It’s night, and a the viewpoint is seen approaching the Langford house, the sounds of Will’s disturbed and frightened voice can be heard. “Wasn’t
my fault!” Comes an anguished moaning, amidst other garbled, unintelligible words. The front door is approached, and the moaning continues.
Inside the house, the atmosphere is oppressive and eerie. As the viewpoint heads upstairs, Will’s fevered moaning grows more and more intense.
The viewpoint pans along the landing, to a circular window, all in darkness; until we eventually reach Will’s bedroom, where he is tossing and
turning fitfully in some fever dream. The scene flashes in between him sleeping restlessly in his bed, and the images he’s getting from his fevered
dreamscape. Hazy and ethereal, the nightmare shows him running desperately down a street. He writhes around in bed a bit more; then there is a
brightly painted image of a spider on an arcade machine, and then the image of a gun being pointed. “It’s not my fault...not my fault...” he moans
fitfully, barely comprehensible in his anguished nightmare. In the nightmare there are three masked men and a body lying down by a headstone. Will
becomes more frantic as, in his dream, the gun is fired with a loud, echoing shot. “Come on!” The masked men shout, also echoing and garbled;
barely comprehensible. Will tosses and turn more. The gun is fired again, Will tosses fitfully in bed, getting even more feverish; and again there is the
dead body of a young coloured man. “NO!!” At this, Will wakes, screaming in denial, sitting bolt upright in bed, and looking drained and
harrow....and very horrified considering this was just a dream....wasn’t it?
Panting and sweating profusely, and clearly unable to go back to sleep, Will goes out onto the porch. As he crouches down to fasten a boot lace he
is watched from the bushes by Alec. Will then gets to his feet again and steadies himself, before going for a walk in the swamp.
As he walks, voices and conversations are being replayed in his head, echoing menacingly; “What’s it gotta be, man....I gotta know where I
stand!....gonna keep quiet about this ‘cos that’s the way it is!....No one is going to get hurt....” All echoing and replaying through his mind as he
walks on, oblivious to his surroundings. He passes Alec, but never even sees him. “Will!” He calls out to his friend, who turns in a rage, implying that
he doesn’t appreciate the intrusion; “WHAT..what..what is it!!” he gives an aggressively dismissive shrug to Alec, annoyed at the intrusion into his
personal feelings. “Why don’t you tell me?” Alec replies calmly, but with concern. “I had a bad dream, OK? End of conversation...Leave me
alone!” he says with evasive irritation. “The swamp is no place for you when you’re like this. DON’T go out there.” Alec warns him. “Why don’t
you just focus on your own problems, huh?....” Will rants, as Alec watches him calmly; “This is personal. Last thing I need are your lectures!!” He
rants at Alec, before turning his back and storming off into the swamp. For now, Alec contents himself with watching him go.
As Will continues his seemingly aimless wandering, the voices in his head are getting louder and more oppressive. He hears his own name being
mentioned, and it all gets too much for him. He collapses to his knees, clutching his head and crying out for the voices to stop; “IT WASN’T MY
FAULT!!” He half screams, half cries. But the voices continue to taunt him. “Will?” Alec calls out again with concern, and Will looks up. “Alec? Is
that you?” His voice is softer now, more desperate, without the previous aggression. “Will.” Alec repeats, and Will gets to his feet, the anger
returning as he lashes out at a nearby clump of grass and looks around for Alec. “It’s you doing this, isn’t it!?” he accuses his friend. “The only one
doing anything is YOU.” Alec tries to explain; “I told you not to come here.” he reminds him of his previous warning. “You don’t know everything!
You don’t know what I’m going through!!” Will screams at him, close to tears. “It’s your dream....let it out!” Alec advises him. “I told you...that’s
MY business!” Will retorts. “Let it out!” Alec watches him for a moment before repeating his advice. In Will’s head, the voices immediately start up
again and he raises his hands in exasperation; “JOKE’S OVER, MAN!!” He cries out, again clutching his ears as if that’ll still the voices.
The Barry Manilow had been bad enough,
but this line dancing phase of Alec's was
getting beyond a joke. One more chorus
of 'Down and Dirty' and Alec was history!!
He turns and begins to run off in panic and anger. “I’m warning you, Will!” Alec reiterates, with more urgency this time; but Will’s paying him no
heed. Alec watches him walk deeper into the swamp.
