FX:
TRAIN WHISTLE
ANCR The Mutual Broadcasting System presents "I Love A Mystery"
FX: TRAIN SOUNDS
ORGAN MUSIC (THEME) SIREN, SCREECH OF BRAKES UNDER ANNOUNCER
ANN:
A new Carlton Morse adventure thriller "Temple of Vampires"
FX:
CLOCK STRIKES FOUR
NARR:
Four o'clock in the afternoon in a twin-motored reconverted cabin plane somewhere over Central America! A plane especially redesigned to meet the Adventures of Jack Packard, Doc Long and Reggie York on their jungle voyage deep into Central America. But they couldn't leave Sunny Richards behind! Not after Sunny had begged them to take her away from the Southern California town where so many of her friends had died so tragically.. And so at sunrise this morning, three men and a girl hopped off from San Diego airport, headed the nose of the craft across Mexico, and now at four in the afternoon they find themselves cruising over the rugged wilderness in the northern reaches of Nicaragua. Reggie York is at the controls and Jack is poring over a map of Central America.
FX:
FADE IN DRONE OF PLANE ENGINE BEHIND ANNCR. THEN DOWN FROM DIALOGUE….
JACK:
Let's see now, Reggie, how long ago did we leave Matagalpa?
REGGIE:
Was that the last big jungle town we passed over?
JACK:
Yeah, Matagalpa!
REGGIE:
Fifty-five minutes ago, Jack..
DOC:
Then we should ought to be gettin pretty close to BOA-co.
SUNNY:
(Amused) Bo-AC-o, Doc...
DOC:
What's this?
SUNNY:
(Amused) Bo-AC-o....Not BOA-co....
REGGIE:
Look out the window
DOC:
Holy Jumpin Catfish.
SONNY:
What is it Carter
DOC:
A dog gone cathedral
SONNY:
Cathedral?
REGGIE:
Good Lord, a New York skyscraper rising right up out of the jungle.
FX:
CLOCK STRIKES ONE
DOC:
Lookee here,
JACK:
Hum?
DOC:
We're at the temple
REGGIE:
Sure, just step right out of the jungle into the courtyard
JACK:
Yeah,
DOC:
So busy not looking where we were going we dog gone near run into it.
HERMES:
Hey, that's a big house ain't it.
JACK:
It's a courtyard alright. We're walking on paving stones covered with heavy moss.
Sonny:
But trees and shrubs are growing right up through the stones.
DOC:
And I was the one who thought maybe folks lived here.
REGGIE:
Now there is a pile of stone that is a pile of stone.
JACK:
Well, there's only one entrance. Shall we have a look inside.
DOC:
Well of course we'll have a look. We've come too far to stop now. Dog Gone, stone steps as grand as you please.
Sonny:
And what stone steps. 15 or 20 steps up to the door, and they reach all across the front of the building.
JACK:
Somebody put a lot of back breaking work into this centuries ago.
HERMES:
Let's go up.
SONNY:
Alright, but you stay close to us.
HERMES:
Sure.
FX:
WALKING UP STONE STEPS (MANY FEET)
DOC:
Did you ever see anything like it? The way shrubs and small trees have growed right up between the stones.
REGGIE:
Do you suppose this jungle palace has anything to do with that dead indian, Jack
JACK:
I wouldn't know.
SONNY:
Yes, it's a little bit frightening isn't it.
HERMES:
Aw, whose afraid? I'm the first one up.
DOC:
We going in?
JACK:
That's what we came up here for. Come on
FX:
STEPS UP AGAIN
DOC:
Big arched doorways, but not a door in the place.
JACK:
The doors must have rotted away centuries ago.
FX:
BELL
SONNY:
Hey, Gollee
DOC:
Listen, if I didn't hear church bell. You can call me a lilly.
hermes:
Yeah. I heard it
JACK:
Come on, let's go inside.
FX:
(STEPS OF MANY FEET) SOUNDS TURN HOLLOW AS THEY ENTER THE TEMPLE
DOC:
Well, will you look what we found.
SONNY:
What a tremendous place
REGGIE:
The ?? Government could hide it's whole army in here.
DOC:
Jack
JACK:
Yeah
DOC:
Jack, did you see what I just saw.
JACK:
What Doc.
DOC:
Something just flew from one side of the temple to the other. Way up yonder.
JACK:
Probably an owl.
DOC:
Owl, my grandma. It was as big as a man, and it didn't have no wings. What's more, it was wearing a human skin and that's all.
FX:
CLOCK STRIKES ONE
JACK:
What are you talking about Doc. Where
DOC:
I saw it Jack, up there 40 or 50 feet in the air. He started from that wall over there on the left and floated as easy as you please across to this here wall.
SONNY:
It must have been a bird.
DOC:
A bird with human skin.
REGGIE:
Oh, look here.
DOC:
I saw it, dog gone it. Only, the thing didn't have no wings, either
SONNY:
And it was as big as a man?
DOC:
That what I said, as big as a man
JACK:
Now look, Doc, you can see how silly that is on the face of it. Why it's a good 150 to 200 feet from one wall to the other.
DOC:
I know that, and I still say I saw it.
JACK:
But nothing could pass through the air that distance without wings.
DOC:
Well, well… if there'd been wings I'd a seen them wouldn't I?
JACK:
And a bird as large as a man would have a tremendous wing spread
REGGIE:
Yes, and the flapping of such wings would make a tremendous noise.
DOC:
Allright, but….
JACK:
And more than that there aren't any birds as large as men
DOC:
All right you smart fellas have it your way. So I didn't see anything as big as a man go through the air up there in the dark
REGGIE:
It was almost certainly the detection of light and shadow in the gloom, doc. You may have thought you did.
DOC:
Skeptics, that's what you are. You just a bunch of dim wit skeptics. Anyway, what do we do next.
JACK:
Well is Herme all right
SONNY:
Unhun. He's sitting out on the steps with a hamper of food eating a piece of chocolate.
JACK:
Well, there's no use looking for inhabitants in this place.
REGGIE:
Jack, this is genuine ancient temple out of some lost civilization. Let's not pass the opportunity to have a look.
JACK:
Well, help yourself. What do you want, the 40 cent tour.
REGGIE:
Well I'm certainly ??
SONNY:
Gee It makes you dizzy just looking up to the ceiling. Imagine a civilization centuries ago intelligent enough to construct a temple this size.
REGGIE:
Bit of a feat, alright. Must be a clear hundred feet from those highest rafters under the roof to the floor where we stand.
SONNY:
Don't our voices sound funny. Listen "HAAA" "HAAA" Ha ha, ha.
REGGIE:
(Chuckle)
FX:
BELL
SONNY:
OHHH!
JACK:
Listen
SONNY:
That's the second time we've heard that bell.
DOC:
And dad blame it Jack, I still say if a bell rings, somebody must ring it
JACK:
I suppose you think it was your wingless man sized bird whose doing it.
DOC:
O. K., O. K., All I'm saying is, why don't you come up with a better explanation.
JACK:
Naturally in a temple of this size there must be bell towers. Bells probably exposed to the weather and when the wind blows the bell rings.
