ZOMBI

Episode 101 "The Gathering Storm"

Written by

Jared Battaglia

OVER BLACK.

The sound of feet stomping the floor.

INT. HOUNFOUR TEMPLE - UNDISCLOSED LOCATION - NIGHT

QUICK POPS: Curtains draw. Candles light. Incense burns. Libations pour. A pestle crushes herbs in a mortar bowl. Sachet powder sprinkles at the base of an altar.

A WOMAN’S VOICE Open the gates for us...

A ritual in progress. As a MAMBO commands the attention of a group of VODUISANTS seen in glimpses, dancing in a frenzy.

Meet MADAM EDEL, high priestess in a white linen dress and head wrap, pushing through the densely-packed room like a force of nature.

MADAM EDEL This woman needs you.

Madam Edel draws upon a YOUNG WOMAN huddled in a corner. Frightened. Shivering. Face obscured by matted hair. She moans weakly, rocking back and forth in unbearable pain.

MADAM EDEL (CONT'D) Let the Loa mount my body, use it as your vessel to serve...

A small goat is led into the room on a rope leash.

MADAM EDEL (CONT'D) So we can state your hunger.

Madam Edel scoops up the goat into her arms. In one swift motion, she slices a sharp ceremonial knife across its throat. The goat squirms, bleating in pain. Then goes STILL. Blood collects in a calabash bowl on the floor.

Candles flicker out. Madam Edel arches her back, her eyes roll up in her head. So only the whites show. Then enters a trance-like state, allowing the Loa to ride her body like a horse and speak through her:

MADAM EDEL (CONT'D) Tonight it begins...

HARD CUT:

EXT. BISCAYNE BAY, MIAMI - ESTABLISHING

Cigarette boats zoom and speed across moonlit water. WIDER:

EXT. PRIVATE MEGAYACHT - NIGHT

An extravagant engagement party in full swing. Lively music plays. Champagne flows. Impeccably dressed guests mingle.

OZIAS DUPRAT, 20s, is front and center. A dashing Harvard Med student, with his fiancée by his side, CASSANDRA “CASS” VINCENT, 20s, an effervescent beauty.

OZIAS So, this was your father’s idea of a small intimate get-together?

The deck brims with friends and family, mixed in with well- coiffed multi-cultural Ivy League graduates.

CASS Only has one little girl.

Ozias follows her gaze across the way to Cass’ father, JAMIL VINCENT, pushing 50, suave and debonair, whose extraordinary rise from immigrant to powerful Miami real estate mogul could give Tony Montana a run for his money.

OZIAS Who made me the luckiest guy in the world when she said yes to becoming my wife.

She glances at the diamond ring on her finger.

CASS Easiest decision I ever had to make.

Ozias’ best friend and future best man, MAKENSON “MAK” PLAISIL, 20s, crosses over, slings his arm around him.

MAK In my opinion, boychik’s marrying up. Thought he died and went to heaven when you walked into his hall on orientation day.

Ozias shoots a playful glance.

OZIAS Watch it.

We FOLLOW them through the crowd.

MAK All I’m sayin’ is when you grow up in the Little, guys like us are taught to believe we don’t stand a chance with you old money Mulattos.

CASS Old money “Mulatto”? Wow. Really? Who uses that term anymore?

Ozias snorts a laugh.

OZIAS No one.

CASS And for the record, my Dad came to Miami with barely anything.

MAK That’s the story.

Cass frowns, tread carefully.

OZIAS Leave it in the past, Mak.

CASS Besides, saw your Instagram flexing, you made out well for yourself summering with Miss Lydia Davenport at her Chief Justice daddy’s Gibson Island “cottage.”

Attention turns to LYDIA DAVENPORT dancing uninhibitedly in a summer dress as the DJ spins. She twirls and mouths lyrics to a song playing.

MAK Definitely wouldn’t call that place a cottage. And the rumors are true, her father’s a bit traditional. She on the other hand is very much down with the swirl.

Cass makes a face.

CASS Classy Mak.

They crack up. Mak stops, taps his glass with a spoon.

MAK Can I have everyone’s attention?

Music lowers. Guests are all ears. Ozias and Cass knew it was only a matter of time.

MAK (CONT'D) I want to make a toast to my oldest and boldest friend, Ozias Duprat who’s set to wed the princess of Miami herself, Cassandra Vincent.

Cass blushes. Ozias goes with it. Everyone raises a glass.

MAK (CONT'D) Oz and I grew up down the street from each other. He was the brains of the operation, got me out of trouble on a few occasions --

Chuckles from the crowd. Ozias smirks, addresses them:

OZIAS More than a few.

Mak, hands up -- guilty as charged.

MAK See, the two of us didn’t come from a whole lot but busted our butts to get into those fancy schools with no connections.

Ozias nods, points back.

OZIAS That’s accurate.

MAK When I was at Dartmouth, I’d take the train down to Boston and visit him on a weekend, every semester. Sophomore year, tells me he met the girl of his dreams. She was from our city but they never crossed paths.

Titters. He gazes over at the happy couple.

MAK (CONT'D) But I like to think your spirits found each other. ‘Cause when I see you together, that’s real love.

Cass touches her heart.

CASS Mak...

MAK I wish you a lifetime of happiness with your beautiful bride-to-be. I’m proud to call you both my friends now. Here’s to you as you start your new life together. This is just the beginning.

Ozias mouths “thank you”, genuine. Cheers. Glasses clink.

EXT. HOTEL SUITE - LATER

Cass stands on the balcony, admiring the view. Wine glass in hand. Ozias follows out, wraps his arms around her. They love each other deeply.

OZIAS We’re really doing this. Can you believe it?

She looks back up at him, traces her fingers across his arms.

CASS When you know, you just know.

An affectionate smile between them.

OZIAS We go back to Boston in a few weeks, finish grad school. Then come home, I start my residency while all the top law firms fight it out to hire you. After that, we start our family...

CASS Got it all figured out?

OZIAS When you know.

She gazes out at twinkling lights of the city.

CASS Sure you wanna live in this bubble forever?

OZIAS We’ll take it day by day. Whatever we decide. Just happy we’re in it together now. Rest of our lives.

CASS Me too, baby.

He kisses her swan-like neck. Her head rolls back against his chest. PRE-LAP into the rhythmic sound of passionate sex.

INT. HOTEL SUITE - NIGHT

Ozias on top of Cass in bed, bodies clashing together. They make love, tangled under the sheets.

DISSOLVE TO:

Post-sex. Cass falls asleep in Ozias’ embrace. He rubs her shoulders, amazed his life finally feels complete.

INT. HOTEL SUITE - MORNING

Cass exits the bathroom, a terry cloth robe wrapped around her body. She notices Ozias hasn’t moved. Checks the alarm clock; it’s past 9 am.

CASS Someone’s sleeping in.

No answer. She goes over to the bed, visibly concerned.

CASS (CONT'D) Ozias, we’re meeting my father and step-mother for brunch. Gotta get ready. Room service’s coming up with coffee.

Silence. Cass gently pulls aside the sheet covering his body. Feels his bare shoulder. It’s ice cold.

CASS (CONT'D) Ozias?

On Ozias, motionless. Eyes blank, lips blue. Frozen in a state of shock. An unexpected corpse. She SCREAMS, trying everything to shake him back to life.

CASS (CONT'D) Ozias, no!

Cass wails, picks up the phone with a shaky hand. Frantically dials 911. But knows it’s no use. He’s gone.

EXT. LUXURY HOTEL - FRONT ENTRANCE

PARAMEDICS load Ozias’ sheet-covered body on a gurney into an AMBULANCE outside. Cass is hysterical in the vestibule. Mak arrives on the scene.

She rushes into his arms. Beats her hands against his chest, not wanting to believe it. Off Mak, a grim look on his face. Shaken to the core.

CUT TO:

FLASHES: A series of click bait headlines; Harvard Woman’s heartbreak as fiance dies suddenly after celebrating engagement. Duprat remembered as ‘Incredible Friend’. Brilliant Med Student Passes, No Foul Play Suspected.

EXT. LINCOLN MEMORIAL CEMETERY - EARLY AFTERNOON

Clouds gather in a stone grey sky. Soft pitter-patter of rain. A funeral procession glides through rusted gates.

Fresh bouquets are placed at Ozias’ grave site. MOURNERS pay their respects, many faces recognizable from the party. A coffin is lowered into the ground.

TIME CUTS as people trickle away until no one is left but Cass standing stoically by Mak’s side.

MAK Our lives are never going to be the same again.

Mak stares at the headstone. Cass holds back tears.

CASS Doesn’t make sense, Mak.

MAK Won’t ever.

PULL OUT TO REVEAL, a striking raven-haired YOUNG WOMAN with electric eyes, watching them from a short distance away, concealed by a grove of Spanish moss-draped trees. We’ll come to know her as an important player in our story.

Woosh. A breeze rises. As if Cass can feel her near, she slowly turns --

But there’s no one there. Off Cass, unsettled. They start to walk away, returning to Mak’s car.

TIME CUTS: the cemetery empties out entirely as darkness falls... PAN DOWN -- SIX FEET UNDER.

A faint heart beat. Thumping faster from inside Ozias’ now buried coffin.

INT. COFFIN - CONTINUOUS

Suddenly, Ozias’ eyes pop wide open. Face sweaty, body unable to move. A wave of emotion hits him. Shock, panic. But most of all, sheer horror.

CUT TO BLACK:

TITLE CARD: ZOMBI

Five years later.

INT. MODEST HOME - FRONT ROOM - NIGHT

Blinding rain outside. CLOSE ON, LIVY ROSE, 28, a hospice social worker.

We recognize her as the unidentified young woman in the graveyard. A tireless soul; intelligent, kind and dedicated to her work.

Livy tends to an ELDERLY PATIENT in a hospital bed, gaunt faced and bone-thin, shivering quietly as he struggles to breathe. THE NURSE observes nearby.

THE NURSE (hushed) Man’s not long for this world.

LIVY Must have family somewhere.

The Nurse shakes her head.

THE NURSE Neighbors said he’d done hard time. Sister doesn’t live far from here. Wants nothing to do with him.

Livy contemplates.

LIVY Make the call.

The Nurse nods, leaves the room. Livy watches compassionately as the Patient takes his last breaths. Everything quiets.

