed him.
- Cathy: Just like you tried to kill us! Look at us, Mother, how could you do this to us?
- Grandmother: No child in this house will shout or scream or show defiance! Do you hear me? Do you? Now, remove your blouse, daughter. And show them how punishment is given in this house.
- Mother: If you're cruel to my children, I'll take them away tonight.
- Grandmother: Take them, Corrine! Take them now. Do you think I care?
- [laughs as Corrine cries]
- Grandmother: Take off the blouse, Corrine. Take it off!
- [Corrine takes off her blouse]
- Grandmother: Look closely, children. 17 lashes. One for each year she lived in sin with your father. So that you understand me now, I will give you food and shelter, but never kindness or love. For it is impossible to feel anything but disgust for what is not wholesome.
- Mother: [after poisoning her son and telling the children of the death] Cory had pneumonia. The doctors did all they could. There won't be a funeral, he's already been buried.
- [leaves silently]
- Cathy: Why didn't you ever take us to see the grandparents before?
- Mother: I suppose because we were never penniless before... many years ago I did something that angered your grandfather, and his punishment was to disinherit me.
- Chris: So, why are we going back there if he won't give us any money?
- Mother: Because he will. Your grandfather is dying. He's not expected to live much longer, and in that time, I'm going to win back his love... and then, darlings, I'll be an heiress to a fortune beyond your imaginations. And through me, all your wildest dreams will come true.
- Chris: So what's to become of us, Mom? How much longer do we continue living in this prison?
- Mother: Prison.
- Chris: You come back with gifts for us, Mom, do you think they can make up for what we've lost?
- Mother: Christopher, if you stop loving me...
- Chris: I haven't stopped loving you, Mom, I MAKE myself keep loving you every day, despite what you do to us.
- [about his grandmother]
- Chris: Look at you in your black dress. Your fancy jewels. Your pinched face. We're not afraid of you! We laugh at you! Do you hear that? We laugh!
- Carrie Dollanganger: [first sight of Foxworth Manor] Witches are in there, Mama! Witches and monsters!
- Cathy: [Entering the wedding ceremony] Mother! Do you like my dress? I thought it was appropriate for the occasion.
- Mother: [Pretending not to know her own children] Who are you? How did you get here?
- Cathy: Have you forgotten us already?
- Carrie Dollanganger: Mama?
- Bart Winslow: Who are you children?
- Carrie Dollanganger: We're the children of the bride!
- [the people in the audience gasp]
- Mother: [Still acting] Nonsense! You know I don't have any children. Get them out of here. I'll not have my wedding day ruined by a cruel, evil prank!
- Cathy: You're the one who's cruel and evil, Mother! You kept us locked up in that attic and you said you'd come for us after your Father died! YOU NEVER CAME!
- Chris: You couldn't let anybody find out about us 'cause if you did, you'd be disinherited.
- Mother: [Refusing to let the truth out] It's not true! No! What proof do they have?
- Chris: [Holding up a dead rat] It died. We've been eating the same cookies that Corey ate.
- Mother: Who's Corey?
- Chris: He was your Son and my little brother, and you killed him.
- Cathy: Just like you tried to kill us. Look at us, Mother! How could you do this to us?
- [She takes out a poisoned cookie]
- Cathy: Here, Mother! Out Wedding present to you!
- [She begins advancing towards her Mother]
- Mother: Stop it!
- Cathy: Go on! Eat it!
- [They make their way on to the balcony]
- Cathy: EAT THE COOKIE!
- [as they make their way over to the balcony wall, Cathy forces her mother over the balcony, with her Mother hanging by her veil, choking to death]
- Narrator: [last lines as Cathy, Chris and Carrie leave Foxworth Hall as the grandmother looks from upstairs with scorn] We finally got our real revenge. We managed to make it on our own. I got a job to help put Chris through medical school. Little Carrie grew up, but she was never truly healthy. I even started dancing again. We left the past behind, all except the memories of mother, grandmother and the attic. I sometimes wonder if grandmother's still alive, still presiding over Foxworth Hall, still awaiting my return.