As Will stumbles blindly on, his hands are still clutching his head. Words are echoing in his mind, taunting him; “Say it, Will!” keeps getting repeated.
He removes his hands from his head and continues on his way. Alec is still watching. “Come on...yeah...come on, Will!!” the voices cry out. Will
continues, unaware of anything else....including a concealed hole in the ground. With a scream of surprise, he suddenly finds himself falling down into
a cave type area below ground. As he tumbles over and down, he falls through an enormous spider web, before coming to rest on the ground with a
painful thud, gasping in shock.
Tressa was right. He *really* did need
to start cleaning his bedroom now and again!
He recovers from the fall, although he’s still lying on the ground. With disdain, he brushes away the pieces of web that are still sticking to him, then looks down at his leg. Crawling towards him, and very close, is a large, tarantula type spider. In his disgust, he lashes out and kills the little creature, messily throwing away it’s pulped body. That’s when he looks down again and sees that there are now five more of them. As he looks upwards, towards the main web, he sees another one glaring down at him: Huge and malevolent, with two burning red eyes....not at all like a natural spider would be. Surrounding this Queen spider are many other smaller ones: Spawn...or prey? It begins to move in it’s web, looking predatory.
Will was a tad disappointed.
He was sure Arcane was going to
make him a puppy for Christmas!
“No!” Will gives a cry, crawling backwards, recoiling from the web in his horror and fear. As he looks again at the Queen spider, the whole web and image seem to beginning spinning; and the image blurs and changes; until it’s the one seen earlier in his dream of the painted spider on pinball machine. Lights are flashing, and the sounds of an amusement arcade ring out, with shouting, cheering voices. Will is seeing a flashback to when he was in Philadelphia.
A welcome bit of relaxation for Will in
between his law and brain surgery classes
Will and three other young men are playing on a pinball machine in an arcade. One of them, Vinnie, is playing the machine, while Will and the others
cheer him on. But Vinnie loses early. “It’s stupid, man. It’s a rip-off!!” he snarls; and Will grins broadly, patting him on the back in friendly
commiseration. “Hey, hey, hey...step aside, Vin, let a pro show you how it’s done!” he brags to Vinnie, moving him aside Some friendly banter
ensues, and Will has his go....and clearly does a lot better than Vinnie. When he’s finished, Will turns to Vinnie and holds his hands up gloatingly;
“It’s all in the hands.” he boasts, wiggling his fingers. “Yeah, that’s what Cheryl Martin said!” Another of the young men to Will’s left interjects with
a grin. Behind the counter at the Arcade, the owner watches them with a look of mild amusement at the juvenile behaviour.
“You’re such a stud, Will boy!” The second youth quips sarcastically. The third man, standing behind them, seems to want Will to have another go.
“Check this out, man. Go for the record. Ten bucks says you can’t!” Comes the friendly wager. Will contemplates. “Hmmm, ten bucks, huh?” he
nods approvingly, before looking at the others; “You guys in?” “Yeah.” they all agree. “Okay.” he gently pats his fist down on the machine at the
done deal, and says, in a voice implying fools and their money being soon parted. He turns and goes over to the counter; “Let me get some
quarters.....Hey, Kev?” he calls to the man behind the counter, delving into his pockets; “Make it ten, huh?” He hands a note over. “Yeah.” the man
replies, looking in the register; “We’re running low....hang on.” He sees there isn’t enough change in the register and leaves Will as he goes over to a
safe in the far corner, behind the counter and on the floor. “You know I got to hand it to you, Kev;” Will tells him as the man crouches downs and
fiddles with the combination on the safe; “...you’ve really done some cool things with this place.” Will looks down at him, grinning; “The only reason
we used to come here at all was to sneak into the X rated video section!” he hides his head bashfully, laughing like a mischievous schoolboy. Kevin
looks up at him, smiling broadly, as Will continues to reminisce. “Oh gosh, old man Hanson; he really lost it a couple of times!” He grins at the fond
memories.
Behind them, the other three men are looking on, and a very different atmosphere and scene is being played out. There’s no lightheartedness here.
“Man, they have got to rake in close to a thousand bucks by closing time!” Vinnie says with rapt interest as he watches the safe being opened.
“Easy.” the second man concurs. “Have you sprung it on Will yet?” The third one, who seems less menacing, asks Vinnie with concern. “No...I
didn’t want to give him too much time to think about it.” Vinnie explains.
