The Left-Hand Path

I promised that after I got a grade on that short screenplay I wrote, that'd I'd post the finished product here. I'll stand true to my word this time. There's a lot of things about this piece of work that I really love, a lot of little nuances and hidden things that are always fun for me to throw in and see who notices them. By the way, I got an A+ 100% on this screenplay. The teacher loved it. My roommate hated it, but he's the only one. He doesn't think very visually and went through it like a high school teacher looking at a term paper. I'd love to see this made into a short movie just so I could see it for real rather than just over and over again in my mind. Anyway, read, enjoy. Oh...some of the formatting got a little messed up when tranferring from MS Word to Blogger. If you understand the proper formatting and it's bothering you as you're reading, sorry. If you don't understand the proper formatting, then just forget about it. Ignorance is bliss.

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The Left-Hand Path


INT. JON’S HOME OFFICE - NIGHT

A middle-aged man, JON, is in his office at home at his computer, at a cluttered desk. On the top of a bookshelf sits a King James Bible by itself. On another wall is a loveseat. The only light comes from the computer. He’s wearing only boxers and socks. He’s a skinny guy with a tattoo in the middle of his chest. The tattoo is a picture of a crucifix with the word “GOD” running down vertically. JON takes out a flask and takes two long shots from it.

JON
Lord, this is bullshit.

JON bangs his fists and then throws the papers on his desk. He takes another few shots out of his flask. When it empties out he throws it across the room, knocking the Bible off the shelf and onto the floor. JON rushes over to the Bible and picks it up.

JON (cont’d)
Forgive me for I have sinned.

He places the Bible back on the shelf and returns to his computer. He picks a few of the papers off the floor and compares them with numbers on the computer screen.

JON (cont’d)
I’m never going to get this damn job.

JON slams the lid shut on his laptop. Feeling unsatisfied by that burst of outrage, he picks it up and throws it. He walks over to the bookshelf and picks up the Bible. He opens the book to a page he has marked and lays down on the couch.

JON (cont’d)
For God so loved the world…that he…that…

JON’S eyes flicker as he falls asleep. As the Bible drops out of his hands, another voice is heard.

LEVI (V.O.)
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16”

We still see JON lying in bed, sound asleep. He opens his eyes, but in a new setting.


INT. OFFICE CUBICLE – DAY

JON is sitting in a chair in a cubicle that was made to fit two people. Looking over his shoulder is LEVI, his cubicle-mate. LEVI wears khaki pants and a sweater vest. LEVI is overweight and looks like he hasn’t shaved in days. The hairs on both his chin and head are starting to gray. The bags under JON’S eyes show that he didn’t get sleep well last night, or possibly even in a long time.

LEVI
You’ve gotta get this crap off your computer.

LEVI makes a grab for JON’S mouse, but JON grabs his arm. They have a little tussle before JON completely shoves LEVI backward, almost making him fall.

JON
What the hell! What crap are you talking about?

LEVI
Whatever that Bible thing is.

JON
Why should I get rid of it?

LEVI
You bring that Bible to work and now you’re putting that crap on your computer. And yesterday! Praying right at your desk!

JON
Go sit in your own chair and leave me alone.

LEVI
Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

JON
Who the hell is gonna ask about this?

LEVI
Lilith won’t like it.

JON
Lilith has a sense of respect and decency. I’m sure she wouldn’t care about any of this.

LEVI
I’m not trying to mess with you here, just trying to help.

JON
The day you try to help me will be a cold day in Hell Levi.

LEVI
Fine, go fuck yourself over. Aren’t you supposed to be meeting with the ice queen right now?

JON jumps up, having lost track of time. He leaves the cubicle. LEVI calls after him.

LEVI
See? Don’t say I never help.
(under his breath)
Prick.

As JON hurries to her office, he slips his flask out from inside his jacket.

JON
Cheers to me.

JON takes a few quick drinks.

