SOUND:
TRAIN AND WHISTLE
ANNCR:
The Mutual Broadcasting System presents "I LOVE A MYSTERY".
SOUND:
TRAIN AND WHISTLE
MUSIC (ORGAN, VALSE TRISTE)
SOUND:
SIREN, SCREECH OF BRAKES
ANNCR:
A new Carlton Morse Adventure Thriller..."Temple of Vampires"
SOUND:
CLOCK STRIKES TEN
ANNCR:
Ten o'clock at night high on the ledge above the floor of the Temple of Vampires some place in the Jungles of Central America. First the girl Sunny was stolen from the crippled plane and carried back to the temple, by Manuel a vampire priest. Leaving Reggie York and the boy Hermie in the plane, Jack and Doc raced to the temple and up to the high ledge, fifty feet above the floor level. Here they found the Temple priests floating through the air from ledge to ledge. There were vine ropes fastened to hooks in the wall, which reached a hundred feet in the air to the center roof of the Temple. As Doc and Jack discussed swinging to the ledge across the room where SUNNY was a captive, the High Priestess Angelina came up the stone steps with Hermie in her arms. He was stripped down to a loin-cloth. Jack and Doc grabbed her and rescued Hermie. He said they had knocked Reggie out and pulled a rope tight around his neck. Without waiting for more, Doc dashed down the stairs and back to the plane leaving Jack sitting astride the High Priestess, and Hermie standing by very naked and scared.
ANGLA:
(STRUGGLING) I will not be treated this way...
JACK:
(EXERTION) Listen, you lie still or you're going to get an awful headache.
ANGLA:
(PANTING) You do not sit on me.
JACK:
Do you want a crack behind the ear with the butt of my revolver?
ANGLA:
(GASPS) I am Angelina, the High Priestess...
JACK:
I don't care if you're the Flora Dora Sextette...You lie still...
ANGLA:
(GASPS) You will DIE.
JACK:
(EXHALES) That's better...Hermie...
HERMIE:
(SOFT, SCARED) I'm here, Jack...
JACK:
Well, come closer...
HERMIE:
(SUBDUED) All right...
JACK:
You see this rope belt around Angelina's waist?
HERMIE:
Yes...
JACK:
Can you untie it?
HERMIE:
Sure...
JACK:
Go ahead...
ANGLA:
(GASPS) Why you do this thing?
JACK:
Need it to tie your hands behind you...
ANGLA:
I am not slave to have my hands tied.
JACK:
Got it, Hermie?
HERMIE:
Yes...
JACK:
All right, now pull it out from under her...
HERMIE:
All right...(GRUNTS) There I got it...
JACK:
All right now take this gun...
HERMIE:
(PLEASED) Yeah, sure...
JACK:
Careful...You'd better take it in both hands...That's it...Now hold the muzzle of it against her head and if she moves pull the trigger...
HERMIE:
(SUBDUED) Hey, I don't want to kill her.
JACK:
I don't want you to...She doesn't either, I don't think. Hey, keep out of the way of that flash light...
HERMIE:
Yeah...
JACK:
All right, lady, put your hands behind you...
ANGLA:
Si...
JACK:
That's it...Have you trussed up here like a chicken in no time.
HERMIE:
Say, she's got little hands, hasn't she...
JACK:
You keep your eye on that gun...
HERMIE:
Sure...
SFX:
ROPE CREAK
JACK:
(GRUNTS) Little hands, but strong...Plenty of callouses...That from swinging on those ropes?
ANGLA:
(SULLEN) You do this to ME....
JACK:
That's right...
ANGLA:
This is insult the Vampires will never forgive...
JACK:
That's tough...(EXHALES) There...And enough left over to tie your feet...All right, Hermie, stand back...
HERMIE:
Guns are kinda HEAVY, ain't they...
JACK:
You get used to them...All right, lady, get up on your feet.
ANGLA:
So?
JACK:
All right now...lay down on the stone bench...
ANGLA:
Why I lay down?
JACK:
So I can tie your feet...Hermie, put the gun down and hold the flash light for me...
HERMIE:
Yeah, sure...
JACK:
That's it.
HERMIE:
Hey, she's barefooted.
JACK:
Yeah...So are you...
HERMIE:
They took my clothes away from me...