Back at the counter, Kevin returns with the change. “Well, I told him....putting in the arcade would triple his business....and he did.” He continues
his conversation with Will, who nods. “Got me my manager stripes.” Kevin adds happily. “Hey!...You deserve it.” Will tells him with genuine
appreciation, and Kevin thanks him, before Will turns to leave. Kevin calls him back; “Hey, by the way!....what’s with your friend, Vinnie? Looked
like he was going to smash that spider game a few minutes ago.” Will looks at the group of three friends by the machine; “He’s OK, man. He’s just
playing it tough. I’ve known him since I was about five.” Kevin doesn’t look convinced. “It’s a long time, man.” he warns. Will just shrugs;
“Ah...I’m survivin’ ” he quips, and they share a laugh before Will rejoins the group.
"Er, does this mean we're NOT
going apple stealing anymore?"
Later, outside on Jackson Street, Will and Vinnie are talking as they turn the street corner. The other two are walking behind them. “I can’t believe
you’re even saying this, Vinnie.” Will says in dismay. He’s obviously been told of the impending robbery. “Why not!?” Vinnie argues, shoving Will
with a basketball he’s carrying and giving it to Will; “It’s our time, Will. Everybody else is out there getting rich!” he sounds angry and frustrated.
“Great. Selling drugs....dying young!” Will retorts, giving the ball back to Vinnie. “Will, I’m talking about one hit, man!” Vinnie tries to make it sound
acceptable, as though it’s nothing important, as he tosses the ball back, where it’s caught by the second youth. “The arcade is perfect!” he catches
up to Will and places a hand on his shoulder; “Look, we’ll even use hoods, OK? Nobody will see us.” “Except US!” Will replies emphatically. “We
already decided, Will!” The second youth says angrily, bouncing the ball off the back of Will’s head. Will turns round angrily at this; “Yeah!? Well
nobody said anything about this to me!” He pauses and regards them all in amazement; “Man, this is NOT like stealing fruit from Mrs. Mullaney’s
stand down the street. This is major league robbery here!!” he tries to reason with them. “Yeah.” Vinnie nods, opening his jacket to show Will a
handgun concealed in there; “....we’re ready!” Will looks in disgust, and looks at them all again, as though they’ve suddenly become strangers to
him. “You in on this, Jase?” He finally asks the third of the men; the one who seems the most quiet and reasonable of the three. Jase pauses and
thinks, looking at Vinnie and the other man, before back at Will again. He nods; “Yeah.” he finally says, although not looking entirely happy with
things. Will looks at them all again, sighing and shaking his head; “What the hell is happening to you guys?” he tries reasoning again; “It’s not worth
it!!” he says emphatically; but his reasoning is met by aggression from Vinnie. “Where have you been, Will....huh?” he argues. “Same place as you
for twelve years!” Will retorts angrily, before turning and walking away from them. Vinnie follows, still trying to gain sympathy and convert Will to
their way of thinking; “Look at us, man! I mean you’ve got to work a crummy night job just to scrounge up spending money ‘cos your father ain’t
never around!....” Will ignores him and walks on; “...and mine split when I was two.” Vinnie continues with his ‘the world owes me a living’ spiel;
“Bobby’s parents are getting laid off all the time....” He points to the second man; “They gotta fight to get into employment lines....” Will casts a
quick glance back, but is still ignoring them, just walking on ahead; “....and Jase...We can’t forget about Jase, man. His dad never even crawls out
of a bottle!” Will finally stops; “....Alright, so you tell me, good buddy!...” Will turns to face Vinnie at this, as Vinnie continues his little speech;
“...good friend!....Is what we got right now worth it!?” Will just shakes his head at them all; “Vin, it’s not the answer.” he still tries reason. “You got
it all twisted, man.” “Will! NO ONE is going to get hurt!” Vinnie tries to reassure him again. “Like you can guarantee that!” Will says, undeterred,
and turns away again. Vinnie grabs him roughly by the arm, pulling him back. “Will! What’s it gonna be, man!? I gotta know where you stand!” He
says determinedly. “You’re talking about ending a friendship, Vinnie.” Will replies. “Uh uh...I’m talking about growing up!” is Vinnie’s harsh reply.
