The Divine World
By William Young
(PILOT) “WITHIN THE PRISMATIC MAELSTROM”
Teaser
FADE IN TO:
ext. morning – establishing - military staging base
EXT. morning – JUNGLE HELICOPTER lZ
DAVID ARRIS is finishing the pre-flight of a UH-1 helicopter, painted as a tourist sight-seeing air service. Arris is in his late 30s, physically fit with a calm, firm presence. Beyond the helicopter pad area is a set up of tents and shanty buildings. Men in vaguely-military uniforms walk around performing their tasks. GREGOIRE, also late 30s, French, wirily built, wearing military cargo pants and a light colored linen shirt, walks up to the aircraft, kicks the skid, and looks to Arris.
gregoire
You know, the next time they offer to send me to the Caribbean, I’m not going to jump at the chance.
(off helicopter)
This thing gonna fly?
arris
(quickly)
It’s a Huey, Greg. Of course it’ll fly.
gregoire
Well, I must finish preparations with the insertion team. Go get ‘em.
Gregoire walks off toward a collection of tents. Arris walks to the pilot’s seat and tosses his checklist onto it. Two men wearing dark jackets with DEA stenciled on the back walk up to the aircraft. Arris nods.
agent 1
We ready to go?
arris
Yep.
agent 2
Let’s go.
Agent 2 hands ARRIS a map and we see several areas circled and a projected flight path drawn.
ext. day – in the air over the ocean
The helicopter is flying over the ocean toward some islands on the horizon. In the distance we see a medium-sized boat moving quickly on the water. Inside the helicopter, the two agents point at it and Agent 1 lifts binoculars. Agent 2 taps Arris on the shoulder and points through the windscreen, then clicks the button activating his headset.
agent 2
We need to make a looping arc around to the other side so they don’t think we’re trying to follow them.
ext. day – rear of the drug boat
A man is looking through binoculars at the helicopter, scrutinizing the logo painted on the door. The man notices someone inside the helicopter looking through binoculars and turns.
The man waves and points to sea, and the boat changes direction and accelerates.
ext. day – inside the helicopter
The agents look at each other in confusion. Arris continues toward the island.
agent 1
(into mic)
We need to follow that boat and find out where it’s going.
arris
I can’t hide in mid-air, you know.
agent 1
(puts binoculars to face)
Oh, Christ.
ext. day – rear of boat
A man walks through a door with a Redeye shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missile, aims at the helicopter and fires. In the distance the helicopter is turning quickly. The missile rips through the air, trailing smoke.
int. day – inside helicopter
The Agents stare at the smoke plume as it gets closer. Arris moves the controls and presses the chaff and flare buttons on the collective stick. Arris turns the aircraft and looks out his door window. He reacts: nothing is coming from the box on the rear of the helicopter.
arris
(into mic)
This is going to be loud and full of fire. Hold on.
The missile pierces the side of the helicopter, atomizes one of the agents, and rips through the other door, sucking the agent and the door into mid-air where they fall to the sea. The aircraft rocks violently in the air and Arris tries to regain control.
ARRis
A dud.
Arris turns to the passenger cabin and sees it’s empty, save for body parts and blood. The MASTER CAUTION light flicks on, followed by several system specific caution lights. The camera pans across the control panel to the RPM indicator, which suddenly falls off accompanied by the silencing of the engine. Arris slams the collective down, pushes the left pedal forward, adjusts the airspeed and rolls the throttle off.
arris
Mayday, mayday, this in Uniform Tango Four two miles southwest of-
(briefly searches for map with eyes)
- some island and going down in the sea. Mayday mayday.
Arris looks out the window at the tuft of island on the horizon as he glides the helicopter toward the water and crash lands it. As it sinks, he climbs out and swims away from the craft. He inflates his life vest and looks around at the vast amount of water.
FADE OUT:
end of teaser
act one
FADE IN TO:
ext. day – military staging base
ext. day – jungle lz
Gregoire walks into a control tent filled with radios and agents.
gregoire
Well?
agent 3
Nothing yet.
gregoire
Was there a distress call?
agent 3
No.
gregoire
Did it land somewhere?
agent 3
Nobody knows.
gregoire
Did anybody on the ground report seeing anything happen?
agent 3
No. But, we haven’t talked to anybody other than ATC, and they didn’t hear any radio reports or see anything on radar.
gregoire
How many boats do we have?
agent 3
Three.
gregoire
Well, let’s crew them and start checking the area of the flight plan. There are a lot of little islands out there, they could be on one.
ext. night – water’s edge
Arris trudges through low waves toward the beach, takes a couple of steps up away from the tideline, and collapses to the sand.
int. morning –bedroom
Arris wakes on a large canopy bed in a large room. The room is lavishly appointed. He gets out of the bed and walks across the room to an outdoor-opening door. He is dressed in linen pajamas. He pulls the door open and walks out onto a small veranda. He looks around and realizes he is in a large stone mansion built into the side of a cliff on a small mountain of rock near the center of the island. He can see the ocean off in the distance, beyond the jungle canopy. There are only the sounds of nature. He smiles to himself.
onorien (o.s.)
Ahh, you’re awake.
arris
(turns, off room)
I hope this is one of those all-inclusive resorts.
Arris walks into the room where he confronts DR. KONRAD ONORIEN, a man in his mid-50s and dressed in khaki pants, a white shirt, yellow ascot and blue jacket, an ensemble that more resembles a period piece from the past rather than modern clothing. Onorien bows ever-so-slightly.
onorien
This is my home. Welcome.
Arris moves forward and profers a hand; Onorien doesn’t even consider shaking and Arris lowers his hand quickly.
arris
David Arris.
onorien
Dr. Konrad Onorien.
(a beat)
Breakfast will be served shortly; I hope you are hungry.
arris
Starved, actually.
onorien
Some of the natives found you on the beach, apparently washed ashore last
evening. But, please, we’ll talk more over breakfast.
(off table)
I had your clothes washed, and you’ll find a washcloset through the door in the corner.
Onorien turns and leaves. Arris gives the departing Onorien a vague look of uncomprehension and checks the pile of his clothing quickly. Then he walks back to the veranda and scans the horizon.
arris
Natives, huh?
int. morning – corridor - continuous
Arris is walking down a h
all from his room. On the way, he notices paintings and artwork and curio tables with oddities on them. He passes many doors, all closed, and comes to the top of a spiral staircase. He looks at the wooden banister and raps it with his fingers.
arris
Solid.
(notices a woman at the bottom of the stairs)
I wasn’t going to slide down. Honest.
A flicker of a smile from the woman, in her late teens or early 20s, a light-skinned black with green eyes. Stunning. Arris descends.
arris
I’m David Arris.
nereika
(nods)
Nereika.
(a beat, watching him descend)
You brought us the rare bit of excitement last night, Mr. Arris.
arris
Oh? How’s that?
The two begin walking.
nereika
We don’t often get people washing up on the beach.
arris
But you do get that?
(a tiny beat)
Now, that’s surprising.
nereika
(tiny, short laugh)
No, actually, we’ve never had anyone wash up on shore. That’s what made it so exciting.
arris
Oh, and what is it you do here?
Nereika flicks a curious, cautious glance at Arris.
nereika
I’m Onorien’s personal-assistant–slash-understudy, I guess you could say.
arris
Oh, no, I meant here on the island. I was looking out the window and didn’t see any signs of life or a city or … anything, really.
(playing up cheerfully)
I was kind of hoping this was a beach resort.
Nereika
Well, there are beaches.
arris
I don’t suppose you have a plastic tub with spare swim trunks?
nereika
(considers, slightly confused)
I … don’t believe that we do.