Air goes cold. She tenses. All of a sudden, her body feels a strange seizure-like vibration. An unexplainable phenomenon for most but with Livy, not so unusual.

She glances upwards, clenches her jaw as startling visions of a tar-like goo dripping slowly from the ceiling manifest.

Snaps out of it, rattled. Mind reels. The Nurse comes back in. Livy looks stricken. Unsmiling. Chilled to the bone.

THE NURSE Everything okay, Livy?

Livy indicates the bed. The Patient is lifeless.

LIVY He’s gone.

EXT./INT. MODEST HOME - LATER

A CORONER’S VAN drives off. The bed is empty. TV on low; local newscast ticker: Gang Members Targeted, More Bloodshed in Little Haiti. Livy and the Nurse complete paperwork at a table. The Nurse takes pause, curiosity piqued.

THE NURSE Did you feel something when I left the room?

Livy lifts her eyes, looks at her strangely.

LIVY What do you mean?

THE NURSE I came back, you didn’t look right.

Tense beat. Livy’s demeanor changes.

LIVY Being around death everyday takes a lot out of you.

THE NURSE You do good for these people. But I’ve heard the stories. (MORE)

THE NURSE (CONT'D) The Little’s like a small town that way.

LIVY Don’t believe everything you hear. I’m done though. Need to get going.

Livy rises from her chair, gathers her things and exits. Off the Nurse, unsettled as she finishes her paperwork.

EXT. DEAD END STREET, LOW-INCOME NEIGHBORHOOD - NIGHT

Hard rain drums down. Livy hurries out the house, covering her head with the hood of her jacket. Feet splash through dirty puddles. She quickly climbs into her car.

INT. LIVY’S OLD SEDAN - CONTINUOUS

Livy starts the ignition, catches her reflection in the rearview. LIGHTNING STRIKES the sky.

INT. HOUNFOUR TEMPLE - UNDISCLOSED LOCATION - FLASHBACK

A merry-go-round of faces. Livy cries out in pain as Madam Edel rubs a yellow powdered substance into her bloody wounds.

MADAM EDEL This is a gift.

INT. LIVY’S OLD SEDAN - BACK TO PRESENT

Stirred, Livy’s body trembles at the memory. The engine chugs to life. She hits the gas and takes off in her car. Pedal to the metal, tearing down the street in pouring rain.

EXT. DEAD END STREET - REVERSE ANGLE

Madam Edel emerges from the shadows as Livy’s car blows past and rounds a corner, disappearing into the night.

She gazes across the street. The Nurse stands in the window. Their eyes meet. A tacit understanding between them.

EXT. LINCOLN MEMORIAL CEMETERY - LATER THAT NIGHT

Wet ground loosens. Shovels dig into the earth. Madam Edel observes her HOUNSI ASSISTANTS (including the Nurse) uncovering a grave as a coffin is exhumed.

She motions them to break it open. They do. To discover, it’s empty and full of rocks. The revelation doesn’t surprise her.

MADAM EDEL Find him.

A determined look on her face. Thunder cracks open the sky. REVEAL, Ozias Duprat 1992-2017 scrawled on the gravestone.

INT. LIVY’S APARTMENT - NIGHT

Livy enters a miniscule second-story studio apartment with a kitchenette. Brings in a handful of junk mail. Emotionally drained from earlier. She hangs up her coat on a hook against the door. Shuts, bolts and locks it.

Her gaze fixes upon a framed photograph tucked behind clutter on an old vanity; Livy as a little girl with her PARENTS and a YOUNG BOY around her age. She recalls a memory:

INT. SINGLE FAMILY HOME - LIVING ROOM - YEARS AGO

A modest house. LIVY’S PARENTS sit their daughter down on a couch. She plays with a pair of handmade fabric dolls.

DR. LAURENT ROSE, an esteemed physician who serves the local community and TERRI, a teacher turned homemaker.

DR. ROSE Livy, we have wonderful news.

TERRI How would you like a brother?

YOUNG LIVY peers up at them, hopeful.

YOUNG LIVY Mommy’s having a baby?

They exchange amused looks. Terri smiles upon her.

TERRI Not exactly.

As her father explains:

DR. ROSE There’s a boy from Haiti who needs a home. We knew his mother when we lived there.

TERRI Thought he could come stay with us and you could be his new sister. Would that be all right?

On Young Livy, indifferent to the news.

LIVY Guess so.

EXT. HIGH SCHOOL PARKING LOT - GRADUATION DAY

Windows down. Ozias, 17, charismatic and popular, sits behind the wheel of the family’s parked Volvo station wagon.

OZIAS Ready for this?

He turns to Livy, now a fresh-faced but sullen teenager, sits shotgun, more reserved. Both in caps and gowns.

LIVY I am so done with high school.

They stare out ahead at the palm tree-lined entrance.

OZIAS I don’t know, think I might miss it. Harvard’s gonna be cut throat.

LIVY You’ll be fine. You were king of everything here. Our parents are so proud. Their undecided daughter, not so much.

OZIAS Stop. You taking a year off to go help out in Haiti is amazing.

LIVY Don’t think I’m crazy missing out on the whole college experience?

OZIAS No way, got faith in you. You’re gonna do great things. Now let’s go graduate. We earned it.

He makes a fist, holds it out. She bumps it.

OZIAS (PRE-LAP) (CONT'D) Today we stand at the crossroads of a brand new chapter in our lives --

EXT. HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL FIELD - LATER

Ozias, the Valedictorian, holds court behind a podium before bright-eyed graduating SENIORS gathered in chairs on the grass for the biggest day of their lives, including Mak. Families and faculty pack the bleachers.

A moment of hesitation from Ozias. Can’t seem to find his adoptive parents among the faces in the crowd. Checks his notes, then:

OZIAS It’s bittersweet to be leaving this place and each other but the memories we’ve made will never be lost, especially from this year.

APPLAUSE. Raucous cheers from the seniors. Mak pops up, hoots and hollers. Something tells us, Livy was absent for many of these memories.

OZIAS (CONT'D) As we go out and try to conquer the world, I leave you with a quote by my man Tennyson from Ulysses, courtesy of Mrs. Farrell’s AP Lit class, reminding us “To strive, to seek, to find and not to yield.” We did it guys! We are the future!

A standing ovation. Everyone whoops it up. Caps are tossed up into the air to celebrate.

MAK (calls out) Yes, we did!

Ozias rushes off stage to join his friends. Hugs. High fives. He glances over at Livy. They share a look. Unspoken code. Something’s not right. Their parents are nowhere to be seen.

INT. ROSE HOME - NIGHT

Congrats Grads! A party banner hangs across the entry way. Untouched trays of food sit on the table. Ozias comforts Livy soberly in his arms.

A SOCIAL WORKER is on hand with TWO POLICE OFFICERS, delivering harrowing news. A deadly car crash claimed the lives of the good doctor and his wife.

INT. ROSE HOME - ANOTHER DAY

Mourners gather dressed in black. Livy clocks MADAM EDEL in attendance by herself, elegantly attired with a preternatural poise. A woman she does not recognize (but has her rapt attention nonetheless), who keeps a close eye on the guests.

Livy is drawn to her, moving through the crowded house. But before she can reach her, Madam Edel is out of sight. Off Livy, wondering who she is.

She catches sight of an envelope on the fire place mantel shelf. Marked To the Daughter of Dr. & Mrs. Rose.

INT. LAW OFFICE - CONFERENCE ROOM - DAY

As executrix of her parents’ estate, Livy receives a key to a safe-deposit box by a LAWYER.

INT. BANK VAULT - DAY

Livy removes a safe-deposit box from the wall. She places it on a metal table, uses her key to unlock it.

Inside is an unmarked record book bound in antique-leather. She turns the dusty pages, absorbing a trove of hand-written documents in Gothic script. A bundle of bank-note receipts are clipped together, made out to Madam Edel.

EXT. TOUSSAINT L’OUVERTURE MONUMENT PARK, LITTLE HAITI - DAY

Thanksgiving break. Ozias is home from college. Livy sits next to him on a bench in bad shape, distant and depressed, her planned gap year in Haiti off the table indefinitely.

OZIAS (heartfelt) I’m worried about you.

LIVY You don’t need to worry.

Ozias takes a deep breath.

OZIAS But I do worry. We’re the only family each other has left. It’s been months since the accident. I just think it’s time...

LIVY Wasn’t an accident.

Ozias sighs exasperated, this again.

OZIAS That’s not healthy, Livy. The therapist said --

Livy snaps, shoots daggers at him.

LIVY I don’t care what the therapist said. They were targeted. When you left for school, I found proof.

OZIAS Which you think’s also linked to my mother’s death...

A hard moment.

LIVY Correct.

OZIAS Livy, this might make you feel better now, to point fingers and try to find someone to blame for what happened. But a truck driver fell asleep at the wheel after being up all night --

LIVY (cuts him off) If you won’t believe me, I’ll find someone who will.

Frustrated, Livy rises from the bench and storms off. Ozias watches her go, conflicted. Last time they saw each other.

INT. LIVY’S APARTMENT - PRESENT DAY

On Livy, shaken by the memory. Full of guilt. She picks up the framed photograph, opens a dresser drawer and tucks it under a table cloth. Closes the drawer.

EXT. CEMETERY - AS BEFORE

Madam Edel wraps a red scarf around her neck, the Hounsi Assistants cover Ozias’ grave back up. The Nurse snaps a couple pictures with a camera hanging around her neck.

THE NURSE She barely spoke a word to me, whole time I was there.

The Nurse falls in stride with Madam Edel as they move together down a tree-lined pathway through an ethereal fog.

MADAM EDEL You were there to watch her.

THE NURSE Girl’s not right.

MADAM EDEL Whether you like it or not, she’s a part of this. But now, we have work to do.

OFF: Madam Edel, a plan formulating...

TRANSITION TO:

EXT. DOCKS - NIGHT

Rain eases. An UNMARKED VAN pulls up outside a warehouse. The Driver kills the lights. TWO GANG MEMBERS get out.

GANG MEMBER 1 Let’s get to work boys.

EXT./INT. CARGO WAREHOUSE - SAME

A low-key hub for a drug trafficking operation. GANG MEMBER #1 unlocks the steel doors, wrenching them open with #2. The Driver backs the Van up inside.