“Yeah?....Well count me out!!” Will snarls, pulling his arm out of Vinnie’s grasp angrily; his decision made. “That’s your choice, man...but you gotta
keep quiet about this, alright, ‘cos that’s the way it is!” They all stare at each other for long moments; Both sides judgmental: Will as though they’re
all dangerous strangers; the others as though he’s a weak willed traitor who could ruin them. “Huh?” Vinnie wants to know. Will regards them and
thinks of his answer. “One way.” he finally speaks; “....No bullets!” Vinnie looks at Bobby and contemplates, before reaching into his jacket and
pulling out the gun, which he empties. The bullets fall to the sidewalk. Will watches, and Vinnie looks at him expectantly; “Deal?” he asks. Will just
shakes his head in dismay; “I should have seen it coming.” he reproaches himself; “I never thought it’d be like this.” He gives an exasperated gesture
and turns and leaves; “You’ve lost me, Vinnie!” are his parting words. As he walks away, he hits a nearby wall in pent-up frustration.
When he’s gone, the group also look frustrated. Immediately, Vinnie bends down and retrieves the bullets, not intending for a second to keep his
word. He’s not looking happy though.
Will was faced with a tough choice!....Ignore a
robbery....betray your lifelong friends.....go get a pizza!!
Sometime later, at night, neither is Will. He’s sitting on some stone steps, looking pensive and agitated. He checks his watch: 22.51. Elsewhere, a
digital watch reads the same. “It’s almost time.” Bobby turns to a nervous looking Jase, who nods in agreement. They look round to see Vinnie,
who’s standing nonchalantly by the entrance to the arcade. The door opens and a youth walks out, casting Vinnie a glance as he walks past. When
he’s gone, Vinnie goes round the corner and joins the others. He unzips his jacket and grins broadly, whipping out a ski mask. “Let’s do it, man!”
With broad grins, Bobby follows suit. So does Jase, although he still looks more nervous than gleeful. With masks on, they rush round to the
entrance, Bobby getting the gun ready.
Meanwhile, Will is still in the alleyway, only now he’s standing up, agitated and pacing around. He seems to come to a decision, shaking his head a
little, and strides off with determination, reaching into his pocket for some change. He hurries to a payphone and puts the money it, but it appears to
be broken. In desperation he tries to beat it into working, but it’s useless. “Damn!” he curses, leaving the thing and running off as fast as he can.
It was a cunning way to raise money
.....Just as long as the Network didn't
recognise the producers in their masks
Meanwhile, in the arcade, Kevin is being forced at gunpoint to put cash from the register into a brown paper bag and hands it to the trio hurriedly.
“Alright....Now the safe!” he’s ordered, as they indicate towards said safe with the gun. Kevin pauses. “I SAID THE SAFE, MAN....NOW!!” one
of them screams at him. With his hands in the air as a gesture of submission, he complies, rushing over to the safe. “HURRY UP, MAN....OR I’LL
DROP YA!!” One of them yells at him, pointing the gun for emphasis as Kevin fiddles with the combination lock on the safe. He looks back at them
nervously.
Meanwhile, Will is running full speed towards the arcade, just like in the scene from his dream.
Back in the arcade, Kevin’s opened the safe and begins to retrieve the money. All three are watching him, all with guns pointed his way. Kevin gives
them an appraising look, as though contemplating something, then returns to the register. He pauses for a moment, before suddenly throwing the
money straight at them, scattering it all over the floor. In their confusion, as they try to pick it up, Kevin runs over to an alarm on the wall and
presses it. Alarm bells immediately start ringing. Bobby looks up, and without a second thought, fires the gun. The force of the bullet hitting him in
the chest hurls Kevin against the wall. With a gasp, he falls to the floor.
Outside, Will hears the alarm and pauses, before stepping up his efforts to get there. Back in the arcade, the group are picking the money up from
the ground. “JEEZ...VINNIE....WHAT DO WE DO!?” Jase yells in panic; “VINNIE!! JEEZ!!” One of them grabs him by the jacket and pulls him
with them as they make their escape from the arcade.
Outside, as they rip off their masks, they’re all in a panic. “What if he dies, man....what if he dies!?!?” Jase is close to tears. “Just. Shut. Up!!”
Vinnie snarls, and they run off. “Yeah!” Bobby gives a cry of glee at the bundle of cash in his hand. He doesn’t look too perturbed by what’s
happened.
