1. At Home: Man seated at desk, seen from behind—he is holding something, staring at it, we see over his shoulder that it's a photo of a woman (desklight on, he's backlit, slow pan from whole body, in, up and over shoulder to see photo)— we see that it is woman, hear woman's voice oc "hi" (shot from corner of desk, all you see is his body, and her as silhouette)--he looks up "I missed you"—(woman stepping out of shadows, towards him) "I haven't been gone that long" "felt like forever" (she walks to him, he stays seated, she embraces him) "I know—but I'm here now" 2. Opening Credits (Darkness Falls, Title, Written By, Directed By, Produced By)— Why I'm Here 3. At home: "Have you forgotten already?" "Forgotten what?" "The promise that you made me. Did you lie?" "No, I would never lie to you." "Then what have you been waiting for? It's time. Keep your promise to me. Please. If you love me, you will do this." 4. At Police Station: Detective—intro to character—"another one unsolved" "no leads?" "None that panned out. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time." "Sometimes there's just nothing you can do." "Yeah, I know." They go out, walk by the guy on street, headed in opposite direction. 5. We follow man, see him go into café/something with people, sitting, talking…he sits, watches those around him. He sees a man who seems to be waiting for something, watching the door—a woman walks in, goes over to him—we hear "I missed you." They embrace "I missed you too." "I can't stay for long, I have a lot to do back at the office" "I know, I just wanted to see you for a little bit." The people converse, (who the hell cares about what), and we see him in background, seeming not to be paying attention, but occasionally looking up…The man gets up to leave, and a few seconds later, we see Killer get up and walk out too. 6. Outside: Camera angle—door of café, we see man come out, then killer come out, we pick up behind killer, watch his back as he follows the man—man walks down street, cuts into arboretum—we see Killer take cloth out of pocket, do something to it, Killer speeds up, grabs man's arm, spins him around, covers his mouth with his mouth with chloroform cloth, pushes him to the ground, poised with gun over man, to kill him, seems to hesitate… 7. *flashback* Woman, walking in dark (seen only from behind), POV of man behind her, we see man reach out, grab her arm and spin her around, hand over mouth… 8. back to arboretum, Killer poised over man on ground, pulls trigger. Go to black 9. in car: detective, driving home, we see him pull into driveway—as he's pulling in, he hears the report of the murder over the police band "not again. Goddammit. [picks up radio] Dispatch, this is CH24, Detective en route to scene, asap." [radio:] "10-4, Detective." Peels out of driveway, look back at house to see wife standing in doorway, looking after him 10. At home: he is upset, describing (something about killing), she comforting him, "it had to be done" "I know, but…." "No. It had to be done. You know that." "I know. I love you." What happens here that he sees in second vic? Something he can see—what??? 11. At scene of murder: Detective, other cops, "Was anything taken?" "No, wallet, watch, wedding band, all still here." "So it's not a mugging? That makes no sense. Who would go to all the trouble of using chloroform to knock the victim unconscious just to kill him?" "Maybe he was involved with drugs or something….or pissed off the wrong person. We'll know more after we run a background check on him." "There HAS to be more to this than we can see." 12. Police Station: Detective's desk. A uniformed officer comes in with a folder in hand. As he hands the detective the folder, the officer says, "Your victim – James Watts – Age 34. Had a wife, no kids, worked at a usual 9-5 job, no criminal record, not even a parking ticket. Just another wrong place, wrong time." Throws down folder. As officer leaves, detective mutters, "No. Not this time. There has to be more to this….." Opens file, scans some of the papers, shuts file, stands, and takes it out with him. As he walks out, other officer says "goodnight, man— see you tomorrow. Tell your wife I said hey." "Will do, [name]. See you tomorrow." 