Work Text:
1. INT. THE INTENDENT'S OFFICE, CUCKOO HILL MANOR. MORNING.
A long tracking shot pushes across the asylum’s gates, the name of the asylum "Cuckoo Hill Manor" looms above in wrought iron letters; then into the lower wards - patients gathering in the hall, the head nurse is taking the call roll; gliding upward through corridors and staircases, finally stops at the OFFICE above.
FORGET ME NOT (whose true name is LAWRENCE), early 20s, tall and gaunt, with dark grey hair falling to his shoulders, is sitting at the SUPERINTENDENT’s desk. The superintendent’s smile lingered as her eyes sweeps over him.
She takes a slow sip of tea, then stirs the spoon against the porcelain.
SUPERINTENDENT
You’ve always been doing well, Brother Lawrence.
Looking after patients while keeping order... you have made a great contribution to us.
Forget Me Not lowers his head.
FORGET ME NOT
(humbly)
It is my duty to lead the lost lambs back to the shepherded pasture.
SUPERINTENDENT
Good.
How is our new member? I expect those... evil gangsters hardly get used to the life here.
How fares his condition? Has he settled into the work? Any attempts to escape?
FORGET ME NOT
He still speaks with the demons in the air...
As for labour? Ah, you cannot expect a delinquent to change within a month.
Sadly, he has indeed made several escape attempts, and I suspect the last great commotion was of his making.
I will keep watching him, Ma'am.
SUPERINTENDENT
Has he been given any rod of discipline?
FORGET ME NOT
I scourged him and prolonged his hours of labour, as the body must be broken for the spirit to be healed.
And in his rest, I read to him from the Psalms, that he might learn peace through words.
SUPERINTENDENT
(satisfied)
Given time, he shall be made new.
To have such care from you is his good fortune.
FORGET ME NOT
You overpraised me, Ma'am.
SUPERINTENDENT
At times I thought it might be a waste, to have someone as young as you here.
Forget Me Not blinks without expression.
FORGET ME NOT
It is my honour to be called to this place.
The Superintendent nods her head. She eases, adopting a more conversational posture.
SUPERINTENDENT
Have you spoken with him?
FORGET ME NOT
No, Ma'am.
SUPERINTENDENT
I can see the truth — he was not the real culprit. He was merely a discarded pawn, cast out by the mob to take the blame.
FORGET ME NOT
I do not know the details of the case.
SUPERINTENDENT
Naturally. The police wouldn’t share much with you.
Yet he has indeed strayed. His soul is tainted, and thus the madness.
To keep him here is mercy — that he might be cleansed.
FORGET ME NOT
As you say, Ma'am.
SUPERINTENDENT
He seems to be from your hometown.
Forget Me Not sits upright still, eyes lowered.
FORGET ME NOT
Chicago is a large city - a large city of chaos.
I am grateful to the Church for keeping me from such chaos.
The Superintendent raises her brows.
SUPERINTENDENT
I rarely hear you speak of your past.
FORGET ME NOT
I have long forgotten the part of my past bounded to sins.
SUPERINTENDENT
Forgetting is no simple thing.
FORGET ME NOT
(calmly)
I was ten when my father got murdered. Children get to forget easily.
SUPERINTENDENT
You're right.
She pushes the teacup aside.
SUPERINTENDENT (CON'T D)
You may leave now, Brother Lawrence.
Remember to tell DRUVIS and DAISY not to let the patients tamper with the record player -
(pause)
it does nothing good for their conditions.
FORGET ME NOT
Yes, Ma'am.
Forget Me Not rises from his chair and steps aside, and bows slightly to the Superintendent.
FORGET ME NOT
Bless be the lamb.
SUPERINTENDENT
May the Lord watch.
Forget Me Not strides out of the office and shuts the door. He moves through the dark corridors, then goes downstairs.
2. INT. LOWER WARDS, CUCKOO HILL MANOR. CONTINUOUS.
Forget Me Not stops before a ward door. The nameplate on that door reads: PAVIA.
Druvis is filling out the duty chart. Forget Me Not nods to her.
FORGET ME NOT
Sister Druvis.
DRUVIS
Brother Lawrence.
He has already confessed to me... I think you may allow him to begin free activities again.
FORGET ME NOT
Glad to hear that.
Now, back to your post. Also, The Superintendent advises that you keep the record player under control.
Druvis shows a look of disagreement. She lowers her head in a token bow, then withdraws down the corridor.
Forget Me Not draws one of the keys from his belt, and unlocks the ward door.
FORGET ME NOT
(coldly)
You may come out now, Pavia.
I hope you have truly changed - though, I find it hard to believe.
FADE TO BLACK.
3. INT. DORMITORY, CUCKOO'S HILL MANOR. NIGHT.
SOUND: ALARM BLARES
Before the picture fades in, the sound of a alarm is heard. Forget Me Not woke up on his bed in the dark. It is a narrow room, enclosed by concrete walls on its sides. Above the bed, a window spills a shaft of pale moonlight into the room.
