Lord of Illusions Page #7

ON HARRY and Dorothea.

HARRY:

He's good.

DOROTHEA:

You haven't seen anything yet.

INT. WILTERN THEATRE - LOBBY - NIGHT

The doors SQUEAK as a gust of WIND blows through them.

Butterfield stands in the lobby, listening to the muted

SOUNDS of MUSIC and APPLAUSE. Then he offers his ticket to

the TICKET-COLLECTOR and steps inside.

INT. WILTERN THEATRE - AUDITORIUM AND STAGE - NIGHT

A new musical motif hangs in the air: MUSIC announcing

danger.

The AUDIENCE watches intently, nervously.

ON HARRY and DOROTHEA.

DOROTHEA:

(a whisper)

This is the new illusion.

ON STAGE, Swann is bound to a spinning WHEEL, while the

DANCERS, dressed like Boschian DEMONS, cavort around him,

somersaulting and leaping over eruptions of yellow FLAME.

It's a scene from Daniels Inferno. Above him. a dozen

glittering SWORDS - six feet long - are descending. He

struggles to free himself. The MUSIC gets more exciting as

the wheel spins faster and faster.

Suddenly, a sword DROPS. It falls between Swann's

outstretched legs, skewering the wheel. Then ANOTHER, close

to his head.

ON HARRY. He's tense. Excited.

BACK TO STAGE. Swann is free I He throws off the last

shackle and uses it to thrust into the mechanism of the

wheel. There's a theatrical BLAZE of white-hot SPARKS.

The wheel slows. He starts to step off it, as another of the

the swords DROPS.

The AUDIENCE GASPS. Swann smiles, and TRIPS.

As he FALLS, the sword runs through the middle of his back,

carrying him down to the still-spinning wheel, and pinning

him there. Some of the DANCERS continue to cavort. Some

stop.

More GASPS from the audience.

ON HARRY, having a --

FLASHBACK:
Harry's hand turns over the final tar of card.

The scene on the stage is that image coming to life.

HARRY:

There's something wrong...

ON Swann, as a second sword FALLS, skewering his thigh, and a

third, running through his buttock, and a fourth and fifth,

until TEN SWORDS have entered his body.

ON THE AUDIENCE, not certain whether this is a trick or not.

The MUSIC has stopped. In the silence, somebody GIGGLES

nervously. A couple of PEOPLE break into APPLAUSE, but it

dies away in a matter of moments.

ON DOROTHEA AND HARRY

DOROTHEA:

No. . .

ON THE STAGE, Swann raises his head and looks out at his

wife, his eyes already glassy with imminent death. He

reaches out towards her, and then sags on the wheel, dead.

There are GASPS now from the audience. Murmurs of disgust;

sobs of horror.

1ST AUDIENCE MEMBER

What happened?

2ND AUDIENCE MEMBER

It's a trick.

3RD AUDIENCE MEMBER

Somebody help him.

The curtains start to close.

ON Dorothea, tears of shock filling her eyes.

DOROTHEA:

(to Harry)

I've got to get to him!

The AUDIENCE is rising now, as the horror of what they've

seen sinks in. There is panic. A few people have fainted.

One or two are even praying.

Harry carves out a path down to the stage for Dorothea

against the flood of the exiting crowd.

HARRY:

Out of the way! Out of the way!

He helps Dorothea onto the stage, and lifts the curtain so

she can duck beneath it.

INT. WILTERN THEATRE - STAGE - NIGHT

Chaos. PEOPLE running, sobbing, puking; some simply standing

watching. Valentin is already at the body, with the STAGE

MANAGER at his side.

VALENTIN:

(to Stage Manager)

Get then out of here, for God's

sake --

STAGE MANAGER:

You heard him! It's not a f***ing

show!

He starts to physically push the crowd back. Harry grabs his

arm.

STAGE MANAGER:

Who are you?

Harry uses his grip to gently but efficiently move the STAGE

MANAGER out of Dorothea's way. She goes to Swann's body,

which has been removed from the wheel.

