Fun and Games By Sallie Maree Pritchard

Sallie Maree Pritchard 2013

E: salliepritchard@gmail.com

INT. CAR. DUSK. A young girl and an older woman sit in silence. The girl, HATTIE, looks out the window, her eyebrows furrowed. Her mother, ANNA, glances at her, gives her a sympathetic smile. ANNA You ready, Hattie? HATTIE I guess. ANNA Youll have fun, I promise. Ill be back in the morning, around half ten. Sound good? She looks down at her hands folded in her lap. HATTIE Yep. Bye, mum. She looks up and Anna gives her a kiss on the cheek, patting her shoulder. Hattie gets out of the car, backpack in hand, gives a small wave. EXT. DRIVEWAY. DUSK Anna gives a toot on the car horn and pulls away. Hattie, standing in the gutter, turns and looks at the house. It is large, old, gloomy. It seems to cast a shadow over the entire street. A long driveway stretches toward it, parts of the house obscured by dark, heavy trees. Hattie shivers and walks slowly toward it. We watch her as she becomes a dot on the horizon. EXT. HOUSE. DUSK The wide front door opens and a young girl, OLIVIA, is revealed. She looks down her nose at Hattie. OLIVIA Youre late. HATTIE Sorry. Mum had to finish work.

(CONTINUED)

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OLIVIA Work? My mum doesnt need to work. Hattie looks down. Olivia watches her for a moment, then steps aside. OLIVIA Well, get in. We have to wait until dark anyway. Hattie walks slowly inside. Olivia walks in and slams the door. INT. HOUSE. NIGHT We enter the house. It is dilapidated, windows boarded up with wood and cardboard. The last dying rays of the sun can just be seen through one window. Dust and dirt is everywhere. A large staircase divides the room down the middle, a long corridor filling the other space. The staircase looks as though it leads to nowhere: the upper levels of the house are pitch black. Over in the corner is a pile of rocks. They are arranged in the shape of a pyramid. There is no dust around the rocks. Hattie sneezes. Olivia makes an impatient noise. HATTIE This place is scary. And dusty. I-I d-dont think I like it. Olivia mimics Hatties sneezes. OLIVIA You know who gets scared of houses? Babies. Are you a baby, Hattie? HATTIE No. OLIVIA Well, stop acting like one and come with me. Olivia heads toward the long corridor. Hattie looks up at the staircase, then follows Olivia.

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INT. HOUSE - CORRIDOR. NIGHT The corridor is darker still, no windows visible. Hattie rubs her hands up and down her arms, cold. She looks at the doors. They have strange carvings on them. One has a red stripe on it, the dregs of the liquid dripping all the way down to the floor. At the end of the corridor, a candlelight flickers. Voices float down to them. OLIVIA SHUT UP, IDIOTS! A shushing sound is heard. Olivia pauses in front of a door at the end of the corridor. It is slightly ajar. A soft light is emanating from the room. Hattie stops behind Olivia, looks behind her. It is black. Olivia and Hattie enter the room. The door swings back without closing. We see there is a mark on the door. INT. HOUSE - ROOM. NIGHT Hattie, Olivia, and two other girls are sitting in the middle of a dusty room. One is RUBY and the other is EMILY. It is bare of furniture, save for a small cot in the corner. A candle sits in front of each girl. The warm glow lights up their faces in the shadows. Ruby takes a small glass out of her bag, holds it up and examines it. RUBY I stole this from Dad. EMILY Will he notice? RUBY I dont know. OLIVIA He wont. He has lots of shot glasses. Hes probably an alcoholic. Ruby looks down, then glances at Hattie.

(CONTINUED)

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RUBY Does your dad know youre here, Hattie? HATTIE No. My dad doesnt live with us anymore. OLIVIA (without emotion) Thats sad. A whistling noise can be heard from outside the room. Hattie and Ruby jump. Olivia rolls her eyes. HATTIE What are we doing? OLIVIA I told you, stupid. Were going to have a seance. HATTIE Whats a seance? OLIVIA Ugh, dont you know anything? Its when you talk to ghosts. Hattie shivers and looks scared. OLIVIA You have to do this to be our friend. Ruby nods. Emily stares at her. Hattie looks at them all. HATTIE Oh. Ok. OLIVIA Emily. Get the board. Emily stands up and takes something carefully out of her bag. She sets it down in the middle of them, almost knocking a candle over. OLIVIA Watch where youre walking, dummy! Youll need a wheelchair like your retard brother soon! Emily looks down.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: EMILY Sorry.

