Muein Mystery School Adventures
Muein Mystery School Adventures is a one-of-a-kind audio experience that blends mystery, adventure, and deep spiritual wisdom into a compelling journey.
Following the path of seekers who enter the enigmatic Muein Mystery School, the series unravels ancient teachings, esoteric lessons, and personal transformations — all wrapped in immersive storytelling.
Like The Mandalorian, and the early 1970’s breakout hit show, Kung Fu, Muein Mystery School Adventures follows characters who wander through landscapes both physical and metaphysical, encountering challenges that test their wisdom, courage, and inner mastery. Each episode is rich with cinematic atmosphere, reflective moments of insight, and thrilling encounters that reveal hidden truths.
If you love stories of lone seekers and secret knowledge — tales that entertain while inviting you to reflect on your own journey — then Muein Mystery School Adventures is a must-listen. It’s more than an audio drama; it’s an initiation into a world of mystery and meaning.
"Surrender Not the Flame" is the first chronicle in the Muein Mystery School adventure series, set amid the backdrop of humanity's worst recorded pandemic, the Black Death. Cinematic in presentation. Bold in storytelling. Captivating in consciousness.
Season 2 "Eye of the Beholders" continues with an all-new adventure, where the very life and knowledge of the Muein is at risk to be used in controlling all of Europe.
NOTE: No A.I. has been used in writing or developing these stories -- these are original, organic, and carefully scripted. However, A.I. is used to bring the character voices to life, though each line is read by a real human!
Muein Mystery School Adventures
EPISODE 4: Darkness of the Storm
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Giovanni’s father runs Elouan off the property, accusing him of being possessed by the devil. Meanwhile, Rachel witnesses the full ravaging effects of the plague on the city’s populace. Her experience with Elouan makes her wonder if he might be able to help her closest friends, but first she must find a way out of the city, as the town’s gate has been closed for the new purpose of quarantine.
MUSIC ACCREDITATION TO:
| Alon Peretz - A Forest Dark
| Alon Peretz - All Hope Abandon
| Alon Peretz - Fire and Ice
| Alon Peretz - Kings Requiem
| Alon Peretz - Pleasure and Pain
| Amit Weiner - Mountain of Doom
| Ardie Son - Sunken Days
| Birraj - Figments
| DaniHaDani - Secret No 3
| Dr. Paranoid - 1989 The Prequel
| Hagai Davidoff - Until We Meet Again
| Ian Post - The Hollow
| Idokay - Cicada Killer
| Jan Sanejko - New Lands
| Master Minded - Bliss
| Matthias Forster - Gate to Eternity
| Matthias Forster - Prophecy
| Matthias Forster - With Odins Help
| Maya Belsitzman & Matan Ephrat - The Horizon
| Quinten Coblentz - Genesis
| Roie Shpigler - Lockdown
| Roie Shpigler - The Dark Forest
| Stephen Keech - The Progression of Time
| Tilman Sillescu - Courage and Strength
| Tilman Sillescu - Wait and See
| Timan Sillescu - There is No Time
WEBSITE: https://www.muein-adventures.com/
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EXT. JUNCTION - DAY
The duke's event was enough to convince Amiria and Herault
not to return to the city for Mass the following weeks. It
was clear, other members of the farming community were also
avoiding the town. They did their best to distract themselves
with the chores of the fields, but couldn't ignore the ringing
of the cathedral bell in response to announcing a
parishioner's death. After a few weeks, the chiming seemed
non-stop. What's more, Elouan noticed an influx of more
carrion birds flying near. He could also sense the rise of
emotional grieving from the walled village.
As he stood atop the hillside staring down at the city, it
appeared the sky itself seemed to mourn. Heavy gray clouds
hung like a thick blanket, blocking out the sun, while a
flight of crows swirled above the city.
Elouan sunk his feet deeper into the earth, rooting himself,
hoping the grounding would give him the strength needed as
he sensed the heaviness of death bloating. He knew the stench
of rot was already present within the town's walls, otherwise
there wouldn't be so many crows scouting. He mentally reached
for the birds, hoping to catch a glimpse of what they might
be seeing by blending into their essences. It wasn't easy.
Already distracted by the virulence of the pestilence itself,
he struggled to push the horror aside from his mind in order
to shift awareness to the crows.
(First only a single crow cawed, but the others soon
followed). The birds swiftly coalesced into a fantastic,
unified organism and darted toward the hillside, looking
like a gigantic black undulating wave preparing to strike in
a calamitous tsunami.
