THE RUNE-BEARER
ACT FOUR
By DragonWriter17
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer/Spoilers/Pairings: Not applicable. This is an all-original piece.
My Website: http://www.dragonwriter17.net/
Feedback: Yes, but only if it’s of the non-flamey variety: DragonWriter17@aol.com
Distribution: Only here. (If you are interested in posting this on your site, please contact me first for permission.)
Author’s Notes: This story is in screenplay format, not in fiction format. NOTE: This screenplay is protected by registration with the Writers Guild of America, East: R14442-00.
Number of Chapters: 7
Complete: Yes
Summary: The Rune-Bearer is a two-hour Movie-of-the-Week that can also serve as the pilot for a one-hour weekly fantasy/drama series. It features a female private detective who is suddenly bestowed with supernatural powers after a chance encounter with the dying victim of a serial killer. She uses her skills and her new powers to fight evil and to solve mysteries in Memphis, Tennessee. It's like Witchblade, only lighter and funnier.
ACT ONE
ACT TWO
ACT THREE
ACT FOUR
ACT FOUR
INT. CAFE NIGHT - THE LADIES' ROOM - NIGHT
OUTSIDE:
Casey runs into the ladies' room. Pete arrives just as Casey slams the door shut. Pete stands outside, touching the door knob then pulling away, forbidden to enter. He finally settles on knocking softly on the door.
PETE
Casey?
INSIDE:
Casey is at the lavatory, looking in the mirror.
PETE (O.S.)
Casey, are you okay?
Casey turns her head at Pete's words, but does not answer. She unbuttons her shirt about halfway then pulls it down to expose the Rune. Then she holds the photo next to the Rune and compares the two. They are identical.
CASEY
Jesus!
OUTSIDE:
Pete looks embarrassed and awkward as the Waitress comes by and sees him camped outside the ladies' room. She looks at him strangely. He knocks again.
PETE
Casey?
Pete's timid knocking is interrupted when Casey abruptly pushes the door open. Pete barely gets his head out of the way.
PETE
Cas -- Whoa!
Casey grabs Pete by his shirt and drags him into the ladies' room.
INT. CAFE NIGHT - INSIDE THE LADIES' ROOM - NIGHT
Pete pulls himself out of Casey's grip as the door to the ladies' room closes.
PETE
What are you doing? I'm not
supposed to
be in the Ladies' Room!
CASEY
Shut up, I have something I have
to show you.
Casey takes a deep breath and pulls her shirt down, then she places the photo next to the exposed mark. Casey lifts her head so that Pete can see.
Shocked, Pete looks at Casey then the photo then back again several times. He takes the photo.
PETE
Wh-wh-what? H-h-how?
CASEY
Two very good questions. No
wonder you're
a cop. The What: It's the same mark you
got there in your
photo. The How: Beats the
hell outta me, but she did it.
PETE
What do you mean, "she did it"?
CASEY
Mitzi. I think she transferred
that mark
from herself to me right before she died.
PETE
What? That...that's just crazy.
CASEY
How do you explain it then?
PETE
I...you...you already had the
mark.
CASEY
No, I didn't. And your partner
can
verify that.
Pete just looks at Casey, dumbfounded and completely unbelieving. He shakes his head and looks down, then tucks the photo in his pocket.
CASEY
Look, something very strange
happened
in that alley.
Pete looks up and meets Casey's eyes, with both concern and confusion in his face.
CASEY
I didn't want to tell you because
I
knew you'd think I was nuts.
Casey pauses and breathes deeply as she remembers.
CASEY
Right before she died, Mitzi took
my hand.
She put it right over her heart. And then
wham! I got hit with
some kind of...surge.
It was like I was being electrocuted or
something.
It wasn't till this morning that
I saw the mark.
Casey stops again and thinks hard.
CASEY
But how does Frederic Johan fit
into all this?
Pete gets a scared look on his face. He rubs his hand through his hair and directs his gaze downward.
PETE
Damn!
CASEY
What?
Pete looks back up, but can't find the words.
Suddenly, the restroom door swings open, and a YOUNG WOMAN walks in.
YOUNG WOMAN
Ooops!
The Young Woman goes out just as quickly as she came in. Casey and Pete barely notice.
CASEY
Pete, what is it? Tell me.
PETE
There was another video tape of
Johan at
the morgue, one of him inside the autopsy
room, one we chose not to
show you. In it,
Johan locates Mitzi's body and starts
searching it. Liz
and I both thought...
CASEY
What? You thought what?
PETE
We thought it looked like Johan
was looking
for the mark that was no longer there.
Casey and Pete are both silent a moment, as the dangerous reality of the situation sinks in.
CASEY
Oh, god...
Casey wraps her arms tightly around herself and turns away. Pete moves closer and puts his hand on her shoulder.
PETE
We've withheld your name.
There's no
way Johan can find out who you are or
where to find you.
Casey turns around. Pete holds her shoulders firmly with both hands.