JON (cont’d)
As I walk through the valley…


INT. LILITH’S OFFICE – DAY

JON enters the office and LILITH is standing in front of a fireplace that she has in her expansive office. She’s feeding official looking papers into a roaring fire. When she hears JON enter, she puts up her hand to stop him at the door. She throws the last few into the fire and turns to face him. Despite her small manner, she has a very large presence. She’s dressed in a men’s black suit, complete with tie, pants, jacket, and white shirt. She’s wearing black high heels.

LILITH
Shoes off Jon, I do not like my employees messing up my carpet.

JON takes off his shoes and continues to stand there.

LILITH
Sit.

JON
Thank you ma’am.

JON sits down and LILITH moves around behind him as she talks.

LILITH
You have heard about Mark’s recent departure and the significant opening he has left in our family. He was working as operational manager long before I arrived here, but I felt that he was not the right man for the job and, more than that, he was not willing to listen to me as his boss. It was a shame to let him go but it had to be done.

JON
Yes ma’am.

LILITH
I am currently looking for the right person to fill his shoes and I think that you would be a good candidate for that –

JON
Thank you, ma’am –

LILITH
Try not to interrupt me. There is more.

JON
Sorry ma’am.

LILITH
So, I am sure that you are starting to see where this conversation is headed. There is one thing that worries me though.

LILITH takes a tape recorder out of her pocket and hits play.

LEVI (on tape)
I never said anything before, but he’s getting worse now. He used to just bring his Bible to work, maybe look at it occasionally. Yesterday though, I came back from lunch and he’s hunched over his desk, praying, out loud. And this morning I see this Bible verse on his computer screen. It’s wrong.

LILITH stops the tape.

LILITH
This worries me.

JON
I’m not quite sure I understand ma’am.

LILITH
You look a little tense, go ahead and take off your jacket.

JON slowly takes off his suit jacket and drapes it around his chair.

LILITH (cont’d)
Listen Jon, the employees who work best under my care and prosper the longest, are those who will not ever lead me to worry.

JON
My beliefs—

LILITH
Are exactly what worry me. I do not like to be worried.

JON
I’m not sure what you want me to say ma’am.

LILITH
There are a lot of opportunities here Jon. There is plenty that I can offer you. Of course, this job comes with a bigger raise, almost twice what you make now. And of course, as operational manager of this magazine, you will be working much more closely with our clients. You are a bachelor, correct?

JON
Yes, ma’am.

LILITH walks behind her desk and opens a drawer.

LILITH
As you may or may not know, we have many clients in and out of here all the time that you would get to meet with.

LILITH pushes two pictures toward JON, one of Cameron Diaz and the other of Heidi Klum.

LILITH (cont’d)
And, even people of power and influence…

LILITH takes out another picture she pushes toward JON, of her shaking hands with President Bill Clinton.

LILITH
Are you feeling okay Jon?

JON
It’s a little cold in here.

LILITH
Give me your tie.

LILITH comes back around the desk as JON hesitantly pulls off his tie and hands it to her. She takes it and throws it into the fire.

LILITH
That should help warm things up. And, of course, while you would have more responsibilities, you would also have a multitude of employees working under you who are eagerly waiting for tasks to be delegated to them.

JON
I’m not sure what to tell you ma’am.

LILITH
Tell me that you will not be a worry to me; that this religious kick will end.

JON
It sounds…ma’am…that you want me to, well, renounce my beliefs or something in order to get this promotion.

LILITH gets in front of JON, standing over him, and making sure that she’s staring directly into his eyes.

LILITH
God is a figment of your imagination Jon. He is the invisible man that you talk to at night to help yourself sleep, and that is not even working for you. He is the make believe creature that you feel gives you hope and faith but, in reality, shelters you in a prison.

LILITH puts her hand in the air, palm up.

LILITH
Do you see this Jon? This object in my hand?

JON
Uh, I don’t know what…what?

LILITH
That is because there is nothing Jon. Now look up. What do you see? What do you see when you are outside? Nothing, because there is nothing there either.

JON
I don’t know if I’m the right man for the job –

LILITH
Of course you are Jon. You may have a Bible verse on your computer but you are no Christian. “Do unto others as you’d have done to you,” is not exactly the motto you live by. There is a quote in the Bible that you may or may not know, it goes, “And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.” Your God is a deceiver, no better than the devil herself.

