(Printed with an unregistered version of Fade In)

Berused
(draft)
written by
Sam Val

Copyright (c) 10/28/2016

(Printed with an unregistered version of Fade In)

FADE IN:
(as Main theme played) A digital CLOCK, ATTACHED to a wall.
Below it hangs
hung a mirror- We see:
A YOUNG MAN. Standing stiff in a bathroom. Looking at
something in the corner. His face utterly pale. Between his
hands clasped a CISTERN LID, covered in BLOOD.
He snaps out of it. Places the lid on top of the urinal
nearby. Turns to the basin. The MAN turns on the tap, a bit
too forcefully. Water comes out with a SPLASH. Wetting a
left part of MAN's trousers. He turns it off as a reflex.
Takes out THE WALLET which is in the pocket, (now slightly
wet.
) Puts it on the shelf beneath THE MIRROR. Takes the ROLL
OF PAPER on the top of the hand drier to clean the wet area
on his trousers.
He turns on the tap again, carefully this time. WASHES his
hands and face. Looks at himself in the mirror for a few
seconds. His head turns to look at that "something": A BODY
OF A MAN, lying still- blood's coming out of HIS HEAD.
The MAN DRAGS the body( by the legs) out of the corner
towards the DOOR. Leaving a trail of BLOOD ON THE FLOOR.
HUFFING AND PUFFING. He pulls and hits the door with a THUD
with his back. Leans the dead body against the wall. Gazes
at the door. Then he gets through it to:
INT. HALLWAY - CONTINUOUS
Dark and desolate. The MAN STEPS on SOME WATER on the floor
coming out of the bathroom. His brows furrow slightly.
He starts examining his environment: looks round, tries
opening a room(locked), there're the lifts nearby with Signs
" Under Maintenance" in front of them. No one seems to be in
this floor. The MAN begins to pace back and forth. Thinking.
He catches a glance at the other side of the hall: a door
leading to the balcony. He approaches it. Taking a look
outside the balcony.
As he does so. Emerges a CLACK. Coming from the floor above.
Our MAN PERPLEXED. Then heads towards it using the stairs
nearby to:
INT. UPPER FLOOR - CONTINUOUS
The MAN, hiding behind a wall, sees:

(CONTINUED)

(Printed with an unregistered version of Fade In)

2.

CONTINUED:
A person coming out of the bathroom. One hand holding a mop.
Situated in his chest is a badge, which says: "JOHN - Night
cleaner". Hes WHISTLING.
JOHN is striding towards him.

"JOHN"
to BREST"
"ANDY BREST"
changedchanged
to "ANDY

The MAN's heart is pounding.

JOHN stops at where he's about to see The MAN. Places his
mop into the BUCKET OF WATER, which The MAN is oblivious to
before, on the ground. Wets his mop with it.
The MAN breathes a sign of relief. Noticing the red "FIRE
HOSE REEL CABINET" at the landing of the stairs in front of
him( behind and out of JOHN's sight if he turns round).
Thinking. Then, without making a sound, hurriedly gets down
the stairs to:
INT. HALLWAY - CONTINUOUS
The MAN begins to panic. Looks round. Trying to figure what
to do. Whilst JOHN is cleaning away, THE FOLLOWING does he
inspect:
THE FLOOR BELOW: Sees an CCTV installed at a corner of the
ceiling. He frowns.
THE BALCONY: Wide and dark. He sees a LARGE SHEET under
which OLD BOXES are placed at a side of the balcony.
THE BATHROOM: He eyes the room quickly, from the dead body
to the DIGITAL CLOCK on the wall. Then drags the body to the
BALCONY. HIDES it under the SHEET.
THE HALL: Sees a WASTE BIN, containing an EMPTY BOTTLE(
among other rubbish). He PICKS UP it out of the bin. Goes
back to:
INT. BATHROOM - CONTINUOUS
and FILLS the empty bottle with WATER from the basin's tap.
Detaches the CLOCK from the wall. Hurries with the CLOCK and
the WATER-FILLED BOTTLE to:
INT. UPPER FLOOR - CONTINUOUS
the FIRE HOSE CABINET. Open the cabinet slowly in the fear
of making a noise. The MAN sets a 90 SECONDS COUNTDOWN on
the clock as he looks behind his back( to check for JOHN).
As he hits the countdown button. We(CONTINUED)

(Printed with an unregistered version of Fade In)

3.

CONTINUED:
INSERT A 90-SECOND COUNTDOWN AT A CORNER OF THE SCREEN.
JOHN turns his head to see towards the stairs. No one's
there. And weCUT TO:
INT. BATHROOM - SECONDS LATER
(at the 75TH SECOND)
The MAN enters from the hallway. Sweating mildly. Looks at
the bloody mess on the floor. Grabs the BUCKET OF WATER at a
corner.
(at the 60TH SECOND)
He tries the tap right next to it. It's broken. He tries the
basin's tap. But the bucket doesn't quite fit in.
(at the 45TH SECOND)
He checks the cubicle. Sees the bidet shower.
INSERT CUT: Camera showing the JOHN's feet, moving down the
stairs.
(at the 30TH SECOND)
The MAN pumps the water from the shower into the bucket,
which is laid on top of the toilet seat.
INSERT CUT: Still at JOHN's feet, we're at the stair's
landing.
(at the 15TH SECOND)
Hands. Shaking. Water. Splattering. Face. Tensing. Floor.
Blood-covering.
INSERT CUT: JOHN stops in front of the door to the bathroom.
His hand takes grip of the handle. As the handle starts to
turnThe countdown hits 00:00. Accompanied by a LOUD RING.
Followed by a CLATTER. And weSPLIT TO:

(Printed with an unregistered version of Fade In)

4.