Giovanni and Fina rose up from the field, stunned at what
they were witnessing. The rest of Giovanni's family also
took note. Amiria gaped in a silent scream.
Elouan held steady. The cluster swelled, sending livestock
and farmers scrambling.
AMIRIA
Get in the house!
HERAUT
Run!
Fina fell to her knees and covered her head in the hopes she
might be shielded from the assault.
The swarm dispersed seconds before slamming into Elouan.
They spread out in a colossal fan of fluttering black rays,
as if the Muein Guardian were wearing some kind of invisible
armor which forced them to veer around him.
Fina stood and passed an awed look with Giovanni. They simply
couldn't comprehend what their eyes were telling them. Elouan
remained unharmed in the center of an apocalyptic whirlpool
of avian. The horde circled around him like the funnel of a
tornado, then stretched away from his crown like pulled resin
being drawn back into the sky. Within moments, the horizon
of the hillside cleared, with the Alpine guardian remaining
steadfast and completely untouched.
Fina brought a fist to her chest - a literal movement of her
heart captured by him.
Heraut raced out of the cottage with a hatchet raised above
his head.
HERAUT
You're the Devil!
GIOVANNI
No! No! You don't want to do that!
ELOUAN
I am no devil. But in knowing how
you fear me -- no matter how misplaced --
I shall leave you.
GIOVANNI
No!
HERAUT
Guillaume, get his stuff.
Guillaume, along with Amiria and the remaining children, had
stayed trembling in the cottage doorway watching the assault
unfold. Guillaume warily stepped out and headed toward the
sheep barn. He cast a grim face, worried if Elouan might
exact some sort of curse for assisting in removing him from
the premises.
HERAUT
You do things that are holy unnatural.
Only possessed by Satan can you be.
ELOUAN
Is it not more unnatural to sever
the fingers from your own hand, as
you have done of yourself from the
other organs of the body we call
earth? Flowers do not bloom without
the solicitation from the bees.
These are not two separate things,
but the action of a united organism.
You separate yourself from all else,
in a very unbalanced, selfish way.
You look down upon nature, without
the realization that you are actually
part and parcel of it and communicate
with it at every level. If you truly
believe you are disconnected, what
poison that breeds, and when taken
to its greatest extreme, you will
only fulfill that belief by
permanently disconnecting yourself
through the ending of your own life.
For many, this process has just begun.
I implore you, your God may be your
Father, but don't ignore your equally
valid connection to your Mother, who
has brought form to your Father's
Great Spirit ... through all this.
Do not think there is emptiness
between the space of my skin to yours,
or your spirit to that of any living
thing. That is a trick of the eyes,
and confuses your mind.
Guillaume returned with Elouan's sack. He kept a safe distance
as he handed it over. Elouan took it without any offense,
instead gazing warmly at Giovanni.
ELOUAN
Stay safe. During this pestilence,
remain to yourself. If one of you
gets sick, all of you may be in
danger. This is the overall result
coming THROUGH nature ... of poison.
(MARCHING OFF)
INT. COBBLER SHOP - DAY
As the owner of the cobblery, Umfrey wasn't sure how much
longer to risk offering services. He and Rachel glanced at
the closed door, imagining what despair must lie on the other
side. The elder turned his focus on the pair of dusty sandals
hanging on the wall before him.
UMFREY
Sweet love, help them if you can.
RACHEL
Poppa...?
UMFREY
It has already been more than a week
since the Chaveu boys passed, and
two weeks since deWary's wife, and
we are fine.
RACHEL
But the bells ring more and more
every day.
UMFREY
We are not sinners. God will protect
us.
Rachel hoped he was right, but it did not still the turmoil
tossing about her inner spirit. Neither she nor her father
had visited friends or others since the duke's party. They
continued to attend Mass, but came and left as soon as
possible, noting with each passing week how many more pews
were sitting empty. Rachel dreadfully worried that the ringing
of the bell could be for the death of Sarah, or maybe even
Clarice. How was she to know? Alas, it appeared the tolling
echoed for many.
She suddenly rationalized that if God protected her because
of her piety, then she needn't remain prisoner within the
walls closing in. She nabbed a dried bouquet of flowers left
from weeks earlier and planted them firmly to her nose.
UMFREY
Rachel!