They head in, pushing through a caged partition to collect a large shipment of cocaine hidden in electronic boxes. Block after block of bagged cocaine is loaded into the van.

GANG MEMBER 2 Think we’re a bit light?

Gang Member 1 takes inventory with his eyes. Realizes --

GANG MEMBER 1 Someone’s been here.

Their ears perk up, hears liquid spilling on the concrete floor. Find a SILHOUETTED FIGURE in the shadows at the end of the aisle, wearing dark jeans and a coat over a hoodie. He uses a jerry can of petrol to douse the missing stash.

GANG MEMBER 2 The fuck?

The Hooded Figure says nothing. They draw their guns, point them at his chest. He spills out the last of the cannister.

GANG MEMBER 1 (pounds his chest) Ay yo! Know who you messing with?!

The Figure remains silent. Unflinching. They move forward.

GANG MEMBER 2 Kill his ass.

They shoot. Thwip! Thwip! Bullets whiz by. The Figure STRIKES a match. Drops it, igniting a bundle of oil drums. BOOM! The place is rigged. Everything goes up in flames.

EXT. DOCKSIDE WAREHOUSE - SECONDS LATER

Smoke plumes into the dark sky. The Van bursts from a wall of flames. Panic-stricken, the Driver CRASHES through a wooden guardrail, plummeting into murky water below. Splash!

INT. LIVY’S APARTMENT - TIME CUTS

Livy is fast asleep on the couch, a blanket pulled over her body. She tremors, plagued by fierce vivid dreams.

EXT. CEMETERY - NIGHT

We STAY WITH LIVY, disoriented through a mist-shrouded path rowed in skeletal trees, trying to find her bearings. She reaches Ozias’ headstone. Breathless.

But this is no ordinary nightmare. As if she’s here in real time. The ground beneath her feet splits open. Livy drops and smashes through a dry rot coffin, smacking against a decomposed body. Its skull cracks.

A mass of squirmy maggots pour out all over her. They cover her face, drowning out her screams.

INT. LIVY’S APARTMENT - MORNING

Sun peeks through the blinds. Livy stirs awake, soaked in sweat. She sits up, catches her breath. Unnerved but accustomed to sleep disturbances. Her cell phone vibrates on the coffee table. Gets a text. INSERT THE SCREEN: CREON.

As we cut to...

EXT. LITTLE HAITI - MIAMI - ESTABLISHING

Livy rides a vintage bicycle past bright colored buildings.

INT. CAFE CREOLE - DAY

A mom-and-pop restaurant, serves authentic home-style food like fried pork and stewed conch. Livy sits at a white-draped table, sips from a mug of coffee.

CREON Eat up.

CREON SHAW, 20s, good-natured and driven, hair dyed neon red. A part time chef and aspiring DJ, he puts down a plate of eggs and plantains in front of her.

LIVY Looks really good, thanks.

CREON Tastes good too. Seem stressed though, what’s going on?

A slight smile from Livy.

LIVY More so than usual?

He slips into the booth and sits down across from her, knows something’s up.

CREON You’re too hard on yourself.

Livy stares out the window, lost in the moment, focuses in on a group of children jumping rope and counting in Creole.

LIVY Work’s getting to me.

CREON So, today’s your day off. I got a show tonight. Last minute booking. It’s my first big gig since moving down here from New York. I want you to come. You need a night out.

LIVY Don’t feel like being around lots of people right now.

CREON That’s what you always say. But staying home all the time is no way to live. You’re depriving yourself of memories. Besides, this event is gonna be valid.

A beat. Then...

LIVY Lemme think about it.

CREON So, that’s a yes?

LIVY It’s a maybe.

Creon breaks into a Cheshire Cat grin.

CREON Now we’re getting somewhere.

Off Livy, considering the offer --

EXT. LITTLE HAITI, NE 2ND AVENUE CORRIDOR - REVERSE TO REVEAL

Click, click. Livy and Creon are seen through the lens of a long-range zoom camera. As a black gloved hand documents this exchange in a Vanagon GL sitting idle across from the cafe.

EXT. COCONUT GROVE - ESTABLISHING

A far cry from Little Haiti. Lush green palm trees surround opulent mansions in an enclave of unimaginable wealth.

EXT. VINCENT ESTATE - ESTABLISHING

A two-story palatial Mediterranean-style villa overlooking the water with a private dock, gym, tennis court, putting green, spa, wine cellar, screening room and anything else ridiculous money can afford.

Behind it, a sparkling pool glows in the sun. Where we FIND a POOL HOUSE nestled by an outdoor kitchen and lounge area.

INT. VINCENT ESTATE - POOL HOUSE - DAY

Spacious and suffused with sunlight. Two bodies squirm under silk sheets. Cass surfaces with a huge grin, beautiful as ever, while an unseen bed mate caresses her body.

CASS I’ll be late, I have yoga.

A shirtless Mak pops up, now her husband, reaches out in vain to try to keep the foreplay going.

MAK Can’t you just Nama-stay in bed? My morning’s open.

Cass squeals, breaks loose and hurries out of their California king in a lingerie slip.

CASS Mine’s not, I have a packed schedule. My step-mother’s on the war path preparing for tonight.

Mak sits up, hands behind his head against plush pillows.

MAK Living under your father’s roof while we wait for our condo to finish was your idea.

CASS Don’t see you complaining.

He shakes his head.

MAK Nope. I don’t mind being in the lap of late-capitalism luxury but there are certain caveats to living under Queen Dayana’s reign.

CASS No need to remind me.

She throws him a smile, heads to the bathroom.

INT. VINCENT ESTATE - KITCHEN - SOON AFTER

Exquisitely designed. Jamil in a bespoke suit, takes a sip from a Drink Elixir bottle at a butcher block island table.

JAMIL Smooth and refreshing.

His wife, DAYANA VINCENT, sophisticated and manicured, stands at the counter. A hypnotic lifestyle entrepreneur and wellness consultant to Fortune 500 companies.

DAYANA But a functional beverage first and foremost. My new beauty boosting collagen-infused water for hair, skin and nail health.

JAMIL Ladies at the club will love it.

Dayana rolls her eyes.

DAYANA For real?

Jamil puts his hands up in defense.

JAMIL What?

DAYANA You don’t take my company seriously, Jamil.

JAMIL ‘Course I do.

DAYANA Ingestible beauty is the next step in building my brand. I want a bottle in every gift bag tonight. We’ll have cases sent to big donors before they hit the shelves at Whole Foods. Grass-fed collagen beauty bars are up next.

JAMIL Whatever you need, honey. I’ll write the check. I believe in you. (he consults his watch) But need to get to the work site.

He kisses her cheek. Cass breezes into the room.

CASS Morning, daddy. Dayana.

JAMIL Morning sweetie.

She hugs him.

CASS Sorry to pop in. We’re out of oat milk, mind if I borrow some?

JAMIL Go ahead. No worries.

Cass open the fridge. Dayana casts a look at her.

DAYANA I believe we set some boundaries for this temporary arrangement, Cass. Did we not? I had the housekeeping staff stock the pool house fridge.

She retrieves a carton.

CASS Thanks for that. But Mak’s weird about almond milk.

DAYANA Then he should go buy himself whatever plant-based milk he wants.

Cass snaps her fingers in a Z formation.

CASS A dash of salt to start my morning.

Dayana smiles tightly.

JAMIL Come on you two, we need a united front. I’m announcing my candidacy for mayor tonight. This is big.

CASS I believe in you. Mak and I want to be your Jared and Ivanka.

Dayana raises an eyebrow. A brief moment of levity.

DAYANA Don’t you dare.

Cass starts to go.

CASS Kidding.

JAMIL Try Dayana’s new beauty beverage before you go.

She swipes a bottle from the display.

CASS I’ll take one for the road.

Cass strolls off. Dayana folds her arms, irritated.

DAYANA You let her walk all over you.

JAMIL She’s been through a lot.

DAYANA Not going there with you.

JAMIL (changing the subject) Remember eye on the prize.

Jamil kisses her forehead. Dayana fumes as he exits --

INT. VINCENT ESTATE - POOL HOUSE - SOON AFTER

Cass returns. Mak hustles to finish getting dressed.

CASS (holds the carton out) I got your oat milk. Thought your morning was clear? Everything cool?

Something’s on his mind. She straightens his tie.

MAK Last minute client meeting. I’ll do drive-thru at Starbucks. Damage control calls.

CASS You’re always putting out fires...

On Mak, funny you should say that.

MAK Should’ve been a firefighter. Lot less money than law school.

CASS Head in the game tonight.

He gives her a reassuring smile.

MAK Always is.

A peck on the cheek. Off Cass, concerned as he leaves...

EXT. VINCENT ESTATE - MOTOR COURT

Jamil beelines to a McLaren parked out front as Car Washers finish up. They give him the keys. He tips them.

JAMIL Love to see my baby shine.

The butterfly doors open up. Right as Mak comes outside, to spot a black luxury car arriving up the driveway.

MAK Ride’s here.

JAMIL You are spoiled rotten boy.

MAK The perks of my retainer.

Jamil climbs into the driver’s seat of his car.

JAMIL Give the man my best. I’ll be in touch soon.

They share a knowing look. Butterfly doors go down.

EXT. DOCKSIDE WAREHOUSE - DAY

SEE rats scurry across the rooftop. A flurry of activity below. Squad cars crowd out front. POLICE TAPE surrounds a crime scene. Burnt bodies splayed on the ground, covered in white sheets speckled with blood. A crane recovers the sunken van from the river.

DETECTIVE RENAE GARCIA, 30s, cool-headed and relentless, arrives on the scene with her partner by her side, DET. TRENT CLAREY, 30s, tall and broad shouldered, self-satisfied but likable. They survey their grim surroundings.

TRENT The Little is heating up.

RENAE Place never cools down.

A UNIFORMED POLICE OFFICER approaches.

OFFICER (respectfully) Detectives.

RENAE What do we got?

OFFICER Two bodies recovered from the building. Another one in the van we pulled out of the water. This was an intentional hit.

TRENT And unmerciful from the looks.

RENAE Think it’s Zoe Pound related?