DOC:
Oooh. So now, now the wind's blowing is it? It wasn't when we come in.
JACK:
Might easily be 100 feet in the air?
REGGIE:
Oh look here, standing and talking isn't getting us anything. Let us move out.
JACK:
Alright.
FX:
FOOTSTEPS UNDER CONVERSATION
JACK:
Fortunate some of the roof has fallen in. Gives us some light.
DOC:
Ain't it the truth. Still reminds me of the inside of an old used coffin.
SONNY:
Hey, come here. Come here. Look what I found.
JACK:
Sonny, mustn't get away from the party like this.
SONNY:
O. K., but come see what I found.
DOC:
Hold your horses, we're coming.
FX:
FOOTSTEPS FASTER
DOC:
What's so exciting over in this department
SONNY:
Look
JACK:
Oh, oh. Stone stairway going up along the wall.
SONNY:
Uh, Huh. Almost missed them in the shadows.
REGGIE:
Hey, will you look at this. Narrow stone steps climbing up the side of the wall.
DOC:
Going right up toward the ceiling, and no outside railing to hang on to.
JACK:
Must lead to some rooms or something up there. Can't be just steps to the roof.
DOC:
Well I know one way of finding out.
REGGIE:
Right, shall we go up?
SONNY:
We'll do nothing of the kind.
(INTRO TO NEXT EPISODE)
FX:
CLOCK STRIKES SEVEN
(!!! OUT OF SEQUENCE?)
NARR:
Seven o'clock in the evening on the steps of an ancient abandoned temple somewhere in the jungles of Nicaragua. Originally Jack, Doc and Reggie had intended to take their adventure into Central America alone, but at the last minute they agree to include Sunny Richards, young heiress. Then, out over the Nicaraguan jungle they found Hermie, a seven year old boy stowaway. Engine trouble caused a forced landing on the shore of Lake Nacaragua, near an ancient temple now overgrown by jungle. They found a path leading form the shore to the temple, a quarter mile distant, and on the path they found the corpse of an Indian, whose body had been drained of blood, although there was no wound on him. They found the temple a huge affair, a hundred feet high and a hundred and fifty to two hundred feet square. While Jack and Reggie were examining some stone stairs, which led up the side of the wall, the boy Hermie disappeared, and then Sunny vanished. The three comrades found her semi-conscious on the stone steps outsdie the door of the temple.
JACK:
(Coming to mike) Do you feel all right now... Can you sit Up?
SUNNY:
Yes, of course... But don't bother about me.. find HERMIE..
DOC:
Aw lookie, he's probably just wandering around somewhere....
SUNNY:
No, you don't understand... He said we'd never see Hermie again.
CLOCK STRIKES FOUR
NARR:
Jack and Reggie first explored up the stone steps at the edge of the wall to the first ledge and then an even larger one above it. Each had a warren of small rooms or cells complete with stone benches. While they were exploring, Hermes vanished. Sonny encountered Manuel, who told her that they were at the Temple of Vampires. When Jack and Reggie returned, they went off in another direction to search for Hermes.
JACK:
Oh, Reggie. Over here.
REGGIE:
Find something?
JACK:
Yeah.
FX: FOOTSTEPS
JACK:
Look here.
REGGIE:
Oh-ho, so… more stone steps.
JACK:
Yes…Only this time leading DOWN
REGGIE:
Down into the bowels of the earth to look at them…. Jolly black down there, too….
JACK:
I've got my flashlight….
REGGIE:
We're going down?
JACK:
Well, It's certain Herme isn't up here in this main auditorium or whatever you want to call it…
REGGIE:
I guess not! …And he couldn't have gone up the stone steps along the wall because we were up there when he disappeared….
JACK:
So here's the next place to look…
REGGIE:
But Jack, a little shaver like that would never have gone down into this darkness of his own free will….
JACK:
I know that…
REGGIE:
But if he wandered off…..
JACK:
How do we KNOW he wandered off.
REGGIE:
But…But I thought that's what we decided…
JACK:
Come on, let's go down…
REGGIE:
Anything you say. Lead on.
FX:
FOOTSTEPS DESCENDING STAIRS SLOWLY
JACK:
Keep right behind me.
REGGIE:
Jack, are….are you taking what Sonny said seriously?
JACK:
(Grunts) Such as what?
REGGIE:
I mean to say, that chitter-chatter about this being the Temple of Vampires…
JACK:
Wait… Look there on the walls.
FX:
FOOTSTEPS STOP
REGGIE:
(DISGUST) Oh look here now…. What kind of juicy mind would do a thing like that?
JACK:
Ancient religious symbols …chiseled in the rock.
REGGIE:
Whoever did that was having mental nightmares.
JACK:
(AMUSED) But they're graphic…leave it to the old pagans, THEY knew HOW.
REGGIE:
You mean there was a time when people would allow that kind of stuff?
JACK:
In the good old days people did what they were told… They sacrificed everything from wreaths of garlic to their virgin daughters.
REGGIE:
No wonder their civilization disappeared.
JACK:
Let's go.
FX:
FOOTSTEPS CONTINUE
REGGIE:
Bally loathsome if you ask me.
JACK:
Well, that gives you a pretty good idea what this place stands for --- Something pretty ugly.
REGGIE:
Are you insinuating this pagan religion is still alive.
JACK:
What does the name Temple of Vampires suggest, anyway…
REGGIE:
Perhaps at one time, but this is a modern world, Jack…
JACK:
Not down here, it isn't…This old temple is as isolated from the modern world as it was when it was built hundreds of years ago.
REGGIE:
I don't mind saying I feel a bit on the crawly side…
JACK:
Hey, look ahead here
FX:
FOOTSTEPS STOP
REGGIE:
Looks like a rat run!
JACK:
The ground under this temple must be a regular rabbit warren…look…three, four, five runways leading from the foot of these steps.
REGGIE:
Jack, we could get lost down here and NEVER get out
JACK:
Oh, I don't think it's THAT bad…Look at the arched stonework overhead…
REGGIE:
Jove each one a stone tunnel…But Jack, it's not stone under our feet…
JACK:
Hummm …Dust of a thousand years accumulated over hard, packed clay…
REGGIE:
DUST?….Then if there was anyone here, wouldn't there be footprints?
JACK:
That's what I'm looking for…
REGGIE:
I don't believe it Jack….In spite of what Sunny said, I don't believe there's a living human creature in this place…
JACK:
Don't, eh?
REGGIE:
Huh, …what do you mean by that?
JACK:
Take a look at this…Here in the dust…
REGGIE:
Where?……Jack, that's the print of a human foot…
JACK:
A girl's foot..
REGGIE:
A GIRL?
JACK:
Yeah….apparently they don't give their women shoes down here.
REGGIE:
A bare-foot girl….Jolly, what?
JACK:
Come on…We'll follow THIS tunnel….
REGGIE:
(TO SELF) A girl in the Temple of Vampires…
JACK:
Oh yes, there are female vampires… They're supposed to be very beautiful and seductive…
REGGIE:
That's crazy talk, Jack.
JACK:
Is it?