As they run one way, Will is hurtling along the other, and they meet up. Will’s panicking and livid, telling them he heard a gunshot. “We gotta get out
of here!!....Into the alley!” Vinnie yells, bundling Will along with them. They all run off into the alleyway together.
"Er, guys... Can't we make the
peer pressure a little less violent?"
Once there, they pause for a moment as Will’s wanting to know what’s happened. “Bobby dropped Kevin!” Jase shouts out to him. “No!!” Will screams; and has to be restrained by the group. “Let go of me, man!!” Will yells, as they scuffle. “NO WAY!” Bobby screams, grabbing him by the jacket. “He could be dying in there!!” Will argues, but Bobby won’t let go; “No way!! You show your face and they’ll connect it to us!” “I can’t just let him die!!” Will screams, but he’s being restrained by Bobby and Vinnie. Jase is staying out of it. “The cops will deal with him, Will. He shouldn’t have resisted!” Vinnie snarls, manhandling Will. “Oh crock!” Will snarls back. “Let’s get real here, right! You knew what was going down in there, man; so they can finger you right along with us;” Vinnie snarls again; “So just wake up! We made a deal!!” “Yeah? Well you just broke it, so go to hell!!” Will screams a retort, breaking free of them; but they only grab him again. “I told you, Will. You gotta keep quiet, man. That’s the way it is!!” Vinnie reminds him threateningly. “Only in your dreams.” Will retorts. They shove him roughly back into the wall, then drag him around. There is a violent struggle, and Will is thrown around, and eventually he becomes entangled in some netting. The group are trying to get him to agree, but he’s struggling, repeating “No!” over and over.
Eeww!! Horrible big hairy thing.....
Good job the spider's quite cute!
Suddenly, in the netting, the whole scene shifts and begins spinning round....back to the present, the net becoming the sticky spiderweb again, which
Will frantically brushes off him, still crying out in denial. A spider crawls up to him as he struggles futilely. It climbs onto his leg. Will has become a
little calmer now, as the webbing is removed; but he looks down and sees the spider crawling up him. He gives a cry of pain as it bites him, and he
knocks it away....but the damage is done. As he looks down at his leg, his vision blurs as the venom takes effect. With exhaustion beginning to
overcome him, he looks back up at the giant web and the queen spider, still regarding him malevolently....and everything grows hazy.
As he tries to look round the cave, an apparition appears before him: It’s Kevin, standing there silently with a bullet wound in his white shirt. Almost
as though in a dream, or out of this reality, Will gets up and stares at Kevin. Both of them are blurred and pale....almost hazy and ethereal. He
stands before him, staring; “I...I’m sorry, man! The damn phone, it...it...it didn’t work...” he’s mumbling, rushing his words as the guilt pours out;
“The gun....you....you didn’t deserve it....um...I came here a couple of days later....” He continues his confession, but the Kevin apparition just
stares silently, inscrutable. “....became easier not knowing....” He can’t bring himself to look Kevin in the eye now; “I just hoped it’d go away.”
He’s almost in tears, and looks back at Kevin; “Look at your wound!” he moans, gently putting his fingers to it in shock; “it’s near your heart!” His
voice is breaking with remorse as he looks up at Kevin pleadingly; “Tell me what happened, Kev?” he needs to know; “Please tell me!!” he backs
off; but the apparition just shakes it’s head slowly; “I’m history, man!” is it’s monotone reply, before disappearing altogether.
"Now let's see....Are you Christmas
Past, Present or Future!?"
Will pauses in grief and looks down at his hands, and the blood covering them, clenching his fists, and his face contorting in anger and sorrow.
“NO!!” he yells, unable to bear it.
It was all a hallucination. When he comes round he’s still lying on the ground. When his vision focuses, he’s aware of Alec standing over him. He’s
still too weak to get up, and Alec goes over to him, kneeling down at his side and gently supporting him; “Be still. I must get rid of the poison.” he
tells Will, who mumbles something about the spiders. “This will help against the venom.” Alec tells him, holding out a leaf. “Wh...what’s happening?”
Will gasps in confusion. “The dream....now this.” “Face them, Will.” Alec answers. “Face who?” “Your demons. You’re haunted by the past. The
dream was no accident!” Alec tells him, as Will regains his strength.
