INT. DEEP WOUND CAVERN - CAVE - NIGHT

A round stone altar platform lies at the trench’s deepest point. Its design resembles a magic circle.

 

INT. DEEP WOUND CAVERN - CAVE - DUSK

DEADWOOD MAGES, black cloaks, wood masks, cast shadows from the steep surface. Their lanterns flicker. BLAKE, 17, silver hair, university uniform, wears a blindfold and hand-ties. They shove her. She SPLATS on the altar. Bones crack. It echoes. Blood leaks from her body.

The Deadwood Mages leave.

​

​BHAGGDU (V.O.)

                                               I’m fed every full moon in this
                                               tomb, yet I’ve starved for eons.

​

Black mold veins fester to Blake through the altar’s ridges.

​

BHAGGDU (V.O.)
     Have they tossed another virgin mage?

                                               Such dull flesh. The black mold dissolves

                                               a cricket instantly.

​

BHAGGDU (V.O.)

                                               I’d have more fun watching her rot
                                               here. See what critters might come
                                               for her.

​

BLAKE (V.O.)

                                               My flesh may not satisfy you.

BHAGGDU (V.O.)

                                                    What?

​

She can’t move her mouth. She speaks telepathically.

​

BLAKE (V.O.)

                                               But please, make it quick, Old One.

​

The black mold stops.

​

BHAGGDU (V.O.)

                                               You hear me.

​

Blake stays silent. Black mold touches her hands. Her body spasms and convulses.

​

BHAGGDU (V.O.)

                                               Answer me.

​

BLAKE (V.O.)
(in pain)

                                               Yes, I hear you, I’m a medium.

 

BHAGGDU (V.O.)

                                               A medium.

​

Shadows peel off the altar and form a ghastly skeletal figure. White noise flickers in his eyes.

​

BHAGGDU

                                               Why would they send me a medium?

​

BLAKE (V.O.)

                                               I don’t care. I’m here to die. So
                                               let me rot.

 

BHAGGDU

                                               Recognize who you lie before, girl.

​

Black mold enters Blake’s body. Oily strands hang her up like a marionette, mend her bones, and break her bondage. She screams. She can move her mouth again. Bhaggdu stands her up.

​

BHAGGDU (CONT’D)

                                               You rot when I permit it.

​

Black mold exits her body. Her butt hits the ground.

​

BLAKE

                                               You fixed me?

BHAGGDU

                                               Behold the power of a Decayer.

​

Blake removes her blindfold. She has no eyes. Empty sockets.

​

BLAKE

                                                  I can’t see.

​

Her fingers feel the cavities on her face - two deep, dark, bloody holes. She cries with no tears.

 

INT. DEEP WOUND CAVERN - CAVE - NIGHT

Moonlight glints on puddles.

Water runs through the altar’s arrays and symbols. Blake sits in the shadows, head on her knees.

 

Bhaggdu sits pretzel-style in the center.

​

BLAKE

                                               So this is where the girls would
                                               disappear- Monster food.

​

Bhaggdu grimaces at Blake.

 

BHAGGDU

                                               Monsters are below me. I am a
                                               Decayer of Souls. The undead fear me.

​

BLAKE

                                               And bound to an altar. But why do
                                               they feed you living flesh?

​

BHAGGDU

                                               The living flesh offers a taste
                                               that the dead could not.

​

His body emits turbulent shadows. It sounds like harsh whispers as they fluctuate.

​

BHAGGDU (CONT’D)

                                               Even now, I resist having my way
                                               with you. My twisted desire feeds
                                               their magic.

BLAKE

                                               Maybe you should end my suffering.
                                               Help someone else for a change.

​

BHAGGDU

                                               Why don’t you do it yourself?

​

Bhaggdu shambles to Blake- One lazy step after the next.

​

BHAGGDU (CONT’D)

                                               You’re not in bondage. Your body is
                                               yours. You should end yourself now.

​

Blake flinches. Despite having no eyes, she looks away from him.

Bhaggdu extends his hand. She reacts.