OFFICER Most likely. Place was being used as a stash house with connections to the Haitian drug cartel. The building’s property records show it was bought in cash last year by an anonymous company.

TRENT We all know, in this neck of the woods where that paper trail is gonna lead.

A sore subject. But everyone’s on the same page.

RENAE Get whatever prints we can find. See who turns up in the system.

OFFICER They usually do.

The Officer walks off. Trent turns to Renae.

TRENT Hit me with your best theories. What are you thinking? Turf war? Someone wanting to rock the boat and shake up the establishment?

She digests the charred scenery around them.

RENAE Or good old fashioned vigilante justice? The neighborhood’s getting sick of this shit.

TRENT Not a bad hunch. But people in this community know if there’s one bee in Miami you don’t want to bumble with, it’s Bauron. He will sting. More than once.

RENAE Well, someone’s certainly trying to get under his skin.

TRENT That’s for sure.

RENAE Want my gut? There’s more to this story than you think.

Off Renae, mulling the mystery. As we RISE up behind them to reveal an UNKNOWN POV watching on an adjacent rooftop.

But before we can get a look at their face, they disappear back behind the water tank.

EXT. MIAMI EXECUTIVE AIRPORT - DAY

Wheels of a G-5 PRIVATE JET touch down onto a runway.

EXT. AIRPORT - PRIVATE TARMAC - DAY

DOC BAURON, sharp-dressed with sleek aviators on, steps off the plane and strides across the tarmac. A formidable force flanked by an entourage of dark suited BODY GUARDS in black shades.

BAURON It’s good to be back, gentleman. Let’s get this bread, no days off. Got a lot on our plate. Know I don’t let grass grow under my feet, especially when we got fools trying to lay claim to what’s ours.

They head towards a cavalcade of BLACK SUVS. A CHAUFFEUR holds a door open to a Mercedes-Maybach in the middle of the line-up. Bauron gets in.

INT. LUXURY SEDAN - CONTINUOUS

Bauron removes his sunglasses, settles into a seat across from his lawyer, who we instantly realize is Mak.

BAURON Ever see the Wiz, Mak?

Bauron flashes a smile. On Mak, uncomfortable.

MAK Maybe when I was a kid...

BAURON I’m like Mabel King in that movie. Never like bad news. So, don’t let my smile fool you. Find out who flamed my production line or your life is gonna get real hard.

His smile unscrews. The statement hangs there.

MAK Duly noted.

BAURON ‘Cause you know I’m one of the only people in this city who doesn’t care whose son-in-law you may be.

OFF Mak, taking this in, we FLASHBACK to...

EXT. HAITIAN COUNTRYSIDE - YEARS AGO

A hillside slum of shanty cinder block homes. Where YOUNG MAK works as a restavek, a child servant, grinding cornmeal at an outdoor table in a yard. His face swollen from regular beatings, eyes lost and resigned.

INT. TUMBLEDOWN HOUSE - SIMULTANEOUS

With a view of Young Mak outside from the window, his CARETAKER negotiates with a MAN IN A SUIT whose face we do not see, blurred by daylight shadows.

CARETAKER The boy will make a fine acolyte and come in handy with your endeavors. He has much potential.

INT. LUXURY SEDAN - AS BEFORE

On Mak, haunted by the things he’s done.

BAURON You’re a smart man Mak, know where your bread’s buttered. Always been a soldier for something far greater than yourself. Don’t forget it.

Mak steels himself.

MAK Never do.

EXT. CARIBBEAN MARKETPLACE - LITTLE HAITI - DAY

Livy strolls through an open-air market where vendors sell old Kompa records, cotton dresses in brilliant hues and handcrafts. She picks out fresh produce at a food stall, pays the Seller.

Meanwhile, Madam Edel blends in with the crowd, keeping Livy in her sights. In her everyday life, we see a salt-of-the- earth beauty with soulful eyes. A cloth bag is worn around her waist and inside her clothes.

On her way out, Livy goes to retrieve her bicycle locked up at a parking rack. She pauses. Instinctively, cocks her head.

LIVY Are you following me?

She turns around. Her eyes fall on Madam Edel, the first time in a long time. An unwelcomed reunion. The enigmatic Mambo studies her, expressionless.

MADAM EDEL Hello, Livy. I’ve been away for some time. I’d like to speak with you privately. We have some catching up to do.

LIVY Told you before, I want nothing to do with you.

Livy roils, gets on her bike and pedals off.

EXT. STREETS OF LITTLE HAITI - A SHORT WHILE LATER

Head on a swivel, Livy powers forward, cycling through a commercial district. Mind racing. Emotions running wild. She makes a quick right hand turn at a red light. BEEP-BEEP!

A Delivery Truck screeches out from a loading zone, barrels at her. Livy swerves to avoid it, the sideview mirror clips her. She falls off her bike, gets knocked on her ass.

LIVY Damn it!

The car runs over her bike. Drives off. Livy limps to her feet, holding her arm in agonizing pain. Hurts like hell.

LIVY (CONT'D) Seriously, jackass?!

She squints to get his license plate, digs into her pocket for her phone. Too late. The Delivery Truck turns onto another street. Livy begrudgingly yanks her bike off the street, sits on the curb. The frame is bent like a bow.

MADAM EDEL (O.S.) You should be more careful.

Livy whips around to see Madam Edel on the sidewalk.

LIVY Do I have you to thank for that?

Crazy as it sounds. She stands up, brushes herself off.

MADAM EDEL You weren’t being present. There’s a shop on 2nd Avenue. They do good work.

LIVY Don’t want your recommendations.

Livy checks her elbow, blood drips. Madam Edel reaches into her bag, produces a knitted hemp cloth, dabs yarrow hydrosol on it from a small bottle and applies it to Livy’s scrape.

MADAM EDEL Only think the worst of me?

She holds the cloth there. Livy looks at her piercingly.

LIVY Blame me?

MADAM EDEL I’ve tried to protect you.

LIVY By filling my head with lies? By almost getting me killed?

Livy steps back, presses the cloth on her elbow herself.

MADAM EDEL I realize you struggle. But I also know, you can work to control it.

LIVY Doing fine on my own.

Livy’s expression betrays this statement.

MADAM EDEL It can be frightening. You’ve experienced things few people ever will. But you can’t run from it.

Livy tries to compose herself.

LIVY What is it that you want?

MADAM EDEL It’s about Ozias.

Livy goes cold. A name that cuts her heart like a knife.

INT. BOTANICA D’ HAITI - DAY

A voodoo supply shop hidden in an alley. Madam Edel makes a respectable living here working as a Vodou Healer. She leads Livy inside, stepping through a clattering beaded curtain.

LIVY I hate that I’m back here.

Livy’s eyes dance over rows of shelves crammed with wines and “Clairin” cheap raw white rum used for rituals.

MADAM EDEL Yet here you are.

LIVY Nothing but bad memories. Like the time you had me watch you sacrifice a goat.

Madam Edel retrieves a Band-Aid from a first aid kit under the counter. She puts it in on Livy’s elbow.

MADAM EDEL Which had a quick death, was cooked and shared with my guests. A much more humane method than the psychological perils awaiting animals in slaughter houses supplying meats you consume on a regular basis.

Livy looks at her. Is suddenly vulnerable.

LIVY I’m not getting pulled into this again. Why did you bring him up? It’s been five years.

She crosses her arms. Resolute.

MADAM EDEL You believe his death was not what it appeared to be. You always have. Just like your parents. (then) Pris de je, the prize of the eyes. You have a strong talent for je. I knew it from the moment we met...

As we FLASH BACK TO:

INT. BOTANICA D’ HAITI - YEARS AGO

A KNOCK. Livy cautiously enters the shop, carrying a shoulder bag. Still reeling from her falling out with Ozias after her parents’ death. The counter is unmanned.

LIVY Hello?

No response. She wanders the narrow aisles. All manner of conjure fill the shelves; from sequined bottles to colored powders, packs of playing cards, serenity salves, black candles and protective charms.

LIVY (CONT'D) Anyone here?

Ding! A cage elevator rattles up from below. Madam Edel opens the door, steps out carrying a box of supplies.

MADAM EDEL Livy, welcome.

She extends her hand. Livy takes it, skeptical.

LIVY You were at my parents’ funeral.

Nods but doesn’t smile --

MADAM EDEL That’s right. My condolences.

She places the box on the counter.

LIVY I didn’t have a chance to meet you at the reception but got your note. I’d like to know how you knew them.

MADAM EDEL We were acquainted some time ago.

On Livy, you’ll have to do better than that.

LIVY I want to find out what they were involved in. I’m pretty sure they were keeping things from me. A lot of things. I found your name on some payment receipts in this.

She digs into her shoulder bag, pulls out the small leather- bound record book and holds it tightly in her hands.

MADAM EDEL I’m happy to discuss.

LIVY So let’s. They sent you money awhile back. Over thousands of dollars. Why?

Madam Edel locks the side door, flips a double-sided sign over to read “closed” and pulls the beaded curtain over.

MADAM EDEL Those funds were used to bring Ozias here when he was a boy. I assisted in arranging his safe passage. Your parents were not fully transparent with you about their reasons for leaving Haiti. But that was for your protection and his.

Livy processes this.

LIVY Why should I believe you? You charge money for casting spells and healing people.

MADAM EDEL It’s an honest living.

LIVY Your Yelp reviews beg to differ.

On Madam Edel, used to skepticism.

MADAM EDEL This world is filled with self- blinded people. Always has been.

LIVY I’m not one of them. I think my parents death was orchestrated to look accidental. They knew something. Someone wanted to silence them. I’m starting to think it has something to do with whatever it is that goes on here.

MADAM EDEL You have a right to your instincts. Those who do not search, do not find.

Madam Edel moves back towards the elevator, indicates for Livy to join her. Against her better judgment, she does.

INT. BOTANICA D’ HAITI - HOUNFOUR TEMPLE - CONTINUOUS

Livy steps off the elevator with Madam Edel, making their way down a slim passageway which opens up to a dimly lit hidden room. A center pole is positioned in the middle of it.

LIVY What is this place?

Intrigued, Livy observes as Madam Edel lights a black candle at a Rada Altar against the wall.

MADAM EDEL A Hounfour Temple I founded when I emigrated to Miami.

