The Sandman (Vertigo) Page #10

ALEXANDER:

You're going to kill me now?

CORINTHIAN:

I believe so.

ALEXANDER:

With a knife. How prosaic.

(a bitter laugh)

I bought the yacht for safety. Open

water, supposed to guard against magic

attack.

CORINTHIAN:

Your father was right, Alexander. You are

an idiot.

36.

Alexander winces. The Corinthian moves to Carlos' body, turns

the corpse's head. He works his knife as he speaks.

CORINTHIAN (CONT'D)

You had the Ruby Moonstone of the King of

Dreams. Reality itself in your sway. And

all you could do was feed your callow

little hungers.

He holds up his prize: AN EYEBALL. He lifts it to his face --

we think he may eat it. With his free hand, he reaches up to

remove his sunglasses --

CORINTHIAN (CONT'D)

Not that I take issue with indulging

pleasures ...

Alexander gasps at what is revealed behind the Corinthian's

sunglasses.

CLOSE ON:
THE CORINTHIAN'S MOUTH. He brings the eyeball

closer --

-- and past, up, out of frame. EVEN AS HE SPEAKS (CLEARLY),

WE HEAR THE SOUNDS OF CHEWING --

CORINTHIAN (CONT'D)

But you never understood how to truly use

the Stone. You had the power to change

the whole world. And you wasted it.

Alexander is stricken. His knees buckle. He slumps to the

floor. And then we see what he has seen:

The Corinthian's eye sockets DO NOT HAVE EYES -- instead,

they are both MOUTHS, filled with SHARP TEETH. When he

speaks, all three of his mouths speak -- three voices,

overdubbed.

CORINTHIAN:

But that's pretty much true of all you

mortals, isn't it?

He brings his bloody knife up, and advances.

ALEXANDER:

Who are you?

CORINTHIAN:

(melodramatic)

I'm your worst nightmare. I'm --

(shrugs, smiles)

That's it. Your worst nightmare.

He LAUGHS --

CUT TO:

37.

EXT. OCEAN - EVENING

The Corinthian, sunglasses back on, pilots the yacht's launch

across the bay.

He takes the Ruby from his pocket, holds it up, looking

through it at the city.

POV - THROUGH THE RUBY. Everything is tinted red. And as the

Corinthian turns the Ruby, its facets distort the city,

distort reality ...

CLOSE ON - A DOZEN smiling PARTY-GOERS as they yell --

PARTY-GOERS

SURPRISE!

Rose's eyes widen, and she looks appropriately surprised; we

are --

INT. ROSE'S APARTMENT - LIVING ROOM - NIGHT

A banner reads 'Happy Birthday, Rose.' The party-goers,

mostly tenants, crowd forward. A cake with one big candle on

it is proffered; Rose blows it out, pushes through, Paul

behind her.

Among the guests are: KELLY, a chubby young woman with a good

heart; SAMANTHA, who smokes too many French cigarettes.

KELLY:

Were you surprised?

ROSE:

(a la Roz Russell)

I'm a cynical old woman now. Nothin'

surprises me.

Samantha holds up a little white KITTEN.

ROSE:

(a mercurial change)

Oh -- oh, look at it! Is it mine?

SAMANTHA:

Happy birthday, Rose.

Rose takes the Kitten, pets it, coos to it.

SAMANTHA (CONT'D)

I thought you needed something in your

life cute and warm and fuzzy and

demanding, and I didn't know any men, so

...

KELLY:

I wasn't sure you'd like it --

38.

ROSE:

No, no ... it's perfect. Purr-fect. I

love it.

KELLY:

She needs a name.

ROSE:

It's a she? That's easy. Her name's

'Dinah.'

She moves away, kitten clinging to her shoulder.

KELLY:

Dinah?

SAMANTHA:

Oh -- like in Alice in Wonderland. You

know Rose ...

Other partygoers wish Rose happy birthday, pet the kitty.

Rose smiles to everyone, thanking them, moving through the

crowd --

INT. ROSE'S APARTMENT - LIVING ROOM - LATER

Tired, Rose collapses into a chair. The kitten burrows behind

her neck. Someone offers a glass of wine --

Paul. Rose takes it from him. Smiles.

ROSE:

So ... can I at least imagine I inspired

you and you were able to get back to

work?

PAUL:

I wish. No, still blocked. I haven't

painted in ... months, is it months?

Sh*t. And you know about the sleep

trouble. I've been having this weird

dream ...

Kelly, questing for snacks, overhears this last.

KELLY:

A weird dream? You gotta tell Sam ...

she's a nut for this stuff. Sam, come

here!

(Sam joins them)

He's going to tell us a dream.

SAMANTHA:

Ragin'. So tell.

Paul hesitates -- it really wasn't for everybody to hear, but

now he's on the spot.

39.

PAUL:

I dreamt I was climbing a rock face, this

sheer, like, spire --and I hate to climb.

I hate high places in general. I'm an

artist, and I don't even open my windows

to look at the view --

KELLY:

The dream ..?

PAUL:

Right. So I'm climbing, and I've reached

the top.

EXT. DREAM REALM - ROCKY SPIRE - DAY

It's Paul's dream: A finger of stone pushes its way into a

pale blue sky. At the pinnacle, Paul maintains a perilous

hold, his face white with terror.

PAUL (CONT'D) (V.O.)

I can't go higher. I can't climb all the

way back down. And I can't let go. I

can't fall.

INT. ROSE'S APARTMENT - LIVING ROOM - NIGHT

Remembering, Paul speaks nervously -- he's genuinely

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