connor108
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TEASER
FADE IN.
INT. BASEMENT - DAY
Open on a dark basement, lit only by a single light bulb
hanging from the center of the ceiling.
In the middle of the floor is a painted white symbol, a
circular with eight arrows protruding from it in a radial
pattern.
Seated around the symbol on pillows are six YOUNG PEOPLE,
three men and three women. They are all holding hands, eyes
closed.
A coven.
The dim light of the room barely shows their faces, their
distinguishing features veiled by shadows.
They all chant simultaneously.
GROUP
The world that denies thee, thou
inhabit. The peace that ignores
thee, thou corrupt. Chaos. We
remain, as ever, thy faithful,
degenerate children.
They finish and release hands, though their eyes stay closed.
ETHAN RAYNE enters the room, carrying a briefcase. His face
still carries the scars of his ordeal in Ojai.
He sits down on an empty pillow in the circle, looking at the
others around him.
He's also wearing the Eye of Anubis.
ETHAN
I suppose congratulations are in
order. This past weekend was the
coven's first true test and you all
passed with flying colors. Stage
one was not without its problems,
but overall a job well done for
your first time out in the field.
(beat)
Of course, if any of you know any
good healing spells, I'd appreciate
a helping hand after our session.
None of the others open their eyes. They look to be in deep
meditation.
ETHAN
I trust you all received and
studied the video footage of the
Ojai.
GROUP
(simultaneously)
Yes.
ETHAN
I hope it was informative and
entertaining for all, save my
little...
(waves his hand over his
face)
...accident.
(clears his throat)
Now, all of you concentrate. Listen
to my words as you search for that
special place.
The camera pans through different shots and angles of Ethan
and his students as he speaks.
ETHAN
The world has always had an
aversion to any form of chaos. As
our society has grown and evolved,
those gifted with power and
knowledge have spent countless
hours trying to exert increasingly
greater measures of control on the
world.
He takes a sip of water from a bottle before continuing.
ETHAN
What these short sighted fools fail
to see is that a greater exertion
of control only begets higher
deviations from the expected
result. Chaos teaches us that life
is nothing but one grand paradox.
(beat)
Every country, province, city,
state, what-have-you enforce rules
and regulations designed to
maintain a semblance of order about
things.
Yet despite the world's best
efforts, there are always wrinkles
in the intended perfection. No
matter how stringent and vigorous
the efforts to control are,
inevitably, underlying
instabilities begin to appear.
He holds his hands out, palms up, like he's weighing items in
each hand.
ETHAN
(raises his right hand)
The greater the control, the more
chaos that ensues. Funny how that
works.
He takes another sip of water.
ETHAN
On the other hand, you have the
most wondrous organism in the known
world that operates to perfection
without any human intervention. The
process of life itself.
He starts to pace back and forth as he lectures.
ETHAN
A single fertilized egg in a womb.
Containing hundreds upon thousands
of genetic code. Code more complex
than any computer nerd could ever
hope to program. Like clockwork,
the code divides the cell, creating
millions upon millions more with
hardly any error. To see this
process with the human eye, it
looks chaotic. Yet it proceeds,
every second of every day,
perfectly creating and maintaining
an organic being. A process that
inexorably continues until death.
He pauses, taking a moment to close his own eyes and exhale
deeply.
ETHAN
It's a level of complexity that
people much smarter than us have
spent years devoting study to and
we've only scratched the surface of
how that system works.
(beat)
A complex system we'll never fully
understand, one that looks
completely unorganized and
disheveled to the naked eye is in
essence the very definition of
order.
He holds his hands out, doing the 'scales' thing again.
ETHAN
Among all the chaos, more order
presents itself. Yet the more order
we assert, the more chaos we get.
For all of our efforts, noone will
ever fully understand how the world
works. The best we can do is
theorize. Guess. Make conjectures.
Thus there is no absolute anything,
if what is stated to be fact is in
actuality an interpretation of
data.
(beat)
Always remember, there is no such
thing as an objective truth outside
of our perception, therefore, all
things are true and possible.
PAN across the room as the students open their eyes. All of
them are jet black!
ETHAN
Now...
