martian lizard

FADE IN:

INT. CRYPT – NIGHT - DREAM

SERIES OF SHOTS:

A) A crypt wall. 

B) A woman dressed in white. 

C) Bare feet on a stone floor. 

D) A gargoyle statue. 

E) Her hand stroking it. Her hand in the maw of the gargoyle. 

F) Its mouth closes and her palm is pinned. 

G) A tooth shoots through her palm. Blood. Teeth snap ripping through bone. More blood. 

NANNA (O.O.V.)

I love you.

END DREAM

INT. CARLIE’S APARTMENT – EVENING

CARLIE STANLEY (25), terrified sits up at her desk. 

A moment, then she frantically checks her hand. There is a pinprick of blood on one finger. 

There is also blood in the corner of the book she has slept on, she closes the book. 

Carlie wanders around the apartment. She starts her answer machine. 

MACHINE VOICE

(on answer machine)

You have two new messages. Beep. First new message.

Her fridge is empty apart from a slice of pizza, which she slams in the oven.

CARLIE’S MUM

(on answer machine) 

Hi treasure. We’re missing you. Haven’t heard hide nor hair from you since the funeral. 

She picks up a photograph of her grandfather and a little girl, standing by a statue. 

The image comes alive, the old man grabs her nose.

CARLIE’S MUM (CONT’D) 

(on answer machine) 

Your dad says Hi. He’s waving. Be careful. Clean knickers love, remember. Hope you’re doing okay. Give us a call. I don’t think she’s in.

(hangs up)

Carlie holds the photograph lovingly to her chest.

MACHINE VOICE

(on answer machine)

Beep. Second new message. Beep.

TOM

(on answer machine) 

Hi Cars, Tom here. Look I won’t be able to make it tomorrow. 

(NOISY BAR in the background) 

I haven’t heard from you in weeks. You don’t answer my texts, return my messages – what the fuck is going on? Are you Amish or what? Come out, reconnect. Actually… you know what, this isn’t working. You know what, fuck it, it’s over.

(GARBLE. MUSIC. LAUGHING.)

  (hangs up)

CARLIE

I miss you so much.

MACHINE VOICE

(on answer machine)

Beep. End of messages.  

She places the photograph down. 

She stares at her sad reflection in a mirror. 

INTERCUT - INT. HALLWAY/CARLIE’S APARTMENT – NIGHT

A man heavily in shadow enters. He stops. 

(beat)

He reaches up, unscrews a light bulb and pockets it. 

He turns and faces a door and RINGS the buzzer. 

His face is still hidden.

INTERCUT:

Carlie reacts to the noise and heads to the door. 

She peers through the spy-hole.

CARLIE

Yeah, hello?

OLENUS (O.O.V.)

(male and deep) 

Carlie? Carlie Stanley?

CARLIE

Hello? Yes. Can I help you?

OLENUS (O.O.V.)

Please don’t be alarmed. 

(cultured, kind and slightly embarrassed)

CARLIE

I’m not alarmed, simply cautious at this stage. Just so you know I have a bat. Well what is it you want? It’s late, do I know you?

INTERCUT:

The man rummages in his pocket and pulls out an envelope and slides it under the door. 

INTERCUT:

It appears at her feet, Carlie simply stares at it.

OLENUS (O.O.V.)

It’s about your grandfather.

CARLIE

What? My grandfather? Sorry, my grandfather is -

OLENUS (O.O.V.)

Dead. Yes I know. That’s partly the reason I am here. My name is Olenus.

CARLIE

Sorry? Did you say, Olenus?

OLENUS (O.O.V.)

Yes Olenus. I am an old friend of your family. Your grandfather asked if anything ever happened to him that I would come and speak with you.

Carlie fishes for her necklace. It reads: “TRUST OLENUS” And on the reverse it reads: “LOVE GRANDDAD”

CARLIE

Really? About what?

INTERCUT:

OLENUS

Please, the letter.

INT. CARLIE’S APARTMENT - NIGHT

She opens it and quickly scans the contents.

TED (V.O.)

Trust Olenus.

She grabs a baseball bat and opens the door.

CARLIE

Come in then if you’re coming.

Olenus stands there and Carlie begins to fuss. 