(DOOR SLAM)
EXT. MAIN ROAD - DAY - MOMENTS LATER
She hurried into the street, then abruptly stopped as a parade
of mourners passed. The small size of the casket being
carried on the shoulders of the survivors suggested the
remains of a child. But they weren't the only ones. Just an
arm's throw away, another string of mourners followed a larger
casket, though this one was clearly made at the last minute
from scraps of tossed wood.
Rachel peered down the street to see a handful of people
fleeing from their apartments. Even more disturbing, they
appeared to be leaving alone instead of having their spouse
or kin alongside. She ran to gather answers but skidded to a
stop when something caught her attention from the alley:
three bodies, sprawled haphazardly along the ground.
She hesitated (breathing in two powerful breaths) ... then
cautiously stepped forward.
As the cadavers came more clearly in view, they appeared
black and twisted. The blackness charred toes and fingers,
and the warping of the bodies made Rachel believe they had
to be in unbelievable pain when they collapsed. She noted
one of the shirtless corpses displayed a trio of ghastly
carbuncles protruding from the armpit like a grotesque
mountain range. Another had two large ringed welts near his
groin, seen only because vermin had eaten holes in the
trousers-the scavenging cut short by their own deaths, as
Rachel spotted rodent carcasses only feet away (one had
incriminating fabric still stuck in its mouth). Both bodies
were also splattered with the dark, pitted plague rash.
A cloud of flies buzzed around the third corpse. The long
hair, coiled below the shoulders, clotted with blood near
the tips, as well as on the chemise, revealed the remains as
being a woman.
The overwhelming smell turned the sweetness of the flowers
into a vapor that constricted and roiled the stomach. Rachel
buried her nose deeper into the bouquet and sprinted in an
about-face from the alley. The stench lessened when she
returned to the wider stretch of the cobblestone thoroughfare.
APARTMENT MAN
You can't leave him here! He's your
brother!
Rachel saw a young woman abandon an apartment, running for
her life. The person screaming was the girl's neighbor. The
portly gentlemen sneered, disgusted with the lady's
insensitivity, BUT then heard the coughing next door. And
then there was the smell. He winced when it hit.
SICK NEIGHBOR
Gerold ...
The summons made the neighbor stiffen. He suddenly buried
his face into the crook of his elbow to protect against the
sickening odor.
SICK NEIGHBOR
Don't let me die alone ... Mother
and Father are here ... but gone.
Just yesterday.
In a flash, the neighbor changed from scorning the sister to
embracing her terror.
The stricken man collapsed in the shadow of the doorway and
fell onto his back.
Rachel took a triple dose of deep flowery fragrance, then
hustled down the street. She spotted a pair of dirty, low-
class men hauling a litter of three bodies. The carriers had
their faces wrapped in cloth, yet in contrast, clothes barely
hung upon their bones. Still, they wore leather gloves for
some touch of protection.
Then the smoke drowned her, enveloping Rachel like a dank
fog. It came out of nowhere, blinding and smothering her
from all sides. She waved frantically to clear the thick
mist, then noted it smelled of sweet wood and grasses. As
pockets of the fumes spiraled and began to clear, a terrifying
figure emerged from the billowing cloud. The intruder wore a
heavy black cloak that fell all the way to the feet, gloves
that stretched up to the shoulders, and a wide-brimmed hat
atop the mask of what looked like the face of a colossal
bird. He waved a lantern of smoldering incense, creating the
dense haze.
DOCTOR MASCI
Stay inside. Protect yourself.
RACHEL
Doctor Masci, is that you?
DOCTOR MASCI
Yes!
RACHEL
How many have died? How many?
DOCTOR MASCI
This miasma is causing great
mortality. It is not safe to breathe
the air.
RACHEL
Are you sure that is the cause?
DOCTOR MASCI
Smell the fall-out from the latrines
if you have to, but do not let this
corrupted breeze lodge into your
lungs. If you can get out of the
city and go to the countryside, then
do it.
Rachel shoved him aside and darted for the next block. Similar
to her own father's shop, a few businesses were open, but
kept their doors closed with signs reading, Open-Knock first.
Masks required. Others said, Open-If you have been near the
sick, stay away. But these were few and far between. Most
businesses were shuttered. Closed due to illness, the signs
read, or were simply marked with a large painted "X" on the
door. Not that there were many people wandering in search of
trade. The street was practically abandoned from its usual
density of patrons, the deaths mounting with each passing
day for the last few weeks.
