Work Text:
FADE IN:
-
INT. DUNCAN’S ROOM. NIGHT.
Duncan wakes up , barely able to turn his head around, and turns in his bed but stays completely still after. It is night, but near sunrise, so the sky is slightly bluer . A fu zzy , waist-height silhouette appears on the top of the stairs, in view. He isn’t disturbed. The s hadow then glides to the right side of the bed, and he gets alarmed, irises moving around and skin shaking. Three bright lights appear on the left side of the bed with another shadow.
SHADOWY FIGURE ON LEFT
( Faint mumbling noises)
The left shadow goes under the bed. The s hadow on the right gets closer, then disappears. Duncan starts to move again.
DUNCAN
That wasn’t a dream. I was already awake.
DISSOLVE
-
EXT. ROAD. DAY.
Duncan walks through the street from his home , stops to look at the building he’s going in, then goes inside and heads to a room. (Voiceover happens simultaneously)
DUNCAN
That was the first time it happened. I was completely sure it was real, but I began doubting myself, uncertain. Dreams usually feel real, and I never buy into it, so why was that different? So unclear? … It became apparent to me later on – something I had not considered – paralysis.
It wasn’t how I expected paralysis to be. It wasn’t normal, but it made sense. It was scary and unsettling – the inability to feel, the buzzing of my nerves. I hadn’t expected that. I know it was paralysis, but why was it so unclear if it was real now? It was more like a hollow projection of what I’d expected, that only felt material at the time. But so material that it couldn’t be ignored.
Duncan’s hand reaches places the keycard near the door scanner , and he remembers the first time he met the person on the other side of the door , a blank expression showing on his face.
-
INT. PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL ROOM. DAY.
Duncan paints by himself, a girl sitting beside him calling out.
GIRL
Hey. You’re the only boy around my age here. Most of us loonies are adults.
DUNCAN
You’re also not one of them?
GIRL
( Pauses and laughs maniacally, smiling)
Oh, I very much am ... guess what I have, paralysis boy.
DUNCAN
I’ve read about you , Annalise. You have... pan - disorder. All of them. You’re psychotic, schizophrenic, bipolar, depressive and so on.
ANNALISE
Bang on the spot . We have a lot in common though, even if you’re perfectly sane.
DUNCAN
How so?
ANNALISE
We can both see the same place and things normal humans shouldn’t.
-
INT. HOTEL ROOM. DAY.
The hotel room is very clean and shiny, mostly white. T he windows showing a gray sky and every object in the room is arranged i n a straight way, almost abnormally . Annalise is seen on a couch with another opposite her.
ANNALISE
(teasingly)
How nice of you to visit again.
DUNCAN
(Pauses, then uses a monotone voice)
Hi Anna. The doctors treating you well?
ANNALISE
Pfft, oh please. You know as well I do that they have no power over me. I’ve been out of the psychiatric hospital for so long after all. I’m not containable. Neither are you...
Duncan walks over and sits opposite , pouring himself a glass of water before drinking it.
DUNCAN
Unlike you, I managed to prove my sanity. I’m trying my best to live a normal life, not whatever you’re doing.
Annalise stands up and sits closely next to him as she says the next line.
ANNALISE
Yet you come here, to me, because I’m the only one who understands your condition. The truth is you aren’t going to get a normal life. You have to live doing the best thing suited for you. That is...
DUNCAN
( With a mixture of anger and annoyance)
Shut up. I can break out of it.
Annalise grabs Duncan by his face and stares straight into his eyes, smiling.
ANNALISE
Well then. L et’s go and see how useless that mindset is, shall we?
-
EXT. OUTSIDE ABANDONED HOUSE. NIGHT.
They are displaced into what seems like a different, creepy reality , outside the building they were in.
ANNALISE
The one thing you can do is dispel Spirits. Your paralysis condition displaces your mind into the Spirit reality, and your body remains still as ever as a sacrifice, both here and left behind in our overlapping normal reality. You and I are the only ones we know of who can access this parallel reality, but our means of doing so are different. The means are irrelevant – as long as you can cleanse the corruption from he-
Annalise is sharply interrupted.
DUNCAN
I never chose this. It was forced on me.
Duncan then loses sight of Annalise. He wonders if he is just imagining things and doubts himself. She just disappeared and this causes dread. He is left all alone and now in a room in the building, unable to move.