CARLIE (CONT’D)

Thirsty? With all the creeping around. Would you like a drink?

OLENUS

No. No thank you. 

(pause)

Your kitchen is on fire.

Smoke from the kitchen and she rushes away cursing. 

She comes back Olenus has sat down, the lamp off, his face is still hidden. 

CARLIE

So what’s all this about? Going to be some huge revelation about me is there? All a bit cloak and dagger isn’t it.

She sits at a distance on a stool, cradling the bat.

OLENUS

I know why you have nightmares. 

CARLIE

You can’t possibly kno…

OLENUS

Let me explain. Ted wanted me to tell you a story about him. I need you to understand. Please, I gave my word.

CARLIE

God you’re so annoyingly polite. Fine. What kind of story? A ghost story?          OLENUS

There are ghosts in it.

CARLIE

Really?

OLENUS

Really – Now your grandfather…

INT. TED’S KITCHEN – EARLY EVENING - FLASHBACK

TED (50), grumpily sitting at the breakfast table. ROSE (48), standing cooking and STEFF (20) fussing over baby CARLIE (4) sitting in a high chair. 

Ted likes order and routine. His cutlery and condiments our lined up with precision. He has his watch in his hand, watching the seconds. 

OLENUS (V.O.)

… was an uncomplicated man. A good man as you probably remember. However this was not always the case. Back then he was, well let’s say different. For the most part he enjoyed life and loved his family. Rose his loving wife…

His breakfast is placed in front of him by Rose at exactly the right time.

OLENUS CONT’D (V.O.)

…daughter Steff…

STEFF

Evening Dad.

TED

(tucking in, not looking at her) 

No. Morning, I think you’ll find.

Steff goes to correct him but behind Ted’s back Rose gives her a “just leave it face”.

OLENUS (V.O.)

…and a beautiful granddaughter, you. 

Baby Carlie gurgles in front of him. She flicks a spoonful of porridge at Ted. 

He silently fumes and methodically wipes himself clean with a napkin.

Ted leaves for work – he kisses Rose goodbye.  

OLENUS CONT’D (V.O.) 

He just had a little trouble showing it to them.

END FLASHBACK

INT. CARLIE’S FLAT – NIGHT

Carlie almost up and out of chair in frustration.

CARLIE

Wait – wait – Bollocks! What do you mean by, had trouble showing it to them? My granddad was a great man. A loving kind man. Look is this actually going anywhere! I have a paper to finish before morning and…

OLENUS

You’re forgetting I knew Ted a lot longer than you. This is important. I’m trying to tell this right. Please don’t interrupt.

CARLIE

Alright but I haven’t got all night.

EXT. WASTELAND – LATE AFTERNOON - FLASHBACK

A bored Ted walks around a white cabin. 

OLENUS (V.O.)

Ted was a security guard for a plot of land. 

He stops, scratches, shines his torch on and off in his face. Picks his nose, wipes it discretely.

OLENUS CONT’D (V.O.)

Property developers bought it hoping to make a killing through urban regeneration.

Being a relatively unimaginative man and lacking in ambition the job suited him just fine.

CARLIE (V.O.)

Hey, this is my grandfather we are talking about.

INT. PORTA CABIN – LATE AFTERNOON

Ted enters the cabin, inside there is simple furniture and a small kitchen.

Ted passes the day watchman ALAN (35).

TED

Alan.

ALAN

Ted.

Ted sees the mess Alan has left. He shakes his head and starts to clean up.

EXT. WASTELAND – DAY

Ted stands front of a large advertisement hoarding and watches a new poster being erected.

OLENUS (V.O.)

The owners of the land made promises of this and that. Things to be built. First it was a new superstore. 

Ted unimpressed looks at new poster for a car park. 

OLENUS CONT’D (V.O.)

Then a new multi-storied car park.

Ted static as a procession of changing posters fill the hoarding all promising something different.

OLENUS CONT’D (V.O.)

All things promised but never to materialize.

Ted watches the bill poster finishing the latest poster, luxury apartments this time. 

He turns and gives the thumbs up to Ted.

TED

That’ll be the bloody day!

INT. CARLIE’S FLAT - NIGHT

Carlie more relaxed, is now listening intently.