PETE
You're safe.
Casey looks at Pete, wanting to believe. Casey opens up and hugs Pete. He wraps his arms around her. They both melt into the hug, savoring the physical contact between them.
When they come out of their hug, they stay close, still touching. They look into each other's eyes. Casey's face is creased with fear, Pete's with concern.
CASEY
I'm scared.
PETE
I know.
Pete lifts his hand and gently caresses Casey's cheek, wiping away an escaping tear. Casey is breathing hard, caught between panic and attraction. Pete leans down to kiss her.
The imminent kiss is interrupted when an OLD LADY enters the restroom. Unlike the earlier Young Woman, the Old Lady does not immediately retreat. She loudly clears her throat then stands there with her hands on her hips and scowls at Casey and Pete. Casey immediately pulls away from Pete and starts buttoning her blouse.
CASEY
I gotta go.
Casey runs out. Pete follows, trying to catch up with her.
INT. CAFE NIGHT - LADIES' ROOM/PETE'S TABLE - NIGHT
Casey continues running, from the restroom to their table. Pete tries to follow, but customers and servers get in his way.
PETE
Casey!
Casey grabs her purse and rushes away. Pete finally stops and just lets Casey go. Pete plops down at their table and sighs.
INT. CASEY'S HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - NIGHT
Casey lets herself in, locks the door hurriedly, then leans back against the door. When Casey looks up, she sees Mitzi standing in her living room. She jumps in fright.
CASEY
Jesus Christ!
Casey stares at Mitzi. Then she closes her eyes, shakes her head, and looks back. Mitzi is still there, waiting, her hands perched dramatically on her hips.
CASEY
(to herself)
I am losing my freakin' mind. I
must be.
(to Mitzi)
Right?
MITZI
Wrong.
INT. CASEY'S HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - NIGHT
Casey is gawking at Mitzi in utter disbelief. Mitzi walks towards Casey and points at her.
MITZI
I didn't think you were ever
gonna
talk to me. I mean, I tried like a
zillion times, but no! Miss
Gotta-see-it-to-believe-it, wasn't
havin' none of it --
CASEY
Hey! What the hell did
you do to me?
MITZI
Don't you yell at me. I gave you
a gift.
CASEY
Well, this so-called "gift" is
gonna
get me killed!
MITZI
Yeah...sorry 'bout that part.
CASEY
You're sorry? You've set a
freakin'
maniac after me, and you're sorry?
MITZI
Look, I had to, okay? That's the
number-one rule: You gotta pass on the
Rune before you die.
CASEY
The number-one rule? There are
rules
for this thing? Who set these rules?
And what is this Rune
thing anyway?
MITZI
Girl, you better set down. I got
a lot
to tell you. And you need to know all of
it, especially with maniac
man on your tail.
INT. THE PEABODY HOTEL - FREDERIC'S SUITE - DAY
Frederic is sitting at the dining table, drinking coffee and eating his breakfast. A chime from his computer alerts him. He moves over to the laptop.
The computer shows that he has gained access to the police station's main frame. Frederic starts searching for data on the murder.
He comes across the mug shot of Casey. He grins.
He goes through a flurry of keystrokes until the screen shows a status bar "Downloading." He leans back in his chair and steeples his fingers together, smirking to himself.
INT. CASEY'S HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - NIGHT
Casey sits down, and Mitzi joins her.
MITZI
Okay. Here's the deal. I got
the Rune
basically the same way you did. Some
chick I didn't even know put
the whammy
on me right before she died. I didn't
know what the hell was goin' on either
until weird stuff started happenin' like
her showing up as a
ghost. Her name was
Vivienne by the way. I always called her
Vi, she hated
that. Hey, you can do stuff
with it, you figured that out yet?
CASEY
Sort of. I had a vision, a
premonition
or something.
MITZI
Cool, huh? I had 'em too.
Sometimes
they'll be about the future. But other
times they'll be about the
past or the
present. If you work at it, you can
almost control it. I had
this whole
side practice goin' on with the fortune
telling: a little palm
reading, doing
them...what-do-ya-call-it...tarot cards.
This one time --
CASEY
Tell me about that later. I want
to know
about Frederic Johan.
MITZI
Who?
CASEY
Maniac man. The guy who killed
you.
MITZI
Oh, him. Okay. Here's the
deal. I was
workin' one night. This man drives up
in this really fancy
car. I mean, really
fancy. I was thinking "Pretty Woman, I
want the fairly
tale," ya know? God, I
love that movie. When he comes ridin'
up to her
apartment in that limo, I just --
CASEY
Let's get back to Frederic.
Please.
MITZI
Oh, yeah. Right. So we talk, we
make the
deal. I take him to the Red Lantern -- that's
the hotel I always
use. Anyway, we get in the
room. Then he says, "You have something I
want."
