A Tricky Game

On what?

ANGELA

On your wish.

Kazimir leans forward and brings his glass to hers. The crystal glasses meet, releasing a CLINK.

Angela takes a sip of the champagne then puts her glass down on the table.

ANGELA (CONT’D)

I have to go.

KAZIMIR

Please stay.

ANGELA

Are you tempting me?

KAZIMIR

I’m indulging you.

Angela stands up. Kazimir grabs her hand, pulling her towards him. She pulls away. He tightens his grip, enjoying the sensation it produces, then lets her go.

Angela walks away, engulfed by the crowd of the CLUB REVELLERS.

Kazimir motions at the stripper#1, throwing some bank notes into her direction.

The stripper#1 slowly edges towards him, stripping as she goes in the throbbings of neon light.

EXT. MOSCOW – NIGHT

Pulsating with myriads of lights, the city pushes in and out sparkling flows of the night traffic.

INT. ANGELA’S BENTLEY (MOSCOW) – NIGHT – TRAVELLING

Angela sits in the back seat, looking out. Her head leans against the car window.

The DRIVER turns the radio on. A mellow JAZZ tune of Dream A Little Dream of Me by Doris Day flows out. It fills in the car, as the street-lights flash by, blurring into colourful smudges before Angela’s eyes.

EXT. ANGELA’S HOUSE (MOSCOW) – NIGHT

A street stretches out into the night.

On the one side of it, a seven-storey modern residential building stands. Opposite, a half-built building is coated in darkness. A crane towers over it.

INT. HALF-BUILT BUILDING/TOP FLOOR (MOSCOW) – NIGHT

A silhouette of a broad-shouldered man in mid 30s, wearing a military navy-blue jacket – PAVEL NEKRASSOV – is visible in a large window gap. Pavel stands, looking down onto the street. Next to him, on a pile of bricks a takeaway box is placed.

Pavel reaches for the takeaway box, fingers out a plump pirozhok and bites in.

INTERCUT

The silver Bentley pulls up before the residential building. The driver gets out of the car and opens the door.

Angela steps out, goes to the entrance and walks up the stairway of the brightly lit entrance.

INTERCUT

Playing with his gun, Pavel points it in the direction of the residential building. His finger on the trigger, he munches on the pirozhok and looks down.

A crow flies in, brushing Pavel’s face with its wings. A GUNSHOT shatters the night.

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. HOSPITAL (MOSCOW) – DAY

Angela lies in bed, the golden waves of her hair spread on the pillow. Her eyes open, she takes in the surroundings: the blue bareness of the hospital walls, the white sheets, the transparent plastic of the bedside table.

A NURSE enters, places a vase with pink tulips on the bedside table and walks out.

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. MOSCOW – NIGHT – DUSK

The street lights come on, casting beams of light upon the snow-powdered streets of the city.

INT. HOSPITAL (MOSCOW) – NIGHT – DUSK

Angela gets out of bed, goes to the window and looks out.

INERCUT —

The windows in high-rises light up one by one.

INERCUT —

Angela goes back to bed. Lying, she stares out into the darkness for a while then closes her eyes.

The door opens noiselessly.

A young man in his late 20s, wearing a black silk mask covering upper part of his face, – DMITRY VORONOV —, quietly slips into the room.

Silhouetted in the dim light, coming from the window, he softly approaches the bed.