|
Burning Kiss (2018)
1
(EXPLODING) (MISTY MUSIC) (STATIC BUZZING) Beach beach Na Na wa wa CHARLOTTE: (VOICEOVER) The summers are getting hotter out here. (SERIOUS MUSIC) I just know it. WOMAN: (ON TV) Call the live one-on-one psychic hotline for your private reading anytime. (EXPECTANT MUSIC) WOMAN: (ON TV) First, we have the weather, and surprise surprise, it's gonna be hot. (FIERY RUMBLING) (STATIC BUZZING) (SHINING MUSIC) WOMAN: (ON TV) Aquarius, with a new moon approaching, it's your turn to shine without apology. (HYPNOTIC MUSIC) (DOORBELL RINGING) (DEEP RUMBLING) (HEAVY WHOOSHING) (STATIC BUZZING) (FIRE ROARING) CHARLOTTE: (VOICEOVER) After the accident that killed mom, dad never walked again. Sometimes I could feel her watching over me. I hated that feeling. EDMUND: Okay, let's take it from the top. It's me. It's you. I'm the guy. You're the guy. EDMUND: And you're handing yourself in? MAX: If that's what you want. Cut the shit, kid. You tell me where you really got this from. It was hanging from the windstream wiper of my car, next to your wife's back teeth. NARRATOR: (ON TV) This of course meant not only giving testimony against Spesman, but also any information she might request now or in the future. Cassandra wasn't fooling anyone but herself. MAX: I'm sorry. (GUNSHOT FIRING) NARRATOR: (ON TV) Addicts have but one loyalty, to themselves and their all-consuming drug habits. Damn. I missed. Still don't believe me? NARRATOR: (ON TV) When circumstances threaten their freedom to pursue those habits, behavior is motivated by the most primitive and basic thing. Self-preservation and survival of the fittest. I can show you where the car is. (MYSTERIOUS MUSIC) Oo wa oo wa oo Stand up. I need you to take him somewhere, on your own. On my own? Yes. Here, take this. He does anything odd, you sense anything strange, you point and click. CHARLOTTE: Point and click? EDMUND: Shoot him. Wa wa wa wa wa wa wa wa No, fuck that, give it back. (EVIL MUSIC) Charlotte, you look stupid, give it back. He's gonna show you something. When you get there, you call me straight away, understand? Understand? Yes. RADIO DJ: Do you have a prediction what the summer 65 FM top 50 is going to have? (HEARTBEAT POUNDING) You and a friend could be spending three weeks in sunny Spain with 10,000... Dad said you had something to show me. RADIO DJ: Break out your crystal ball, tea leaves. CHARLOTTE: Well, get in. In the back. RADIO DJ: To go into the running to win this tremendous Spain trip now. (CAR ENGINE RUMBLING) (STRANGE MUSIC) (ELECTRIC WHIRRING) (BIRDS CHIRPING) WOMAN: (ON TV) Does it feel like sometimes your world is spinning out of control? EDMUND: (VOICEOVER) What do you do when you actually find what you're looking for? WOMAN: (ON TV) Psychic powers. Call the Live Psychic Line. Do you just stop? WOMAN: (ON TV) And talk with a gifted psychic anytime, 24 hours a day. EDMUND: (VOICEOVER) Give up? (MYSTICAL MUSIC) Look for something else? WOMAN: (ON TV) Call the Live Psychic Hotline. Call toll-free, 1-800-445-796, and speak with a gifted psychic who can help you overcome your fears, predict opportunity, and help you find true love. Psychic minds are waiting. I think you let it go. WOMAN: (ON TV) To speak with you live. And you find it again. Now giving you the answers. WOMAN: (ON TV) And connect with someone so gifted by you're just talking to them. Call the Live Psychic Hotline toll-free, 1-800-445-796. (EERIE MUSIC) There it is. (MYSTIFIED MUSIC) (PHONE RINGING) Is it there? Yes. Charlotte, listen to me carefully, listen. (SPELL-LIKE MUSIC) CHARLOTTE: (VOICEOVER) Sometimes when bad things happen, you don't see it coming. (STRANGE MUSIC) Other times, it's in the air. You need to show me exactly what you did when you left the car. Why? CHARLOTTE: He wants to know. (TROUBLED MUSIC) (MAX SIGHS) What more proof does he need? He wants to know how you did it. MAX: How I did it seems pretty obvious, don't you think? How you got away! He wants to know how you got away. MAX: (VOICEOVER) How I got away was so easy. It was embarrassing. I wanted to say there was more, but... CHARLOTTE: Ran where? MAX: (VOICEOVER) It just was what it was. Through the bush. MAX: (VOICEOVER) Wipe down the prints. Take the number plates and serials. Run. CHARLOTTE: Where? I don't know. CHARLOTTE: And did you keep walking? MAX: (VOICEOVER) I even got picked up straight away. The hardest part was listening to the truck driver talk for a couple of hours about fucking freestyle motocross. CHARLOTTE: Where did he drop you? (SHADOWY MUSIC) At a motel. MAX: (VOICEOVER) Then I stayed the night at a motel near the beach and it was all over. CHARLOTTE: What was it called? (OMINOUS MUSIC) The Sunset Shacks. (LUXURIOUS MUSIC) (THUNDER RUMBLING) (CREEPY MUSIC) (THUNDER BOOMING) CHARLOTTE: (VOICEOVER) The night of the accident there was a thunderstorm. Four inches of rain. It washed half the town away, and Max's tire tracks with it. By the time the police showed up, they didn't even know mom was there. She was