Forever Live and Die
season one, episode two
Things Lost
written by Ira Nayman
© copyright 1999 by Ira Nayman
50 Evanston Drive
North York, Ontario
M3H 5P3
(416) 630-7331
ira@lespagesauxfolles.ca
FADE IN:
INT. PENTHOUSE SUITE BEDROOM – NIGHT
A couple, JACK (late 20s, very fit, beautiful, slightly exotic middle-Eastern features) and DIANE (mid-20s, very fit, beautiful, slightly exotic middle-Eastern features), are having animalistic sex on a large bed in a large, exquisitely appointed room. The woman moans – or is it a howl? The couple climaxes and, after a moment, fall on their backs on the bed.
DIANE
(purrs)
Mmm...good sex always gives me an appetite.
JACK
Feel like anything in particular?
EXT. ALLEY – NIGHT
A couple of figures lurk in the shadows of a dark alley.
DIANE
(voice over)
I’m never picky when I’m this hungry.
JACK
(voice over)
Okay. Let’s go down to Queen Street and find a place to grab a bite to eat...
A VICTIM (young, male) walks past the entrance to the alley. One of the figures, with almost superhuman speed, runs out, grabs the Victim and pulls him into the shadows of the alley.
VICTIM
Urrk!
The dark figures pounce on the Victim, who screams. SOUND: the screams begin to fade away.
DRAPER
(voice over, furious)
You people are fucking leeches! You suck the life out of everything you touch!
INT. OFFICE – DAY
Diane is sitting behind a large wooden desk in an ornate office which reeks of money. Jack stands behind her. The light from the windows in the corner office is so bright it hurts. Diane and Jack wear sunglasses. MATT DRAPER (50ish, short but bullishly muscular) stands on the other side of the desk, squinting against the light.
DIANE
Mister Draper, let me remind you that you’re here as a courtesy – I am under no obligation to meet with a representative of the union.
DRAPER
For god’s sake –
Jack and Diane inadvertently wince.
DRAPER (CONTINUING)
If you close the plant, three hundred men’ll be out of work. That’s three hundred men with families!
JACK
What about the families of the shareholders? Aren’t we obligated to do what we can for them?
DRAPER
(mutters)
Tsch! This is pointless.
Draper turns and heads towards the door. Before he opens it, however, he turns back towards them.
DRAPER (CONTINUING)
You’re inhuman! Heartless bastards! You are inhuman monsters!
DIANE
(shrugs)
It’s just business...
JACK
Nothing personal.
Draper huffs out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
JACK (CONTINUING)
You know, I remember when hostile takeovers used to be conducted between countries.
DIANE
Oh, this is much safer.
JACK
And almost as lucrative.
Pause as Jack slips something out of his jacket pocket.
JACK (CONTINUING)
Oh. By the way. Here.
Jack leans over and places a small box in front of Diane.
DIANE
(delighted)
What is this?
JACK
Happy deathday.
Diane opens the box. It contains a silver bracelet with 30 silver ankhs hanging off of it.
DIANE
It...it’s beautiful...
Diane puts the bracelet on her wrist.
JACK
There’s 30 ankhs – one for every century we’ve been dead.
DIANE
Oh! I didn’t get you anything!
JACK
Next year. Know what I want?
Diane shakes her head.
JACK (CONTINUING)
A pony.
DIANE
(amused)
A pony.
JACK
(shrugs pleasantly)
I’ve never had one. Far as I can recall...
Diane turns and pulls him into her lap. They share a passionate kiss.
DIANE
Just amazing.
JACK
What?
DIANE
After 30 centuries, you can still surprise me...
They kiss once again.
EXT. STREET – NIGHT
DEBORAH (young, Asian) and MICHAEL (young, Asian) walk arm in arm down the street, smiling and talking. After a moment, we see that Jack and Diane are not far behind, following them with some interest.
DIANE
Isn’t young love a wonderful thing?
JACK
I honestly can’t remember.
DIANE
You know what’s so, so sad about this moment?
JACK
What?
DIANE
A few years from now, their passion will fade...
