SINNER’S MOON Podcast Episode 7 - DREAMS OF DEATH
By
Frank Juchniewicz
2021 Frank Horror, LLC
SINNER’S MOON PODCAST EPISODE 7 - DREAMS OF DEATH
SCENE 1: A GREAT AND TERRIBLE
SIGNIFICANCE
INT. GIRLS’ APARTMENT - NIGHT
NARRATOR
The police, now searching for the missing Christine, have their suspicions and seem to be zeroing in on Everett Nicholas. Robin and Brianna fear the worst and struggle to come to grips with the thought that Christine may have been murdered. Meanwhile, with their band falling apart, only Dylan and Everett remain in Thorne Manor -- that is, until Everett sacrifices Dylan by hacking him to death with an ax at the feet of The Tattooed Woman. Only two sacrifices to go, she tells Everett, insinuating that he use his newfound powers over dreams to summon Robin and Brianna back to Thorne Manor and to their deaths. Once this is done, The Tattooed Woman claims, the doors to true power will open. Desperate to escape the police, to complete his journey to power, Everett calls to them. And, as a result, Robin awakens in the night to discover Brianna sleepwalking her way to the front door of their apartment.
ROBIN
Brianna?... Hey, girl...
BRIANNA
This is a dream. We’re not here. We’re in the house.
We’re in the house right now, and we’re in danger...
Robin, you’ve got to wake up.
(URGENT, ECHOING AND RESONANT)
Wake up!
NARRATOR
Brianna steps out into the night, pulling the door shut behind her.
SOUND: DOOR CLOSING ABRUPTLY.
ROBIN
Brianna!
NARRATOR
Robin gives chase, flinging open the front door and plunging headlong after Brianna. But instead of finding herself on the sidewalk, she stands before a vast forest so thick and foreboding that the moonlight scarcely pierces its canopy. Her mind reeling to make sense of this new landscape, she retreats towards the
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: | 2.
NARRATOR (cont’d)
safety of her apartment door only to find it gone. Where her apartment door should be, instead, she sees a thicket of underbrush and tall grass sloping upwards to a stretch of lonely, rural road. Robin furrows her brow, taking in her new surroundings, struggling to make sense of where she could be, exactly, and how she got here. And Brianna, who had been no more than a few paces ahead of her, is nowhere in sight. How could this possibly be real, she thinks. How could this be anything but a dream? And yet the clarity of Robin’s thoughts defy the soft logic of dreams. The tickle of crushed grass beneath her bare feet, a few errant blades sprouting upwards between her toes... No dream holds this level of detailed sensation.
SOUND: THE DISTANT SOUND OF A CAR PULLING UP AND SLOWING TO A HALT ON THE ROAD. THE ENGINE CUTS OFF.
NARRATOR
On the distant stretch of road a police cruiser pulls over to a stop. Out steps Police Chief Moreno, standing by the driver’s side of his vehicle and scanning the area intently, searching for something. As he turns in her direction, his gaze moves right past her and she’s struck by the realization that can’t see her standing here in the gloom.
ROBIN
(YELLING)
HEY! HEYYYYY!!! Over here!
NARRATOR
She waves her arms frantically in an attempt to make herself more visible, but oddly enough despite the din she raises, he neither sees nor hears her. In resignation, Chief Moreno climbs back into his vehicle.
SOUND: DISTANT CAR DOOR SHUTTING. ENGINE BEING TURNED ON.
ROBIN
No,no,NO! Wait! I’m right here, I’m right here!...
Dammit!
NARRATOR
The police cruiser pulls away, the red tail lights shrinking until they slip off into the flat line of the horizon. Robin stands alone with the thick curtain of woods at her back -- those woods, immense and foreboding, now coming alive with the echo of voices.
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: | 3.
THE TATTOOED WOMAN & CALEB THORNE
(CHANTING IN UNISON, DISTANT AT FIRST)
Challah abe-atay! Onnog ohn Thule!
Challah abe-atay! Onnog ohn Thule!
ROBIN
Turning to follow the sound of the voices, Robin presses into the thicket of trees, weaving through the underbrush and ducking past the grasping claws of bramble.
THE TATTOOED WOMAM & CALEB THORNE
(CHANTING IN UNISON, GROWING CLOSER AND CLOSER)
Challah abe-atay! Onnog ohn Thule!
Challah abe-atay! Onnog ohn Thule!