The two walk into a small, bright dining room. Onorien walks into the room, gestures to a side table filled with silver serving containers.
onorien
Welcome to the island of Delta Vistas, Mr. Arris.
ext. morning – beach
Gregoire is kneeling on the ground looking at a map. A man in uniform walks up to him and the two nod at each other.
gregoire
Anything?
uniform 1
Nothing.
gregoire
What about the drug runners?
uniform 1
No sign of them, either. Though, that’s not much of a surprise. The grass strip is about a half-mile inland from here, and if they got the shipment here on schedule, it would’ve gone out last night, long before we got here.
Gregoire looks back at the map and pulls a slender cigar from a flimsy box in his cargo pants, lights it. Ponders.
gregoire
We’re going to find them if we have to check every island in the area.
(a beat)
And that could take long time. What’d the agency say about getting any aircraft?
uniform 1
They’re on the way, now. Should be here before noon. One is coming here directly.
gregoire
Okay, then I’ll take the boat and check the next island over. There’s an airstrip there, too. Maybe they made it there.
Radio me when you’re in the air.
ext. day – exclusive island resort
Gregoire pilots the boat into a dock, hops out and ties it to the dock. A local dock official walks up to him and eyes the military equipment he’s wearing suspiciously.
dock worker
The dock is for registered guests, sir.
gregoire
I’m sure it is. But you know what they say, any port in a storm.
The DOCK WORKER scans the skies for a second.
dock worker
The weather is excellent today, sir. Is there some way I can be of assistance?
gregoire
Maybe. Is there an air strip on the island?
dock worker
Of course, sir. It’s how the guests arrive.
gregoire
Where?
dock worker
About a kilometer inland, up this road.
gregoire
You know if anybody landed at it recently?
dock worker
No.
(off the dock)
I work here.
gregoire
(starts walking, the worker following)
I need to go there. You have transportation to it?
dock worker
Of course, but you must be a guest of the resort to –
gregoire
Just tell me how to get there. I won’t be here that long. I just need to check something.
(pulls out a US government credit card and holds it toward the dock worker)
Check the tanks on my boat and fill them up while I’m gone.
ext. day – onorien’s estate - continuous
Onorien and Arris are walking the grounds outside the mansion.
onorien
You can stay here at my mansion until the next supply vessel comes. Until then, feel free to explore the mansion, wander the grounds, whatever you need to pass the time.
I caution you about wandering too far from the grounds, though. Most of the island is uninhabited and wild jungle, but you’ll want to be careful of the natives, should you come in contact with them, which I wouldn’t advise.
arris
Why’s that?
onorien
They are the descendents of a Dutch slave ship that crashed off the island in the 1840s. They have lived fairly primitively since then.
However, they harbor some rather extreme grievances about their circumstances and, though they are of mixed blood, they have retained much of the culture and rituals of their African forbears and some are inclined to hostility against those of us of fairer complexions.
arris
You’ve had problems with them?
onorien
On occasion.
Arris surveys the grounds, scans the jungle line, looks back at the mansion and doesn’t like the prospects.
arris
When’s the next supply ship arrive?
onorien
Next Friday.
arris
(suddenly remembering)
Oh, yeah, I should have had a survival vest with me when you found me last night. I’d like to get that back, if I could.
onorien
What is a survival vest?
arris
A nylon and mesh vest with a lot of pockets on it, each one containing survival equipment like a knife, flashlight, flares, and other stuff.
onorien
You had no such vest last night. Perhaps the natives who brought you to me took that for themselves. Is it important, somehow?
arris
Only to me. There’s a radio in it that could help me get out of here earlier if I could get a signal to anybody who’d be looking for me.
onorien
There will be people looking?
arris
Well, only for a little while.
(a beat, turns)
You know, you really should look into installing a phone or ham radio or something. Could come in handy during an emergency.
onorien
I have phones and the Internet in my home in Florida. When I’m here, I want to be in total isolation.
arris
Just tell me you have television.
onorien
(smiles slightly)
No. But I have an excellent library.
int. day – library
Arris is scanning the spines of books in the library. It is large and lined with floor-to-ceiling-filled bookshelves. Arris has never heard of most of the titles and is reading their names off to himself. He takes a few more steps and scans a new book
shelf: “The Transmutation of Base Metals,” “Alchemy: Silver, Gold & Platinum,” “Forged Metals and the Divining Aspect,” and “The Importation of Divine Aspects into Inanimate Objects.”
Nereika (O.S)
Find anything interesting to read, Mr. Arris?
arris
I think that’s going to be hard to do.
(off shelves)
Your boss has a lot of books but none of them seem to run in the beachchair thriller genre.
(a beat)
Anyway, I think I’m going to head down to the beach and see if I can’t find some of the stuff I should’ve come ashore with.
(a beat)
Care to join me?
ext. day – beach - continuous
Nereika and Arris emerge from the jungle onto the beach. Arris scans the beach.
arris
Do you have any idea where I came ashore?
nereika
No.
(a beat)
How did you come to be in the water? Doctor Onorien hasn’t gotten around to mentioning it, yet.
arris
(momentarily curious at the disclosure)
Really?
I fly a helicopter tour around a handful of islands so honeymooners can see jungle waterfalls and other pretty things. I had engine problems and had to ditch.
nereika
What about your tourists?
arris
(a quick beat)
Nobody else was on board. I was on the way to pick some up when my helicopter decided it wasn’t going to fly anymore.
(surprised)
Hey, look at that.
Arris trots over to a portion of the beach where his survival vest sits, its contents strewn about wildly. He searches through the mess. He begins to move the vest and notices his ankle holster and pistol and recovers it with the vest. Nereika looks on, curious, not having seen the hint of a gun.
arris
Well, what the heck were they looking for?
Nereika
This is your missing property?
arris
Yeah. Only it’s not all here.
Nereika
No?
arris
Yeah, no. No lightsticks, no fishing tackle, none of the survival food or matches. They took the mirror and the space blanket… and the compass.
(a beat)
Crap.
Nereika
What?
arris
(holds up a disassembled radio)
What the heck would make them tear it open like this?
Nereika
Perhaps they thought it stored something inside.
arris
Yeah, wires and circuits. You mean they’re really that primitive they’ve never seen a radio or anything like it?
Nereika nods and Arris tosses the radio aside.
arris
(off the vest)
But this is the frickin’ Caribbean.
(turns to Nereika)
You don’t get visitors here?
nereika
It’s a private island.
Nereika takes several paces away toward the jungle, suddenly concerned. While she’s not looking at Arris, he glances at Nereika’s back and quickly attaches the holster to his right ankle. Nereika turns over her shoulder at Arris while he stuffs his equipment back into the vest. She is nervous, and it shows.
arris
(concerned)
What? Is there something I should know?
Nereika scans the jungle. Arris stands and walks to her.
arris
Nereika, what is it?
Nereika
(turns quickly)
A trap.
Arris surveys the beach and jungle’s edge. All is quiet save for the sounds of nature. Then the beach erupts in bursts of small fireballs, aimed like ranging fire, some short of Arris and Nereika, some long or left or right. Arris is initially stunned and watches the fireworks display with a bit of awe and uncertainty, the tiny balls of fire little bigger than marbles and appearing in mid-air from nowhere, bursting and leaving tiny drifts of smoke.
Nereika
(points to the path through the jungle)
RUN!
Arris runs and Nereika follows. Arris hears all sorts of weird fireball and electrical bolt noises behind him and stops and turns, sees Nereika make a weird set of very quick motions. Nereika catches him watching.
Nereika
Run! Get to the estate grounds.
Arris runs down the path through the jungle and emerges on the well-kept lawn of Onorien’s estate. He bends toward his right ankle and thinks better of it as the sounds in the jungle subside.