JACK
Her breasts won’t be so perky...
DIANE
He’ll develop a pot...
JACK
The children will drive her to drink...
DIANE
His job will drive him into the arms of his secretary...
JACK
They will grow old and bitter and end up hating each other.
DIANE
Well, exactly. Life will never again be as good for them as it is at this moment.
JACK
You know, looked at in that way, I think that if anybody was to kill them right now, he would be doing them a great favour...
DIANE
Well, exactly.
Diane smiles nastily, her oversized incisors prominent.
EXT. SUBURBAN STREET – NIGHT
It is deserted. Deborah and Michael are about to walk past a tree when Jack acrobatically flops in front of them, hanging from a branch by the back of his knees.
JACK
Were you aware that North Americans overestimate the possibility that they will be involved in an act of violence by a factor of seven?
Jack grabs Deborah under her arms and pulls her into the tree. Diane appears out of nowhere and pulls Michael off the street.
EXT. SIDE OF HOUSE – NIGHT
Diane falls on Michael in a dark space between houses. A light is on in a basement window, where somebody is watching a horror movie on television, oblivious to what’s happening outside. Diane pins Michael, who not only doesn’t struggle much, but doesn’t seem especially afraid (although he is anxious about something).
DIANE
I want you to know, this is nothing personal...
Diane bares her fangs and moves towards Michael’s throat. She is about to sink her fangs into him. INSERT: a Persian cat sits purring on an ornate pillow on an ancient rug. SOUND: a woman (Diane) screams.
EXT. TREE – NIGHT
Jack is about to bite Deborah’s neck. She also appears to be passively accepting this. Hearing the scream, Jack lifts his head.
JACK
I hate to spoil the moment, but I gotta fly...
Jack jumps backwards out of the tree.
EXT. SIDE OF HOUSE – NIGHT
Diane is lying on her back, eyes closed, breathing heavily. Michael is nowhere to be seen. Jack rushes to Diane’s side. Without a word, he picks her up and walks off with her in his arms.
INT. PENTHOUSE SUITE BEDROOM – NIGHT
Diane is lying on the bed, a compress over her eyes. Jack has pulled a chair up next to the bed and is holding one of her hands in his. MUSIC: Soiuxie and the Banshees is playing on the stereo, low in the background. Diane moans.
JACK
Diane? Are you okay?
DIANE
(weak)
I saw...a...a cat...
JACK
(false cheer)
Must have been pretty fucking black to give you such a scare...
DIANE
Persian. I had – I had it when I was a child.
JACK
(smile vanishes)
That’s not possible.
DIANE
I remember!
JACK
You can’t remember!
Pause as Jack takes a moment to compose himself.
JACK (CONTINUING)
(lecturing)
The mind is finite, Diane. Even the undead mind. Yes, our brain cells may regenerate forever, just like the other cells of our body. But the new cells have to make new synaptic connections. The old connections fade with disuse. New memories drive out old. It’s like...it’s like you get a new brain once every four...five hundred years. What you think you remember? That happened six, maybe seven brains ago.
Diane pulls herself up by the elbows on the bed.
DIANE
It...it was given to me for my fifth birthday by Princess –
Jack drops her hand.
JACK
You cannot be remembering this!
INT. OFFICE – DAY
Diane is staring into the middle foreground. She uses a Mont Blanc pen to doodle on a pad. The sheet is almost completely filled with her drawings of ankhs of various sizes and complexity. Jack bursts into the office.
JACK
I just got off the phone with Max – you were right about Brady. The son of a bitch was trying to hide assets from us. Max says we can flay him alive in court – an idea I’m particularly drawn to.
(grins nastily)
I’ve got to hand it to you, Diane – your limitless cynicism about human beings has yet to be proven wrong.
(pause)
Diane?
She has dropped the pen on the desk and is completely motionless.
INT. ANCIENT EGYPTIAN TEMPLE – DAY
A BOY stands next to a monument to Osiris. He has a mock serious expression similar to that of the statue, but he cannot maintain it, and breaks into laughter.
JACK
(voice over, distant)
Diane?
