(Josette Collins Sees The Future)
by CollinsKid
TITLE CARD:
little fish, big fish swimming in the water
come back here man give me my daughter.
- PJ Harvey, "Down By The Water"
TITLE CARD:
You'll never have me.
- "Lost Highway"
FADE IN ON:
EXT. COLLINWOOD -- NIGHT
The house stands vigil. We've seen this before and will again.
ALEXANDRA MOLTKE
(V.O.)
"My name is Victoria Winters, and on this desperate, fateful night in the
year 1796, one woman is locked in a past and a tragedy not her own.
Propelled into this world by forces unseen, she is a pawn in a greater,
more sinister game and must simply do her best to play her part written,
with no deviations from the script brooked."
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT. WOODS -- SAME
Moving like a shadow on the leaves, BARNABAS COLLINS slinks
through the darkness.
ALEXANDRA MOLTKE
(V.O., cont'd)
"For on this night, a dead man will make a desperate pilgrimage to try to
regain all he has lost in the grave...and in the process, seal certain
doom."
Barnabas stares out into the night.
BLACK SCREEN.
TITLE CARD:
aunt natalie (the fates)
CUT TO:
A BLINDING WHITE SCREEN.
...Fading to incandescent crystal-blue, then sunrise-orange, then pink.
From this light, DR. JULIA HOFFMAN'S FACE emerges.
NATALIE DU PRES
(V.O.)
...And the cards said, 'there will be black clouds, and the stars will rip
the sky.' Blood will be drawn, and then, then the worst of it comes.
There will be an intruder running down that hill, and he will murder all
sleep.
DISSOLVE TO:
TINTED FLASHBACK; Julia in 1967, sitting in the drawing room of
the Old House, reading Natalie's words from a tattered little tome. She
turns a page.
FLASH OUT TO:
THE EYES OF JOSETTE COLLINS. Shut and slumbering. PULL
BACK as Josette moans softly, squirming under the covers.
INT. JOSETTE'S ROOM -- NIGHT
ANGLE on Julia, across the room, standing by an easy chair. She
watches Josette with unmasked apprehension and fear.
CLOSE ON JULIA
Mouthing the words.
JULIA
(remembrance)
"The stars will rip the sky..."
Julia stops short, and goes to the window. Looks out through the
curtains.
POV -- JULIA
The storm-swept sky over the woods; black, forbidding, and roiling with
gathering thunder and lightning.
BACK TO JULIA
Queasy realization.
JULIA
(to herself)
Black clouds...
Just then, Josette cries out in bed, writhing furiously. Julia rushes to her
side and begins shaking her.
JULIA
Josette. Josette!
JOSETTE
(hazy)
No...no...
JULIA
Josette, it is just a dream. You must wake up!
Josette rouses, bathed in sweat. Stares up at Julia, breathing hard.
JOSETTE
A-Aunt Natalie.
JULIA
You were having a nightmare, ma chere.
JOSETTE
I certainly was...
JULIA
But it is over now. You're safe, here, in Collinwood.
JOSETTE
Yes...yes. (weak smile) Oh, Aunt Natalie, you are so good to stay here
with me and mind me. It is an arduous chore.
JULIA
(firm)
There is no chore involved. Your mother left you in my hands when she
went to God. I am and have been enthusiastically up to the task. This is
a constant, Josette.
JOSETTE
What time is it?
JULIA
You needn't trouble yourself with that right now. You must continue to
try and get some rest --
JOSETTE
(sitting up in bed)
I cannot. That much at least is obvious and forthright. Something
burrowed away in the tiniest pockets of my mind insists on murdering
my sleep.
JULIA
(galvanized)
W-W-WHAT did you say?
JOSETTE
(stopping short)
Why, I said...Aunt Natalie, what on Earth is wrong? You look so very
pale and trembling! I knew that fall had done you harm. Here you are,
standing guard over me like a hawk when you are ill yourself!
(standing) I shall get Riggs immediately.
JULIA
(stopping her)
That is not necessary, ma petit.
JOSETTE
You said so before and look at you now.
JULIA
I am made of more iron than you give me credit for. And I am fine.
My one focus now is you.
JOSETTE
(giving up)
Must you martyr yourself endlessly, Aunt Natalie?
