Trapped Ashes Page #5

There's no excuse for doing

what I did to you, my friend.

You probably thought

that you betrayed me

by sleeping with Nina.

But that's exactly

what I wanted you to do.

Somehow...

I knew my life was

in terrible danger with her.

At first, I...

I thought it was...

just a bad case of love or lust.

But when I let you win

that day at chess,

I knew something was terribly wrong.

Yes. I knew it, too.

I had to get away.

An idea came to me.

I knew that if I left you alone with her,

she might turn

her attentions to you.

So...

I lured you to my apartment that...

that afternoon,

and then I left town.

It was a few years later

that I started noticing these images.

The subject was a witch

who was accused of drinking

the blood of her lovers,

so that she could gain immortality.

It couldn't possibly be her.

But then... then I found

the final piece of evidence.

These...

These reels of nitrate film were

in the national archive in Prague.

They think it was shot in what is now

Czechoslovakia before 1900.

These are the only copies in existence.

You are the only person alive

who might understand.

I hope you can forgive me.

Stanley...

What is it with you, huh?

You can't just say, "I'm a total pig.

I f***ed my best friend's girl"?

You've got to invent

some totally insane story

to justify the fact that you can't keep

your dick in your pants?

I take back what I said before.

Your husband isn't a lucky man.

He's f***ing cursed!

What was in the box, Leo?

The roll of nitrate film.

Only it was completely disintegrated,

or I could have shown it to you

and proved what I said.

We don't need proof that you're a pig.

You just shut up.

- Hey, hey, hey.

- Shut up.

Whoa, whoa.

Cool it.

Don't you all see what's happening?

It's just like the movie.

He's right.

We're starting to attack each other.

Pretty soon we'll be

killing each other.

Okay.

Everybody's gotta unwind.

Just sit down and chill out,

or we're not gonna make it out of here.

Well, I guess I'll tell my story, then.

But I'm warning you,

it's pretty grotesque.

As opposed to what?

It's about my twin.

My father's name is Vincent.

He was born in France,

just like my mother.

They both moved to the U.S. In 1972

when my mom's family

bought a vineyard here.

Martine was my mother.

She grew up in a very big family

where everyone had ten kids.

Thanks. Very nice.

He was the most beautiful man she ever met.

I think a lot of other women

said the same thing about him.

My mom was a tomboy.

When she was a kid,

she got expelled from school

three or four times.

My grandparents said to her,

"You're like a wild vine.

Why don't you grow straight?"

Maybe I work harder

if you don't put so many beautiful things

in my way, huh?

Very good. Very good, indeed.

It doesn't seem right.

All this work,

and look how quickly it goes.

Oh, yes, if you guzzle it like cheap beer.

Try sipping it,

and you won't drink all the profits.

If we live long enough

to see the profits, you mean.

What are we breaking

our backs here for

when we had perfectly good futures

back in France?

Who wants wine

from America anyhow?

Maybe you should be thankful

for a minute, Vincent.

Look around.

These vines that surround us all

with beauty and... and nourishment.

And someday they will make

you kids feel free.

Speaking of which,

when are we going to see

a grandchild, huh?

Soon, we hope.

We've pulled the goalie,

so we shall see.

If we could only get a few shots

between the goal posts.

The wine is gone.

I'll get another bottle.

The tests confirm it. You're pregnant.

That is a relief.

Vincent will be very happy.

Yes, but, um...

I don't know how to say this.

What... What is wrong?

You have something else inside you.

A parasite, I'm afraid.

Taenia solium.

It's a tapeworm in your intestine.

You must have gotten it

from eating undercooked meat.

What is it doing there?

We have to get rid of it

before it hurts the baby.

Well, that's the problem.

The only way to treat it

is with massive doses of iron.

And in most cases, the treatment causes

pregnant women to miscarry.

I do not understand you.

You are saying I have to...

You have to let the worm grow...

with your baby.

It's the only way.

So we began life together,

the worm and me.

We were both dependent

on my mom for food,

warmth, our survival.

She carried both of us in her belly.

This smells good.

Delicious.

I hate to ask, 'cause it's so awful,

but I can't help it.

Go on. You are my best friend.

Can you feel it inside of you?

I mean, the worm?

I know there is something

in there with the baby,

some alien thing.

I don't feel it moving, but I know it does.

I wish it were dead and out of my body.

But I can't kill it

without harming my baby.

Ever since I can remember,

I always wanted more.

Like the little boy in Oliver Twist

with his bowl out.

I know why I was always hungry.

Because the worm

was eating all my food.

Just go away. I am not hungry.

Come on, a few bites.

It is miracle food.

I made it myself, so it is a miracle.

Just go away.

This is stupid. You are just hurting

the baby when you don't eat.

Are you deaf?

I said go.

Why don't you go have sex with one

of my brother's wife instead, huh?

B*tch.

My parents must have fought

a lot when I was inside.

- I said go.

- B*tch.

I wonder if it affected the worm.

Yes, the worm was eating all my food,

but we were also sharing

the same space.

If I suffered,

then he suffered, too.

Neither one of us could escape.

I guess...

No, I'm certain that after a while,

the worm became my friend.

But to my mom,

he was born from poison.

He haunted her day and night.

If only she could have seen us then...

side by side...

she might have loved him, too.

A parasite, I'm afraid.

I know there is something

in there with the baby.

You have to let the worm grow...

with the baby. Baby?

It's trying to kill my baby!

Vincent!

My father left when I was two.

He ran off with my mother's

best friend Annie,

if you can believe it.

I became a tomboy,

just like my mother was.

But she knew better than to ask me

if I would grow straight.

In 1986, Mom fell apart.

She had never gotten over things.

And when my father

married her friend Annie,

she slipped away forever.

Jump inside. Go.

First her family fires you

from the vineyard,

and now they blame you

because their daughter is a nut case?

I swear to God, sometimes I think

that Martine is having

a nervous breakdown

just to get back at me.

Can I have some pretzels, please?

Of course you can.

The bowl is right there.

You don't have to ask.

Vincent.

Natalie? Open up.

We do not lock our doors

in this house.

What were you doing just now?

Why did you take

all of those pretzels?

I keep finding these piles

of uneaten food all over the house.

I had an eating problem, too,

when I was your age,

and it was really awful for me

when I was in school.

So maybe, if you wanna talk about it,

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