EXT. FIELD –DAY
The Boy and a GIRL, wearing ancient Egyptian wraps (light, as befits the sunny summer day), walk through the field, holding hands and sharing confidences.
JACK
(voice over, almost inaudible)
Diane?
The Boy and Girl stop and stare meaningfully into each other’s eyes.
JACK (CONTINUING)
(voice over, louder)
Diane!
INT. UPSCALE RESTAURANT – NIGHT
Diane and Jack, in evening clothes, are sitting at a table. He has devoured most of the steak in front of him; she has barely touched hers.
JACK
Dammit, Diane, we’re supposed to be celebrating another hundred million dollar commission. Could you look more...lively?
Diane shakes her head, as if trying to shake off a bad dream.
DIANE
Sorry.
Diane cuts a small slice off her steak.
DIANE (CONTINUING)
Jack?
JACK
Mmm?
DIANE
Do you still need me?
JACK
I worry about you. Does that count?
Diane frowns.
JACK (CONTINUING)
Well, you know how it is. You spend a few thousand years with somebody, and you get used to having them around. What more could anybody ask for?
DIANE
I...I don’t know...
INT. PENTHOUSE SUITE BEDROOM – NIGHT
Jack is on top of Diane. He is thrusting manfully, but she lies under him without moving.
EXT. FIELD – DAY
The Boy holds a knife. The Boy and Girl have bleeding palms, which they press together. The boy recites something which we cannot hear. The Girl repeats it. They embrace. SOUND: Jack moaning throughout. He gives a great shout as he climaxes.
INT. PENTHOUSE SUITE BEDROOM – NIGHT
Jack lies on his back on the bed, exhausted. Diane lies next to him, stunned. Pause.
JACK
Well...if I had wanted to come alone, I could have fucked a living woman...
Diane rolls over on her side, away from Jack.
DIANE
Sorry.
JACK
What a perfect moment for a cigarette. If only the Surgeon General hadn’t announced they were bad for your health!
They laugh, Diane despite herself. Jack gets out of bed and walks over to a chair on which his pants are neatly folded.
DIANE
Jack?
Jack takes his wallet out of his pocket.
JACK
I do worry about you, you know.
Jack takes a card out of his wallet, which he returns to his pants pocket.
DIANE
And I appreciate –
Jack returns to the bed and hands Diane the card.
JACK
There’s somebody I...I really think you should see...
Diane doesn’t understand. She looks at the card. It is black with white writing. In part, it reads: "Greg Polanski, MD, PhD, uD. Psychiatric Services." It also has a phone number and an address.
DIANE
A psychiatrist?
JACK
Dr. Polanski studied with Freud. He’s the best.
DIANE
I don’t need a psychiatrist.
JACK
Diane...
DIANE
I don’t need a –
INT. ANCIENT EGYPTIAN TEMPLE – DAY
The Boy stands next to the statue of Osiris, but now he is crying.
DIANE
(voice over)
A...uhh...
INT. PENTHOUSE SUITE BEDROOM – NIGHT
DIANE
I...I’ll think about it.
INT. WAITING ROOM – DAY
It is a sewer. A couple of framed posters of hygiene tips have been bolted to the pipe. Diane sits in one of three chairs under the posters. In another chair is an ELDERLY MAN, who is reading an ancient copy of Life magazine. Diane is dubious about her surroundings.
RECEPTIONIST
(off)
Diane Smith?
DIANE
Yes?
RECEPTIONIST
(off)
Dr. Polanski will see you now.
INT. POLANSKI’S OFFICE – DAY
It is a nearby part of the sewer, a little wider, but otherwise just as dank and dark. DR. POLANSKI (fortyish, portly, glasses) sits behind a small desk. A couple of slightly rusting file cabinets stand nearby. A couple of old, yellowing diplomas in frames are bolted to the pipe behind him. Diane sits on the opposite side of the desk.
POLANSKI
I know what you’re thinking.
DIANE
I doubt that.
POLANSKI
We don’t have emotions. Not like the living. What need have we for psychiatry?
DIANE
Uhh, no, that wasn’t what I was thinking.