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She sits down and glances at Hattie. She drops her eyes as Hattie gives her a small smile. OLIVIA Can we start now? The others nod. OLIVIA Good. She turns the glass over and puts it on the board between two words; Yes and No She puts one finger on the top of the glass. OLIVIA Now you do it. Ruby, Emily and Hattie put a finger on the glass. Hattie looks scared. Rubys eyes are round like sacuers, the light flickering across them. Emily looks at the candles. OLIVIA Right. She closes her eyes, as does Ruby. Hattie bites her lip, momentarily closes her eyes, but quickly opens them, looking around her. OLIVIA SPIRITS, I COMMAND YOU. PLEASE TALK TO US AND TELL US THE SECRETS OF THIS HOUSE. Everything is silent. One of the candles flicker. Olivia seems impatient. OLIVIA SPIRITS. ARE YOU HERE? Very slowly, the glass begins to move. 3 pairs of eyes open. The girls watch as the glass moves towards one word: YES They look at each other. HATTIE Are, are, y-you moving the g-glass, Livvy?

(CONTINUED)

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OLIVIA No. RUBY Neither am I. Are you moving it, Emily? EMILY N-no. Im not moving anything. The girls watch, horrified, as the glass settles on YES. The glass begins to move again, back to the middle. OLIVIA Are you a ben, benelav, uh, a good spirit? The glass begins to move again, this time toward another word. It stops and all four girls gasp. It is resting on NO. Hatties eye well with tears. Rubys eyes are even wider. OLIVIA Are...you, are you...evil? The glass moves swiftly to YES. The candles flicker again, more violently. Hattie goes to move her finger from the glass but Olivia stops her. OLIVIA Dont do anything! The glass moves again without another word. G E T O U T It stops. Hattie whimpers, Emily is shaking and Rubys shoulders are heaving up and down.

(CONTINUED)

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OLIVIA What do you Her words are cut off as the door slams shut and the candles go out. The girls scream. Something is scraping the floor as it moves. Then, a sound like a zip can be heard, then the sound of air whooshing in and out. A clicking sound and Hatties face is visible in the light of a torch. It is shaped like a penguin. She presses the middle of it again, and it shines a little brighter. The the The the torch reveals empty room. Olivia, Emily torch swings around floor, is picked up corners, shaking as it moves around and Ruby cannot be seen or heard. to the doorway. The torch drops to again.

HATTIE Livvy? Ruby? Emily? Please...please be in here... Her plea is met with silence. She starts to cry. A scream can be heard from far away. Hattie gets up, grabs the torch and bangs on the door. HATTIE LIVVY. RUBY. EMILY. HELP! Screams are heard again. Hatties face is in shadow, as she hears more screaming. Then a thud. And silence. The clicking sound again. We see Hatties face, terrified. A faint shout. EMILY HATTIE! Hatties breathing is ragged. She gulps. She stands up, walks slowly to the door, wrenches it open, looks left and right down the hall. INT. HALLWAY - NIGHT The hallway is dark. The torch emits a small circle of light. Hattie walks toward us, passes by.

(CONTINUED)

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We follow her as she carefully makes her way toward the front door. A breeze ruffles the hair at the back of her neck. She stops, swings around. The hallway is pitch black, still. A thumping noise drifts down from above. Olivia shrieks. Hattie walks faster, the front door just in view. Then, darkness. Hattie is grabbed by something unseen. She jerks away, screaming, hits something hard. It is the cot. It has blocked off the staircase. Hattie looks at the stairs, then the door. We hear another thud from upstairs, louder this time. OLIVIA HATTIE! HATTIE! Hattie pushes the cot aside with all of her strength. She picks up the torch and clicks it again. It is dark. She tries again, fails. The torch is broken. Another shriek and Hattie begins to crawl up the stairs. EXT. BEDROOM - NIGHT Hattie makes her way up the stairs, slowly. She stops, drained from her fear and the effort it is taking. There is a growl, like a warning, right near her face. She freezes. Then she stands up and runs toward the nearest door. INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT Hattie crashes into the room, searching. It is empty. She runs out, turning left. EXT. FIRST LANDING - NIGHT Hattie, running her hand along the wall, searches for the next room. At the end of the corridor is a faint light. She walks toward it, focused: walks past an open door. She is pulled inside. All is still.