There were a handful willing to risk the trek. They held
thick bouquets of flowers to their faces or dabbing spices
on the tops of their hands and keeping the smell firmly at
their nostrils. A few hung their heads in disappointment at
their favorite business being closed, while others knocked
frantically on the doors of those who were open, more likely
to get swiftly off the street rather than purchase any
treasures. A food market was open, with a single vendor
tending to the meager two or three patrons rushing swiftly
to find a few morsels and dash away. Everyone had their
faces wrapped in cloth up to their eyes.
EXT. NOTARY SHOP
The only cluster of mass individuals appeared to be
congregating outside the door of the notary, who produced
wills and testaments. There were a dozen people waiting.
Some had faces hidden behind cloth masks, others plunged
their noses into hastily arranged bouquets, some sniffed
flasks of spices. Anxiety clung to all.
(Coughing in the line). One of the people abandoned the
group and grabbed a rock to throw at the people coughing.
All of a sudden, a trio in the line coughed. One of them, a
man named Thomas, shook to such an extent that the bouquet
he held fell away from his face, revealing his mouth covered
with spittle. He looked feverish. Another man, still in good
health, abandoned the group and grabbed a rock to throw at
him.
MAN IN LINE
Get away!
WOMAN IN LINE
Don't infect us! Go die in your
home!
THOMAS
I promise, I don't have the bump ...
or the rosies. My family's
inheritance. It must be signed.
MAN IN LINE
(coughing)
I'm not sick. The flowers you are
carrying ... always make it hard for
me to breathe.
MAN IN LINE
Go home and die, cumberworld!
(ROCKS HITTING).
MAN IN LINE
Mercy!
(HEAVY COUGHING. FALL AND BATTERING).
Another stumbled into the street, then collapsed to his knees
(LAUGHING HYSTERICALLY). His eyes rolled up, then he tumbled
into the piss gutter revealing a bubo swelling on his neck.
MAN IN GUTTER
Forgive my sins, oh Father.
(death - CHURCH BELL)
The gathering splintered as the healthy ran away in terror,
leaving behind four dead and two beaten. The bruised duo
stumbled off in separate directions, (mumbling incoherently
with an occasional shout to the heavens). Who really was
sick within the melee, Rachel couldn't tell. The spectacle
happened so quickly; she could only watch in dumbfounded
awe.
The notary opened his door to investigate. Torment rushed
over him as he spotted the bodies and realized what had
happened.
(More wailing from) Three funeral processions flooded in.
Rachel shared a horrified look with the notary, the
disintegration of the world happening before them. No sooner
had they acknowledged the predicament, a loud groan from the
portcullis rumbled out.
EXT. CITY GATE - DAY
A gathered crowd shouted at the tower watchmen. (The cries
burgeoned when the gate banged fully closed). A team of
archers from atop the turrets angled bows at the rioters,
while other sentries did their best to push the mob back.
REFUGEE #1
Open the gate! You cannot leave us
in here.
ARCHER #1
Quarantine, by order of the city
council. No one in or out. We cannot
risk the fields and farmers.
REFUGEE #2
But we are not sick.
REFUGEE #3
You close that gate and you condemn
us to die with these wretched --
WATCHMAN #1
Return to your homes. Now!
(Several refugees thrust forward to overcome the Watchmen).
(Archers shoot into the melee, impaling a handful. SHRIEKS
explode from the assault, as if the mob thought the archers
were bluffing).
EXT. ANOTHER MAIN ROAD - DAY
William, like Rachel, couldn't handle the isolation with his
family in the apartment. Besides, he trusted Elouan's crystal.
No doubt, it would protect him from the sickness, he reasoned.
He also pondered if the amulet's power expanded to include
the whole of his family, as no one exhibited any signs of
the pestilence. He felt confident it would remain so. For
William's parents, they accepted they were under God's good
graces and thus spared. This in no way diminished their
compassion and worry for friends. It even brought a sense of
conditioned security; so long as they remained pious, prayed,
gave alms and did whatever else Bishop Jean said was necessary
for salvation, they would assuredly survive the storm. It
was under this pretense that William's mother made extra
bread loaves and allowed him to take them to those who might
need them, especially since most nearby food stores were
closed or people were refusing to risk the journey. Though
their own supplies were starting to dwindle, William convinced
his mother for one more loaf, as God would surely see the
depth of their piety, supply more, and keep them protected.