POLANSKI
Oh.
Dr. Polanski makes a notation on a file in front of him.
DIANE
It is a good question, though.
POLANSKI
(brightening)
We may not have emotions, Ms. Smith, but we still have drives. The reptillean hindbrain...
Dr. Polanski taps the back of his neck.
POLANSKI (CONTINUING)
What some call the unconscious. It is still there, still driving our behaviour. We can either explore it and learn to control it, or forever allow it to control us.
DIANE
That may be, but what does this have to do with my visions?
POLANSKI
What, indeed?
Dr. Polanski takes a second file folder off one corner of his desk and places it on another.
POLANSKI (CONTINUING)
Are you familiar with the concept of Thanatos?
DIANE
The, uhh, death wish?
POLANSKI
Just so. I think that what you are experiencing is a form of life wish. A nostalgia, no, a deep, deep yearning for something you cannot hope to experience in your current form.
DIANE
But –
SOUND: a mouse squeaks. Diane nearly jumps out of her seat.
POLANSKI
Yes?
DIANE
But I –
SOUND: the mouse squeaks again. Diane shivers.
POLANSKI
(apologetic)
Sorry, but I am really sensitive to light. Besides, this office has a certain...symbolic significance, don’t you think?
(pause)
Please. Go on.
DIANE
But these aren’t dreams. They’re memories. Memories of my first love as a...
(shudders)
Human being.
POLANSKI
Mmm...a common enough delusion.
DIANE
Really?
POLANSKI
You’re my fifth patient complaining of phantom memories in as many years. Why, given our small numbers, it’s practically an epidemic! I would write a paper about it...
(chuckles)
If I had anywhere to publish it...
DIANE
How can you be sure they’re delusions? They’re as real as any memory I have.
POLANSKI
Because it’s not possible.
DIANE
Okay, look, even if what I am experiencing are delusions, why is it happening to me? Why now?
POLANSKI
(shrugs pleasantly)
That’s what the therapeutic process was created to discover.
INT. EGYPTIAN TEMPLE – NIGHT
Diane, made up in the style of the times, stands in front of the statue of Osiris, dreamily contemplative. A figure rises out of the shadows and grabs her roughly by the shoulders. At first, she is frightened, but when she sees who her assailant is, she relaxes. She thinks Jack is about to kiss her neck, but, in reality, he buries his teeth into it. Diane shudders.
INT. PENTHOUSE SUITE LIVINGROOM – NIGHT
Diane is stretched out on the divan. She seems to have no energy. Jack sits at the piano, eating from a bowl of grapes.
JACK
Darling! You’ve simply got to eat something! You’re positively wasting away!
DIANE
When we were children, we made a pact that we would be together forever.
JACK
(shrugs)
We might have. Children are always saying foolish things...
DIANE
Your parents forebade us from being together. I didn’t come from the right family.
JACK
(singing)
Mem’ries...misty copper coloured mem’ries...
DIANE
(over him)
But the night you died, you came for me...
JACK
(singing, badly)
Of the way we were...
Jack pops a grape into his mouth.
DIANE
We were so...in love...
JACK
(brutal)
If you don’t eat, you will dry up and blow away. Is that what you want?
DIANE
I...don’t...know...
Jack gets up and goes to the divan.
DIANE (CONTINUING)
What are you doing?
JACK
I’m tired of this maudlin shit. You’re sounding almost...
(disgust)
Human.
Jack picks Diane up in his arms.
DIANE
Jack, what are you doing?
JACK
I do not cherish the idea of spending the next three thousand years of my life alone. We are going hunting.
EXT. STREET CORNER – NIGHT
Jack stands on the corner in a smart suit, hat in hand. An entrance to the alley from earlier is nearby. A COUPLE walk past Jack.
JACK
Spare a little something for the hungry?
They look at him like he’s insane and quickly move on. Jack frowns, but his expression lightens when he notices a BUSINESSMAN walking towards him. He turns to speak to the Businessman.
JACK (CONTINUING)
Please, sir, can you spare something for somebody who is very hungry?
BUSINESSMAN
You don’t look...needy.