Later, Will finally returns home. Tired, he goes onto the porch and opens the front door.... to find Vinnie waiting for him. “Hello, Willie boy! Long
time no see!” Vinnie gloats, as Will just stares long and hard in shock.
Inside the house, Bobby’s already there, and looking around the place. He starts by picking up an ornament from the fireplace: A delicate glass bell,
which he looks at with amusement, pinging the glass with his finger before going back up to Vinnie with a broad grin. “Yeah, I could get used to this,
man!” Vinnie grins, surveying the room like he’s about to move in. He walks past Will, who’s standing silent and rigid, then turns to him; “It’s kinda
like the club med of the swamp!” he quips. Jase is also there, seated on the sofa, playing with a litte ball that he keeps tossing in the air, and smiling
broadly. He seems relaxed; lacking the conscience and remorse seen earlier. Vinnie continues, saying how the place has no fuss....and no cops.
“So, you’re on the run?” Will deduces. You catch on fast, Will.” Bobby comments confidently, still playing with the glass bell; “you always were the
smart one.” he makes the compliment seem like an insult. “Well, what do you want from me?” Will exclaims with a huge shrug. “Oh, you know,
Willie boy!” Vinnie pats him on the back of the neck, and will turns sharply to face him; “A little hospitality.” Vinnie says simply. “And a place to
stay?” Will adds the obvious. “Forget it, man. You can’t stay here. You may as well just keep on running.” he refuses them coldly. “Why? So you
can call the cops?” Vinnie sneers. “I should have done that a year ago!” is Will’s reply. Jase is watching calmly, with quiet interest. “Yeah...yeah, but
you didn’t!” Vinnie gloats; “...and you won’t!” he says, pushing Will backwards, down into an armchair. He walks away and Will gets back up.
“What the hell did you guys do, anyway, huh?” he asks them. “Nothing much. Dozen armed robberies. No big deal.” Bobby replies casually. “Just
think. I saw you get your start right there at the video arcade.” Will comments to them. “We haven’t shot anyone else since, Will.” Jase tells him, as
though that makes it all right. “I mean Kevin shouldn’t have fought back, that’s all.” Jase’s tone has become callous and hardened. “They got you
snowed, Jase.” Will tells him with contempt. “Don’t go laying your trip on me, alright, Will! YOU wimped out!!” Jase turns to him, snapping in
anger and pointing emphatically. His resentment to Will’s attitude seems to belay some existing, repressed sense of guilt, unlike the others. Jase gets
up in anger and walks away from Will, who stares at them all; “I can’t believe what’s happened to you guys!” he gasps, unable to comprehend what
they’ve become; “Well you would if you’d stayed.” Vinnie tells him; “We hit our stride, man!” he beams; “I mean stereo CD players....” Will
continues to stare and Bobby grins broadly, although Jase looks reserved; “....threads that you would not believe, my friend....” “Don’t forget about
the shoes!” Bobby interjects, gloating childishly over four pairs of pump trainers he’s stolen....four different colours! “Put down the vase, Bobby.
That belongs to my step mother.” is Will’s only reply to him; but Bobby just grins contemptuously, looking at the glass bell again. “Huh....can’t really
fence it anyway.” Bobby sneers, dropping it to the floor where it shatters on some metal weights that Will has obviously been training with
previously. Will immediately advances angrily on them, but Bobby pulls a gun on him, halting him in his tracks. Bobby grins at what he perceives to
be his superiority, but Will shows nothing but contempt; “Yeah, you really did hit your stride, didn’t you, huh?” he says sardonically; “How good are
you when you’re not hiding behind that thing?” he challenges Bobby. “Yeah, well at least we had the guts to do something, Will. You ran out on
your friends.” Will shakes his head. “What happened, Vin? Man, we were just a bunch of guys hanging out on Jackson Street...we never hurt
anybody!” he still seems to think reason will work. “Times change, Will.” Vinnie says coldly; “....that’s the way it is!” Bobby’s grinning at this.
“Man, do they ever?” Will sighs in dismay.
