SC Episode 1: Haunted House
Scene 1
[Exterior wide view Above]. Sapphire Circe, in a dark business pantsuit with an oversized belt wrapped around her several times, steps out of a car in front of an old ruined mansion with large dead lawn and high fence. She slams the door. She looks around to see no one around. <DISTANT TREE LEAVES RUSTLE> [Head to waist]. She fiddles with a brooch pinned to her blouse, saying as if to a computer, “Fannie, record, all directions. Low light. Enhance sound. High definition.” She pulls what could be a black flashlight from her pocket. With both hands, she stretches it into a telescopic selfie-stick. With some difficulty, she catches one of her two large digital watches on the end of the stick and pulls it off of her wrist and holds it out in the air. [view from camera watch, tracking action] She steps away from the car toward the house and spins until the camera views her in front of the gate, too dark to see much. She raises the watch up and eventually it automatically adjusts the lighting to provide a good view of the dilapidated house and property. She slowly and smoothly pans down until she is viewed much like a news reporter standing at the gate between frescoes of nude Greek men in the columns at either side of the gate. She occasionally looks both ways for trouble while reporting, “Blessed be, class. I am Sapphire Circe and this is my graduation project for 'Religious Rituals and Their Importance in Anthropology'. I will spend the night in the somewhat famous house of the White Oak Witch, and perform traditional rituals to cleanse any spirits that might be 'haunting' our world. Local folk tales say that the White Oak Witch lured 5 strong men to their deaths over the years and buried them in the walls. Each man was previously a brutal murderer, but she overcame them all.” She opens the gate <CREEK> and steps through backward, then spins the watch camera and places the selfie stick against something (perhaps a bush) which holds it as she steps back and faces the house. Holding both hands palm out, she speaks, "I am Sapphire Circe..." (pause), "Yes, that's my real name. And I ask any guards and wards to allow me peaceful entry to this premises. I seek to increase my store of good karma by easing the bindings on any spirits trapped here, helping them to move on to the after life.” She speaks to the camera as she picks it up again, "Now with any natural and spiritual hazards out of the way I will approach..." She appears to fall into a bush with the camera and mutters, "shitshitshithshitshit! shit! Merde Alohrs!" Her hand reaches and grips the lens of the camera. <BEEP> [View from above] She leaps up out of the bush, angry. She slips the camera watch back onto her wrist and compresses the selfie stick and slips it back into her pocket. [head to shoulders] "Fannie, still recording all directions?" she asks no one. "Yes," says a computerized barely-female voice from nowhere. She pauses a moment, touches her two index fingers together behind her head, then expels one long loud breath as she traces a circle in the air around her head, half with each hand, until they touch again in front of her face. In an instant, she pulls the end of her abnormally long belt and holds it over her eyes as a blindfold, then speaks [slow zoom in to closeup] in a deeper quieter voice, "May the animal senses of Cernunos the wild man and the light of Io the horned goddess give me enough night vision to avoid any stumbles here.“ [The crescent moon shines above] [return to closeup] She listens and takes a few deep breaths. <RUSTLE> She snaps her head only a few degrees left. [closeup ground] Her shoes stand perfectly still. Her ankles are bare. <SNIFF SNIFF SNIFF> [closeup face] She whispers, "Don’t be a rat... or a raccoon... or opossum... or rattle snake." <MEOW> Louder, "Are you the guardian of this place?" <MIRPPH> She pulls down the blindfold and spies something of interest. [PoV] Something resembling a black cat runs to the house. The ruined garden seems much better lit by the moonlight now. Many branches in the gardens appear to point toward the front door of the villa. [return to closeup] “I’m taking that as a welcome.” She starts walking forward. [PoV] The front door has fallen mostly from its hinges. [side view head to waist] She grabs a dead branch. <SNAP> "By the wisdom of the Crone, may this divining rod point me to the greatest nexus of the spirits who haunt this place.“ She circles it in front of her then stops, pointing down and to her right. She starts to walk. [wide view cellar doors] She walks up and stops with the branch pointing to the handle of the cellar door. "Oh my stars. Of course it would point right straight to the basement. It would have to be either the attic or the basement,... someplace where one naturally feels trapped,“ then louder, "I release any magic from this divining rod with great thanks," as she drops the branch. [head to waist] She holds one palm to the door and draws the outline of the door in the air with one finger of her other hand, saying, "Rusted door latch, rusted door hinge; Colors brown, and red, and orange, Yield to my commanding grasp, you. Open now to me I ask you." [rear view head to ground] She takes both handles and flings the doors open with ease. [closeup face] The word, "Candy!" pops out of her mouth with surprise. She stares seriously again. [return rear view] She steps carefully down the steps to the cellar and disappears below. [darkness] "Fannie, illumination ten percent," she says. [interior cellar, wide view, head to toe] SC's brooch and three other spots on her suit jacket glow, lighting the room. She turns and looks around, mostly at the floor. Old wooden tables and shelves appear to hold nothing remarkable. "Fannie, still recording?" Computer: "Yes" "I feel an oppressive force watching me. I’d better start a protective circle before anything else." [ground] SC kneels quickly down to her hands and knees. She slaps one end of her belt on the ground at a curved