William made sure he didn't stay on the street too long during
deliveries. For particular neighbors, he would leave broken
chunks of bread outside their door and knock, mainly to
satisfy his mother's request not to interact with anyone
directly, if possible. Plus, it was getting tougher for those
on the street to accept his charity. As the sickness became
more prevalent across the community, he saw mothers pulling
their children away from playmates; couples pausing before
neighbors, then turning and fleeing. It was hard to watch
the young crusaders, Leo and Gladwin, get intercepted in the
middle of a wooden sword duel by Gladwin's mother. Gladwin
screamed and struggled as his mum pulled him across the block,
leaving young Leo abandoned and crying. William also saw a
few brawls where people hurled rocks at those thought sick.
He noted daily that more and more shutters closed as people
hid themselves inside their homes.
His heart called out to Symonne. He hadn't seen her since
their wonderful liaison at the lilies so many weeks ago,
where they talked endlessly and stood so close that he could
smell the sweetness of her hair beneath her wimple veil.
William's fear for his sweetheart heightened as he navigated
the streets to where Symonne lived. He passed at least a
dozen people dead in the roadways, as if they had stepped
out for a glimpse of morning light and fell down on the spot.
Then there was the stack of five bodies placed one on top of
the other just outside the door of a three-story tenement
building, as if tenants who couldn't afford a proper burial
had gone to simply discarding the bodies in the open like
heaps of garbage, not caring if they were violated by either
men or beasts. With death's pungent smell, William couldn't
help but clutch the crystal tighter and push it more firmly
to his chest for greater protection.
When he reached Symonne's block, he found her in the middle
of the street, crouched on her knees with hands clasped in
desperate prayer. Her back was to him, but he swore she was
wearing a simple sleeping gown and not dressed properly for
outdoors. Even more disturbing, her hair billowed in waves
about her shoulders instead of being braided and hidden
beneath the usual head veil.
WILLIAM
Symonne?
(STOP SOBBING)
SYMONNE
William?
She hobbled to her feet, then turned. Startled, William
shuffled backward, as her once flawless skin now looked ruddy,
eyes sunken, and a horrid rash splattered across the top of
her chest which the gown couldn't cover. (She coughed, a
slight gurgle in the heave)(Spit).
SYMONNE
William, please ... I have already
lost my beloved mother and brothers.
My father ran away three days ago.
I have no one.
WILLIAM
My dear, I-I cannot ...
SYMONNE
(weeping)
I had such a wonderful time with you
at the lilies.
WILLIAM
No! L-Leave me alone!
SYMONNE
William!
William hurled a stone at her. The nugget hit Symonne in
the shoulder and knocked her off-balance. (BAWLING)
William's heart broke. Nevertheless, he was safe, and for
that he kissed his amulet, but also felt the stain of his
own tears drop upon his hand.
WILLIAM
I'm sorry!
INT. CATHEDRAL - DAY
Fifteen caskets sat in the nave of the cathedral. Earlier
there had been twenty-five, a few of them so close they nearly
touched to fit inside the space.
(WAILING)
BISHOP JOHN
In nomine Patris, et Filii, et
Spiritus Sancti. Amen.
Bishop Jean courted smoke from an incense box around the
coffins. These were not the normal funerary customs, but
these were not normal times. The bishop made sure the mourners
remained as far from him and the caskets as possible as he
offered prayers of assistance for the deceased. During this
particular round, his mind drifted to the monk, Joshua,
manning the tower bell as he heard it herald the passing of
yet another soul.
INT. CHURCH OFFICE
Later that afternoon, he had Joshua visit him in his office.
When the young lad entered, Jean was languishing over his
desk looking at parchment, his temple resting into the points
of his fingers in a clear exhibition of dismay.
JOSHUA
You wished to see me, Excellency?
BISHOP JEAN
A hundred and three yesterday. Nearly
two hundred today. Twenty of our
own have already been whisked away...
Stop ringing the bells.
JOSHUA
Yes, sir.
BISHOP JEAN
And I am promoting you to Deacon.
To replace Tumas.
Joshua remained speechless. Prior to the outbreak, there
would never have been a chance of such promotion without
years of service and additional education. It demonstrated
just how badly the scourge had hit the ranks.
(DOOR CLOSE)
BISHOP JEAN
Oh Lord ... Why? Why?
