Act 2, Scene 5 from my play titled Individuum

Act 2, Scene 5

Inside The Droplet of Blood, shadows flicker and spit. Whispers coat the walls like wet paint. A smell consisting of notes of Anise, blue sage, and stainless steel linger heavily in the air. At the very bottom of the droplet stands a hill with a mother beech tree atop it. It is barren but the hill is not. Underneath the tree stand twins – two girls – conjoined from the top of the shoulder down to the bottom of the hip.

(enter Shade and The Shining One falling down the drop of blood. All horrors known to man flash before their eyes in the form of shadows. Whispers dot the walls. Voices of the voiceless. It seems as if they are falling forever. After some time, they hit the bottom of the droplet and see the conjoined twins atop the hill, standing under the mother beech.)

Shade (checking himself and The Shining One for injuries):

Wha—

Where. Are. We?

Wha—what. Happened. To. Us?

The Shining One: (silence, caresses the lines in his palm)

(a blanket of light orange haze covers Shade’s inner eye; a feeling of clarity and springtime rushes over him)

Shade (surprisingly slight shock):

Oh. We. Are. In. The Blood.

Oh…

(Shade finally notices the hill, the tree and the conjoined twin girls)

Who. Art. Thou?

I. Believe. That. We. Have. Met. Not. Before

This. The Shining One. Is. My, Darling. I. Am. Called. Shade.

The Conjoined Twins (in unison):

Who we are? Would you even know?

What our form is? Are we the snow on the leopard’s back?

Or the angel over the field? Are we One dangling from a rope under the tree of twilight?

Thy blood—is it not thy blade?

Know ye the lump in thy throat? Or perhaps the quicken pulse on thine own wrists?

Will we stand behind those and speak in misty tongues?

Us. One.

Tell us your answers and we will provide the questions.

Do you pay head to the whispers? To the shadows? Or are your words heavy on your bottom lip?

Do you see the decorations on the wall, Shade? The shadows, the whispers of all?

Should we be imprisoned under this scarlet god,

We might as well make this place suit us, no?

Us. One.

The Shining One: (silence, caresses Shades palm)

Shade (aside):

–Ah! I. Will. Question. Them. Over. Irren. Ah! (loudly)

One. Is. it?

Someone. A. Man. Whom. We. Seek. Out.

Irren. His. Name. Is.

Of. The Serpent. Hast. He. Spake. His. Serpent.

The. One. Around. The. Chandelier. Outside.

Have. Ye. Him. Seen? Smell. Thou. His. Air?

Answers. I. Have. Not. Seen. Sure. But. Them. Do. I. Own.

In. The. Lightning. Of. Hope. A. Rat. Black. Falls. Under. The.

Determination. Of. The. Essence. Of. A. Time.

The. True. Serpent. Writhing. Hides. In. Behind. Mine. Ribcage.

Begging. To. Snap. SNAP. At. The. Roaches. The Roses. Who.

Too. Close. To. Me. Stand. Who. Too. Far. From. Me. Whisper.

One (in unison):

Perhaps, you may not know to recognize him.

Around him the serpent is coiled—do you see?

The Tongue inside him whispering? The open heart vibrating?

Was he not called down here by the voice of our prison?

These walls wet with conjecture and broken wavelengths? Broken shadows?

Was he not mocked by our very captors?

A crimson beacon—a starling he was to have forgot, no?

Did his eyes close, like the unerring lily on the wind?

Might thou look around and see—where'er he might be?

Is he not thither? There upon the wall?

(Shade looks down at the palm of his hand. The Shining One has disappeared. Startled, he looks around himself, trying to take in the setting all over again. He notices behind him a soft breath. Another. The back of his neck tingles, as if brushed by the wiry legs of an angel spider. Swiftly, he turns around and sees a body pinned to a wall. The body’s chest has been pried open the skin pinned to the walls on which he hangs from. Shade draws closer, trembling, and spies The Shining One stuck to the still-beating heart of the body. A python is coiled around the body’s face. He is unidentifiable, and yet Shade knows this is Irren. With a start, he spins back around to One, and then back around to Irren. He runs towards The Shining One and attempts to rip her free from Irren’s heart. He fails and turns again towards One)

Shade (terrified):

What. Have. You. Done?

Wha—What. Ha—have. Y—you. D—done?

(spits)

Explain.

Explain.

Please.

Please…

One (in unison):

Was it not us? One?

Was it not them? The red drip?

Must I tell you truly—‘twas the echo that holds us here?

Know now the whispers hold us here, willst thou speak of fire?

Could he be here brought whilst their influence suffers him so?

Is it the question? Is it too far away?

Must he have been bent? Or broken became?

Know we the lust for dissonance, the vile draught,

That bent him? Is it so?

Dost thou understand?

Irren (muffled, tries to speak):

Sathadethe duth a kmthe!

Duth kmthe bthe kmthe duth

Niem mis halfpth.

Shade (confused):

I. Understand. Ye. Not.

Irren. I. Am. Sorry.

One:

Shade? You? .

Do yo–

(The Shining One sinks her fangs into Irrens heart. Black rays of light stream out, cutting through the surroundings as if they were made of steel. The stage darkens, flickers, a sound of glass breaking, electricity arcing. One and Shade cover their faces but are blinded. The stage continues to darken for longer and longer periods. During each moment of light, One and Shade stumble around, in search of one another or for something. Anything. Finally, the stage becomes total darkness, the sounds are resounding, painful, terrifying)