NARRATOR
Pushing onwards, the trees here grow so dense they choke off any last vestige of moonlight. After several wary steps in near blackness, they begin to thin again, allowing a glimmer of silvery light, and then more and more until the treeline yields to a clearing. And inside this vast clearing, an oasis within the nighttime forest, she finds a sprawling crumble of ruins. The stone vestiges hint of larger structures that stood in this place - perhaps even one massive stone building, like a church or temple perhaps. A site that, even in its decay, resonates with a great and terrible significance. The moon floats full and bright overhead, adding an otherworldly feel to the landscape here... wherever here may be.
THE TATTOOED WOMAM & CALEB THORNE (CHANTING IN UNISON, VERY CLOSE NOW) Challah abe-atay! Onnog ohn Thule!
Challah abe-atay! Onnog ohn Thule!
NARRATOR
A man and two women cavort within the ruins, chanting and laying their hands on the jagged stone structures around them, their pale nude bodies catching the moonlight. Robin finds herself most drawn to the stunning beauty of the woman with raven-dark hair and a sinewy body filled with tattoos. The second woman, equally as striking, mouths along to the words of the chant but does not speak. This second woman is mute - of this Robin is certain, but yet she’s unsure how she knows this. And the man who leads the chant, whose gestures and movements they mimic, emanates an aura of menace, his voice steeped with power.
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 4.
ROBIN
(TO HERSELF)
Caleb Thorne. Caleb Thorne and his priestesses. The ones that went missing.
NARRATOR
This is what she thinks to herself, but her thoughts resonate audibly as if spoken.
(THORNE ABRUPTLY CEASES HIS CHANTING AND THE TATTOOED WOMAN TRAILS OFF, FOLLOWING SUIT)
NARRATOR
And then, on cue, hearing his name in her projected thoughts, Caleb Thorne stops chanting and turns to lock eyes with her. Caught in his gaze, an unmistakable dread bubbles up within Robin. To her right, from behind a rocky outcropping of the ruins, yet another nude woman emerges and slowly shuffles towards her.
ROBIN
....Christine. Oh my god...
NARRATOR
Her missing roommate stands before her, with empty eyes floating above her dazed expression.
ROBIN
Christine, what happened to you? Where are we?... Is this a dream?
CHRISTINE
(SPEAKING SLOWLY, STUNTEDLY AS IF IT TAKES EFFORT)
Everett...
ROBIN
Everett? What about Everett?
CHRISTINE
Everett...KILLED...me.
ROBIN
(ON THE VERGE OF HYSTERICS)
No. No.
SOUND: A THUDDING CRACK - THE SOUND OF AN AXE CHOPPING INTO HER HEAD.
NARRATOR
In a sudden, violent jerk, Christine’s body goes rigid, her head thrusting sideways at an sharp angle. The top of her skull splits and cracks open as if struck by some unseen blade. Blood gushes from the catastrophic
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(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: | 5.
NARRATOR (cont’d)
opening of her head,coating her face in a wash of red, pooling in her eye sockets and rushing down to her chin. Blood rains down from her,a perverse human fountain spouting from the wound in her head.
SOUND: A SECOND CHOP OF THE AXE, WETTER THIS TIME AND MEETING LESS BONE RESISTANCE.
NARRATOR
Another violent twitch of her head as a second phantom strike savages her. And yet her body remains standing upright despite this blow nearly cleaving her skull in half.
ROBIN
(TERRIFIED SOBS)
NARRATOR
The assault on Christine only intensifies with Robin helpless to stop it.
SOUND: A SERIES OF FURIOUS AXE BLOWS, WET AND STICKY, SEVERING LIMBS, HACKING THROUGH FLESH AND MUSCLE.
NARRATOR
Next, a deep chop to Christine’s shoulder leaves her arm to twirl and dangle by a few bloody sinews and strings of muscle. Chopped again, and this time the arm tumbles to the grass. Then her other arm is sheared off, this one cleanly felled by a single blow. And then her head tilts forward and drops off, severed horizontally at the neck until all that remains is a grisly torso teetering atop two legs. Still standing somehow, this headless, armless body wobbles and then finally crumples into a heap on the ground. And still the brutal, invisible assault continues. Chop, chop, chop until both legs are separated from the body.
