Occulus, Part Three
- OCCULUS:
I HAD HER IN MY GRASP......ANOTHER FEW SECONDS AND SHE WOULD HAVE BEEN MINE FOREVER....
- MAGDA:
Master...Perhaps Tanya is right...do we really need her.....Any of these girls should do as bait...
- Occulus:
NO.......IT MUST BE LISETTE! (calms down somewhat) The Baron lusts for her....my revenge will be complete when it is she seduces and betrays him....humiliates him....destroys him. We must find away to deal with this Doctor and the cursed Policeman.
- Magda
- (Bowing her head in
submission):
You know I can deny you nothing, My Master.....even if it means my life......but how can we go back into town now? The Inspector and his men are alerted now...and they have guns. Even with the slaves that you left there in place......
- Occulus:
- (Thinking):
Quiet, woman. Perhaps we do not have to go there. Even though I did not have time to fully enslave her...I did touch her mind. She has a strong will, but perhaps tonight, while she sleeps, I can influence her to come to me. Magda...make the preparations for the ritual.
- Magda
- (head still bowed):
Yes, My Master.
- DOCTOR
- (close up on his face):
That’s it...so heavy...just close your eyes now and rest. (Close up of her eyes closing, and her head slumping forward. The Doctor gently lifts her chin so that her head sinks into an upright pillow. He seems somewhat surprised by his success.) I...I think she’s actually under.
- INSPECTOR:
I thought there would be more hand waiving and such.
- DOCTOR:
That kind of hocus-pocus is used by mesmerists like Occulus to create an aura of mysticism for their audience. A scientifically trained hypnotist needs only a calm voice, a focus, and, most important, a willing subject.
- INSPECTOR:
A focus?
- DOCTOR:
Usually an object that the subjects can focus their attention upon...I used your wife’s pendant...Occulus apparently uses his eyes.
- INSPECTOR:
If she’s under.....command her to remember.
- DOCTOR:
It’s not that simple. Now quiet. (Turns back to Lisette). Miss Lisette....can you hear me?
- LISETTE:
Yesssssss
- DOCTOR:
You gave me permission to hypnotize you. Do you remember why?
- LISETTE:
To help me remember...remember what Dr. Occulus did to me...to Tanya..(becoming agitated)...we must help Tanya.....Doctor.....we must....
- DOCTOR:
Shhhhhhhh.... we will....with your help. But you must stay calm and always remember that whatever you recall...it is just a memory and that you are perfectly safe with me. Will you do that, Lisette?
- LISETTE
- (calming down, almost an
intimate aspect to her voice.):
Yes Doctor....I trust you...feel safe with you.
- DOCTOR:
Now I want you to imagine that it is again last Saturday night. Occulus has come to the Tavern.
- LISETTE:
Herr Lichtner, the Tavern Keeper, says we’re to volunteer...for the show...says he will pay us extra if we do. Tells us to play along...act mesmerized. Dr. Occulus says that won’t be necessary...that he will really put us into a trance. I don’t want to do this.....I tell them to just use Tanya...I don’t want to lose control and make a spectacle of myself in public. Dr. Occulus is fine with that....but Herr Lichtner insists...Dr. Occulus....is kind and apologizes. He whispers that he will keep the demonstration decent....that he will mostly use Tanya.....I finally give in......he does Tanya first...she goes under quickly....I take longer....I don’t want to be mesmerized....but he does have the most beautiful eyes....they seem almost golden......
- INSPECTOR:
I’ve heard enough about Tanya becoming a chicken, Doctor.
- DOCTOR:
Yes...quite. Lisette..let us move forward to the Baron and his party taking over the show.
- LISETTE
- (frowning):
He makes the crowd leave...like the bully he is....tells Dr. Occulus to make us do things....things he and his friends want....Dr. Occulus does not want to....tries to protect us..the Baron threatens him.....then.......then...
- DOCTOR:
Go on Lisette, remembering you are perfectly safe.
- LISETTE:
Then...all of the sudden.....we’re not in the Tavern anymore.
- INSPECTOR:
Not in the Tavern....what is she talking about?
- DOCTOR:
Quiet! Lisette, where are you now?
- LISETTE
- (smiling, fanning
herself):
We’re in a beautiful meadow, next to a clear stream...it’s so nice....but it is a little warm (begins fanning herself). Tanya is such a peasant...she’s stripping off her shoes in stockings so she can cool her feet in the water. The water is inviting...but no....no...I shouldn’t.....I’m no peasant......but his eyes....his eyes...so beautiful...he whispers that I must go along....water so inviting........Yes....it would be so refreshing...
- INSPECTOR
- (turning away
embarrassed):
The cad....taking advantage of these young women...having them disrobe.....
- DOCTOR:
Yes...but what choice did he have?