Nereika bursts from the jungle and onto the lawn, turns and enters an odd defensive stance. Arris watches.
arris
What the hell was that?
Nereika
That … that was the natives.
FADE OUT:
end of act one
act two
FADE IN TO:
ext. day – onorien’s mansion estate
ext. day – onorien’s estate grounds
Arris and Nereika are standing at the edge of the lawn staring into the jungle.
arris
That was the natives?
Nereika just stares at him.
arris
All I saw were a bunch of little explosions. I thought these natives were primitive types?
nereika
They are. Come on. I have to tell Onorien.
arris
What would they have been shooting at us, because I didn’t hear any gunfire and that certainly wasn’t any kind of explosive device I’m familiar with, and I’m familiar with most of them.
Nereika brushes past Arris and strides across the lawn toward the mansion.
arris
And how did you know it was a trap?
nereika
I could just tell. I should’ve realized sooner that they had left your equipment strewn on the beach as a lure.
(a beat)
I don’t know what it was they were using.
int. day – onorien’s study
Arris is with Onorien in the study, a large room with a big window facing a section of jungle on the other side of a narrow lawn. It is stuffed with books, paintings, bottles, and sundry archaic scientific devices of dubious uses.
onorien
They call them laaien bols, Mr. Arris, the Dutch for, I believe, fire globes. They are small, parchment paper sacks filled with gunpowder and, usually, tiny pebbles or sharp bits of shale that they fire at you with a slingshot. They are more firework than dangerous, though enough of them could, I suppose, harm you.
It’s been quite a while, though, since they’ve bothered with us.
arris
Any idea why they’d bother attacking at all, ever?
onorien
(motions to his surroundings)
I have fair skin, and they believe I am here to oppress them, so I understand.
(a beat)
Anyway, I tried long ago to improve their circumstances, but they resisted and became hostile when they realized I was not here to free them from the island. I told them to leave if they wanted to, but I had come to stay, to improve the grounds of my ancestors. They resented that, having spent so long on the island in … captivity, I guess you could say. Since then, we’ve mostly kept to ourselves, with the odd exception like today.
(off vest)
You recovered your survival vest, so that must be a good thing.
arris
Yeah, well, it’s something.
onorien
If you want, we can discuss this further over dinner. Since I so rarely have guests here, I’m having my chef prepare a welcoming dinner
Onorien cont’d
that should, I hope, at least put your appetite at ease.
ext. day – island grass strip
Gregoire is sneaking through underbrush. On the airstrip is the
airplane his team was to have intercepted the day before, returned from its delivery. Gregoire looks through a small telescope at the plane and then scans the area nearby, noting the small knot of men near the plane. A pair of them detach from the group and walk toward a vehicle parked in a small lot near the small building that serves as the control tower/terminal.
Gregoire makes his way toward the building. At the edge of the jungle, he drops all his military equipment in the bushes, puts his pistol in his rear waistband, and walks casually up to the building. The men from the plane walk by and stop at the vehicle, and a man gets out.
All dialogue is in Spanish, subtitled on the screen, but understood by Gregoire, who speaks Spanish.
head smuggler
Well?
smuggler 1
Not a problem.
head smuggler
(glances at Gregoire briefly)
I heard there was a problem.
smuggler 1
The helicopter?
head smuggler
Yeah.
smuggler 2
We took care of that problem. I saw some American agents posing as tourists in a sight-seeing helicopter.
smuggler 1
Jose shot it down.
head smuggler
Pablo told me the missile was ineffective.
smuggler 2
How? The helicopter crashed into the ocean, we all saw it.
head smuggler
He said the missile did not explode when it hit the helicopter.
smuggler 1
Well, they are old missiles. What we need are Stingers.
Gregoire checks his watch, makes a throat noise to break the attention of the other men, and steps toward them.
gregoire
(in French)
Excuse me, but is that the plane from Miami? I’m expecting a friend.
The smugglers all look at each other, befuddled.
head smuggler
(in Spanish)
Do you speak Spanish?
Gregoire looks confused and raises his hands slightly.
head smuggler
(in English)
Do you speak English
gregoire
(in English, haltingly)
Yes, but my list of words is not so big.
head smuggler
What can I do for you?
gregoire
I wait for the plane from Miami. Is this the plane? I wait for a friend who is coming in.
head smuggler
No, this plane is not from Miami. There are no passengers on it.
gregoire
Merci. Thank you.
Gregoire turns and enters the building, looks around, sees a rear exit, and leaves through it. Outside, he looks around to see he’s not been followed, heads to the jungle and recovers his equipment. He walks a short way into the jungle and takes out a satellite phone. Dials.
gregoire
They were shot down with a MANPAD by the smugglers.
Gregoire listens.
gregoire (cont’d)
No. Apparently they used a defective missile, probably an old Redeye or something laying around in somebody’s warehouse. Arris seems to have crash-landed the chopper in the water, which could mean anything
(listens)
But if Dave ditched it, I’m sure he got out.
int. evening – dining room of onorien’s estate
Nereika leads Arris into the room.
onorien
Can I make you a drink, Mr. Arris?
arris
How’s your martini?
onorien
Nowhere near as good as Nereika’s.
(motions to Nereika)
Although I won’t give you the opportunity for comparison. How was your afternoon?
arris
I spent it in your library trying to find something to read. You really need to work on your fiction selection. Dickens and dead Russians aren’t exactly the stuff you take to the beach.
ONORIen
(pours self a drink)
I don’t read much fiction anymore. I find the newer writers less interesting than writers of old.
arris
(off mansion)
So, what is this place?
onorien
My retreat from the modern world. A place I can go to clear my head and concentrate.
arris
You get much peace with neighbors like the ones you’ve got?
onorien
They aren’t all like that, only a handful of them. Most of them, like the ones who brought you to me, are peaceful, ordinary people living out their normal lives on a tropical island.
arris
Still…
onorien
Even the malcontents pose no danger to you here. And they are little more than a trifle when I am out and about on the island.
Nereika returns and hands Arris his martini. She leaves.
arris
How long have you been here on the island? This building is quite a structure.
onorien
Yes, well, the island has been in my family for almost 200 years. The mansion was built in the late 1800s to replace a series of cottages that had been here.
arris
It’s kinda big for just you and Nereika.
onorien
There are a couple of others, staff, here as well. But, yes, it is large. Back when it was built, many from my family lived here. It has been mine alone for almost thirty years, my family having died out by then and leaving me the sole survivor.
arris
You don’t have any family of your own?
onorien
No. You?
Arris weakens slightly but recovers quickly, the emotion playing quickly over his face as he realizes he has asked a question he would also have to answer, a fact of his life he likes to avoid as much as possible.
arris
I had a family. My wife and kids died a number of years back.
(a beat)
Made me realize the urgency of life.
onorien
I’m sorry to hear of your loss. How did your life change?
Arris quickly reverts to his covert ops persona, inventing a cover story based on the DEA project he had been working on.
arris
I bought a helicopter and started up a scenic island tours flight business. I fly honeymooners around islands and let them look out the doors at island waterfalls and jungle and all the sharks nobody wants to see swimming in the water offshore of the beaches.
(a beat)
At least I did until yesterday.
ext. evening – control tent at jungle lz
Gregoire has been poring over maps that show the currents for the area where the helicopter went down. He is certain Arris, at least, is alive. Perhaps floating in his floatation vest, but he thinks he most likely made it to one of the many islands the currents would have carried him by. A DEA agent enters the tent.
agent
So far, nothing. It’s been more than 24 hours … it doesn’t look good.
gregoire
No, but we’ve been looking in the wrong area.