Ethan opens his eyes, also jet black.
ETHAN
Let's begin our preparations, for
stage two.
He smugly grins.
BLACK OUT.
END OF TEASER
ACT ONE
EXT. CSULA WEST CAMPUS ENTRANCE - DAY
Establishing shot of a modest sized university.
A sign built into a stone wall at a street corner reads
'California State University in Los Angeles'.
INT. CSULA PSYCHOLOGY BUILDING - OFFICE - NEXT
CONNOR appears in an open doorway and knocks on the glass
door. He has a school bag slung over his shoulder.
An attractive older redhead woman sits at the spacious desk,
typing on a laptop. She looks up at the new arrival.
Connor smiles and waves.
CONNOR
Hi, ummm, Professor Marrus?
MARRUS
Yes?
CONNOR
I'm Connor Angel. We spoke on the
phone about getting an overload
permit for your abnormal psych
course next semester.
MARRUS
Oh, yes. I remember.
(motions to a chair)
Please, sit down.
Connor takes a seat and digs through his bag.
MARRUS
Before I sign off on you, I want
you to answer a question for me.
It's something I ask all of my
students on the first day of class.
CONNOR
(nods)
Okay.
MARRUS
In one sentence, why do you want to
take my class?
Connor clears his throat.
CONNOR
Well...
(thinks)
I want to understand how weird
people work.
Marrus can't help but laugh a bit at the obscure answer.
MARRUS
(smiling)
Well, that's one I've never heard
before. Normally I get "it's an
easy A." Care to elaborate?
CONNOR
Well...
(adjusts his sitting
position)
I'm a criminal psych major. It's
sort of my job to figure out a
criminal's mind works.
MARRUS
There are other classes for that.
CONNOR
Yeah, but those are too hard for me
right now.
(beat; thinks)
I didn't mean your class was a joke
or anything.
Marrus waves the comment off.
MARRUS
So let me get this straight. You
thought all criminals are geniuses?
CONNOR
Most of the good ones. I mean
there's gotta be so much going
through their heads, right?
(beat)
I'm saying this all wrong.
MARRUS
So you think an elevated level of
intelligence can affect one's
psyche and turns them into a
psychopath?
CONNOR
Something like that. Like sensory
overload. There's only so much your
mind can absorb before something
snaps. Not everyone can hold it
together...or something.
MARRUS
What you're interested in is beyond
the scope of my course, Connor.
CONNOR
I know, but...
(pauses)
It's a start.
Marrus shakes her head.
MARRUS
Good enough. What's your student
number? I'll enter you in.
Connor pulls out his wallet and produces a school I.D.
EXT. CSULA WEST CAMPUS - STUDENT COMMONS - NEXT
A young man sprints across a grass field, just managing to
snag a spiraling football out of the air. He stops, plants
his feet, and throws it back to his friend across the grass.
Connor walks past the two, looking left and right. Searching.
He comes up a large stand with a campus map on it, running
his finger across it.
Behind him, one of the two guys playing catch doesn't watch
where he's going and runs right over a brunette girl carrying
a stack of papers.
They fall down together in a tangled mess. Connor strides
over to the two as the guy gets back up.
CONNOR
Dude, watch where you're going!
GUY
(shrugs; unconcerned)
My bad.
He hurls the ball back to his friend and jogs off.
Connor kneels down beside the girl, who is face down grabbing
her shoulder.
CONNOR
Hey, you alright? Damn jerks need
to be more care-
He pauses as the girl turns around and he gets a look at her
face.
CONNOR
Tracy?
TRACY's smile drops. She squints at Connor.
TRACY
(wincing in pain)
Do I know you?
Connor looks back to the papers on the ground, trying to play
it off. As he speaks, Tracy keeps moving her head, trying to
get a really good look at him.
CONNOR
Uh no. I, uh, saw your name on one
of these papers.
Tracy pulls her blouse off her hurt left shoulder and looks
it over. Connor sets the pile down and gently touches the
large red bruise just above a circular tattoo.
CONNOR
Can you move it?
Tracy slowly rotates the arm, grimacing the whole time.
TRACY
Yeah, just hurts.