completely submerged. In mud. (THUNDER BOOMING) (MYSTICAL MUSIC) I've had some time to think things over. I've decided not to kill you. Nor do I want you to turn yourself in. But at the same time, you're not going free. And you will be punished. We're not so different, you and I. I've killed people before too, you know. I once shot a man clean between the eyes. Somehow he kept moving and talking. He even sat on a fucking chair and tied his shoe laces. (THUNDER RUMBLING) (EERIE MUSIC) I've been looking for you for quite some time. My name is Max Woods. (VOICES WHISPERING) I'm a locksmith from the Gold Fields. I wasn't drunk. I was just passing through. Any of your friends know that you're here? No, I don't have any friends. EDMUND: Six years is a long time to grow a conscience, wouldn't you say? You have an excuse for that? No. (HAUNTING MUSIC) EDMUND: Charlotte. I know this is unusual, considering the circumstances, but Max is gonna be staying with us for a little while. (SHADOWY MUSIC) He's agreed to help me with something. Sweet dreams, Max. (FOREBODING MUSIC) (THUNDER RUMBLING) You did good today. I'm proud of ya. I want you to have this. (CHEERFUL SURF MUSIC) Thank you. EDMUND: Open it. Beach beach beach EDMUND: You like it? It's a uniform your mother used to wear. Try it on. Beach beach beach Na Na wa wa Beach beach sha Na Na CHARLOTTE: (VOICEOVER) Dad used to be a detective. For a while after the accident he was convinced he could find mum's killer. Beach beach beach Na Na wa wa Beach beach CHARLOTTE: (VOICEOVER) Nobody took much notice though. Part of dad seemed angry that Max had found him rather than the other way around. Do you want me to clean the house? EDMUND: No, I want you to create a character. CHARLOTTE: (VOICEOVER) Another part was excited to meet him. By the end of it they both agreed on something. I got that feeling she was watching me again. EDMUND: If someone wore that kind of uniform and had that kind of hair, what kind of person might they be? (CREEPY MUSIC) Maybe someone who's hard on their luck. Too many children. Definitely a broken marriage. She'd smoke too. (VEILED MUSIC) Maybe she'd be French. EDMUND: (LAUGHS) No, she's not French. Bonjour. Charlotte, she's not French. But she also knows all about plumbing. Oh Plumbing? WOMAN: (ON TV) That's right. All you need to do is use your extrasensory perception, and you and a friend could be spending... (PUZZLED MUSIC) Put this on in case someone sees you. And don't speak to anyone. (WOMAN CHATTERING ON RADIO) (CURIOUS MUSIC) You must be Charlotte. Oh! (LAUGHS) Took me about two hours, but I found the stuff your old man's looking for. Records from January 12th six years ago. They're the only ones that booked in. CHARLOTTE: (VOICEOVER) I'd only ever stayed in a motel once. I was 11. I remember a boy in the room next door. He told me the sun made him blind. Which one is it? It's that one there, the blue one. CHARLOTTE: (VOICEOVER) During the day he couldn't see at all. In the dark he could see like normal. (KNOCKING ON THE DOOR) (ODD MUSIC) Called himself Dracula. (PHONE RINGING) Because he got up to bad stuff at night. Joe speaking. Good day, Joe. I'm gonna cut straight to the chase. My name's Edmund Bloom. You ever heard of me? JOE: Uh, yeah. (WOMAN MOANING) Nice on top, broken spine. You've got a whisper? EDMUND: Aw, Joe, that's a bit hurtful. Now I need someone to run a story for me and who won't call me crazy. No promises. (PLEASURABLE MOANING) I had this dream a few nights ago. I know this sounds nuts, but bear with me. CHARLOTTE: (VOICEOVER) Living by the ocean is nice if you can get used to all the rust. (WOMAN MOANING) (WEIRD MUSIC) Even when things wash up dead, it still looks right. Like the sea has gently placed them on the shore. (FANTASTICAL MUSIC) Inland is mostly roadkill. That's different. They look the way they should. (PLEASURABLE MOANING) Like they died painfully. (WOMAN GASPING AND MOANING) (MYSTICAL MUSIC) What are you doing here? I told you not to be seen by anyone! Where's your hat? I just left it in the car. I'm just seeing if you're okay. CHARLOTTE: It doesn't matter, you did exactly what I told you not to do. I was worried about the plan. (SLAPPING) That's for talking back. And from now on you do what you're told. (SLAMMING) CHARLOTTE: (VOICEOVER) I guess most things die painfully. It doesn't seem fair that the last few minutes you've got are probably filled with terror, pain, or sadness. ("FOLLOW ME" BY BATZ) You go through your whole life trying to avoid those feelings. Then suddenly there's a bullet in your chest. Or you're being eaten alive. It says that two people checked in the Shacks that night. Steve Linder and Jesse Atlas. Your name's not even on here! Oh. I wasn't gonna check in under my real name. I booked in under the name Jesse Atlas. I just took it from that day's newspaper headline. CHARLOTTE: What was the headline? MAX: Some kind of tragedy from that day. Maybe a boat accident or... Shark attack. (PERPLEXED MUSIC) (SLAMMING) (EERIE MUSIC) (FAN