cast of characters

  • ‘KEVIN MARSCAPONE’

aspiring spellcaster after curing self of Vampirism

  • ‘VINCENT MARSCAPONE’

KEVIN’s father

  • ‘MORGYN EMBER’

Sage of Untamed Magic

// OPEN VISUAL //

ACT 3

K.MARSCAPONE TOWNHOUSE

It is an overcast fall day. KEVIN MARSCAPONE is in his house painting. Ever since accepting the Cure, the young man has been plagued by near-persistent anxiety. Where the thirst for blood has left him, in its place remains an emptiness of purpose he hopes he can soothe away.

His father, VINCENT, is deceased, but he lives on in KEVIN’s shadow as the Prince of Dream, much like a ghost, continuing to tutor the young CEDRIC in the art of controlling and interpreting the whims of Elysion, the world of Dream.

His mother, MYRTLE, a spellcaster of some reknown, has been tutoring him in the art of magic and incantation, a discipline that was forbidden to him earlier in life.

But today no such tutoring session fills his time. Instead, he seeks the solace of silence inside the four walls of his family townhouse.

KEVIN spent his short childhood before the Curse within these four walls, though it looks very different to him now. He’s decorated the walls with his own paintings and filled the empty air with a grand piano. It is a place he’s come to appreciate as he resumes the quest for quiet mortality.

His mother contends that even now he need not accept the necessity of death, but her pleas have mostly fallen on deaf ears as KEVIN has been loathe to research his own potion of youth.

It has been about a month since his mother took him to the Magic Realm for the first time since beginning his instruction. There, they met the Sage MORGYN EMBER, who gifted KEVIN a glimmerstone, one he noted was his own.

Today he is preparing a grilled cheese sandwich – when his phone buzzes with incoming text messages.

MORGYN//

Hey Kev -

Are you free for tea today?

At this he can feel the heat of his father’s presence flare up.

VINCENT//

Tea? You're joking me, right? He's joking, right?

KEVIN

NO DAD, I DON’T THINK SO.

‘kssss…’ from the pan when KEVIN flips his fried sandwich.

VINCENT//

What sort of blabbering did your mother get you into this time.

KEVIN

SHE’S NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO KNOWS.

VINCENT//

So you don't think it was her.

KEVIN

I DIDN’T SAY THAT. JUST, IT’S POSSIBLE. WE DON’T KNOW.

VINCENT//

I'm beginning to think this whole thing was a bad idea.

KEVIN

YOU STUDIED INCANTATIONS WHEN YOU WERE YOUNG.

VINCENT//

The stakes weren't as high then.

KEVIN remains silent for a moment.

VINCENT//

You don't need the Sages.

You don't need your mother.

You're good enough without them.

I know it, you know it.

KEVIN

I DON’T KNOW ANYTHING.

Again, the temperature of the kitchen rises a few degrees.

KEVIN

MY SANDWICH IS DONE.

VINCENT//

I wish you wouldn't eat this shit.

It's not good for you.

KEVIN

IT’S MY FAVORITE FOOD.

VINCENT//

It is not your favorite food.

It's what your mother made for you on your last day.

KEVIN

AND?

The phone buzzes again.

MORGYN//

Hey Kev

Hey Kev

if no tea, how about a steak dinner?

orange you glad you eat mud not blood

KEVIN tries to stay calm, but his father, the ghost in the machine, starts to flare up in anger. When this happens, all the mechanical pieces of KEVIN, most notably his pacemaker, begin to heat up and cycle quickly.

He starts to lose his breath as his chest tightens. The phone buzzes again.

VINCENT//

DON'T!