JULIA
(flippant)
It is my saintly nature. When the rest of Martinique has gone to the
dogs of the "Queen" and her British Isles, I will remain at the edge of
that sand, in the garden house. You will find me there, grappling with
those swordsmen over the very last bit of jasmine. I promise you that.
(crossing to dresser) Come. I shall make you some tea to pass these
dreary American hours. Is it true that the rain in fact a sentient being
capable of thought here in this new world?
JOSETTE
(sitting down in the easy chair)
You judge it all so harsh, Aunt.
JULIA
I am forced to. We are representatives of France, after all.
JOSETTE
Of Martinique, Aunt Natalie.
JULIA
Hmmph.
The women drink their tea.
JULIA
(cont'd; careful)
You have, I trust, put all notions of a rendezvous with Barnabas Collins
from your mind, haven't you, dear?
JOSETTE
(steadfast)
What I saw in that dream was real, Aunt Natalie. I shall not discuss it
with you further.
JULIA
Your man is in the ground, ma chere. You must believe that! It is a
royal tragedy, but we must go on --
JOSETTE
(gripping her teacup hard)
He would not go on without me! If Barnabas thought I could come
back, he would search to the ends of the Earth and he would wait until
the end of time and he would sit and he would wait for me! I shall allow
him the same consideration. You are a woman of mysticism, Aunt
Natalie. You believe in your cards, and you too have had many
prophetic dreams. How can you call my dream fantasy?
JULIA
Because, I have learned the hard way where prophecy stops and
fantasy begins, Josette --
JOSETTE
(raging)
You do not know!
The teacup shatters into a thousand shards in Josette's claw-hand.
Josette shrieks as the porcelain shards burrow into her flesh...and draw
blood.
Julia reacts with horror.
JOSETTE
(mortified)
Aunt Natalie!
Julia quickly snaps out of it and rushes to Josette's aid, clucking over
her.
JULIA
Oh, ma petite...(dabbing at the cuts with a hankerchief) Here, here.
(eyeing the trembling Josette) You must try and calm down.
JOSETTE
(sobbing)
I cannot. I shall never be calm again. My fate is binded to his. Without
him, it is aimless and orphaned.
JULIA
Life continues, Josette --
JOSETTE
But I do not continue! Unequivocally and inexorably, I fade, Aunt; it
is all over every inch of my body. Even now, whiling away the days in
this room, it has begun.
JULIA
Do not talk like this, Josette. You must lie down, lie down and try to
rest --
Just then, a shower of lights flicker in the window. Julia and Josette
rush to the glass.
POV -- JULIA/JOSETTE
A series of brilliant lights in the sky, glowing orbs, are crackling and
burning in the tempest above. Multi-colored and radiant, we (and Julia)
recognize them as passing meteors.
BACK TO JULIA
Aghast.
JULIA
(inner voice)
"Stars will rip the sky..."
CLOSE ON JOSETTE
Spotting something, crying out with joy.
POV -- JOSETTE
Down there, amidst the trees, far below -- Barnabas stares up to her
window.
JOSETTE
(V.O.)
It is him!
BACK TO THE ROOM
Josette rushes to the door, grabbing her cloak, as Julia tries desperately
to bypass her.
JULIA
Josette, Josette, please --
But Josette rushes out the door as it swings closed behind her -- with a
KLIK. Julia is locked in.
Julia spins around, desperate. She looks to the dresser mirror.
POV -- JULIA
Cassandra (with Angelique's head superimposed) smirks through the
glass in her place, laughing hysterically.
CUT TO:
EXT. WOODS -- SAME
Josette races down the path through the rainstorm and rushes headlong
into Barnabas' arms. The two kiss, hard and passionately, as thunder
sounds.
BLACK SCREEN.
TITLE CARD:
"the woods (i'm all around you) "
TITLE CARD:
you'll be given love
you'll be taken care of
you'll be given love
you have to trust it
maybe not from the sources you have turned towards
maybe not from the direction you are staring at
all is full of love
it's all around you.
-Bjork, "All Is Full Of Love"
FADE IN:
EXT. WOODS -- SAME
Josette and Barnabas are still wrapped in each other's arms, kissing
passionately. Thunder rolls and the earth continues to spasm as the rain
batters the trees.
They disconnect and stare into each other's eyes -- mortal angel and
damned prince.
BARNABAS
You.
JOSETTE
Us.
She buries her head on his shoulder.
