GLASS BOTTLES

Written
by
David González

WGA-w registered
davidgonzalezpn@gmail.com
INT. BASEMENT - NIGHT
An eerie, spacious basement in the shadows. Mostly still,
except for an army of DUSTY GLASS BOTTLES.
Bottles of different colors and shapes DANGLE by a string
from the high ceiling, pendulum-wise.
Each bottle imprisons something we can’t see through the
filthy glass -- we barely distinguish a SILHOUETTE -- and
is LABELED with a name: Walter, Dominic, Peña...
Suddenly, one of the bottles shakes slightly.
Alive...
CUT TO BLACK.
TITLE: GLASS BOTTLES

EXT. WOODS - NIGHT

The WITCHING HOUR. Quiet, peaceful, until --
A TOYOTA CAMRY crawls along a dirt road. Headlights off.
Wheels rolling over crunching gravel.
The car slows down until it comes to rest.
A door opens and COLE, 36, a beefy, tough guy, steps out.
He heads for the trunk as two more people exit: JANE, 24,
a sexy redhead with a gothic vibe; and DYLAN, 17, a
gawky, insecure boy with rough looks and a loud mouth.
Dylan walks a few steps away and sees a DECAYING HOUSE.
It arises out of the fog and the darkness.
DYLAN
Whoa, that's it?
(turns)
This creepy pile of junk?!
Cole stops rummaging through a SPORTS BAG in the trunk.
He pokes his head out, pissed.
COLE
You already scared, little cocksucker?
DYLAN
C’mon! Give me a break dickhead...
Jane half-smiles.
COLE
Dickhead, huh? I bet you’re scared again.
Like the first time you saw this...
 2

All of a sudden, Cole pulls a GLOCK out of the bag and

points it at Dylan. He's an asshole with a bad temper.
Jane’s smile fades.
Cole gets closer to Dylan. Shoves the gun in his face.
COLE (CONT’D)
I told Jane not to bring you. I’m going
in alone and she can drive, so there’s no
need for you, faggot. But she insisted.
She thinks we need you to help, in case
something happens. Me? I think you’re
just a pussy...
Dylan is frozen in fear.
COLE (CONT’D)
I knew it from the moment you saw this
gun. You were so scared I could smell the
fear inside your pants... And, you know
how it smelled? It smelled like sh-
He doesn’t finish. Jane gets in the middle.
JANE
Hey! What are you doing?!
And, like that, Cole’s demeanor changes: he puts the
safety on, slips the gun in the back of his pants and
gives her his best smile.
COLE
What? It was a joke, baby. Don’t be mad
at me. We were just having a laugh...
Right, Dylan?
Dylan doesn’t answer. He just lights a cigarette and
moves away towards the car, not even looking at him.
COLE (CONT’D)
Wow, this boy has no sense of humor...
JANE
You scared the shit out of him.
COLE
It was just a joke.
Jane’s not so sure. Cole grabs Jane by the waist and
pulls her hard towards him.
COLE (CONT’D)
Time to go, baby. In case I need your
help, I’ll call you. If there’s as much
money in the house as that bitch told me,
this will be our last hit. And we are
going to have a very long night ahead...
(MORE)
 3
COLE (CONT’D)
(smiles maliciously)
...as you thank me.
He kisses her. At first, she's taken aback, but then she
gives in and kisses back.
In the distance, Dylan looks them kiss, between puffs,
his eyes trying to hide what he feels for Jane.
Jane and Cole stop kissing. He takes a pair of leather
gloves out of the pocket and puts them on.
Cole smiles and, without another word, he heads for the
house, vanishing in the darkness...

INT. TOYOTA CAMRY - MOMENTS LATER

WHOOM! Jane and Dylan slam the doors of the car closed.
DYLAN
I don't know what you see in him.
JANE
What?
DYLAN
He’s an asshole.
JANE
Oh, yeah. Sometimes. But other
times he’s not. He's loyal too. He
never cheated on me. And wild. And
strong. I guess I have a knack for
the bad ones, you know?
Dylan looks away, not wanting to know.
DYLAN
I just think you can do better.
That’s all.
Jane turns it back on Dylan:
JANE
And what about you, wallflower? Is
there someone else we don’t know
about?
DYLAN
Um...
(playing cool)
Nope. I’m still waiting to be bad enough
to ask you out.
This one makes Jane laugh. She gives him a playful elbow.
An innocent punch. The way she would punch her brother.
 4

JANE
You little bastard.
Dylan just smiles. Maybe he wasn’t joking...