ROBIN
(LETS OUT A SCREAM, HORSE AT FIRST UNTIL IT FINDS IS FOOTING)
NARRATOR
From some untapped reservoir deep within Robin feels a knot of dread and horror rising up, forming into something “other”, some sort of creature separate from her, but climbing up now, faster and faster towards her mouth, scrabbling to get out, hollowing her out as it goes. When it wrenches her mouth open, when it springs free, it comes in the form of a scream - a scream birthed in terror, a scream in a voice she barely recognizes as her own. And then it takes flight, shrieking its way through the forest.
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 6.
ROBIN
(LETS OUT A SCREAM, HORSE AT FIRST UNTIL IT FINDS IS FOOTING)
NARRATOR
The silence left in its wake is profound. In that silence Robin realizes the center of attention has shifted away from the pile of Christine’s body parts, inert and bleeding at her feet. The three nude occultists now eye her up with hungry grins. Their faces telegraph the harm they intend to do her and the magnitude of danger in which she now finds herself. Among their ranks, it is The Tattooed Woman who stalks towards her like a predator taking measure of its prey before it pounces. RUN! - a flash of instinct like a jolt of electricity through her nerve endings. Robin turns to flee, her thoughts racing but her body caught in slow motion. As it happens in nightmares where she’s being chased, the rest of the world proceeds at regular speed, her pursuer gaining ground while she struggles to move at a snail’s pace.
(MAKING TERRIFIED STRUGGLING NOISES)
NARRATOR
With all her might, Robin wills her legs to work, to move faster, to escape this unseen morass as she anticipates The Tattooed Woman reaching her any moment now... And then her feet gain traction. Freed from the slow-trap of the dream, Robin sprints headlong into the woods before of her. From somewhere very close behind, The Tattooed Woman calls out.
THE TATTOOED WOMAN
Marco!... Marco!... You can’t hide from us, little one.
SOUND: FOOTSTEPS RUNNING ON THE FOREST FLOOR, UNDERBRUSH BEING JOSTLED AND RUSTLING AS SHE PLOWS THROUGH IT
ROBIN
(PANTING AS SHE RUNS)
NARRATOR
Sprinting through the woods now as fast as her legs can carry her, Robin loses the light through the canopy of trees overhead. She’s running full speed through pitch black. Without any idea of where she’s going, without being able to see the trees in front of her, Robin slows to a halt. Effectively blind, she shuffle-steps forward and reaches her hands out ahead of her, groping in the dark to find something to grasp onto, to guide her. The forest is thick with trees; she knows that she’s surrounded by them and that if she just reaches far enough in any direction she should be able to touch
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(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: | 7.
NARRATOR (cont’d)
one. Her probing fingers should be able to find the ridged bark of their trunks, but yet all the feel is empty space.
ROBIN
(TO HERSELF)
Where am I???
NARRATOR
Shambling forth, Robin regains the light and with it a new perspective as the trees around her once again come into view. Just ahead, the forest comes to a sudden halt and Robin steps out from the treeline, shocked to find herself transported now to the grounds of Thorne Manor. These abrupt landscape shifts don’t connect in any rational or sane way. It’s these sudden jumps in setting, characteristic of dreams that leave Robin questioning again whether any of this is real. Although it feels dreamlike, she concludes that this is no dream. It’s a gut feeling that tells her all of this is really happening. And so she finds herself, once again, facing down Thorne Manor. Standing at the back edge of the property, she eyes the rear of the house. With the cluster of trees behind her, to her left the property slopes down to the cliff that stands poised high above the dark, sluggish waters of Lake Cayuga.
NARRATOR
A breeze lifts off the lake below and chills the droplets of sweat on her skin. She shudders at its cool caress and wonders if Brianna has found here way back here, as well. If so, she has to find her. She has to get her out of the house and back to safety. Suddenly, at the periphery of her vision, shadows begin to move. Cats - a multitude of them - slink between the trees slipping from one pool of gloom to the next, their movements offering just a glimpse of their numbers. She can feel many more of them lurking, unseen, waiting for something. Robin scans the windows of the house, hoping for a glimpse of the interior, but the lights are all off; the house sits dark and brooding, daring her to enter. Not one to back down from a challenge, Robin drops a hand into the pocket of her pajama shorts and, reassured by the feel of the canister of mace spray, she sets her sights on the back door.
ROBIN
(TO HERSELF)
Okay... Okay.
(SIGHS)
Here we go. I’m coming, Brianna.
8.
