Rabbit-Forming

Happy Tuesday, crime slicksters. It's time once again to take a trip to the dark side, where the girls are hot, the drinks are cold, and the hardboiled-pulp-noir action is non-stop, right here, at the coolest crime joint in cyberspace ... at That Killing Feeling.

In Chapter 29 of THE INVISIBLE GIRL, homicide detective Hart Klavan, rookie patrolwoman Lane Diamond and Bettie's father Bernard conduct an experiment that reveals that not only has Bernard's formula made Bettie invisible, it will also kill her. Meanwhile, Bettie and Lonny get busy in the bedroom ...


INT. UNIVERSITY LAB - NIGHT
Hart and Lane stand
next to Bernard and Fleming.

Lane holds the laser-tracker
in her palm.

LANE
So I just point and aim it?

BERNARD
Indeed. It tracks a low-level
radioactive isotope in the formula.

HART
Pretty fancy stuff.

BERNARD
Please, you must hurry.
We need to find her right away.
We don’t have much time.

HART
Why do you say that?

FLEMING
We’ve just discovered that
the formula slowly makes
the person who took it go insane --
and then KILLS them.

Suddenly the rabbit cage
starts BANGING behind them.

LANE
What’s THAT?

BERNARD
Bugs. A rabbit I gave the formula to.
He’s become QUITE
unstable, very agitated --
and his appetite has
gone out of control.
(beat)
Which would explain
my poor daughter’s behavior.
I assure you she normally
wouldn’t harm a fly.

The BANGING gets LOUDER.

HART
What’s happening now?

BERNARD
He does this when he wants to eat.
He’ll bang his head on the cage
until he’s exhausted
and then passes out.

LANE
Then why don’t you feed him?

BERNARD
Because today he’s already
eaten what a normal
animal would in a week.
I simply can’t.
His stomach would explode.
(beat)
Please. You must hurry.
Time is of the essence.
If we don’t give her
a blood transfusion
within the next twenty-four
hours, she’ll die.

The banging stops. They all look.
Bernard goes to the cage.
Puts on a heavy glove.

Slowly, carefully opens a small door.
Puts his hand in. Feels around.

BERNARD
Oh, dear.

HART
What’s wrong?

PUSH IN ON Bernard’s face. Freaked out.

BERNARD
He’s -- dead.

INT. LONNY’S FATHER’S BEDROOM - NIGHT
Lonny lies in bed with a big smile
on his face smoking a cigarette.

Next to him is a giant
Cosco-sized box of cookies.

One by one, they FLY UP
out of the box and disappear.

LONNY
That was -- incredible.

BETTIE (V.O.)
You came in like two seconds.

LONNY
It was my first time.

BETTIE (V.O.)
Gee, you think so?

He frowns. Stares off into space.
Thinking. Then remembers.

LONNY
My father --

BETTIE (V.O.)
(ominous)
Ah, yes.
We have to figure out
how to dispose of him.

LONNY
What do you mean?

BETTIE (V.O.)
Well, we can’t just let him rot
on the living room floor
like a beached whale --
(beat)
BWAHAHAHA --