EXT/INT. DIRT ROAD - DAY
Rachel hurried home. She replaced the cross beam on the
door as quickly as she could, locking herself in, then stood
frozen in shock. Within seconds, her eyes watered, then the
tears flowed. Umfrey embraced her, relieved she had returned.
UMFREY
Oh, my sweet daughter.
UMFREY
Please don't ever do that again. I
cannot bear to lose you like I did
your mother.
(Rachel sob).
RACHEL
Why is God doing this?
INT. UMFREY'S HOME - DAY
The air was silent when Rachel awoke. The diffused light
told her morning had come that she had survived another
day. At first the quietude tricked her into thinking perhaps
the events four days ago were just a bad dream. Unfortunately,
as the mental fog lifted, the dreadful gnawing in her stomach
brought the horrors crashing back. (She moaned under the
weight of her tired limbs). She lifted herself from the
pallet bed. The braids of her hair hung in frayed strands,
mostly disintegrated from lack of care. It took a long moment
to finally settle upon her legs, then she shuffled toward
Umfrey who sat at a small table near the floor-to-ceiling
hearth where a small fire blazed beneath a dangling pot. His
face was long, his eyes filled with resignation.
UMFREY
This won't be enough to get through
the day. Were there any food stores
you saw?
RACHEL
One or two. But that was four days
ago.
(UMFREY SIGH) Umfrey threw a piece of sewn fabric and leather
onto the table. It was a face mask, as expertly crafted and
designed as one of his shoes. Rachel slowly took it,
surprised he had gone through such effort to make the
provision. She marveled at its construction. The joinery
matched the curvature of her jaw, with a center strip to
enclose her nose all the way to the point between her eyes.
A shoestring cord passed through the mask's edging, allowing
her to cinch it tightly to her face, then use the excess to
string it over her ears and tie it behind her head.
UMFREY
I've scented the interior leather
with -- I hope -- something that
pleases you.
Rachel gingerly cupped the mask over her mouth and took a
breath. The aroma was sweet. She wasn't sure how he did it,
but it smelled like orange citrus. She quickly ran the
shoestring atop her ears. Umfrey helped her manage the cord
amid the folly of mangled hair so she could tie it properly
behind her head. Once secured, she rose and gave him a bear
hug.
RACHEL
It is wonderful, poppa.
UMFREY
Now go get what you can.
(KISS)
But don't stay out too long.
RACHEL
I won't.
(Hurry to the door - open - outside).
EXT. CITY - ANOTHER MAIN ROAD - DAY
Teams of corpse carriers hauled carts stacked with bodies
through the streets. Rachel couldn't determine if the body
count was any greater or lesser than it had been days ago,
but if the gasping into cloth handkerchiefs from lone
onlookers was any indication, the smell had certainly gotten
worse. Fortunately, the orange scent in her own facial
covering was working perfectly. At times, she caught herself
breathing more deeply, as if her subconscious had taken over
and blindly willed her lungs to engorge such sweetness over
the putrid smell of death.
Luckily, she was able to find a brave merchant with food to
offer. The selection was meager, but she afforded enough for
at least two more weeks (if rationed properly), and the vendor
assured her he would do his best to keep a minimum stock. Of
course, with the portcullis closed, getting new goods into
town was tougher. The vendor explained that the city had to
reroute supplies through the port, and each ship had to prove
they had no one aboard sick or had come into contact with
anyone in other ports who were. What's more, less goods were
coming, as the disease was clearly ravaging other parts of
continental Europe.
Rachel took the news with a heavy heart. She worried
incessantly for Sarah and Clarice and promised to check on
them as soon as she had delivered the food home.
INT. UMFREY'S HOME
UMFREY
No ... I don't think it's a good
idea.
RACHEL
But the mask is working. I promise
it will only be a mere moment to
check on them. Please ...
Beat. Kiss?
UMFREY
You do always keep your promises.
(OUT THE DOOR)
EXT. ANOTHER CITY STREET - CONTINUOUS
The route to Sarah's tenement laid several blocks east, as
well as turning three corners, zigzagging to the north. On
way, she recognized five-year-old Leo standing outside his
ground floor dwelling. (WEEPING)
RACHEL
Leo, what is --
LEO
Mommy and daddy. They won't wake
up.
Rachel took Leo's hand and opened the door to peer in. Leo's
mother laid silently on a pallet bed with his father on the
floor beside her. Both were riddled with the plague rash
clearly dead.
