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267. Old Secrets - Leslie
- FADE IN:
- The living room of Gabriel's house is dark, venetian blinds carefully limiting the sunlight that enters the room to several blocks of light that cautiously touch the edge of the floor and go no further.
- The room is lined with beautifully crafted mahogany and teak bookshelves.
- Several of the bookshelves are draped in cloth, hiding their contents.
- GABRIEL sits in the center of the room in a large, cushioned rocking chair.
- His hair is pure white and his face seems youthful despite being lined with age.
- The doorbell rings and he pauses, memorizing the page number, then carefully placing the book on an end-table.
- He stands and strides to the door.
- e opens it, careful to stay in the shadows.
- ELLEN, a 12-year old, stands patiently at the door.
- ELLEN
- Hello Mr. Gabriel.
- GABRIEL
- Hello Ellen, do your parents know where you are?
- ELLEN
- Yeah, they said it was ok if I came before dinner.
- GABRIEL
- Well child, come in.
- Ellen wrinkles her nose at "child" but doesn't say anything and follows him in.
- Gabriel returns to his chair and Ellen closes the door behind her.
- She crosses the floor to the living room and pulls herself onto the couch, tucking her feet under her.
- The two look at each other, silent.
- Finally, Gabriel nods, then smiles.
- ELLEN
- Mr. Gabriel, tell me a story.
- GABRIEL
- Well, let's see.
- They smile at each other, repeating a routine with which they are quite familiar.
- GABRIEL
- Once upon a time...
- The Silver Palace is more city than single building, numerous levels and shining domes, clustered together into a single eye-popping structure built onto the foothills of the Mount Aeolia.
- GABRIEL (V.O.)
- ...in a time so ancient almost all history has forgotten it, there lived Kirvo, a servant of the Sultan who lived with the royal family in the Silver Palace.
- The lab is built into one of the domes at the top of the palace, beautifully crafted windows sealed shut, thick curtains showing slivers of the magnificent landscape outside.
- The room is filled with books and designs and small inventions.
- GABRIEL (V.O.)
- Kirvo was the Empire's official inventor. He delighted the royal children with his toys...
- A young PRINCE happily chases a mechanical dragonfly down the hall.
- A small dirigible hovers about a farmer's field spraying seed across the field.
- GABRIEL (V.O.)
- ...and he created such magnificent tools that the Empire was the envy of the known world.
- KIRVO glides through sunny halls, wearing a simple robe, a hood carefully protecting his face, goggles obscuring his eyes, and gloves hiding his fingers.
- GABRIEL (V.O.)
- Many thought it was strange that he rarely seen during the day and then only when he was completely covered. But although rumors spread like wildfire when he first arrived, the years of amazing craftsmanship quieted the worst of the whispers.
- Kirvo pulls his hood back and the goggles off.
- GABRIEL (V.O.)
- No one knew his deepest secret; save for a single person. For you see, Kirvo was the king of a band of gypsy vampires, the last survivor of an ancient tribe.
- PRINCESS ILANAH floats into the laboratory and Kirvo smiles at her.
- She slips into his arms and they embrace in the moonlight that flows into the room, through windows now thrown wide open.
- He takes her hand, places a small object into her palm, and closes her fingers around it.
- She opens her hand, deliberately uncurling each finger.
- A small, brass pendant in the shape of a firefly sits on her palm, its amber thorax pulsating gently with light.
- GABRIEL (V.O.)
- he Princess Ilananh was the only person who knew his secret. They were madly in love, but they kept it a secret. Try as he might, he would grow hungry; over the years, the Sultan had grown accustomed for low-ranking servants to occasionally disappear. The princess feared his teeth and he feared losing her.
- Kirvo works feverishly, building a a large tank with gauges and pressure dials.
- It is built into a beautiful mahogany casing and from the wrong angle, could easily seem like a bookcase.
- GABRIEL (V.O.)
- Kirvo knew he would never age but that one day Ilanah would die. He searched high and low for a cure.
- Kirvo inspects a plant with the light of his lamp, then throw it away with disgust.
- GABRIEL (V.O.)
- He realized the there was only one way to have her by his side through all eternity.
- Kirvo and Ilanah argue in front of the large tank.
- She becomes quiet, then nods.
- They kiss and then he lifts her up a ladder that curves around the tank.
- He pulls a small vial from his vest and she drains it, looking at him once more before her body becomes still.
- He places her in the tank, then seals her in, cranking a wheel to shut the door at the to.
- The sultan sits at his throne, an awe-inspiring sight in his finery, his face swollen with anger.
- GABRIEL (V.O.)
- When the Sultan discovered her disappearance, he killed thirty peasants to ease his anger, then declared war on several nearby kingdoms, sure they had taken his daughter.
- The silver palaces burns.
- GABRIEL (V.O.)
- Those who learned the tale of Kirvo called him destroyer of kings, for the ensuing war engulfed the world, a 100 year war of attrition that left the mighty kingdoms shells of their former glory. Some who tell the legend say that Ilanah's mind never stopped working, all the aeon's trapped in her cage.
- Kirvo sits in the back of a mule-drawn cart, a large cloth-covered object next to him.
- The flames from the palace paint the sky a bloody orange.
- GABRIEL (V.O.)
- It is said Kirvo wanders with Ilanah, two lovers always together, always separate; her unblinking eyes watching the horror their loved unleashed; his tired eyes never able to look away from the world he destroyed. And so they wander to this day, trapped together in a cage their love built.
- Gabriel leans back in his chair.
- ELLEN
- That was really depressing Mr. Gabriel.
- She looks at her watch.
- ELLEN
- Oh!
- With an exclamation, she bounds from the couch towards the door.
- ELLEN
- I'm late! Can you tell me a happier story next time? Maybe a comedy for once?
- GABRIEL
- Maybe next time.
- ELLEN
- Thanks!
- She runs outside, shutting the door hard behind her.
- Ellen peeks into the window through a gap in the blinds.
- Gabriel stands slowly, then walks over to one of the shrouded book cases.
- He pulls the cloth aside, revealing a large tank filled with thick liquid.
- Suspended in the tank is a beautiful young woman, her clothes so strange and beautiful that they cause Ellen to gasp.
- Gabriel touches the glass and the woman stares back.
- He stays for a moment longer, then replaces the cloth and walks back to his rocking chair and book.
- FADE TO BLACK.
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