Connor helps her stand up and she pulls the blouse back on.
CONNOR
You should get that looked at.
TRACY
No, it's okay. I'll just ice it
down. It doesn't feel broken.
CONNOR
Well, if you're sure.
He bends down to pick up the stack of papers and hands it
back to her.
TRACY
(smiles)
Thanks again.
Connor nods and smiles before he turns and walks away. The
second he's not facing her, the smile drops and he sighs.
Another uncomfortable reunion.
Tracy watches Connor leave with a curious expression. She
turns and walks away in the opposite direction.
She turns a corner just as a group of people fall into step
with her. One of them is Ethan!
They continue to walk together, no words being spoken.
EXT. CSULA WEST CAMPUS PARKING LOT - DAY
GABRIELLA is leaning against her car. In the distance, she
can see Connor walking towards her.
Next to her, LESI pops her head out of the rear driver side
window, panting heavily. Excited.
Connor gets to the car, stopping to rub Lesi's head.
CONNOR
Hey.
GABRIELLA
Hey. Get that class you wanted?
She opens the driver side door and starts to get in the car.
CONNOR
Yeah, I'm set for next semester.
He walks around the car and opens the front passenger door.
GABRIELLA
That's great.
Connor sits down and fastens his seat belt.
GABRIELLA
So, I spent this morning going over
chaos magic. Trying to figure out
how Ethan pulled off that stunt in
Ojai.
Connor looks away and quickly rolls his eyes. Here we go.
Gabriella starts the car.
CONNOR
Did you now?
Gabriella puts the car into reverse and turns around.
GABRIELLA
Yeah. It's fascinating. Way
different from style of magic I was
taught. There's this whole system
called paradigm shifts. It's
when...
Her voice trails off as the car pulls out of frame.
INT. G&C'S CONDO - LIVING ROOM - DAY
Gabriella's voice and the sound of rattling keys are heard
from the other side of the front door.
The door swings open, Connor holding it open and letting
Gabriella and Lesi enter first.
GABRIELLA
-gnostic state. It's when someone-
Connor walks right by her, dragging his hands over his
extremely bored looking face.
GABRIELLA
-reaches a-
CONNOR
(frantic)
Hey, I'm gonna take a shower.
He briskly goes into his room, glancing at the piles of books
and notepads on the coffee table.
Gabriella drops her keys on top of the pile.
She sits down in front of the pile and continues her
research.
INT. KMZP RADIO STATION - MAIN STUDIO - DAY
The room is dark, only occupied by a lone disc jockey. A
large glass window is behind him. He's engaged in a heated
conversation with a caller.
CALLER
(through studio speakers)
Our guards are terrible inside the
paint. They're gonna throw our
shots to the stands.
DJ
You're talking about a team that's
averaging less than one blocked
shot a game! You're insane!
CALLER
And don't even get me started on
our free throw shooting.
DJ
(sighs)
You know what? You know what? I'm
done talking to you. Hang on, I'm
gonna transfer you to my friend,
Tone.
The DJ hangs up on the caller, shaking his head in
frustration.
DJ
Moron.
(clears throat)
That's your school spirit, folks.
We'll take a break and wrap things
up when we come back. You're
listening to the Dean, Simon Martin
on 97.3 KMZP radio.
The DJ hits a few buttons on his switchboard and takes off
his headphones.
One of Ethan's students, a tall, lanky dirty blonde knocks on
the window.
The DJ turns around and gives a 'what's up' nod. Ethan's
student opens the nearby door and walks into the studio.
DJ
(checking his watch)
Damn, Eric. Didn't think you were
gonna make it on time.
ERIC
Sorry, bro. Had a group meeting
that ran a little long.
Eric sets his belongings down and sits opposite the other DJ,
getting ready for his show.
DJ
I already checked the readings on
my last break, so you're good for
about six hours.
ERIC
Thanks, dude.
DJ
I still think you're crazy. I
figured we'd just run a playlist
for the overnight with Bobby sick.
ERIC
(shrugs)
I'm a night owl anyway. I'll just
sleep through the morning.
DJ
Thought you had an 8am?
ERIC
What's your point?
They share a smile. The DJ puts his headphones back on and
pulls his mic back into position.