RATTLING) Dad wanted me to give this to you. It's good. EDMUND: (VOICEOVER) Catching a criminal can be difficult, but it's never impressive. I mean, who caught Ted Bundy? Who caught fucking John Wayne Gacy? Who gives a shit? Hey sweetie, we have a guest. Put some coffee in the pot. EDMUND: (VOICEOVER) Ask any cop. You've forgotten in a week. EDMUND: Come in. Detective Sophia... Yeah, I know who you are. SOPHIA: Inspirational story. Unfortunate victim standing up against the lazy incompetent... EDMUND: No, you misread it. It didn't say standing up. SOPHIA: Sorry, rising up. EDMUND: (VOICEOVER) What you want to catch is people's attention. A premonition or a vision, a dream. People listen to that stuff. They don't necessarily believe it, but they like it. CHARLOTTE: (VOICEOVER) He knew there'd be no point catching Max on his own. People would always sooner believe mum over him, even if she was dead. SOPHIA: Sophia. CHARLOTTE: Charlotte. Hey, did you enjoy the Maritime Festival the other night? Sorry? Opening night. You were watching the fireworks near the docks. You were wearing a blue cardigan over a pink dress. But you had different hair, short and dark. No, that wasn't me. I stayed home all night. EDMUND: (VOICEOVER) Too many facts obscure the truth. Most cases are so fucking boring. A confession or a witness account. It's just forgettable bullshit. People prefer a bit of darkness. (ETHEREAL MUSIC) EDMUND: You suddenly fit the description. Wouldn't you agree? Yes. (DREAMLIKE MUSIC) EDMUND: These are your mother's clothes. Disgusting. So, how do you plead? Guilty. EDMUND: I thought so. (BEWITCHING MUSIC) I'm sorry. (TWINKLING MUSIC) EDMUND: Not yet you're not. If you refuse to stay in bed at night, the punishment will fit the crime. (TROUBLED MUSIC) CHARLOTTE: (VOICEOVER) There's this place I try to go when I can't get to sleep. (MAX GRUNTS) It's nothing special. (CELESTIAL MUSIC) It's just flat earth stretching on forever around me. (FAN WHIRRING) (DREADFUL MUSIC) No one can see me. Nothing can touch me. (WOMAN LAUGHING) (WOMAN MOANING) (ELECTRONIC WHIRRING) (CAR HORN HONKING) (PEOPLE CHATTERING AND LAUGHING) (EERIE MUSIC) (WOMAN SCREAMING) (FIERY RUMBLING) Dad said the necklace needed to look rusted for the reporter and the cops. It upset me to see it that way. Especially since we'd only just gotten it back. I try and remember more about what happened that night, and I figure if he ran in this direction from where he left his car, it's possible he would've hit this road here. And the time that it took him from where he left the car means he would've got there around 11:00 p.m. Now, this is where it gets spooky. I had a dream last night with Juliette. I'm sitting out by the pool, and she's got these cards in front of her. She turns over the first card. There's a picture of a pendant. Thing is, it's the same pendant she was wearing the night she was killed, the very same pendant that was reported missing from the hit-and-run scene six years ago. JOE: That's very weird. Well it gets weirder. She turns over the next card. There's a picture of a Great White shark. And I look out into the pool, the fucking thing's in the water! So next day, I start checking down some of these motels and roadhouses along this stretch of road to try and get records of anyone that booked in late that night. And there was one. In a place that rents beach shacks. Now, you ever heard of Jesse Atlas? No. Well the poor son of a bitch was attacked and killed by a Great White, bitten in half, the very day before Juliette and I were hit by the car. It's very strange, and all, but I don't see as any relevance to what we're talking about now. Well Joe, it just seems that it would've been hard for him to have booked into a motel that night, that's all, especially being in two fucking pieces! Someone was booked in under a fake name that night, that they lifted from that day's headline! (CREEPY MUSIC) (FAN RATTLING) Exercise time. [WOMAN ON RADIO] Coming up next we have a very special guest who just had a very special gift. (SPLASHING) (HEAVENLY MUSIC) (VOICES CHATTERING OVER EACH OTHER) MAX: (VOICEOVER) Edmund was totally insane, but he wasn't a total fool. He had a plan. Now let's get this story straight. When you arrived at the motel, you accidentally drop the pendant down the drain. MAX: (VOICEOVER) And it wasn't just this bullshit about Juliette and the tarot cards. That was the sideshow. Carnie showmanship for the psychic TV crowd. The real stuff would be found in the book he was going to release after I'd been caught, which would explain how he really did it. Precise detective work and endless research. Which of course would also be total bullshit. And what does that matter? He had me to help him bend the truth whichever way he saw fit. People could put holes in their stories and evidence all they liked, but as long as I was in of it, no one would ever know for certain how he did it. CHARLOTTE: (VOICEOVER) As ridiculous as dad's story was, it only seemed a fraction worse than