JON
I don’t know that verse –

LILITH
Second Thessalonians, chapter two, verse eleven.

JON
I think I should go.

JON makes no movement to leave his seat.

LILITH
Then why do you stay? You want this, you need this. Take off your shirt.

JON
Excuse me?

LILITH
Shirt. Off.

JON watches her for a second, not knowing if she is serious or not. She does not show any sign that she has ever made joke in her life, so JON unbuttons his shirt and lets it fall to the floor.

LILITH
There, that is fine.

LILITH gets right in JON’S face and pokes him in the chest, where his tattoo is.

LILITH (cont’d)
Look at yourself. You have branded the very name of fiction onto your chest. Look how it fades, look how it wilts with your body. Take the job, take the raise, you know that it is everything that you have ever asked everybody for. Even. Your. God.

She pokes him three times in the chest with each word.

JON jumps up, knocking his chair backward as he does so. LILITH, picks his jacket up off the floor and takes the flask of vodka out of the inside pocket.

LILITH
Look at you, drinking on the job. Do you have so little self-control that you have to drink alcohol at work?

LILITH opens the flask and takes a drink from it.

LILITH
Sit back down.

JON stands his ground in front of LILITH. Despite the noticeable difference in their height, LILITH still has a commanding appearance and posture.

JON
What’s to keep me from getting you fired for this?

LILITH smiles and sits on the front of her desk but with her high heels still easily reaching the ground.

LILITH
Very nice Jon, let us actually get my boss in here. I will tell him about your drinking at work. I will also, of course, have to mention your abusive nature to the other employees.

JON
My what? I’ve never hurt anybody.

LILITH
Unfortunately Levi has a different view of things.

LILITH hits the intercom on her desk.

LILITH
Come in.

JON whips around to face the door as LEVI enters. He trips slightly over JON’S shoes, but then just kicks them aside. JON turns back around to grab his shirt, but LILITH has placed it on the desk beside her.

LILITH
Sit, Jon.

JON looks back and forth between LEVI and LILITH as if wanting to start a fight, but instead picks up the chair and sits down.

JON
Why are you doing this?

LEVI
I told you, he’s violent. He’s always harassing me and threatening me. He’s even thrown a few punches at me. It’s always after he’s been drinking off that flask of his.

JON
That’s such bullshit Levi and you know it.

LILITH
Unfortunately, since he is not the one with a flask in his jacket, it is going to have to be his word we take.

LEVI
I’m trying to help you Jon. You’re the only one qualified enough to take this job. Lord knows I can’t fill it.

LILITH
Do not make this complicated Jon. I am offering you a job that you have wanted for years, with every perk you could ever dream of. In return, all you have to do is give up something that you never really cared too much about in the first place. Do me this favor.

LILITH hands JON back his flask and he takes another hit from it before picking up his jacket and taking his shirt back. He stands up right in LEVI’S face, and they stare at each other for a second before LEVI graciously moves aside to let him pass. JON walks to the door and slowly opens it, but only halfway. LILITH walks up behind him and, from behind, gently closes the door in front of him.

LILITH
There are no answers out there Jonathan. Take what is real. Give it up.


INT. JON AND LEVI’S CUBICLE – SAME DAY

JON and LEVI walk back to the cubicle together and LEVI sits right in JON’S chair. JON stares at him a moment in disbelief then moves right past him.

LEVI
I told her about your computer last night.

JON
Is that so?

LEVI
I was just trying to help Jon.

JON grabs LEVI and pulls him out of the chair and then shoves him against the desk.

JON
Listen Levi, I don’t like you. I don’t need your help with my life, and for all I care, you can go to Hell.

LEVI
You do seem to have a small anger management problem.

JON throws LEVI to the ground and picks up the Bible off his desk and throws it on top of LEVI.
JON
Take this.

LEVI grabs it and flips through a few of the pages. JON turns around to leave the cubicle.

LEVI
What’s this for?

JON
Just trying to help you.
(starts to leave again, then stops)
And if I ever catch you with that Bible, you’re fired.
(Leaves for real this time)
See you tomorrow.