UNTITLED SCREENPLAY

by

My Name Here

123/456-7890
no.such@thing.com
INT. LOVELL'S BALLROOM. EVENING

PURDIE carefully navigates through the large, impressive

room with utmost decorum. Her head held high, and strides
dainty. Her appearance is immaculate: a dress of pure white,
and flowed like a waterfall around her ankles, makeup
expertly applied to highlight her pretty features, and her
hair delicately woven into a high bun.

Her picture of debutante perfection is marred only by her

expression of half-suppressed irritation. She scans the
dense crowed of well-dressed guests for her parents,
something she has been doing all day.

WILLIAM
ELEPHANT

PURDIE turns to see WILLIAM, his familiar face making her

smile and she relaxed a little.

PURDIE
William!

ELEPHANT ELEPHANT

PURDIE (CON'T)
Have you seen my parents?

WILLIAM'S amused grin widened.

WILLIAM
Fortunately for them, no

Purdie gave him a look of warning, but he continued to smile

widely.

PURDIE
Have you seen anybody at all? Aunty
Edith?
WILLIAM dropped his amused smile. His expression turned
sober as he peered around the hall.

WILLIAM
No, thankfully. That woman scares
me.

As he spoke, PURDIE finally spotted her parent's distant

profiles across the room. They were heading into the
hallway. She laid her hand on WILLIAM'S arm, and he followed
her gaze.

PURDIE
Over there!

Not wanting to miss her chance to have a word with them

before the traditional dance, PURDIE considered her options.
She cannot just hurry over and force her way through the
crowed, it just wasn't done, and it would not reflect well
on her. PURDIE'S eyes flickered back to WILLIAM, her strong,
and more importantly, trusted male friend.
 2.

Purdie subtly leaned in to whisper:

PURDIE
Catch me.

Before WILLIAM could react, PURDIE pretended to faint.

WILLIAM'S arms flew out to quickly catch her. The crowed
easily parted for WILLIAM as he rushed her to the hallway,
all the while he was excusing himself, apologising, and
saying he needed to get her to the fainting room.

INT. HALLWAY. EVENING (CON'T)

PURDIE climbed out of WILLIAM'S arms as soon as they were

out of sight. WILLIAM let out a snort of laughter.

WILLIAM
At least you warned me this time.

PURDIE grinned and gave him a quick hug.

PURDIE
Thank you. I'll see you soon,
mother wants us to dance first.

PURDIE rolled her eyes good naturedly at the thought, and

WILLIAM gave another improper snort and spoke humourously:

WILLIAM
Then I shall await your return with
great antcipation, Miss Lovell.
Meanwhile, I think I should look
for Miss Wilough...

WILLIAM trailed off as a light blush adorned his cheeks.

PURDIE giggled as he attempted to cover his embarassment by
straigtening his jacket.
PURDIE spoke as she began down the hallway:

PURDIE
Good luck with that.

WILLIAM
You too!

INT. HALLWAY. EVENING (CON'T)

PURDIE walked down the hallway. She could hear distant

voices coming from her father's study. Standing next to the
door, she squared her shoulders ready to confront them.
PURDIE turned the knob and stepped in. The room is empty.

PURDIE was stunned to find her father's bookshelf had been

moved to reveal that it was the doorway to a secret room.
The voices were coming from inside.
 3.

Curious, PURDIE peered inside the open room. Her stomach

fell. Slumped on the cold, hard floor are her parents. They
are bound and gagged, wearing what appears to be the clothes
from the day previous.

PURDIE couldn't help it, without thinking, she shouted and

stumbled to the floor to check if they were alright.

PURDIE
Mama! Pappa!

Her parent's heads snapped up so fast, they could have

broken their necks. They looked terrified. Before PURDIE
could say anything, she was yanked away sharply by a man
whom she had never seen before.

PURDIE'S eyes shot to the two other occupants of the room: a

man and a woman who appeared to be her parents, both dressed
in formal attire from that evening. Her eyes shot back to
the pair on the floor who were trying to shout, their voices
muffled by the gags. She had never seen her parents so
vulnerable before.

PURDIE'S head shot back to the doppelgangers with a look of

outrage.

PURDIE
What is the meaning of this?! Who
are you?!

DOPPLEGANGER MOTHER
What is she doing here?! She was
supposed to be distracted!

The Doppleganger Mother shouted, her face twisted with fury,

an expression PURDIE had never seen her mother wear. Terror
shot through her body as the woman looked directly at her
and held up a gun.

Her parent's muffled screams grew more desperate. The woman

turned to face them, her voice low and dangerous.

DOPPLEGANGER MOTHER (CON'T)

You two, if you do not give us the
information, you won't see your
little princess again.

PURDIE'S parent's tear streaked and pained faces was the

last thing Purdie saw before the woman knocked her
unconscious with the gun.