Contents
Red Peaks
Cold Open
Chapter 1: Fortress of Solace
Chapter 2: Subterranean Counterintelligence Blues
Chapter 3: Deus Ex Machina
Chapter 4: Red Herring
Chapter 5: Deathtrap
Chapter 6: Vanilla Sky
Chapter 7: Vertigo
Coda
Red Peaks
Eton Corrasable
Cold Open
New York
Monday
7.00
A burly man in a smart black suit sits perfectly still in the backseat of a limousine. A hat rests by his side. His chauffeur drives at a measured pace, slowly turning a corner into 5th Avenue. The air is thick with moisture. It pours in as the man lowers his window to look out. His eyes peer into the distance, as if perceiving something. The limousine slows to stop opposite the Plaza Hotel. Picking up the hat, the man gets out and stands on the pavement, his head tilting slowly up, to gaze up at the hotel windows. He proceeds to cross the road and ascend the steps leading to the hotel entrance.
Plaza Hotel
Royal Suite
7.01
Gilt turns and stares out of a large window to his left that overlooks Central Park. As he stares out into the mist, it thickens to the point of an absolute grey. His vision retreats to the glass, in which a glimmer of his rugged features now faintly reflects. Hungover, his body faces forward, arms slowly animated, as he cooks breakfast over a gas stove. On a darkly varnished oak surface to the right is a luminous picture frame. Two teenagers sit chaotically together on a train. Both smile differently as they turn to the camera. Next to the frame is a bottle of red-speckled, turquoise-coloured spirit, which has a paint-like consistency. Next to it stands a tumbler and a set of keys. There are also a few faintly glowing holographic circular chips. Each balanced awkwardly on top of the other.
Directly behind Gilt there stands a ghostly transparent blue breakfast bar. With faint outlines allowing perception of dimensionality. Upon it rests a copy of the New York Times. Which lays next to a plate. Which rests next to a glass of orange juice.
Beyond the breakfast bar is the outline of a door that opens onto a bathroom. To the right of it is a dark hallway. It ends in the frame of the entrance to a bedroom. It opens. The figure of M________ emerges. From out of a strange mist. Her platinum hair glints slightly as she enters the kitchen, fastening her robe. Gilt turns and attempts to smile. She looks impassively back. The outlines of a stool materialise as she sits down at the breakfast bar. Returning to the stove, Gilt’s gaze is drawn to the picture frame. He becomes lost in a memory jogged by the picture in the frame..
Chamonix
Montenvers Train
(19__?)
14.23
Inside the compartment of a train climbing steeply upward, Gilt leans forward from one side, engaged in conversation with H___ sitting opposite. Next to Gilt sits F____, who struggles to shut a side window. To stop snowflakes fluttering in. H___ holds out a small box whilst talking to Gilt. Their words flow fluidly, undisturbed by sudden jolts to the carriage. F____ reaches out and takes the box from his hand. Gilt gestures as he talks. One of his arms is in a sling. F____ reveals a Swiss Army Knife from out of the box and smiles, then turns to look at Gilt, still rapt in conversation, gesturing, eyes wide. Asking them to smile, H___ holds up a camera.
Plaza Hotel
Royal Suite
7.03
Standing, staring, blinking, Gilt suddenly gasps. Kneeling down and opening the oven door, fumes bellow out. He gets up and fully opens the window next to him, then stands and watches as the smoke clears, to reveal something softly burning on a tray inside. He turns to M________, who rolls her eyes up, and then down, at her empty plate.
The doorbell rings. Turning, Gilt raises an eyebrow. M________ lowers the newspaper. Then, upon realising something, he nods to himself and casually heads down the entrance hallway to the right of the kitchen. M________ returns to her newspaper.
Gilt returns with some dry cleaning hanging over his shoulder. Removing a dark dinner jacket from a plastic cover, he puts it on, and proceeds to collect the glowing holographic chips from the darkly varnished oak. They click together in his hand. The newspaper rustles. He looks up. M________ looks at the chips, then at him. He pockets them awkwardly, then reaches for the bottle, pouring some of its thick contents into the tumbler. As he lifts the glass up, he hears the newspaper rustle again, and after a pause, lowers it again.