REGGIE:
As you well know! As crazy as a June bug.
JACK:
What about the body of that dead Indian we found out on the Jungle path…
REGGIE:
(SOBER) Oh look here, I'd forgotten that!
JACK:
I haven't … Not a wound on him and yet his body was drained of blood…
REGGIE:
Are you saying that this really IS a Temple of Vampires and it's preying off the native Indians down here?
JACK:
Isn't that what's indicated? ….Oh, oh, what's this?
REGGIE:
Looks like a break in the wall.
JACK:
Uh huh….With a stone ballustrade running along side our path…
REGGIE:
Throw your flash over…What's on the other side of the stone wall?
JACK:
Let's see (GRUNTS)..Seems to be some kind of a pit…
REGGIE:
Lower the light.. Can you see the bottom.. (HORROR) Jack, Jack.
JACK:
(SOFTLY) Well… well, quite a collection of bones….
REGGIE:
HUMAN bones…all of them human bones! The pit is littered with them…
JACK:
And not such ancient bones at that…
REGGIE:
Jack, let's get out of this place..
JACK:
Yes… I don't think we'll find Hermie down HERE… YET.
REGGIE:
(LEAVING MIKE) A bloody slaughter house… that's what it is…
(PAUSE)
SONNY:
(COMING TO MIKE) (UNEASY) They've been gone so long, Doc. … If they were going to find Hermie, I should think they'd have done it by …by this time…
DOC:
Now look, Sunny, am I gonna have to give you another pep talk?
SUNNY:
But how can you SIT THERE like that…Haven't you got ANY nerves in your body?
DOC:
You should just ought to take a look at my nerves, sometimes sugar…Why there's been times when they get pulled so tight I can play tunes on 'em like a guitar..
SUNNY:
Oh, STOP trying to be funny
DOC:
Yep, honey, you'll be female all right… there's no gitting away from THAT…
SUNNY:
I don't care if I am.. A person's got a right to be frightened and worried…
DOC:
(TENSE) Hold it…
SUNNY:
What?
DOC:
Here they come… And NOW ain't you sorry
FX:
FOOTSTEPS GRADUALLY COMING CLOSER
SUNNY:
Jack and Reggie? But, Doc, Doc, they haven't got Hermie with them…
DOC:
I see they ain't
SUNNY:
(UP) Jack, couldn't you find him? Where's Hermie.
FX:
FOOTSTEPS STOP
SUNNY:
(FRIGHTENED) Where….Where's Hermie?
JACK:
Don't know..
SUNNY:
(LOW) You…you didn't find ANYTHING?
JACK:
Not of Hermie
DOC:
But you did find SOMETHING!
REGGIE:
Nothing, except what I bally well want to forget…
SUNNY:
Why? What do you mean?
JACK:
Forget it.
DOC:
Did you search EVERYWHERE, Jack?
JACK:
That's impossible… It'll take days to go through all the passageways under this temple…
SUNNY:
But… but what are we standing HERE for?
HERMIE:
(BACK) Hello, everybody..
SUNNY:
Hermie
HERMIE:
I WONDERED where all you folks went?
SUNNY:
Oh, Hermie…darling
DOC:
Hermie feller, where the blazes you BIN?
SUNNY:
(NEAR TEARS) Hermie…Hermie, what do you MEAN by frightening us like this?
HERMIE:
Hey, what are you crying about?
JACK:
(STERNLY) Where have you been?
HERMIE:
In there…
JACK:
We were just in there looking for you…
HERMIE:
I guess you didn't see us on account we was in a little room
SUNNY:
WE?
JACK:
Who was with you?
HERMIE:
The most BEAUTIFUL lady I have about ever saw
REGGIE:
Lady?
HERMIE:
Yeah, she was all dressed in black… She gave me some figs.
SUNNY:
Hermie, you didn't EAT them?
HERMIE:
Sure I did… I liked her a lot…and she like me
JACK:
Did she say so?
HERMIE:
Yes, a lot of times… She said I had the nicest white neck she ever saw…
SUNNY:
(HORROR) The nicest white neck… Oh Jack, let's get out of here?
JACK:
Just a minute. Then did she let you go?
HERMIE:
Well, a man all dressed in black came in… He took me by the hand and said you folks were waiting for me…
SUNNY:
The man… The man in the black robes.
HERMIE:
And was she MAD (LAUGHS)
JACK:
And the man took you away?
HERMIE:
Uh huh…He brought me right over to the door there, and showed me where you were…
DOC:
Well I'll be doggone! Sunny, maybe you wasn't seeing things AFTER all…
HERMIE:
Yes, and she had the REDDEST lips and the WHITEST teeth I EVER SAW.
FX:
CLOCK STRIKES
REGGIE:
??
JACK:
Well we're not going to try to get back to the plane tonight.
SUNNY:
Jack, you mean we've got to spend the night here.
JACK:
Yes.
HERMIE:
Well where we going to sleep
JACK:
We'll figure that out when the time comes.
REGGIE:
Well how about those monks cells up the stone stairway along the wall. There are stone benches in them.
HERMIE:
You mean no mattresses?
SUNNY:
Hey look, look.
REGGIE:
Oh Jack, Jack, did you see that?
DOC:
What's the matter
SUNNY:
One of those big things just flew from one wall to the other way up there in the air.
HERMIE:
I didn't see anything
REGGIE:
Well I did. Up there in the gloom. Must have been 40 feet above the floor.
DOC:
Did it have wings.
REGGIE:
Not a wing to his name
SUNNY:
No. Just a great shadow floating through the air. As big as a man.
HERMIE:
Maybe it was a man.
SUNNY:
Oh, don't talk nonsense, Hermie. Things are bad enough the way they are.
DOC:
Funny thing. You remember Sunny, when Jack and Reggie was up on that second ledge up yonder and you and me saw one of them things float over to the same ledge?
SUNNY:
Yeah
DOC:
Well when I got up there to warn 'em…there wasn't a sign of anything.
SUNNY:
But we saw it.
DOC:
Yeah, I know.
JACK:
Well maybe its just an illusion. Lights and shadows play funny tricks in a great place like this.
HERMIE:
Hey. You know something.
SUNNY:
Yes, Hermie.
HERMIE:
I'm getting' awful hungry.
DOC:
Well you got sumthin' there fella. Well what about it, Jack…We just going to stand here all night.
JACK:
Where's that bundle of food.
REGGIE:
I have it here.
JACK:
Open her up Reggie… We'll all feel better with something inside us.
SUNNY:
Are we going to eat right here.
JACK:
Yeah, the lights better. Pick yourself a place and squat.
DOC:
What light. What about a flashlight.
JACK:
We'll save that.
REGGIE:
Well here we are. Canned tomatoes, cheese, crackers. And a bar of chocolate.
DOC:
Here, give me that can Reggie. I'll open them with my knife.
SUNNY:
What's the use. We've got nothing to eat them out of.
DOC:
Well what's the matter with cans
SUNNY:
Ooh, ish. Cold tomatoes out of a can.
DOC:
Well you'll be surprised how good they'll taste. Here you are Hermmie.