DJ
We're back on the Dean's List, KMZP
radio. I'm about ready to get out
of here for the day. Stay tuned for
the Ironman, Eric Maddox, who will
be doing a SIXTEEN hour block,
filling in for Bobby Crennel
overnight. We'll say goodbye with a
little old school Metallica, or as
I like to call it, Metallica before
they sucked.
(laughs)
You've been listening to the Dean,
Simon Martin on 97.3, KMZP. Study
hard, drink harder. Peace.
The smooth opening to 'Enter the Sandman' by Metallica starts
to play. Simon takes his headphones off and yawns.
SIMON
What you up to tomorrow?
ERIC
Told ya. Sleeping.
SIMON
After that I mean. There's a rave
across town I was gonna check out.
ERIC
Nah, I'm good. Got a feeling
tomorrow's a stay in night.
SIMON
Suit yourself.
Simon stands and holds out his fist. Eric gives him a pound
and they say goodbye.
Eric takes his seat, puts on the headphones, and clears his
throat. He checks his watch.
In the window behind him, Ethan and the rest of the group
enter the studio.
EXT. KMZP RADIO STATION - ROOFTOP - NIGHT
Eric, Tracy, Ethan, and the rest of Ethan students are
standing in a circle around the large radio tower in the
center of the rooftop.
They're all wearing black and are wearing what looks to be
ear plugs.
Ethan and Tracy are holding hands. Ethan looks to his young
apprentice.
ETHAN
Are you ready?
Tracy nods her head. They turn back to the statue and close
their eyes.
Everyone else's eyes are closed as well. They begin chanting
in unison under their breath, too low to hear. A howling WIND
begins to kick up.
A Janus statue (a figure with two heads) rests on the stone
foundation of the tower in front of Ethan and Tracy.
It begins to pulse with a dim green light.
One by one, everyone opens their eyes. Everyone's eyes are
jet black again, except for Tracy. Her eyes are glowing
green, the same color as the statue in front of her.
She begins to pant heavily.
EXT. LAX AIRPORT - DAY
Establishing shot of one of the many 'LAX' signs surrounding
the large Los Angeles airport. Light slowly creeps up the
sign, the sun rising to begin a new day.
INT. G&C'S CONDO - GABRIELLA'S ROOM - DAY
ANGLE ON a small digital clock that reads 6:59am. It turns to
7:00am and 'I Love LA' by Randy Newton blares through the
tiny speakers.
A slender hand reaches out and not so gently smacks the
snooze button.
PAN to Gabriella as she retracts her hand from the clock. She
turns to her back and blearily rubs her eyes.
She groans before flinging her blanket off of her into the
camera, causing a BLACK OUT.
EXT. DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES - CITY STREET - DAY
Gabriella's slender form jogs away from the camera. She's out
for a morning run with Lesi in tow. 'We Are' by Vertical
Horizon plays over the scene.
A quick close up profile of Gabriella reveals an iPod
attached to her hip, the origin of the song.
EXT. KMZP RADIO STATION - ROOFTOP - DAY
CLOSE UP on the tower. The rooftop is deserted, save the
statue still in the same place. The green light emanating
from it is almost blinding.
A green streak shoots up from the base of the tower,
spreading out across the sky like a water ripple when it
reaches the top. It's accompanied by a loud, high pitched
TONE.
EXT. DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES - CITY STREET - DAY
Back with Gabriella on her jog. She dodges several
pedestrians, never having to break her stride.
ZOOM PAN TO an older woman dressed in a smart business suit a
block ahead of Gabriella, briskly walking down the street and
checking her watch. A woman who obviously has somewhere to
be.
She's talking on her cell phone as she nears an intersection,
but 'We Are' drowns out her words.
The song suddenly drops out, being replaced by dead silence.
BACK TO Gabriella, who slows to a stop and checks her iPod,
unsure of the malfunction. After fiddling with it for a
moment, she slumps her shoulders, giving up.
It's then that she notices the older woman starting to cross
the street despite the red light warning her otherwise.
Gabriella glances to the left to see a large passenger truck
bearing down on the woman, who seems too preoccupied with her
seemingly dropped call to notice.