CARLIE

You have a beautiful voice. I think I could listen to it all day.

OLENUS

Eventually all the different plans fell through…

INT. PORTA CABIN – NIGHT

TED sits reading a book.

OLENUS (V.O.)

…so Ted, being a patient man, kept watch and waited. 

(pause) 

Now you see Ted had never truly been aware of his hands. That is, what they really looked like. For him, every night was like discovering them for the very first time. 

CARLIE (V.O.)

His hands? 

OLENUS (V.O.)

Yes, his hands.

Blood seeps through a page of the book.

TED

Ah bloody hell.

Blood glistens from Ted’s finger and drops to the floor. 

Ted stomps over to the sink. 

Water and blood mingles down the plughole. He gets a plaster from the cupboard. 

He looks at the clock, five to midnight. 

Then at the door. 

He sits back down to his book. A LOUD BANG and Ted looks up startled.

INT. TED’S BEDROOM – AFTERNOON

Ted wakes up in his bedroom.

OLENUS (V.O.)

Only when Ted wakes up he has forgotten the whole thing. The blood, his fingers, everything, all forgotten. And the same thing happens again the next night. The very same thing over and over.

INT. TED’S KITCHEN – DAY

Ted has breakfast. 

He kisses Rose on the cheek as he walks out the door. We hear the TOOT of his horn as he drives off.

INT. PORTA CABIN – EARLY EVEING

SERIES OF SHOTS:

A) Ted arriving at work. 

B) Ted reading, noticing the blood on the page. 

C) Changing his plaster. 

D) He looks at clock. 

E) Looks at the door, a deeper frown this time. A double take. 

F) Then he sits back down and continues to read.

OLENUS (V.O.)

Over and over. Never remembering the next day… Until!

G) A CRASH from above, the looks up in shock. 

INTERCUT - INT. TED’S BEDROOM/EXT. CEMETERY – NIGHT

Ted wakes up with a start. 

He picks the clock up but it is too early. 

He lies back down and closes his eyes.

OLENUS (V.O.)

Something different happens.

INTERCUT:

Ted opens them up in a cemetery still wearing his pajamas. The wind is whipping about. 

Ted closes his eyes.

INTERCUT:

He opens them back in bed. He closes them again. 

INTERCUT:

And they open back up in the cemetery. Leaves fly about. 

NANNA (O.O.V.) 

Teddy. Teddy. It’s time little teddy bear.

There is an UNGODLY SCREECH.

NANNA CONT’D (O.O.V.)

Time to. Wake! Up!

INT. TED’S BEDROOM – DAY

Ted wakes up with a start.

INT. TED’S KITCHEN – DAY

Ted walks into kitchen, Rose is making breakfast.

OLENUS (V.O.)

But today something is just not quite right.

Ted eats and looks distracted. 

He leaves barely remembering to kiss Rose. 

He drives off, his TOOT a bit late.

EXT. WASTELAND – DUSK

Ted still distracted swaps shifts with Alan. 

INT. PORTA CABIN – NIGHT

It is half eleven and Ted is reading.

Blood seeps through the page. 

A spot of blood drops on his shirt.

TED

Shite. Rose is gonna bloody kill me.

NANNA (O.O.V.)

Teddy bear. It’s time!

Ted stands, searching for the source of the voice.

He sees the blood on the page. He turns the page, another identical red blob, another page the same. 

He flicks through the book, each page has blood.

TED

What the fu…

He throws the book away in disgust. 

He notices his hands as if for the very first time. The fingers look terrible. He begins to 

TED (CONT’D)

When the hell did I do this?

He tugs off plasters as he walks to the sink.

He washes hands, water and blood mingle. 

His face is white in the mirror. 

He reaches to the cupboard and notices the blood streaks around the handle. 

He opens the cupboard, inside a brown box, bloody handprints all over it. 

He ignores it and affixes clean plasters.

OLENUS (V.O.)

But now that he had seen, he could no longer not see. 

Ted sees blood spots wherever he looks. 

TED

Get a grip on yourself Ted.

TED grabs a cloth and begins to wipe surfaces. He gets mop out and frantically cleans the cabin.

OLENUS (V.O.)