The doorbell rings again. Gloomy, as if lost in thought, he ignores it. So does M________. Putting the newspaper down, she gets up from the stool, which promptly disappears. Gilt turns to watch her enter the open door to the bathroom. She turns to him from inside. He begins to motion to her. She shuts the door, making a double-clicking sound.
The doorbell rings twice more. Gilt heads slowly back down the hallway. He approaches a shimmering red rectangle with thin outlines. He grasps the bright diamond-shaped, virtual, brass handle.
No one is outside.
Gilt darts his eyes up and down the light misty blue corridor. Nothing. He stops before closing the luminous door again as he notices a small envelope on the floor. Kneeling down, he picks it up, and slowly reaches inside. Empty. Shrugging, he gets up and begins to close the door once more, when he notices something else on the floor. Where the envelope was. As he bends to look closer, a hat whooshes above his head, embedding itself in the door. Startled for a moment, Gilt regains composure and tilts his head around. The burly man’s hands appear above him, pulling frantically on the hat. Gilt pulls him away, and they tumble into the hallway, rolling, exchanging body blows.
Standing inside a shower cubicle that immersively visualises a countryside downpour, M________ shakes a shampoo bottle, attempting to get some liquid out. The shaking motions synchronise with banging sounds from outside. She stops and stares at the bottle for a moment, before putting her head under the shower. The simulated countryside downpour flickers vibrantly around her, but begins to glitch. Noticing the cubicle door is ajar, M________ reaches out. But it won’t close. Using the full force of her body, and pulling with both hands, the door closes tight, coinciding with a muffled bang from outside.
M________ jolts back, confused. Shaking her head, she elegantly waves a hand, and the power of the downpour increases, turning into a thunderstorm. Steam rises.
Gilt wrestles with the man from the entrance hallway and into the kitchen. Out of shape, Gilt struggles to defend himself, incurring blow after blow. Trying not to show it, he feels deeper and deeper pain.
Silently shutting down the shower with the action of closing her hand into a fist, M________ freezes at the sounds from outside. After a moment, she begins moving with trepidation toward the door, and slowly reaches for the handle.
The burly stands over Gilt from behind. A shaft of yellow sunlight beams across Gilt’s face, dazzling his bloodshot eyes as the man moves his hands around his head, ready to twist and snap, when there is a double-clicking sound. In mid-action, the man turns for a moment. Gilt seizes it. He elbows the man in the groin, grabs and swivels him around, knees him in the chest and - as the bathroom door handle slowly turns - summons all his strength to throw the man out of the open window.
M________ stands in the frame of the doorway. Gilt, arms still outstretched, looks at her and tries to smile. He performs a zombie-shuffle towards the window. M________ flinches at a loud thumping sound from outside. She looks around the room. Then at Gilt. He looks down below to the man’s corpse, which lays on the back of a truck. Attached to the end of it are two giant bins from the hotel. As they tilt in, bags fall, making thumping sounds. M________ joins him at the window.
‘What is it?’
He looks
down. Beleaguered.
‘Garbage.’
Chapter 1: Fortress of Solace
Gilt returns to the tumbler, picks it up, finishes it, and proceeds to pick up the bottle again, to refill the glass further. M________ remains by the window, following his movements. She walks away. Leaning over the counter, glass in his hand, Gilt is momentarily startled by the sound of a gun being loaded behind him. He spins around. Sees the closed bathroom door. And relaxes.
