"NIGHT OF THE HUNTED" "Wait!" "Come back!" "Where are you going?" "Are you scared of me?" "What are you doing in your nightgown miles away from anywhere?" "Are you running away?" "Are you being followed?" "I don't know." "All right, then." "What's your name?" "Elisabeth." "Take me with you, I beg you." " Don't let them take me back." " Who are you talking about?" "I don't know." "I don't know!" "I must escape." "Take me with you." "Help!" "Help!" "Help!" "Elisabeth." "Elisabeth?" "Help me." "Was no one else with you?" "Were you alone?" "Yes, I think so." "Yes, I was alone." "Calm down." "We'll be in Paris by morning." "Elisabeth!" "Don't leave me." "Now, tell me where I should take you." "Hey!" "Where do you live?" "Stop the car." "I'd like to get out, please." " Aren't you afraid of being alone?" " Me?" "Afraid?" "Why would I be afraid?" "Because you were afraid just now." "You begged me." "I don't know what you're talking about." "I don't even know you." "Let me go." "What now?" "Sir, I don't know where to go." "I can't remember where I live." "You know, you have nothing to fear from me." "Thank you." "I'm sure I'll remember." "I just don't understand it." "Follow them." "We must get her back." "I'm sorry, but I haven't got any clothes suitable for you." "I live alone." "I don't know anything anymore." "My mind is completely blank." "You said that I was on the road, that I was running." "I can't remember that." "You just told me that you took me in your car." "I can't remember that either." "I can't remember anything that happened before I came in here." "I don't even know my own name." "You're called Elisabeth." "You were running away." "It was dark." "You were afraid." "Veronique." "Where is Veronique?" "What have they done to her?" "You remember that name?" "Who is it?" "I don't know." "Last night, you were running along the road calling for help." "No, that's not true." "It's not possible." "You begged me to help you escape." "I can't remember that." "My mind is blank." "Elisabeth!" "You're called Elisabeth." "Who were you running from?" "Were you alone?" "I thought I heard someone shouting." "Were you alone?" "Who was following you?" "I'm sorry." "I was trying to rush you, but it's no use." "You seem to be forgetting things as you go along." "I bet you can't even remember my name." "I told you when we came into the apartment." "You're called " "You see?" "In a few minutes you won't even know why you're here or who I am." "This is more than just amnesia." "Each event disappears from your mind as it happens." "You've completely lost your memory." "You don't remember anyone." "You don't even remember who you are." "My head aches." "It's as if I'm searching for so many things that happened to me a long time ago." "A longtime ago." "I can't retrieve them." "Just vague images, so far away." "What images?" "Tell me quickly!" "Veronique." "I'm holding her hand." "We're running." "But where?" "Where were you?" "It is dark." "Veronique is naked." "She lets go of my hand." "I'm lost in the night, all alone." "And then two lights, like flashes." "That's all." "That's what happened just before I found you." "The images stop when you saw my headlights." "So someone was with you." "You were holding Veronique's hand." "What happened to her?" "I don't know." "But... you were running away." "You in your nightgown, Veronique naked." "From a hospital maybe?" "I beg you - it's over." "Even what I just told you is gone now." "I look at you " "You are there in front of me." "We belong to this world." "The only one that exists for me." "The world of the present moment." "Please, don't leave." "You are the only memory I have right now." "Robert." "Robert." "As long as you are here, I will remember your name." "Don't ever leave me." "As soon as you are gone, I will forget you." "It's as if I were a virgin." "It's the first time I have ever made love." "Everything my body has done before now has been forgotten." "Come, take me." "Move within me." "Gently." "Look at me so you will never forget me." "Stay inside me." "Again." "I will never forget you." "It's impossible." "Look at me." "I want to die with each breath so I will never forget you." "I have to go now." " I'll be back this evening." " Don't leave me." "I have to." "Don't sulk." "Here, I'll leave you a number for my office." "In case you want to call me, or in case anything happens." "See you tonight." "Hello, Elisabeth." "Naturally you do not recognize me or Solange." "That's not surprising." "I am your doctor, and Solange is my assistant." "Come with