There’s a Vodou shrine setup on the floor with a stack of weather-worn grimoiries piled high in milk crates nearby.

LIVY (confused) My parents came here?

MADAM EDEL Occasionally. I had much respect for them. They did their best to assimilate like many boat people often do. But it’s not always easy to escape who you are.

Livy’s eyebrows go up.

LIVY I don’t understand. My parents practiced voodoo? Like sticking pins in a doll that looks like your ex after a bad breakup?

MADAM EDEL That’s a falsehood perpetuated by ignorance.

LIVY Then demystify me. What is it that you do here?

MADAM EDEL I am a Serviteur. Voduisants like myself serve the Loa.

On Livy, nonplussed.

LIVY The Loa?

MADAM EDEL Some say they determine our lives. Each has a distinct identity and occupy the Unseen World parallel to this one. They’re in the air, the earth, the Loa live everywhere. And help us open the door to what you might call, “the mystical.” That what is beyond explanation. The Ultimate Truth.

Livy exhales, a trying beat. Wants to be diplomat.

LIVY That’s an interesting construct but this goes way beyond my scope.

MADAM EDEL To the contrary, as much as your parents tried to shield you from it, this has been a part of you from the very beginning. You can trace it back to the Ancestors.

ZOOM IN on a multi-panel CHROMOLITHOGRAPH PAINTING on the wall behind her, coming alive to depict the next scenes:

EXT. SENEGAMBIA, WEST AFRICA - ESTABLISHING

Pre-colonial. A CONJURER throws a smattering of murex shells on the ground, interpreting them. A portent of coming events.

MADAM EDEL (V.O.) Those who knew we owed our earthly existence to the Seven Powers.

The Conjurer lifts her face to the sky as ominous clouds gather. It pains her heart to see the future unfold. She can tell terrible things are on the horizon.

EXT. SECRET CAVES - NIGHT

A towering waterfall shimmers above. A group of CONJURERS meet in a fissure cave behind it to discuss the dire future that awaits them. The air is tense.

MADAM EDEL (V.O.) The Sorcerer Societies of West Africa had formed to navigate the complexities between humanity, nature and the supernatural forces of the universe...

EXT. SENEGAMBIA - A SERIES OF RAPID SHOTS

SLAVE RAIDERS attack a village. Hordes of VILLAGERS are rounded up and packed into ships teeming with souls.

MADAM EDEL (V.O.) Although their lands would soon be ravished for stolen lives, their secrets would never be discovered by the Blancs.

EXT. SAINT-DOMINGUE, ISLAND OF HISPANIOLA - ESTABLISHING

The Pearl of Antilles, the French Empire’s richest colony built on the backs of slaves which we know today to be Haiti.

MADAM EDEL (V.O.) The Ancestors suffered great cruelties under the French in their new land, unwilling participants in an economy run on the buying and selling of human beings...

EXT. SUGAR PLANTATION - DAY

Machetes chop cane. An Overseer keeps watch. FRANCOIS MAKANDAL, among them, highly intelligent and powerfully built. Fire in his eyes.

MADAM EDEL (V.O.) Forbidden to practice their ways, the Ancestors would eventually return to their roots in secret to undermine the occupation...

EXT. WOODS OF BOIS CAIMAN - NIGHT

A remote section of the island, known as the Alligator Woods. Where a group of escaped slaves assemble from different plantations across the region.

MADAM EDEL (V.O.) And secretly gathered to plan the insurrection, vowing never to walk with their heads down again.

Makandal is the leader of this maroon-band. He uses a pestle and mortar bowl to prepare a batch of powdered toad venom.

MADAM EDEL (V.O.) Among them rose Makandal, the harbinger of the Revolution. A man said to be possessed by the spirit of Ogoun himself, who made a most potent wanga.

He sprinkles poisonous powder into pocket-sized gris-gris sachets, stealthily distributed among the Maroons.

INT. SUGAR CANE PLANTATION - MAIN HOUSE - NIGHT

A FRENCH MASTER finishes up dinner with his WIFE at a candle- lit table. HOUSE SERVANTS clear the plates. The Wife clearly disdains them. She rolls her eyes. As the Servants leave the room. Soon, the French Master notices her face turn a dead- gray pallor.

FRENCH MASTER Mon amour?

The Wife chokes. Covers her mouth. A splash of blood spills through her fingers. The French Master realizes he isn’t too well himself. Coughs. Picks up a cloth napkin. Vomits blood into it. INSERT: Across the island more Slave Owners violently succumb to poison.

EXT. WOODS OF BOIS CAIMAN - NIGHT

A bonfire rages. The ranks of MAROON BANDS swell, growing larger and more emboldened by their victories. Makandal stoically watches flames rise.

MADAM EDEL (V.O.) The Maroons belief in Vodou would fuel their courage to fight their oppressors.

EXT. BATTLE OF SAN-DOMINGUE - VARIOUS SHOTS

INSURGENTS led by Makandal, the rebel slave, engage in guerilla war fare.

They burn plantations and exhaust French forces in brutal hand-to-hand combat, showing the full power of their united might.

Maroon Soldiers carry machetes and clutch protective talismans, empowering them in battle. Two-horned FIGHTING SPIRITS battle by their side, stoking their Berserker-like fury but go unseen by the enemy.

EXT. PORT-AU-PRINCE - CENTER SQUARE - 1758

Makandal is tied-up and suspended on a stake before a crowd. The Executioner lights kindling under his feet.

MADAM EDEL (V.O.) But Makandal was eventually captured to be made an example of.

Glowing flames swirl around him; growing hotter and hotter, getting closer and closer. Yet he remains calm. Seemingly invulnerable to the fire.

MAKANDAL (in French, subtitled) Fire cannot harm the Loa. The battle’s lost but victory will soon be ours, my brothers and sisters.

The heat melts off ropes lassoed around his body. He boldly LEAPS out of the bonfire, stands before the crowd enlivened. Everyone screams in shock.

The Guards fire their weapons. Makandal is shot, crumbles to the ground. But it’s too late, the onlookers are inspired.

EXT. SECRET CAVES - NIGHT

The sound of Petwo drumming. Makandal’s surviving FOLLOWERS, white-robed with candles in hand, wrap scarves around a stalagmite, summoning the spirits.

MADAM EDEL (V.O.) Through the years the resistance would grow and the councils of the Bizango Society formed. Or simply, the Society, as we know it today.

INT. HOUNFOUR TEMPLE - AS BEFORE

Livy tilts her head slightly to the side. Mind whirling. As if she’s experienced these memories first hand.

LIVY Bizango?

MADAM EDEL Means to change. We’re in this world, for better or for worse. But we can transform it. What you hold is a Bizango passport, issued to all Society members. Your parents belonged to it.

Madam Edel produces a Bizango passport of her own from her pocket matching the one Livy holds in her hand.

MADAM EDEL (CONT'D) As have I.

LIVY How could I have never known?

MADAM EDEL They wanted to keep you safe. The Society had become a fractured family after divisions became too difficult to resolve.

EXT. HAITI - ESTABLISHING

Fiercely independent Haiti has been founded.

INT. NATIONAL PALACE, PORT-AU PRINCE - NIGHT

General FRANCOIS C. ANTOINE SIMON, stands at a balcony with his daughter and trusted vodou priestess CELESTINA. She wears a flowing satin and spangled Edwardian dress.

MADAM EDEL (V.O.) For some, the power of conjure is as natural as breathing but not everyone would choose to use it justly.

An angry mob gathers below, demanding General Simon step down from power. He watches in awe as Celestina raises a storm in the sky.

CELESTINA One way or another, your critics will be silenced, father.

Lightning bolts strike down on the crowd. Celestina weaponizes the storm against them.

INT. HOUNFOUR TEMPLE - CONTINUOUS

Madam Edel gently runs her hand over cork top bottles on a table, containing protective potion oils and remedies. Some hold tiny swimming black leeches.

MADAM EDEL A war has been fought among us for many years, hidden in the shadows from the outside world. After the Society split between the Houngans, those who serve the light and the Bokors, those who serve darkness. Although some are quite capable of serving both....

Livy raises a questioning eyebrow as she listens.

EXT. HAITI - MONTAGE OF IMAGES

We see RAPID SHOTS throughout the twentieth century that highlight the country’s torrid history. Occupation by U.S. Marines... Anti-Vodou campaigns known as the Uprooting sweeps the island... Temples are desecrated... Books are burned in droves... Iconography destroyed, etc.

MADAM EDEL (V.O.) Outsiders tried to rid Haiti of what they did not understand until the Bokors rose to power then forced the Houngans to go underground.

The dictator PAPA DOC employs powerful sorcerers in his brutal secret police the Tonton Macoute to establish a rule of terror and quash dissent.

INT. HOUNFOUR TEMPLE - AS BEFORE

WITH LIVY & MADAM EDEL --

MADAM EDEL The Society has always been governed by a unique set of codes and rules. But Bokors, many of whom failed to enter the Vodou clergy, broke away to create the Secte Rouge and freely serve the Left Hand.

Livy absorbs this.

LIVY What about my parents?

MADAM EDEL They fought the good fight. As hard as it may be to accept this, you Livy are a hereditary Houngan. Your gifts may be dormant but can be awakened over time to unlock your potential and find your strengths.

Livy reacts. The realist inside her wants to not even entertain any of this but still she’s grappling with the possibility that the impossible could be true.

LIVY If what you’re saying is accurate, I don’t even know if I’d want to.

MADAM EDEL I assure you, denying your truth is not in your best interest. This life was new to me too once. But I was guided by someone I trusted, I could do the same for you.

She ponders that for a moment. Her eyes search the room, taking in everything. Suddenly hitting so close to home.

LIVY I’d be willing to investigate it, find out what’s real and what’s not. But only if it means you helping me find out who was involved in my parents’ death.

MADAM EDEL I’ve had my fair share of doubt surrounding their deaths myself. The killing of a Houngan is something I take very seriously. However, every initiate must complete the Rites and you will too when you’re ready.

LIVY But the minute I don’t feel right about this anymore, I’m out.

MADAM EDEL One day at a time.

Off Livy, nothing to lose.

EXT. CEMETERY - DAYS LATER

At nightfall, Livy watches curiously as Madam Edel gathers ingredients for graveyard dirt charms.