JACK:
Who did?
HERMIE:
Lot of fellers all dressed up in black...
JACK:
(AMUSED) Where'd you get your loin-cloth?
Hermei:
This?
JACK:
Yeah...
HERMIE:
A feller put it on me...
JACK:
That's real Indian stuff...
HERMIE:
Yeah?
JACK:
(EXERTION) There, that'll hold you...
ANGLA:
You will DIE.
JACK:
Sure, people have been doing it for years...You cold, Hermie?
HERMIE:
No, I ain't cold...But I wouldn't want Sunny to see me like this.
JACK:
We'll see what we can do for you when it gets daylight. Now then, what happened at the plane?
HERMIE:
You mean, when SHE grabbed me?
JACK:
Yes.
HERMIE:
Reggie thought she was alone and unlocked the door to catch her.
JACK:
And she wasn't alone?
HERMIE:
No, there was a lot of fellers dressed in black...they hit him and then put a rope around his neck.
ANGLA:
He will DIE...
JACK:
Is that all you can think about...People dying?
HERMIE:
I'll bet he ain't DEAD.
JACK:
Well Doc should be back pretty soon...Then we'll know what to do with Angelina here...
ANGLA:
What you mean...DO?
JACK:
If anything's happened to Reggie, you don't think you're going to live to tell about it, do you?
ANGLA:
So?
JACK:
That's right...An eye for an eye, if you know what I mean.
ANGLA:
You think you can kill ME...High Priestess of the Vampires...
JACK:
Sure...I know how to kill vampires...
ANGLA:
So?
JACK:
Sure, you dig a grave, put the vampire in it, drive a stake through his heart and throw dirt on him..
ANGLA:
No that is bad...
JACK:
That's the way they said to do it in every fairy story I ever read.
ANGLA:
That is WICKED.
JACK:
Hey, Hermie, come here...
HERMIE:
What's the matter?
JACK:
Turn around, let me see your back...Here give me the flash light.
HERMIE:
Yeah, sure...
JACK:
Hermie...
HERMIE:
Yeah?
JACK:
Who wrote this on your back?
HERMIE:
Wrote on my BACK?
JACK:
You didn't know it was here?...It's stamped on with indelible ink.
HERMIE:
Huh...That's funny...
JACK:
You didn't know about it?
HERMIE:
No.
JACK:
Well, Sunny's got a camera...Tomorrow we'll take a picture of it...You might like it for future reference.
HERMIE:
Does it say something about ME, Jack?
JACK:
Yes...Hey listen...
(PAUSE)
SFX:
FOOTSTEPS ON STAIRS
JACK:
(LOW) Someone's coming up the stairs...
HERMIE:
Maybe it's Doc...
JACK:
Keep still...We'll turn out the flash and wait...
PAUSE
SFX:
CLICK FOOTSTEPS
SOUND:
OF MIXED FOOTSTEPS FADING IN THROUGH ECHO CHAMBER STEPS STOP
DOC:
(ON CUE) (BACK LITTLE) (ECHO) (GUARDED) Hey Jack, are you there?
SOUND:
CUT ECHO CHAMBER)
JACK:
In here, Doc...You got Reggie with you...
DOC:
(COMING TO MIKE) Yeah, I got him, and is HE a sick specimen of a man...Where's the flash light?
JACK:
Wait a minute...(SFX - CLICK) There...
DOC:
That's better...Hey, you better sit down...
REGGIE:
(HOARSE WHISPER) Righto. I just barely made it.
DOC:
Well, I see you got the Angelina babe tied up...How-ya honey?
ANGLA:
You will DIE.
DOC:
(CHUCKLES) Don't tell me.
ANGLA:
Si...I say so...
DOC:
Uh-huh, first time I've had a good look at you, sister...You're a pretty little thing at that, ain't you...
ANGLA:
Now you are sorry you did not make love to me...EH?
DOC:
Come to think of it—I am at that...But now we got you all tied up there's all the time in the world...
ANGLA (SEXY) I make love with you...You turn me loose...No?
DOC:
(AMUSED) Well now THERE'S a proposition I'm gonna have to think over.
JACK:
Let her alone, Doc...
DOC:
(AMUSED) It's all right if I sit down here and pat her hair, ain't it...
JACK:
(DISGUSTED) Have it your way...