us." "We will take you home." "No." "I have to stay here... and wait for Robert." "Who is Robert?" "You don't even know whose house you're in." "In a minute, you will have even forgotten the name Robert." "He no longer exists for you." "The only thing that exists is the present moment." "Right now." "You've already forgotten about the apartment and its owner." "I'm the only one you can recognize now." "If I leave, you will remain alone, with no memories, not knowing where you are, not even knowing who you are." "Do you hear, Elisabeth?" "Alone, with no memory, unable to think about anything or anyone." "Your mind is just blank - horribly blank." "No, stay with me." "No, you're coming with us." "Help her." "No." "I don't know who you are." "I don't think I should go with you." "But you're free to go, Elisabeth." "You can go back to the apartment." "Where was it again?" "As you can see, you can't even find the building." "You'll be lost without us." "You live on the 30th floor, apartment number 35." "You live with a friend." "Her name is Catherine." " Catherine?" "I don't remember her." " It doesn't matter." "Let go of me." "I'm not a prisoner." "Here it is." "Go in." "Hello." "I'm Elisabeth." "I'm Catherine." "I think I live here with you." "Yes, maybe." "Some of the things in the closet aren't mine." "They must be yours." "Don't you recognize me?" "I'm sorry." "I ought to recognize you, of course." "But..." "I'm sick, you know." "My memories leave my head." "They escape from me." "In that case, we have something in common." "I don't have any memories either." "Don't cry." "We have no recollection of each other, but I'm sure we were friends." "Let's pretend that we were childhood friends." "We always were." "What do you think?" "You are sweet, Elisabeth." "Yes, we were childhood friends." "We were both brought up in the countryside." "Do you remember?" "We played together when we were little, racing snails." "And later on, we " "We" "Yes!" "We went to school together." "I remember it well." "And... your grades were better than mine." "And you helped me with my homework, didn't you?" "Didn't you?" "Didn't you?" "Do you remember?" "Didn't you?" "Didn't you?" "Do you remember?" "Well, Elisabeth, you've come back." "You know me?" "Of course." "Since I've been living here, my mind is intact." "I no longer forget." "So I know you are Elisabeth." "You disappeared two days ago." "You both look very sad." "Don't worry." "Dr. Francis will cure you." "Look at me." "I can remember everything since I've been here." "I forgot." "Your dinner." "We get dinner brought to our room." " Just like in a hotel." " Like in prison." "Look." "Lobster soup." "You don't get that in prison." "Catherine." "My God!" "I had no idea." "Why didn't you tell me?" "You came along and told me that we knew each other, that we played together when we were little." "I forgot I was like this, that I can't control what my hands are doing." "Every move I make is like the inside of my head." "Useless." "Illogical." "Irrational." "Useless." "My child." "Have you seen my child?" "Tell me if you know where he is, if you know anything." "Do you understand?" "I know I have a child." "I'm sure of it." "I can even hear his voice." "But just when I'm about to see his face, it disappears." "I don't even know if it's a boy or a little girl." "There must be someone here who knows." "You" " Do you know who my child is?" "Tell me. it's my only memory." "Do you know?" "So, you neither?" "There's nothing left of my life, of what I've done, of what I was." "No one knows anymore." "But Why?" "Why?" "Why?" "I'll remember for you." "It was a little girl." "She will come back." "Is that true?" "Do you really know her?" "Yes. it's true." "Even if it's crazy, it's true." "My little girl." "What's her name?" "She is called..." "Alice." "Alice?" "Alice." "Yes, that's her." "I'm sure that's her." "What did you say my little girl's name was?" "You see?" "We invent memories for each other." "Some things have come back to us since we've been here." "We're not sure if the memories are real or made-up." "Look." "Old photographs." "They're mine." "They might be of my family." "I can't remember." "Maybe just by looking at them I will recognize a face, some eyes, an expression, a smile." "Something that I will recognize." "God help me!" "We're all prisoners, all out of our minds." "What's the matter with him?" "He has lost his sense of balance." "And he is clumsy, like me." "He can hardly stand up." "None of the telephones in the tower work." "There must be a way to