Love Nest

Happy Monday, 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 12 of Frankenstein In Love, agent Beck Driver from the CDC goes to the city morgue to examine the dead rat that Frankie brought back to life. Meanwhile, down in his basement lab, Frankie has his first 'date' with his crush Shayla, the dead cheerleader he brought back to life ...


INT. MORGUE - DAY
Cold, sterile. Right out of Quincy.
Chet and Beck stand next to the
MEDICAL EXAMINER (50’s),
a tall, bird-like chap.

Wisps of white hair fleck a bald head.
Piercing eyes like steel.

MEDICAL EXAMINER
Most unusual.
We don’t usually handle animals.

He goes to a steel drawer.
They follow him.

He slides it open to reveal --
a tangled mess of blood, bones and
fur in a glass case marked ‘biohazard.’

BECK
Jesus. What HAPPENED to it?

CHET
I shot it, but it kept coming at me.
I finally got the little fucker by
smashing his skull in with my nightstick.

MEDICAL EXAMINER
I’ve never seen anything
like it in my entire career.
It was dead -- but still moving around.

BECK
And you know that from
examining a tissue sample?

MEDICAL EXAMINER
Indeed. It died twelve hours
before the nightstick incident.

CHET
(looks at Beck)
What do you think?
How could this have happened?

BECK
It would seem that someone --
brought it back to life.

CHET
Brought it back --

MEDICAL EXAMINER
To LIFE?

BECK
Yeah. I need to take it back to
Washington and run some tests on it.

CHET
This used to be such a sleepy little town.
Now all this crazy shit’s going on.

BECK
What else is going on?

CHET
The head cheerleader was killed
in a hit and run. And then abducted.

BECK
She was abducted AFTER she was killed?

CHET
Yeah. What? You look -- strange.

BECK
If this means what I think it means --

MEDICAL EXAMINER
Are you thinking what I’m thinking?

INT. FRANKIE’S BASEMENT LAB - NIGHT
The sickly-sweet shag carpet
‘soft rock’ sound of Bread’s
I WANT TO MAKE IT WITH YOU over --

Frankie and Shayla, sitting at a
small card table having a candlelit dinner
of fish sticks and sparkling cider.

He wears a sport coat. Shayla, one
of Frankie’s mother’s old dresses.
And tons of garish make-up, poorly applied.

She turns her head to look at something,
and the scarf that hides her
smashed-in skull slips off.

Frankie barely notices.

FRANKIE
So I said to Josh,
‘I said nitrate, NOT titrate.’

He chuckles, pleased with his joke.
Shayla cocks her head.
Pokes at her food with her fork.

SHAYLA
Don’t -- understand.

FRANKIE
Silly me. I’m sorry.
Let’s talk about something else.

The song ends. The mix segues
into The Carpenter’s CLOSE TO YOU.

Shayla recognizes it.
JUMPS UP from her chair.

SHAYLA
I love -- this song.

She starts awkwardly moving to the music.
Gives Frankie her best ‘come hither’ look.

SHAYLA
(sings along)
Just like me, they want to be -- close to you --
(to Frankie)
Come -- dance with me.

Frankie gets up. Goes to her.
They start slow dancing.

You know the kind.
That classic high school dance,
rocking back and forth, holding
onto each other for dear life.

SHAYLA
(touches his hair)
You saved me.
(looks down)
Oooh. Looks like -- somebody’s
getting -- excited.

FRANKIE
Sorry --

SHAYLA
It’s -- okay. It means --

Frankie’s body JERKS.

FRANKIE
Oh, man.
(beat)
I’m sorry.

SHAYLA
It’s okay.
(beat)
I think I’m used to it.

FRANKIE
I’m really sorry, Shayla.
You’re so beautiful, I --

ANGLE ON --

A long extension cord on the floor,
plugged into another one.

We see the wires near one of
the plugs is frayed.
She steps on it, and --

SHAYLA
Gets ZAPPED with electricity. ZZZZZZZZ.

She JUMPS.
PULLS BACK from Frankie,
in shock. Literally.

SHAYLA
YOW.

FRANKIE
(looks down)
Omigod, I’m so sorry.
I meant to fix that.
Are you okay?

SHAYLA
Okay?
(eyes glowing)
I feel fucking FANTASTIC.

FRANKIE
But you just got shocked --

SHAYLA
Hell, yeah. I’m on FIRE, baby.
I haven’t felt this good since --

She looks around the room.

SHAYLA
There’s no windows.

FRANKIE
Well, yeah. It’s a basement.

SHAYLA
(pouts)
I want a view.

FRANKIE
A view.

SHAYLA
Yeah. It’s claustrophobic.

FRANKIE
Well, we can’t have that.

He stares off into space, thinking. Then --

FRANKIE
I’ve GOT IT.
It’ll be PERFECT.
The TREE HOUSE.

SHAYLA
Tree house?

FRANKIE
Yeah.
(beat)
Can you say ‘love nest?’