Forget Me Not bolts upright, snatching his coat from the bed foot and throwing it on. He pulls the door open and rushes out, taking two stairs at a time.
A long tracking shot follows from behind as he descends. He tears through flight after flight, then into the chaotic crowd below.
The camera rises slowly, revealing a circular courtyard. Forget Me Not is standing at its centre - patients surge past on both of his sides, scattering into the night.
Cut back to: Forget Me Not. He scans around, pressing his lips. Then, he seizes the arm of a passing patient.
FORGET ME NOT
(low but clear)
Where is he?
The patient gives no reply - he just giggles and darts away.
Forget Me Not takes a deep breath. He turns and runs toward a deeper corridor. At the end stands a narrow door. He unlocks it with a key from his belt, steps through, and shut the door behind him.
4. EXT. YARD, CUCKOO'S HILL MANOR. CONTINUOUS.
Forget Me Not steps into the woods behind the manor. The ground is tangled with low shrub, and sparse, weathered tombstones. From afar comes a mournful cry of cuckoos.
Forget Me Not walks along a muddy path - one clearly worn down by many feet. He comes to the sheep pen.
PAVIA stands there. He is a lean, strong young man. His hair shows faint traces of being bleached white. Gothic letter tattoos crawl along his arms and throat. He takes a piece of bread from his pocket, breaks it apart, and feeds it to the lamb. His back looks still and calm in the moonlight - like that of a saint.
Forget Me Not stares him in silence. He shows the satisfaction and thrill of a hunter.
FORGET ME NOT
You are here.
Hmm... clever of you to try escaping this way.
Pavia smiles. He throws the final crumb to the sheep, then raises his hands in a gesture that almost looks like surrender.
PAVIA
(with an Italian accent)
Yes.
I'm here, for you.
Forget Me Not seems to have calmed from his earlier frenzy and agitation. He steps forward, and stands beside Pavia.
PAVIA
Guess even the dead don’t get names here, huh?
FORGET ME NOT
Those graves belong to patients who live here long ago. Lucky ones were taken home by their families. The rest - well, they were buried here after death.
They don't carve stones now.
If you die here, you'll vanish into the earth without a sound. And, of course, without a name.
As the speak, the sheep bleat from time to time in the background.
FORGET ME NOT (CON'T D)
(mocking)
Oh, you don't even have a name.
PAVIA
Sure I've got a name.
P–A–V–I–A. It's not that hard to remember.
FORGET ME NOT
(snickers)
An Italian city? That can't be your real name.
PAVIA
Yeah.
An orphan like me, growing up on the streets — of course I never knew who I was.
One day I tagged along with some folks, got on a ship, hid in the cargo, and, well… here I am.
What about you, Forget Me Not?
What's your name? Or should I call you... Brother Lawrence?
Forget Me Not shows a flicker of displeasure.
FORGET ME NOT
Only members of the Church may address one another as brother and sister.
PAVIA
Then all right, Lawrence Cavendish.
A complex expression crosses Forget Me Not’s face: surprise, revulsion, hatred — and, disturbingly, even a trace of delight.
FORGET ME NOT
How did you—?
PAVIA
Maybe I just happened to read something once - “Cavendish Sr. shot dead, his fortune carved up, and his heir sent away to a Church school”;
maybe I’m a magician, good at seeing through people;
or maybe I’m just an old friend of yours.
FORGET ME NOT
All nonsense.
Forget Me Not’s face cools. He grips Pavia’s arm, forcing him toward the manor, with the grip of a man escorting a prisoner.
Pavia smiles at him, making no effort to resist. They move on in that strange posture, disappearing into the darkness of the night.
FADE TO BLACK.
5. INT. BAKE HOUSE, CUCKOO HILL MANOR. MORNING.
The camera focuses on the door of the superintendent’s office. Forget Me Not steps out, holding a stack of files in his hands. He looks quite displeased.
Forget Me Not walks down the spiral staircase, the scene almost identical to the one before.
He walks up to Druvis, who is on duty again.
FORGET ME NOT
Sister Druvis.
DRUVIS
(worried)
Brother Lawrence.
Did they find the missing patient?
Forget Me Not shakes his head coldly and stiffly. He seems actually unconcerned about the matter.
FORGET ME NOT
Not yet. Where is Pavia?
DRUVIS
He’s working. Is it time for his punishment?
Forget Me Not doesn’t answer. He opens the door without a word. Druvis bows and leaves.
Forget Me Not enters the bakehouse. Pavia is kneading a lump of dough.
PAVIA
Morning, Lawrence.
FORGET ME NOT
Get down.
Pavia sits down obediently. Forget Me Not moves behind him and pulls up his shirt - Pavia's back is covered with raw, bleeding wounds that have yet to heal.