the truth. Max had barely hidden his car. He'd obviously faked his name. He kept the number plates. He kept the necklace. Yet somehow, until he showed up at our door, not a soul knew he did it. It was as if he hadn't been running at all, just waiting. Waiting to be caught. Waiting to be punished. (FAN RATTLING) (FEVERISH MUSIC) (ELECTRIC ZAPPING) Fuck. (SONIC RUMBLING) (GHOSTLY BREATHING) (SPLASHING) (ELEGANT MUSIC) (MOVES INTO DREADFUL MUSIC) (FIERY ROARING) You've captured it. Captured it. You can kill him. Waiting for you. FEMALE: (VOICEOVER) You've captured it. FEMALE: (VOICEOVER) I don't deserve it though. (FEMALE VOICES WHISPERING) (HEAVY BREATHING) (CRAZY MUSIC) What are your thoughts? Hard to say. Might've been six years ago, but this place feels like he's only just left. (SUSPICIOUS MUSIC) CHARLOTTE: (VOICEOVER) There was a new story about what happened that night. If you'd just killed someone and horribly maimed another, what would you do when you go? CHARLOTTE: (VOICEOVER) This time when Max arrived at the motel he accidentally dropped mum's necklace down the sink. (SCARY MUSIC) On the same day dad was showing the reporter where mom's pendant was, a girl I used to go to school with had been found stabbed to death in her home. They caught the killer in an old factory. He shared the place with the body of a girl who went missing up north five years ago. Or what was left of her, I guess. WOMAN: (IN MOVIE) She looks so strange, with her eyes. CHARLOTTE: (VOICEOVER) Dad was still the front page. ("SID AND NANCY" BY BATZ) Any searching that room yet? Uh, we'll be out of your hair soon. So um, you haven't remembered anymore about the man who booked in here that night? Only what I told the other cops. He called complaining about his television, said it was broken. SOPHIA: Which it wasn't. That's right. When we checked it, it was fine. SOPHIA: And you describe him as an unassuming young man. Are you sure you can't remember anymore details about what he looked like? It was six years ago! Look, he didn't have a swastika between his eyes, if you know what I mean. SOPHIA: What are you doing there? Scratch and win. Are you sure you're not just scratching? Gotta be in it to win it. What do you win? A million bones. A big boat. Home makeover. You know, all kinds of stuff. Yeah? Well what will you do if you win the money? I'll fucking give it away, to charity. Mm. Well that's really nice. Mm. Good, good idea. Mm-hm. EDMUND: So what did you do when you left the beach shack? MAX: I caught a bus the next day and I headed home. EDMUND: A bus? MAX: Yeah. Were you gonna hide the plates? Yeah, it crossed my mind. Whereabouts? The Sun. Sorry? The Sun. It's an old mineshaft just outside of town. (KNOCKING ON THE DOOR) SOPHIA: Oh, hi Charlotte, how's things? Hi, uh, great. How are you? SOPHIA: I'm a bit stressed actually. Is your dad about? Uh, he's, he's actually busy at the moment. SOPHIA: Yeah, well look, I really need to see him. Um, I'll find him. Um, I'll get him for you. SOPHIA: Oh, no, look, I'll find him. It fits together like a fucking watch. Pray for me Detective Valmont, what brings you here? Our cream of the crop here. EDMUND: Uh, Charlotte, could you please show the detective back inside the house, and I will meet with her when I've got sufficient Vitamin D. With all due respect, Mr. Bloom, you're going to have to surrender the pendant or it's withholding evidence. Hey. My stuff is your stuff. Look, can we please talk about this somewhere more appropriate? Inside my own house maybe? (STRANGE MUSIC) SOPHIA: Your wife was very beautiful. Never heard a bad word about her. SOPHIA: People didn't like you so much though, did they? Come again? People, they didn't like you. [WOMAN VOICEOVER] Hold your breath. [WOMAN VOICEOVER] Hold your breath. (WOMAN GASPING) [WOMAN VOICEOVER] Dive in, dive in. So have you got another teaser for me on what happens next? I don't know yet. Well I reckon that he called public transport the next day. There's a bus that stops near the motel and heads north. Or he hitchhiked. I don't think so, not this guy. I've just got a feeling. (DEEP RUMBLING) (OMINOUS MUSIC) CHARLOTTE: (VOICEOVER) When I was old enough, mum made me learn first aid. I only remember two things. A fast heartbeat is bad for snake bites. And when people are trapped in a fire, they don't always burn to death. (MYSTICAL MUSIC) Sometimes their insides get so hot and blistered that their lungs fill with their own fluid. And they drown. (ELECTRIC BUZZING) (WEIRD MUSIC) (DEEP RUMBLING) (FIERY CRACKLING) (HEAVY WHOOSHING) (AIR SUCKING) (MAX COUGHS) (SUSPICIOUS MUSIC) You could've drowned today, but you didn't. You ignored that voice inside saying, "I'm just a worthless fuck-up wasting time and oxygen. "Maybe I should just die." That can't have been easy to ignore, Max. But you did. You held on to see this thing through. I respect that, Max. I'm gonna let you in on a little secret. Juliette's still alive, Max. (MYSTERIOUS MUSIC) (EDMUND LAUGHS) MAX: You're fucking