 

BHAGGDU (CONT’D)

                                               Don’t fear death.

​

The ends of his smile rip through his skull.

​

BHAGGDU (CONT’D)

                                               Fear the dark that comes after.

​

Blake’s hand searches for his hand- their fingers intertwine.

 

Bhaggdu’s shadows slither down her forearm.

 

INT. DEEP WOUND CAVERN - CAVE - DAY

​

Blake sits in the center. MALCOLM, 19, peeks from the surface. His black cloak and wooden mask hide his features.

​

MALCOLM

                                                 What? She still lives!

BLAKE

                                               I do. Perhaps your god is upset
                                               with you, Malcolm.

 

MALCOLM

                                               Sacrifices don’t speak.

​

BLAKE

                                               Will you remove my mouth, too?

​

Malcolm disappears and returns. He has a cow heart in a net. Blood drips and hits the altar.

MALCOLM
(distorted voice)

                                               Your body will feed worms.

​

The cow’s heart pulsates irregularly. Malcolm drops the net, and it SPLATS on the altar. The cow’s heart morphs into a hose-sized maggot. It sprint-slithers to Blake.

​

BHAGGDU (V.O)

                                                   Move.

​

Blake shifts to the left. The maggot slides past her. The maggot U-turns and wriggles to Blake. It springs up.

​

BHAGGDU (V.O.)

                                                   Back kick.

​

Blake’s high boot launches it across the altar. It squeals. Malcolm waves his hands erratically.

​

MALCOLM

                                               She’s blind, you moronic
                                               maggotspawn! Consume Her!

​

The maggot’s blood runs through the altar’s etchings.

​

BHAGGDU (V.O)

                                                   It’s ready.

​

The maggot slithers to Blake. She steps off the altar and claps her hands. The gravel shakes and the wind hushes.

​

BLAKE
(distorted voice)

                                               You’re only strong enough to feed
                                               from the wound.

​

The blood turns black on the altar. Oily mycelia strands ensnare the maggot. It infects on contact. Malcolm takes a few steps back. He runs away.

​

BLAKE (CONT’D)

                                               He’ll return with more.

BHAGGDU

                                               We’ll be much more powerful then.
                                               Now get to work.

​​

​

INT. DEEP WOUND CAVERN - CAVE - DAY (LATER)

Blake feels the ridges in the altar for the sigils. Her bloody hand nears the symbol of a crow.

​

BHAGGDU

                                                   Lower. There.

​

Blake smears blood in the symbol’s ridges. It completes the altar.

​

BLAKE

                                               Why couldn’t you have done this?

​

Bhaggdu lurks behind Blake. His apparition stands several feet taller than her.

BHAGGDU

                                               The ritual requires the intent of a
                                               magic-attuned mortal.

BLAKE

                                               Are mediums the best for this?

​

BHAGGDU

                                               Better than others. Your body will
                                               be the magnet to pull me out of
                                               this altar.

​

BLAKE

                                               What happens to my body and soul?

​

BHAGGDU

                                               Your body is destroyed, and your
                                               soul will be bound to me.

                                               Blake shakes her head.

BLAKE

                                               I thought you were getting me out
                                               of here.

​

BHAGGDU

                                               Did you not want death?

​

BLAKE

                                               Not like this. I want to go to the
                                               afterlife and see Amelia again.

​

Bhaggdu tilts his head.

BHAGGDU

                                                   Amelia?

Blake sat on the stone.

BLAKE

                                               The Deadwood Society. I joined to
                                               find out what happened. But they
                                               only thought of me as another
                                               experiment.

BHAGGDU

                                               Who was she to you?

BLAKE

                                               My... friend. Now she can be
                                               nothing more– because she’s gone.

Bhaggdu stares into space. He sighs and chuckles.

​

BLAKE (CONT’D)

                                               Did they feed her to you?

​

Bhaggdu shifted his body.

BHAGGDU
(to Blake)

                                                   They’re coming.

AMBER, SPRUCE, OAK, and REDWOOD MASKS in black cloaks slide on the cavern’s steep slope to the cave. They land and surround Bhaggdu and Blake.