HERMIE:
Thanks. Hey this is like a picnic, ain't it.
REGGIE:
Cheeze and Crackers, Sunny?
SUNNY:
Thank you Reggie
REGGIE:
XX Jack?
JACK:
Yeah.
Doc:
Can of tomatoes for you, Sunny.
SUNNY:
No…no, I don't think I want them.
JACK:
Eat them
SUNNY:
Oh, but Jack.
JACK:
Those will keep you from getting thirsty. Tomatoes are good for you in this kind of climate.
SUNNY:
But I really don't like…
JACK:
Are you going to give us trouble
SUNNY:
I'm sorry….Give them to me Doc
DOC:
O. K. Sugar….
REGGIE:
Be careful you don't cut yourself on that tin, Hermie.
HERMIE:
Yeah, I'm
DOC:
Course you did
HERMIE:
??
JACK:
That so
HERMIE:
Not where I come from
JACK:
And where did you come from, Hermie.
HERMIE:
Oh, Around
DOC:
You and your father just bummed it around the country?
HERMIE:
Yeah, sure.
SUNNY:
You mean you didn't have any home at all.
HERMIE:
Not for a long time.
JACK:
Where did you and your father come from before he brought you to San Diego and stowed you away into our plane.
HERMIE:
Texas. The old man worked in the oil fields down there for a little while. He liked goin places then.
JACK:
You must have another name besides Hermie.
HERMIE:
Yeah.
JACK:
Don't you remember any other name.
HERMIE:
Hermie's all I ever heard.
SUNNY:
That's queer
DOC:
Sunny done cleaned up a whole can of tomatoes. That wasn't so bad was it, huh.
SUNNY:
I ate em. Now do I have to say I like them
DOC:
(CHUCKLE) Just plain don't like tomatoes, huh?
REGGIE:
Here, just nibble on a little piece of chocolate to take the taste out of your mouth.
HERMIE:
Got some for me too?
REGGIE:
Now I just bet I have, Hermie.
DOC:
Criminy is she getting dark.
JACK:
More rain clouds. Looks like we're in for a real storm.
DOC:
Yeah, its so dark in the temple now you can't see you hand in front of you.
JACK:
Well is everyone finished.
REGGIE:
All but the chocolate.
JACK:
Well bring it along. Let's get settled for the night.
SUNNY :
Oh…where are we going.
JACK:
Up the stone steps along the wall to the first ledge.
SUNNY:
Jack… I'd rather not.
JACK:
And I rather not see you in this situation at all.
SUNNY:
Yes.. but I'm afraid of high places.
JACK:
The first ledge of cells is only 20 or 30 feet up. Besides in the dark you won't have any sense of height.
SUNNY:
Well, is it really necessary.
JACK:
Yes. We call all get into one of the cells. One person can stand guard, the rest get some sleep.
DOC:
It makes sense, Sunny.
SUNNY:
Ohh… Alright.
JACK:
Come on then.
FX:
FOOTSTEPS (under conversation)
DOC:
You'd better give us a little of that flashlight, Jack.
JACK:
Allright. Here, over this way.
REGGIE:
We'll have to go up single file.
FX:
FOOTSTEPS STOP
JACK:
Yes. Well I'll lead with the flashlight. Sunny, you follow me.
SUNNY:
Allright
JACK:
Doc, you come next… and then Hermie. You bring up the rear Reggie
REGGIE:
Oh yes. That's me. Always the caboose.
JACK:
Hermie, you reach back and take Reggie's hand.
HERMIE:
Oh I don't need any help.
JACK:
(FIRMLY) Reach back and take Reggie's hand.
HERMIE:
Yeah, sure.
JACK:
That's the boy. Alright, let's go. Crowd against the wall side of the stairs and you'll be safe enough.
FX:
FOOTSTEPS (under conversation)
SUNNY:
Jack, I'm sorry but I'm getting dreadfully ill.
JACK:
Here, give me your hand. Now keep coming.
SUNNY:
I'm, I'm… awfully silly about high places.
DOC:
Now don't worry. Jack's got you by the hand and I've got you by the belt and your jacket. You couldn't fall if you wanted to.
FX:
FOOTSTEPS (without conversation)
HERMIE:
Hey, we must be getting WAY up in the air.
REGGIE:
We'll soon be there now
JACK:
Alright, hold it. We're up on the ledge.
FX:
FOOTSTEPS STOP
DOC:
Did you pick out what cell we're going to use.
JACK:
Yeah, the second one. It's the largest. Easy now. Keep against the wall. It's only about three feet to the edge then a sheer drop.
SUNNY:
Oooooh….I knew I shouldn't have eaten those tomatoes.
JACK:
Hang on Sunny. It's almost over.
FX:
FOOTSTEPS
REGGIE:
Alright, Hermie?
HERMIE:
Yeah. Say I guess this is just about as dark as it ever gets anyplace.
REGGIE:
Yes, I guess you're about right
JACK:
Alright now… Right in here.
FX:
VOICES CHANGE TO NO ECHO
SUNNY:
Oh…I'm glad that's over.
DOC:
Here Sunny. Lay down on this bench. Turn your flash over here, Jack.
SUNNY:
I'm weak in the knees.
DOC:
Sure you are. Now just lay there until you get your breath.
HERMIE:
Golly..our voices sound different in here.
REGGIE:
Yes. They do at that. No echo.
HERMIE:
Is this where we're going to spend the night?
REGGIE:
This is it.
HERMIE:
I like barns better. Then you got hay to sleep on.
JACK:
Reggie?
REGGIE:
Yes, Jack.
JACK: You stay here with Sunny and Hermie. Keep your gun handy
REGGIE:
Uh hum.
DOC:
What are you and me going to be doing in the meantime.
JACK:
We're going to explore along the ledge to make sure we've got it all to ourselves.
DOC:
Good idea.
JACK:
Just a minute. I want to see if Sunny feels as bad as she thinks she does.
DOC:
O.K. I'll wait outside.
REGGIE:
How about trying one of these stone beds, Hermie.
FX:
FOOTSTEPS
DOC:
Well now… I ain't never seen a place like this before.
ANGEL:
You have not?
DOC:
Hey!!! Who said that.
ANGEL:
I say it.
DOC:
I can't see you. Where are you?
ANGEL:
Right here beside you…..No..No… do not reach out your hand. No touching
DOC:
You can see me.
ANGEL:
Si
DOC:
Well you sure got better eyes than I got. Who are you anyway.
ANGEL:
You would not know if I tell you.
DOC:
Look, uh. Are you the girl who was talking to Hermie a little while ago.
ANGEL:
Hermie?
DOC:
Yeah… the little kid.
ANGEL:
Yes, I talk with the little boy.
DOC:
You did, huh. Well say.. what's going on here, anyway.
ANGEL:
I do not know what you mean. What ..go on.
DOC:
Well what's all this business about this being the Temple of Vampires.
ANGEL:
Oh, yes. That is true.
DOC:
Are you a female vampire?
ANGEL:
That's a terrible thing to say.
DOC:
Oh hey now. Don't go getting' mad. Accordin to Hermie you're the purtiest thing he ever seen.