DOC:
Yeah, that's how us Texas fellers are...Can't leave a purty girl alone a MINUTE...(GASPS) OooOUCH! Why blame your female HIDE....
JACK:
Doc, let her alone...
DOC:
(GASPS) Looky would you...She mighty near bit my hand off.
JACK:
Serves you right...
DOC:
Angelina, honey, if you and me is going to have a romance, I'm sure as heck going to yank them teeth out first...That's the SECOND time you bit me tonight...
ANGLA:
(SOFT) You don't like me...No?
DOC:
Sure I like you all right...With a muzzle on...
REGGIE:
(HOARSE WHISPER) Jack, what are you doing about Sunny?
JACK:
There wasn't anything we COULD do until Doc got back with you...
REGGIE:
(HOARSE) He said you found a way to get across to the other ledge.
JACK:
Yes...Swing on a rope...Reggie, you'd better lie down, you look awful...
REGGIE:
You can't have the wind choked out of you twice in one night and NOT feel awful, my friend.
DOC:
And I got there just in time, too...Go on, Reggie, stretch out on that stone bench there.
REGGIE:
Good! Hello there, Hermie..Where are your clothes?
HERMIE:
The fellers got 'em.
DOC:
(AMUSED) They DID sure enough, didn't they, son?
JACK:
Well, now that we're all together, I'll be leaving you.
DOC:
You'll be doing WHAT?
JACK:
I'm going over after Sunny....
DOC:
Now looky Jack...
JACK:
You're staying here to look after Hermie and the girl...
DOC:
But Reggie...
JACK:
Reggie's in no condition for anything...Now stop arguing, Doc...I'm going over to the other side.
DOC:
Look here, I'll draw straws with you.
JACK:
No...
DOC:
(SOFTLY) Jack, old man...
JACK:
And don't double up your fists...We've got other things to do besides fighting for the honor of swinging on that rope...
DOC:
I'm asking you, Jack...
JACK:
I said NO...(ALARMED) Doc...(LEAVING THE MIKE) Doc, you crazy fool, come back here...
DOC:
(ECHO CHAMBER) (BREATHLESS) Where's those blamed ropes...
JACK:
(BACK LITTLE) Doc...Don't do it...
DOC:
(UP) Look out below...(SFX: CREAKING BOX) (FADING INTO DISTANCE) Whoopeeee. (WAY BACK) Woweee....
(PAUSE)
SUNNY:
(COMING TO MIKE) (NEAR TEARS) All right, you've GOT me...why don't you kill me and get it over with...
MANUEL:
(GENTLE) Kill the beautiful Sunny?...Oh no, you do not understand...
SUNNY:
Maybe I don't WANT to understand....
MANUEL:
Si, perhaps that is it...
SUNNY:
(DESPERATELY NEAR TEARS) Oh, what IS this place...What kind of THING are you?...Why am I here?
Mgl:
You ask many questions, senorita...
SUNNY:
(NEAR TEARS) Well, doggone it ANYWAY...
MANUEL:
I will answer your questions...All of them...First, what IS this place?... This is sacred quarters of High Priest, who is I, Manuel...We are on ledge high in air across Temple from where you slept last night...
SUNNY:
You think I don't know that? You don't know how near you came to arriving with a dead girl in your arms...
MANUEL:
Dead girl?
SUNNY:
When...when you jumped off the ledge over there with me I...I think my heart stopped...Anyway something terrible happened...
MANUEL:
But I hold you up...I would not let you fall...
SUNNY:
Maybe it would have been better if you HAD...
MANUEL:
You think so now maybe...aaaah, but wait...
SUNNY:
(BITTERLY) The good old male ego, huh...
MANUEL:
I do not understand...
SUNNY:
You may be all they say about Latin lovers, but me, I flunked Latin four years straight running...
MANUEL:
I still do not understand...
SUNNY:
Forget it, vampire...That would be a good joke where I came from.
MANUEL:
So?...You call me Vampire?
SUNNY:
Look, Manuel. I know you like to hear your own voice, but the suspense is killing me.
MANUEL:
So?
SUNNY:
If I'm to be beautiful sacrifice, SAY SO...Anything's better than sitting here in the dark wondering what to expect next.
MANUEL:
You do not like the dark?