But the more he tried to reassure himself the less confident he felt. But Ted being Ted, he fathomed that he would stay calm till morning and have Rose sort it all out.

TED

Yeah. Yeah. Right emergency over, back to me book.

He stops and looks at the clock. A quarter to twelve. He stares at the door. He watches the glass window. The sound like a BIG DOG RUNNING outside. 

The clock ticks to midnight. 

There is a CRASH on the roof. He jumps.

EXT. PORTA CABIN – MORNING

Shift change. ALAN arrives. TED bustles past him.

OLENUS (V.O.)

But come morning. He had forgotten everything again.

ALAN

Ted. Ted? Ted!

TED gets in his car and drives off in a hurry.

INT. TED’S BEDROOM – DAY

TED wearing blue and white striped pajamas, he picks up an old picture of NANNA. 

EXT. CHURCH GROUNDS– DAY - FLASHBACK

NANNA is talking and pointing at a detail on the church. She is domineering, YOUNG TED looks scared.

END FLASHBACK

INT. TED’S BEDROOM – DAY

He places the picture back down. TED gets into bed.  He stares at his hands, then turns off the light. TED settles then dreams.

INT. TED’S PARENTS HOUSE – NIGHT - DREAM

YOUNG TED still wearing the blue pajamas sits up in bed. He climbs out and tiptoes out onto the landing.

INT. NANNA’S ROOM – NIGHT

He enters and closes the door. It is a shrine to the great woman. At the window an open coffin. NANNA is inside. He passes a painting of NANNA. He stops at the coffin. 

He turns to face the portrait, NANNA looks younger but is still scary.

WHISPERING. Something creepy flashes past the windows. A SHRIEK. He spins round but it is gone. His back now to the open coffin. He looks at NANNA’S black veiled face. Her eyes open. TED stumbles. 

PAINTING NANNA 

They’re coming for you Edward! 

NANNA leans out of painting and grabs him close.

PAINTING NANNA (CONT’D)

Little Teddy Bear!

END DREAM

INT. TED’S BEDROOM – DAY

TED sits bolt upright in bed.

TED

Ah Jesus Christ!

TED sweating and shaking gets out of bed. He looks at the framed picture of NANNA on the dresser.

TED (CONT’D)

What’s happening to me?

He turns the photo face down. He gets dressed.

INT. TED’S KITCHEN – DAY

TED full of anxiety going through the motions. STEFF bustles around with LITTLE CARLIE. He ignores them. ROSE notices he is not himself. They all do. 

He packs his work stuff oblivious as he passes ROSE. 

He drives off, no TOOT this time. ROSE worried.

EXT. WASTELAND – DAY

TED ignores ALAN. ALAN shakes his head.

INT. PORTA CABIN – NIGHT

TED agitated watches the clock and the door. His hands drip growing circles of blood on the floor. 

He ambles towards the sink. Plasters off. Red vortex. 

His hand hovers at the handle. He opens it and sees the brown medicine box. He rips the box apart and hundreds of plasters spill out across the counter. 

It is almost twelve. The light FIZZES and goes out. A CRASH on the ceiling. He sits on the floor. 

TED

I’m shaking like a shitting dog.

With both hands he steadies the torch. Its beam plots the course of the creature across the roof. 

A CRASH as the thing lands outside the door. The torch skitters across the floor and goes out. The handle shakes. Ted SCREAMS.

INT. PORTA CABIN – DAY

ALAN arrives. ALAN sticks his head through the door.

ALAN

You alright?

Ted stood at the sink in just his shirt, naked from the waist down, frantically scrubbing at his pants.

TED

Yeah. I’m fine.

He scrubs harder. ALAN comes further in.

ALAN

What have you done?

TED

Er nothing. Just a dodgy chicken sarni the wife packed.

ALAN spots the stained underpants on the radiator.

ALAN

You shit yourself?

TED

Things change when you get older.

ALAN laughs, teasing. TED grabs his underpants and strides out. ALAN follows him.

ALAN

Shitty arse!

INT. TED’S KITCHEN – DAY

TED enters and throws his pants in the laundry. 

ALAN (V.O.)

(hysterical) 

Shitty arse!

TED

Hello! Rose! Steff!

No answer. He moves through the house. There is a resolve to him now. He knows what he must do.