(spreads map, taps)
We need to look in this area. The currents would have taken him this way and we’ve been looking over here. We’ve basically wasted a day.
agent
Yeah, well, since this is an unofficial mission, the search is off, at least as far as the agency is concerned. We contacted your company and they’re going to work with a Coast Guard cutter that’s in the area, but we’re under orders to pull our assets out before the cartel figures out it was us watching them.
(sympathetically)
Sorry.
gregoire
They already know it was you.
agent
Maybe.
gregoire
I’ll take the boat back to Miami when I’m done.
The Agent nods and leaves.
ext. evening – motor boa
t
The sun is setting as Gregoire pilots the boat to the east.
int. evening – drawing room
Arris and Nereika sit in a room with stuffed leather chairs, maroon velvet drapes, an enormous fireplace. There are more books on shelves, and Arris is coming to the quick conclusion that Onorien is a different kind of soul, stuck in a time period that no longer exists, where men leave the women after dinner to talk politics and drink brandy.
arris
Your … boss … has an interesting design style.
nereika
How do you mean?
arris
Well, this is a little old fashioned, shall we say?
nereika
(naively)
He just had this furniture put in last year.
arris
I hope his Miami home is a bit more with the times.
onorien (o.s)
Mr. Arris, can I interest you in a brandy and a cigar?
Nereika departs. Arris stands.
arris
Do you have scotch?
onorien
(opens a large liquor cabinet)
Of course. I’m civilized. Single malt?
arris
(nods)
You know, a guy could come to like living this way.
onorien
(smiles slightly)
A “guy” already has.
Onorien slides a glass with scotch in it to Arris, then pulls a cigar box from a drawer. He pulls out two cigars, two cigar cutters and two lighters and slides one of each over to Arris. They light the cigars. Onorien walks over to a glass door and pulls it open, motioning for Arris to follow.
ext. evening sunset – veranda - continuous
They exit the mansion.
onorien cont’d
So, Mr. Arris, what did you do before you started ferrying tourists around Carribean islands?
arris
I ferried Rangers to battlefields.
(looks to Onorien)
I was a helicopter pilot in the Army.
onorien
Ahh, so you traded on the skill.
arris
Yeah.
Arris takes in the view from the veranda and is amazed. The building is perfectly placed to take in the sun as it sets into the water exactly mid-way through the island’s silhouette.
arris
Wow.
onorien
So, there are people looking for you, you said.
arris
Yeah. There should be. But, I’m going to guess they’re going to conclude I crashed in the water and sank to the bottom.
So, I don’t expect much. Although, they’ll be a bit surprised when I call from wherever your supply boat lets me off on the mainland.
onorien
Do you know what caused your aircraft to crash?
arris
Oh, yeah. I was on it at the time.
(a beat, sizes Onorien up)
Multiple systems failures and then the engine quit. Highly unusual, but not unheard of. Fortunately I was
able to autorotate to the water, which, I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised to find out I could do.
onorien
Perhaps it was the effects of The Triangle.
arris
What triangle?
Onorien gives Arris a look of incredulousness, as if he can’t believe Arris is ignorant of The Bermuda Triangle.
onorien
The Bermuda Triangle.
arris
(stifling disbelief)
The Bermuda Triangle?
Onorien
(motions through the air with his cigar)
This particular part of it is quite powerful.
arris
Well, all I know about it is what I’ve seen on television. Ships disappearing and stuff like that.
onorien
Yes, but where do they all go? How come nobody ever comes out?
arris
Well, I’d wager they’re down on the bottom of the ocean with my helicopter.
onorien
Or, perhaps, they made their way to some little island like this one, like the natives who live here now,
generations of slaves and slave traders mingling their genes and creating a new hybrid of human.
Why didn’t they ever leave? None of them? Why was nothing of them every discovered? Perhaps the power of The
Triangle keeps them here, hides them and the means that brought them here.
arris
(politely dismissive)
Why would it let everybody else move through without bother but target them? It’s not like the Caribbean isn’t a high draw tourist destination.
I’ve been flying around here for a while and never had a problem.
(a beat)
Until yesterday, anyway.
onorien
My point exactly: how does it work?
arris
Okay, how?
onorien
(shrugs)
That is why I come here. To study it. To find its nature; to understand its magic.
There are strange forces in the world, strange places with mystical powers. I work to understand them.
arris
What, you’re some sort of paranormal investigator?
onorien
(considers)
In a manner of speaking. I investigate the things that nobody
believes in, but the things that seem to need believed in, if you will. You call it paranormal, I call it “the divine.”
arris
The divine? What, like religious?
onorien
Almost, but, no. Since the era of man began, man has always believed in, or, at least, professed a
disbelief in, certain kinds of things. We no longer believe in magic or monsters or demons or devils, but, long ago, mankind did.
Did you know, Mr. Arris, that at one time long ago nearly every civilization on the planet believed in the existence of dragons? Now, nobody does. How does such a belief change?
arris
I don’t know. Maybe because nobody saw any dragons?
onorien
And, yet, nobody sees the gods they worship, and yet almost everybody on the planet believes in a god. Indeed, many religions actively proselytize to gain adherents and can show no evidence of the god they worship.
You don’t need to spend much time at all looking for evidence of the magical to find it, to find the stories that show equal numbers of people once believed in it.
arris
Well, as I understand it, magic and all that was how the early humans interpreted the world, since they were unable to know the science of things.
Religion was more a metaphysical reaction to the world, a “what does it all mean” interpretation. Since
nobody can know, religion filled the void. There’s been a lot of philosophical debate over it ever since.
onorien
And you? Are you a man of faith?
arris
In religion? No.
(turns toward the jungle, softly)
I lost my faith a while ago.
Onorien walks down the veranda to another door, he pulls it open.
onorien
Come.
Onorien walks through the door.
int. evening – display room
Arris walks into the room and is immediately awestruck by the collection of artifacts in the room. Swords, pikes, halberds, daggers, skulls, books, scrolls, staves and wands are everywhere, mixed with suits of armor, busts of men and some framed artworks on the walls.
arris
Wow, you’ve got your own natural history museum.
onorien
More than that. These are rarities of peculiar pedigree.
Arris wanders the room, examing the various items. He remembers he has a cigar.
arris
(raises cigar)
This isn’t a problem in here?
Onorien
/>
No.
Arris strolls among the displays and stops at a crystal globe.
arris
Is this a crystal ball?
onorien
It is.
arris
Does it work?
onorien
No.
(a slow beat)
Or, rather, it might if anyone else possessed one and knew how to use it. But the world is not full of people with faith in such objects, so it is unlikely that if someone has one, they believe they can make it work.
arris
You see these all the time in psychics’ houses, at least from what I see in TV shows.
Onorien
(condescending)
Psychics are charlatans, confidence artists preying on the weak-minded for money. They believe in their con, not the divine nature of the world.
arris
So you’re a man of faith, then?
onorien
Oh, yes.
(a beat)
How can you believe mankind was created by god in his own image and not believe we also have been created to access some of that same power?
Mankind believed this for tens of thousands of years until modern religions crushed that belief. Now, mankind believes in nothing, only the hope of eternal salvation for a life spent believing that if you follow some religious prescriptions, you’ll be rewarded in the afterlife.
(a long, uncomfortable beat)
All of the items in the room, Mr. Arris, were regarded by the original owners to have magical powers. This is what they believed, what they had faith in.
Arris wanders a bit and stands before a 16-inch wand with intricate carvings and colorful designs. He turns to Onorien.
arris
Okay, but what happened when the magic didn’t work and these saps were standing there with a magic whatever-this-is and the other guy had an actual sword in his hand?
onorien
You assume that the wielder of the wand did not truly believe it would work. You should ask yourself: what if it would. You don’t really think someone would show up with one in a fight for his life and not believe it would work.
arris
Yeah, but my point is, it’s just a stick with paint on it.
