kungfuwaynewho (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
kungfuwaynewho) wrote2011-01-15 08:27 pm
kungfuwaynewho) wrote2011-01-15 08:27 pm
Entry tags:
NaScreeWriMo - Day Seventy-Six
This has been a pretty good day. I got to sleep in (until 9:00 am!), I had a very good writing day, I won a Bingo at ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
scifiland, KU beat Nebraska, visited with my Gamps, had some restorative alone time this evening, made chocolate cake in a mug, and played some Civ. Now that I'm done posting, I'm going to play some more Civ, and then maybe read in bed covered with thousands of blankets. Wonderful.
INT. CASTLE - GREAT STAIRCASE - NIGHT
The long winding stair Mira and Ilka descended in search of Dominik. Not quite as scary now, as TORCHES are lit on the walls. They do not go out as Samuel passes, though they do sputter and go dim.
Samuel tugs too hard on Mira’s arm and she trips. She would fall if it weren’t for his grip.
SAMUEL
Get up!
MIRA
You’re hurting me.The rage melts away - he looks scared, confused, and young.
SAMUEL
I’m sorry. There’s something...
between my mind and...
He can’t finish. A snarl, and Samuel grabs a torch off the wall beside them, flings it into the abyss to their left, where it is swiftly swallowed up by the darkness.
Mira starts to back away. Up the stairs. Samuel screams into the blackness.
SAMUEL (CONT'D)
Get out of my head!
Mira turns and runs up the stairs. She makes good progress for a beat or two before Samuel’s HANDS grab her from behind, pull her back down.
SAMUEL (CONT’D)
No, no, no. No!
MIRA
Samuel, please. Samuel.
He stops and shoves her against the wall, his face inches from hers.
SAMUEL
(whispers)
There isn’t much time. I can feel him,
trying to watch through my eyes. You have
to kill me, Mira.
MIRA
(moans)
No.
SAMUEL
I can’t do it! You must, it has to be you! Please, I
beg you. I’m trapped in my own mind. He’s turned
me into something monstrous. Soon I’ll be swallowed up completely.
MIRA
I can’t. Don’t ask me to do this. Don’t ask me to
watch you die again.
SAMUEL
If you love me, you’ll let me go.
Beat. Mira nods, slowly. She reaches a hand up into her sleeve...
The torches GO OUT. Blackness, relieved only by a dim eldritch glow in the stones.
JANOS (O.S.)
(booming)
Samuel. Bring her to me.
The eyes that look at Mira now are flat, ruthless. Samuel drags her down the stairs.
INT. DUNGEON - NIGHT
Mira is thrown into a cell, the same cell Dominik was held in. The door is pulled shut. Janos, Erzsebet and Samuel watch her from outside.
JANOS
I gave you a chance. You could have
been happy, Mira.
She struggles back to her feet. Spits through hooked fingers. Only Janos flinches.
JANOS (CONT’D)
Ah, well. I can find some other pretty girl who will be
quite happy here. In the meantime, I’ll keep you down
here where you won’t get up to any mischief. You’ll
make a nice meal sometime - maybe Sunday dinner for the three of us!
Janos grins wolfishly.
MIRA
You sound like your uncle.
That wipes the smile off his face. He glares at her.
MIRA (CONT’D)
You don’t frighten me. I welcome death.
JANOS
Do you? Do you really? You think death is just the
beginning, the gateway to some happy dream of
paradise? Death is the end. There’s nothing
after this but the long, cold dark.
He smiles again, humorless. Erzsebet stares intently at Mira. Samuel doubles over, clutches his stomach.
JANOS (CONT’D)
Stand up straight, you weakling!
(to Mira)
The magic just doesn’t work as well when
the body’s dead to start with.
MIRA
(to herself)
Magic...
Janos and Erzsebet’s heads snap up. They stare upwards, as though listening to something far away. Janos LAUGHS.
JANOS
Dear, dear. How stupid humans can be.
(to Erzsebet)
A gift, for my lovely cousin. You may have her.
Erzsebet looks at Mira for a beat, then smile up at Janos. She leaves.
MIRA
(to Janos)
You gave me a chance. For what?
JANOS
You did what I could not do. I wanted to thank you.
MIRA
A chance for what?
JANOS
Eternal happiness, of course.
MIRA
(beat)
What do you want from me?
Janos smiles sadly. Samuel returns to his side, eyes hard. He snaps his teeth at Mira, grins. Janos puts a hand on his shoulder.
JANOS
My life has been very lonely. It may take a long time -
I am more patient than Hados ever was -
but one day you will be quite content to live
here, and to be my friend.
Mira can only shake her head.
INT. CASTLE - NIGHT
Erzsebet moves with astonishing speed - up staircases, through corridors. All without a sound.
EXT. CASTLE - NIGHT
Snow falls gently. The click-clack of horse hooves approach. ILKA rides up, alone. She can’t look away from the castle. Breathes heavy. But she fights off the panic and dismounts.
INT. DUNGEON - NIGHT
Mira is alone. One single torch in the aisle gives off feeble, sickly light. Water drips behind the grate outside the cells, the entrance to the catacombs.
Mira pulls out the mirror shard. Studies it. She places it over her wrist... Then stops. Instead, she cuts a line across her PALM.
She sticks her hand through the bars, lets the blood drip onto the floor of the aisle. Waits.
Samuel appears, utterly intent on the blood. He approaches like an animal, hunting.
MIRA
Hello, love. This smells good, doesn’t it?
You can have a taste, if you want.