Rachel knelt and looked deeply into Leo's face. She quickly
tore off a piece of her dress and used it like a glove to
pat down his clothes, hoping to wipe off any traces of plague
if there were any. Then she glanced around for something
more. Down the block, a lone flag draped from a pole outside
a closed business caught her attention.
RACHEL
Stay here.
She slid the fabric off the post. Then returned and began
wrapping it around Leo.
RACHEL
Remember how you wanted to be a
crusader? This is your armor. This
will protect you from forces both
seen and unseen. Is that good?
Now, we have to get you to training.
Will you let me take you?
Leo hesitated. Then at last gave the affirmative. Rachel
took his hand.
RACHEL
Hold tight and don't let go.
(FOOTSTEPS)
RACHEL
Don't look back. You serve God now,
remember?
LEO
Will I see mommy and daddy again?
RACHEL
Yes, you will. Someday, I promise.
... What's it like being a crusader?
Tell me.
Rachel suddenly spotted a trio of waste sniffers huddled
over the putrid excrement canals leading out to the bay,
inhaling deep breaths of the pungent shit. The poor bastards
extended shawls over their heads to capture the scent as
they buried their faces in the muck. Each of them scowled
from the foulness. But they also believed they had no choice,
as they were fighting for their lives.
EXT. RECTORY - DAY
When Rachel and Leo at last made entry onto the cathedral
grounds, it became evident she couldn't shield the young lad
from the calamity. They had to skirt the graveyard to reach
the rectory. There were five sets of gravediggers shoveling
plots, with hardly any space left within the borders of the
cemetery for more. Fresh mounds of the newly interred erupted
from the greenery, spanning nearly the whole of an acre,
filling the open field Umfrey had seen a few weeks earlier.
Leo stared, but was unsure what the diggers were really doing.
For Rachel, it exposed a greater understanding of the scope
of the menace.
She hurried Leo up the steps to the rectory door. (KNOCK -
DOOR OPENING).
RACHEL
I have a young man here who would
like to learn the means and ways of
becoming a crusader. Can you teach
him?
The clergyman knelt before Leo and clasped his own hands in
prayer.
FRIAR
Can you pray with me?
Leo put his hands together in a mimic of the prayer.
FRIAR
Yes, we can teach him.
RACHEL
You are with God now. Go.
The friar took Leo gently by the shoulders and led him inside.
(DOOR CLOSE)
Then the sound of another door opening caught Rachel's
attention. She gingerly descended the steps and delicately
proceeded to follow the walls of the cathedral until it led
to the city's wall behind it. Indeed, a pair of monks had
opened a gate leading to a field outside. She remembered how
the main city portcullis was closed and people were forbidden
to leave, yet here was a gate at the rear of the cathedral.
She wondered if the monks were fleeing, especially when spying
the clergymen pass through the aperture into the field,
disappearing from sight.
Rachel scrambled to the edge of the gate and peeked out.
What she saw confused her. A group of a dozen or more friars
were digging a large trench in the open grassland. Three or
four peeked out at one end to toss dirt, showing they had
already descended a good five feet. At the other end, another
friar standing atop at the edge pulled a brother out, showing
his side of the trench was deeper than the full height of a
regular person. She spotted a priest scattering holy water
across a secondary field, off to the right. It dawned on her
they were creating a new cemetery, with the trench being the
quickest way to bury so many bodies at once. Her stomach
churned. This meant there wouldn't be individual plots;
sacraments and other funerary customs had been abandoned.
The real terror of the pestilence suddenly became even more
raw (if that was possible) with this revelation.
(A crack of thunder) Rachel clenched her teeth behind the
mask, then sprinted to escape the cathedral grounds.
(RAINFALL) The gravediggers rushed inside while Rachel
remained to endure the inundation. Her hair quickly soaked,
and her sodden clothes hung on her like leaden weights. Each
footfall splatted a gush of water and mud. At times the
ferocity of the downpour blinded her. Nonetheless, she felt
committed to making one more much-desired house call.
EXT. ANOTHER CITY STREET - LATER
By the time Rachel returned into the heart of town, the rain
had helped empty the street of most people, except the corpse-
carriers. She saw a pair hauling a stack of three bodies on
a plank. They deposited the dead into the back of a cart
already stacked with corpses, soaked from the rain. A friar
(no doubt on duty from the cathedral) covered his mouth as
he approached and motioned the cross over the heap. He failed
to see another plank brought up behind him from a second
pair of haulers, carrying two more corpses. The carriers
nudged him, surprising him for his services.