ANGEL:
Oh?
DOC:
Yeah, He said you had the reddest lips and the sharpest white teeth …..What's the matter?
ANGEL:
He say that?
DOC:
He said that
ANGEL:
Why do you think I have red lips and sharp white teeth?
DOC:
You got me. Why?
ANGEL:
Why you don't go away?
DOC:
Got caught in a rainstorm. Have to spend the night here now.
ANGEL:
All?
DOC:
Yes
ANGEL:
The little boy… he stay here too.
DOC:
Sure. Hey.. What's you interested in Hermie for?
ANGEL:
Interest?
DOC:
Yeah. He said you was crazy about him. Kept talking about his nice white skin.
ANGEL:
(WHISPER) Yes. White skin…
DOC:
What you trying to do….give me the shivers. And there's something else I want to ask you about. What's all them human bones doing down in that pit, down there under this here temple.
ANGEL:
You ask that?
DOC:
Sure, I ask that. And what about that dead Indian out there on the trail with no blood in him.
ANGEL:
(WHISPER) The temple of Vampires.
DOC:
Oh I think Jack would like to talk with you.
FX: STRUGGLES
DOC:
COME HERE
ANGEL:
Let go of me
DOC:
Look out… where'd you go.
JACK:
Doc, Doc. Who are you talking to.
DOC:
Jack, Jack. That girl was here. I tried to grab her and she jumped off the ledge.
JACK:
Jumped off?
DOC:
Yeah, she just dissappeared in the air.
FX:
GONG
Jack:
I guess it's time to get some sleep Doc
DOC:
On those stone benches? not me..
JACK:
The others seem to be making out.
DOC:
Yeah…I know. How they do it is more than I can figure out. I'd rather sit out here and talk with you.
JACK:
Well, keep your voice down. Let them get what rest they can.
DOC:
Sure. Don't it kinda make your stomach turn over.
JACK:
What's that
DOC:
Knowin right out in front of us about three feet is nothing but space.
JACK:
Just makes me want to keep away from it.
DOC:
Uh, huh, and that female vampire… or whatever she was just jumping out into it and floating off.
JACK:
You mean that's what you THINK she did.
DOC:
I ain't a foolin' Jack. She DID.
JACK:
Uh hum.
DOC:
Yeah. Alright then. You tell me what become of her.
JACK:
I don't know. But she didn't float off.
DOC:
But I had a grip on her. I felt her go out and she slipped through my fingers.
JACK:
Maybe.
DOC:
And more than that. I was standing between her and the steps so….well she couldn't have gone down that way.
JACK:
Yeah you've said that before.
DOC:
Yeah. You and I searched every crude cell on this blasted level.
JACK:
That's right.:
DOC: And did we find any sign of her?
JACK:
Nope.
DOC:
So there was no way for her to get off this ledge but to jump.
JACK:
Now tell me everything you can remember about her.
DOC:
Well, it was dark, of course, so I didn't see her.
JACK:
Yeah, I know.
DOC:
But she could see me.
JACK:
Did she say so?
DOC:
Yeah, she did. And even before that.. I reached out my hand in the dark to feel where she was and she stopped me. She said not to touch.
JACK:
Uh huh. What did she want.
DOC:
She wanted to talk a little, the way I got it. And Jack, she had the softest silkiest little old voice.
JACK:
Did she ask any questions?
DOC:
I don't think so. I asked most of the questions. Oh, wait a minute. There was one thing.
JACK:
What?
DOC:
Wanted to know if we'd be keeping Hermie here all night.
JACK:
She made a point of asking about the boy?
DOC:
Yeah, asked particularly.
JACK:
Did she say why?
DOC:
Seemed awful interested in his nice white skin. Maybe she likes them young.
JACK:
White people must be pretty exciting to them after centuries of nothing but Indians.
DOC:
Huh. Meanin' what?
JACK:
Vampires.
DOC:
Jack…. You don't think I was talking to a little old she vampire?
JACK:
Very red lips and sharp white teeth…are characteristics.
DOC:
Uh, huh. So I've been told.
JACK:
Yeah. In story books….was she barefooted, do you know?
DOC:
Oh I wouldn't be knowin' that. Why?
JACK:
I told you about Reggie and me finding the footprints of a girl in the dust in the underground chambers.
DOC:
Probably hers alright. Unless there be a lot of them. You think maybe there might be?
JACK:
I don't know.
DOC:
Oh yeah…. Oh, yeah, I asked her about them human bones down in that underground pit.
JACK:
What did she say?
DOC:
Nothin'.
JACK: That's a great help
DOC:
Yeah
JACK:
What else did you ask her?
DOC:
I don't remember much. Oh, yeah, about that dead Indian with no blood in him out on the path.
JACK:
Yeah
DOC:
Uh, huh… and she said "This is the Temple of Vampires"
JACK:
Knew all about the Indian's body.
DOC:
Acted like it…. Jack, you know that'd explain those big man sized things with no wings that we seen floating back and forth across the temple.
JACK:
The dead Indian?
DOC:
No… that vampire girl jumpin' off this ledge. Maybe they do it all the time.
JACK:
Good trick. Make a lot of money in the circus if it's true.
DOC:
Yeah, no kiddin though it does… ???
JACK:
???
DOC:
Doesn't make sense, huh.
JACK:
No.
DOC:
Yeah.
JACK: Doc
DOC:
Huh?
JACK:
What do you make of Hermie?
DOC:
Darned if I know.
JACK:
You like him?
DOC:
Why how can you help it. It looks to me like the little fella just ain't wanted by nobody.
JACK:
Uh hum.
DOC:
Old man was tired of having the kid around his neck so he up and stowed him away on our airplane.
JACK:
Doesn't seem to miss his father.
DOC:
The way I got his father figured, he missed him alright. But its good miss.
JACK:
Glad to be rid of him.
DOC:
Yeah….You got something different figured out?
JACK:
Yeah.
DOC:
I thought so. You've been down on him from the start and its not like you, unless you got a reason. How do you figure it?
JACK:
Did you notice his clothes?
DOC:
Not much I don't guess.
JACK:
Interesting. Do you usually find an expensive and recently pressed and clean suit of clothes on the son of a tramp?
DOC:
Well I'll be rolled over and found wormy.
JACK:
Hands clean. Neck and ears clean. That's hard to do when you're on the bum, hiding in freight cars, thumbing rides.
DOC:
Yeah, don't I know. Jack, maybe you got something there.
JACK:
Another thing. It isn't natural for a seven year old not to know his last name.
DOC:
You mean he's a kid from some nice home that's run away. He's not telling us the truth.
JACK:
It adds up.
DOC:
But that don't explain you riding him the way you been.
JACK:
I think it does. He's got coming anything he gets if he's run away from home…..worrying and frightening his folks.
DOC:
Yeah, there's that alright.
JACK:
And as far as I'm concerned, he's going to wish he'd never seen an airplane by the time I'm through with him.
DOC:
He is a nice kid, though.
JACK:
No kid's nice for my money who hasn't got more sense of responsibility than that.