- [original deleted ending]
- [the grandmother screams in fury as she rushes at the three children with a butcher knife until John grabs her forcing her to drop the knife]
- John Hall: LET THEM GO!
- [the grandmother tries to fight back, but John forcefully pushes her through a door into an elevator before barricading her in as the three children watch on]
- Grandmother: [quavering in tears, prays] The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside still waters. He restoreth my soul.
- [drops of red blood begin to hit her forehead]
- Grandmother: [cries frantically] The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want! He maketh me to lie down in green pastures! He leadeth me...
- [the grandmother slowly opens her eyes and looks up only to see her caretaker lying dead on the barred roof of the elevator above her]
- Grandmother: [screams in terror] AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!
- [the grandmother rattles on the elevator bars frantically as she screams and cries violently to be let out, she is now shown drenched in blood]
- Grandmother: [screams violently] HELP!
- [the three children watch in amazement as John delivers a nod at them, the three children smile at him before leaving and celebrating their freedom]
- [original deleted ending]
- [everyone at the wedding turns and sees Cathy, Chris and Carrie at the doorway]
- Witness: Can we help you in some way?
- Cathy: [calmly] We're the children of the bride--Corinne's children.
- Mother: [arrives at the altar] Get them out of here! Find out where they come from and send them back!
- [storms in]
- Mother: I won't have my wedding day ruined by a cruel prank!
- [Corinne's father grabs her by the arm and glares at her]
- Witness: They say they're your children, Corinne.
- Mother: I don't have any children!
- [Bart arrives seeing this]
- Mother: [quietly to her father] Father, you're embarrassing me, and you're hurting my arm!
- Cathy: You had four children, mother. Have you forgotten already? One of them died last week and you poisoned him.
- Mother: LIAR! Don't listen to her!
- Bart Winslow: What proof do you have of what you're saying?
- [the three children slowly approach their mother and grandfather as everyone goes silent, Chris takes out a paper bag and tosses a dead mouse out of it to his mother, Cathy then tosses the pieces of poisoned cookies to her as well before tossing the empty bag at her]
- Chris: It died--just like our brother did--from eating those. We've eaten them, too, for all the times we were locked upstairs, in the attic.
- [the grandfather shows pity to the children before giving his daughter a look of accusation]
- Mother: It's not true! He's lying! I've never seen these children before in my life!
- [Bart watches on beginning to believe this]
- Mother: [to her father] Why won't you believe me!
- [the grandfather hurts her arm more as he forces her down to her knees]
- Mother: [cries] Oh, Papa, please! Haven't I been a good girl? All I ever did was what you wanted! I couldn't keep them--you wouldn't let me! You didn't give me a choice! Aren't I entitled to a life, Papa?
- Cathy: [shouts] MOTHER!
- [Corinne looks at Cathy]
- Chris: [sadly] We loved you, mom... and you murdered us.
- Cathy: [furiously] For this!
- [everyone goes silent still, the grandfather and Bart glare at Corinne believing everything, the three children leave the room]
- Mother: [faintly] THAT'S NOT TRUE! SHE'S LYING! WHY WON'T YOU BELIEVE ME!
- Mother: The boys will sleep in one bed, Corinne, the girls in the other.
- Carrie Dollanganger: But I wanna sleep with Cory, Mama...
- Grandmother: Stop your whimpering, young lady, and listen to me. As long as you're in this house, you will abide by my rules. You will not yell, or cry, or run about. And when your mother and I leave this room, we will lock this door behind us.
- Mother: Mother, please, my children... You can't expect them to...
- Grandmother: What I expect, Corinne, is that they will do *precisely* as I've instructed.
- Mother: [to her children] Listen up, all of you. Behave, and obey your grandmother. And never, never give her any reason, any reason to punish you.
- [eyes wet]
- Mother: Please? Please do this. Make it seem like a game. Like a wonderful adventure.
- Cathy: Why are you crying, Mother?
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