Rachel turned squeamish, then hurried up the steps of the
tenement building.
At the top of the second-floor landing, she encountered the
body of an adult crumpled over, just outside the door to
Sarah's apartment. Rachel recognized it was Sarah's father,
Oudin, wrapped in a blanket. His fingertips were black while
clutching the mantle, his face jaundiced, with no signs of
life. The terror tore through her like a firestorm. She
hurried into the apartment without bothering to knock.
INT. 2ND STORY TENEMENT ROOM - CONTINUOUS
The mask failed to protect her against the putrid smell so
pungent throughout the apartment. It was rank, with a tint
of sickening sweetness. When mixed with orange scent of the
mask's leather, the combination turned her stomach. She
instinctively put a hand over her nose, then cautiously
approached her friend lying still on the bed. Sarah's face
had already turned gray, dead for who knew how long. (Rachel
whimpered from the shock and struggled to fight back tears).
Then she noticed Clarice lying on a second bed pressed up
next to Sarah's, at the foot. She noted Clarice's head
drooped, with dried blood caked on her lips also deceased.
(She couldn't hold back the tears any longer. She buckled,
then regained herself and dried her cheeks with her palms).
MARIE
God is punishing us!
Sarah and Clarice's mother, Marie, sat against the wall with
her legs bent up, head buried into her knees. (COUGHING)
Rachel approached, stopped at a safe distance, then lowered
herself to get a better look.
RACHEL
Madam Marie --
MARIE
Oudin is dead, isn't he? ... He
didn't want to flee like so many
others, so stayed outside the door,
hoping to remain safe.
(TEARS; COUGH)
He refused to come back inside.
Even when he started coughing.
(COUGH - SPIT)
MARIE
No blood ... yet. Clarice only had
it three days, then it took her.
Oudin ... less. My time is close.
She lengthened her right leg then lifted the dress to reveal
two buboes, packed together on her inner thigh. One was larger
than the other, with a lesion oozing blackened blood.
MARIE
Oudin is gone, so are my daughters.
Will I see them in purgatory? Or
will I just die into nothingness by
God's judgment of me?
RACHEL
No. I might know someone who can
ease your suffering.
(COUGHING). (RACHEL LEAVING APARTMENT)
EXT. CITY - MAIN ROAD - DAY
Rachel wondered what reckoning Umfrey would give her, but
trusted he would remain safely indoors and not go in search
of her. As she saw it, her friends were facing a deadly
precipice (along with so many others), and she had to do
what she could to help. She recalled Giovanni saying Elouan
was assisting his family in the fields, so she knew where to
find him. If he could bring any kind of aid, it would be
worth the effort, as well as Umfrey's rage.
She dropped the face mask again to gather a deeper breath as
she hurried into the livery for her horse. She skidded to a
halt when finding her old steed dying in the hay, sores of
the plague bulging from the animal's neck. (The mare
recognized her and whinnied pitifully). Rachel's heart burst.
Distraught, she sprinted back outside, then turned down
another road with a set of stables at the end. Within minutes,
she was on a fit stallion galloping toward the cathedral.
EXT. CATHEDRAL - LATER
(THUNDER). A second deluge kept the cathedral grounds empty
of workmen or friars from interfering as Rachel rounded the
charger to the closed gate. She jumped down from the horse,
released the gate's locking bolt, then tugged furiously on
the door. The massive weight resisted her pull, (and the
hinges squeaked in defiance). The muddy ground dragged her
feet in, making it harder to maneuver. She put all her
strength into it, but the gate refused to yield. (Thunder
cracked, much louder and closer, making her tug with more
urgency. The horse snorted and its breath billowed. It clawed
the mud nervously)
RACHEL
NO! Stay.
A flash of lightning suddenly blinded her, followed quickly
by the thunder. (The horse shuddered, trumpeted a loud
fluttering sound from its nostrils, but kept its ground).
Rachel grit her teeth, then summoned her strength with the
force of a scream. The hinge finally gave way and the door
swung open. She heaved to catch her breath, then quickly
mounted the stallion-just as a pair of friars rushed from
the cathedral.
FRIAR1
Who goes there!
FIRAR2
Stop!
Rachel darted into the open field, winding around the great
trench. Whether or not she found Elouan, she wondered how
she would get back inside the city now that the friars would
surely keep a closer eye on the gate.