The Relic Page #12

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MARGO:

I don't understand.

PENDERGAST:

Something came up in autopsy

tonight. Imbedded in Beauregard's

body we found a claw.

MARGO:

My God. Then it was an animal.

PENDERGAST:

I don't think so. I think we were

meant to think it was Mbwun. Did

Whittlesley's monster have claws?

MARGO:

I don't know. He sent back a statue

that's supposed to be an exact

representation. But I've never seen

it. It's in the exhibit.

PENDERGAST:

Would you mind showing it to me?

INT. SUPERSTITION EXHIBIT - NIGHT

This exhibit is unlike anything we've seen in the museum. Horrifying

artifacts under single spots appear to float in a velvet blackness.

Patterns of light and shadow play over skeletons and voodoo dolls.

There are tombs, a torture chamber, and endlessly curving, maze-like,

winding halls.

PENDERGAST:

Where would we find it?

MARGO:

I'm not sure. We should split up.

You take that hall and I'll take

this one.

PENDERGAST:

All right. I'm as macho as you are.

Perhaps.

Without further discussion, Margo takes the right fork leaving

Pendergast behind.

ON MARGO...

As she finds herself alone. The silence is intense. She heads slowly

into another long, dark, tunnel passing a set of Maori tattooed heads.

The eyes are stuffed with fibers, the shriveled lips are drawn back

from rotting teeth. Margo passes without a look.

ON PENDERGAST:

In another part of the exhibit, he nears a Mayan tomb. A skeleton in

the center wears a headdress and tribal robes. Gold rings encircle

bony fingers. Pendergast takes a moment to appreciate it, heads into

the next hall.

ON MARGO:

getting farther from pendergast, and ever deeper into the gloom. The

walls around her are lined with symbols of witchcraft. There are

shaman dancers, masks covered in grasses and shells. From the New

Guinea coast there is Kokpah, God of a secret male society, and Zoe-

ba, an awesome mannequin in black costume with an angry pointed mask.

Finally the walls open up into another gallery. Beyond it is more of

the shadowy hall. Margo stops and for the first time she wavers. This

gallery is the most frightening yet. It features images of THE DEVIL

from different cultures around the world.

In the dim light, Margo is dwarfed by abhorrent statues of SATAN,

TORNARSUK (the Eskimo evil spirit), INCUBI from India, Tibet, New

Guinea etc. And there in the center of the gallery sitting on an altar

and lit by a spot, is a small figurine. Margo is instantly drawn to

it. As she gets close enough she sees the label in Gothic letters.

MBWUN:

Savage God of the Kothoga, also

known as "HE WHO WALKS ON ALL

FOURS".

The statue is terrifyingly life-like. Margo stares at The Beast. Mbwun

is covered in scales and stiff hair, with glittering green eyes and

crude, reptilian features. The figure is hunched over in a threatening

crouch. It's long forearms trail to the ground ending in THREE LARGE

CLAWS!

ON MARGO... she starts, then remembers Pendergast.

MARGO:

Mr. Pendergast! I found it.

No answer. She turns, tries again, louder.

MARGO:

Pendergast! Over here --

Her voice catches as she stops and sniffs the air. A STENCH rolls over

her. She covers her face, backs up, holding her breath.

MARGO:

What the...

She steps directly into a nasty statue of the Tibetan lord of the

Dead. Margo starts, steadies the statue. The room is silent once more.

But then, unmistakably... she hears it. An odd rustling sound. Slow.

Deliberate. Maddeningly soft on the thick carpet. And another wave of

THE SMELL. Margo looks in the direction she came, down the long dark

hall. Her voice comes out a bit frightened as she calls...

MARGO:

Pendergast?

(no answer)

Who's there?

But now she freezes. At last she's truly scared. A shadow, black

against black, is gliding stealthily towards her, moving over the

display cases and grinning artifacts!

Margo stands stock still, her eyes on the shadow. She lets out a small

gasp of shock. She can't believe her eyes. It defies reason. Slowly,

she backs up. She slips quietly through the exhibit and out the other

side. In the next room she pauses again, listens... now hearing a

distinctly animal, SNUFFLING SOUND!

Something large is TRACKING HER! There's no doubt.

Overcome by a blind panic, Margo turns and runs. She passes through a

display on mythical creatures, disappears down another winding dark

hall.

Behind her comes...

THE POUNDING OF SOMETHING IN A HEAVY, LOPING RUN! Whatever it is, it's

charging after her! She turns another corner. And another, tearing as

fast as she can! But now the walls up ahead are narrowing, leading to

... a DEAD END!

Margo slams up against a locked door with a window of glass. The hall

features displays of terrifying totem poles. All around the ghoulish

carved faces seem to leap out! She pounds on the door but it's

useless. She's trapped. And the thing is coming behind her! It's just

around the last bend when it stops! Silence again envelops her. She's

afraid to turn. She can hear HEAVY BREATHING, and something like a low

growl! Reflected in the glass of the door in front of her is the long

dark hall. Margo starts as a face appears IN THE REFLECTION...

The image is wavering and unclear. It's a large, hulking form behind

her! TWO GLOWING SLIT GREEN EYES in the dark! Margo SCREAMS as the

thing leaps forward, hitting one of the totem poles. Margo sinks to

the ground, unconscious. At last we hear Pendergast calling as

darkness falls.

PENDERGAST:

Dr. Green! Dr. Green!

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