Arris turns and sees a black sword on a wall nearby. The blade and hilt and guard are all black, but there is intricate symbology along the side of the blade and a small green stone set in the base of the hilt. The sword is short, a 26-inch blade, and does not seem to reflect light or glint in any way. Arris approaches it and looks at the detail on the blade.
arris
This is cool.
onorien
It is the sword commissioned by a German baron in the early 1800s, Baron Ewald von Hoth.
FLASHBACK:
ext.. night – a castle in germany
It is a stormy night, with thunder and lightning. The castle glows with each flash.
int. night – castle room
Baron Ewald von Hoth paces in a room, nervous, anxious, uncertain.
von hoth
God would not desert me in my hour of need.
unseen (o.s.)
You cannot be so sure of God’s plan, Ewald.
ext. night – castle grounds
The storms grows intense, the thunder crescendos and lightning flickers. Then, from the heavens, a slash of light slices through it all, a meteor burns its way through the atmosphere and crashes into the grounds of the castle, a loud explosion accompanying its arrival. It smolders in the rain.
onorien (v.o)
Baron Ewald von Hoth feared a demon had been summoned to murder him and abduct his wife, a much younger peasant girl he had married because of her beauty and the rumor that she possessed some sort of magical powers.
The demon wanted the girl because by killing her and eating her, it would consume her magical powers and grow stronger.
But there was nothing he could do, as weapons forged by man have no effect on demons. He prayed often for God to intervene, to show him the way, and then a meteorite landed on the grounds of his castle. He took this as a sign from god that the ore in the meteorite could be forged into a sword that could smite the demon, and he had it made into a weapon by a blacksmith with alchemical powers. He paid a princely sum for the sword when it was delivered.
While Onorien is talking, we see scenes of the moving of the meteorite, its delivery to the blacksmith, the blacksmith working on melting the ore and, later beating a sword into shape. The blacksmith inscribes the blade with runes and is seen chanting and venerating the blade. Then, an exchange of a cart of gold for the sword, the blacksmith riding away. Von Hoth surveys the sword, makes the sign of the cross and looks to the heavens in thanks.
onorien (v.o.)
The baron intended to fight and destroy the demon and, as the legend goes, march into hell and kill Satan.
But it was not to be. The baron was found dead the next morning, burned to an upside-down cross, the sword missing. His wife, missing.
We see images of a burnt body on a burnt inverted cross, servants weeping at dawn, an empty bedroom chamber in turmoil.
Onorien cont’d (v.o.)
Nobody saw anything; nobody ever knew what happened.
end FLASHBACK
int. evening – display room
arris
Demons eat people?
onorien
So the story goes.
arris
I thought they just poked you with those three-pointed spears while you waded in burning whatever-its-called.
onorien
Brimstone.
arris
Right. Brimstone.
Nereika enters the room. Both men turn to her.
nereika
Mm-
(a tiny beat)
Uhh, doctor, we’re ready, now.
onorien
Excellent.
(off Arris)
Feel free to indulge with the liquor cabinet and cigars. I must go.
Arris watches Onorien leave with Nereika.
arris
(off the room)
Okay, so it is an all-inclusive resort.
(a beat)
Run by a guy who collects pretend artifacts.
FADE OUT:
end act two
act three
FADE IN TO:
ext. night – the boat at sea
Gregoire is piloting the boat past an island. He is looking at the map, tracing his course across it with his finger. He stops to make a notation on the map with a grease pencil, checks the boat’s main compass. It is spinning madly. He taps it. Nothing. He picks up some of his gear, sorts through it, and pulls out a standard-issue lensatic compass and opens it. The needle spins constantly.
gregoire
Now, that’s just not right.
Gregoire adjusts the map to reflect his position relative to the island he knows he’s near, looks around, checks both compasses. They both point in different directions. Gregoire taps his head as if just remembering something, sorts back through his gear and pulls out a GPS device. The display flips through various locations, none of them remotely matching where he is. He tosses the unit.
Gregoire stands and scans the heavens, locates a constellation and traces it back to the North Star. He aligns the map a little more.
gregoire
At least my eyes are working.
He pushes the throttle of the boat forward and continues into the night.
Int. night – onorien’s mansion
Arris gathers his knife from his survival vest and walks softly through the mansion and exits quietly.
ext. night – the island jungle
Arris is walking along the edge of the beach, close to the jungle edge. He is off to investigate the issue of the natives, which he finds odd, given Onorien’s explanation. He is heading toward where he believes the natives live, and is moving cautiously, the knife from his survival vest in hand. He hears a noise and ducks dow
n into the underbrush. Nothing. He continues on, careful of ambush, careful of silhouetting himself or giving his position away. He hears something again and freezes, slowly lowering to the ground.
He hears voices talking animatedly, but he cannot make out the language. He crawls forward slowly through the jungle growth until he reaches the edge of a small clearing. He pushes aside a few plant branches and sees a gathering of light-skinned black men, all about 20-something in age, all wearing vaguely costumish get-ups that are obviously hand-made using local materials. The costumes look vaguely like your stereotypical wizard, robe-like outfits. All the men are holding sticks or staves in idle positions.
native 1
Tonight is the night. He won’t be expecting it.
native 2
He will be expecting it after the events at the beach today. We shouldn’t have tried that plan.
native 1
No. He will understand that to have been a trap to capture the mainlander. He will think all is well.
native 3
But they have taken Renoir. Surely, they are up to something.
native 1
Yes, he is up to something, the more reason we should act. He will be occupied elsewhere and not on guard.
We tell the villagers that we need them to free Renoir so that we can free Nereika.
(a sorrowful beat)
We all know what it is he does with her. They will come.
(a beat)
It is time for this to end.
native 2
But what of the mainlander? We know nothing about him other than he washed ashore on the beach. Onorien–
native 1
We kill him. If the white man gets in the way, we kill him. Yes, it may be another of Onorien’s tricks and we must be on guard.
Native 3
Nereika will fight for him.
native 1
Yes, she will.
native 2
Do we kill her?
native 1
If we must. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,
(a beat)
But if we kill the wizard first, she’s free of him.
int. night – the mansion
Arris is searching stealthily-yet-quickly through the mansion, trying to get the layout down, examining the routes in and out. In the kitchen, he picks up a much larger knife than the one from his survival vest. He enters the drawing room and quickly opens several cabinets which reveal only ordinary items.
arris
Where’d everybody go?
He pours himself a sizable glass of scotch and walks out of the drawing room.
int. night – the library
Arris enters and sets the knife down on a table. He takes a deep sip of the scotch, pulls a book down from a shelf and sits. He opens the book and idly flips through it, pausing at strange diagrams, unable to make sense of the language. He checks the spine and notes the title is unintelligible. He puts it back, takes down another.
arris
(reading aloud, softly)
“It is the faith of the caster that determines the outcome of the spell, its power, its intensity. It is faith in the mystical that is required for the mystical to become real.”
(skips a few pages)
“To cast a spell, the caster must know it will be cast, know that there is no other possibility, know that there has never been anything but a certainty of the spell as real for the spell to be real.”
Arris closes the book and puts it back, takes a sip from his glass and takes in the sheer number of books on the shelves, suddenly realizing how many of them are titles about divinity, faith, transumation and casting spells.
Arris puts the book back in place and pulls another one. It comes only half-way out, a bookshelf to his right turning silently open, revealing a secret passage.
arris
You have to be kidding me.
ext. night – the boat
Gregoire cuts the engines and turns on a flashlight to check his map. He looks over the gunwale at the island silhouette in the distance. There is only open water on the map. He marks an X on the map where the island should be.
