The Trial of the Ancestors Hideout Competition

"Arapeta's Tale"


EXT. VILLAGE BONFIRE - NIGHT

The Karui elder smiles with his eyes at the little girl sitting in front of him. With her eyes bright with moonlight, her face dancing with the light from the bonfire, she looks up at him with anticipation. He begins.

FADE TO BLACK

THE TALE (told with the rich, quavering voice of the Karui elder)

SCENE - THE DISTANT PAST

Arapeta was always destined for something more. To follow in his father's footsteps wasn't enough for him. He wanted more than the simple life of his people. He wanted power. He would give anything, do anything, to have it, to wield it. He wanted fame and riches. More. The Gods weren't real, he told himself.

However, the traveling merchant - his face in shadow - his eyes glowing red with the light of the fire - told tales of treasures, and wonders, beyond the islands. Arapeta was transfixed with his eyes, like rubies, and his wares, his stories, but even more with what they suggested. Gold and gems and ancient baubles - these were real. They called to him. 'Out there' called to him.

Or was it something more?

Arapeta left his homeland scarcely more than a boy. Against all odds, he survived. But Arapeta's hunger to advance was incessant, always growing, burning - his apetite insatiable. He grew, almost as quickly as his designs and desires.

SCENE - THE PAST

This was his way. Riches, power, influence - always doubling, but never enough. Arapeta grew his fortune. More, more, and more still, he schemed and scraped his way to success.

SCENE - THE RECENT PAST

Success? Why did he feel more empty with every passing day?

The fortress was purchased from a hooded, haunting figure in the dark of night. The transaction was unnerving. Were his eyes glowing? No, Arapeta assured himself - just a trick of the light from the lantern.

Desperation drove Arapeta now. The emptiness inside crawled and creeped. With his confidence faltering, Arapeta commissioned the remodeling of his new abode, furnishing the cold empty corridors with the rich, deep hues and Karui designs of his homeland, reminding him of home and family. He missed them now. Why had he left them?

SCENE - PRESENT

Every night, as Arapeta lie awake, unable to sleep, the signs became more clear. A creaking door. A shadow flitting past, always just out of view. A chilling presence. The stench of rot.

Arapet's destiny clicked into place with an almost audible chime. You see, all along, Arapeta's plan was never never really his own. Something more brought him here, bought him, here.

When, finally, Arapeta stared into the glowing red eyes floating above his sweat-soaked sheets - the hooded, haunting presence in the dark of 'this' night looming over him - he finally understood. He was wrong - so very wrong all these years.

The Gods are real.

The Father of Chaos, Kitava the Insatiable, is real.

FADE TO BLACK, with the vampire's low, guttural laugh

SCENE - VILLAGE BONFIRE - NIGHT

With eyebrows raised, the elder looks down upon the little girl, her eyes so large that they seem to swallow her face. She sits in front of him, ever so still, and clearly frightened. He crinkles his nose at her, patting her head.

KARUI ELDER
Did you learn something from this tale? You see, Arapeta was not a believer and this left him vulnerable to Kitava's touch. Remember, love, the Gods are real and are to be respected , even Kitava........and nothing is more important than family. Run along now little one. No more scary stories tonight else you may not sleep.

The little girl smiles up at the elder, but her smile doesn't reach her eyes. She stands and begins to run to bed. But, as she leaves the light and heat of the fire, she runs faster.

END