A mother is forced to trade her soul to control the demon possessing her daughter.

SYNOPSIS:

The FAUSTINO family, fleeing a troubled past, move into a St. Louis brownstone rumored to be haunted by the vengeful spirit of a young prostitute. But the sexually thirsty and deadly entity is revealed to be a centuries-old SUCCUBUS bent on destroying everything in its path. (mythically, it is understood to be neither female nor male; the demon can switch genders at will in order to accomplish its agenda: To feed and to spawn human children susceptible to other demons. Humans represent order against chaos, while the demon represents chaos against order).

ALEXA is a mentally fragile mother after discovering her husband, VICTOR’S, rampant infidelities. Their daughter, ROSE, having befriended a hard-to-read schoolmate, displays uncharacteristic sexual aggression. Alexa initially blames the changes on Rose’s new best friend, but soon suspects there’s something much more diabolical commanding Rose. Alexa must find the strength to not only seek answers, but to keep her family from being torn apart. A local priest, FATHER ANAPI, is helpful, it seems at first.

As Alexa digs for the truth, Anapi grows uncooperative and evasive. He knows more than he’s letting on, and may very well hold the key to the Faustino’s survival. In a vicious twist, Rose kills her father in what appears to be murder, but which turns out to be the rampage of a centuries-old SUCCUBUS once imprisoned beneath Anapi’s church, and which has escaped and taken control of Rose’s soul.

Anapi thwarts Alexa’s attempts to save her daughter, pursuing his sacred agenda: recapture the demon while it’s still in Rose’s body, and imprison it beneath the church. To save Rose, Alexa tries to lure the demon into herself, only to fail. She must choose between killing her own daughter or trapping her in the church’s catacombs in hopes of freeing her at a later time. Anapi tries to force both Alexa and Rose into the catacombs. Alexa entombs him instead as sustenance for the demon.

(Anapi is the doorway through which the demon can affect its chaos, while Alexa is the door itself, trying to keep chaos from taking over. In order to do that, she has made a tremendous sacrifice (Rose) in order to keep the world from falling apart while saving what’s left of her family and potentially saving her daughter. In the end, Alexa has become both door and doorway, the unwilling Keeper of not only the demon, but her daughter’s soul.) ***THE SPACE BETWEEN BREATHS is a paranormal/horror script featuring a primarily female creature – succubus which can shape shift. Among other things, it explores the taboo subject of incest. The multi-award-winning authors were inspired by a Denver urban legend.

- Written with Christian Lyons