JOSETTE
I knew my mind. I knew it was not deceiving me. I felt your force in
everything - I - touched.
BARNABAS
It is the same for me.
JOSETTE
How did you survive?
BARNABAS
A spell. A cruel -- trick. I am the denouement of a grand black joke.
JOSETTE
You speak in riddles.
BARNABAS
Perhaps I prefer them to the harsh reality. (pause) I would not wish this
place I have gone to on you.
JOSETTE
But I seek it.
BARNABAS
You will want no part of this. What you seek is still in that ground.
JOSETTE
I do not believe that. Not when I can still feel you.
BARNABAS
What you feel is a dream.
Josette turns away.
JOSETTE
You call to me and then you ask me to throw you away. You ask me
the impossible. (turning to him) Without you, my world is compact. My
heart goes through the motions, nothing more. (pause) If you are a
ghost, then I will go with a ghost. But you are my one absolute.
BARNABAS
(grabbing her)
Josette --
JOSETTE
(grabbing his hands)
Get me away from here.
CUT TO:
THE NEARBY BUSHES -- SAME
A dark, murky POV watches the pair from the shrubbery,
accompanied by heavy breathing.
CUT TO:
ANGLE ON THE BUSHES
We see that it's none other than Lieutenant Nathan Forbes.
CUT TO:
TITLE CARD:
"come back"
i'll let you catch me.
- Lori Carson/Graeme Revell, "Fall In The Light"
SMASH CUT TO:
INT. JOSETTE'S ROOM -- NIGHT
Julia is still banging on that blasted door.
JULIA
Josette! Josette! Anyone! Please! (sighs; voice drops back to 'normal'
tones) Oh, for God's sake...
Julia rushes over to the dresser and grabs a heavy-looking, ornamental
statue of the Countess'. She wields it like a rock, and proceeds to use it
to bash away at the door handle. After six or seven solid blows, the
door knob gives way. Julia slams her frame against the door, and it
gives, too.
Julia races out the door and down the hall.
FLASH TO:
EXT. WIDOWS HILL -- NIGHT
The famous cliff is razed by wind and rain as the storm takes up
residence in the sky directly above.
INT. THE WOODS -- SAME
Josette and Barnabas make their way through the forest, hand in hand,
and arrive atop the Hill.
EXT. WIDOWS HILL -- SAME
Josette and Barnabas stand at the edge of the forest and nuzzle, safe in
each other's arms, ignoring the storm.
BARNABAS
(softly)
I'll take you away from here. From everything. Ben Stokes has helped
me arrange things. We can go wherever you want.
JOSETTE
I believe it. I believe every word.
BARNABAS
(gentle kiss)
Wait for my return.
Barnabas turns and starts down the path into the woods. Josette takes
refuge under a large tree and sits down on a rock.
SMASH CUT TO:
INT. WOODS -- NIGHT
Julia, racing through the bushes and brambles and thunder and rain.
Horror in motion.
CUT TO:
INT. WOODS -- NIGHT (ELSEWHERE)
Forbes, still creeping down the path, retracing Barnabas and Josette's
steps.
CUT TO:
EXT. WIDOWS HILL -- SAME
Josette still sits on the rock, awaiting Barnabas' return. Just then, A
RINGING NOISE fills the air -- a siren. Josette's brow furrows, and
she stands hesitantly. The NOISE grows to drown out the sounds of
the storm. Confused, Josette looks up.
POV -- JOSETTE
The stormy sky, slowly fading...giving way to a simple, pitch-black calm
sky. The earth's shaking quells; the lightning and rain are gone. It's a
black horizon.
Below Josette, beyond the cliff, the sea is an opaque mass of darkness.
Only the ringing sound and an EERIE WIND can be heard whistling
through this sudden still calm.
GHOSTLY VOICE
(V.O.)
Mademoiselle.
We recognize the voice as Angelique's. Josette reacts instantly,
shocked.
JOSETTE
Who - Who is out there? Where are you?
ANGELIQUE
(V.O.)
You know who this is.
JOSETTE
(petrified)
Angelique! What do you want of me?
ANGELIQUE
(V.O.)
I bring you truth. Since no one would do it for you, I was obliged to
come.
JOSETTE
What are you talking about?
ANGELIQUE
(V.O.)
You. You and Barnabas. Don't you know? Haven't you guessed?