SCENE 2: THE DREAMS OF DEATH
INT. THORNE MANOR, KITCHEN -
CONTINUOUS
NARRATOR
With a purpose, Robin marches through the grass towards Thorne Manor. She slips in through the back door and carefully tiptoes through the house in search of Brianna, scanning the darkness as she moves from room to room. This all feels vaguely familiar, as if she’s lived this moment before. While in one of the hallways on the first floor, Robin moves past a large window overlooking the yard, and through it she catches sight of a gathering of cats. They have approached the house en masse and sit perched in the grass outside. Their vantage point affords them a view through the window, and so they watch in silent anticipation, their eyes fixed collectively on Robin like an audience gathered for a big show. This momentary distraction, she realizes, has drawn her attention away from what’s happening in the hallway before her... WAIT! She’s had this dream before - the decapitation dream! This is how she dies. Robin doesn’t need to see the shirtless figure in a wooden tribal mask rounding the corner to know that he’s coming.
SOUND: BARE FEET ON THE FLOOR RUSHING TOWARDS HER
EVERETT
(A PRIMAL ROAR)
NARRATOR
A blur of motion rushes towards her. Without hesitation - realizing now what’s happening and anticipating it - Robin knows to duck. And so she dodges just in time.
The ax blade cuts the air inches above her head, the breeze of its wake swatting her hair, a testament to how narrowly she just avoided her own death. Having missed its target, momentum carries the ax blade and plunges it into a deep gash in the drywall.
SOUND: AN AX HEAD BEING CHOPPING DEEP INTO DRYWALL
NARRATOR
She turns on her heels and runs. Gritting his teeth behind the tribal mask, Everett yanks on the ax handle, laboring to dislodge it from the wall.
SOUND: EVERETT GRUNTING AND THE AX BEING RIPPED FREE OF THE DRYWALL AFTER A FEW QUICK PULLS
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 9.
ROBIN
(PANTING AS SHE RUNS, DREAD RISING IN HER UNINTELLIGIBLE UTTERANCES)
NARRATOR
In a mad dash, Robin makes it to the front door and frantically turns the knob, but the door is locked.
ROBIN
Come on, come on!
SOUND: FRENZIED DOORKNOB TURNING, THE FLAT OF HER FREE HAND POUDNING ON THE DOOR
NARRATOR
The interior key for the deadbolt lock has been removed. This is dead end. She pulls out her mace, ready to fight if she must. Spinning around, Robin readies herself for another sprint though the house and to the back door, but what she sees stops her in her tracks. From another entrance at the far end of the living room, near the hallway Robin just fled, her roommate wanders in. Brianna, dressed only in her sleeping shorts and tee shirt, her hair rumpled as if she just awoke, flutters her eyelashes and offers a quizical frown.
BRIANNA
Robin?... How did we get here? Is this a dream...?
NARRATOR
Unaware of the perilous situation unfolding, Brianna fails to see Everett in the tribal mask stalking her from behind.
ROBIN
Brianna! LOOK OUT!!!
NARRATOR
The warning comes too late. Brianna reacts too slowly. The ax comes down, dealing a vicious blow to the flesh between her neck and shoulder.
SOUND: THE AX HITTING A BODY
ROBIN
(SHRIEKS)
NARRATOR
Her eyes pop open wide, a mix of shock and confusion. When Everetet withdraws the ax, it’s as if a stopper has been pulled loose and blood sprays from her.
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 10.
SOUND: A WET, SUCKING SOUND. BLOOD RAINING DOWN. BRIANNA MAKING A SUCKING SOUND AS SHE GASPS FOR BREATH
NARRATOR
Beneath the impact of a second ax blow to the back, Brianna spills to the floor like a pile of meat. Robin’s sole focus narrows to Brianna’s eyes, impossibly wide with shock, imploring her in a silent plea for help. Her eyes pull to Robin and, in response, unaware she’s even doing so, Robin finds herself stepping towards her. As Brianna gasps she holds aloft her bloody fingers, as if reaching towards Robin. Her eyes are the center of everything in that moment and looking away is impossible. Robin remains aware of the rest of what’s happening, but only experiences it in vague impressions: Everett stepping on Brianna’s back and pulling to dislodge the ax blade; a sickening gush of blood as it comes free; Everett standing over her, swinging the ax again, and again, hacking her to death; an expanding pool of crimson around her body.