Gabriella cups her hands to her mouth and tries to scream,
but no sound comes out. She tries to cough and clear her
throat.
It's then she realizes there's no sound coming from her
mouth, or anything around her!
INT. TRUCK - NEXT
The driver of the trucks slams on his brakes and pounds his
horn, trying to warn the woman.
He grabs the wheel and yanks it hard to the side.
EXT. DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES - CITY STREET - DAY
Gabriella breaks into a sprint, hoping to make the save.
CUT TO the woman finally looking up at the truck and like all
stupid damsels, she doesn't move and puts her hands up in a
futile attempt to shield herself.
The truck turns to the side, but it's moving too fast and the
bed SMACKS into her.
Gabriella stops running and covers her mouth with her hands,
horrified. She quickly regains her composure and runs to the
scene of the accident.
The woman is laid out on the ground. Her leg is bent at a
terrible angle and she's panting heavily, going into shock.
Lesi gets to her first and gently licks her face. Gabriella
is there next, trying to speak to the woman as she checks her
over.
The driver gets out and rushes over, also apparently in
shock.
ON the woman, whose breathing is getting more ragged by the
second.
FIRST PERSON POV
Gabriella and the driver hover over the woman, trying to talk
to her. She can't hear a thing as the shot slowly blurs out
and fades to white.
ON SCENE
The woman's head slumps limply to the side. Her eyes frozen
in terror.
Gabriella checks her pulse, lingering for a moment. The
driver grabs her by the shoulder to pull her back to reality.
She meets his eyes and slowly shakes her head.
PULL AWAY from an overhead view of the tragic accident, still
with no sound at all. None. Dead silence.
BLACK OUT.
END OF ACT ONE
ACT TWO
FADE IN.
INT. G&C'S CONDO - LIVING ROOM - DAY
**Writer's note: As a mental aid for this script, imagine
watching television on mute. There's absolutely no audible
sound.**
Gabriella enters through the front door, the events of the
morning plain as day on her solemn face.
She releases Lesi from her leash and the dog scampers off
into the kitchen.
She rubs her eyes with both hands, trying to process the
situation, before going right to her book shelf.
From behind her, a hand grabs her shoulder. She immediately
spins and throws a punch at the intruder.
ON CONNOR, clutching his nose with his right hand.
Gabriella silently apologizes and tries to check his nose,
but Connor pushes off and takes a couple steps back, giving
her a thumbs up.
He holds out a sheet of paper with his left hand. It reads
'WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!?'
She shrugs her shoulder and turns back to her books.
After a moment of searching, she throws her hands up and
plops down on the couch, frustrated. Connor takes a seat next
to her and turns on the television.
At this point, Lesi comes up to Gabriella with her food bowl
in her mouth. She sits and patiently waits to be
acknowledged.
On the screen, a reporter reads a report. Gabriella pops
Connor in the chest and gently tugs her ear when he looks at
her.
Connor points to himself, makes a motion like he's opening a
book and scrolling with his finger, then points to his lips.
Gabriella points to herself, then makes a throat slash
motion.
He punches a few commands into the remote and the closed
captioning begins to scroll on the screen.
'...the greater Los Angeles area have apparently all been
rendered deaf.'
Lesi hits Gabriella in the shin with her bowl to get her
attention. Connor angrily points towards Gabriella's room.
Connor mouths "cage."
Lesi drops the bowl and slinks away to Gabriella's room.
Gabriella and Connor go back to watching the report.
A split second later, Connor does a double take, looking back
towards Gabriella's room.
At this time, this bizarre occurrence seems to be localized
to Los Angeles.'
Connor hops up off the couch. PUSH IN on his face, curious.
Connor mouths "Lesi, come."
Lesi bounds out of the room up to Connor, wagging her tail
excitedly. Connor looks at the dog, baffled.
BACK TO the news report.
'The CDC has no leads on what could have caused this sudden
epidemic, but until further noticed, all roads leading out of
Los Angeles have been closed by authorities, quarantining all
residents inside the city to prevent a potential national
outbreak.'
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Script created with Final Draft by Final Draft, Inc.