JOSETTE
(shaking her head violently)
You can do nothing to hurt us anymore!
ANGELIQUE
(V.O.)
My hand is absolved. You will do it all yourselves. You called me a
witch, Josette. They blamed it all on me. They were right. Do you want
one last magic gift from me, Josette? Do you want to see your
magnificent future as the BRIDE OF DEATH?
JOSETTE
You lie!
ANGELIQUE
(V.O.)
He was put in the ground, and from the ground he rose...to take you
back with him.
JOSETTE
That is not true!
ANGELIQUE
(V.O.)
You know it is. Watch; see.
JOSETTE
(turning away)
I will not!
ANGELIQUE
(V.O.; laughing)
You will. This is the way it all happens.
Suddenly, the world around Josette SHIMMERS, as if some strange,
misty field had been erected around her immediate surroundings.
Everything is gauzy, prismatic, slightly out of focus. Everything seems
to move in slow-motion.
Josette turns, and looks out onto the abyss-sky beyond the cliff.
A DARK FIGURE stands there, floating in the darkness, watching her.
Fascinated, Josette steps closer and closer to the edge. The figure
mimics her, drawing closer, and closer...until the light finally falls over
the figure's features.
CLOSE ON JOSETTE'S EYES
Wide and full of primal terror.
SUBLIMINAL JUMP CUTS:
- Angelique, smirking evilly into the camera.
- Barnabas' funeral; a dreary fall day.
- Barnabas and Josette, long ago and happy, kissing passionately.
- A grinning skull.
- Dr. Julia Hoffman, back in 1968, loading a syringe.
- Cassandra, smirking evilly into the camera.
BACK TO THE CLIFF
The world spins as Josette stares into the eyes of the figure next to her
-- it is JOSETTE HERSELF. A thousand bloody stake-wounds in her
abdomen and chest below a tattered nightdress; her hair tangled and
ripped, and her face white and blue-lipped, her eyes opaque white --
with huge, monstrous fangs protruding from her mouth and slicing into
her lower lips, blood dripping down her chin.
CLOSE ON THE EVIL JOSETTE
The creature smiles into the camera, and its animal incisors rip its lips
open.
BACK TO JOSETTE
She screams in mortal horror, as the storm, the wind, and the rain all
return.
CUT TO:
INT. WOODS -- NIGHT
Barnabas turns mid-stride, hearing the scream, and rushes back down
towards the hill.
CUT TO:
INT. WOODS -- NIGHT (ELSEWHERE)
Julia hears the screams, too, and picks up her pace.
CUT TO:
EXT. WIDOWS HILL -- SAME
Josette continues to scream wildly, terrified by what she's seen. When
Barnabas rushes onto the scene, she backs up further against the cliff,
shrieking.
JOSETTE
My God! My GOD! What are you?
BARNABAS
Josette, what's happened -- you must listen to me --
JOSETTE
(yelling over the storm)
NO! I -- I saw -- our future -- there is no future!
BARNABAS
Josette, come away from there --
Julia creeps onto the scene, watching from the shrubbery. Horrified.
JOSETTE
(yelling)
Stay away from me! Don't touch me! WHAT ARE YOU?
BARNABAS
(anguished)
You don't understand -- please, just listen to me --
Barnabas reaches out to her, and Josette lashes his arm away, leaping
back.
BARNABAS
(softly)
I'm begging you.
They stare into each other's eyes.
A long moment.
The wind howls as Josette stares into Barnabas' eyes with blank horror
-- and sinking realization.
Barnabas is confused. Then, he looks down.
Josette's feet are wavering on the lip of the cliff. Barely balancing.
Barnabas' eyes widen. He reaches out to her and -- as it has always
happened and will again --
SHE FALLS.
Josette hurtles off the hill, screaming wildly, through the air.
Barnabas howls with insane grief.
BARNABAS
(mad with grief)
COME BACK!
In the corner of the scene, crouching amidst the shrubs, Angelique is
there. Laughing silently. Then, she's gone.
CUT TO:
JOSETTE FALLING.
And falling.
SUBLIMINAL JUMP CUTS:
- A beating heart.
- Josette's portrait.
- The chained coffin.
- Barnabas, spotting Nathan Forbes in the woods.
- Julia, in 1968, smiling up at a near-human Barnabas.
- Cassandra, twirling her engagement ring around on her hand.