SOUND: THE AX REPEATEDLY HITTING A BODY, ITS BLOWS SOUNDING WETTER EACH TIME AS IT HITS BLOODY SECTIONS. BRIANNA’S CRIES IN RESPONSE TO EACH BLOW. ROBIN’S STRANGLED CRIES AS SHE WATCHES HER FRIEND BEING HACKED TO DEATH.
NARRATOR
Brianna’s death spasms and convulsions thankfully breaks the eye contact between the two friends and the lock that it held on Robin is released. She’s beyond help. It’s only when Robin’s bare foot squishes down, in the warm, wet carpet soaked with blood that she fully snaps back to her senses. Realizing now just how close she’s drifted to Everett and Brianna, it’s clear that she, herself, is within striking distance of the ax. But Everett is so caught up in the work of his butchery that she realizes this before he does. Robin takes off in a mad scramble for the back door.
SOUND: AX CHOPPING A WET SACK OF FLESH. ROBIN’S FOOTSTEPS AS SHE GRACELESSLY TAKES OFF RUNNING
NARRATOR
From behind her, in the living room the chopping stops and the murderous footfalls of Everett give chase. With death hot on her heels, Robin dashes through the kitchen, her blood-coated foot skidding wildly on the tiled floor, slowing her only momentarily. She plants her other foot, regains her balance and charges through the back door.
SOUND: FOOTSTEPS RACING THROUGH THE KITCHEN FOLLOWED BY LARGER, HEAVIER FOOTSTEPS. THE CLAMORING OF THE BACK DOOR SLAMMING OPEN.
11.
SCENE 3: THE DREAMER REVEALED
(EXT. THORNE MANOR, BACK YARD - NIGHT)
SOUND: ROBIN PANTING AS SHE RUNS. THE BACK DOOR SLAMS OPEN AGAIN, WITH A BIGGER BANG THIS TIME.
SOUND: ROBIN CRASHING SAVAGELY TO THE GROUND WITH A SOFT THUD AND GETTING THE WIND KNOCKED OUT OF HER.
NARRATOR
As her feet meet the grass outside, the sound of the back door slamming open signals that he’s gained ground. With every bit of strength in her reserves, Robin leans into the sprint and pushes herself as fast as she can go. As she rounds the back of the house, she keeps the dark treeline to her right. Once she makes it to the long driveway out front it’s a straight shot to the road beyond. But before she can make it that far, her feet collide with something heavy and low to the ground. Running at this speed, focused on her escape route, Robin failed to spot the hazard that tripped her up. With momentum carrying her forward and, without her feet out front to catch her, the ground rushes up.
SOUND: ROBIN CRASHING SAVAGELY TO THE GROUND WITH A SOFT THUD AND GETTING THE WIND KNOCKED OUT OF HER.
NARRATOR
When it hits, it hits her hard, knocking the wind out of her body and dislodging the mace spray from her grasp. She finds herself face-down in the grass, sucking air and losing precious time. As she struggles to reorient herself, Robin discovers what she tripped over: the body of the lead guitarist, Dylan, lies face-up in the yard, a trail of blood tracing the path through the grass where he had been dragged and left. His eyes and mouth - the mouth that had laid kisses on her lips and all over her body - were fixed open as if frozen in that final expression of surprise when death claimed him. It took a matter of seconds for her to take in this sight, but seconds lost was all it took for Everett to come bounding around the corner after her. In a fury of motion, the shirtless figure in the crazed tribal mask closes the gap between them.
SOUND: A RUSH OF FOOTSTEPS IN THE GRASS FURTHER OFF BUT RUSHING CLOSER AND CLOSER.
NARRATOR
Dylan’s corpse forgotten, Robin scrambles to her feet as Everett bears down upon her, hoisting the ax high above his head, ready to strike. He’s just too fast. By
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 12.
NARRATOR (cont’d)
the time she gets her feet under her, he has her. Robin
flinches, bracing for the blow of the blade. But as he
charges and plants his foot to swing the ax, he steps
in the trail of blood-slicked grass behind Dylan.
Without traction his legs split, jutting off in two
very different and unnatural directions.
EVERETT
(YELPS IN AND SURPRISE)
NARRATOR
The wet pop of his tendon ripping underscores the severity of his fall. The ax lands behind him, out of his reach. Everett writhes on the lawn and clutches his thigh. Now’s her chance. Robin turns to bolt, but a hand shoots out and latches tightly around her ankle.