JACK
Times are tough for everybody.
BUSINESSMAN
(smug)
I don’t give charity to the poor. It only makes them depend – urgh!
Jack takes the Businessman by the lapels and lifts him off his feet.
JACK
(vicious)
Learn some compassion, will you?
EXT. ALLEY – NIGHT
Diane is languidly leaning against a wall. Jack drags Businessman, terrified and unwilling, to her.
BUSINESSMAN
Please, don’t hurt me! I beg you! Wh...who will look after my portfolio when I’m gone?
JACK
The world is full of orphans. They survive.
Jack looks meaningfully at Diane, but she doesn’t move. He rips out the Businessman’s collar and bares the man’s throat. Jack looks expectantly at Diane, who shrugs.
JACK (CONTINUING)
(seductively)
You can almost hear the blood rushing through his veins, can’t you? Remember the song? It’s begging to be set free. Who are you to refuse?
Diane listlessly walks away. Jack shakes his head sadly.
BUSINESSMAN
Uhh, does this mean that...that I can, you know, I can go?
JACK
(angry)
Hmph. You know, I hate to waste good food.
Jack sinks his teeth into Businessman’s throat.
INT. PENTHOUSE SUITE LIVINGROOM – NIGHT
Diane sits languidly on a divan. Jack angrily paces in front of her.
JACK
What the hell is going on?
DIANE
I...I can’t any more.
JACK
You have to!
(softer)
You’ll suffer if you don’t eat. Pain, growing worse every day, every moment. Pain in every cell of your body, every atom. Pain so bad, you’ll want to die –
DIANE
Maybe it’s time.
JACK
Why? Dammit, why?
DIANE
Because, Jack...they fear. They love. They suffer. Mostly because they suffer.
JACK
So? What’s that to us? We’re beyond all of that.
DIANE
No! I remember love. I remember suffering.
JACK
This, again! Didn’t Doctor Polanski expla –
DIANE
Maybe he was wrong. Maybe you’re wrong. Maybe, maybe we pretend to forget what it was like being human so that we can...we can do what we have to do to survive.
JACK
You know, Diane, I never noticed this before, but you’re developing a real one track mind.
DIANE
You know, Jack, you’re developing into a real asshole.
Diane pulls a gun out from under a pillow and trains it on Jack.
JACK
Oh, what?
DIANE
We’ve caused a lot of suffering, Jack. Time to rest.
JACK
A gun, Diane? You know that we can only be killed if the bullets have been made out of a religious icon of some...
Jack trails off as Diane pulls up the sleeves of the shirt she is wearing. He cannot help but notice that she is not wearing her bracelet. His bravado falters.
JACK (CONTINUING)
Kind. Auuummm...your bracelet...it’s in the bedroom...isn’t it?
Diane smiles bravely and shakes her head.
JACK (CONTINUING)
Of all the ages I’ve lived through, I think the age of irony is my least favourite.
(sighs)
For all we’ve shared, could you make it quick?
Diane shoots Jack in the chest. A small red hole begins to develop above his heart. He looks at it in astonishment.
JACK (CONTINUING)
That...stings...
Jack crumples to the floor.
EXT. APARTMENT BUILDING – NIGHT
From across the street, Deborah and Michael look up at the penthouse apartment. SOUND: a muffled pop. They look at each other, Deborah in grim satisfaction, Michael with sadness.
DEBORAH
(voice over)
They don’t deserve your sympathy.
MICHAEL
(voice over)
They were human...once.
DEBORAH
(voice over)
They lost that part of themselves a long time ago.
MICHAEL
(voice over)
Not lost. Never lost. Just...forgotten. If they had truly given up their humanity, our empathic power would be useless against them.
Deborah smiles.
MICHAEL (CONTINUING)
What?
DEBORAH
(voice over)
I’m hungry. Wanna go someplace and grab a bite to eat?
MICHAEL
(voice over)
I’m tired. Can we just call it a night?
Deborah positively grins. They put their arms around each other and walk off down the street.
FADE TO BLACK:
The end of Forever Live and Die: Things Lost
