FirstBorn Page #2

[Alistair] ...Father above me...

I am safe.

Selah.

[crying]

[crying stops]

How often do we have to do this?

Every day.

You have to do this to her

every day.

[snarling noises, baby crying]

Hands!

[water running]

[man] "Which of the five sets

of parents

would you like to choose?

'Um, when you say choose...'"

Thea.

"'...you mean go and live

with forever?' said Larry.

'Yes!' said the head."

[whispering] Zaqueo before me,

Zaqueo behind me,

Zaqueo to my right,

Zaqueo to my left,

The father above me,

the mother below me.

Within me I am safe,

amen, amen, Selah.

"The man begged for mercy.

He told the witch,

'My wife saw your rampion

from our window

and such was our hunger

that she would have died

without some to eat.'"

What's rampion?

Uh, a good question.

- It's... spinach, I think.

- Ecch!

Eccch!

"And the witch thought

for a moment and told him,

'You may take as much rampion

away with you as you like.'"

She didn't like it either.

"'On one condition...

you must promise to me

your unborn daughter.'"

Shall we get to bed?

Gonna have bad dreams tonight.

If you do, you can come

and sleep with me and mummy.

OK?

Bedtime.

I'm not sleepy.

Ah, funny how you're never

sleepy until the morning.

Isn't it?

I'll tell you what.

If you promise to fall asleep

as quickly as you can,

then we can have

a pizza night tomorrow.

Deal?

Deal, goodnight, bedtime.

[soft snarling noises]

[Thea whimpering]

[R&B playing]

What about Crawley?

Rent's not too bad.

James.

I need your help with this.

What do you think?

It's double in size.

Hmm... there's no indoor pool.

No sex dungeon.

No outdoor pool.

No outdoor sex gazebo.

We can't live like that,

we're not animals.

Can you get some time off work?

Get a baby-sitter.

[sighs]

Yeah, but...

I have to spend all day worrying

about her when she's at school.

You want to let

another stranger near her?

How would you explain a chair

flying at a baby-sitter?

She'll be fine.

Charlie, you've gotta stop

mollycoddling her.

[Thea crying]

I'm not having a go...

Charlie.

Yeah, I'm just gonna

go mollycoddle our child.

[Thea whimpering]

[soft squelching noises,

Thea whimpering]

Shh, shh, shh!

Right, so what do we do if

somebody tries to talk to you?

Ignore it.

Right.

And what if somebody tries

to push you?

Pretend it didn't happen,

keep smiling.

What if somebody tries

to hurt somebody else?

I ask them as quietly as I can

to go away.

Yeah. And?

If something really bad happens,

I use the phone

and say the code word.

- [Charlie] Which is?

- Banana.

You've done your rituals?

Good girl.

OK.

We have...

books...

- What is this?

- It's just a toy, Mummy?

No, it's not just a toy.

It has a face, doesn't it, Thea?

Look at me.

Where did you get this?

The school. Everyone has them.

I want it.

I know you want it, my love,

but you can't have it, can you?

No.

Come here.

You know this, don't you?

Nothing with faces.

Yes? You've got to listen to me.

Do you promise?

- Mummy needs you to.

- OK.

OK?

[children shouting]

Have a good day.

[Thea, whispering]

Zaqueo before me,

Zaqueo behind me,

Zaqueo to my right...

Zaqueo before me,

Zaqueo behind me.

Zaqueo to my right,

Zaqueo to my left...

Zaqueo behind me,

Zaqueo to my right...

[overlapping incantations]

[Thea] ...the father above me,

the mother below me.

Within me I am safe.

Amen, amen, Selah.

[Thea wincing]

[James] Thea?

You've got a visitor.

[James, in falsetto]

Pfft! Hello!

I'm your new friend.

Would you like to play?

[James blows raspberry]

Come on then, she's for you.

Mummy got it for you.

What do you say?

Thank you, Mummy.

[dishware clattering]

[James] So...

I had a word

with the boss today.

I did a bit of flirting.

Some kissing.

And...

after mounting him for

the requisite amount of time...

he agreed to give me

a few days off.

He said he might give me a week

if I slip him a digit next time.

- Thank you.

- You're welcome.

[Thea cries]

[James groans]

I'll go.

No, it's another nightmare.

Aaaah!

[soft squelching noise]

[skittering noises]

[clatter]

What is it?

It's about to touch you.

[skittering noise

growing louder]

Aaaah!

Aaaah!

[high-pitched whirring]

[James groaning]

Come out now!

[James shrieking,

glass shattering]

- [Charlie] James!

- [James] Charlie!

[Charlie] James! Open the door!

[James shrieking]

[Thea shouting, loud clattering]

Let him go! Let my daddy go!

[clattering stops,

James gasping]

[James] Dad, it's me, uh...

Can you come over, please?

No, we're fine.

It's just, um...

Just come over, will ya?

[footsteps approaching

on stairs]

It's because of me

they break things.

I gave her a face.

We can't control her.

What if we get her medication

like...

a sedative or...

You want to drug our child?

She is acting up.

She is not listening to us.

She's six years old.

Yeah, well, it's getting worse.

I... I just want her

to be normal.

[Alistair] She'll never be

normal.

She'll always be different.

Elizabeth. I need to send her

to Elizabeth.

She'll know what to do.

She always knows.

Sit.

This is Thea...

Shh!

Drink.

Now that the formalities

are out of the way...

would you like to go

and play outside?

Little girls shouldn't be

stuck indoors.

No, um... I'd rather

she stayed with us.

Nonsense, it's perfectly

safe here.

Go!

Thea! Thea. Stay where we

can see you, please?

Now...

where were we?

I don't know what my dad's

told you

about us and Thea.

[Elizabeth] He told me

very little.

He's still somewhat shy

when he speaks to me.

I thought you were friends,

though.

He was a student of mine.

- Right, OK, look, listen...

- Um...

Can we start at the beginning?

My dear girl, I was there

at the beginning.

That's where Thea and I

first met.

Isn't that right?

[muted gurgling]

[baby crying]

[Charlie] How do we stop it?

Stop it?

It... is her.

So you're saying that we have

to live with this.

[Elizabeth] Yes.

She is your daughter.

She'll get hurt!

That's the price that is paid

for her gift.

[James] Gift?

[Elizabeth] You can't stop it.

But you can help her to manage.

Like I've had to.

I've spent almost all my life

learning how to protect myself.

And how did you do it?

Like so many...

I had to turn to the occult.

I can give you books,

reading material

in terms of visualization.

Can you teach her?

- It's not a good idea.

- [James] What?

Why is it not a good idea? Why?

Please...

I don't know what else to do.

If I do, I can't have

my methods questioned.

She OK?

Tired.

Tell me about it.

I've been thinking...

maybe we should invite my dad

over for dinner.

I thought I'd make

a bit more of an effort.

Sure.

Maybe he could baby-sit,

give us a night off.

Booze, bars, girls.

[Charlie] Ready?

All right, come on.

Don't you look lovely?

[chuckles] School uniform.

She normally likes

to be covered in mud.

Go on, come on.

You know she's gonna help you.

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