sib3x16
Script created with Final Draft by Final Draft, Inc.
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TEASER
FADE IN:
1 INT. CLUB DU JOUR - NIGHT 1
LIGHTS flashing, BASS pounding, BODIES moving - a packed
dancefloor in what seems like the best club in town.
PUSH IN on the heaving mass of dancers filling the main
floor, the neo-tech stylings of the club meaning plenty of
clashing, garish neon lighting ripples over the punters.
CLOSER on one couple in particular, a young, hopelessly goth
pair of star-crossed lovers named ANT and BEX. He's all
Tokyopop clubwear, she's a PVC princess with brightly
coloured dreadlocks swaying to the beat.
ANT
(yells into her ear)
This place is great! I can't
believe I never thought to try it
before!
BEX
(yells back)
Told you! When have I ever let you
down?
He LAUGHS and they KISS, getting swept up in the heat of the
moment as the beat builds to a crescendo. Arms go into the
air, the crowd waiting for the drop...
2 INT. CLUB DU JOUR - CORRIDOR - NEXT 2
And Ant SLAMS back into frame, Bex hungrily kissing him as
the two grapple with each other.
They're in a short access corridor off the main dance floor,
the THUMP of the bass sounding through the walls. It's dimly
lit, but these two don't need any light right now.
Laughing with giddy anticipation, the two start trying to
tear each other out of their figure-hugging outfits, but
descend into giggles at how difficult that actually is.
Ant shakes his head and grins, fiddling with the complicated
laces at the back of Bex's corset.
ANT
Bloody PVC corsets...
BEX
Here. Let me.
She reaches round, and with a few expert twists she's
unfastened the whole shebang.
Ant's grin broadens as she lets it fall - and we drop with it
to the floor - the two embracing as their petting gets
slower, more personal.
And there's a sudden CRACKLE of electricity around their
feet!
ON ANT AND BEX as they both look round, Ant pulling Bex's
naked upper half close to him protectively.
ANT
What was that?
BEX
I don't know, felt like...
(shakes head)
Never mind.
ANT
(frowns)
It was like static or something...
Bex THWAPS him on the side of his head.
BEX
Hey! Semi-naked hot girlfriend in
your arms. Stay on target!
Ant's frown dissolves back into a grin, and the two get back
to some good old smoochin' once more.
But this time, the CRACKLES of electricity are too big to
notice, SPARKING off them both and making them jump back a
step.
BEX (cont'd)
Yow!
ANT
Alright, that wasn't static.
Bex hurriedly grabs her discarded corset, shrugging back into
it to protect her modesty as Ant looks around.
His eyes widen as he sees more ELECTRICITY climbing the
walls, ice blue tendrils of energy snaking from surface to
surface.
BEX
Ant...
ANT
We'd, uh, better get out of here.
He takes a step towards her - and a BOLT of energy streaks
towards him!
It hits Ant and he YELLS in pain, CONVULSING as the energy
courses over him.
BEX
(terrified)
Ant!!
He HOWLS again as more bolts leap from the walls and strike
him, collapsing to his knees.
The desperate Bex can only watch helplessly as more
ELECTRICITY starts to cascade down the walls, homing in on
the duo at top speed!
BEX (cont'd)
Ant!
(yells)
Somebody help us! Please! We -
And he's ZAPPED as well, falling to the floor alongside Ant
and also CONVULSING as more energy flows over her!
From the next room, the crowd start to CHEER as another big
drop builds up, the bass pounding and masking the duo's cries
for help.
CLOSE ON ANT as he CHOKES, the colour draining from his skin
and his cheeks sinking in, the very life force itself being
drained from him.
Bex is in the same mess, her body reflexively curling up into
a ball as cold fingers of electricity continue to snake
across the pair.
Ant's eyes roll back into his head, and as he breathes his
last, his breath MISTS in the air and starts to GLOW,
floating towards the ceiling.
The glowing cloud of mist is ZAPPED several times on its way
up, and as the building rumble of bass in the next room
finally drops and the crowd WHOOP in excitement, the energy
FLASHES once - and is gone.
DOWN BELOW, Bex and Ant lie still at last, the energy
crawling away from them and returning to the walls. Their
bodies are pale, sunken and lifeless, and as we PUSH IN on
Ant's glazed eyes, we:
BLACK OUT:
END OF TEASER
ACT ONE
FADE IN:
3 EXT. HILLTOP - DUSK 3
The sun is setting in the distance, overlooking a city below
as it begins to light up for the evening ahead.