MADAM EDEL The cemetery is the Crossroads where the world of the living intersects with the past, erasing terrestrial separations. The universe is more organized than it appears. You start to realize the distinctions between the past, present and future are nothing more than a persistent illusion.

Livy listens respectfully, like a student of anthropology trying her best to understand. It doesn’t hurt that Madam Edel is an engaging personality and speaks with such convictions.

LIVY (a change of heart) You really believe it? Don’t you?

MADAM EDEL I have to. Restoring the essential balance is all we can do to keep the Bokors from tearing this world apart.

Livy takes a moment.

LIVY I wish I would’ve known sooner, when my parents were still around. Maybe, this would’ve felt more right.

They walk side by side together, noticing a small BLACK BUTTERFLY fluttering atop a gravestone.

MADAM EDEL Some say a dead person can become a black butterfly. Once earthbound, now able to transform and transcend. The Nzambi spirit can take many forms.

Livy tries her best to keep an open mind.

LIVY Nzambi? Like Bizango, I’m gonna need ya to decolonize my mind on that one too.

A subtle smile from Madam Edel.

MADAM EDEL The spirit of a dead person. Or what one might call a zombi...

Off Livy, wants to know more.

CROSS FADE TO:

A SERIES OF TIME CUTS

...Livy tacks up notes and pictures of people from her parents’ lives on a bulletin board, investigating who could be connected to the Secte Rouge.

...Livy studies time-worn books from Madam Edel’s collections. Works under her as the Mambo’s apprentice. Weeks turn into months. Months turn into years. E-mails and texts from Ozias go unanswered. Livy disappears from the house whenever he comes home to try to see her. An invitation to the engagement party is left unopened.

...Livy takes part in an initiation ceremony, enduring a series of grueling rites over several days and nights.

...Madam Edel mixes herbs in a tub of water. Her Hounsi Assistants wash Livy’s hair and bathe her head to foot.

MADAM EDEL (O.S.) Cleanse for your journey.

...the Hounsi Assistants bind Livy’s head with a white cloth, guiding her into the initiatory chamber.

MADAM EDEL (CONT'D) Let Ayizan tear open a new pathway for you.

...A shredded palm frond is unfurled into a plume on the floor. As Livy lays down for her ritual sleep.

MADAM EDEL (CONT'D) So you can be spiritually reborn in her womb. Return free of doubt.

Livy closes her eyes. More open to this newfound way of life than ever before. Madam Edel lights a black candle, makes an invocation.

INT. BOTANICA D’ HAITI - PRESENT DAY

Livy reflects. So many years have past but the trauma never went away.

LIVY And that’s when everything started going wrong.

On Madam Edel, wracked with guilt.

MADAM EDEL You were unlike any student I’ve ever had, Livy. I know I failed you. I’ve had to live with that...

INT. INITIATORY CHAMBER - NIGHT

Livy falls asleep. As nightmarish visions slowly start to creep in. QUICK POPS: Livy catatonic on the ground, surrounded by a desiccated landscape. Strange malformed human- shaped shadows dart from left to right.

Phantom voices echo in her head, leaving Livy physically drained as if she’s experiencing a horrific psychic attack.

Livy tries to keep control of her faculties, then watches dark red blood fill the cracks surrounding her across the dried earth. Her eyes shift color to emerald green.

INT. HOUNFOUR TEMPLE - DAYBREAK

Livy rises at the crack of dawn. She sits up, physically isolated in the temple. Mind numb, body aches. The night has taken its toll. A desperate look in her eyes. She spits up blood on the concrete floor.

CUT TO:

Days go by. Livy has no appetite. She grows thin, weakened. Madam Edel watches over her, having never had an initiate psychically attacked before during their rites.

LIVY (fearful) What’s happening to me?

MADAM EDEL This is new, it can be scary. The Houngon must understand evil in order to combat it. You have the ability to see two worlds simultaneously. A shifter capable of movement between them. You may have been able to all along.

Livy stands up, shaking her head slowly.

LIVY No, I don’t want to do this anymore.

MADAM EDEL Please, Livy. Let me help you.

LIVY Goodbye, Madam Edel.

This is not easy for her. She shoulders past Madam Edel and runs off. A hint of regret in her eyes.

INT. ROSE HOME - FLASHBACK

Livy staggers towards the bathroom. The front door behind her flings wide open. A rush of wind blasts through. Before she can get to it, the door slams shut. Almost flies off its hinges. WTF?

Blinds snap shut. The kitchen faucet runs at full blast. A rummaging sound is heard from all corners of the house.

INT. ROSE HOME - BATHROOM - CONTINUOUS

Livy pulls open the medicine cabinet, grabs a bottle of aspirin. Opens it and puts a capsule in her mouth. Swipes a cup from the sink and fills it. Washes the pill down.

LIVY (V.O.) I never experienced anything like it before.

Then, horrifyingly the hallway walls begin to catch fire.

THE NURSE (O.S.) I’ve heard stories. The Little’s like a small town that way...

In the distance Livy hears the sound of sirens. She remains still, in a trance-like state, watching her childhood home go up in smoke around her.

EXT. ROSE HOME - NOT TOO LONG AFTER

FIRE TRUCKS and POLICE CARS arrive, surrounding the house. FIRE FIGHTERS rush from the truck, readying their equipment. But everyone freezes as Livy emerges from the front door. Stunned to realize she’s shockingly unharmed.

Across the street, huddled among concerned neighbors and onlookers is Madam Edel, both startled and intrigued by this latest development.

INT. OLD SEDAN - PARKING LOT - WEEKS LATER

Livy sits in her car, worse for wear, reads a heart breaking note from Ozias.

OZIAS (V.O.) I don’t care what they said you did. I want to help you. We can get through this. Don’t shut me out.

She crumples up the letter in a ball.

INT. BOTANICA D’ HAITI - PRESENT DAY

On Livy, as the memories come flashing back. Madam Edel knows it’s painful for her to remember.

LIVY I came back. One last time after the fire. You couldn’t stop it. You made it worse.

INSERT: the opening scene, Madam Edel is possessed by the Loa as she draws on Livy frightened in a corner.

MADAM EDEL I had never lost control before. It wasn’t supposed to happen that way.

LIVY But it did. And I tried for so long to put this behind me. To forget everything you showed me. I’m not going back to that. I can’t. Just tell me. Why Ozias? Why now?

On Madam Edel, dead serious.

MADAM EDEL What if I told you I believe his burial was premature?

Livy’s face drops. She puzzles a moment.

LIVY I’d tell you that’s impossible.

MADAM EDEL Not entirely. I have reason to believe he was taken from the grave. That he has not left this world and walks as a Zombi Savane, someone who has been through the earth, become a zombi and returned to the state of the living.

Livy snaps.

LIVY Bull shit.

MADAM EDEL My assistants and I went to the graveyard.

Madam Edel retrieves a manila envelope from a shelf of files. She unclasps it and slips out photographs showing Ozias’ grave dug up. The coffin is empty. Livy’s blood boils.

LIVY How dare you.

MADAM EDEL I had to. The secret societies have always relied on powders. Slaves would consume Zombi Powder to play dead for their masters so they could escape. But eventually others would use those same ingredients to target people.

INT. SUBTERRANEAN LAIR - UNKNOWN LOCATION

A POISON MAKER wears a protective garb and a rough eye mask, nose plugged with cotton and a satin scarves tied around his face, concealing his identity.

The Poison Maker places a spoonful of dried powder in a dish, strikes a match to it, making it explode into flame.

MADAM EDEL (O.S.) Although rare, it’s not unheard of for the Bokors to use Zombi poison on another person. The victim remains dead. But remains alive.

INSERT: In a Haitian village, Zombi Poison is sprinkled on the threshold of an intended victim’s doorway by the hand of an Unknown Assailant. Then gets absorbed through the skin of the victim’s passing bare feet.

CUT TO:

INT. BOTANICA D’ HAITI - AS BEFORE

Back with Livy & Madam Edel --

LIVY Ozias has no connection to the Houngans. My parents took him in because he had nowhere else to go.

MADAM EDEL That’s not true. You and Ozias were brought together by design, Livy. This may not make sense to you now but it will in time.

Livy steams, not having it.

LIVY This is a new low. Even for you. If he’s out there, he’d find me. Don’t come near me again.

She storms out.

EXT. ALLEY - MOMENTS LATER

Overwhelmed, Livy loses it and dashes off.

INT. MIAMI POLICE PRECINCT. DETECTIVES BULLPEN

Meantime, Trent pours coffee into his mug from the break room and heads back to his desk. Renae awaits with a file folder.

TRENT My third cup of the day.

RENAE It’s been a long one. The database came back negative on the prints collected from the warehouse fire. No matches in our criminal records. No tips called in either so far.

TRENT Surprised? No one snitches in Little Haiti.

RENAE They’re not doing themselves any favors there. But I did find a lead in the security footage we got from the building next door.

Renae puts down a tablet for Trent to see. She shows him something in the recording. Slows it down.

Renae points to a quick flash of the Hooded Figure escaping from the inferno. Trent sits, studies the image.

TRENT One guy?

RENAE Looks that way.

Trent leans back in his chair, stumped.

TRENT No matches. No leads. It’s like...

RENAE He’s a ghost?

TRENT You said it.

EXT. SOUTH BEACH - LATER

Cloudless skies. Celestial blue waves. Beachgoers on the sand. Swath of pastel Art Deco buildings in the b.g.

EXT. BUILDING SITE - LATER

Jamil guides a blindfolded Cass through the lobby of a nearly complete Starchitect-designed luxury boutique condo-hotel, spa and restaurant known as The Vincent Residences.

JAMIL No peeking. Almost there. Now feast your eyes.

He removes the blindfold. Cass is floored, covers her mouth.

CASS Dad, I love it. Everything’s really coming together. I can’t wait to start forwarding my mail here.

JAMIL On that note, I think it’s time we had a conversation about your future.

Cass reflects.

CASS I know I disappointed you when I didn’t finish law school. But losing Ozias was so much.

JAMIL You persevered. You got through it. Your website, the vlogger thing, it’s great.

JAMIL (CONT'D) But I think you’re ready to start taking more of a leadership role with the company. I’d like to offer you the GM position here. Get your feet wet so one day you can take over my entire operation.

Cass is struck.