“Let’s hit the fridge, man, I’m....I’m hungry.” Bobby suggests to Vinnie with a friendly pat on the arm. “There’s nothing in. I don’t keep much food
around.” Will tells them. Bobby gives a menacing smile. “Hey, Vin!?” he turns and pats him with the gun; “know that store we saw coming in? It
said ‘Swamp Fish convenience store’.” He’s looking at Will now as he’s speaking, not Vinnie; as though he’s taunting him; “open all night!” Vinnie
nods slightly. “Yeah.” “Well what do you say we hit it?” he suggests. Jase looks pensive. “I thought you guys said you had cash?” Will questions
them. “We had to leave kind of fast.” Vinnie replies. “Man, I got some money. I...I’ll go into town. I’ll see if I can find a place. I won’t say anything
either.” Will says nervously, desperate: Anything to stop them robbing the store. “You’re right, Will....you won’t!” Bobby says confidently, moments
before his fist lashes out and sends Will crashing to the floor.
"Aw gee, guys! I thought the script said
male bonding....not male bondage!"
“THAT WAS STUPID, MAN!!” Vinnie is angry at Bobby’s action; “Find us some rope!!” flustered, he orders Jase, who complies. “You know,
Bobby, one of these days you’re gonna get us killed!!” he’s finally livid with Bobby’s mindless brutality and capacity for recklessness. “He’s our
enemy now, VIN! You gotta forget he was ever our friend!” Bobby retorts, as Jase returns. Bobby storms out, as Vinnie turns angrily to Jase;
“Help me tie him!” He snarls, as they crouch down and Vinnie binds Will’s hands behind his back with the rope. He’s none too gentle, and Will
gives a grunt of pain. “Guys, guys, come on....HURRY UP!” Bobby shouts to them, eager to be off. Vinnie finishes tying Will’s bonds, and with
more shouts of ‘hurry up’, they leave. Will strains to look back at them go, struggling vainly with the rope holding him.
As he looks back, he sees the broken glass from the bell, only a few feet away from him. Getting an idea, he crawls over to it, with his back to the
glass, and manages to pick up a shard, which he uses to begin cutting the rope.
It isn’t long before he’s free, and rushing out of the house in pursuit. He goes straight to his jeep, but to his dismay, finds the tyre flat. He
immediately sets off running, but Alec is blocking his way.
"NO! I don't care if you have saved
my life in the past, Alec! No way I'm I
going to be your partner for the 'Tush Push'!!"
“Will. You can’t go after them.” he warns. “The hell I can’t!” Will tells him in no uncertain terms; “I’m the only one who knows how to deal with
them!” “It’s too dangerous. Tell me where they’re going?” Alec tries to dissuade him, but Will’s having none of it; “No! No, for the first time in my
life I’m going to take care of business. I have to do this, Alec!” “TELL ME!” Alec demands to know. “NO!!” Will tells him back, even more
resolute; “I can’t always depend on you.” he decides, running past Alec, towards the store. Having no choice, Alec contents himself with watching
his friend go. “Be careful, Will.” he gives a final, concerned warning when Will’s out of earshot.
A car pulls up outside the convenience store, and the three youths get out eagerly, donning their hoods and rushing into the store. Meanwhile, Will is
running through the swamp after them. As he does so, we see the similar image of when he was going through the same scenario, running along
Jackson Street.
In the store, the old proprietor is being held at gunpoint. Meanwhile, outside, Will has arrived and comes around the side of the store where he
approaches a window. Back inside, Vinnie’s holding the gun as Jase and Bobby help themselves to the contents of a shelf on the far wall. Outside,
Will edges to the window to look in.
“Nothing’s gonna happen, old man.” Vinnie tries to reassure the decidedly worried looking proprietor. “Just sit back and enjoy the ride!” he
advises, as the others ransack the store. Will’s looking in, deciding on a plan of action. “Hurry up, you guys!” Vinnie orders the other two, and Will
runs round to the back of the store. As the shelf is being hurriedly emptied, Vinnie addresses the proprietor; “Alright. Get the money out of the
register!” he orders. As more cries of ‘come on, hurry up’ are called out, nobody sees Will sneaking in behind the counter, through a curtain to the
back door.
“Do NOT test me, old man!....hurry up, you guys!” Vinnie snarls, as the proprietor pauses. Grudgingly, the old man goes into the register and starts
to collect the money. Will watches from his vantage point, spotting a handgun behind the counter. Carefully, he edges forward on his belly, towards
it. The youths are preoccupied and still trying to hurry themselves along. Will’s almost made it to the gun and reaches for it....
"FREEZE, DIRTBAGS!!......
Heh heh....Always wanted to say that!"