INT. HOUSE - FOYER - NIGHT

The foyer is bathed in dim light. Silent, dream-like.
There’s a FAINT CLICK.
The knob turns and the door swings open, revealing...
Cole.

INT. HOUSE - HALLWAY - NIGHT

Cole moves quietly down a narrow hallway with a thick
wooden door at the end.
He tries the handle. It’s locked.
Cole takes out a picklock from his chest pocket and works
the lock with skill and expertise until --
The door opens with a POP.

INT. HOUSE - BASEMENT - NIGHT

Shrouded in darkness. Feeble light bleeds in through the
dirty windows and the open door upstairs.
Cole scans the basement in the half-light...
It is paneled in heart of pine, filled with stacked boxes
and a table. Peeking out of the boxes are aged pictures,
faded newspapers and other remains from a man’s life.
Finally, he sees what he's coming for:
A HUGE RED-LACQUERED CHEST.
Cole heads for the chest and works the lock until it
snaps open. Suddenly, a VOICE at his back startles him:
VOICE (O.S.)
(French accent)
Hello, Mr. Cole.
He turns fast -- drawing the gun at his back and pointing
it towards the corner of the room.
COLE
Fuck! How did you know?
 5

The half-light illuminates the space surrounding Cole,

but the corner is left in the shadows.
VOICE (O.S.)
Do you believe in afterlife, Mr. Cole?
Cole takes a step forward, cocks his gun.
COLE
Cut the crap, man. We’re here for the
money. Don’t do anything stupid and we
won’t hurt you.
A sinister figure steps a bit off the shadows, bathing
slightly in the rays of the half-light.
VOICE (O.S.)
I’ll take that as a no.
The voice barely finishes the last word when --
A STRONG GLASS RATTLE RISES FROM ABOVE.
Thrown off guard, Cole lifts his head up towards the
noise that fills the room and sees:
DOZENS OF GLASS BOTTLES.
They hang from the ceiling, shaking as they were alive.
The figure steps back, melting with the shadows, and the
door closes. WHOOM!
All is left --
Pitch black.
BAM! Cole fires a gunshot towards the corner that lights
up his fear-stricken face.
Pitch black.
BAM! Cole fires another shot off into the darkness
without noticing the figure that emerges at his back.
Pitch black.
BAM! With the last shot, Cole panics as he feels the
shadow breathing down his neck.
Pitch black.
As he SCREAMS IN PAIN we-
FADE TO BLACK.
 6

INT. TOYOTA CAMRY - MOMENTS BEFORE

Dylan and Jane are silent. They look at the house through
the fogged-up windshield.
Jane seems lost in thought.
JANE
Cole lied.
Dylan turns.
DYLAN
What?
JANE
He told you I wanted you to come in case
we needed help, but that’s bullshit. I
wanted to go in with him while you waited
at the car, but he didn’t let me. He
insisted in going in alone. He said he
doesn’t want to wake up the owner, but I
think he’s just wo-
BAM! A gunshot blasts in the void of the night. Jane’s
eyes widen. They look at each other.
JANE (CONT’D)
What the hell was that?
Dylan doesn't have time to answer. BAM! A second gunshot
reverberates in the air. BAM! And a third.
DYLAN
What the fuck...
JANE
Do you think it was Cole?
DYLAN
Who else?
Jane bites her lip; looks a bit nervous. She takes the
phone out of her tight jeans and dials.
A tense moment while the call is routed... Then, a CLICK.
Jane clicks the speaker on.
JANE
Babe?
No one answers. There's some CRACKLING. Some STATIC. But
no signal of a reachable human being at the other end.
Not until they hear -- A PAINFUL, HEAVY BREATHING.
Jane’s hands tremble.
 7

JANE (CONT’D)
(worried)
Babe? Are you hurt?
CLICK! The phone goes dead. They frown at each other.