EVERETT
(ANIMALISTICLY, THROUGH GRITTED TEETH)
AAAAAAHHHHHH!
NARRATOR
She kicks at Everett, struggling to wrench herself free from his grip. But with his mad determination comes strength. He yanks her towards him, pulling her off-balance just long enough to land his second hand around the same ankle. Her heart hammering in her chest, Robin’s kicks become desperate flails. Even with his mangled legs trailing behind him, her strength is no match for Everett’s.
ROBIN
(GRUNTING AS SHE KICKS AND STRUGGLES)
SOUND: THE SOUND OF ROBIN’S BODY THUDDING BACK TO THE GROUND. KICKING AND STRUGGLING IN THE GRASS
NARRATOR
Slowly gaining the upper hand, Everett yanks with such a force that her feet go out from under her and once again she finds herself prone in the grass, but now he’s got a firm hold of her. Robin fights, kicking with renewed purpose, her bare feet landing blows on his masked head and shoulders. Batting aside her kicks, Everett’s grip shifts from her ankle to her shirt, latching on and hoisting himself up on top of her, overpowering her. As he slides over her, pinning her down beneath his weight, one of his hands finds her neck. Then the other. He manages to straddle her midsection, despite his damaged legs, and presses her down into the grass by her throat.
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 13.
ROBIN
(HER GRUNTS AND CRIES ARE STRANGLED OFF INTO A CHOKING GURGLE)
EVERETT
I’ve got you!... I’ve GOT you!
NARRATOR
She bucks her hips, trying to toss him off, but he’s too heavy. He holds tight, driving his thumbs further and further into her windpipe. She swings at him, ripping the tribal mask from his face, but this only seems to delight him more.
EVERETT
Yeah, that’s right! I want you to see!
NARRATOR
His face glistens with sweat, his lips curled back to expose his clenched teeth. Everett’s eyes float with a murderous lunacy as he strangles the life out of her. She claws at his fingers in a futile attempt to pry them loose. The sound of her own gasps and gurgles terrify her, but her strength is draining away rapidly.
EVERETT
(GLEEFULLY)
You’re getting weaker now, aren’t you? Yes, you are...
Stop fighting it. Go to sleep bitch.
ROBIN
(STRANGLING NOISES)
NARRATOR
He leans on her throat with all of his weight, crushing off the last little thread of air. Her vision clouds as her arms grow heavy and drop to her sides. He’s killing her.
ROBIN
(STRANGLING NOISES GROWING WEAKER AND FAINTER)
NARRATOR
Her heartbeat reverberates through her head, growing metallic and muted. Black dots begin to swirl around the periphery of her vision as her life slips away. She becomes vaguely aware of a crowd of cats gathering in the grass around them, encircling them. They’ve come to witness a murder. Everett says something, but she’s lost her focus and all the world has gone fuzzy.
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 14.
EVERETT
(SAYS SOMETHING IN A TAUNTING MANNER BUT IT’S MUFFLED AND DISTANT)
NARRATOR
As her body jerks in small spasms, her fingers, tingling with an encroaching numbness bump into something hard and small in the grass. She grasps it, this small plastic casing. The mace canister. With the last vestiges of her strength, Robin holds it aloft, aims blindly at the blurry figure atop her and compresses the trigger.
SOUND: SILENCE. A FEW BEATS OF NOTHING BUT ABSOLUTE SILENCE OR MAYBE A HIGH PITCHED TONE OR A HEARTBEAT. THEN THE DISTANT, MUFFLED SOUNDS OF EVERETT COUGHING AND SHRIEKING IN RAGE COME BACK INTO CLARITY, ALONG WITH THE SOUNDS OF ROBIN COUGHING AND GASPING.
NARRATOR
With the pressure off of her windpipe now, Robin gulps air through her bruised throat, coughing it back out almost as quickly. Meanwhile, Everett kneels, doubled over low to the ground and howling in pain. His hands - the same hands that moments ago were clamped around her neck - are now covering his eyes and his puffy, red face. A thick stream of tears and snot and phlehgm cascade from his nose and mouth. Robin scoots backwards through the grass, careful not to turn her back on him. Still the cats surround them in a circular ring, poised and watching, their luminous eyes eager for more violence.
EVERETT
AHHHHHH! You bitch! I’ll kill you, I’ll KILL you!