SCREEN #1: LEFT (RED) - SIMULTANEOUS

We follow The MAN. Hearing the alarm. He CLEANS up the blood
with the mop. Washes the bloody CISTERN LID. Places it back
upon the CISTERN. Looks at floor again. Satisfied. Hurriedly
leaves the room. Notices a STICK near the door. Wondered if
it's always been there.
The MAN stops halfway. Then turns back and turns off the
bathroom's lights. Bolts towards the BALCONY. As he hides
behind a wall, JOHN appears in the frame's background.
The MAN holds his breaths. Seeing JOHN going towards the
bathroom. He exhales.
SCREEN #2: RIGHT (BLUE) - SIMULTANEOUS
The hand leaves the handle. JOHN turns. Heading towards the
noise. It's coming from:
INT. UPPER FLOOR - CONTINUOUS
the FIRE HOSE CABINET. Seeing the DIGITAL CLOCK inside. He
opens it and- SPLASH! The bottle, without a cap, falls out.
As it spills the floor(and stairs) with water, JOHN jumps
away from the besodden area out of reflex. Then PICKS the
bottle up. PUTS it a side. Uses the mop to clean the watery
mess. JOHN finishes and comes back to the:
INT. HALLWAY - CONTINUOUS
and stops at the landing. Noticing something. Then continues
down the stairs and towards the bathroom.
BACK TO ONE
SCREEN(LEFT):
INT. HALLWAY/BALCONY - CONTINUOUS
The MAN hunkers down against the wall. Relaxed. Then smiles
to himself. Again. Smugly this time. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.
JOIE DE VIVRE!
CUT TO BLACK.
TITLE.
(as MAIN THEME is played) FADE IN:

(Printed with an unregistered version of Fade In)

5.

INT. HALLWAY - EARLIER

JOHN, with a mop and a bucket of water in his hand, trudging
along the hallway towards the bathroom. Upon opening the
bathroom door. He hears what seems like two men wrestling.
JOHN's curious.
As He leans an ear on the door we hear a SMASHING sound.
JOHN frowns in bafflement.
INSERT CUT: In the bathroom: The MAN stands up and moves
back. Staring. Palpitating. The cistern lid, covered in
blood, is at his hands.
JOHN, BEWILDERED, but can't stop listening.
INSERT CUT: The MAN dragging the body. Accidentally hitting
the door with a THUD, which makes
JOHN startled. Almost loses his balance. A small AMOUNT OF
WATER SPILLS on to the floor. Frightened. JOHN turns round
and retrieves.
CUT TO BLACK.
INT. UPPER FLOOR - SECONDS LATER
JOHN gets up the stairs. Puts down the bucket of water.
Still perplexed. Trying to understand things. Inadvertently
he knocks a MAINTENANCE SIGN( in front of the lift) down.
Making a loud CLACK. JOHN immediately puts it up. Looks at
the stairs to the Hallway a floor below. Worried. He moves
to the bathroom to hide.
JOHN pretends: Coming out the bathroom, slightly whistling.
Trying looking normal. He comes to the bucket. On the wall
appears an reflexion of someone just right round the corner.
JOHN wets the mop starts cleaning.
CUT TO BLACK.
INT. UPPER FLOOR - LATER
JOHN, at the railing, cranes his head and sees what is down
stairs: The MAN dragging the body to the balcony. The MAN
looks up. JOHN quickly moves his head back out of sight.
Exhaling. JOHN fishes his pocket for something. He puts out
an obsolete mobile phone. Its battery's DEAD.
CUT TO BLACK.

(Printed with an unregistered version of Fade In)

6.

INT. UPPER FLOOR - LATER

JOHN fakes cleaning. THE MAN behind him leaves the FIREHOSE
REEL BOX. After making sure he's left. JOHN turns round,
looks at the BOX curiously but decides to go downstairs. Not
before he looks round to find something to defend himself: A
STICK.

could be anything.

He slowly and hesitantly moves down the stairs, towards the

bathroom. Stilling hold the stick. As he's about to open the
door, A shockingly loud RING renders he dropping the stick
with a CLATTER. He looks towards it's direction.
CUT TO BLACK.
INT. HALLWAY/BALCONY - LATER
THE MAN hiding behind a wall in the balcony. Afraid. Behind
him and in the stair's landing:
JOHN, he sees that the door to the balcony is not entirely
shut and a faint shadow at the wall nearby. Realizing what's
happened. He continues to downstairs towards the bathroom.
SPLIT TO:
SCREEN #1: LEFT (RED) - SIMULTANEOUS
The MAN smiles to himself complacently. Then the triumphant
SMILE starts to fade. He looks grim, checks his pocket for
something. He looks back at the bathroom. Panic-stricken.
SCREEN #2: RIGHT (BLUE) - SIMULTANEOUS
JOHN enters the bathroom, turns lights on, checks round.
There is some bloodstain in the bucket at a corner. The room
is freshly wet. But Clean.
In the shelf beneath the mirror lies A WALLET. JOHN opens
it. At a side of the wallet, behind A THIN PLASTIC COVERING,
situated an ID on which THE PHOTO resembles precisely the
MAN'S FACE.
As JOHN realizes this, MAIN THEME begins playing and weFADE TO BLACK.
CREDITS.
END.