PULL BACK to find JULIE lying on the grassy ground, her body
wrapped in a thick blanket and her skin covered with SYMBOLS.
Sitting cross-legged before her is MICHELLE HAWKES, eyes
closed and Cane of Tiltha extended out before her as she
mumbles an incantation.
Hold on this scene for a moment, no sound beyond Michelle's
faint murmuring, until:
TWIST (O.S.)
Is it working?
Michelle SIGHS and opens on eye as TWIST steps into frame,
peering down at Julie's sleeping form.
MICHELLE
(pointed)
Not yet, no.
TWIST
Shouldn't this have had an effect
by now?
MICHELLE
Hard to say. Somebody keeps
interrupting me.
Twist is still oblivious until CHRIS clears his throat and
calls to her:
CHRIS (O.S.)
Twist. Come over here.
Chris sits by the ramshackle old van the team have been
using, flanked by DIEGO and SYREN.
Twist shrugs and heads back over, leaving Michelle to return
to her spell.
TWIST
I'm just saying -
CHRIS
Please don't.
(off her look)
Michelle's doing us a favour by
trying to help Julie.
DIEGO
She is under no obligation to help
us.
TWIST
Oh, and I suppose me bugging her is
going to make her up sticks and
leave, right?
SYREN
To be fair, Twist, even I'd be
getting a bit annoyed by now.
TWIST
(hands on hips)
Well! Check out Little Miss Sassy
Pants over there!
SYREN
I'm just making an observation.
Twist pokes her tongue out, joining the others as they sit
inside the van's body, its slide door open and their gear
strewn across its interior.
TWIST
Do we even know what's wrong yet?
CHRIS
That's what this will hopefully
tell us.
SYREN
Michelle will be able to fix this.
DIEGO
You sound confident.
TWIST
She always is. Haven't you noticed
that by now?
CHRIS
Syren's right. This is black magic,
way out of my area of expertise.
TWIST
Dude, all magic is in your 'area of
expertise.' Don't sandbag.
CHRIS
Alright, I may know a few dark
magic spells, but I'm certainly not
as comfortable with them as
Michelle is.
If I try to help Julie without
fully understanding what I'm
doing...
He lets it hang. No need to finish.
DIEGO
(glances at sunset)
Danyael and Naomi should be safe to
come back soon.
TWIST
(scoffs)
Yeah, real convenient how they get
themselves stuck in town together
all day, huh?
CHRIS
They're gathering information.
TWIST
They're humping like bunnies and
you know it.
CHRIS
(beat)
Thanks for that lovely image.
MICHELLE (O.S.)
I know what it is.
The team stand and head over as Michelle uncrosses her legs
and stands, dusting her dress down.
CHRIS
And?
MICHELLE
It's an ixtab.
TWIST
(blinks)
Is that like an ixnay?
MICHELLE
(ignores her)
Central American spirit, probably
Mayan in origin. Takes its name
from the goddess of suicide.
DIEGO
Suicide?
MICHELLE
Basically, it's a dark spirit that
latches on to people full of
negative emotions.
SYREN
(sadly)
That sounds like Julie.
MICHELLE
It hides in their body, feeding off
the bad vibes rattling round them,
and when it becomes strong enough
it takes them over and tries to get
its host to take their own life.
CHRIS
What for?
MICHELLE
Because the resulting release of
essence is like a five-star banquet
to one of those buggers. It'll
feast on that for years.
Chris sighs heavily, crouching by Julie and gently stroking
her hair.
TWIST
Can you get rid of it?
MICHELLE
(beat)
Maybe. It's a lot stronger than I'd
like, so I'll need time and access
to a lot of untapped, pure energy
to get enough strength to drive it
out of her.
CHRIS
I can't do anything about the
time...
They turn to him as he stands.
CHRIS (cont'd)
... but I know a place we can go
that'll have all the magic you'll
need.
Twist's cell phone starts to RING, and she answers it.
TWIST
(to others)
It's Danyael. He thinks he's found
us a case.
Chris looks to Diego, who nods, and we CUT TO:
4 INT. DINER - NIGHT 4
Joining DANYAEL and NAOMI inside a downtown restaurant, he
pushes a newspaper across the table towards the others.
DANYAEL
Happened two nights ago but it's
still in all the papers.
Chris picks it up and reads - 'Mysterious Deaths Still
Unsolved' reads the headline. It's an article about our ill
fated lovers from the Teaser.
NAOMI
Two kids found dead in the back of
a nightclub, no obvious cause of
death beyond -
TWIST
(reading)
'A sudden and rapid dessication of
their bodies'?