crazy. (MISTY MUSIC) Come again? I'm sorry. I'm pretty rattled after today. Drowning's pretty exhausting. Yeah, you should try getting hit by a car. It's a fucking marathon. I would've killed for the pain to go away. Until I couldn't feel my legs. Now I'd kill for it to come back again. Look, Max, I'm sorry I made that joke, okay? I do that sometimes. It's just my way of, you know, dealing with what happened. Paramedics do the same thing, you know, to help with the horror. MAX: Yeah, well whatever works. Yeah. Well. I'm off to bed. I'll see you in the spring. Max said he almost drowned today. You saved his life. I almost left him. EDMUND: I would've been very angry if you'd done that. After all, he's almost as innocent as me and your mother. He didn't know what happened any more than we did. He tried to get away with it, but he manned up. He came clean. (MYSTICAL MUSIC) Now. Listen to me carefully. (TOTEMIC MUSIC) Tomorrow you take Max back to where he came from. (SPELL-LIKE MUSIC) I want you to follow him to a mineshaft nearby called The Sun. (MYTHOLOGICAL MUSIC) Don't be seen by anyone. And when you get there, you make sure he does exactly what he's supposed to. We're getting closer now. The last clue's been set in motion. (HYPNOTIC MUSIC) People are starting to listen. (FIRE WHOOSHING) Soon, they'll start to wonder. (MYSTICAL MUSIC) (RUMBLING) (ZAPPING) CHARLOTTE: What about that detective? (PERPLEXED MUSIC) I'm just worried that she might start to figure it out. (SNEAKY MUSIC) Don't worry about her. She wouldn't be able to figure out a fucking egg timer. Now even though you don't deserve a reward for saving Max, I'll allow it. Can I have my pictures back? No. You've well and truly lost that privilege. Because you did so well, something even better. You get to sleep in my bed tonight. (HAUNTING MUSIC) CHARLOTTE: (VOICEOVER) Mum used to run a charity modeling competition for the girls in town. Somehow dad's story had made her seem alive again and him seem tolerable. They asked dad to present the winner that year. They'd never done that before. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) Thanks, everyone. Thank you all for the support that you've given me during these difficult times. I just hope that I can prove to you all that justice is something worth fighting for. And whether you believe Juliette's helping me solve this crime or not, just remember, love is stronger than death. ("RACKETEER" BY POW NEGRO) Myth is stronger than history. Hope is stronger than fear. Wisdom is stronger than ignorance. And dreams, dreams are stronger than reality. Whatever that means. (LAUGHS) Anyway, tonight's winner is... (STRANGE MUSIC) (AUDIENCE APPLAUDS AND CHEERS) (BALLS CLACKING) (BANGING) (RUMBLING) (SIREN WAILING) (CAR HORN HONKING) (TIRES SQUEALING) (CHARLOTTE CRIES OUT) (PHONE RINGS) EDMUND: Where are you? I'm heading home. We just dropped off the plates. Where's Max? CHARLOTTE: I dropped him at a pub. Turn around and pick him up. CHARLOTTE: But you said I couldn't be seen with him. I don't care what I said! Pick him up and bring him home now! ("GAMESHOW QUEEN" BY BATZ) (THUNDER RUMBLING) Maxie, sweetheart! Give us a kiss! I haven't seen you for a while. Where have you been, on holidays? Well, guess that means you haven't needed any money recently. (LAUGHS) Three years. I haven't seen you for three years. Well honey, you are over 25 now. What are you back for? It's not to move back home, is it? Because I don't live there anymore. I found some somebody. He sells jet-skis, you know, really light. Some stuff's happened recently, mum. What's happened? Stuff that's made me want to talk to you about a few things. What things? Like me. And about the way that you treated Mason. JUNE: Mason? The way that you left me to look after him. (BANGING) To look after him by myself. Wasn't right. It was the one time you needed to step up, and you didn't. Gameshow queen Everybody knows you're a gameshow gameshow queen I love this song. Come and dance with your mum, Max. I don't want to fucking dance. Come on, Maxy, it's a fucking good song! Let's go and dance! It's a fucking good song! Come on, Max! I don't want to dance. Come on! You'll dance with me, won't you, son? On a deal Here we go CHARLOTTE: (VOICEOVER) It's as if she wasn't there. (CAR ZOOMING) On another planet. (ENGINE ROARING) He wanted to break her finger or slap her in the face just to see if she felt it. (ENGINE ROARING) We made a deal Oh yeah we made a deal Oh my deal Yeah we had a deal MAX: (VOICEOVER) I had a brother. He's dead now. I imagine I would've had more too had mum not wised up to abortions. What can I say? She loves fucking. She had no choice really. She was raised a strict Catholic. Every now and then mum would get drunk and tell me about my dad. The story always changed. He was a cop. Then he was a marine. He was even a fucking secret agent once. I eventually tracked him down. He shot wild dogs for a living. At least he had a gun I guess. (CHILLED ROCK MUSIC) (CIGARETTE CRACKLING) Who's