They unveil lanterns with fire glyphs inside. Amber grabs Blake from behind and puts a knife to her mouth.

Spruce and Oak cast fire at Bhaggdu. He burns easily. Black smoke wafts up until he disintegrates.

​

REDWOOD

                                               How did you use Bhaggdu’s magic?

​

BLAKE

                                               He bestowed it upon me.

REDWOOD

                                               Bhaggdu would never. He eats
                                               anything he touches. We’ve fed him
                                               for generations to keep him
                                               pleased.

​

Blake struggles. The blade cuts her lip.

​

BLAKE

                                               He wants to escape the altar.

                                               Redwood Mask chuckles.

REDWOOD

                                               Not in my lifetime.

BHAGGDU (V.O.)

                                               One on your left. One on your
                                               right. He’s directly ahead.

​

BLAKE

                                                   It’ll be cut short.

​

Blake licks the knife, cutting her tongue.

​

AMBER

                                                   What the fuck?

​

Blake sticks her tongue out. A sigil is carved. Blood seeps through the fresh caverns of the wound.

AMBER, SPRUCE, & OAK

                                                       Shit!

​

Spruce and Oak raise their hands to cast fire.

​

BLAKE
(distorted voice)

                                                   Rot in the dirt.

​

Blake turns the blood in her mouth black and spits at Spruce and Oak. Fire ignites the black blood and burns them alive. A slimy tendril sprouts from her throat and wraps around Amber’s neck, squeezing hard enough to pop his head off like a cherry from the stem.

Redwood runs off the altar. He raises his lantern. The tendril recedes and slithers around Blake’s face. The black blood dissolves her skin, melting away.

​

BLAKE (CONT’D)

                                               Born in the bowels of Vh’allu,
                                               raised on the undead, betrayer to
                                               his kind, consumer of the flesh, I
                                               summon thee, Bhaggdu.

​

The altar rumbles the cave. Amber, Spruce, and Oak Masks’ bodies liquefy into black blood and mold. It enters Blake, and her vessel transforms into Bhaggdu, full blackened flesh. He grimaces at Redwood.

Redwood casts two fire projectiles. Bhaggdu barfs a glob of black blood. It explodes on Redwood. It burns him like acid. He falls and screams.

Smoke leaves his body. Bhaggdu shambles forth to him. Redwood’s eyes twitch behind his cracked mask. Bhaggdu’s mouth opens unnaturally wide. Rows of jagged teeth inside. He pounces on Redwood. The cave echoes his howls.

 

EXT. FOREST - DEEP WOUND CAVERN - DAY
Trees shed warm leaves. Blake lies on the ground. She opens her eyes. They’re gray. A black robe covers her body.

​

BLAKE

                                                   Bhaggdu?

​

BHAGGDU (V.O.)

                                                   Uh-huh.

​

BLAKE

                                               How am I alive?

​

BHAGGDU (V.O.)

                                               Flesh for flesh. A soul for a soul.
                                               I swapped yours out once I consumed
                                               our enemies.

​

Blake stands. She fixes the cloak on herself.

​

BLAKE

                                               You’re staying with me?

BHAGGDU (V.O.)

                                               Your medium vessel will hide me
                                               from the pantheon I’ve betrayed.
                                               Besides, I would like to see what
                                               else you can do with my power. It
                                               was quite amusing.

​

Blake checks herself for scars. Nothing. She feels her tongue. The sigil is gone.

BLAKE

                                               You never answered my question
                                               before. Did the Deadwood Mages feed
                                               Amelia to you?

​

BHAGGDU (V.O.)

                                               No. A different entity.

​

BLAKE

                                               Will you help me find them?

​

Bhaggdu cackles.

​

BHAGGDU (V.O.)

                                               Who are you willing to sacrifice to
                                               use my magic?

​

Blake glances at a dropped Deadwood Mage mask. It’s another oakwood type.

​

BLAKE

                                               Those who deserve it.

She stomps on the mask. It cracks.