Till Death Do Us Part

Hey there, crime kids. 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 29 of FRANKENSTEIN IN LOVE, we reach the exciting conclusion of our story, where science genius nerd Frankie Stein has his final showdown with dead cheerleader Shayla Petrie ... and childhood love Vita Heck.


EXT. THE OLD MILL - ROOF - NIGHT
Frankie and Shayla hear the gunfire.
Look down.

Shayla inches forward
toward the edge of the roof.

SHAYLA
What are those people doing here?

FRANKE
(grabs her hand)
Careful, don’t fall --

SHAYLA
(WHIPS her hand away)
I told you not to TOUCH ME --

ON THE GROUND
Red-Faced aims his rifle at Frankie.

RED-FACED REDNECK
C’mon, PEOPLE.
Let’s take out that FREAK.

The vigilantes all start FIRING.

ON THE ROOF
Shayla PUSHES Frankie over the side.

FRANKIE
HEY --

He FLIES DOWN toward the windmill.
GRABS onto one of the giant, rotating
blades, which slowly starts taking him down.

Bullets FLY through the air.
Start HITTING Shayla.

Her body JERKS like a puppet
without strings in a dance of death.

ON THE GROUND
Beck, Chet and other cops
MOW DOWN the vigilantes
with a SPRAY OF GUNFIRE.

ON THE ROOF
Shayla’s body is riddled
with a hundred bullets.

She holds her stomach with both hands.
Weaves back and forth at the
edge of the roof. Looks down.

SHAYLA
I don’t feel so --

She falls off the side,
PLUMMETS DOWN --

ON THE GROUND
And HITS the soft earth
with a sickening THWUMP.

SHAYLA
Good.

She slowly closes her eyes.
Finally at peace.

DEL DUNN
Looks into the TV camera.
Tears in her eyes.

DEL
Oh, the humanity.
Words can’t describe the horror.
To see young love cut to ribbons
by bullets -- I -- I --
(chokes back a sob)
Even after death,
life can be so fragile.
(blinks her eyes rapidly)
This is Del Dunn,
on the scene at The Old Mill,
where a young girl’s
hopes and dreams have ended --
(beat)
A second time.

The camera light shuts OFF.

LARGE CAMERAMAN
That was GREAT.

DEL
(brightly)
Pulitzer Prize, here I come.

TWO COPS
Bring Frankie over to Chet and Beck.
He’s been handcuffed.
Looks anguished. Distraught.

CHET
Do you realize the
TROUBLE you’ve caused,
young man?

FRANKIE
I know --
(beat)
Am I -- going to jail?

CHET
You bet your ass you are.

BECK
Hold on.
I need to take him back to DC.

CHET
But what about his friend?
The dead body in his car?

BECK
You can have him
after we’re done with him.
(off his look)
Do you realize what he’s accomplished
can do for medical science?

CHET
(to the cops)
Uncuff him.

One of the cops shrugs.
Starts taking off the cuffs.

BECK
You can come with, if you want.
I’d love to have your report
as part of my investigation.

CHET
Really.

BECK
Really.

CHET
But my wife --

BECK
I won’t make you
sleep on the couch.

They keep talking as CAMERA
moves in on Frankie and Vita.

FRANKIE
You look -- different.

VITA
Finally decided to lose the
tomboy/geek/Juno thing.
Wasn’t getting results.
(coy)
You like?

FRANKIE
(shy)
I’d click the Like Button.

Pause.

VITA
Why did you do it, Frankie?
Didn’t you know I’ve been here
for you all along?
(off his look)
What made you choose her over me?

FRANKIE
I don’t know.
(beat)
I was -- stupid.
I was -- chasing what was unavailable.

VITA
Well, that’s really dumb.
You’re not going to find
any happiness doing that.

FRANKIE
Yeah.

He looks at her closely.
Now really seeing her.

VITA
Do you remember our vows?

FRANKIE
Uh -- I think so.
(thinks)
Till death do us part --
(mumbles to himself)
Which now takes on a
whole NEW meaning.

VITA
I’m still the same person, Frankie.
And so are you. Nothing’s changed.

He stares at her with wonder.
Eyes get bright with tears.

FRANKIE
I’m going to have to --
go away for awhile.

VITA
I’ll be here waiting for you.

FRANKIE
Really?

VITA
Dummy. What part of
'unconditional love' didn’t you get?

FRANKIE
(softly)
And could we still --
play Dungeons and Dragons?

VITA
Of course, silly.
(beat)
You’ll always be MY wizard --

And they kiss.

FADE TO BLACK.