DOC:
Well, you might be wrong
JACK:
Maybe.
DOC: Hey…Hey, Jack.
JACK:
Now what.
DOC:
Somebody's coming down, down below with a torch.
JACK:
There's two of them.
DOC:
Three, four, five, six….well would you be looking at that now. That must be some kind of an election rally.
JACK:
They're carrying something…..circling around the alter.
DOC:
There must be 20 or 30 of them.
JACK:
Listen.
FX:
FAINT SOUNDS OF CLAPPING IN RHYTHM (KEEP UNDER CONVERSATION)
DOC:
A bunch of the rhumba boys getting together.
JACK:
All dressed in black robes like the man Sunny saw.
DOC:
Can you see what they're carrying.
JACK:
Wait
DOC:
Jack, it's the body of a man.
JACK:
Yeah, its an Indian.
DOC:
Yeah, nothing but a loin cloth. Suppose he's dead?
JACK:
He's dead alright. Look. They're going down the steps to the underground passage.
DOC:
More bones for the pit, huh.
JACK:
Looks like it….Hold it… and there goes the torch parade.
DOC:
What sort of goings on is that anyway.
JACK:
Some sort of rites for the Temple of Vampires.
DOC:
Jack, you mean to sit there and say all that gang was vampires.
JACK:
How do I know… at least they seem to be priests of the temple.
DOC:
Yeah. Robes and torches and stuff…..Hey, hey, Jack.
JACK:
Now what's the matter.
DOC:
Did you just now get colder…is it getting colder in here, or am I having a chill?
JACK:
Must be you.
DOC:
That'd give anybody the creeps. Another dead Indian.
JACK:
Doc.
DOC:
Yeah.
JACK:
There's someone on this ledge with us.
DOC:
Hey, don't say that.
MANUEL:
You are quite right
DOC:
Who said that?
MANUEL:
I say it.
JACK:
Who are you?
MANUEL:
You have keen perception to know I have come.
DOC:
How did you get on this ledge? You didn't come up the stairs?
MANUEL:
No. I did not come up the stairs.
JACK:
I asked who you are.
MANUEL:
I am Manuel.
JACK:
Manuel, huh? You're the fellow who frightened Sunny this afternoon.
MANUEL:
That is the girl, this Sunny?
JACK:
Yes.
MANUEL:
She is inside the doorway?
DOC:
She sure is, fella. Asleep.
MANUEL:
Ahh… asleep. A beautiful woman, asleep.
DOC:
Now look. I don't like the way you said that.
MANUEL:
No.
DOC:
And if you've got any ideas about getting in to where Sunny is, you'd better think again.
MANUEL:
I am in no hurry.
DOC:
You're not in any hurry about what?
JACK:
Keep you voice down, you'll have everybody awake.
MANUEL:
And that would be too bad. I like to think of a beautiful girl asleep.
JACK:
Why don't you see if you can get your mind off the subject long enough to tell us how you got on the ledge if you didn't come up the stairs.
MANUEL:
Does it not suffice that I am here?
DOC:
Lookee feller… Do you sure enough float back and forth between this here wall and that one over yonder?
MANUEL:
My means of locomotion interest you, Senor?
DOC:
They sure do and that's a fact.
MANUEL:
Si. I pass from one wall to the other.
DOC:
No wings?
MANUEL:
No wings.
DOC:
Well, there you are Jack.
JACK:
Saying it doesn't make it so.
DOC:
And is that pretty little old female girl ..girl vampire able to do the same thing?
MANUEL:
Girl Vampire?
DOC:
The one who talked to Hermie…..She was over here on the ledge talking to me awhile ago.
MANUEL:
Ah…Angelina.
DOC:
She an honest to goodness no foolin she Vampire?
MANUEL:
Angelina is priestess of the Temple of Vampires.
DOC:
And I suppose you would be a vampire too.
MANUEL:
I am priest of the temple.
JACK:
Nice work.
MANUEL:
I am happy.
JACK:
What was that parade of torches and that passed down below us a few minutes ago.
MANUEL:
The blood sacrifice.
JACK:
Yeah, we saw them carrying the body of an Indian. Is that where you get your sacrifices, among the native Indians?
MANUEL:
Si.
DOC:
I think they must get mighty awful tired of you using them for burnt offerings.
MANUEL:
We are their religion.
DOC:
Religion huh.
MANUEL:
Everyone expect to make sacrifices to his religion.
JACK:
You mean the native tribes around here belive in vampire worship? Human sacrifice?
MANUEL:
You disapprove?
DOC:
?? I reccon Indians are the only human beings here interested in sacrifice.
MANUEL:
Si. Except once in a great while when the white man strays within our boundaries.
DOC:
Now just a minute, son.
MANUEL:
Si?
DOC:
If you got any notions about using us in your bonfire ceremonies, you just get the thought right out of your head right now.
MANUEL:
So?
DOC:
You heard me.
HERMIE:
Whose talkin out there?
DOC:
Oh Jack, Hermie's awake.
HERMIE:
Is that you, Doc?
DOC:
Hermie, don't go wanderin around in the dark.
HERMIE:
Why not?
DOC:
Don't you forget that you're up on a darn high ledge here.
JACK:
What are you doing awake?
HERMIE:
You were right Doc I guess I don't sleep very good on stone.
DOC:
Now here, sit down here. I'll put my arm around you.
HERMIE:
All right.
MANUEL:
Good evening, little one.
HERMIE:
HUH? Who …who's that?
MANUEL:
You do not remember me?
HERMIE:
Hey, you are the man in the long black coat.
MANUEL:
That is right.
HERMIE:
You kept me away from the pretty lady
MANUEL:
True. I did that.
JACK:
I wanted to ask you about that. Apparently she didn't like it.
MANUEL:
No. Angelina did not like that. She was fascinated by the little one's soft white skin.
ANGEL:
I still am.
MANUEL:
Angelina.
DOC:
Well, hello. You back again?
ANGEL:
Si.
DOC:
Blamed if you folks don't hop on and off this ledge like a bunch of sparrows.
ANGEL:
Were you looking for me little boy
HERMIE:
Are you the pretty lady?
ANGEL:
Si. I give you figs to eat.
HERMIE:
They were good too
ANGEL:
You are not afraid of me?
HERMIE:
Nah…I ain't afraid of nobody.
ANGEL:
Then you come to me now, huh.
HERMIE:
Sure
JACK:
Hermie, you stay where you are. Doc hang on to him
DOC:
Yeah, I got him
HERMIE:
I want to stand up.
DOC:
O. K., but I still got a hand on you
ANGEL:
You will not let him come
JACK:
You folks listen to me… Vampires or not …a couple of slugs of lead aren't going to feel very good in your gizzards… and that's just what you're going to get if you don't clear out.
MANUEL:
Angelina.
ANGEL:
Si?
MANUEL:
Go.
ANGEL:
But the small one…
MANUEL:
GO
ANGEL:
Si. I go …..
DOC:
Jack, she's got Hermie
HERMIE:
Help…
DOC:
Jack, she jumped off the ledge with Hermie
JACK:
Where's Manuel?