And I say, "You bet I do." Next thing I know,
he grabs me and throws
me on the bed and starts
ripping at my clothes. And I'm like, "Hey, man,
I
don't do rape scenes, okay?" I start fighting
back, but he's like
mega-strong or something.
I tear at his clothes, and that's when I see it.
CASEY
See what?
MITZI
The Rune.
CASEY
He had a Rune too?
MITZI
Yeah, right over his heart, just
like
mine. Only his looked different. Anyway,
'fore I know it, he's got me
pinned down.
Then he just stopped and reached over and
touched my mark.
Mitzi shudders violently as she remembers.
MITZI
Eeek! Gives me the creeps just
thinkin'
about it. I mean, I could just feel it,
ya know? That this guy
was evil. Sure
enough, he whipped out this huge knife.
So I just blasted
him across the room and --
CASEY
Wait! You "blasted him across
the room"?
MITZI
Yeah! TK, girl -- telekinesis.
It's the
best perk that came with this thing. I
didn't even know what it
was till Vi told me.
It's the only thing that saved me. So, like
I said, I
blasted him across the room, and
then I got the hell outta there. I packed
a bag, and I hit the road.
CASEY
But why was he after you in the
first place?
What does he want?
MITZI
He wants to steal the Rune. He
wants all
them powers that come with it. I think
that's how he got the Rune
he has. He stole
it from somebody, using that big knife of his.
CASEY
Jesus!
MITZI
What?
CASEY
Pete said --
MITZI
Who's Pete?
CASEY
A homicide detective. The one
assigned
to your case. Anyway, he said there were
two murders in Europe
that were similar
to yours. Two women, stabbed to death,
both with remnant
marks like yours.
MITZI
That would mean he has two Runes
already.
CASEY
I guess so. How many of these
Runes
are there?
MITZI
Beats me. All I know is that
each
Rune-Bearer has different powers.
CASEY
"Rune-Bearer"?
MITZI
Yeah, that's what Vi called us.
Mitzi pauses as Casey turns reflective.
CASEY
What else do you know?
MITZI
Not a lot.
(reciting formally)
The Runes are supposed to be used
for good, and they're supposed to
be held by women.
CASEY
Then how does Johan have one?
MITZI
(shrugging)
I don't know.
(continuing her recital)
Oh! And the number-one rule, as
I said
before: You gotta pass on the Rune before
you die. If you don't, it
gets lost.
CASEY
It gets lost?
MITZI
(shrugging again)
Whatever that means.
Casey stands up and walks away, thinking hard. Then she turns and faces Mitzi.
CASEY
Tell me about my powers. Show me
how to use them.
MITZI
(grins widely)
You're gonna love this part.
INT. CASEY'S HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - DAY
Casey is sitting on the couch, touching the Rune, concentrating hard. She is levitating the cordless phone receiver.
The receiver is floating in the air about a foot or so above the charger.
MITZI
Yeah! You go, girl! You're
doin' great!
CASEY
Do I have to touch the Rune to do
things?
MITZI
Nah, but sometimes it helps.
Okay, now
pull the phone over to yourself.
CASEY
Okay.
Casey concentrates again, and the phone starts floating towards her.
MITZI
Oh, there is one thing you'll
really
have to work at, and that's --
The phone suddenly speeds up and flies toward Casey with tremendous speed. Casey ducks just in time, and the phone goes crashing into the wall, antenna end first, embedding itself in the dry wall.
MITZI
-- control.
CASEY
Holy cow!
INT. POLICE STATION - DAY
The entire police station is in chaos. Officers are clamoring about in the different sections of the station, hovered around their computers, banging on them, cursing.
Pete and Liz, in fresh clothes, follow the maze of hallways and stairways down to the Computer Center.
INT. POLICE STATION - COMPUTER CENTER - DAY
Pete and Liz enter. KEITH is sitting at a terminal, typing frantically, while MICKEY stands behind him, looking over his shoulder.
MICKEY
Keith, how the hell did he get
in? I
thought we had multiple firewalls in
this thing.
KEITH
We do, we do! I don't know how
he did it.
LIZ
Mickey, what's going on?
MICKEY
Security got breached. We had to
shut
the whole network down.
LIZ
What happened?
MICKEY
Somebody hacked into the main
frame.
He searched the databases, found some
records, and downloaded them.
PETE
What records did he download?
MICKEY
I'm not sure yet.
(typing away)
Gimme a sec.
(a few final clicks)
Here you go...field notes,
preliminary
report, autopsy report, crime scene photos --
PETE
What case?
MICKEY
(more key clattering)
Hey, it's one of y'all's...Mitzi
Howard.
PETE
(to Liz)
He knows how to find Casey.
LIZ
Let's go.
EXT. CASEY'S HOUSE - DAY
A limo pulls up to the house and parks on the street. Frederic gets out.
Frederic walks slowly up Casey's driveway. Then he walks up the sidewalk until he arrives at the front door. He looks to each side of himself then slips the dagger from his sleeve.