- LISETTE:
Horst is here!...I’m confused...he’s visiting family...or some peasant girl in the country more likely....Oh stop Horst....you know you don’t need to sweet talk me. But I look a mess..(she looks down at her bare feet and blushes)..turn your back while I put my shoes back on. He wants me to kiss him...he’s demanding it.....I give in........(she mimics kissing a man a little taller than her.) Somethings wrong.....It looks like Horst, but not gentle like Horst.....(growing scared and angry) hands all over me. Horst....stop....you’re going too fast...please...I blink...and I’m not in a meadow...I’m back in the tavern.....it’s not Horst....it’s the Baron...trying to have his way with me. I....I slap him....slap him hard... He looks like he’s about to kill me and everything goes black.......then Tanya is pulling me from the floor.....no...no...they’re beating Dr. Occulus.....Tanya...we must help the poor man.....she’s stronger...pulls me to the back room. (her voice grows frantic) I can hear them beating him...a man is screaming...things go black again. (The Doctor lays her back into bed and covers her).
- DOCTOR:
So it was the Baron taking liberties with her. Your last duty here shall be to swear out complaint against him.
- INSPECTOR:
You know a man with his connections is above the law. Even if that wasn’t true, no court will receive evidence based on mesmerism. Besides, we have more pressing matters.....this Occulus may have begun this all as an innocent...but that does not excuse two murders and multiple kidnappings. We can only assume that the Baron is Occulus’ ultimate target. Ironic as it may seem....it is up to us to save the Baron’s hide, not to mention the poor women Occulus has abducted and bewitched.
- OCCULUS:
Lisette.....Lisette....Lisette....
- DOCTOR:
Lisette....what’s wrong?
- LISETTE:
It’s him.........Occulus........calling to me........wants me to go to him......I can fight him....I won’t go.......
- DOCTOR:
That’s it, Lisette, you must resist him.....I will help you. (turns to the Inspector). This is incredible. The show he put on in the Tavern....that’s all well within what we know are the limits of hypnosis. His “mesmerism” was fundamentally the same as my scientific hypnosis, just more skillfully done. But this.......reaching out to her mind from a distance....let alone what he was able to make Tanya and my nurse do......I don’t think Charcot himself could do these things. (turns back to the girl). Lisette, listen carefully...block out his summons and listen to me.
- LISETTE:
Yes, Doctor...I’ll try.
- DOCTOR:
I want you to focus on what happened to you after I left this afternoon to go to the Tavern and I left you with my nurse.
- LISETTE:
Must I..too horrible...
- DOCTOR:
Please, Lisette. You’ll be perfectly safe...it will just be a memory....I will be here with you.
- LISETTE:
I’ll....Ill do it for you. (pauses) I sit in your office for a time, talking with your nurse. The bell rings, and she says it might be a patient. She’s gone for a short time, then I hear her say “She’s in here, Master.". I think you have returned but instead Dr. Occulus and his gypsy woman enter. His head....is covered with a black hood. Before I can scream, the gypsy takes off the hood (grows upset)...his face.........his face it’s horrible.....
- DOCTOR:
Scarred from his burn?
- LISSETE
- (thoughtful pause):
No...not scarred.....changed........he has one large, golden eye in the center of his forehead.
- INSPECTOR:
One eye in his forehead?
- DOCTOR:
It must be some kind of hypnotic hallucination....Tell me about the eye, Lisette
- LISETTE:
I can’t look away....It’s as if the rest of the room fades away...it’s not human...it’s filled with golden fire...it’s horrible...so..horrible....so......beautiful...his eye....I feel like I’m falling into it.....feel him touching my soul......nothing else in the world matters..must gaze into his beautiful eye and....and obey him in all things. He is my master. He is my master.
- LISETTE:
My Master calls and I must go to him....
- INSPECTOR
- (worried):
Doctor?
- DOCTOR
- (grabbing her arms and sitting
her down.):
I’m such a fool...by having her re-experience his hypnotic assault, I’ve totally opened her mind to his summons...Hold her down...(The Inspector takes his place while the Doctor withdraws a bottle and a cloth from his medical bag. He pours some ether on the cloth, and clamps it over her nose and mouth. After some struggle, she falls asleep.) That was close. We will have to watch her closely until the Baron and the other men find Occulus...her, my nurse, and Tanya if she turns up.
- INSPECTOR:
We can’t wait for the Baron and those other fools to find him...they’re not looking for Occulus, and I doubt they’ll believe a fantastical tale about mesmerism. You heard her mention Occulus’s gypsy woman......her name is Magda. She was a kind of white witch and healer for her people until the Baron drove them out of the valley. The mountains around this valley are riddled with a network of caves...caves the gypsies have used for generations as secret lairs.
- DOCTOR:
The Baron found them before.....
- INSPECTOR:
Yes, he did.....because they didn’t know they had anything to fear and were camping in the open. No, if Occulus has benefit of her knowledge, they....or us...could spend a lifetime searching the mountains.
- DOCTOR
- (thinking):
But we must find him if we hope to end his influence over these women.......
- INSPECTOR:
Go on..