SUNNY:
I'm beginning to HATE it...
MANUEL:
Then you shall have light...The perfume candles shall give you light and scent of ecstacy...
SUNNY:
(BITTER) I can do without the scent of ecstacy... (SFX: MATCH STRIKES ) (STARTLED, AWED) Heeey....
MANUEL:
Si?
SUNNY:
Quite a place you have here...
MANUEL:
You are pleased?
SUNNY:
Looks like Hollywood's idea of Cleopatra's boudoir.
MANUEL:
That is good?
SUNNY:
Well it ain't HAY..
MANUEL:
This sacred place has stood this way since the Temple of Vampires was built, centuries ago...
SUNNY:
An awful lot of brass.
MANUEL:
Brass?
SUNNY:
Yeah...Those dishes and vases and that chair over there.
MANUEL:
That is gold...
SUNNY:
GOLD?
MANUEL:
Si...This is nothing...In the sacred vaults, the treasure of gold and precious stones is beyond count...
SUNNY:
Sacred vaults?
MANUEL:
Si...So now you feel better, eh?
SUNNY:
I don't see it.
MANUEL:
No?
SUNNY:
You're cock-eyed if you think it's going to be any more fun dying at the hands of a multi-millionaire.
MANUEL:
No, no...Not die...to LIVE.
SUNNY:
(PAUSE) I don't think we understand each other...
MANUEL:
It is as you say...You do not WANT to understand...
SUNNY:
Maybe...
MANUEL:
You would not like to live among all this treasure...no?
SUNNY:
That's right, you're RIGHT...
MANUEL:
No?
SUNNY:
NO.
MANUEL:
Jewels to wear...gold..perfumes for your bath...slaves to do your bidding...worship far and wide...
SUNNY:
Worship?
MANUEL:
In all the land, you would submit to no one but me...I, the High Priest, alone would be above you. To all others, you would be the White Goddess.
SUNNY:
(AMUSED) White Goddess of the Temple of Vampires...
MANUEL:
Si...you like it, Sunny?
SUNNY:
Is that my choice? Dead sacrifice or live goddess?
MANUEL:
Aaaah, you are beautiful...
SUNNY:
(LOW) Manuel...
MANUEL:
Si...
SUNNY:
Take your hands off me...
MANUEL:
From the moment I see you...
SUNNY:
Sure, I know. Take your hands off me!
MANUEL:
You are beautiful!
SUNNY:
Look, I don't want to have to tell you again!
MANUEL:
No?
SUNNY:
No.
SOUND:
PAUSE SLAP IN FACE
MANUEL:
(ANGER) You strike MANUEL?
SUNNY:
Listen, you big lug, when I say take your hands off me, I mean it!
MANUEL:
Aaaah, but you are my prisoner...
SUNNY:
So I'm your prisoner.
MANUEL:
Si.
SUNNY:
Well, don't let it go to your head, because if you do, SOMEBODY's going to get hurt!
MANUEL:
You will do as I say.
SUNNY:
You forget I've got three darned efficient home-town boys out looking for me this very minute.
MANUEL:
Bah—they will never find you.
SUNNY:
I'll get you good, round American dollars on that!
MANUEL:
They cannot get to this ledge, and even if they did, they could never find the secret door leading to this chamber.
SUNNY:
Don't make me laugh. I can put the good old American curse on you so fast, it'd make your head swim.
MANUEL:
American curse?
SUNNY:
Sure—all I got to do is stand up, salute and sing "The Star-Spangled Banner", and the Marines would pop out of every crevice in this dump.
MANUEL:
Marines?
SUNNY:
You don't know what Marines are?
MANUEL:
No!
SUNNY:
Well, you just try getting fresh with this American girl again!
MANUEL:
So?
SUNNY:
Yes, SO! They'll hang your skin on the fence to dry before you know you've lost it!
MANUEL:
Aaaah, we will see...
SUNNY:
(SCARED) What are you going to do?
MANUEL:
We will see...
SUNNY:
(NEAR TEARS, BELLIGERENT) Oh, so you want to fight?
MANUEL:
Si...we will see...
SUNNY:
(NEAR TEARS) All right, come on...I haven't killed me a vampire in a heck of a while!
MUSIC:
ORGAN: VALSE TRISTE