INT. TED’S BEDROOM – DAY

TED goes to bed in his pajamas. He closes his eyes.

INT. NANNA’S ROOM – NIGHT - DREAM

YOUNG TED enters, the furniture covered in white sheets. He pulls one off NANNA’S painting. It is empty. The cemetery from his dream is in the b/g. He pulls a chair over and climbs into the painting.

EXT. CEMETARY – NIGHT

TED barefoot. The trees sway and the wind picks up.

TED

Nanna! Nan-

A wet leaf smacks him in the face. He peels it off.

TED (CONT’D)

Nanna!

NANNA (O.O.V.)

Oh do stop calling you stupid boy. I heard you the first time.

TED spins, NANNA is approaching from the shadows, she looks younger.

TED

What is happening to me? Am I losing my mind?

She glares at him, TED holds her gaze, her face softens.

NANNA

No. Rather than losing it you are finding it again. You are beginning to see the world as it really is. 

(gently) 

Walk with me.

The wind stops, clouds clear to reveal a night sky.

NANNA (CONT’D)

How much do you remember of our time together?

TED

Scraps. Not much. Long walks. Lots of churches, graveyards and old buildings. Actually - not much really. Is it to do with?

NANNA

Yes. It will all come back to you eventually.

TED

You mean what happens to my hands?

NANNA nods. There is a SCREECH and the sound of FLAPPING. He sees a glimpse of a black shape. 

TED (CONT’D)

What in Christ’s name was that?

Adult TED runs behind NANNA.

NANNA

That is them.

YOUNG TED peeks out from under NANNA’s arm

YOUNG TED

Them? - the ones that come every night?

NANNA

See, you are starting to remember. Don’t be such a silly boy, they can’t hurt. Well, actually… Oh, I suppose I better go through this. One. More. Time.

INT. ROMAN CHURCH – NIGHT - 1400

A group of 15th Century bishops huddle over scrolls with drawings of monsters on them. 

NANNA (V.O.)

A long time ago, the church became aware of a type of creature that feeds on the living. It had been written and spoken about for centuries in myth and legend but up until that point, it had always been dismissed as just that. Tall tales.

TED (V.O.)

What changed their minds?

Their WHISPERS stop as a creature in chains. We barely see it but it is not human. It HISSES and the clergy GASP and make signs of the cross.

NANNA (V.O.)

They caught one alive. When I say alive I just mean moving. They are not alive in the same definition as you and I are.

EXT. CEMETARY – NIGHT

TED raises his eyebrows and snorts.

NANNA (CONT’D)

Don’t get smart with me boy. They do not possess a soul.

INT – INQUISITION CHAMBER – NIGHT - 1400

Priests PRAY over the creature, most of its body hidden on its knees. A huge hammer is raised.

NANNA CONT’D (V.O.)

Well first - being the blinded, repressed bunch that they were, they set about destroying them. Wiping them out.

EXT. WOODS – NIGHT - 1465

A hunting party, priests and soldiers chase the creatures through the thicket.

NANNA CONT’D (V.O.)

After years of war…

INT. ROMAN CHURCH – NIGHT - 1480

The elders and the gargoyles forge an alliance.

NANNA CONT’D (V.O.)

The church decided rather than destroying them, they should employ them. For services to the church, they offered them sanctuary and a safe place to feed. And so it went for a couple of centuries. Until some fire and brimstone bishop decided that the modern church should not be harboring demons. So off they set again, wiping them out. Once you know their secrets they are remarkably easy to destroy.

The jailer’s hammer SMASHES the creature’s head.

EXT. CEMETERY – NIGHT

The noise carries over.

NANNA (CONT’D)

But in time the church simply forgot its bargain. It’s a s4hame really - that they were not more thorough in their fanaticism.

TED

How so?

NANNA

Some survived. Other matters became more pressing. Wars and such. But just because the church forgot did not mean that the contract would just be dissolved. 

(raises her hands) 

The debt still had to paid.

TED shrugs not understanding.

NANNA (CONT’D)

In blood! That was the price.

TED

What’s that got to do with me?

INT. STATLEY HOME – NIGHT - 1588

Priests gesturing to a list on a table, nervous men stand about. Names are signed in blood.