MANUEL:
I am here.
JACK:
Tell her to bring that boy back here before I shoot you.
MANUEL:
I will bring the boy back myself.
JACK:
Stay where you are. Call to her. Tell her to bring him back.
MANUEL:
I will bring the boy back….(fade out) It is the girl I want.
DOC:
Jack, why didn't you shoot.
JACK:
At what in this kind of darkness?
DOC:
But Hermie. I could hear his voice hanging out there.
JACK:
Well I told you to hang on to him.
DOC:
Floating off out there in the arms of a female vampire.
FX:
CLOCK STRIKES 11
ANX:
11 O'clock at night high on the ledge above the floor of the temple of vampires. Somewhere in the jungles of Central America. While Reggie stands guard over Hermie and the Vampire priestess Agelina in a monk's cell on a ledge 60 feet above the temple floor, Jack and Doc have swung to the ledge across the room in search of the girl Sunny. In their search they walked into a trap set for them by the vampire priest, Manuel. The pair with a bit of strategy overpowered Manuel, tied him up and released Sunny. But when the girl found the only way to get off the ledge was to swing out sixty feet up in the air on a rope to the other ledge, she became hysterical with fear and loss consciousness. It was while they were figuring how to carry the unconscious Sunny across to the other ledge that Jack discovered the real vampires were loose. Real vampire bats as large as men bloated and grisly, with a vicious sort of rapatiousness.
DOC:
I heard noises back in the passageway, but they haven't caught our scent yet.
JACK:
Well I've got Sunny so its up to you
FX:
CLOCK STRIKES MIDNIGHT
ANCR:
12 Midnight, high on the ledge above the floor of the temple of vampires, somewhere in the jungles of Central America. Jack and Doc Long are facing one of the strangest, most hair raising moments in their experience. They are out in the center of the temple, each clinging to separate ropes 50 feet in the air. There is not chance for them to swing to the high ledge where Reggie is guarding the boy Hermie, the girl, Sunny and the captive vampire priestess, Angelina. There is only one chance that Jack and Doc could climb the 50 or 60 foot rope to the ceiling of the temple. While they are attempting this, Reggie, unaware of what has happened to his two comrades is having difficulties of his own in the doorway of the priest's cell high on the ledge. Sunny was still unconscious and the vampire priestess pretended sleep. Reggie was sitting on the stone bench in the dark talking softly to Hermie. Suddenly he became uneasy, arose to his feet and tiptoed to the door of the cell. As he did so, a fist struck out of the dark, staggering him and he clinched with the unseen enemy.
FX:
SOUND OF FIGHTING
REGGIE:
Oh, quite, and the job's complete.
SUNNY:
Are we still over on the ledge with the sacred vampires.
REGGIE:
Now don't worry. You're safely across and in one of the monk's cells.
SUNNY:
How did I get back?
REGGIE:
You fainted. Jack carried you over on his back. Now I'll strike a match and have a look at this chappie we just captured.
SUNNY:
There's so much I don't know.
REGGIE:
Oh Ho. So it is Manuel.
SUNNY:
What's that?
REGGIE:
That's right. I just tied up the high priest himself.
ANGEL:
That is not true.
SUNNY:
Whose that?
REGGIE:
That's Angelina, the high priestess.
SUNNY:
Is she here too?
REGGIE:
Very much here. She's been our captive for a couple of hours now.
ANGEL:
You have not got Manuel
REGGIE:
You don't think we have?
ANGEL:
No, I do not think so.
REGGIE:
Well he'll wake up in a minute and he'll tell you himself.
SUNNY:
But I don't know anything that's happened since Manuel kidnapped me from the plane. Where's Jack and Doc.
REGGIE:
Still over on the other ledge. Jack brought you over and then went back.
SUNNY:
But how do we all happen to be here?
REGGIE:
Well after I was knocked out and you were stolen. Jack and Doc locked me in the plane with Hermie and came after you. Well then Angelina over there came perching arounjd on the plane trying to get at Hermie and like the balley bloke I am I opened the door thinking to capture her and was knocked out again and Angelina grabbed the boy.
HERMIE:
And that's when I lost my clothes.
SUNNY:
What do you mean, lost your clothes?
HERMIE:
The fellas took my clothes
REGGIE:
Yes, the priests in black robes. They gave him a loin cloth.
HERMIE:
Yeah and I'm sure glad its gone
SUNNY:
(CHUCKLE) Hermie I think you'd look wonderful in a loin cloth.
REGGIE:
Well anyway when Angelina got up here on the ledge with Hermie to swing over to the other side, Doc and Jack grabbed her. Then Doc came back to the plane and got me and here we've been ever since.
SUNNY:
Manuel kidnapped me at 9:00 o'clock last night.
REGGIE:
Uh hum.
SUNNY:
What time is it now?
REGGIE:
Just past midnight
SUNNY:
Goodness what a lot can happen in three hours
REGGIE:
Well I wish Doc and Jack would get back. How do you feel?
SUNNY:
Alright. I'm sitting up.
REGGIE:
Jack said you collapsed on the other ledge from being scared
SUNNY:
Oh please.
REGGIE:
You don't like that?
SUNNY:
I feel lousy enough about what I did without talking about it
REGGIE:
Oh but see here, can't a person help it if they're afraid
SUNNY:
No A person can help it if he's not a complete washout.
REGGIE:
We all have our weakness.
SUNNY:
Mine's being female.
REGGIE:
You'll feel better in the morning
I don't know how I am ever going to face Jack and Doc again after that silly scene.
FX:
CLOCK STRIKES SIX
ANCR:
Six o'clock in the evening at the crippled airplane, somewhere in the jungles near tropical Nicaragua. After a second night of mystery and terror the three boys, Jack, Doc and Reggie are together again with the girl Sunny and the youngster Hermie. During the night an earthquake shook the temple of vampires so that a portion of the great roof tumbled in. Reggie freed the two captives, Manuel and Angelina, and rushed sunny and hermie from the temple fearing that all would be crushed in the debris. Then at 4:00 o'clock this morning, just after the three had been joined by Jack and Doc on the stpes of the tmeple, a second earthquake had set the earth to rocking and the temple to shaking, and as the five filed down the jungle path to the lake, the great cathedral crumbled and tumbled in on itself, burying everything which remained inside beneath millions of tons of stone and rubble. And now it's six oclock in the evening of the same day and the five are resting on the ground beneath the airplane.
REGGIE: If you ask me this is a day for a celebration.
OUT OF SEQUENCE
FX:
CLOCK STRIKES FIVE
ANCR:
Five o'clock in the morning in the ancient Temple of Vampires somewhere in the Central American Jungles. The nighmare-ish experiences of one long night in the decayed cathedral is over. Now in the light of day it is hard to believe the terrors of the darkness ever existed: That the girl, Sunny, actually talked to the high priest in the temple of vampires; that the boy Hermie, was carried off the high ledge and through the air in the arms of a beautiful girl vampire, and safely returned; that this same lovely female creature tried to othrow Doc Long to his death from the high ledge, and that Jack and Reggie found, below the floor of the temple, a great pit littered with human skeletons. All this is hard to obelieve because the rain storm passed with the night and the sun is streaming in so that even the old temple has taken on the air of benign sanctity.