SYREN
(grimaces)
Yuck.
CHRIS
Something quite literally sucked
the life out of them. Not a
pleasant way to go.
DANYAEL
The club's been shut down, but the
police have no leads and the
investigation's still open.
NAOMI
Sounds like our kind of thing.
TWIST
'Our'?
NAOMI
(sighs)
Alright, your kind of thing.
DANYAEL
(to Naomi)
Hey, you're in on all this as well,
honey.
NAOMI
Thanks.
She shoots Twist a quick, ever-so-slightly smug smirk.
DANYAEL
How's Julie?
DIEGO
Michelle is staying with her. She's
identified the cause of her
illness.
TWIST
Evil spirit, munching on her
depression.
NAOMI
Yikes. Can she get it out?
CHRIS
We'll have to leave her to it. For
now, let's go and take a look at
this club and see what we can find.
He puts the paper down, and the team take that as their
signal to ship out. They all rise as we CUT TO:
5 EXT. CLUB DU JOUR - NIGHT 5
The place has been closed down, police tape over all
entrances. The team's van pulls up across the street.
6 INT. VAN - NEXT 6
Chris shuts off the engine as he looks over at the club.
TWIST
This is just like the good old
days.
(to Chris)
Remember that place in Hollywood we
had to crash once?
CHRIS
(dry)
The 'good old days' indeed.
TWIST
(gleefully; to others)
Chris had to get all glammed up so
we could get inside.
SYREN
(raises eyebrow)
He did?
CHRIS
Twist, now isn't the time.
TWIST
Oh, but you looked so cute!
The others share a chuckle as Chris turns to them.
CHRIS
Alright, alright. Syren, you're
with me. We'll sweep the club, look
for anything out of the ordinary.
Twist, Diego, you do the same but
with the outside.
DIEGO
What are you expecting to find?
CHRIS
If I knew that, I'd tell you what
to look out for.
DANYAEL
What about me and Naomi?
CHRIS
Do some research. Look into the
club's history, see who owns it or
had any involvement with its
construction, especially any recent
work done on the place.
Naomi grabs Julie's laptop, opening it up.
NAOMI
We're on it.
Chris nods, opening his door, and as the others follow suit,
we CUT TO:
7 INT. CLUB DU JOUR - NEXT 7
Opening a fire door and ducking under several lines of yellow
police tape, Chris holds them up and guides Syren inside.
They're in another corridor running alongside the main room,
Chris looking for clues but seeing nothing unusual.
CHRIS
Picking anything up?
Syren tilts her head to one side, frowning.
SYREN
Something, but... not here.
(points)
That way.
She's pointing towards a set of doors, so Chris heads over
and pushes them open, into:
8 INT. CLUB DU JOUR - DANCE FLOOR - NEXT 8
The club's main area, seeming much larger now it's devoid of
people. Even with the house lights off, there's enough neon
glow in here to see by.
Syren glides into the centre of the dancefloor, clearly
sensing something but trying to pin it down, and as Chris
takes a nose around we CUT TO:
9 EXT. CLUB DU JOUR/ALLEYWAY - NEXT 9
Diego crouches down, running his hand across the alley floor
as Twist stands over him.
TWIST
Y'know, you should probably be
wearing gloves before doing that.
No telling what's gone on down
there.
DIEGO
Something was here.
TWIST
What, apart from rats and disease?
He stands, rubbing his thumb and forefinger together.
TWIST (cont'd)
What?
He shows her his fingers - they're coated with a fine grey
ASH.
TWIST (cont'd)
So? Looks like cigarette ash.
DIEGO
It isn't anything man made.
Something left this behind.
TWIST
And you know this because...
Diego brings the ash to his nose and SNIFFS it, then to
Twist's disgust gives it a quick LICK.
TWIST (cont'd)
Hokay! Remind me never to question
your tracking skills again.
Diego turns, his eyes following a trail.
DIEGO
This way.
He heads off, the bemused Twist close behind as we CUT TO:
10 EXT. STREET - PHONE BOOTH - NEXT 10
Naomi is typing away at the laptop while Danyael works at a
phone booth internet terminal. It's slow, but it's a start.
Naomi stops what she's doing, watching Danyael for a moment
until he realises.
DANYAEL
What?
NAOMI
When are you going to tell them?
A beat. Danyael looks away and gets back to work.
DANYAEL
Tell who what?
NAOMI
Danny... don't.
He exhales, stopping and turning back to her.
DANYAEL
Soon. Just... not yet, okay?
NAOMI
Are you backing out?