Mason? What? Mason. I heard you talking with your mother about someone called Mason. (THUNDER RUMBLING) Sounded like he's dead. (GLASS SHATTERING) (NONCHALANT ROCK MUSIC) (LIGHTER FLICKING) Who is he? My brother. CHARLOTTE: And? And he got sick. How did he get sick? (VOICES WHISPERING) Did you poison him? (SMASHING) (VOICES WHISPERING) (HAUNTING MUSIC) (FIRE CRACKLING) (PEOPLE LAUGHING) (RELAXED ROCK MUSIC) MAX: He died slowly and painfully over six years. (THUNDER RUMBLING) When did he die? What does it matter? When? Recently. So that's why you never came clean. You had to look after him. (FIRE ROARING) (THUNDER RUMBLING) CHARLOTTE: (VOICEOVER) I like to think that's the reason why Max never came clean about mum. He never said that though. I wish he had. (FIRE ROARING) Can I tell you a story? (THUNDER RUMBLING) (TELEVISION ZAPPING) (SCARY MUSIC) WOMAN: (ON TV) Richard, do you think the sheriff is right, that the same person that killed Bud killed Tom? MAN: (ON TV) Not much. If it's a person at all. (MYSTICAL MUSIC) (PHONE RINGS) Charlotte, where the fuck are you? MAX: That's no way to speak to your daughter. What have you done to her? MAX: Don't panic, dad, she's sleeping. Now what's the problem? Don't play dumb. The cops have your fingerprints! They were on the inside of a television set inside the motel room! You opened it up to fix the reception or something. The point is the owner still has the fucking TV! Your prints on record for anything? Yes. I got caught with weed when I was a teenager. Why didn't you tell me about this? Now everything's fucked! Not gonna say sorry this time? (LAUGHS) That's a change. Anyway, this is not over yet. I'll think of something new. We've just got a ticking clock is all. I'm coming to kill you. What? I'm coming to kill you. I've seen the newspaper articles and I know that you're on to me, so I'm coming to town to kill you. You have a dream. Juliette tells you I'm coming and that you'll be waiting for me. EDMUND: And I disable you in my own house. And then I confess, you find the plates to seal the deal. EDMUND: And then you're finally forgiven. No. You forgive Charlotte. (MYSTERIOUS MUSIC) What are you talking about? MAX: You know what I'm talking about. You blame her for the accident, not me. You're never to see her again. She's free. You are a cold son of a bitch after all. MAX: Do we have a deal? Any other terms? MAX: You do it now. (SPOOKY MUSIC) CHARLOTTE: (VOICEOVER) Something washed up on the shore once. It didn't look like anything I'd ever seen. It was all spikes and teeth. I couldn't tell if it was that way to attack things or to protect itself. I would've killed it, but I didn't want to get that close. I just walked away. Hoping it would die. (UPBEAT SURF MUSIC) You okay? I'm fine. MAX: We should hit the road. Uh, no, I, I'm not gonna go home for a while. While I'm all the way out here, I may as well look around. No rush for me to be back. So what should I do? You can take the bus. (CHATTERING ON TV) (OMINOUS MUSIC) (CONTENTED SURF MUSIC) You sure you're okay? Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, just tired. (CHEERFUL SURF MUSIC) Yeah. (FUN SURF MUSIC) (CHATTERING ON TV) (EERIE MUSIC) Shit. No, I'm fine, really. (KNOCKING ON THE DOOR) Oh fuck, it's mum! MAX: (VOICEOVER) When I was a kid, I thought seawater was actually blue. (KNOCKING ON THE DOOR) I'll get rid of her. No. Don't worry about it. Just leave it. MAX: (VOICEOVER) I tried to take some home with me once, but it just looked like I was carrying around a jar of my own piss. I've got memories like that. And they're beautiful, but they change the closer you get to them. It's best just to leave those ones alone, let them live in the dark. (KNOCKING ON THE DOOR) (BEAST ROARING) (WOMAN SCREAMING) (SCARY MUSIC) (MYSTICAL MUSIC) EDMUND: (VOICEOVER) Hitching to town, try to be seen by as many people as you can. It won't hurt to be seen around my place either, as if you're casing the joint. Book into a motel, then go to a hardware store and buy a hunting knife. Pick the meanest fucking blade you can find. Meanwhile, I'll tell the newspaper all about my latest dream, an eerie nightmare which involves a death card, a mysterious man, and Juliette trying to warn me. (WHOOSHING) (ZAPPING) Something bad is coming. (STRANGE MUSIC) MAX: (VOICEOVER) The plan was that I'd break in through the front door and head for his room to kill him in his sleep. (MYSTICAL MUSIC) He'd be waiting for me around the corner, so as I'm about to knife him, he puts a bullet in my head. (MISCHIEVOUS MUSIC) (GUNSHOT FIRES) Then as I'm down, he calls the cops and tells them he shot an intruder. They show up, I get arrested, and it's all over. But I knew what he really had planned for me. (GUNSHOT FIRES) (EERIE MUSIC) (MOVES INTO UPBEAT SURF MUSIC) (THUNDER RUMBLING) CHARLOTTE: (VOICEOVER) You can't remember everything about someone when they're dead. (BANGING) You try your best though. Mum told me if I dropped my comb while combing my hair, something bad was coming. I