- DOCTOR
- (to himself):
It’s a terrible risk....but I don’t see any other way...Lisette will have to lead us to him.....He’s calling to her...we can assume he will guide her.
- NURSE:
I understand...I must warn the Master.
- DOCTOR:
I should have checked on my nurse. Who knows what mischief she could cause if Occulus commands it.
- INSPECTOR:
Constable Utretch will watch her and my wife. I told them both not to trust her and to keep her locked in the room. Helga said she had just checked on her and that she was sleeping fine. Hopefully Utretch believed me when I told him how dangerous she might be, As for Lisette, they know to let her go. I have a man in the back in case she gets out that way. I wish we could bring some men, but they’re needed to guard the women still here.
- DOCTOR
- (pointing):
Look!
- INSPECTOR:
I wish we could have at least put a robe on her and slippers on her feet.
- DOCTOR:
That would give us away.
- INSPECTOR:
She’s headed towards the old Mill, there’s a cave entrance not far from there. Let’s go.
- DOCTOR
- (whispering):
We’re in luck, we can follow the light of their torch.
- INSPECTOR
- (concerned):
Lucky...perhaps. (He draws his pistol as they follow into the darkness.
- DOCTOR:
His face! What’s happened to his face....We’ve got get Lisette away from the monster...
- INSPECTOR:
Doctor...quiet
- OCCULUS:
No mind...no will of your own now....my gaze burns away all such things......You are but a slave....and I am your Master.
- LISETTE
- (smiling, completely
entranced):
I am your slave.....you are my Master. I love only you...I obey only you....
- DOCTOR
- (stepping into the
chamber):
LET HER GO...YOU FIEND!!
- INSPECTOR
- (trying but failing to grab
his arm) :
NO, Doctor...it may be a......
- INSPECTOR:
You heard the Doctor......send the women down, now. I promise you I will do all I can to see that the Baron receives justice for what he did to you.
- OCCULUS
- (laughing insanely):
Justice? From you? No...I have been granted the power to get all the justice I need. The Baron will pay....and you will as well.
(The Inspector pulls the trigger, and there is a loud click)Something wrong, Inspector?
- INSPECTOR
- (to Doctor Klein):
The firing pin’s been removed...WE’VE GOT TO GET UP THERE!
- OCCULUS
- (from the upper tunnel):
MAGDA....DO IT NOW.
- MAGDA:
Yes, Master.
- INSPECTOR:
I tried to warn you...the gypsies set many traps within these caves.
- DOCTOR:
How long before your men come looking for us?
- INSPECTOR:
It’ll take days for even a large party to find us...and that assumes the Baron releases the villagers from his gypsy hunt. I fear we will be here for a long while. Since we have a lot of time on our hands....tell me...what could have cause Occulus’s deformity....I’ve seen many a man burnt....none of them ended up a cyclops.
- DOCTOR:
That was no injury from a burn. I fear science and medicine cannot answer your questions.
- MAGDA:
Those poor men.....
- OCCULUS:
Now, dear Magda...don’t let the fact I have left you some of your mind lead you astray. They are my enemies and they are paying the price.
- MAGDA:
Yes, Master...I know.......at least you have this girl. Soon you will have your revenge and we can go back to our old life together...I can find a way to change you back and....
- OCCULUS:
CHANGE ME BACK? And what...go back to being a traveling stage mesmerist, begging the uneducated to give me a few coins with my lowly gypsy witch at my side. You think too small my dear. Such power courses through me..limitless hypnotic power...the power to enslave countless women.....beautiful women....rich and powerful women.....I have the power to change the world to my liking.....and no one will stop me.....no one, Magda....(Occulus takes her head in his hands and his eye begins to glow.) You love me, don’t you, my dear.....want what is best for me?
- MAGDA:
You know I do Master........I want only what is best for you......
- OCCULUS
- (satisfied, the glow stopping,
he let’s go of her head. She stands entranced, then shakes her
head):
And I love you as well...just as I love all of my pretty slaves.
- TANYA:
Master, Anna reports that the Baron and his men are near the ravine.
- OCCULUS:
Excellent....I must prepare the lovely Lisette for her role. Magda you are tired...you should rest....allow all your doubts to fade away and rest.
- MAGDA:
Yes, Master (she slowly leaves, deeper in trance now)
- OCCULUS:
Pretty Tanya, once I have instructed the fair Lisette as to her task, you and five other girls will take her to the Baron’s camp. Dress in your old clothes. You and the others will then deal with the Baron’s men as we discussed.
- TANYA:
Yes, my Master.
- OCCULUS:
Lisette...come here. (Lisette obediently stands before him and gazes into his eye,, which begins to glow again.)
Now my pet, who do you love?
- LISETTE
- (fully entranced):
You, Master.
- OCCULUS:
Show me.
- OCCULUS:
The Baron is evil, and he must die.
- LISSETE
- (Close up on her blissful
face):
Yes, Master. The Baron is evil...The Baron must die.