Gregoire turns the boat toward the island and heads for it.
ext. night – the boat and island shore
As Gregoire nears the island, he turns on the floodlight on the front of the boat and sweeps the shoreline with the beam. As he nears, he sees an old rickety pier jutting into the water, a handful of primitive fishing vessles tied to it. He maneuvers the boat and parks it.
He shoulders a submachinegun and grabs a flashlight from the boat and steps onto the pier, walking toward land.
ext. night – the island
Gregoire notes a dozen or more structures on the island, simple huts but in good repair. He sees nobody, hears nothing. He sweeps his flashlight beam through the village as he nears, notices a cooking pit with pots and pans on a nearby table. He tests the heat of the embers. Gregoire reacts to the heat: they are still warm.
Gregoire walks to the entrance of the hut and sees it is not a door, but streams of handmade rope. He parts them and peers in. The hut is empty, but recently lived in. Gregoire goes to another hut and looks through the sash, sees sleeping children on a floor mat.
int. night – secret corridor
Arris is inching slowly down a dimly lit corridor when he hears a scream that bends into a whimper. Then, some unintelligible talking followed by what sounds like desperate implorations for mercy. More unintelligible talking.
Then:
Onorien
It’ll be much easier on you if you just answer the question, Renoir.
renoir
But I told you, I don’t know anything about it.
Arris steps forward and takes a position in the shadows near the top of a staircase carved from the wall, descending a half-turn into a cavern below. He sees a light-skinned black man chained to a wall. The man is covered in sweat and stripped to his handmade underwear. He is panicked and fearful. Then:
onorien
Electricus!
Arris watches as a short burst of blue electrical sparks fill the air and strike the man, who writhes in pain as if shot by a Taser before collapsing into the manacles around his wrists. He breathes heavily. Arris considers his options and wonders what’s going on. He inches forward just slightly enough to peer around the corner blocking his view of the source of the electric shocks.
He sees Onorien and Nereika, both are wearing robes with intricate designs on them. It makes no sense to him. The man on the wall struggles back to his feet and leans against the wall, looking around in desperation, unsure how his life has brought him to this moment. Then: he see Arris.
renoir
Please. Help me. Stop them from killing me.
The camera swings violently from Onorien’s POV to reveal Arris crouching in a shadow, partly hidden in darkness.
onorien
Mr. Arris, this is most unfortunate, I had hoped to wait until another day to test your limits.
Onorien changes stance and faces Renoir.
onorien
(points a fist at Renoir)
Exuro!
A fireball the size of a beachball flies from Onorien’s fist and engulfs Renoir, rendering him a blackened husk, his scream a fraction-of-a-second in duration.
Arris gasps. Onorien turns. Arris runs.
onorien (o.s.)
Nereika, after him!
int. night – secret corridor
Arris races down the corridor toward the entrance. As he gets to the end Nereika crests the top of the stairs behind him.
int. night – library
Arris bursts from the hallway into the room and a microsecond later a small, baseball-sized fireball erupts against the wall in the corridor behind him. He pushes the bookshelf closed, runs across the room, sees the knife from the kitchen, takes it and turns just as Nereika pushes the door open. Arris lets loose with the knife and it spins toward Nereika and she closes the door quick
ly. The knife stabs a book. Arris runs out.
int. night – corridors – continuous
Arris slams the door behind him and races down a hall, then down another hall and into the foyer. He pulls the door open and immediately sees a large group of natives crossing the lawn with torches, armed with spears and machetes.
arris
Nuts.
He closes the door and runs down a hall.
Arris rushes into the Drawing Room and out onto the veranda, down it and into the Display Room.
int. night – display room
Arris walks quickly around the room, bends down and quickly pulls his small pistol out. He hears footfalls nearing. Nereika enters the room and points at Arris.
nereika
Electricus!
A thin tendril of blue electricity erupts from her finger and shocks Arris, stiffening him for a moment, temporarily paralyzing him. The moment is brief and Arris raises the gun and shoots Nereika in the stomach. She collapses to the ground and clutches her belly, blood seeping through her fingers.
Arris strides over to a window and looks through it to the ground, about ten feet down. He tries to open the window but it won’t budge. He moves quickly to another window and tries to open it, but it is also stuck. He walks to a stand holding a sword, takes it up and jams the blade into the base of the window, intent on using the sword as a crowbar
Offscreen we hear a contemptuous, dismissive laugh. Arris spins and raises his pistol as Onorien makes a “come here” motion with his fingers.
Onorien
Exarmo!
The pistol is ripped from Arris’ hand and skitters across the floor toward Onorien, who glances at it as if it were a pathetic toy. Arris reaches for the sword stuck in the window, and Onorien lets the tiniest smile flicker across his lips.
onorien
Cohibeo!
Onorien moves his palm to the side and Arris is pushed against the wall, where he struggles but cannot budge away.
Onorien turns away and walks over to Nereika and bends down to her.
onorien
Move your hands aside, child.
Nereika complies, and Onorien carefully pulls aside the fabric around her wound, observing it. Nereika moans in pain and disbelief.
onorien
Shh, you’ll be okay.
Onorien places his hands a few inches above the wound.
onorien
(softly)
Retardo!
ext. night – native village
Gregoire has been searching for signs of adults and found only sleeping children and a few elderly or infirm individuals, also sleeping. He walks away from the village toward the pier and looks around, curious and disbelieving.
gregoire
A non-existant island populated with children and old people. No wonder it’s not on the map.
Gregoire walks away from the village and down the pier toward the boat.
ext. night – the boat
Gregoire is piloting the boat out to sea, around the island toward the next one marked on the map. He has crossed this island off on the map with a grease pencil as “checked.” Like all the others on the map.
int. night – the display room
Onorien rises from Nereika and strides slowly toward Arris, who is struggling against unseen forces.
Onorien
You can stop struggling, Mr. Arris, you will remain where you are until I release you.
arris
You know, I’m gonna have to admit to being a little bit behind the power curve on what’s going on here, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say it’s not good.
(a beat)
At least, not for me.
Onorien smiles.
onorien
You are not a man with faith, are you, Mr. Arris?
arris
Faith in what?
onorien
In anything, I gather. Only the faithless are so easily restrained.
arris
Well …
onorien
Yes, exactly.
Arris
I don’t exactly see where you’re going with this.
onorien
For starters, perhaps you should tell me who you really are and how you ended up on my island.
Arris
I already told you that.
onorien
Yes, you told me a story, to be sure, but I am not one who would believe an aerial tour operator would routinely arm himself with a pistol.
arris
It’s dangerous here in the Carribean.
(a beat)
Dangerous in some pretty far-fetched ways, judging from the way things are unspooling.
Arris looks around the room at the artifacts collection. He tries to move against the mystical force and can’t, though he realizes his arms and legs can move along the wall, and he takes a half-step to the side.
arris
Although, I’m starting to believe that maybe all this stuff you’ve got in here is maybe the real deal, and not some fantastical ravings of an island hermit.
Onorien opens his hand and moves it quickly forward and inch through the air:
onorien
Pulsus!
Arris is shoved against the wall, his head banging it.
onorien
Now, Mr. Arris. I ask you again, how did you come to be here? Who sent you?
arris
Technically? Nobody sent me. I was on the way to pick up some honeymooners for an hour long flight over a couple of islands.
(off mystical force)
But I think there’s a better question begging for an answer, and that’s: “What the hell are you doing to me?”
Arris takes another half-step to the side, testing.
Onorien
It’s a rather mundane Restraint Spell, Mr. Arris, and there is nothing you can do to free yourself.
arris
(subsiding disbelief)
Spell?
Onorien
Yes. You don’t believe in divine forces, do you, Mr. Arris? I infer also that you probably do not believe in anything that your eyes have not seen, and yet here you are, subject to a force you do not believe in.