CASS Thank you for believing in me, Dad. Honestly, I think this is just what I need right now in my life.

JAMIL You’re ready for something more.

CASS And Mak? I know Uncle D’s been taking up a lot of his time. Seems like it’s starting to get to him.

JAMIL Eventually we can talk about bringing him onboard as in-house counsel.

Music to Cass’ ears.

CASS He’d love that.

JAMIL Now I gotta show you the rooftop deck. The view will blow your mind.

CASS Let’s do it.

They head towards the elevators.

EXT. OCEAN DRIVE - SOON AFTER

PULLING BACK to a POV, ACROSS THE STREET by a homeless encampment. As we rack focus to reveal a wraithlike Hooded Figure. Hardened eyes fastened upon Cass and Jamil through the glass. A cold stare. He watches their every move. Cars pass. Then a BUS. And just like that, he’s gone.

INT. LIVY’S APARTMENT

Livy digs out Ozias’ death certificate from a file box. She stares at it. Tears well up.

TIME CUT: Livy has her laptop out. Researches biological puppeteering -- results pop up chemicals overriding brain function, taking over muscle function and controlling movements. She reads it over. Could it be true?

A knock at the door. Startled, Livy gets up and goes over to the door. Checks the peephole. Creon is waiting outside. She unlocks the door and opens it.

LIVY Creon, what are you doing here?

CREON I know if I texted, you’d just give me some excuse for not wanting to go. So I decided to drop by and bring you some flowers.

He pulls out a bouquet of hibiscus flowers from behind his back and hands them to her. Livy touches her heart.

LIVY You didn’t have to do that. Thanks for coming by but I’ve just got a lot on my mind.

She takes the flowers, lets him in then goes to put them in a vase, fills it with some water from the sink.

CREON Always have something on your mind, thinking about things. That’s what I like about you. Lot going on up there.

He taps his head. On Livy, if you only knew. She thaws her demeanor, gives him a smile.

LIVY You win, I’ll go.

Creon throws up a fist.

CREON Victory.

EXT. STRIP CLUB - DUSK

Trent pulls up and parks his car outside. A tire-chested SECURITY GUARD stands at the door, recognizes Trent and lets him in. Trent gives him a respectful nod.

INT. STRIP CLUB - NIGHT

Red-hot lights. Sex in the air. Strippers swing around poles as a song plays instructing them to Drop That Kitty Down Low. Trent threads through the crowd of hard edged patrons.

BAURON My man. Welcome back.

He joins Bauron at his booth.

TRENT Was quite the spectacle at the docks this morning. Must have a few enemies trying to settle the score.

MAK As much as a crooked cop does? I got somewhere to be. This punk can’t be trusted.

TRENT Someone’s panties are bunched.

Mak gets up to go.

BAURON Hope you put on better manners for my cousin Dayana, Mak.

Mak leaves. Trent looks to Bauron.

TRENT Look, you and I have always had an understanding, Bauron. Classic remora fish and shark.

He unfolds a print-out from the pocket of his jacket. Shows a grainy image from the security footage. Bauron studies it. Could it really be Ozias?

TRENT (CONT'D) Know him?

BAURON If it’s who I think it is, I’m gonna need to find out why there’s a man wandering around Miami despite being killed. I have just the guy to find him.

Off Trent, chomping at the bit.

EXT. C-9 BASIN - ESTABLISHING

Off the turnpike on the Western edge of Miami-Dade county, lies one of the last bastions of lawless South Florida. An ecological buffer between the everglades and Miami which serves as a den of corruption and criminal activity.

A place where many rural immigrants from the Caribbean have taken refuge. Ramshackle farms surrounded by tin-roofed shacks, livestock pens and unlicensed slaughterhouses. Feral dogs run free amidst trailers and abandoned school buses.

We track a MAN on the move in an old black overcoat that flutters in the wind behind him. This is KANAVAL, coldly pragmatic with eyes like a reptile, very much accustomed to life in the shadows.

INT. NONDESCRIPT BUILDING - NIGHTFALL

The Ref passes rows of cages, throws a rooster carcass into a blood stained trash can. He goes to his desk, counting cash.

A pair of steel-toed black boots appear. As Kanaval steps out from a row of storage shelves, catch a glimpse of spiritual tattoos inscribed across his neck. The Ref tenses.

THE REF Got a lot of nerve coming here. I told you I was done.

KANAVAL Our work is never over.

The Ref pulls open the top drawer of his desk, reaches for a glock .40 caliber pistol tucked inside. Then stops.

KANAVAL (CONT'D) There’s a butterfly knife under the stack of papers. Would be much more personal than the gun.

Alarmed, the Ref pushes away the mess of papers, finds said knife and opens it with a flick of his wrist. The Ref shakes his head. Won’t move. Can’t resist. He clenches his jaw.

THE REF Get out of my head.

Kanaval studies the Ref’s face calmly, sweat-wet and skin flushed. He does not move his lips when he speaks his next words to the Ref:

KANAVAL (TELEPATHICALLY) They say I am Baka incarnate. I like to think so too.

With that the Ref reaches up and stabs himself in the chest as if propelled by a malevolent force. Over and over again. Body thrashing, spattering the floor with blood. Then slumps over dead as a doornail.

Kanaval starts to go. A BOOKIE comes in, ready to air his grievances to the Ref.

BOOKIE Hey asshole, I know you laced the spurs on the winners’ feet with poison. Rig all these matches, don’t you?!

He stops, realizing... now terrified at the sight of the Ref’s dead body.

BOOKIE (CONT'D) Jesus Christ.

Kanaval just looks at him, without emotion.

KANAVAL No one’s gonna make a lot of noise about it.

Kanaval exits. The Bookie starts having a heart attack.

EXT. WYNWOOD ARTS DISTRICT, MIAMI - NIGHT

Colorful murals by street artists mark the famous “Wynwood Walls.” Food trucks abound. Diverse hipsters a plenty.

Livy exits an Uber with Creon, carrying his DJ equipment in a hard case. They walk and talk on their way to the venue.

LIVY Last few days doing hospice care, got me in a dark place, thinking about my parents and my brother. I was doing some research.Lemme ask you something, are you familiar with the concept of the Haitian voodoo zombie?

CREON Whoa, that’s random. It’s an urban legend, I know that much.

LIVY Do you think it’s possible?

Creon recalls:

CREON Read once about this Japanese pop star who died after eating a puffer fish at some fancy sushi restaurant, only to regain consciousness in the morgue days later.

LIVY So someone could actually do that to someone else on purpose then?

CREON In theory. The person would go through this autoscopic near death experience, where everyone around you thinks you’re dead but really you’re not.

LIVY The whole zombie myth comes from slavery, they feared never-ending subjugation, even in the after life.

CREON My grandmother was a follower of the loa. When it comes to all that, what I’ve learned is, it’s better to leave well enough alone.

LIVY Trust me I know.

They follow forward towards pulsating music ahead.

EXT. VINCENT ESTATE - VERANDA - NIGHT

Jamil’s mayoral event kicks off. A sea of distinguished Miamians gather pool side as SERVERS come around carrying Mojitos cocktails on trays with sugar cane stirrers.

Jamil pumps hands with the Guests as Dayana holds court, an attention-grabber in a designer dress and jaw-dropping jewels. Mak hurries in to meet Cass.

MAK Sorry I’m late.

She takes his hand.

CASS I’m just happy you’re here. No shade to anyone but you know I hate these things. But I have some good news to share later.

MAK I need it after today.

CASS Whatever gets thrown at us. We make it work. Like we always have.

A photographer captures their attention. Snaps a photo of them together. As Dayana takes center stage, ready to make an announcement to the guests.

DAYANA Welcome to our home. I am so thrilled that you’re all here to share in this very special occasion for not only my family and I but for all Miamians. My husband and I are a team. We love our city and we both decided that it’s time to give back...

INTERCUT WITH:

EXT. WYNWOOD YARD - NIGHT

Creon takes the stage at this eclectic pop-up space, playing a live set. Spins beats. The crowd of partygoers are into it. Livy tries her best to enjoy the music, standing among them but remains rattled by her reunion with Madam Edel.

Something isn’t right. A feeling of dread creeps through her body. All she knows is she needs to get out of here and fast. She pushes through the crowd, towards an exit.

Creon watches her go. Disappointed. He shakes his head. SNAP ZOOM, off in a corner, REVEAL, the Nurse watching her. Blended in amidst the revelers.

EXT. VINCENT ESTATE - VERANDA - CONTINUOUS

Jamil takes the floor, standing by Dayana’s side.

JAMIL Where I’m from, we are known for doing a lot with a little. Building my company from the ground up I relied on that grit in my bones. But after years here, besides losing my accent, I’ve also become as American as apple pie. That drive to reach higher, think bolder. That’s why I want to work to make Miami better, it’s a global world- class city but it’s also my adopted home. Elevating the quality of life for all Miami residents is what I intend to do by throwing my hat in the race for this next election.

Everyone claps.

EXT. DARK ALLEY - NIGHT

Heart racing wildly, Livy flees the scene but the Nurse is close behind. Livy stops, feels her presence. She back slides against a dumpster, peers around the corner.

The Nurse has vanished. That’s when Livy’s vision starts to waver in and out of focus. She slides down against the wall, hitting the ground. Barely conscious.

LIVY’S POV: Someone picks her up. She’s being carried off. Then blackness descends upon her.

EXT. MIAMI MARINE STADIUM - NIGHT

A former power boat racing event venue from the Sixties. Deteriorated with graffiti tags and overgrown weeds everywhere. Nature has taken it back.

Livy lies on the floor. Her eyes flutter open. She notices a Hooded Figure in the shadows under the cantilevered concrete. He watches her. Livy staggers to her feet. He doesn’t move.

LIVY What do you with want from me?

A silent beat.

HOODED FIGURE Someone was there. Looking for you. You need to be more careful.

She recognizes that voice. Can’t believe her ears.

LIVY Ozias?

He steps into the moonlight. As Livy gets the shock of her life. It’s Ozias. No joy left in him. But very much alive. Livy stares in gaping disbelief.

OZIAS It’s really good to see you Livy. Sorry I couldn’t get to you sooner.

She steps towards him. Bit apprehensive.