Samuel gently takes her hand and LICKS it. Mira can’t watch, but she resists her tears. She withdraws her hand, steps back into the cell.
MIRA (CONT’D)
Open the door and come in. You can have all you want.
Samuel just touches the bars. CLICK. The lock opens, he slides the door aside. Enters. Before Mira can react, he grabs her in a flash of speed.
But he does not bite.
MIRA (CONT’D)
Samuel?
The barest nod.
MIRA (CONT’D)
Can I save you?
The barest shake. Mira takes his hand, and they walk out of the cell together. Down the aisle, and into another cell. Torture instruments hang on the wall - knives, pliers.
Mira takes down the AXE.
Samuel kneels beside a low bench, rests his head on it. Docile, ready. Mira raises the axe but cannot continue. Her arms shake. She cannot help but cry.
SAMUEL
I love you, Mira.
She brings down the axe.
scifiland, KU beat Nebraska, visited with my Gamps, had some restorative alone time this evening, made chocolate cake in a mug, and played some Civ. Now that I'm done posting, I'm going to play some more Civ, and then maybe read in bed covered with thousands of blankets. Wonderful.INT. CASTLE - GREAT STAIRCASE - NIGHT
The long winding stair Mira and Ilka descended in search of Dominik. Not quite as scary now, as TORCHES are lit on the walls. They do not go out as Samuel passes, though they do sputter and go dim.
Samuel tugs too hard on Mira’s arm and she trips. She would fall if it weren’t for his grip.
SAMUEL
Get up!
MIRA
You’re hurting me.
SAMUEL
I’m sorry. There’s something...
between my mind and...
Mira starts to back away. Up the stairs. Samuel screams into the blackness.
SAMUEL (CONT'D)
Get out of my head!
SAMUEL (CONT’D)
No, no, no. No!
MIRA
Samuel, please. Samuel.
SAMUEL
(whispers)
There isn’t much time. I can feel him,
trying to watch through my eyes. You have
to kill me, Mira.
MIRA
(moans)
No.
SAMUEL
I can’t do it! You must, it has to be you! Please, I
beg you. I’m trapped in my own mind. He’s turned
me into something monstrous. Soon I’ll be swallowed up completely.
MIRA
I can’t. Don’t ask me to do this. Don’t ask me to
watch you die again.
SAMUEL
If you love me, you’ll let me go.
The torches GO OUT. Blackness, relieved only by a dim eldritch glow in the stones.
JANOS (O.S.)
(booming)
Samuel. Bring her to me.
INT. DUNGEON - NIGHT
Mira is thrown into a cell, the same cell Dominik was held in. The door is pulled shut. Janos, Erzsebet and Samuel watch her from outside.
JANOS
I gave you a chance. You could have
been happy, Mira.
JANOS (CONT’D)
Ah, well. I can find some other pretty girl who will be
quite happy here. In the meantime, I’ll keep you down
here where you won’t get up to any mischief. You’ll
make a nice meal sometime - maybe Sunday dinner for the three of us!
MIRA
You sound like your uncle.
MIRA (CONT’D)
You don’t frighten me. I welcome death.
JANOS
Do you? Do you really? You think death is just the
beginning, the gateway to some happy dream of
paradise? Death is the end. There’s nothing
after this but the long, cold dark.
JANOS (CONT’D)
Stand up straight, you weakling!
(to Mira)
The magic just doesn’t work as well when
the body’s dead to start with.
MIRA
(to herself)
Magic...
JANOS
Dear, dear. How stupid humans can be.
(to Erzsebet)
A gift, for my lovely cousin. You may have her.
MIRA
(to Janos)
You gave me a chance. For what?
JANOS
You did what I could not do. I wanted to thank you.
MIRA
A chance for what?
JANOS
Eternal happiness, of course.
MIRA
(beat)
What do you want from me?
JANOS
My life has been very lonely. It may take a long time -
I am more patient than Hados ever was -
but one day you will be quite content to live
here, and to be my friend.
INT. CASTLE - NIGHT
Erzsebet moves with astonishing speed - up staircases, through corridors. All without a sound.
EXT. CASTLE - NIGHT
Snow falls gently. The click-clack of horse hooves approach. ILKA rides up, alone. She can’t look away from the castle. Breathes heavy. But she fights off the panic and dismounts.
INT. DUNGEON - NIGHT
Mira is alone. One single torch in the aisle gives off feeble, sickly light. Water drips behind the grate outside the cells, the entrance to the catacombs.
Mira pulls out the mirror shard. Studies it. She places it over her wrist... Then stops. Instead, she cuts a line across her PALM.
She sticks her hand through the bars, lets the blood drip onto the floor of the aisle. Waits.
Samuel appears, utterly intent on the blood. He approaches like an animal, hunting.
MIRA
Hello, love. This smells good, doesn’t it?
You can have a taste, if you want.
MIRA (CONT’D)
Open the door and come in. You can have all you want.
But he does not bite.
MIRA (CONT’D)
Samuel?
MIRA (CONT’D)
Can I save you?
Mira takes down the AXE.
Samuel kneels beside a low bench, rests his head on it. Docile, ready. Mira raises the axe but cannot continue. Her arms shake. She cannot help but cry.
SAMUEL
I love you, Mira.
no subject
OK. So this is good and it moves the plot along nicely. One thing I've started to wonder about is - what's happening to Dominick and Ilka in all this time? Are we going to see them again?
no subject
Ilka's in these pages! She came back!
no subject
Ack, sorry! I missed that!
...But where is Dominick?
no subject
I think I might finish today!!!