- Victoria Winters, smiling.
- Barnabas, snapping a screaming Forbes' neck deep in the dark woods,
his face a mask of insane grief.
FLASH TO:
Julia, watching from the woods -- her face a rictus of frozen horror and
sadness. Her head weighted down with the full understanding of
Barnabas' years of pain.
Just then, a WHITE LIGHT ENVELOPES THE SCREEN.
ANGELIQUE'S LAUGHTER floods the audio, and we FLASH to:
- Julia, turning around in 1968.
- Cassandra, smirking at the camera once again.
- Cassandra and Julia, in a black room. Cassandra sticks something into
Julia's chest with a shredding noise, and Julia recoils.
- Cassandra, leering at Julia with maniacal, opaque white eyes and a
black-lipped mouth with jagged teeth.
SMASH CUT TO:
INT. COLLINWOOD DRAWING ROOM -- 1968
We're back, and --
CASSANDRA IS GASPING FOR BREATH.
ROGER, sitting on the couch, rises instantly, as do CAROLYN and
DAVID, also sitting around.
ROGER
Darling! My God, what's wrong?!
Roger and Carolyn rush to Cassandra's side, who is swaying on her
feet and dizzied. Roger instantly grabs Cassandra and sits her down,
tending to her, while Carolyn keeps a slight distance while expressing
slight concern. David just stays where he is, watching the tableau with
unreadabable intensity.
Then, he walks out of the room.
ROGER
(to Carolyn)
Kitten, call the doctor at once. (Carolyn exits) Cassandra, can you hear
me? Are you having trouble breathing? Darling, please!
Cassandra takes a series of shallow, ragged breaths, then blinks a
number of times, and stares at Roger.
For once, she's shellshocked.
CUT TO:
INT. THE OLD HOUSE -- NIGHT
A FLASH OF WHITE LIGHT FLOODS THE ROOM, and a noise
like a SONIC BOOM erupts, and suddenly -- Julia is back in her seat,
in her old clothes.
Julia starts, blinks, and rouses from her daze.
A clatter of noise off-screen, and then BARNABAS is rushing into the
room from the basement door.
BARNABAS
What on Earth was that noise?
JULIA
(dazed)
B-Barnabas...
Barnabas moves to her side, perplexed and concerned.
BARNABAS
Doctor...Julia, are you quite all right? Should I summon Woodard?
JULIA
(shakes her head rapidly)
No; no. I'm all right, really. I just need -- need a minute to catch my
breath... (pause) I guess I must have dozed off. I had the strangest
dream...
BARNABAS
(smiling)
Dream? Here I was so sure you were immune to such night flights of
fancy, Doctor. Your brilliant work seems to have caught up with you;
are you aware it is eight o'clock in the evening?
JULIA
(blinking)
Already? Why, I was just reading in the afternoon.
BARNABAS
Would you like to share the dream with me?
JULIA
No, please. It was rather unpleasant, and just the -- the product of an
overcooked brain, I'm sure.
BARNABAS
You've worked so already, Julia. Perhaps you should take a few days'
respite.
JULIA
(shaking her head vigorously)
Your treatment is the most important thing, Barnabas.
BARNABAS
Well, at least allow me to get you some tea.
JULIA
That would be lovely, Barnabas.
Unexpectedly, she takes his hand, gently. Their eyes lock.
JULIA
(smiling)
Thank you.
Barnabas clears his throat and withdraws his hand slowly. He smiles at
her awkwardly.
BARNABAS
I shall find Willie and get that tea.
He exits. Julia stays seated, and sighs, oddly wistful.
After a few moments, she stands. Circles the room, pacing. Cocks her
head; cracks her neck.
Then, Julia slowly runs a hand across one of her hands...and then the
other. Then, she runs a hand across her face. She blinks her eyes,
once, then twice.
CUT TO:
INT. JOSETTE'S ROOM -- NIGHT
The door opens, and Julia slowly enters. She crosses to face the
portrait of Josette.
POV -- JULIA
The painted face of Josette, frozen in time.
BACK TO JULIA
An uncharacteristically sinister smirk crosses Julia's face as she stares
up at the portrait.
ANGLE ON THE ROOM
Julia, staring up at the portrait. A shadow floats through the room, and
the candelabra blow out.
BLACK OUT.
TO BE CONTINUED...
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