NANNA (V.O.)

I am getting to that bit. Over two dozen families were chosen, ones loyal to the church. Volunteers. Chosen for the honour of being both ward and keepers of the demons.

A creature’s hand snatches the signed scroll off the table.

A sepia parchment with a long family tree. The names through history to modern day to TED and CARLIE.

EXT. CEMETARY – NIGHT

TED looks up at the stone tablet on the church wall.

TED (V.O.)

Bloody hell.

NANNA (V.O.)

The only relief is that it skips a generation. It fell to me. Jumps one missing your father - and now you.

TED

But… But that means. Christ Little Carlie. Ah Christ. Is there no way to get out of it?

NANNA

Death is the only way of… avoidance.

TED

She’s too young for all this. If anything happened to me.

NANNA

And you’re doing such a grand job of taking care of yourself. Easy Edward, you still have time to prepare her for what is to come. Establish a link.

TED

What’s the point if she is not going to remember?

NANNA

When there is no link it can lead to breakdowns, all manner of mental problems. It is imperative you set it up with little Carlie as soon as possible.

TED

What happens if I don’t believe it? What if I refuse?

NANNA

You! Can! Not! Refuse!

(Ted cowers, she softens)

They have the right to take it. By force if necessary. Imagine the mind awake and have to suffer this indignity against ones will. Don’t look so glum Teddy. It’s not all bad. They are not intelligent creatures but nor are they mindless. Once we have paid them their due, they must in turn pay theirs.

TED

Pay theirs? Pay how?

NANNA

Well. They will then do whatever you tell. 

(evil in her eyes) 

Whatever you wish.

EXT. ALLEYWAY – NIGHT - FLASHBACK

YOUNG NANNA in gothic Victorian garb stops two thugs raping a girl. The girl runs off. 

NANNA gives a signal and a beast rushes past her, smiling as the men are killed out of sight.

NANNA (V.O.)

You have earned it. It is your birthright. Do everything, do nothing. Be good, be bad. 

(LIGHTENING FLASH) 

Have some fun.

END FLASHBACK AND DREAM

INT. CARLIE’S FLAT - NIGHT

CARLIE has lost the bat and has pulled her stool closer towards OLENUS, gripped by the tale.

CARLIE

Wait, wait, Nanna did what?

OLENUS shrugs.

EXT. CEMETERY – NIGHT - DREAM

Nanna begins to fade.

NANNA

There is nothing more I can tell you. The rest is up to you… 

She disappears.

NANNA CONT’D (O.O.V.)

…my lovely Teddy bear.

TED

Wait! 

TED runs around the tree but she evaporates.

TED (CONT’D)

Don’t go. Come back. I need to known more. Come baaaack! Nan-

TED crashes into branches, struggling, screaming…

END DREAM

INT. TED’S BEDROOM – AFTERNOON - FLASHBACK

His voice becomes the sound of an ALARM CLOCK. Trapped in his duvet. He silences the clock. 

TED now no longer afraid gets up.

EXT. TED’S KITCHEN – LATE AFTERNOON

He walks past ROSE who sticks her cheek out. He walks past her then stops. They kiss passionately. She is stunned, grinning like a teenager. 

He hugs STEFF, pinches CARLIE on the nose and grinning leaves. 

He drives off TOOTING wildly.

EXT. WASTERLAND – LATE AFTERNOON

He arrives at work. ALAN waits on the stone steps grinning. TED strides past him.

ALAN

Shitty a-

TED slams his head into the wall and goes inside.

INT. PORTA CABIN – LATE AFTERNOON

The cabin is a mess as usual. He leans back out the door. ALAN gets in his car, no longer grinning, rubbing his head.

TED

And you can start cleaning your own bloody mess up an all.

INT. PORTA CABIN - NIGHT

TED reading, turning the bloody pages. He checks the time. Quarter to midnight. 

A brief flash of NANNA, himself and baby CARLIE and a bloodline. 

A GARGOYLE being killed in the shadows. 

A SCREAM. A vicious attack. 

He stands at the door dripping blood, hand hovering by the handle. He turns it and goes outside.

EXT. PORTA CABIN – NIGHT

He does a complete 360 degree turn. Nothing. A SCREECH. He freezes. Distant FLAPPING. 