Straightening his jacket, Gilts heads towards the entrance hallway. Looking down at the floor where the envelope was, he sees a small earring twinkle into existence. He picks it up and reads the words he inscribed upon it. He closes his eyes. His hand a fist. Pocketing it, Gilt looks at the hat in the door. Yanking hard, he presses a foot against the red door, pulling it shut from the outside, before falling to the floor when it eventually loosens free. Holding it in his hand like a waiter, he continues down the misty blue corridor. An ancient Greek statue stands in a corner. Its hands raised. Turning the corner, Gilt arrives at a lift. Next to it is a grey panel. His hand disappears into it for a moment, reappearing with a faint trail of mist. There is a sound of movement. Gilt turns to looks back at the sculpture. It has a vacant expression. Its arms held out. Toward him. A light illuminating it from above casts a deep shadow. Suggesting movement. But it does not move. Smiling to himself, Gilt holds the hat up, weighing it in his hand. He takes a few steps back. Slowly, aiming, he throws it. The hat makes an approach, flying high. Gilt’s eyes gleam. But the hat begins to dip in its trajectory. Just as it reaches the statue’s head. Gilt makes a gesture with his hand. A lift bell pings. The rim of the hat hits the statue’s neck and silently, seamlessly, saws through it. Gilt’s jaw drops. The head falls forward, hurtling towards him.
The lift doors open. Frantic, he turns and runs and has to physically stop the doors before they can close again. A dozen people stand inside. Smiling weakly, he turns his back to them and runs a hand through his hair. The head rolls into view and comes to a stop. Gilt turns to them, still smiling slightly, and raises his eyebrows, shrugging. The doors close. The lift descends. When it reaches the ground floor, everyone begins to leave, except for him. A woman in a red dress turns to him to smiles as she leaves. But the smile begins to disappear as he notices marks of violence on his face.
‘Aren’t you… getting off?’
‘Umm… No. I’m..’
‘You’re..?’
‘Going down...’
‘But… it doesn’t… go down… any further..’
‘Oh… up… sorry I mean up.’
The doors close again. Retrieving something from his jacket, he places his fist disappears into a grey panel next to him. What he holds within his hand bursts with a brightness that visibly shines through the bones. The lift begins moving again. Slowly. It finally comes to a halt. A vertical line of red light enters between the doors. It revolves and scans, passing through Gilt’s body, before fading away. The doors slowly open. What lies before him now is the top step of a wide glass staircase that leads down to an expansive, incandescent white floor. Upon it stand several dark red tables. Mist pours out of the bar at the centre of this space. It pulsates with a green glow. Like a great big piece of kryptonite. As Gilt casually descends the stairs, a woman in a light grey wool suit appears into view and drifts toward, a drink suspended above a black square tray.
‘V____ M_____, Mr..?’
He winces visibly while raising an arm to take the glass from her delicate outstretched hand. She dabs the corner of his bloodied mouth with a silver handkerchief. Smiling weakly, he turns and walks toward a table and sits down, nodding vaguely to a man in black who appears before him as he reaches into his jacket pocket to removes the holographic chips. They begin to glow intensely as he stacks them on the dark red surface of the table.
‘Welcome back, Mr..?’
‘You know my name..’
Slowly bringing the glass to his mouth, he takes a sip. Beginning to relax a little, his eyes gaze ahead. Motionless. Still. As if beholding an infinite beyond.
8.00
Standing at another table, Gilt shakes a hand back and forth, inside which things vibrate brightly. As he gestures his arm to throw them onto a large maze of light suspended before him, his body flinches. Particles of light fall. Smiling weakly, he attempts to mask the pain and regain composure.
12.00
A larger stack of chips now stand on another table. Gilt is surrounded by four other players, each holding outlines of light in their hands, while a pile of chips in the centre glows brightly, sending out a splintering multitude of gentle sparks. Everyone is quiet. They look at him. He speaks. The other players place their outlines of light down. Gilt lays his down. Then looks up to see their faces. After a beat, he leans forward to claim the chips. A spasm of pain runs through his arm. He gasps audibly. Checking his opponents faces once more, he gestures and shrugs, attempting to relax back into position.
16.00
Gilt sits staring at a blurred spiral of red, black and green. He moves some of an impressive stack of glowing chips. A woman puts her hand on his shoulder. It makes him smile. Covering her hand with his, his eyes lock onto the wheel of roulette. As he gently pats her hand he begins to frown. Turning, he realises it is the woman from the lift. Half-smiling at her, he gently removes her hand, before returning his attention to the wheel as it begins to slow. He loses. Irritated, he places a new bet, and pushes the majority of his remaining chips forward. A hand reappears on his shoulder. Gilt twitches his body away and turns to give a disapproving look. It’s M________. She pulls back. The roulette wheel spins. Gilt reaches out to her hand as she pulls it back. As he lurches out of his seat, mouth agape, but remains motionless. Frozen. The wheel stops. The croupier claims his chips, leaving only a few left. He pockets them and checks his watch. His eyes widen, and suddenly gets up to chase after M________. But she has disappeared entirely.