But, like most people in the modern world, you probably do believe in all manner of things you have never seen but have experienced. Have you ever seen how your voice is encoded and decoded by a telephone? No. But you believe it works. Have you ever seen an atom split? No. But you believe it can be done.
And the world over, billions of people believe in various beings of omnipotent power and omniscient knowledge that somehow orchestrated
all that is on the planet. And, yet, those beings never make their presence known.
arris
Yeah, but with some of that stuff, I know where to look it up. I mean, if I ever cared how a phone worked, I’m sure I could find a helpful Website. And the atom thing, well, I’ve seen the films.
onorien
Exactly my point, Mr. Arris. You have faith you can prove your beliefs, even if you never bother to prove them to yourself. You have faith that a phone will work because they always work.
(a small beat)
But when your Internet connection fails, don’t you wonder why it’s not working? Don’t you say to yourself,
(discontentment voice)
“But it’s the Internet. It’s computers, how is not working?”
arris
That’s why I switched from dial-up to broadband, it’s more reliable.
onorien
No, Mr. Arris. It is your faith in technology that made you switch, your faith that the newer was better. Your blind faith that the scientists and engineers and technologists have figured out how the world works.
(a beat)
But they have only figured out one way the world works.
Onorien shows a palm and moves his hand a tiny fraction forward:
Onorien
Pulsus!
Arris bangs his head
off the wall.
arris
Hey! Do you have to do that?
onorien
Have you figured out, yet, any other ways the world might also work?
There is a rising incidence of background activity, of doors opening, people running, glass shattering. Onorien turns for a moment and looks down the hall, sees nothing. He is unperturbed.
Onorien
The natives are restless.
(turns to Nereika)
Nereika, can you stand?
Nereika is sitting against a wall. She looks up at Onorien uncertainly. She struggles and stands. She is weak.
Onorien
Go hold them off until I arrive.
Nereika moves off down the hall, slowly, clutching her belly.
Onorien turns to Arris.
onorien
Faith, Mr. Arris.
arris
Faith?
onorien
Yes. It is the other way the world works.
arris
Faith in what?
onorien
Anything.
arris
(doubtful)
Anything?
onorien
To an extent, certainly. And here you are an atheist to the world of the divine, yet an adherent to the world of science. Faith. And you are not religious, as I recall. So your faith, such as it is, is in the ability of a small group of a certain type of people to tell you
that certain things can and cannot be done.
(a long beat)
Is that a religion?
Arris stares in disbelief and shrugs.
arris
I call it science. It seems to work.
onorien
Yes, well let us see if science can free you.
There is a loud crash and much yelling down the hall and Onorien turns just as a crowd of natives turns the corner and starts advancing down the hall, spears and machetes in hand. Onorien steps toward them and removes a palm-sized crystal cut into a pyramid shape.
onorien
Procella Infucatus!
From the crystal a small Technicolor storm of light erupts, forms, and begins to streak outward. Onorien orients the crystal in his hand and the beam strikes down the hallway at a small knot of brave natives striding down it. They evaporate upon contact with the beam and those farther down the hall stop in their places.
Arris moves against the wall, away from Onorien. He looks around quickly, looking for any way to get away from the wall. His head bonks into the hilt of the black sword of the baron and he winces a second, but makes no sound, and looks to see what he has contacted. He reaches up for the sword and grasps the hilt and stumbles away from the wall.
Arris looks over at Onorien, whose back is to him, and watches as Onorien directs the beam down the hall toward the other natives, who are backpedaling cautiously. One throws a spear and it dissolves in the beam. Onorien laughs to himself.
Arris steps slowly, stealthily toward Onorien, not wanting to let it be known he is mysteriously free of the wall.
FADE OUT:
end of act THREE
act four
FADE IN TO:
int. night - display room
Arris is creeping up on Onorien, who is casting a spell against an attacking band of island natives.
Onorien
(softly)
Impello!
The beam of light increases and dashes forward at the retreating natives, enveloping them, evaporating them. Onorien smiles. Behind him, we see Arris raising the black sword and slashing violently against Onorien, the blade crashing into Onorien’s right arm, slicing to the bone, the crystal leaping from Onorien’s hands and skittering down the hall. When the crystal comes to a rest, the beam, uncontrolled by Onorien’s will, begins to twist in a counter-clockwise pattern, tearing through brick and stone and everything else it touches, evaporating everything it touches.
Onorien turns as Arris pulls the blade out.
onorien
(while turning)
Idiot! Do you –
As he turns, Arris quickly thrusts the blade into Onorien’s gut, and the wizard pauses, looks down at the blade in him, back up at Arris, and then blood trickles from his lips. He slips from the blade to the floor, his hands on his stomach wound.
onorien
(weakly)
You fool.
As the beam from the crystal revolves, it begins destroying the mansion, and the ceilings start falling. Arris looks down at Onorien.
arris
Can you turn that off?
Onorien suffers on the floor, desperately trying to compose himself. The house shakes as the beam cuts through more of it. Arris steps away from Onorien and searches for an exit. Suddenly, the doorway to the veranda collapses, the room shakes as a wall nearest the crystal comes in contact with the beam from the crystal. Arris sees a window he could not open before and runs toward it, heaving the sword ahead of him. The sword crashes through the window and Arris leaps through the opening.
ext. night – the mansion grounds
The mansion is being destroyed in a supreme lightshow. From several doors, natives come running out at full pace. At the edge of the grounds, the native wizards watch in awe.
native 1
What’s going on in there?
native 2
(off mansion)
Nothing good.
native 1
Nothing good ever went on in there.
Nereika stumbles through the front door of the mansion and down the steps, tears streaking her face. She clutches her belly and makes her way across the lawn, the mansion disintegrating and burning behind her.
native 2
Look, Nereika.
Native 2 makes a move forward but is stopped by the arm of Native 1.
native 1
No. We cannot be sure.
Nereika collapses to her knees and starts weeping uncontrollably, deep sobbing gasps of grief and desperation and disbelief. The two natives look at each other curiously.
Just then the sword breaks through the window and spins through the air, stabbing the ground blade-first, silhouetted against the light show like a cross, a small green jewel in the base of the hilt aglow. Moments later, Arris jumps through the broken window and falls to the ground, breaking his fall with a roll.
Arris gets up and sees the last few natives disappearing into the tree line at full run, turns to look at the building in disbelief, and begins running across the lawn toward the jungle scrim when he sees Nereika bundled against herself on the grass, bawling. He grabs his survival knife from his rear waistband and approaches cautiously.
ext. night – the boat
Gregoire is cutting parallel to the shore of the island when the sky over the center of the island, deep in the jungle, erupts into light all the colors of the rainbow.
gregoire
What the?
He cuts the boat’s engine and watches for several seconds as the light show intensifies, tendrils of colors turning lazily up into the night sky. Then, he sees smoke against the light, hears distant crashing noises, the barest hint of a scream.
He pushes the throttles forward and turns to the shore, rushing the boat onto the sand in the surf. He tosses the anchor out quickly and grabs his sub-machinegun and flashlight. He hops out of the bed and walks quickly toward the jungle line. He hears running noises from the jungle and pauses, but nothing comes of it. He moves on.
ext. night – mansion grounds
Arris approaches Nereika warily, from behind. He keeps a little distance, and circles her, watching in astonishment as the light storm eveloping the castle grows. Nereika catches sight of him and looks up, suddenly scared through her tears.
nereika
I’m sorry about … thank you.
arris
Thank you? I shot you in the gut.
nereika
No.
(regards her wound)
You freed me, somehow.
arris
Freed you?
nereika
I’ve been his slave for almost six years. The things he’s made me do.
(a beat)
The things he’s done to me.