INT. WILTERN THEATRE - AUDITORIUM - NIGHT

The audience is clearing now. But Butterfield is coming

towards the stage, with an ambiguous look on his face. Is he

enraged? Or puzzled? Or both?

MILLER:

Psst!

Miller stands at an open door, leading below the stage.

Butterfield enters.

INT. WILTERN THEATRE - STAGE - NIGHT

Dorothea kneels at Swann's side. A few yards from her, Harry

examines the mechanism of the wheel.

DOROTHEA:

(softly)

Swann...

A DOCTOR appears.

DOCTOR:

I'm a doctor. Let me through.

The Doctor checks Swann's body.

DOCTOR:

(to Dorothea)

I'm sorry...

Harry has discovered a CABLE snaking down beside the device.

He's suspicious. He slips round to the back of the

mechanism, and climbs down beneath the stage, tracing the

cable as he goes.

WILTERN THEATRE - BELOW STAGE - NIGHT

It's an eerie, shadowy space, filled with the PROPS that are

used in the show, including the DRAGON we saw at the

beginning. From above we hear FOOTSTEPS and VOICES, muted

and echoing.

The cable ends in bare wires. Whatever was here has been

taken.

A NOISE, behind Harry. He swings round. Sees a shadowy

FIGURE ducking away.

HARRY:

Hey!

He gives chase. Loses the man in the shadows. Stops and

listens for movement.

Suddenly, Miller steps out of the shadows with a plank of

wood and smashes it into Harry's face!

Harry reels back. Falls to his knees, BLOOD running from his

nose. Miller pulls Harry's GUN out of his jacket.

MILLER:

Got you, f***er!

Harry is facing the dragon's head, dazed. And now, out of

the dragon's mouth, comes Butterfield.

BUTTERFIELD:

Who did this, D'Amour? Who killed

Swann?

Harry is barely holding on to consciousness.

HARRY:

You did.

(a beat)

Didn't you?

BUTTERFIELD:

Why would I do that?

HARRY:

Beats me.

Butterfield is a foot from Harry now.

BUTTERFIELD:

You don't have a clue what you're

into, do you?

HARRY:

Deep sh*t?

Butterfield hits him.

BUTTERFIELD:

Who did this?

HARRY:

I told you --

Butterfield hits him again.

BUTTERFIELD:

Who did this?

HARRY:

(raises his hand)

All right. It was...

Butterfield comes a little closer.

HARRY:

(feigning a near collapse)

... it was...

Butterfield leans in. And Harry grabs him by the balls --

literally -- rising as he does so.

BUTTERFIELD:

Aah!

Harry THROWS Butterfield aside. Butterfield hits the ground

in agony, and Harry swings round to protect himself from

Miller, who's leveling Harry's gun.

He FIRES once, missing Harry by inches. Harry catches hold

of a ROPE underfoot and pulls it, tripping Miller, who

TOPPLES backwards into the mouth of the dragon. The GUN GOES

OFF again, the bullet BLOWING APART the dragon's JAW

MECHANISM.

Miller starts to sit up, his body splayed between the

dragon's steel teeth. He has Harry in his sights.

-- something CREAKS. He looks up. The dragon's jaw is

closing, FAST. He starts to scramble to his feet. Too late!

The teeth SLAM CLOSED on his body. Sudden death.

Harry looks round to see Butterfield retreating into the

shadows. Then he's gone. Harry looks down at Miller's

BLOOD, which is pooling around his feet.

HARRY:

Deep sh*t...

FADE OUT:

FADE IN:

INT. POLICE STATION - EDDISON'S OFFICE - NIGHT

Harry sits at Eddison's desk, looking exhausted and bruised.

Eddison has just finished taking his statement.

EDDISON:

And this Butterfield guy--

HARRY:

--vanished.

EDDISON:

(frustrated sigh)

Another f***ing magician. Jesus.

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