DANYAEL
No! No, course not. Just... look,
this is a big deal for me, alright?
NAOMI
We've been talking about it for
months now. You said you were okay
with it.
DANYAEL
I am. Seriously. I just... I just
need to find the right moment to
spring this one on them. Alright?
NAOMI
(beat; nods)
Alright.
She gets back to work. Danyael keeps his gaze on her for a
few more moments until he returns to the terminal, and we CUT
TO:
11 INT. CLUB DU JOUR - DANCE FLOOR - NEXT 11
Chris is climbing an access ladder that leads to one of the
several lighting rigs hanging from the ceiling.
CHRIS
(calls down)
This one?
From the floor below, Syren shouts up to him:
SYREN
Yeah, that's about right. Somewhere
around there.
Chris peers at the lighting array, seeing nothing but a mass
of cables, boxes and large, heavy light fittings - until:
CHRIS
Hello...
He squints, leaning closer - there's a strange-looking object
nestled in the middle of the array, almost hidden from view.
SYREN
What is it?
CHRIS
I've found something.
He reaches out, trying to get his fingers around the star
shaped object - but there's a SPARK of electricity and he
snaps his hand back!
SYREN
Chris?
CHRIS
(winces)
Ow! Bloody thing... no wonder I
couldn't sense it myself. It's
shielded.
SYREN
Can you get past it?
CHRIS
Yes, hang on...
He extends his palm and mutters a quick incantation, and
there's a brief GREEN GLOW around the object.
He reaches forward again, and this time gets a firm hold of
it. PULLING it free of the array.
WITH SYREN as she waits for Chris to climb down to meet her,
Chris turning the object over in his hands.
SYREN
What is it? What did you find?
CHRIS
(frowns)
It looks familiar, but I can't
place it...
He stares at it for a few moments, then hands it to Syren as
he fishes out his cell phone.
CHRIS (cont'd)
(into phone)
Danyael? It's Chris. Any luck?
DANYAEL
(filtered; through phone)
Oh, we've had some luck alright. I
think we've found our link. Meet
you back at the van to say more.
Chris glances at Syren, and as she runs her hand over the
item Chris' expression suddenly changes - he's remembered
something. He grins as we CUT TO:
12 EXT. STREET - NIGHT 12
Diego is still following his trail as Twist lags behind.
TWIST
Look, Diego honey, I don't mean to
be rude, but I can't smell a damn
thing so why don't you go on
without me?
He stops, turning to face her.
DIEGO
Is... is that what you want?
TWIST
What I want is to be able to feel
whatever your Spidey-Sense is
telling you, but seeing as how I
can't, I figured I may as well go
back and help the others.
DIEGO
(beat)
Alright then.
He starts to walk away, but Twist calls out:
TWIST
Hey! Wait!
She catches back up to him, frowning.
TWIST (cont'd)
What did you mean?
DIEGO
I'm sorry?
TWIST
When you said 'is that what you
want?' You sounded like you wanted
me to go or something.
DIEGO
No, you did.
TWIST
Excuse me?
DIEGO
Twist, I... I know seeing Danyael
with Naomi hasn't been easy for
you, and I -
TWIST
Okay, okay, woah camel, woah. You
know what with the what now?
Diego exhales slowly. This is clearly a topic he's
uncomfortable with.
DIEGO
Ever since the two of them made
their feelings more public, you've
been... different.
TWIST
How? What, did I grow an extra arm
or something?
DIEGO
(beat)
Never mind. We should do this
later.
He tries to leave, but she grabs his arm to stop him.
TWIST
No, we do this now! What do you
mean, 'different'?
DIEGO
Almost as if... as if you were
jealous.
Twist's jaw hangs. She isn't speechless very often.
DIEGO (cont'd)
Are you?
TWIST
I... that's not... no, you can't
just turn this around like that -
DIEGO
(patient)
Are you?
TWIST
What do you want me to say?
DIEGO
The truth.
She crosses her arms. Not happy.
TWIST
No. I'm not jealous. I think she's
a loose cannon with some serious
anger management issues bubbling
under the surface, but I know
nobody else is gonna agree with me,
so yeah, I'm keeping my eye on her.
Is that a problem?
Diego looks away. He crouches, spotting more of the
unidentified ash, and he scoops some into a tissue.
DIEGO
No, it's not a problem.
But Diego doesn't look back at her, and as Twist stomps away
with a HUFF, we PUSH IN on Diego's troubled expression before
we:
BLACK OUT:
END OF ACT ONE
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Script created with Final Draft by Final Draft, Inc.