Bullet Time

Hey there, crime kids. Happy Monday. It's time once again to take a trip to the dark side, where your most violent fantasies become sins of the flesh, right here, where the hardboiled action is non-stop, at the coolest crime joint in cyberspace ... at That Killing Feeling.

In Chapter 41 of SPIRAL, after breaking her nose in a horrific drunk-driving accident, adult film star Savannah is found dead in her garage, a single gunshot to the head. The media goes into a frenzy, as does her surviving friends Andy and Dex ...


EXT. SHANNON'S HOUSE/AERIAL VIEW - NIGHT
A half-dozen police cars SWARM
the house, sirens WAILING.

A helicopter THUNDERS across the roof,
it's spotlight SWEEPING across the road
over to the fence, then back to the house.
An ambulance opens its doors.

INT. GARAGE - NIGHT
A group of EMS TECHNICIANS
descend on Shannon's lifeless body sprawled
on the cement floor next to the Corvette.

All we can see is a pair of beautiful legs
wearing white vinyl ankle boots.

MONTAGE -- NATIONAL TELEVISION COVERAGE
"Inside Edition:"

MALE ANCHOR
Last night in Hollywood,
world-famous adult film star
Savannah's lifeless body was found
in her garage at 2:30 AM,
a single gunshot wound to the head...

"Hard Copy:"

FEMALE ANCHOR
...Savannah, whose legal name was Shannon Wilsey,
died at 11:06 the following morning.
Life support was terminated after
it was determined that her
brain had ceased activity.
She was twenty four years old...

"American Journal"

MALE ANCHOR NO. 2
...She had been linked romantically
with a veritable who's who of the music world,
including Slash of Guns N' Roses.

CLOSE UP OF SHANNON WITH SLASH

MALE ANCHOR NO. 2
...Rapper and Calvin Klein
underwear model Marky Mark...

BRIEF FILM CLIP OF SHANNON WITH MARKY MARK
WAVING TO THE CROWD AT THE GRAMMIES.

"Entertainment Tonight:"

MARY HART
...But perhaps the love
of her life was Paulie Shore.
ET has an exclusive interview
with Paulie, who...

INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - MORNING
Super: 11:06 AM.

Shannon's lifeless body
lays on a hospital bed
connected to a life support system.

A monitor chirps a slow,
steady BEEP, BEEP, BEEP...

Two NURSES set about unplugging
the various machinery.

One of them FLIPS a switch.
The BEEPING stops.

The wavy line on a monitor
FLIPS to a thin, flat horizon.

NURSE NO. 1
She was so young. So young.

NURSE NO. 2
She was so pretty.
You say she was an actress?

CLOSE UP OF SAVANNAH POSTER
"Savannah" wears a white swim suit and large,
white angel's wings.

The camera pulls back to reveal -

INT. OFFICE - DAY
The poster is tacked up
in Andy's cubicle at work.

Super: 9:30 AM.
Andy is talking on the phone.

ANDY
What?

A beat. He listens.
Static SHOUTING is heard on the phone.

ANDY
Calm down, calm down, calm down...

SPLIT SCREEN OF ANDY AND DEX
Dex sits on the floor of his bedroom,
huddled in a blanket,
a cocktail next to him on the floor.
He looks ghostly, haunted.

DEX
She's dead, Andy, she's dead.

ANDY
What?

DEX
She shot her self in the head,
in the fucking head!

Dex takes a bullet out of his pocket
and SNORTS a couple of hits.

DEX
I gotta see you, can you come over?

Andy looks at his watch, then his desk.

ANDY
Fuck.
(pause)
I can't. I gotta shitload of work.
I'm on warning, it's a long story,
I just haveta get this done.

DEX
But I gotta see you.

Andy's in shock, confused, horrified.
He shifts into autopilot.
Tears momentarily frozen.

ANDY
I gotta go Dex. Calm down. Have a drink.

DEX
But --

ANDY
DEX. I'll call you the second I get home --