13. At Detective's House: "hi honey. I saw you pulling away earlier, and I was worried. Is everything ok?" "yeah, I'm really sorry—I got a call just as I arrived—there was a murder. God I'm starving." "There are some leftovers in the fridge—I went ahead and ate without you." "Good. (he kisses her on the head, goes into kitchen) (as he's getting food) The killing seems random so far, but I need to take a closer look at the vic's file…. Let's not talk about work anymore—I've had enough of that for one day. How are you doing?" [wife's day] 14. Detective's house, much later that night: we see him from behind, he's pouring over the papers from the file. Rubs his eyes, shaking his head, "what is it, Mr. Watts? What did you do?" (or something) 15. next day, in a bar: Killer sitting at end of bar, watching people come and go, sees couple in the corner—she does something like comforting scene—he sees it, watches them, waits for man to get up, follows shortly after… 16. outside: see Killer following man, like last time…killer speeds up after man, grabs arm, spins him around, hand over mouth, gun to ribs/stomach… 17. *flashback* see woman, spun, hand over mouth, struggling, gun to ribs… 18. Detective at desk: officer comes in "there's been another one." "goddammit. Let's go." 19. at scene of killing: Detective - "this looks just like the other one, only no cloroform. He just blew the guy away. Much closer range this time." Officer- "This victim still has his personal effects on him as well. Wallet, cash, wedding ring…" "Let me guess. No witnesses. What the hell is the motivation? What are we missing? I don't think there's anything more we can get here. Let's head back and see who this guy was." 20. back to killer and man: killer pulls trigger, covered in blood. Go to black. Killer returning home, woman welcomes him-- he returns home, bloody, she runs to meet him, kisses bloody hands, gets covered in it (smeared on face, lips, etc.), she stops, looks at him, pause, he kisses her, hands on waist --something about her shying away, stopping him from raising her shirt, something (later we know is because of her bullet wound)—Missa Pro Defunctis 21. at the precinct: officer enters Detective's office, where the detective is comparing the two vic's files. "hey. You got a phone call. Line 2" "Thanks, I got it. Hello. Detective Jones here." "Detective, I witnessed a murder today. I need to talk to someone." "A murder? Where?" "At [wherever the 2nd murder was]. I saw the whole thing." "Ok. What exactly did you see?" "I saw a man with a gun. He was following another man, the one he killed. He grabbed the guy, and put the gun to his ribs. Then he just blew him away." "(under his breath) Jesus. (to phone guy) I need to ask you some questions. Will you come to the precinct?" "No, I can't do that. I'm afraid the killer might have seen me—can't I please just tell you over the phone? I'll tell you whatever you need to know, but I don't want him to see me talking to you, ok?" "Alright. First thing I need is for you to tell me what he looked like. Can you do that?" "Yes, he was [describes self]." (detective is taking notes) "Ok. Good. Now, did he say anything? Anything at all." "The man was struggling, and he told him to stop. That's all. And then he killed him, and just walked away." "Can you tell me where he went? In what direction he was heading?" "Not really. I lost sight of him pretty fast, and I just didn't want him to see me, so I didn't move. I'm sorry." "No, that's quite alright. You've been very helpful. Can I get your name in case we have anything else we need to ask you?" man has hung up 22. At killer's house: woman walks in, sees him hanging up phone. "What have you done? My god, what have you done?" "I didn't do anything." "Are you trying to hurt me again?" "My god, no..." "I know you called him—you can't lose resolve now—don't you love me?" "Of course I do." "He will keep you from doing what needs to be done—you can't let him do that!" "He….I won't…..I…" "Don't you want to be with me?" "Always" "How dare you lie to me? How could you?" "I am not lying, I swear to god, I want to be with you" "I would do anything for you, anything—I would die for you—and you can't even do this for me. How dare you say you love me." "I do love you." "Then you have to be strong. You have to go through with this. You_have_to_kill_him." "I don't know if I can. I just don't know if I can…" "You have to. It will bring us that much closer." Etc. etc. (LOOK AT