PAVIA
Admiring your own masterpiece?
FORGET ME NOT
(tauntingly)
Yes.
I brought you some medicine.
PAVIA
Strange. I thought you were here to finish the whipping.
FORGET ME NOT
Your death is not what I want.
He starts to clean Pavia’s wound. Pavia makes no sound of pain, though his shoulders keep trembling.
PAVIA
I've noticed for a while, you know- you do enjoy hurting people in this shitting place, don't you?
Unexpectedly, Forget Me Not smiles faintly.
FORGET ME NOT
I do.
PAVIA
You’re surprisingly honest. I like that about you.
Forget Me Not pats his shoulder - the signal that the disinfecting is finished. Pavia returns to his work, and Forget Me Not takes a seat nearby.
Forget Me Not takes a Bible from the stack of files and books he brought. He begins reading to Pavia — the story of Cain and Adam.
FORGET ME NOT
(in a stiff tone)
"So Cain went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden".
Cain was marked by the Lord, yet spared.
PAVIA
Even the murderer was allowed to live.
FORGET ME NOT
We are all but lost lamb.
PAVIA
(with interest)
You read it so well - like you mean it. But you don't, do you?
You've stopped believing in all that long ago. But you just keep saying those words over and over, hoping they'll start meaning something again.
Forget Me Not freezes for a moment. A shadow crosses his face, as if his mask has been torn open.
PAVIA (CON'T D)
You shouldn't be surprised how well I know you.
He put the last piece of bread on the tray, and slides it into the oven.
PAVIA (CON'T D)
Take me for a walk, Lawrence.
Oh, and you’d better find me a wheelchair — everything hurts.
FADE OUT.
6. EXT. YARD, CUCKOO'S HILL MANOR. CONTINUOUS.
The camera inches slowly, Forget Me Not appears in the courtyard near the front gate, pushing Pavia in a wheelchair.
Around them stand withered, black trees and a patchy, yellowing lawn. Beneath their feet lies a path of grey, broken stones.
PAVIA
It is a good day.
FORGET ME NOT
A joyless day, I would say.
PAVIA
Look at you. This place is driving you mad, hollowing you out.
FORGET ME NOT
What are you trying to say?
PAVIA
I was waiting for you to ask, Lawrence. Pity. Seems you’ve wiped me clean from that holy little mind of yours.
He raises his hand, fingers spread, as if feeling the sunlight.
PAVIA (CON'T D)
Ah, I do miss the sunlight in Italy... Now, where were we?
Ah, yes — when I got to Chicago, I fell in with some street rats. Once, I got hurt during a theft and was left bleeding on the roadside.
Then a boy found me, saved me, took me home.
I suppose we had a good time together. He taught me to read and write, even tried to teach me the piano.
Forget Me Not remains silent, simply pushing him forward.
PAVIA (CON'T D)
In time, his father found a way to get rid of me. He didn’t want to feed me for free anymore. So he handed me off to some mafia he was doing business with.
Guess I got lucky. Did well enough to get adopted by the godfather himself.
Forget Me Not stops in his tracks.
FORGET ME NOT
(suspicious)
It's... you.
PAVIA
Yep. After their deal blew up, I was the one they sent to kill your father. I did it.
Forget Me Not remains unmoved.
PAVIA (CON'T D)
Strange. You’re not even reacting.
FORGET ME NOT
I have cast all that belonged to my past away.
PAVIA
There you go again.
Well, after that day, I lost you completely — until I came here... and saw you again.
He paused.
PAVIA
You’re not the boy I once knew... You’re withering, Lawrence.
I pieced together your past from what I could find back then.
Every time we spoke, I tried to probe you — but it seems you remember nothing.
FORGET ME NOT
I told you before — my memory is gone. Through the endless rituals and chastisements, I have been remade, not reborn.
PAVIA
That's what I saw.
Then I realised you’d grown obsessed with this chase between rats and cats.
You drain strength from their pain and struggle, like a vine feeding off a tree.
Forget Me Not narrows his eyes. He starts pushing Pavia forward again. They stop beneath the only tree in the courtyard still has leaves.
PAVIA (CON'T D)
You really think I couldn’t get out of here? You really believe this little nest could hold me?
FORGET ME NOT
"I'm here, for you."
PAVIA
Yes. I'm here for you.
The shadow of the leaves wavers across Pavia's Body. For a moment, there is only the gentle whisper of leaves. Half of Forget Me Not's face is swallowed by shadow, making his expression unreadable.
PAVIA (CON'T D)
And for what you’ve become, that’s partly on me.
You like your little game? Fine. I’ll play.
We can keep playing — as long as I’m breathing, and you haven’t grown tired of the chase.
The camera pulls back slowly, rising, and leaving him beneath the tree.
FADE OUT.
THE END