BOOK OF BLOOD

CHAPTER 10

INT. WILTERN THEATRE - LOBBY - NIGHT:

The doors SQUEAK as a gust of WIND blows through them. Butterfield stands in the lobby, listening to the muted SOUNDS of MUSIC and APPLAUSE. Then he offers his ticket to the TICKET-COLLECTOR and steps inside.

INT. WILTERN THEATRE - AUDITORIUM AND STAGE - NIGHT :

A new musical motif hangs in the air: MUSIC announcing danger. The AUDIENCE watches intently, nervously. ON HARRY and DOROTHEA. DOROTHEA (a whisper) This is the new illusion. ON STAGE, Swann is bound to a spinning WHEEL, while the DANCERS, dressed like Boschian DEMONS, cavort around him, somersaulting and leaping over eruptions of yellow FLAME. It's a scene from Daniels Inferno. Above him.

A dozen glittering SWORDS - six feet long - are descending. He struggles to free himself. The MUSIC gets more exciting as the wheel spins faster and faster. Suddenly, a sword DROPS. It falls between Swann's outstretched legs, skewering the wheel. Then ANOTHER, close to his head. ON HARRY. He's tense. Excited. BACK TO STAGE. Swann is free I He throws off the last shackle and uses it to thrust into the mechanism of the wheel. There's a theatrical BLAZE of white-hot SPARKS. The wheel slows. He starts to step off it, as another of the the swords DROPS.

The AUDIENCE GASPS. Swann smiles, and TRIPS. As he FALLS, the sword runs through the middle of his back, carrying him down to the still-spinning wheel, and pinning him there. Some of the DANCERS continue to cavort. Some stop. More GASPS from the audience. ON HARRY, having a -- FLASHBACK: Harry's hand turns over the final tar of card. The scene on the stage is that image coming to life. HARRY There's something wrong... ON Swann, as a second sword FALLS, skewering his thigh, and a third, running through his buttock, and a fourth and fifth, until TEN SWORDS have entered his body. ON THE AUDIENCE, not certain whether this is a trick or not.

The MUSIC has stopped. In the silence, somebody GIGGLES nervously. A couple of PEOPLE break into APPLAUSE, but it dies away in a matter of moments. ON DOROTHEA AND HARRY DOROTHEA No. . . ON THE STAGE, Swann raises his head and looks out at his wife, his eyes already glassy with imminent death. He reaches out towards her, and then sags on the wheel, dead. There are GASPS now from the audience. Murmurs of disgust; sobs of horror.

1ST AUDIENCE MEMBER What happened?

2ND AUDIENCE MEMBER It's a trick.

3RD AUDIENCE MEMBER Somebody help him. The curtains start to close. ON Dorothea, tears of shock filling her eyes. DOROTHEA (to Harry) I've got to get to him!

The AUDIENCE is rising now, as the horror of what they've seen sinks in. There is panic. A few people have fainted. One or two are even praying. Harry carves out a path down to the stage for Dorothea against the flood of the exiting crowd. HARRY Out of the way! Out of the way! He helps Dorothea onto the stage, and lifts the curtain so she can duck beneath it.

INT. WILTERN THEATRE - STAGE - NIGHT :

Chaos. PEOPLE running, sobbing, puking; some simply standing watching. Valentin is already at the body, with the STAGE MANAGER at his side. VALENTIN (to Stage Manager) Get then out of here, for God's sake -- STAGE MANAGER You heard him! It's not a fucking show! He starts to physically push the crowd back.

Harry grabs his arm. STAGE MANAGER Who are you? Harry uses his grip to gently but efficiently move the STAGE MANAGER out of Dorothea's way. She goes to Swann's body, which has been removed from the wheel.

INT. WILTERN THEATRE - AUDITORIUM - NIGHT :

The audience is clearing now. But Butterfield is coming towards the stage, with an ambiguous look on his face. Is he enraged? Or puzzled? Or both? MILLER Psst! Miller stands at an open door, leading below the stage. Butterfield enters.

INT. WILTERN THEATRE - STAGE - NIGHT:

Dorothea kneels at Swann's side. A few yards from her, Harry examines the mechanism of the wheel. DOROTHEA (softly) Swann... A DOCTOR appears. DOCTOR I'm a doctor. Let me through. The Doctor checks Swann's body.

DOCTOR (to Dorothea) I'm sorry... Harry has discovered a CABLE snaking down beside the device. He's suspicious. He slips round to the back of the mechanism, and climbs down beneath the stage, tracing the cable as he goes.