MACBETH) 23. Detective at home, with wife: "what's the matter? You look so tired." "there's been another one. It's got to be the same guy." "Is there a pattern? Or is he just mugging people?" "Not mugging—they both still had their wallets, rings, watches, everything." "Do you think maybe it's a personal thing?" "Well, that's what I thought, maybe a deal gone bad—but I couldn't find any kind of connection between the victims…not even a similarity, except that they're both married. If this guy's killing married people, then he's got his work cut out for him. (laughs) And I'd better watch my back." "Don't even joke like that." "I'm sorry, honey. It's been a long day. (he kisses her) Let's go to bed, ok?" 24. The next morning, Detective's house: he wakes up, his wife is still asleep. He looks at her, kisses her lightly, "I love you, honey. I'll see you when I get home." Gets up, and begins to get ready for work. 25. Detective driving to precinct, pulling up outside 26. Inside precinct: detective greets officer "hey—anything new?" "No. I took a break last night. This case is so frustrating—even with a damn eyewitness description, I feel like we're as far away from getting this son of a bitch than ever." "Relax, man. I have a good feeling about this one. We're gonna get this guy. Something's gotta break soon." "Yeah, I hope you're right. Goddamn, I hope you're right. I'll be in my office if you need me." Goes into office, begins looking at folders again, and notes he took from call. 27. At house: "Go. Go now. Do this for me." She holds his gun out to him, on upturned palms. He looks at her, at the gun, as though to say something; she looks back, almost pleadingly. He takes the gun, kisses her once, almost violently, and turns quickly, almost as though he's running from her, and goes out the door. She waits for a beat or two, and then follows him out. (last shot—door slamming shut behind her) 28. Outside: see him walking, her walking several steps behind, matching his stride— he does not know she's there (we follow them from behind her)—Kyrie 29. At precinct, in Detective's office: Officer comes in "hey, we're thinking about getting some food—you want something?" "Yeah, sure. Actually, I'll go get it. I'm getting nowhere here, and I think I need to walk away for a few minutes." "Ok, great. Here's what the boys want. Thanks." (hands him a list) "No problem. I'm glad for the break. I'll be back in a few" (goes out door) 30. Outside: we see detective, exiting the building, from POV of Killer, we walk towards him—grab arm, spin, hand over mouth, gun into ribs, "freeze"—detective starts trying to talk him out of it "tell me what you want, we can talk about this, this is not necessary, etc," Killer hesitates… 31. *flashback* same attack, woman struggling, gun pressed to ribs, woman gets arm free, scratches attacker's face, shot, scream, woman drops, "jesus…" 32. Outside precinct: Killer and cop still frozen, woman steps out from behind (something), slides her arms around the Killer from behind, takes a hold of the gun, whispers "it's time" and pulls the trigger. The cop drops, she and Killer stand frozen for a split second, and then she slides away. He never acknowledges that she was ever there. 33. Inside the precinct: officers hear the shots "what the hell was that?" run to door and out just after Killer disappears behind (building? Something). It takes them a minute to see the body of the detective, "Jesus! Goddamnit, he was here! Goddamn son of a bitch was right here! Split up! He can't have gone far. GODDAMMIT! GO!! GO!!" They take off after the Killer. 34. See Killer running down street, cuts into woods, to cemetery. The cops are not yet visible behind him. 35. Ave Adore—Killer reaches grave, throws himself down on his knees in front of it—swinging camera angle, was behind him, swings around to behind gravestone—Killer is taking sobbing breaths, "oh god, oh god, I'm so sorry"— pulls gun out, holds it to his head—hesitates… 36. *flashback* attack, struggle, gun to ribs, scratch, shot, scream, she drops, hear o.c. "oh god, oh my fucking god, etc.," shot widens from her ribs outward, we see spreading pool of blood, realize that it is his woman… 37. Graveyard: Man screams, pulls trigger, collapses on grave, dead, as police run up—fade to black 38. Credits (Character names/Played by)—Long Hard Road Out of Hell