EXT. TOYOTA CAMRY - NIGHT

Jane throws open the trunk but Dylan grabs her arm and
pulls her back.
DYLAN
You shouldn't go.
JANE
Don’t be stupid. He may be hurt...
DYLAN
We don’t know, I have a bad feeling.
JANE
A feeling? He needs our help!
Jane breaks free from Dylan. He grabs her arm again.
DYLAN
We don’t know what happened. It can be-
JANE
What happened doesn’t matter! He killed
someone, or worse, he got shot. Someone
has to go in, see what happened... Help
him if he’s hurt...
Dylan looks at her. Real fear in his eyes.
DYLAN
Then let me do it.
JANE
What? No, no! Not a good idea. I don’t
want you, idiots, fucking with each other
again. What if someone heard the shots?
It has to be quick.
Jane takes the keys out of her pocket, holds them up.
JANE (CONT’D)
Just wait for us.
After a reluctant moment, Dylan takes the keys.
JANE (CONT’D)
And we’re fucking done with phones...
Jane turns towards the trunk and leans in. She comes out
with TWO WALKIES and a SPARE GLOCK in her hands.
 8

JANE (CONT’D)
We’ll use those.
She hands one of the walkies to Dylan. He takes it, but
Jane can tell Dylan’s still uneasy.
DYLAN
Just be careful.
JANE
Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.
And with that, she disappears into the night.

INT. HOUSE - FOYER - NIGHT

Moonlight floods in through the door. Jane enters.
The foyer opens up to a hallway that runs through the
middle of the house. A staircase rising up on one side.
JANE
(into walkie)
I’m in.
She continues on...

INT. HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - NIGHT

Jane peeks into the living room, gun first, revealing:
A cozy, large room with a neglected fireplace and dusty
furniture. It’s cluttered with odd SCULPTURES and TOTEMS,
on shelves and on every surface. Both the couch and the
armchairs are covered with yellowing bed sheets.
The room is EMPTY. Not a soul in sight.
Jane hits a button on her walkie.
JANE
(into walkie)
This place is weird.
DYLAN (O.S.)
(over walkie)
Weird? What do you mean?
Suddenly, she hears FOOTSTEPS.
JANE
(into walkie)
Shhhhh. I heard something...
She heads down the hall...
 9

INT. HOUSE - HALLWAY - NIGHT

The flimsy smoke of a candle over a York dresser dances
as Jane cuts through.
A door is half-opened in the middle of the hallway. It
swings back and forth on its hinges...
Jane pricks up her ears and listens, on guard. At first,
there's just silence but then she hears footsteps.
THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.
JANE
(barely a whisper)
Babe? You there?
There’s no response. Just more footsteps. THUMP. THUMP.
THUMP. They are faster and faster...
All color drains from Jane’s face. Someone’s running
towards the door!
She sprints towards it too...
It’s a life-or-death race...
WHOOM! Jane gets first to the door. Slams it shut.
From the other side, someone starts to bump against the
door, over and over, trying to push it open.
Jane presses her back hard against it, to keep it shut,
and begins to pull a HEAVY CABINET.
With great effort, she drags the cabinet closer, inch by
painful inch, and completely BLOCKS the door.
Whomever it was, he's now trapped inside.
After a second of relief, Jane heads for the basement...

INT. HOUSE - BASEMENT - NIGHT

The door at the top is open. Jane feels her way through
the room, searching for a light-switch.
She finds it near the bottom of the stairs. Flips it.
Nothing. Flips it again. No luck. It doesn’t work.
She squints and her eyes start to make the room out of
the darkness.
There are piles of stacked boxes... a chest... a table...
but no sign of Cole. She's still searching for him when --
GLASS RATTLES O.S.
 10

She turns at the sound and her eyes discover something.