escape." "Why escape?" "Where would you go?" "Who would you go to?" "We don't know anything about ourselves." "The doctors are on the first two ﬂoors." "Everything is guarded." "No one gets through." "No one tries to get through." "They take care of us." "Sometimes, two or three of us don't respond to anything." "They become like animals, so they are taken away, and we never see them again." "The only thing left for us to do is to touch our bodies." "It's our only pleasure." "The only one we don't forget." "Come." "Good evening." "Everyone seeks adventure in the corridors." "Everyone needs some help." "I'm the only one here who can remember." "Later on, you will tell me you have forgotten your room number." "You'll call on me, and I will tell you that you live in number 35." "That's worth a few privileges, isn't it?" "Have it your way." "You'll have to manage on your own." "She has gone." "What about me?" "What will happen to me?" "What will happen to me?" "Oh, my goodness!" "I can't remember who you are, but you are someone very important to me." "You are Veronique." "It was dark." "We were running away, hand in hand." "And then, you let go of my hand." "The lights." "The car headlights." "I can't recognize" " I can't find " "But I'm certain we were friends." "There's no point trying to remember." "Come, we won't be separated again." "My room is just here." "She will never be able to find our room." "She's never coming back." "Come back." "Come back." "This image is so strong." "You and I, at night." "We were running away." "I can't remember anything about this place." "Can you tell me about it?" "We are in a tower block." "You can see the Arc de Triomphe from the windows on the top ﬂoor." "It is surrounded by other tower apartments." "The only people we ever see are Dr. Francis, the ground-ﬂoor guard or Solange." "There's a guard?" "Yes, he's armed." "So, we're trapped here?" "I don't know." "Maybe." "In the memory we share we were running away." "They were chasing us." "I'll write down your room number." "Otherwise I'll forget it." "A piece of paper." "It's a telephone number." "Robert." "Robert?" "It doesn't mean anything to me." "Perhaps he's a friend." "In any case, it is someone on the outside." "I'm going to try to get out to find a telephone." "Maybe the guard has one." "If this Robert is a friend, he will come and find us." "Why do you want to leave?" "We're hidden away, locked up." "You're right." "It must be nighttime." "We should be able to overpower the guard and make a call." "Are the other people in the tower dangerous?" "We're not dangerous." "Sometimes we get crazy ideas in our heads, that's all." "Everything is normal, except... for that little something inside my head." " In yours too, Elisabeth." " Yes, I know." "Forgetfulness or clumsiness, but that's all." "There's the anxiety." "There's the fear." "Don't you remember the anxiety attacks?" "They can affect anyone at any time." "That's why they have the cameras watching us permanently." "When someone has an anxiety attack, they become crazy with fear." "The guards have to intervene." "No one contemplates leaving this tower." "I'm going to leave." "We've already escaped once." "I'll come with you." "You are my friend." "Pretend you're getting ready for bed." "I'm going back to my room." "There's someone I want to come with us." "I would have come back for you." "I hadn't forgotten about you." "You should have trusted me." "I didn't forget you." "When the night comes, all that's left is the anxiety for those who are lost in the world of the tower apartments." "Come on." "I'll take you back to your room." "You won't be able to find it by yourself." "Let me do it." "I'll take your clothes off." "I don't want to stay with you." "Where is Jacques?" "I am the doctor's assistant." "You must obey me." "We're going now." "Come on." "No one should be left alone at night with their anxiety." "No!" "You." "With you." "No injections, no drugs." "With you." "Only with you." "Don't you want the doctor to cure you?" "He cures the anxiety, but he empties your thoughts." "He cures the body, but he empties my head." "Come on." "Come on." "Don't move." "Stop there!" "Block all the exits from the tower." "Assemble everyone." "General alert." " Hello?" " It's Elisabeth." "Where the hell are you?" "How do you know me?" "I can't remember." "Just tell me where you are." "I'm coming." "It's a large tower apartment, black, surrounded by other towers." "I'm with Veronique." "We are going to try to get out." "I think I know where you are." "Wait for me at