Chapter 11 (The Wrath of Francis)

Chapter 11 (The Wrath of Francis) is the eleventh chapter of The Clearwood Murders: Episode I - The Wrath of Francis and the eleventh chapter of the overall Clearwood series. It was written by Donald Newton and was published on June 6, 2020.

Plot
While Andrew faces one killer, Lorraine is facing another.

Full Chapter
EXT. JAYDEN'S PARK - WOODED AREA - DAY

The police have closed down the park and a yellow crime scene tape surrounds most parts of the woods. Clarence has the lead police activity there as his son sits on his patrol car. Andrew is devastated and crying over failing to save Alice.

Clarence walks over to his son and puts his arm around him. It's the first time in a long that he has shown any love and care for his son. For most of Andrew's life, Clarence expected him to be a "Man" and showed some disappointment in him being a non-athletic geek. But today, Andrew needs his father to be there for him.

CLARENCE: I'm sorry, son.

ANDREW: I tried, Dad. I tried to save her.

CLARENCE: I know.

ANDREW: Even worse...this wasn't the first time. Last night was. He kidnapped Scott.

Clarence has the "What?" look on his face.

ANDREW: There was no research for Woodside. He took him to Woodside. But we saved him. So Francis was mad that it wasn't much of a challenge for us to save Scott. So he decided to kill one of us to punish us. And he chose my Alice.

CLARENCE: Why didn't you tell me?

ANDREW: He threatened to kill Scott if we told you. I didn't know what else to do. But now I know that it doesn't matter what we do. He's after us. He's after all of us. He's after us...for what you did, Dad.

This hits Clarence hard. It confirms his worst fears -- The new Francis is targeting those close to Clarence for killing the original Francis. How will Clarence deal with this new Francis?

INT. CARTER RESIDENCE - BASEMENT - DAY (NEXT DAY)

Andrew, Scott, Melina, Iris, Jeremy, Cassie, Oscar, Chuck, and Cheri are all on the couch, chairs, or on the floor. Together, they mourn Alice with sad silence. Andrew and Cassie are taking it the hardest. Cassie and Alice were best friends. Oscar comforts his girlfriend as she cries. Scott and Melina are trying to comfort Andrew.

INT. LIVING ROOM

Clarence and Kathy are watching TV on the couch. It clear that Clarence is having a hard time dealing with this. His son's girlfriend was just killed and he is beginning to feel some guilt over it.

CLARENCE: If I done more than just kill the bastard...did more investigating. Found more evidence of a possible accomplice or maybe someone close to him willing to kill for him...maybe I could have prevented this.

KATHY: Clarence..don't. This is NOT your fault. You had no way of knowing that someone would follow in Francis's footsteps. You are a hero. You saved more lives by killing that psychopath. You are not responsible for Alice or Hillary and her boyfriend. For all we know...this person could be a fan trying to copy him.

CLARENCE: That's what I'm afraid of, too. Its somebody doing in honor of Francis.

KATHY: You need to clear your head. How about a drive?

CLARENCE: If only you drive.

KATHY: That's fine.

EXT. CARTER RESIDENCE - DAY

Kathy and Clarence are pulling out of their driveway. Zero rides his tricycle up to the house. They smile at the cute little boy as the car passes by him as it backs out onto the road. Kathy rolls down the window to speak with him.

KATHY: Are you lost, sweetie?

ZERO: No. Just riding around.

KATHY: Okay, hun. You be safe.

ZERO: I will.

Kathy gives him a smile before driving off. As Kathy starts to drive off, Zero and Clarence make eye contact. And for some reason, a special spark hits between them. Clarence is not seeing another random neighbor kid riding around his house. He sees something else. Something close to him. Something he hasn't felt since his children were born.

Zero, himself, feels something there. Something warm and special. Something that he doesn't get from his father (The Stalker). With the Stalker, he gets orders and training to kill. But when he sees Clarence, he sees something that he's never had before. Something he likes. Could it be love of a real father figure?

After Kathy drives away, Zero turns to the Carter house. Lorraine smiles and waves at him. Zero waves back. And with that, Zero rides off.

INT. LORRAINE'S BEDROOM

Lorraine moves away from her window and goes onto her bed. She attempts to call Keith.

LORRAINE: C'mon, Keith. Answer!

But she only gets his voice mail.

LORRAINE: (frustrated) Shit!

Lorraine hangs up. She sighs and takes a moment to think. Then she calls another number.

LORRAINE: (into the phone) Hey. I was wondering if you'd like to go out with me tonight.

INT. CLUB - NIGHT

Lorraine, dressed sexy, and her new lover, TRICK (27), arrive at the club. There are several people dancing on the dance floor and others sitting around with drinks. It looks like a fun night. Lorraine and Trick go up to the bar to get some drinks.