16.03
He stares down at his shoes as the lift ascends. The doors open. He exits and turns a corner, walking past the headless sculpture.
17.00
Gilt stares out the kitchen window. As if focused on something in the distance. Raising a translucent rectangular square of light before him, he dials a number and nestles it between his ear and shoulder while pouring blue liquid into a glass. The rectangle flashes a mixture of bright colours and a whispery automated voice emanates. The number is currently unavailable.
18.00
Sitting next to a bureau on an armchair next to a double-bed, he finishes making gestures with his hand toward rectangle, creating flowing lines of light from his fingertips. He throws it onto the bed as it makes the sound of a message being sent. He opens a drawer of the bureau and knocks onto a compartment that reveals an ancient bottle of amber spirit. His fingertips vibrate. He turns to see a tendril of red light originating from the device, and quickly retrieves it.
‘Darling I..-’
‘-..Darling?’
He looks at the ghostly oval portrait of L as it comes into view, connected to a tendril originating from the device.
‘Oh. Hi..’
Gilt looks at the oval as the portrait unfreezes and zooms out to present a miniature scene. L sits behind a desk with a traditional phone receiver on his shoulder L is sorting through some documents.
‘I’m afraid there’s a loose end. From your final escapade. We understand that they are headed your way now. I believe you are already acquainted. A Mr-.’
‘-Thanks for letting me know.’
L puts the documents down and, holding the receiver closer, runs a had through his hair.
‘Ah… Sorry. Does M________ know?’
‘No.’
‘Good. Well. That should settle things. At least.’
Gilt is silent.
‘I mean. Nothing else left. To… bite you in the back, as it were..’
The miniature figure of L attempts to relax in his chair.
‘Anyway, how have yo
u both been doing out there?’
Silence. L further leans back in his chair.
‘I found something _ might appreciate. Could have benefitted from his help.’
L’s mouth suddenly opens. But he doesn’t speak.
’L..?’
L looks downwards. He runs a hand through his hair.
Silence. L’s head lifts again. Mournful.
‘L..?’
The small blue figure flickers motionlessly as the transmission glitches. L’s face looks expressionless as he begins to speak.
Hotel Plaza
Ground Floor
18.20
Gilt exits a lift and crosses the main foyer. A woman behind reception desk smiles with familiarity as he walks past. The golden entrance doors slide open. Rain falls heavily. A doorman outside nods to Gilt, and raises his arm. A black car materialises and slows to a halt at the bottom of the staircase. Gilt rushes down and gets in.
‘John F. Kennedy Airport.’
The driver is silent. It slowly starts moving. As the cab turns a corner, continuing down 59th street, Gilt catches sight of M________. Asking the cabbie to stop for a moment, he exits the car and walks after her.
‘Darling. I’m so sorry. I lost track of time. It’s been a hard day… More than you know..’
As she continues to walk ahead of him, he stops, motionless, as the rain falls on him. Then he begins to catch up again.
‘Look, something - has.. happened. I’ve got to... go. I’ve- Look it’s… _. I’ve got to see him. Please..’
When he finally reaches out to put his hand on her shoulder, she stops and spins round. It isn’t her.
‘Terribly sorry. I- I thought you were my.. - fian-..’
Turning back to the cab, he shields himself as the rain begins to intensify. Yet as he approaches, it pulls away. He folds his arms. Sensing something, he turns, looking over his shoulder. Nothing.
JFK Airport
Check-In
20.12
Gilt stands behind someone in line, irritatedly checking his device. The person in front is handed something by the woman from behind the desk. They walk away. As Gilt pockets the device, he stops. Wide-eyed, he quickly spins round while reaching for a non-existing gun under his shoulder. Nothing. Turning back sheepishly, he approaches the desk.
Red Peaks Page 1