the front." "I'll be there in 10 minutes." "Let's get out of here quickly." "I'm afraid." "I'm afraid too, suddenly." "As if the tower is trying to hold us back." "I want them alive!" "You can't escape from the black tower that easily." "Don't move, or I'll shoot!" "INFIRMARY" "Look at your friend." "She is dead." "What have they done to you?" "Veronique?" "Look at me." "Who is Veronique?" "Oh, no." "Not you." "Move!" "Set me free." "Do something." "Don't allow yourself to die!" "My poor, poor love." "It's not polite to turn up in people's homes with a gun." "Where is Elisabeth?" "She's a prisoner." "I won't leave without her." " Can you play piano?" " Piano?" "Don't make that face." "Come, I will take you." "Imagine some pianos, or, better still, some violins." "Let yourself be guided by the violin music." "Afterwards, if you are good, you will find the one you love." " Where is Elisabeth?" " Be quiet." "Dance with me." "I will take you to her later." "Good." "Let her delay him a while longer." "Just for a little while longer." "That's enough of your playacting!" "Where is she?" "It doesn't matter, Veronique." "I can feel myself going now." "I can't remember where we are... or who we are." "I can feel the anxiety, but what has happened to us?" "My mind is emptying." "It's closing." "Tell me" "Tell me your name." "That's it, just like the others, they are dead." "I'm terribly sorry you were hit, but it was the only way." "You cannot do us any more harm now." "The tower has been evacuated, and my patients are gone." "Speaking of your patients, you have a strange way of treating them." "We will explain." "Then you will leave us alone." "It's quite simple really." "We isolated a group of people infected with an unknown illness which we are trying to treat." "They agreed to be isolated." "What about the armed guards?" "This illness attacks the mind, infecting the brain cells, which die off." "This provokes strange reactions." "Most of them lose their memory, then some of their senses, balance, for instance." "Patients suffer anxiety attacks, making them dangerous." "That's why they're guarded." "They regress." "The brain cells die off." "I haven't found anything to halt this destructive process." "They become more dead than alive, like the living dead." "Just like vegetables." "They no longer have a mind." "How did this happen?" "Oh, it's a secret." "It's dirty work." "I don't believe you." "The authorities are covering it up to avoid a scandal." "I want to see Elisabeth." "It's as if she's dead now." "I want to see her." "If I show her to you and she doesn't recognize you, if she walks straight past you without stopping, will you finally leave us alone?" "Yes." "Stay here." "You can see her." "Bitch!" "Where the hell are they?" "It's too late." "They don't exist anymore." "The final stage of their decline is the destruction of their minds." "Where are they?" "Where?" "Talk, or I'll finish you off." "Where have you taken them?" "Listen." "SQ?" "We've made a start." "We take them to the carriages, inject them, they die and are burnt." "All right, spare me the details." " They're wearing surgical masks." " What for?" "The patient's empty eyes make them feel uncomfortable." "Some butchers dare not look into a calf's eyes." "That's enough. it's not funny." "Why?" "Are you ashamed of what you do?" "I'm a doctor." "What I'm forced to do here has nothing to do with medicine." "This one is alive." "She's moving." "We can't finish her." "She's like the others." "Her mind is dying." "She's having flashbacks." "She's regaining consciousness." "Kill her so we can get it over with." "That would be murder." "It's euthanasia, that's all." "She can't even speak." "She's no longer a human being." "Give her a chance." "Let her go." "All right then." "You'll see what she does." "It's as if she didn't see or hear anything." "She's already dead." "Let me finish her off." "Her brain has been destroyed." "The cells are dead." "It's all your fault." "There was a leak from a power station, or the fast-breeder reactor was sabotaged." "Radiation escaped through the walls for several seconds, randomly striking the passersby." "That's what caused the memory loss, the anxiety attacks." "You swine!" "You're keeping it all hushed up!" "The cells die off one by one until they reach full regression." "I did everything I could." "Nothing more can be done." "We had to hide them away." "Imagine the panic that would have ensued." "We put them all in the black tower." "So she's just like an animal?" "Not even that." "More like a plant."