NARRATOR
Robin’s vision struggles for clarity, as if the pressure of being throttled has bulged her eyes out of focus. She fights back dizziness and rises to stand, but her legs falter weakly and she topples back to the ground. Everett peels his hands from his face to reveal the swollen flesh around the slits of his eyes red and raw like meat from the butcher’s slab.
EVERETT
(GROANING IN AGONY)
NARRATOR
A nude woman emerges from behind him. Striding with a feline grace on long, lithe legs, the Tattooed Woman steps over the perched cats and enters their circle. She is, at once, both alluring and threatening, and
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: | 15.
NARRATOR (cont’d)
when she speaks there is madness crouched behind her voice. Robin considers bolting again, but thinks better of challenging her.
THE TATTOOED WOMAN
(TO ROBIN)
Well, well. Hello there. Just look at you!
EVERETT
We’ve got her. I’ve done what you asked. Help me...
Help me finish this.
THE TATTOOED WOMAN
Not now, the adults are talking.
EVERETT
You told me... you told me to kill them and I did.
She’s the last one.
THE TATTOOED WOMAN
Oh baby Everett, you try to so hard! You do, and yet still you fail... But I knew you would. I was counting on it.
EVERETT
What? What are you saying?
THE TATTOOED WOMAN
You really thought I was going to peel back the veil and open up a world of secrets and power to you? Aww, that’s so tragically cute! I can see how maybe I led you on a little, didn’t I?... Oops. No, silly. This was never meant for you. You’re not the one we wanted, but you were the lure to bring her to us.
(CONDESCENDINGLY)
And you did that right, so there’s some consolation.
Your life did have some meaning. You brought her to us.
You brought us The Dreamer.
ROBIN
You wanted me... I don’t understand.
THE TATTOOED WOMAN
You will. You’ll understand everything there is, in time.
NARRATOR
The circle of cats tense in their crouches, ready to move at a moment’s notice. In a slow, sweeping gesture, The Tattooed Woman extends her hand to Robin, nodding for her to take it.
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 16.
THE TATTOOED WOMAN
Come, my dear. Now you’re conditioned. Now you are ready, and there is so much for you to learn.
EVERETT
No! No, it’s not fair! It’s supposed to be me!... You can’t take her! I won’t let you!
NARRATOR
The Tattooed Woman pays him no heed. Instead, she holds Robin’s gaze, unflinching. Robin recognizes the power behind her offer - the true power. But even more importantly, by grasping the hand of The Tattooed Woman, she can take from Everett what he so desperately wants- what he killed her friends to get, and his own friend, as well. Yes, to take that extended hand would deprive him of that... and so she reaches out and grasps the offered hand. And with their hands now clasped, a smirk blossoms on the face of The Tattooed Woman - a new pact is sealed.
EVERETT
NOOOOOO!
NARRATOR
The shot of mace spray had blurred his vision into a prism of colors and shapes and wracking pain, but it hadn’t blinded him completely. Squinting through his tears, Everett manages to spot the ax in the grass just off to his right. He dives for it, but as soon as he moves the cats spring into action.
SOUND: A MULTITUDE OF CATS HISSING AND MEWLING VIOLENTLY.
EVERETT
(SCREAMS)
SOUND: AS HIS SCREAMS DIE OFF THE HISSING, MEWLING CATS GRADUALLY GROW SILENT.
NARRATOR
A horde of cats swarm in unison, pouncing on him, finding any exposed space to sink their teeth and to claw and rend. He cries out, fights back, but they overcome him easily. A writhing, rolling mess of claws and fur and blood and agony. A torturous death as they rip his face, his eyes, his throat. They shred his groin, his back, and his belly. They rip and tear until his screams go silent and the shuddering mass of fur falls quietly into the grass. Climbing off the gory remains of Everett, the cats park themselves on the lawn to lick the blood from their paws and fur. Leaving the scene of the mauling behind, Robin walks
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: | 17.
NARRATOR (cont’d)
hand-in-hand with the Tattooed Woman. They head for the treeline at the rear of the property and then fold into the darkness beyond. Together they head for savage, new territories where dreams and nightmares form the connective tissue between worlds, and terrible truths wait to be uncovered... where the full moon that scrapes the bottom of the sky over the old stone ruins knows all of your secrets, and all your sins are laid bare... This is the gospel of Robin, The Dreamer... Goodnight, my dear ones. Sweet dreams.
THE END