THUD! He shines his torch at the roof. Nothing. Another SOUND. He trips, losing the torch. He picks up the torch shining it on the creature. 

TED

Jesus! Mary and Joseph!

A FEMALE GARGOYLE stands in front of him.

FEMALE GARGOYLE

Cheeezzzzuuuuuussssss.

The light hurts it. It HISSES and moves forward.

THUD! A MALE GARGOYLE drops from the roof. They circle him. He trips, they waddle into the light. TED lifts his hand, they watch as if hypnotised. 

NANNA (O.O.V.)

…they will have their due with your consent or not.

He pulls off the plasters with his teeth, holds his hands like a preacher. They take a hand and drink.

TED

Go on drink. Knock yourselves out. You’re not animals, no matter what Nanna said. Ted.

(tapping badge)

Ted Curry.

GARGOLYES

Teeeed Stanleeee…

He wobbles and uses their heads as support. 

TED

Now, both of you come inside. I want to tell you something.

TED walks up the steps, the GARGOYLES follow, the door shuts. A kettle BOILS and a chair SCRAPES back.

TED (CONT’D)

Just dim the lights. Right then lets start with your names.

END FLASHBACK

INT. CARLIE’S FLAT - NIGHT

CARLIE stands there, teary eyed.

CARLIE

Oh my god.

OLENUS

Ted discovered that they didn’t have names. So he named them. He came to love them and they in turn loved him. Rather than turning them into things of fear like Nanna did. Ted brought them into his home made them family and introduced them to its one other special member.

CARLIE

Me.

OLENUS

You.

INT. LITTLE CARLIE’S BEDROOM – NIGHT

Baby Carlie in her cot, being introduced to the MALE GARGOYLE. Baby Carlie grins, waving her doll.

CARLIE (V.O.)

I remember, Olenus. I remember.

OLENUS (V.O.)

Back then you used to call me-

BABY CARLIE

Mr Olly.

INT. CARLIE’S FLAT - NIGHT

OLENUS removes his hat –

CARLIE

Mr Olly? But that’s impossible. That’s just something I made up.

- and flicks the on lamp.

CARLIE (CONT’D)

Jesus.

OLENUS

Not quite. Though I have been associated with some of the lesser known fallen angels.

(upset by her reaction)

I am so sorry. I did not meant to startle you. Really, I am truly sorry. I will leave if you wish?

CARLIE

No! No I just meant I never imagined. You’re real. So it’s all true. All of it. I’m not having a nervous breakdown? 

OLENUS

No, I am afraid not.

CARLIE

Its not every day you find out your imaginary childhood friend is real. So – where’s Lethaea?

OLENUS

Lethaea is dead.

Flash image of Lethaea dying. A horrible SCREAM.

CARLIE

I’m so sorry. You must be so l-

OLENUS

There is just me. But I am not alone.

 She sits next to him. CARLIE’S stomach rumbles.

CARLIE

Sorry, haven’t eaten much today.

OLENUS

No neither have I.

CARLIE

You… Oh? Oh of course I should have realized. How rude am I?

OLENUS

Thank you, you are very kind.

CARLIE

(notices pin prick on finger) 

Oh. Have we done this before? Of course we have except I don’t remember, right?

OLENUS

Every night since your grandfather died.

CARLIE

Oh. It’s all right Mr Olly. I’m sure you were the perfect gentleman.

He delicately pricks her finger with a pin, then sucks from it. Finishing he smiles guiltily. She picks up the picture of her and Ted.

CARLIE

I miss him so much.

OLENUS

I know… I do too.

We now see that the statue is Olenus in the b/g.

CARLIE

Hey! That’s you. Hah! Freaky.

OLENUS

Got your nose.

CARLIE

I’m going to forget all this again aren’t I?

OLENUS

Yes. It won’t be forever. And it will be easier from now on. 

CARLIE

But what about? Wait! Are you going?

OLENUS

Sunrise is nearly upon us.

CARLIE

But – why? Oh the daylight. Stay with me. Please. For as long as you can at least.

OLENUS sits, they snuggles and watch the sunrise.

CARLIE (CONT’D)

It’s good to see you again Olenus.

FADE OUT.

END