Dark City Page #14

She shuts her eyes, starts to breathe deeply.

WIDER - Their bodies tangle, he rolls onto her.

THE CAMERA PANS to the wooden screen Walker noticed earlier - AN

EYE blinks through the crack.

EXT. ROOF-TOP - NIGHT

STRANGERS are rigging a wire to some kind of antenna device. THE

CAMERA DESCENDS ONCE AGAIN INTO THE BOWELS OF THE CITY:

INT. UNDERWORLD/DARK CHAMBER - NIGHT

TIGHT ON TWO STRANGERS speaking in whispers.

PULL BACK WIDE TO REVEAL - The group of STRANGERS gathered once

again. Mister Black addresses them.

MISTER BLACK:

Now is the time.

A switch is thrown. Electricity sparks to life. A hum is in the

air.

MISTER BLACK:

(Cont.)

Eleven past eleven - the Night of

the Eye.

The Strangers start to CHANT - TRANCE-LIKE, quietly at first,

steadily building in volume.

STRANGERS:

NIGHT OF THE EYE! NIGHT OF THE EYE!

A Stranger in the front row stands.

STRANGER 1

The Eye is too small for the head of

the pin!

ANOTHER MAN stands. Next to the first...

STRANGER 2

What is it that floats on the water?

The Eye!

So it goes around the room, each man takes his turn in the strange

ritual.

STRANGER 3

The eye. Master of time and space!

STRANGER 4 rises up - keeps rising, FLOATS IN THE AIR above the

men's heads.

STRANGER 4

My spine will bend for the Eye!

He turns sideways, still as a plank, still floating.

MISTER BLACK:

Let the Dreaming commence!

The congregation of men place ELECTRODES to their foreheads.

SEVERAL Strangers about the room stand and MOVE RHYTHMICALLY to some

inner beat.

EXT. ROOF-TOP - NIGHT

The antenna gloes with a ghostly green light.

SEVERAL ANGLES OF THE CITY - the streets are empty - a clock

chimes in the distance - THEN:

Buildings shudder - DISTORT - twisting and shifting - one tower

ELONGATES stretching upwards - another building SPROUTS at the

top, organically, like TIME-LAPSE FOOTAGE of a plant growing.

The Strangers are CREATING - "DREAMING" NEW PARTS OF THE CITY INTO

BEING - while the people of the city sleep, unaware of what is

happening around them.

INT. DARK CHAMBER - NIGHT

Mister Black sighs deeply - totally focused - wires taped to his

head...

THE CAMERA TIGHTENS, MOVES IN ON HIS EYES - SOMEHOW IT

PASSES INSIDE HIS HEAD - in the darkness, multi-faceted eyes glow,

INSECT EYES...

INT. MEI'S APARTMENT/BEDROOM - NIGHT

Walker sleeps, as buildings MOVE PAST outside the window.

EXT. MEI'S BUILDING - NIGHT

The building the lovers are in SLOWLY RISES into the air, past

taller buildings and floats out over the city. Its shadow moves

past empty plazas and across grey towers.

INT. MEI'S APARTMENT/BEDROOM - NIGHT

Walker opens his eyes, FORCES himself awake. Mei is gone.

He gets out of bed and tries to stand, but his feet do not make

contact with the floor. It's like some invisible force is pushing

him UPWARDS. he holds a table to steady himself. The table-cloth

comes away, things spill to the floor and smash. He's FLOATING.

Walker desperately reaches out, grabs the light-fixture in the

ceiling. It breaks off in a cloud of plaster. Sparks briefly

illuminate. He falls heavily ONTO THE CEILING - now the floor.

Everything's UPSIDE-DOWN.

He stares up at furniture and objects.

INT. MEI'S APARTMENT/BATHROOM - NIGHT

Walker steps into the room, eerily illuminated by a glowing heater

stuck to the floor. Water is running - filling the tub and

overflowing, making a suspended puddle above Walker's head.

Walker climbs the wall, towards the floor. With difficulty, pulls

himself towards the tub.

Gravity becomes NORMAL AGAIN as he sinks into the warm water. He's

incredibly weak - floats limply in the bath.

He submerges his face. A distant throbbing O.S., like huge

machine heart somewhere in the building.

He opens his eyes, still underwater, stares at the ceiling.

HIS P.O.V. - A blurry DARK FIGURE moves into his vision.

Walker rigid with fright, cannot focus on the figure through the

thin veil of water. The FIGURE reaches out. A GLOVED HAND grabs

Walker's throat, holds him forcefully.

Walker gulps for air, swallow water. His eyes widen. He tries to

stop the hand strangling him but can't.

Suddenly the hand pulls away. The BLURRY FIGURE stumbles back and

ERUPTS, splits apart, covering the room in a bloody explosion.

INT. MEI'S APARTMENT/BEDROOM - NIGHT

WALKER WAKES UP - for real this time. He's still in bed, in a

cold sweat, with Mei sleeping beside him, her back turned.

Walker gets out of bed, walks to the window.

OUTSIDE everything looks normal, though as he watches, the distant

dark skyline seems to SHUDDER and DISTORT subtly.

Walker rubs his eyes and looks again, but finds nothing unusual

there this time.

His clothes hang over a heater. He starts to dress.

EXT. STREET - NIGHT

BUMSTEAD pulls up in his car. Across the street is DOCTOR

SCHREBER'S surgery.

He is about to get out of the car, when the SURGERY DOOR OPENS and

A FIGURE steps into the street. Bumstead watches the shadowy man

for a moment. Then gets out and FOLLOWS, assuming it is Schreber.

ALLEYWAY:

Bumstead follows silently.

Without warning, the figure stops and TURNS.

Bumstead backs into a doorway and isn't seen.

He gets a glimpse of the gaunt features of a STRANGER in the dim

light of the alley. It's Mister Hand.

EXT. CATHEDRAL - LATER

HIGH ANGLE - looks down from the belltower. We can make out THREE

FIGURES casting long shadows across the weathered stone steps at the

cathedral's entrance.

ON STREET LEVEL:

MISTER HAND steps up to the gathering of Strangers. For a moment he

does nothing, just watches MISTER SLEEP walk up and down the stairs.

Mister Sleep looks like he's lost something and can't decide where

to go look for it. In the B.G. two other Strangers stand waiting

patiently.

WIDER P.O.V. - from acros the plaza someone is watching the

congrgation of Strangers.

REVEAL BUMSTEAD - in the shadows.

TIGHT ON MISTER SLEEP - he stops, and looks around, he's SENSING

something. He smiles and steps over to Mister Hand.

Rate this script:3.0 / 2 votes