Lined up over the table are:
THREE GLASS BOTTLES.
Jane raises an eyebrow.
She looks around and sticks the gun in the back of her
waistband. Then gets closer to the table.
From the neck of each bottle hangs an OLD KRAFT PAPER TAG
with a HANDWRITTEN NAME, penned in black ink.
When Jane reads the names, a chill runs down her spine:
Jane, Dylan, Cole.
She leaves the walkie and grabs her bottle.
It’s an empty glass bottle coated with dust and filth.
She leaves it on the table and is going to grab another
when... It shakes!
Out of the corner of our eyes, we see a shadow moving,
looming behind her.
Jane turns fast, sensing someone or something behind her,
but there's nothing there, only her mind playing tricks.
Her eyes go back to the bottle and, all of a sudden, she
covers her mouth and YELPS.
There's something inside:
A HUMAN EYE.
Freshly popped. Caked in blood. It stares right at her
through the red splattered glass.
Right away, Jane grabs the walkie and backs off.
She’s so terrified that doesn’t notice the TWO HANDS that
show up at her back, closing around her.
Not until one of them squeezes hard around her body,
immobilizing her, and the other covers her mouth.
Wide-eyed, Jane tries to fight the hands off, but they
easily overpower any of her scared, weak attempts.
She barely lets out an agonizing scream, but there’s no
one to hear it.
Except for the walkie, button pushed hard in her hand...
 11

INT. TOYOTA CAMRY - SAME

Jane’s scream echoes out of Dylan’s walkie. A faint
wailing that pierces the silent night.
It is followed by the noises of a fierce struggle and
then... everything goes dead.
Dylan listens in shock.
DYLAN
(into walkie)
Jane?
An excruciating, charged beat.
DYLAN (CONT’D)
(into walkie)
Jane? Are you okay?
Nothing. Static.
DYLAN (CONT’D)
(into walkie)
Jane?!!
There's no answer...
DYLAN (CONT’D)
(to himself)
Fuck!
Dylan fumbles with the door and gets out of the car.

EXT. TOYOTA CAMRY - NIGHT

The trunk lid is up. Dylan rummages frantically through
the sports bag but there are no more spare guns.
He keeps searching desperately, his hands frisking across
the trunk, but he finds nothing: no handguns, no ammo.
Frustrated and pissed off, Dylan looks up into the sky.
DYLAN
Fuuuuuuck!
Then, he looks towards the house.
The moonlight illuminates the ghoulish construction
surrounded by spooky trees.
His eyes slip back to the car, full of doubt.
He considers his options.
After a long, pregnant ride-or-die moment...
 12

INT. HOUSE - HALLWAY - NIGHT

Dylan appears at the DOORWAY, clasping a PIPE WRENCH.
He’s ready for battle.
His boots tread carefully on the stairs as he descends,
each step CREAKING loudly.

INT. HOUSE - BASEMENT - NIGHT

Dylan stops at the bottom of the stairs. His heart
pounding fast.
A shaft of light from the door cuts across the floor,
revealing the shape of a body...
Dylan’s heart misses a beat. The pipe wrench falls to the
floor. CLANK! He stares down at the dead body.
DYLAN
Jane...
She lies cold on the floor. The walkie at her side. Two
handprints on her throat.
He bends, hurt, heart-broken. Touches her hand softly.
Laces their fingers. Then stares at her lifeless lips.
His arms circle her shoulders and draw her closer to him.
Red hair sways slowly over his lap.
Dylan leans in, to kiss Jane goodbye, but stops.
A thin scarlet thread rises near the corner of her mouth.
His fingers open it and a pool of blood pours out. It’s
disgusting, but he keeps doing it, in a trance, until...
He backs off, panicked! His back smacks against the wall
and his eyes slip away, towards the table, discovering --
* The bottle with the human eye.
* The empty bottle with his name.
* And Jane’s bottle, smeared with blood at the bottom:
A TONGUE JUST RIPPED OUT INSIDE.
Dylan’s wide eyes well with tears. He can’t help it.
Still in shock, he looks back to Jane and, past her, sees
the red chest. He wipes his tears hard and heads for it.
The lock is open, so Dylan only has to push the lid...
His mouth drops open with daunting surprise.
 13