“Come on, guys! Hurry up!” Vinnie shouts again, holding the gun out ahead of him and the others are still at the shelf. Suddenly, Will springs up from behind the counter, pointing the gun straight at Vinnie. “Drop the gun, Vinnie....NOW!” he orders calmly.
Jase and Bobby suddenly contemplate an
alibi involving claiming to be trick or treaters
Jase and Bobby turn in mute shock, but Vinnie just laughs; “You ain’t got the guts, Willie boy!” he sneers. Will’s answer is to shoot a bullet, without
hesitation, through the window, near Vinnie; “I’ll do what I have to do!” Will says determinedly, and Vinnie loses the smile on his face, lowering and
dropping the gun to the floor and raising his hands in a gesture of surrender. However, behind Will, Bobby sees his chance and pulls out his gun,
aiming it at Will, who fortunately sees him in time, and swiftly shoots him in the stomach. Vinnie uses the moment of confusion to make a run for it,
and Will is distracted by a pile of fishing rods falling on him. He brushes them aside, and hands the gun to the proprietor; “Hey....hold this on ‘em.”
he tells the man, before rushing after Vinnie, leaving a very awkward looking old man!
“VINNIE!!” Will yells, running out of the store. Vinnie turns and removes his mask, glaring at Will, who’s ready for a fight. “Give it up, man!” Will
orders him. “I could always take you!” Vinnie snarls back. “It’s over, Vinnie.” Will replies, ready for him. Meanwhile, Alec arrives on the scene and
watches the ensuing confrontation.
“It’s too late!” Vinnie smiles evilly, producing a knife and brandishing it at Will. He lunges twice, but comes nowhere near. Alec watches, and as he
does so, the spiders seen earlier are gathering on the ground. Vinnie makes another couple of unsuccessful lunges with the knife, his face contorted
in both eagerness and anger. Alec continues to summon the spiders.
All of a sudden, Vinnie looks down in horror to see all the spiders crawling up his leg. Will just watches as Vinnie tries desperately to brush them
off, backing off, completely forgetting Will in his panic. When he’s managed to get them off, he sees a ladder and leaps onto the bottom rung to stop
any more climbing onto him. Alec watches in satisfaction. “You had enough face man!?” Will taunts. “You keep those away from me, man!!” Vinnie
screams angrily....with more than a hint of fear. Will shakes his head; “Swamp separates good from evil.” he tells him with confidence and wisdom;
“....that’s just the way it is.....down here!” he uses Vinnie’s own words against him as the other man stares helplessly down from the ladder. Will
smiles in triumph at the now deflated Vinnie.
His job done, Alec watches in approval, before disappearing back into the swamp.
Some time later, Will is outside, working on a boat engine, concentrating hard. “You sure didn’t learn that in Philly.” A voice addresses him. He
looks up....to see Kevin standing over him, laughing. His eyes widen, and he can’t believe what he’s seeing. He seems transfixed in bewilderment
for long moments. “Kevin!?....Tell me I’m not dreamin’?” He shakes his head in total astonishment. Kevin shakes his head, smiling; “You’re not
dreaming.” he obliges. “That’s impossible, man. I thought you were dead!” he gasps, getting to his feet and approaching Kevin. “This mosquito
ridden air has gotten to you, Will.” Kevin quips. “More like a spider bite.” Will gasps, before mumbling that his comment meant nothing, knowing
Kevin wouldn’t understand. He’s still bewildered; “But Kevin, you....” he starts to say, but Kevin finishes for him; “I was pretty badly wounded in
the robbery, but, er, emergency room medics....they saved me.” he shrugs. “I’m okay, man!” he exclaims, and Will’s face breaks into a look of
unbridled joy as they hug each other closely.
"Er, Will......Is this sub-text?"
"No, Kev. We leave that to Arcane
......This is just '90s male bonding."
Still beaming in happiness, they break apart, still holding each other by the arms; “How did you find me!?” Will exclaims. “Well, it’s kind of strange.
I got a message from a Dr., er, Alec Holland. He didn’t leave a number, but he told me where you were....said you needed to see me.” he shrugs.
Will laughs again, unable to contain his delight; “I sure as hell did!!” he shouts, as they put arms round each other’s shoulders and walk off together,
happily reminiscing and catching up on what’s been going on in a deep and happy conversation, as soft rain falls on the now peaceful swamp.