LIVY It’s okay. I’m just glad you’re here. I can’t believe this is real. I can’t believe it’s you.

Livy touches Ozias’ face, eyes searching his. A beaming smile comes over her. Then she sinks deep into his arms.

LIVY (CONT'D) You’ve been staying here?

She takes a glance around the rat-infested digs.

OZIAS Not for long. Don’t have a lot of time. Need to figure things out. I spent the last five years being a shell of a person but not anymore. I should’ve believed you. This all goes back to our families. Nothing we were told was the truth.

LIVY What happened to you?

She notices a scar on his cheek.

INT. HOTEL SUITE - FLASHBACK

The night of the engagement party. Cass sleeps soundly beside Ozias. He wakes up sweating profusely. Face flushed.

OZIAS (V.O.) I got out of bed in the middle of the night. Didn’t feel right.

INT. HOTEL SUITE - BATHROOM

Ozias stands at the mirror. Glassy-eyed, pupils contract. Muscles in his face twitch. Nerve toxins kick in.

OZIAS (V.O.) Had this tingling sensation rushing through my body.

Suddenly it’s difficult to breathe. Lips turn blue. Ozias’ mouth shakes in the mirror. As he enters a state of disorientation and delirium.

OZIAS (V.O.) Felt like insects crawling beneath my skin. Biting me.

INT. HOTEL SUITE - CONTINUOUS

Ozias staggers back to bed. As he experiences a collapse of all muscular control and goes into respiratory distress, entering a death-like paralysis.

INT. HOTEL SUITE - AS BEFORE

OZIAS’ POV: Cass lets out a terrible scream. She falls apart before his eyes but there’s nothing he can do.

OZIAS (V.O.) I heard my fiancée crying.

Ozias is completely immobilized. Blank face. Eyes fixed, mouth open.

OZIAS (V.O.) Felt like I was floating outside my body. I couldn’t speak.

INT. HOTEL SUITE - NEW ANGLE

A pair of EMTs work to revive him. No pulse.

OZIAS I was pronounced dead. Saw the sheet come over my body.

Soon after. He’s covered by a white sheet.

INT. MORGUE - VIEWING ROOM

Ozias’ body is in cold storage, toe-tagged and affixed with a death certificate.

CUT TO:

The coffin is shut, sealed tight. Sound of hammers. A nail is driven into the wood, piercing through Ozias’ cheek.

EXT. CEMETERY - NIGHT

The coffin is dug up and pulled out of the ground.

OZIAS (V.O.) Then they came for me the night of my burial.

The coffin is opened up. Ozias is dragged out by Men dressed in black. He’s beaten bound and gagged, through it all unable to move and completely at their mercy.

EXT. SUGARCANE MILL, RURAL HAITI - DAY

Nestled in a remote area amongst the alluvial plains of Haiti. Ozias works silently as a laborer, dressed in a sackcloth shroud. A vacant-eyed duty-bound lumbering automation performing manual labor.

OZIAS (V.O.) They took me away. Gave me an antidote. Enough to get by.

He’s conscious but helpless in a coma-like state. A body without will, working tirelessly.

OZIAS (V.O.) Stripped of my identity. My free will. My life.

EXT. THE MILL - NIGHT

Years have past. Ozias sports a woolly beard with a hoe in his hand. He observes a Guard keeping watch on the perimeter of the compound.

OZIAS (V.O.) I started changing over the years. Finding my way back to myself until the right moment came.

Out of nowhere, Ozias lurches from hiding. He takes the hoe and strikes the Guard with a violent blow. Blood spreads over the mud at his feet. Ozias bolts out the door and makes his escape into the black air.

EXT. CLOUD FOREST - CONTINUOUS

Ozias takes off running with everything he’s got, twisting and turning through a gauntlet of wild ferns. He slaloms down steep wooded terrain, dodging trees in his path.

OZIAS (V.O.) I did everything I could to escape.

He stumbles through a foggy mist, hands groping darkness as night falls upon him.

OZIAS (V.O.) But they were tracking me.

SENTINEL-SCOUTS from the Bokor compound hunt Ozias with fierce dogs, trying to locate him. With nowhere else to go, he HURLS himself off a cliff into a deep ravine below, but hits his leg against a jagged rock on the way down. Splash!

EXT. CLOUD FOREST - TIME CUTS

A fierce storm ravishes the landscape. The Guards call off the search. Ozias crawls into a rocky outcrop to escape the rain. He uses his Med School know how to tend to his injuries, utilizing pieces of his shirt as a makeshift tourniquet to slow the flow of blood on his injured leg.

EXT. PORT-AU-PRINCE - IRON MARKET

Ozias reaches civilization. The streets are filled with people for a parade. He walks through the crowd. Swirling dancers funnel out before him. Madam Edel appears amidst the revelers. Their eyes meet. As if she knew all along.

EXT. MIAMI MARINE STADIUM - AS BEFORE

Livy is dumbfounded by these shocking revelations. She takes in the sight of him. This is not the Ozias she knew. As if he’s been to hell and back. But resilient as ever.

LIVY There’s so much I want to ask you. Come to my place. Stay with me.

OZIAS No, we can’t be seen together. I have to go after the people who killed me.

LIVY You can’t. This is dangerous. We can go to the police.

OZIAS I’ve experienced hell on earth. I have a death certificate in my name. Cass married my best friend. My life is over.

On Livy, sobered by this. She gently touches his face.

LIVY Don’t say that. We can figure this out together.

He looks away, emotions have no part in his agenda.

OZIAS What am I supposed to do? Go tell my story on Dateline?

LIVY I can try to help you. There’s things you don’t know about me too, Ozias. We stop the Bokors.

OZIAS It isn’t safe for you to be out here. I’ll find you again.

A SECURITY GUARD arrives on the scene.

SECURITY GUARD Excuse me, ma’am. You can’t be out here. We got reports of homeless camping here.

LIVY I’m sorry... I --

Ozias disappears from view.

SECURITY GUARD You’re one of those urban explorers, I get it. No harm no foul. I’ll escort you back to the entrance, can call a ride from there. Cool?

She nods. He motions her to follow him. They leave.

INT. VINCENT ESTATE - MASTER BEDROOM

The gala is starting to wind down below. Dayana stands at the mirror, touches up her makeup but then rubs a substance from a small bottle on her wrist. As Bauron steps inside.

BAURON Datura, the holy flower of the North Star. An excellent choice. No surprising though, root work is in your blood after all.

Dayana stills.

BAURON (CONT'D) All across this city, the rich rely on cronyism and nepotism to keep themselves on top. But we have our own methods don’t we?

Dayana’s temper flares. She flips around.

DAYANA Are you crazy coming here?

He shuts the door behind him. The curtains close. A flicker in his face. As if he moved them telekinetically. Off Dayana’s surprised look --

BAURON Haters gonna say it’s fake.

Dayana tries to keep her composure.

DAYANA You can’t be here.

BAURON I respect your decision to keep our familial relationship from the public eye but we’ve got a problem on our hands...

INT. LIVY’S APARTMENT

Livy returns to discover her place has been broken into and ransacked. The realization setting in that a world of trouble awaits her.

INT. BOTANICA D’ HAITI - NIGHT

Madam Edel closes shop. The Nurse is there. She lays out a picture of Livy and Creon that she took earlier across from the Cafe Creole. Madam Edel picks it up.

MADAM EDEL Who is he?

THE NURSE He’s no one. But Ozias was there tonight. I felt him. Someone tried to block me, prevent me from getting to her.

MADAM EDEL They took him to keep them apart. The Bokors know they will become stronger together. Some of us are composed of multiple souls. Two, sometimes four. But then there are those who come divided. Like the Sacred Twins, one born as two.

The Nurse seethes.

THE NURSE Your chosen ones, I know. We have the power to create a world of our choosing. And the power to destroy those who oppose us. Yet all you do is stand in the way. I won’t let you anymore.

Madam Edel is unnerved by her newfound defiance.

MADAM EDEL They’ve gotten to you, haven’t they?

THE NURSE Wrong. I’ve always been Bokor.

The Nurse reveals a knife hidden up her sleeve, which she uses to stab Madam Edel in the side. She cries out, falls to her knees. The Nurse leans down, whispers in her ear as she twists the knife deeper into her mentor.

THE NURSE (CONT'D) Should’ve seen that coming. Maybe what they say is true. Maybe you’re just a charlatan after all. Now you can die a slow death.

Madam Edel doubles over and collapses on the floor. Rivulets of blood pool around her. The Nurse leaves her there, clinging to life.

FLASHBACK TO:

EXT. ROADWAY - YEARS AGO

Graduation day. Livy’s parents Dr. Rose and his wife Terri drive down a winding road lined in banyan trees. Stony faces, focused ahead. They pass a rust-pocked sign KEEP OUT.

EXT. EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK

The car parks near the water’s edge. Trunk pops. A body is stuffed inside. Terri looks to her husband, uncomfortably.

TERRI This is not who we are.

DR. ROSE It is now.

CUT TO the body is dumped over the dock and into the swamp. Strikes the water. Alligators soon have at it.

EXT. ROADWAY

Dr. Rose and Terri drive off. We PULL BACK to find the Nurse hidden amongst the trees. A flicker in her eyes.

A wave pulses through the woods, as if stoked by a telluric current moving underground. A oncoming SEMI-TRAILER TRUCK steers around the bend, the Rose’s car violently flings into its path. Terri releases a BLOOD-WET SCREAM. The car crumples against the front end of the Semi. Completely obliterated.

CUT BACK TO PRESENT.

INT. ABANDONED BOTTLING PLANT - NIGHT

Ozias has already infiltrated his next target, dismantling a cocaine lab tied to Bauron. The power is cut. A trio of Goons are taken out one by one. He counters their punches and kicks, like a frenetic waltz.

Ozias grabs the last man standing by the throat, drags him across the floor then SLAMS him against the wall.

GOON You don’t know what you’re doing. You don’t know what these people are capable of.

OZIAS They don’t know what I am. Tell them I’m coming, I want you to remember my name...

GOON (BEWILDERED) What’s your name?

We PUSH IN ON HIS FACE.

OZIAS THE ZOMBI.

TIGHT ON OZIAS’ EYES. Glistening emerald green.

SMASH TO BLACK.

‘TIL THE NEXT EPISODE