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INT. ROOM - NIGHT It is dark, but patches of light creep in. A VOICE sounds, close to us. VOICE Why are you here? We see via Hatties POV. Her face is covered by something. HATTIE I was asked here. Where are my friends? VOICE Dead. HATTIE NO! VOICE Dont worry. Youll soon join them! Hattie screams and all is flooded with light. We CUT TO Hattie. She is confused, tears streaming down her face. Laughter erupts. Standing over her is Olivia, her mouth covered with a scarf. Emily and Ruby are on the other side of the room, with two other boys: BRAYDEN, who is sitting on the bed, and SAM. They are all staring at Hattie, grins on their faces. Standing behind Olivia is CAMERON, a boy Hattie recognises from school. He laughs, puts an arm around Olivia. She brushes him off. HATTIE W-what -? They all laugh. OLIVIA W-w-what?!? It was all a joke, you idiot. CAMERON Surprise! Hattie looks up at him, realises he belongs to the threatening VOICE. Ruby and Emily nod. Hattie looks at them, then Olivia. She looks over at Sam and Brayden. They all laugh again.

(CONTINUED)

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HATTIE Why? OLIVIA It was your test. Dont worry, you passed. HATTIE I thought, I thought we were going to die! RUBY That was the point? EMILY Yeah. Hattie stands up. She looks Olivia in the eye. Olivia takes a step back. OLIVIA Ugh. Back up, Hat. Your breath is foul. HATTIE Shut up. OLIVIA Excuse me? HATTIE I said shut up! That was a mean trick. Why would you do that to me? OLIVIA Oh, relax, loser. It was just a test to see if you were cool enough to hang out with us. Which Im starting to think youre not. Emily and Ruby nod in agreement. Hattie glares at them. BRAYDEN Definitely not cool. HATTIE Youre not cool. Youre all horrible. OLIVIA Um, I dont think thats very nice, Hat. I dont think we want you to be our friend anymore. I mean, I (MORE) (CONTINUED)

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OLIVIA (contd) was really nice to you. More than you deserve. Youre a nerd, your mum is a single loser - Im starting to see why your dad left! I dont know why I even Hattie slaps Olivia across the face, cutting her off. A look of rage passes Olivias face. Emily and Ruby gasp, shocked. The boys look from Hattie to Olivia, unsure of what to do. HATTIE You know what? Youre the loser. Youre all losers. I dont want to be your friend anymore. Im leaving! Hattie rushes out. EXT. FRONT ENTRANCE - NIGHT Hattie, her backpack on, opens the front door and walks out. She fishes a phone out of her bag and begins to dial. We hear Anna on the other line. ANNA (OS) Hello? HATTIE Mum? ANNA (OS) Whats wrong, sweetie? HATTIE Can you...can you come get me? ANNA (OS) Its late...what happened? HATTIE I, uh, one of the girls got sick, so we all decided to go home. ANNA (OS) Ok. Meet me out the front. Im on my way.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: HATTIE Thanks. Mum? ANNA (OS) Yeah? HATTIE I love you. ANNA (OS) I love you too, sweetie. Be there soon. Hattie puts her phone away and keeps walking. INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT

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Olivia, Emily, Ruby, Brayden, Cameron, and Sam are still standing around, stunned. Cameron laughs, breaking the silence. CAMERON What a loser! He puts his arm around Olivia again. She doesnt brush him off this time. OLIVIA Im going to make her life hell on Monday. EMILY Maybe we should... OLIVIA What. Emily is silent. OLIVIA What, Emily? Leave her alone? Um, no. Did you see what she did to me? The front door slams shut, making them all jump. Olivia waits a moment. OLIVIA BYE LOSER! SEE YOU ON MONDAY! She smirks. Ruby laughs and the boys grin. Emily smiles, but as they look away she looks down, frowning. The lights go out. (CONTINUED)

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OLIVIA What the hell? There is a thud. Then screams. THE END.