Read Murder Mysteries a Play for Voices (9781466109827) for Free Online Page B

endure to have him near me and to know that he felt
nothing for me. That was what hurt the most. I thought... I
hoped... that if he was gone then I would no longer care for him --
that the pain would stop.
    (pause)
     
    /SFX/ OVER THIS WE HEAR A REPEAT OF THE
OPENING SEQUENCE -- THE DEATH OF CARASEL.
     
    SARAQUAEL (CONT’D)
    So I killed him; I stabbed him, and I threw
his body from our window in the Hall of Being.
    (nearly wails this, in pain)
    But the pain has not stopped.
     
    SARAQUAEL (CONT’D)
    Now what?
     
    /SFX/ FLAMES -- BEGINNING GENTLY THEN
BECOMING A ROAR....
     
    RAGUEL NARRATION
    I felt my aspect begin to come upon me; felt
my function possess me. I was no longer an individual -- I was the
Vengeance of the Lord.
     
    RAGUEL THEN
    (treatment))
    Come close to me, Saraquael. Come very
close.
     
    SARAQUAEL
    No... please... no....
     
    RAGUEL THEN
    (treatment)
    I have a gift for you.
     
    /SFX/ AS RAGUEL CARRIES OUT SARAQUAEL’S
SENTENCE. MUSIC AND FLAME SOUND EFFECTS TELL THE STORY. BURNING,
UNDER...
     
    RAGUEL NARRATION (CONT’D)
    He moved close to me, and I embraced him. I
pressed my lips to his, forced my tongue into his mouth. We kissed.
He closed his eyes. I felt it well up within me then: a burning, a
brightness. From the corner of my eyes, I could see Lucifer and
Phanuel averting their faces from my light; I could feel Zephkiel's
stare. And my light became brighter and brighter, until it erupted
-- from my eyes, from my chest, from my fingers, from my lips: a
white, searing fire. The white flames consumed Saraquael slowly,
and he clung to me as he burned.
     
    /SFX/ SARAQUAEL’S DEATH SCREAMS UNDER THE
END OF THAT LAST...
     
    RAGUEL NARRATION
    Soon there was nothing left of him. Nothing
at all. I felt the flame leave me. I returned to myself once more.
Phanuel was sobbing. Lucifer was pale. Zephkiel sat in his chair,
quietly watching me.
     
    RAGUEL THEN
    You have seen the Vengeance of the Lord. Let
it act as a warning to you both. Phanuel. Lucifer.
     
    PHANUEL
    It has. Oh it has. I, I will be on my way,
sir. I will return to my appointed post. If that is all right with
you?
     
    RAGUEL THEN
    Go.
     
    /SFX/ WINGS BEATING
     
    LUCIFER
    Nothing. There is nothing left of Saraquael.
You destroyed him. Look. No fragment of ash, or bone, or even a
charred feather. It is as if he never existed at all.
     
    RAGUEL THEN
    He existed. But he’s gone.
     
    LUCIFER
    (trying to hold back tears)
    That was not right. That was not just.
    (and then the tears begin)
     
    RAGUEL THEN
    It was justice. He killed another. He was
killed in his turn. You called me to my function, and I performed
it.
     
    LUCIFER
    But... he loved. He should have been
forgiven. He should have been helped. He should not have been
destroyed like that. That was wrong.
     
    RAGUEL THEN
    It was the will of our creator, the will of
the Name.
     
    LUCIFER
    Then perhaps His will is unjust. Perhaps the
voices in the darkness speak truly after all. How can this be
right?
     
    RAGUEL THEN
    It is right. It is His will. I merely
performed my function.
     
    LUCIFER
    No. I must think on this. I... will go
now.
     
    /SFX/ WINGBEATS. LUCIFER FLIES AWAY.
     
    ZEPHKIEL
    Did you observe the liquid that came from
Lucifer’s eyes.
     
    RAGUEL THEN
    Yes.
     
    ZEPHKIEL
    It’s called tears. How strange. Carasel was
the first to love, but Lucifer was the first to shed tears.
     
    ZEPHKIEL
    So. It is over. You have performed your
function well, Raguel. Shouldn't you return to your cell, to wait
until you are next needed?
     
    /SFX/CROSS FADE TO:
    /SFX/LOS ANGELES NOISES
     
    NARRATOR -- LIVE
    So. Saraquael did it. A murder for love.
Yes. I can understand that. It makes so much more sense than a
motiveless death, doesn’t it? The kind where you don’t know why you
did it. The kind you could never explain.
     
     
     

     
     
     
    RAGUEL NOW
    I’ll take a last cigarette from you, now. If
you’re offering.
     
    NARRATOR -- LIVE
    Sure. You don’t honestly expect me