CEDRIC’S BASEMENT


CEDRIC wakes up again. A ringtone is going off to a familiar tune.

𝄞 oh-kla-home-ah 𝅘𝅥


He lets it play to completion before shutting it off. A moment of meditation, CEDRIC draws air into his lungs and flushes it out again.

STRAUD//


After dressing in his familiar garb, CEDRIC reflects for a moment, looking toward an empty mirror.



OUTSIDE KEVIN’S HOUSE


CEDRIC knocks on the door. He looks around anxiously, squinting. The ground is covered in bright, clean winter snow.

AGAIN, he knocks on the door, but louder and more insistent. A throng of children behind him are collecting at a bus-stop.

CEDRIC

KEV? YOU IN THERE?


(Silence.)

….

Time passes without any input from the house. CEDRIC shifts about uncomfortably. The snow continues to sparkle.

CEDRIC

KEVIN?!


(Still silence.)

CEDRIC fumbles in his pocket for his cellphone. He looks at the screen and begins to enter a string of numbers when the door falls open.

He drops the burner on the ground and rushes into the house.

The house is sparsely decorated despite numerous paintings hanging on the tan walls. It is darkly lit; some major features include two large easels, a drying rack, and a grand piano set in the center of the snug room. A pale orange couch has corners that have been destroyed, presumably by a cat.

KEVIN MARSCAPONE has fainted on the floor of the apartment. He is laying messily on his right side, away from the icy light trickling in through the back window. CEDRIC is quickly shocked and rushes to check the vitals of the man.

He presses his fingers against the neck artery.

BOOUM BOOUM BOOUM.

(the heartbeat is erratic and unsteady but maintains a certain confidence.)

CEDRIC turns KEVIN on his back and pulls him upward, gently attempting to shake him awake.

CEDRIC

VINCE? KEV? YOU IN THERE?


SILENCE. His jaw hangs slack, lips dry and cracked.

CEDRIC

KEVIN?? MAN, YOU CAN’T CHUG THOSE PLENTIFUL NEEDS POTIONS –


KEVIN closes his mouth and moistens his lips.

KEVIN

(eyes still closed after a pause) CUZ… THEY’LL START… TO REPEAT ON YOU…

CEDRIC

(sigh of relief, then a gentle chuckle.) HEH…

KEVIN

(weakly) OK.