TRICK: (to Bartender) Two vodkas.

The Bartender proceeds to pour vodka in two glasses for them. He hands them to glasses of vodka and the couple drinks them. Trick downs it fast.

TRICK: Another, please.

The Bartender gives him another, which he immediately downs again.

LORRAINE: Wanna dance?

TRICK: Sure. But I have to go to the bathroom.

LORRAINE: Okay.

Trick goes to the bathroom while Lorraine heads for the dance floor to begin dancing.

INT. BATHROOM

Trick enters the bathroom and finds an empty stall. He proceeds to do his bathroom business.

INT. DANCE FLOOR

Lorraine is dancing on the dance floor. Many people pass her by. As she dances, she sees -- THE STALKER -- UNMASKED. They pass each other by. But they both stop to turn to each other. We don't see his face. But she can see his face. She recognizes him. She knows him personally. But she doesn't yet realize that this is her stalker and that he has evil intention. They just look at each other for a moment before he walks away from her.

As the Stalker walks away, he puts his SAD DRAMA MASK, that was hiding underneath his hood, over his face.

INT. BATHROOM

Trick is finishing up his business, when he hears the bathroom door open and somebody walks in. Nothing suspicious. It's a public bathroom. The person walks into the bathroom stall next to him. Trick finishes his business and flushes the toilet. He exits from the stall and walks over to the sink to wash his hands.

As Trick is washing his hands, we can see the figure of the other person slowly sneaking out of his stall. Trick doesn't notice this. Trick finishes washing his hands and heads for the door. As he goes to grab the door -- HE IS GRABBED AND PULLED OFF SCREEN.

We stay on the same shot without moving to where Trick is. We can hear Trick screaming as he's being attacked off screen. We can hear the sounds of a knife stabbing him. Suddenly, Trick is silenced. Trick has been killed off screen.

INT. DANCE FLOOR

Lorraine is now intoxicated. It turns out that the drinks that Trick ordered were laced. She's stumbling and slurring badly. She goes through a crowd of dancers, who push her away. She can't see or think clearly.

Suddenly, she stops when she sees somebody familiar to her. Standing in the distance is -- ZERO -- who is staring directly at her. Lorraine is confused by his presence at the dance. Why would a child, this one in particular, be at a club. Is that even allowed? Zero starts to walk away.

LORRAINE: (to Zero) Wait a minute! Hey!

Lorraine follows him. She goes through several crowds of dancers as she slowly starts to lose her son. Eventually, she gets to where the tables are. She is shocked and terrified when she finds -- TRICK'S DEAD BODY SITTING ON A CHAIR. She starts panic. But then...

DANCER: LOOK OUT!!!

Lorraine and everyone else look up and scream when they see -- A BODY FALLING FROM THE CEILING. The body crashes onto the middle of the dance floor. People gather around to see the body. But when Lorraine gets up there, she gasps in horror upon seeing that the body is that of -- HER BOYFRIEND KEITH CURTIS.

LORAINE SCREAMS!!!

INT. CLUB - NIGHT (LATER)

Clarence and his police force are at the dance. Like with Andrew before, Clarence is comforting his daughter.

CLARENCE: Are you going to be okay, honey?

LORRAINE: I think there's more to it than my boyfriend and lovers being killed.

CLARENCE: What is it?

LORRAINE: There was a little boy here. I think it was my son.

CLARENCE: Baby, you gave him up five years ago. How do you know it's him?

LORRAINE: A mother always knows. Besides, he's been coming to the house everyday. Just to see me. Just to wave at me...before leaving.

This comments brings a hard realization to Clarence.

CLARENCE: Are you talking about the boy that your mother and I saw earlier?

LORRAINE: Yes, Daddy. That is your grandson.

Clarence is shocked to hear this. It all makes sense now. He now understands why he had a special spark when he saw the little boy earlier. He wasn't just seeing any little boy. He was seeing his grandson for the very first time. And all this time -- his grandson has been hanging around their house.

CLARENCE: Do you have any idea who could have done this?

LORRAINE: No. I don't think my men being murdered has anything to do with this Francis thing that you're going through.

CLARENCE: Why is that?

LORRAINE: I think it has something to do with my son. I think someone is stalking me and using him to get to me. I think whoever did this could have been someone I was with in the past. This is NOT Francis.

This horrifies Clarence. Now both of his children are facing killers. Two different killers with different agendas. How will Clarence be able to protect his children from not one but TWO KILLERS?

Deaths

 * CD = Chapter Death (Deaths in the chapter)
 * SD = Story Death (Overall deaths in the story)

Trivia

 * Lorraine finally confesses to Clarence that the little boy riding around their neighborhood is her son, his grandson.