FX`:
(ECHO CHAMBER...FOOTSTEPS DESCENDING STAIRS..ALL FIVE CHARACTERS)
JACK:
You can open your eyes now, Sunny...Just a few more steps down...
SUNNY:
I'm keeping my eyes closed until I feel my feet on the solid floor again.
DOC:
Those stone steps are solid enough! Probably be here forever..
SUNNY:
I tell you I can't STAND high places...
DOC:
Well we're hanging on to you..Jack in front and me behind
FX:
CLOCK STRIKES NINE
ANCR:
Nine o'clock at night in the crippled airplane where the tropical jungle comes down to the edge of Lake Nicarague. All day, while Jack, Doc Long and Reggie York toiled in the smothering heat, jacking up the plane to get at the battered under-carriage, unseen eyes watched them from the jungle; whether eyes of native Indians or eyes of Vampire priests from the Temple, was not known. Always watching but never making an unfriendly move. Jack suspected the Vampire people for the girl priestess was too fascinated by Hermie and the Priest, Manuel, was too enthralled by Sunny, to let them slip away so easily. And then dark came. Jack, Doc and the boy, Hermie, lay down in the plane to sleep and Reggie took the first waztch outside the door of the plane; Sunny found it too hot to sleep and sat in the doorway talking to Reggie. Suddenly Reggie didn't talk anymore, and then before she knew what was happening, hands grabbed Sunny and carried her swiftly off into the night...
DOC:
(COMING TO MIKE) : Jack, I heard Sunny...She was yelling for us...
JACK:
(UP) Sunny... Sunny... are you all right?
HERMIE:
(BACK) She isn't here....
JACK:
She's not?
DOC:
I tell you I heard her yelling OUTSIDE the plane...
JACK:
But Reggie's on guard (UP) Reggie...He Reg...(DOWN) Where's that flash light...
FX:
(CLOCK STRIKES ELEVEN)
ANCR:
Eleven o'clock at night, high on the ledge above the fllor of the Temple of Vampires, somewhere in the Jungles of Central America. Reggie stands guard over the boy Hermie, and the captive High Priestess in one of the Monks cells on a ledge forty feet above the floor of the temple. Jack and Doc have swung on a rope, hung from the temple roof, ,to the great ledge across the room. Here on this isolated ledge, which according to the Vampirer Priestess, Agnelina, is the sacred ground of the vampires, the two comrades are searching for the girl, Sunny, stolen by Manuel, the high priest. On this ledge there are many great stone rooms apparently without doors. The captive, Angelina, told them now to open one of these rooms, which she said would lead them to Sunny. They followed her instructions and suddently a portion of the stone wall slid slowly up into the ceiling...But the room didn't lead to Sunny! Jack turned his flash light into the darkness to rest on great, hideous creatures... the Vampires Themselves....
DOC:
(TENSE, HORROR) Jack...Jack, shut that door..They're coming after us....
JACK:
It won't close... I don't know how to work it...
DOC:
Well keep your flash light on 'em.... while I get my forty-five
JACK:
Get ready to let them have it....
FX:
CLOCK STRIKES TWELVE
ANCR:
Twelve midnight, high on the ledge above the floor of the Temple of Vampires, somewhere in the jungles of Central America. Jack and Doc Long are facing one of the strangest, most hair-raising moments in their experience. They are out oin the center of the temple, each clinging to separate ropes fifty feet in the air. There is no chance for them to swing to the high ledge where Reggie is guarding the boy, Hermie; the girl, Sunny and the captive Vampire Priestess, Angelina. There is only one chance for Jack and Doc; to climb the fifty or sixty foot rope to the ceiling of the temple. While they are attempting this, Reggie unaware of what has happened to his two comrades is having difficulties of his own in the doorway of the priest's cell high on the ledge. Sunny was still unconscious and the Vampire Priestess pretended sleep; Reggie was sitting on the stone bench in thet dark talking softly to Hermie. Suddenly he became uneasy, arose to his feet and tiptoed to the door of the cell. As he did so, a fist struck out of the dark staggering him and he clinched with the unseen enemy.
FX:
(OF ROLLING AND KICKING OF BODIES IN MORTAL COMBAT ON THE FLOOR)
REGGIE:
(BREATHING AND GRUNTING AND EXCLAMATIONS)
FX:
(ON CUE, BRING IN ECHO CHAMBER)
FX:
(CLOCK STRIKES SIX)
ANCR:
Six o'clock in the evening at the crippled airplane somewhere in the Jungles near tropical Nicaragua. After a second night of mystery and terror the three boys, Jack, Doc, and Reggie are together again with the girl, Sunny and the youngster, Hermie. During the night an earthquake shook the Temple of Vampires so that a portion of the great roof tumbled in. Reggie freed the two capites Manuel and Angelina, and rushed Sunny and Hermie from the temple, fearing all would be crushed in the debris. Then at 4 o'clock this morning, just after the three had been rejoined by jack and Co on the steps of the Temple, a second earthquake set the earth to rocking and the Temple to shaking, and as the five fled down the jungle path to the lake, the great cathedral crumbled and tumbled in on itself, burying everything which remained inside beneath millions of tons of stone and rubble. And now at six o'clock in the evening of the same day, the five are resting on the ground near the airplane.
REGGIE:
(COMING TO MIKE) If you ask me, this is a day for celebration....
DOC:
You sure enough got an idea there, Reg!
SUNNY:
Why do you say that?
DOC:
Hasn't Reggie told you?
SUNNY:
No... What is it?
DOC.:
Why he's been tinkering with the undercarriage of the plane and got it in shape for a take-off.
FX:
CLOCK STRIKES SIX
ANCR:
Six o'clock in the evening with the crippled airplane somewhere in the jungle near tropical lake Nicaragua. Jack, Doc, and Reggie, working at top speed, have repaired the damaged undercarriage, and are now in the process of straining the watered gasoline, which originally caused the crash landing in the isolated wilderness near the Temple of Vampires. Now that the great temple is completely destroyed under the violence of an earthquake, the sense of impending danger is gone. There is a lightness of spirit as the trio works at running the impure gasoline through chamois skin, while Sunny, helped by the boy, Hermie, concocts and passes out an impromptu evening meal. Then, suddently, a shadow blots out the gaiety, as out of the jungle stalks the figure of Manuel, high priest of the Temple of Vampires. As he comes slowly toward the group, Sunny and Hermie huddle close to the plane, while the three comrades stand ready, their weapons within easy reach.
JACK:
(LOW) Reggie...
REGGIE:
(TENSE) Yes, Jack?
JACK:
Go over and stand with Sunny and Hermie...
REGGIE:
Quite!
DOC:
(LOW) I can drop him easy from here, Jack...
JACK:
No... wait...
DOC:
And all the time, us a-thinkin him and Angelina was killed in the Temple when it fell in...
JACK:
Hold it...(PAUSE) (UP) All right, Manuel, we've got you covered... Come on in....