-
INT. ROOM. NIGHT.
DUNCAN
I feel it. The leftover remnants of suffering, vengeful or unfulfilled souls from all corners of time. T hey all collect here, corrupting the untainted Spirit world. and I was unfortunate enough to have a free pass here.
Many silhouettes appear in the hiding spots of the room, making it darker. He cannot do a thing.
DUNCAN
Why? From experience, these Spirits can change their form to influence my mind directly, but they’re unpredictable. That’s what makes them terrifying. They indirectly influence minds in normal reality too, as minds exist outside the boundaries of dimensions. Anna believes I can unfreeze myself and dispel the corruption, but I have absolutely zero interest in doing so. I just want to recover.
A dead body appears in front of him, starting to move. It reminds him of someone, but he cannot put his finger on who. It moves lifelessly and is covered in blood, but Duncan is not phased. His face shows built-up fortitude, but his body cannot stop shaking. The body slowly bends its body and looks at him. The body is pregnant. Several pitch-black hands emerge from the doorway . Duncan is filled with uncertainty.
BODY
(Mumbles incoherently)
Duncan is then displaced again, feeling a wave of uncertainty about if what he is experiencing is even real. The Spirits show him a hell that actually makes him terrified. He then finds himself on the road he was walking on earlier.
-
EXT. ROAD. DAY
ANNALISE
( In a cute, doll-like voice)
What a shame. I had high hopes this time.
DUNCAN
What?
She walks over to him with a blank expression, getting close to his face and startling him.
ANNALISE
I was designated the Gatekeeper. You were designated the Janitor. Understand?
DUNCAN
I definitely don’t .
Annalise goes into a fit of rage, screaming voice turning low and guttural, smiles creepily and disappears again. Duncan continues his day, and when walking back home, hears bells and chimes from a church , going back to paralysis in the middle of the street.
-
EXT. ROAD. NIGHT.
Duncan finds himself in a dark, older version of the street he is in, music from the church bell ringing to his pleasure. He then realizes he can move even within the Spirit world. He runs to the church, hoping the sound would be louder, avoiding the many ghosts chasing him. The ghosts stop at the entrance to the church as Duncan walks in.
-
INT. CHURCH. SUNSET.
The church is the size of a regular protestant church, benches on the sides of a carpet. Annalise is standing on the opposite end in front of the altar with a blank expression, leaning on a big scythe. Candles light around the building producing a yellow hue, the wood and stone all in clear view.
ANNALISE
Hey.
DUNCAN
(Drops to his knees from the sound of the bells)
It was an experiment, wasn’t it? You’re... using me.
ANNALISE
And I finally succeeded. I was going about it wrong. Removing the curse of your immobile body required cleansing of the soul, not as much fear as possible to break you out of it.
ANNALISE
( She picks up the scythe and swings it)
I’m not sure which weapon I’d prefer right now...
ANNALISE
(The scythe turns into a sniper rifle, a katana, chains, a revolver and back to a scythe)
T his one’s the most traditional.
Duncan makes himself stand up (with effort) and slowly walks to her, the sound overpowering.
DUNCAN
Well, you won’t be using me anymore.
DUNCAN
(He conjures a pistol and aims it at her)
I won’t do your bidding. I’ll have my normal life. Setting me free was a mistake, Anna.
ANNALISE
That’s right, focus. Your energy isn’t wasted that way, ahahaha. You actually think we’re in a stalemate! I’VE ALREADY CHECKMATED YOU!
Duncan spits in response, as Annalise laughs.
DUNCAN
How so?
ANNALISE
You don’t have to be alive to be useful, you know. My job is to prevent leakage and guide safe passage. You, sir, have compromised the rules, and I used that to my advantage.
Annalise stares at him as he stays still, and before he can fire, she displaces him and drives the scythe through his midsection. Duncan screams.
DUNCAN
I miss the Spirits already...
Duncan’s body begins disintegrating and turning to ash, exiting the church. Annalise follows it outside and puts her palm out as if to let it land on it as it wisps away and disappears.
END CREDITS
-
(AFTER CREDITS) INT. BUILDING. NIGHT.
Duncan’s soul is seen exorcising harmful spirits into pure white in a robotic manner in an empty interior car-park area . Annalise watches peacefully from a distance with a pitiful look.
ANNALISE
Poor soul. He never had a choice to begin with.