(breaks into more intense sobbing)
I thought… I just … it was unimaginable, and yet I couldn’t do anything to stop it. Nothing.
The wind noticeably increases and Arris looks around and back at the mansion. We see the sword in silhouette.
arris
You know, I don’t know anything about what’s going on here, but I’m going to guess this is one of those moments where running is required.
(extends hand)
Can you at least walk?
Nereika nods and takes his hand. She stands and looks over her shoulder at the place she has been imprisoned for the past six years, a slave of the wizard in all ways. A brief fit of anger washes over her face, through the tears.
arris
How’s your belly feel?
nereika
It hurts like hell. But Onorien has slowed it down, so I won’t bleed to death anytime soon.
arris
How?
nereika
A “slow spell.” He cast one on the wound to slow the damage it causes.
Arris
Will you last until the supply boat gets here?
Nereika
There is no supply boat. There never was. He just told you that to make you less anxious to leave.
Arris
Then how do you get on and off the island.
nereika
He had a boat in the cave, but the way to get there is now destroyed. It
was down a tunnel beyond the chamber you found us in tonight.
The camera pushes past the two and closes in on the sword. A tendril of light arcs out from a disappearing portion of mansion wall and touches the sword.
As Arris and Nereika reach the edge of the lawn, the world goes suddenly dark and the wind stops. They turn and see only the smudge of the mountain into which the mansion was built. Some smoke drifts from the site where the foundation once was, trailing off into the sky.
ext. night – mansion grounds
Gregoire comes to the edge of a large clearing in the jungle, a patch of well-tended grass several acres in size. He pauses and crouches in the underbrush. The source of the lights he has seen while walking through the jungle is not evident, although he is certain it originated here. Instead, he sees a smoldering crater filled with masonry blocks, large wooden girders and debris. He readies his weapon and inches along the edge of the jungle, trying to figure out what he is looking at.
Then two shadowy figures emerge, silhouettes against the night sky from his perspective. One is a female dressed in a gown, inappropriate attire for the jungle; the other is a man with a sword. He creeps closer still, searching the shadows for evidence of additional people. He ducks behind some rocks at the edge of the mountain base and realizes there was a sizable building here not too long ago, now reduced to rubble. Not enough rubble.
He steps from the rocks and points the weapon.
gregoire
Stay right where you are and make no movements.
arris
(astounded)
Greg?
gregoire
(astounded)
Arris?
Gregoire turns on his flashlight and waves the beam over the faces of the two people.
arris
How did you get here?
Gregoire steps forward and bear-hugs Arris, who seems a bit embarrassed by the move.
gregoire
In a boat, of course.
(a beat)
What happened to the agents?
arris
They didn’t make it.
gregoire
(pauses, then: off rubble)
What the hell is going on here?
arris
I don’t know.
gregoire
You don’t know?
arris
I don’t know. Ask her, maybe she knows.
(off Gregoire)
Nereika, this is Greg.
(off Nereika)
Greg, Nereika.
gregoire
(steps forward, extends hand)
Gregoire --
(suddenly shocked)
You’re shot.
Gregoire shoulders his weapon and pulls a medical kit and bandages out of a cargo slot on his combat harness.
gregoire
Come, lay down.
Nereika looks to Arris, who nods that it’s okay. She lays down on the grass and Gregoire cuts away at the clothing near the wound. He sees the blood barely oozing out, rather than running from the hole as he knows it would, having seen bullet wounds many times before.
gregoire
(to Nereika)
Who shot you, dear?
nereika
He did.
Gregoire looks over at Arris, who only shrugs.
arris
I’ll tell you later. I’m going to need a couple of drinks to make sense of this … episode.
Gregoire applies a bandage to the wound, packs his medical kit into the pouch on his harness and shines the light across the rubble.
gregoire
What was it?
arris
A big mansion.
(a beat)
We better get to your boat. She’s shot. She needs to get to a hospital.
How far are we from anywhere?
ext. night – the boat on open sea
The boat is pushing through the water at full speed, the wake white and foamy in the moonlight. In the distance, receding, is the island. Arris is looking at the map, tracing his path through the sea from crash site to island. Where the island should be is only a hand-drawn X, with a checkmark alongside it. He looks up and over the rear of the ship, at the island, then over to Nereika, who is sleeping on a bench.
int. morning – hospital hallway
Arris and Gregoire stand outside a hospital room. Inside, Nereika is sleeping after surgery. A police officer is walking down the hallway away from them, closing a notebook.
arris
Well, everyone seems to be accepting the story.
gregoire
Indeed, but what are we going to do about her.
arris
That’s a good one. She has no passport, no ID, no bank account, no anything, as far as I know.
gregoire
You think she’s a native of the island?
arris
Most likely.
gregoire
It’ll be tough for her to adapt, then.
The two look into the room and Arris nods that they should begin walking down the hall.
arris
It’s going to be a number of days before she can be moved out.
(a beat)
We need to check back in with the company for debriefing.
gregoire
What are you going to tell them?
arris
(small laugh)
Not what really happened, that’s for damn sure.
gregoire
What really did happen?
ext. night – backyard deck of arris’ house
Arris and Gregoire are sitting at a table, a three-quarter-empty bottle of single malt scotch between them, their glasses filled generously. An ash tray with cigarette butts and a spent cigars sits to the side near a cigarette pack and a Zippo with the US Army Special Forces emblem on it.
Gregoire sits agog, pondering the lit end of cigar.
gregoire
That couldn’t have really happened.
Arris reaches into a cargo pocket on the department store brand cargo pants he’s wearing and pulls out the pyramid crystal and places it on the table, pushes it a few inches toward Gregoire.
gregoire
This is the crystal? The actual crystal.
arris
(nods)
Yep
.
(a beat)
And don’t forget the sword.
gregoire
(off crystal)
What are you going to do with it?
arris
I’m not sure, but I figured it’d be a good idea to find out what it’s made of. It might be worth something.
They sit in silence for a moment, each taking a drink from their cups.
gregoire
What do you think this all means?
arris
I don’t know, I really don’t. It’s something so odd and inexplicable that … hell, Greg, what do you make of it? What do you think it means?
gregoire
Well, it means the world--
arris
(overlaps)
The world?
gregoire
--isn’t what we think it is.
(a beat)
Or that the Bermuda Triangle is real, at least … maybe.
(considers)
What does the girl say?
arris
Eh, only that she’d been under some spell of some sort by Onorien for six years, taught to be his apprentice at the cost of constant
sex with him – rape, though she hasn’t used the word – and that she occasionally accompanied him on trips to Miami, where he mostly confined her to his home while he did whatever he did when gone.
She was a slave in every sense of the word, only he taught her … spells in return.
None of it makes any sense, and she hasn’t been able to offer any perspective on it. She doesn’t know why any of it happened.
gregoire
(off house)
What are you going to do about her?
arris
(off garden house in backyard)
I’m going to fix-up the garden house. It’s got heat and electric, so it’s somewhere private for her to live in.
(a beat)
We’ll figure the rest out later.
FADE OUT:
end of act four
tag
FADE IN TO:
FLASHBACKS:
int. night – the display room
Onorien lies on the floor as Arris looks down at him.
arris
Can you turn that off?
Arris looks back at the churning swirl of lights, looks to Onorien again, who lies on the floor, a hint of blood on his lips, his eyes searching the room. Arris turns and heaves the sword through a nearby window, waits a beat, then rushes and jumps through it.
The light storm rages and Onorien concentrates his strength for a final casting of a final spell.
onorien
(quietly, but with full force of conviction)
Transporto!
As the light and wind increases, Onorien vanishes and the interior of the building collapses on the room.
End FLASHBACKS:
fade out
end tag
Sample Chapter to Of Monsters and Men, the sequel to The Divine World