DYLAN’S P.O.V.
The chest is full of SACKCLOTH DOLLS. Little, strange
faceless human figurines. Voodoo-like. Hundreds of them.
He reaches in and pulls a doll out.
DYLAN (CONT’D)
(to himself)
What the fuck?
Dylan's still looking at the strange doll when -- in the
shadows, a lanky arm rises with another doll.
A second hand emerges from the shadows. It sticks a PIN
where THE MISSING DOLL’S MOUTH should be...
Immediately, Jane’s eyes spring open. Dead, white eyes.
On the table, Jane’s bottle starts to SHAKE.
Dylan turns towards the sound.
As he looks at the bottle, Jane’s corpse rises from the
dead behind him. But Dylan is oblivious, his eyes focused
on the bottle -- not understanding.
Jane’s walking corpse steps toward him, her mouth twisted
into a horrible, skeletal grin, while the bottle SHAKES
and RATTLES, over and over, trying to warn him...
All at once, Dylan sees something reflected on the
bottle. He turns fast, just in time to see...
JANE, READY TO SINK HER TEETH ON HIS NECK!
Dylan staggers aside and dodges the lethal bite but --
DYLAN (CONT’D)
Oh, shit!
-- in his frenzy, he stumbles and falls to the ground,
the doll slipping from his hand.
From the floor, Dylan lifts his head up and sees:
Jane’s CADAVEROUS WHITE HANDS descending to snatch him.
Her milky eyes bulge out of sunken sockets. Dark blood
pours down from her open mouth. A crazy, inhuman
expression on her face.
He crawls away from Jane and runs toward the stairs as
the bottle keeps shaking O.S.
Horrified, Dylan is climbing the stairs up when -- Jane’s
bony fingers SNATCH his ankle!
His eyes grow wide as she YANKS him down.
 14

DYLAN (CONT’D)
Oh, fuck, fuck, fuck...
Back on all fours, he struggles to break free but can't,
Jane’s fingernails digging in his raw skin. Not until:
SMACK! He kicks away from her. His boot SMASHES hard into
her mouth and BREAKS HER JAW.
Jane lurches backward and frees Dylan, who bursts out of
the basement.
Jane’s corpse stands again. She SHRIEKS, drenched in
blood, and storms out of the room.
All is still for a moment, then a figure steps out of the
shadows:
THE HAITIAN, a scrawny, pale black man with a hat. A
ritual blade sticks out of a holster in his waist. He
wears white paint all over his face and his chest is
nude, stained with droplets of dried blood.
He produces another doll. This one with a PIN stuck where
ONE OF ITS MISSING EYES should be...

INT. HOUSE - HALLWAY - NIGHT

Dylan sprints up the corridor.
He keeps looking back over his shoulder with fear but
Jane’s still too far away.
He runs past the room that Jane slammed shut, the heavy
cabinet no longer blocking its door...
Faster, faster, faster --

INT. HOUSE - FOYER - NIGHT

Dylan runs towards the foyer.
Up ahead: the open door. He's almost there when --
COLE’S WALKING CORPSE shows up. Out of nowhere. Back from
the dead. He blocks Dylan’s way out.
Cole starts chasing him too! He opens and closes his
mouth as if trying to bite his way through, a gory black
hole where his left eye was.
Dylan turns around but Jane blocks the way out at the
other end of the hall. He’s trapped!
He looks around, rushes up the stairs...
 15

INT. HOUSE - SECOND FLOOR - NIGHT

A corridor on the second floor. Dylan’s eyes dart about,
looking for a place to hide.
He pads along the corridor and tries one doorknob after
another but -- all doors are closed.
No time to think, he keeps trying and trying until
there’s only one doorknob left.
He tries the last doorknob... and the door opens!
Dylan pushes himself inside and closes the door.

INT. HOUSE - ROOM - NIGHT

We are swallowed by blackness. All of a sudden...
WHOOSH! A flame comes to life.
Dylan stands before the door, lighter in hand.
A long beat. Then: footsteps in the corridor.
Dylan’s eyes focus on the door...

EXT. HOUSE - BASEMENT - NIGHT

One by one, all the hanging bottles start to shake alive.

INT. HOUSE - ROOM - NIGHT

The sound of quivering glass is heard O.S.
Dylan musters his courage, ready to make a stand.
He waits for the DOORKNOB to turn, but instead --
There’s a SCRATCHING SOUND behind him.
Lighter in hand, he turns slowly, revealing:
Half a dozen rotten WALKING CORPSES. More behind them.
They thrust forward to engulf him like a hungry swarm.
Dylan’s eyes widen, realizing he has made an awful
mistake, trapping himself in the wrong room, as we-
FADE TO BLACK.
THE END