used to grip my comb so tight my knuckles turned white. I still do. Once dad hit mum for messing up dinner. I remember crying all night. Mostly because I felt like she deserved it. I have to hold on to that memory. Like the rest. (PHONE RINGS) His name's Steve Linder, an electrician from Jild. Says he knows nothing about the hit and run and was merely staying at the motel on the way to the Southwest. But how'd his fingerprints get in the television? Get this. Says he was trying to open the door because he thought it was his room. When the guy answered, he noticed he'd been pulling his television apart. He offered to fix it. After all, he's an electrician, right? (PHONE RINGS) Motherfucker. You knew they weren't your prints and you sailed me up the river. Why'd you do it, Max? As a bargain to let Charlotte go? You think you're saving her? (EDMUND LAUGHS) Creepy, Max. Very creepy. MAX: I'm still prepared to hold my end of the bargain if you're still prepared to hold yours. What, that I never see my daughter again? MAX: That's right. You're obviously not a parent. What do you mean? Anxiety of influence, Max. Everyone knows that kids do the exact opposite of what you tell them. SOPHIA: He was staying in one of the other rooms? JOE: Yes. Where did he say he was at the time of the accident? JOE: On the road. He's telling the truth. It's not him. But we've got his prints. It's not him. MAX: I just hope there's not too many jobs that need urgent attention around the house. That could be a real hassle for someone like you. CHARLOTTE: Edmund, please, I'm, I'm sorry. (ELECTRONIC WHIRRING) I'll sure you'll survive though, Edmund. (ELECTRONIC WHIRRING) After all, no one knows better than I do that you're a survivor. She's not coming back. My pension will barely cover her care. You remember that? Now it's only a matter of time before they realize their big arrest is a white elephant. And you've been seen all around town. Every colonel wondered what you were doing here while I was solving the mystery. So let's keep this ending, okay? Did you get the knife? MAX: Yeah, I got the knife. Good. Give it a couple more days. Then we finish this thing. CHARLOTTE: (VOICEOVER) Western Australia is famous for two things. Sunburn and shark attacks. (UPBEAT SURF MUSIC) This makes the beach a dangerous place to visit. Beach beach beach Na Na wa wa Beach beach beach Na Na wa wa Beach beach beach Na Na wa wa Beach beach sha Na Na Beach beach beach Na Na wa wa MAN: You got the right idea. What's going on? I swear I saw a massive shark out there. You're kidding. No. Would've been about four meters I'd say. It's definitely a Great White. It's got to be the same one. CHARLOTTE: Same one? Well didn't you hear? A fisherman got taken yesterday. He got bitten in half. CHARLOTTE: Is that it? Where? Out there! To the left! It's heading out to sea! Listen, I, uh, I don't normally do this, but uh, me and some mates, we're having a bit of a party tonight out near the watchtower. You game? Why not? Na Na wa wa Beach beach baby Na Na wa wa Beach beach baby JULIETTE: I can help you with that when we get back if you want. No, that's okay. I'll probably be asleep anyway. You guys won't get back til late. JULIETTE: Are you kidding? These police balls are so boring. Any excuse to get out early. EDMUND: Come on, Julie, we're late. JULIETTE: Okay. Bye honey, I love you. Bye. EDMUND: Be good. Sha Na Na Beach beach sha Na Na (WAVES CRASHING) (CHEERFUL SURF MUSIC) (MOVES INTO WEIGHTY MUSIC) (THUNDER RUMBLING) (PHONE RINGS) WOMAN: I miss you. (SIRENS WAILING) And I'm sorry. [WOMAN VOICEOVER] You did this. You did this! (FIRE ROARING) (DREADFUL MUSIC) (PEOPLE CACKLING) (GHOSTLY BREATHING) (BIRDS CALLING) (TERRIFYING MUSIC) (CRASHING) (RAPID THUDDING) (CRACKING) (SONIC WHOOSHING) EDMUND: Go farther. Madrid. ("STON GON" BY FAOUL DUKE) Go to death right in front of me. I don't know if it was the guns or it was not the time. But for some reason it gave me a hard-on I couldn't get rid of. Eventually I headed for the red lights, screwed everything with a pulse. Even a fucking amputee. Both legs. I got mugged in the end. Surfaced the next day barely breathing, covered in blood. Do you know what para siempre means, Max? Forever. Para siempre was written on the side of my cock when I woke up in the Sun. Do you know why I remember that? Because the fucking thing was still hard. Hanged men would be found with these irrepressible erections after their necks had snapped. Back in the day, they called it angel lust. You know how I learned that? Because the same way I woke up that day in Spain was the same way I was found after you left me in the dirt with a broken spine. Half dead. But carrying a fucking hard-on that would've frightened the Spanish Inquisition. Some things just don't die, Max. Remember that if you get any funny ideas about what you're supposed to do tonight. I'll see you soon. (DIAL TONE BEEPS) MAX: (VOICEOVER) I could no longer see any bad in killing Edmund. (KNOCKING ON THE DOOR) EDMUND: It's open. MAX: (VOICEOVER) It was only good. We need to talk. I'm at such a loss over this whole thing. I think it's time to look to the stars. (SONIC WHOOSHING) MAX: (VOICEOVER) There had been a good side to killing Juliette. Come on. MAX: (VOICEOVER) All my life I'd always felt bad about something. SOPHIA: Don't wanna play? MAX: (VOICEOVER) Although I wasn't really sure what. (CREEPY MUSIC) Juliette, can you hear me? MAX: (VOICEOVER) From her death onwards, I had something. I had her face. SOPHIA: Has Edmund been honest with the police about this whole thing? (MYSTICAL MUSIC) GHOST: No. (PERPLEXED MUSIC) SOPHIA: Did the killer really drop your pendant down a sink at the Sunset Shacks Inn? GHOST: No. (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC) SOPHIA: Were you ever afraid of Edmund? (EERIE MUSIC) GHOST: Yes. (GHOSTLY MUSIC) SOPHIA: Did Edmund ever give you reason to be afraid? (SPOOKY MUSIC) GHOST: Yes. (BEWITCHING MUSIC) Would you like to talk about his relationship with Charlotte? (EERIE MUSIC) Nah, she doesn't wanna talk. But she does have one other message for me. (MYSTICAL MUSIC) MAX: (VOICEOVER) The electrician had my face too. I bumped into him at least seven or eight times since that night, all over the place, mostly roadhouses. (CREEPY MUSIC) EDMUND: (VOICEOVER) Oh for fuck's sake. You're a bitch. (SOPHIA LAUGHING) MAX: (VOICEOVER) He had no idea where I lived. We had no mutual friends. And he knew nothing else about me. (VEXED MUSIC) But it wasn't gonna take much more digging to figure it out. (UPBEAT PERCUSSION MUSIC) Whatever happened, I was definitely going down. (VIGOROUS MUSIC) I just needed to make sure I wasn't gonna be alive. (SQUISHY THUDDING) (ENGINE RUMBLING) (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC) EDMUND: You're looking for Max, aren't you? No. Be honest with me, Charlotte. You've fallen for him, haven't you? (EERIE MUSIC) No. I just want you to stop what you're doing. You don't have to forgive him, but just let him be punished properly. (GUNSHOT FIRES) EDMUND: That's what it's all about, Charlotte. (MISTY MUSIC) Where is he? He'll be back here soon. (DOOR CREAKING) Now what about you? (UNTRUSTING MUSIC) You wanna come back home? Come on. Help your old man upstairs. We'll talk about it. (SPOOKY MUSIC) (ELECTRICITY BUZZING) CHARLOTTE: (VOICEOVER) I used to like the heat. I hate it now. The grass can't grow. Cars break down. (DREAMLIKE MUSIC) The sand hurts your feet. (GLEAMING MUSIC) The light hurts your eyes. I want a bigger room and I wanna be able to stay out at night. Now honey, you're making me nervous. Can you move me back from the edge, please? And I want a part-time job in town. Charlotte. (EMPTY MUSIC) Charlotte! Wheel me back! (GHOSTLY MUSIC) (VOICES WHISPERING OVER EACH OTHER) (HEAVY BREATHING) (THUNDER RUMBLING) (SCREAMING) (THUNDER BOOMING) Where's Edmund? He's not here. (ETHEREAL MUSIC) Where is he? Does it matter? You're free. (DREAMLIKE MUSIC) Free. (FLOATING MUSIC) We had a plan. Forget it. He canceled, he just wants you to move on. (MYSTIFIED MUSIC) (THUNDER BOOMING) What else did he say? He said that it's not your fault, and even though you did the wrong thing, he forgives you. (EERIE MUSIC) What did he say to you? He said that I'm a good person. And that if mum was still alive, she wouldn't be angry at me for anything. (DREAMLIKE MUSIC) (DEEP RUMBLING) MAX: Do you forgive me? (SOMBER MUSIC) EDMUND: (VOICEOVER) You're not a bird. You're a mammal. (SPLASHING) You're supposed to live in a cave like a bat. (SONIC WHOOSHING) (ETHEREAL MUSIC) You can leave whenever you want, but if this place feels like a cave, remember that it's also a home. Once you break through those bars, you're on your own. Forever. (TRANQUIL MUSIC) CHARLOTTE: (VOICEOVER) It only took a few days after they found dad for things to go back to normal. (CAMERA CLICKING) People stopped caring. The following week there was a story about someone who'd been setting horses on fire with a tin of gasoline. (CALM MUSIC) (STATIC BUZZING) He said at night they looked like giant fireflies. (PONDEROUS MUSIC) I never spoke to Max again. I wonder about him sometimes. (THOUGHTFUL MUSIC) People always says they don't want to die wondering. (DREAMLIKE MUSIC) I think it sounds like a nice way to go. Beach beach beach Na Na wa wa Beach beach beach Na Na wa wa Beach beach beach Na Na wa wa Beach beach sha Na Na Beach beach beach Na Na wa wa Beach beach beach Na Na wa wa Beach beach beach Na Na wa wa Beach beach sha Na Na Go to the shacks bikini babes Just having fun out in the sun Us holding hands Your smile so bright And you love me holding you tight Beach beach beach Na Na wa wa Beach beach beach Na Na wa wa Beach beach beach Na Na wa wa Beach beach sha Na Na Go to the shacks bikini babes Just having fun out in the sun Us holding hands Your smile so bright And you love me holding you tight Beach beach beach Na Na wa wa Beach beach beach Na Na wa wa Beach beach beach Na Na wa wa Beach beach sha Na Na Beach beach sha Na Na Beach beach sha Na Na |
|