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A celibate young woman living in 21st Century America is hiding the fact that she is a gamelon – an immortal creature who must kill to maintain her youth. THE STORY: New York, Christmastime. ADINA, a young woman working for a big ad agency has just been passed over for a promotion. Now, at the office Christmas party, she loses it when JACK hits on her. She runs out. He follows. Apologizes. Offers to walk her home. It’s late, snowing…Alright. Something clicks and they kiss, suddenly caught in a fit of passion that just won’t wait. They go at it right there, in the shadows. The sex is phenomenal, but then a strange sound envelopes them. It’s loud. Guttural. Scary. Jack looks strange. Still, he clings to Adina; whatever is happening, he wants it. In another heartbeat, he dies, leaving Adina clutching his lifeless body. She breaks down in tears, horrified that this has happened … again. Why does this happen to her? She doesn’t know. She was abandoned as a baby. Grew up in foster homes. The first time she fooled around with a boy – he died. It was easier to run away than to deal with it. Just stay away from men. Everything will be OK. But it’s not OK, not any more. She starts to see a man, everywhere. Is she paranoid? Is he real? JASON watches, but never speaks to her. He’s handsome. The type of man most women find irresistible. But Adina wishes he’d disappear instead of following her like some malevolent guardian angel. She doesn’t know it yet, but she has something he needs. Jack’s death attracts the attention of the police, particularly a moody detective named PAUL QUINT. Paul is sick, Knows he will die soon, but goes to work anyway. He has nothing else – except maybe his hobby, ancient mythology. He thinks myths say more about humanity than reality does. And he knows all about the gamelon “myth.” Paul’s radar goes up when he’s assigned to investigate Jack’s death – particularly when he meets Adina. Although an instant mutual attraction exists between Adina and Paul, she refuses to engage him in any way. Despite her reticence, their paths continue to cross and they strike up a friendship. She confides her fear of her silent stalker. He wants to protect her. But she can’t have a man in her life – particularly not a policeman. Her escapade with Jack has stirred up emotions long buried. She’s finding it increasingly hard to go back to the lonely life she lived before. Her shrink tells her to get out more. Tries to convince her Jack’s death was just a co-incidence. It had nothing to do with her. She goes to the park for a run and flirts with a stranger. Flirting quickly turns to sex and another man ends up dead. This is her proof that there is no co-incidence. Death happens every time… Knowing her fate is somehow liberating to Adina. Before she can process what has happened, she sees a woman standing across the pond. A strangely familiar woman. JULIA is her mother, but Adina has never known her. How much did she witness? Panicked, Adina quickly leaves the scene. But as she tries to escape, she’s attacked by TWO MUGGERS. When they discover she has no money, one of them pulls a knife and slashes her throat! Although both Jason and Julia witness the attack, neither makes a move to help her. Covered in gushing blood, certain she must be dying, she instinctively clutches her throat …but the knife has left no wound … how … whose blood … the mugger collapses to the ground, a gaping wound in HIS throat. It’s surreal … though SHE has been attacked, HE is bleeding to death. Julia has vanished, but Jason emerges from the shadows and approaches the bloody, shivering Adina. Trapped, terrified, she passes out. When she awakens, she is back in her apartment with Jason. He explains that she’s not crazy – just different. She’s not like “them” – she’s like him – a gamelon. Humans can’t hurt them. She saw what happens when they try. Humans are nothing more than fuel for their immortality. Every soul you claim adds another year to your life – keeping you young indefinitely. In complete denial, she throws herself into her work. But Paul is waiting for her. He’s now investigating three more murders and knows Adina is linked to them all – but he can’t prove it. Part of him doesn’t want to. He’s in denial too. Adina’s shrink doesn’t believe her wild stories and absurd confessions, but she is concerned when her patient starts talking about suicide. She needn’t worry. Adina has tried suicide and never succeeded. She always survives. Now she understands why. Suicide is not an option for a gamelon. You can choose how long you live … but how do you die? You can’t kill yourself and no human can harm you … is there no way out? Adina abandons therapy and decides to embrace her new life. After years of celibacy, she wants to indulge her desires. Jason introduces her to the gamelon lifestyle. Jealous, worried, Paul watches. Warns her to stop. Threatens to arrest her. She refuses to listen. But it doesn’t take long for her to realize that life as a gamelon is far worse than the simple life she had before. Sensing her unhappiness, fearing she may run away and abandon him forever, Jason attacks Adina. Although humans cannot harm a gamelon, gamelons can hurt each other. By killing her, he will die simultaneously – his only way out of an existence he grew tired of long ago. Quickly realizing she is about to be killed in some sick metaphysical murder/suicide, Adina manages to escape from Jason. Wounded, feeling trapped and beaten, Adina surrenders to Paul. Whatever fantasy she had about a new life is gone. There’s no point in fighting any more. But there’s no way Paul will arrest her. Even if he could – who would believe him? More importantly, he confesses his love for her. She tries to resist him. They both know how it will end – but he insists she is what he wants – and needs. Meanwhile, Jason searches for Adina. Instead he finds Julia. Desperately lonely, he seduces her without realizing who – or what – she is. She is a gamelon – and a mother determined to protect her child. Julia kills Jason knowing she will die with him so that Adina may live. As Jason meets his end, Adina is reborn in her love for Paul. Although alone again, she understands and accepts herself for who she is. THE HOOK: Gamelons are the “vampires” of the 21st Century. No longer undead corpses who kill for blood, gamelons are elegant creatures who challenge the concepts of sex, love, life and death
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