mark. She scurries to the right. [quick pan right] She slaps down the other end of her abnormally long belt. It too lands at a curved mark on the floor. [head and shoulders] She stares at the floor around her with concern. She announces, "There is already a circle drawn on the floor, exactly nine feet diameter. It looks like someone used to make magic circles here. This must have been the White Oak Witch’s sanctum room. It might be especially effective if any of her magic remains after all these years." [FADE OUT] [FADE IN Low medium side view] SC is standing on the belt bisecting a circle on the ground. Her selfie stick with the camera watch attached again is standing on small tripod feet, looking up at her face. It tracks her face as she carefully sits crosslegged on the belt. She draws from her large suitcoat pockets a brass cup, a silver dagger, a carved wooden plate, and a glass perfume bottle with atomizer, placing each item carefully in a half circle in front of her in easy reach. She holds out her palms face up and stands (with a little difficulty) without using her hands. The selfie camera tracks her face upward as she stands. [Front view Head to knees] She recites a prayer, "By the maiden mother, may no spirits penetrate this circle. May I be safe from their grasp in this womb as in your loving arms. May the mother make my eyes perceptive of the spirit world; let my ears hear the voices behind the veil. May the spirit world be tangible to me." Suddenly a pale bald man grabs her from behind by the upper arms. MAN: "So nice of you to visit me." She flings her head back into his nose <WHACK!> MAN: "Ow, Fukkrackers!" She spins free. [head to toe] Her light reveals an extremely thin naked man. His hands cover his face. Both hands are coated wet and dark blood-red from the fingertips almost all the way down to the elbows. He brings down his hands from his now sore nose and his enraged emaciated face, dripping fresh blood from his nose. [pan down to ground] His pale white skin contrasts sharply with the wet red liquid painting his erection and his legs from the knees down. [SC head to chest] "Five extremities dipped in the blood of his victims. You are Henry Luxembourg!" she accuses him. [Alternate closeups of speakers] MAN:"You have me at a disadvantage, Miss ..." "The police never caught you after years of searching. Only the bodies of your victims. And those photos you sent of youself from the neck down." "Guilty as charged." "But how did you penetrate the magic circle of protection?" "Do the math, child. I do abhor how dim-witted young ladies can be nowadays." "You were already inside the circle when I drew it!" She raises her hands as if preparing for a boxing match. "Many years , it would seem." "The White Oak Witch bound you in this circle." "Only after bashing my head in with a brick, that sucker-punching bitch. And now your circle on top of hers finally keeps her off my ass. My eternal punishment seems to have turned into a very delightful reward. Come here girl." [both head to waist] He lunges to grab her wrist. She pulls her arm to pull him off balance forward, but he releases. She swipes in the air, missing his face as he pulls back. [resume alternating closeups of speakers] "Oh I do so enjoy it when they fight back. You shall be my third victim. " "Not if I can banish you first," she says to him, then with force, "May the maiden show you the way to your afterlife and forever away from this world. " He glances to the side, "I see only darkness and smoke burning. Fine by me." "Have no doubt you go to your Just reward." [both head to mid thigh, dolly view very slowly circles around the two wrestlers] They both lunge forward. Each grabs ahold of one of the other's wrists. They struggle and circle each other, trying to get the advantage and throw the other off balance. A pulsing portal can barely be seen just inside the circle of protection, dark in the middle and glowing odd colors on the edges. SC (with emphasis repeats this chant over and over as they wrestle): "May the maiden bind you. And drive you. Forever away from this world." An unknown third voice joins the chant. WOW: "May the maiden bind you. And drive you. Forever away from this world." The lighting brightens slightly, revealing an old woman in a long white dress standing just oustide the circle. She is repeating the same chant. MAN: "Your bindings only arouse me more!" SC: "Relinquish your grip on this world, dark soul, allow your karma to churn. I banish thee, dark soul. You are not of this world any more." SC & WOW chant: "You are not of this world any more." The two continue to wrestle, but the male is showing fatigue, sweating heavily and breathing heavily. MAN: "All this attention from the both of you. I don’t have the stamina to take much more without ejaculating," he says [camera zooms in to face closeup] and his expression turns maniacal, "and I have such a load stored up for you!" [view of both wrestling, head to knees] He now appears to be covered in thick grease and sweat. His wrist slips from her grip and he grapples her forearm, now having control of both her arms and the fighting advantage, but she appears stronger and less winded. SC & WOW reinforce their efforts: "You are not of this world any more!" The male has an orgasm while wrestling with SC. He groans in angry ecstasy. WOW: "Now while he lacks the will to resist! Hurl him into the void of hell." SC twists both her arms free at the same time, punches to his ribs, then throws him over her shoulder into the portal. The grease and sweat drip off of him at the edge of the portal leaving him pale and dry hurtling through space. He can be seen continuing to fall into the darkness as the portal shrinks to nothing. [head and shoulders] SC speaks as if to the computer: "Physical manifestation of the spirit world... recorded... but... no evidence left..." [camera pans down] Shiny grease and foam and transluscent semen have drizzled onto the ground and the belt. [head to waist] "Ah, that gives me an idea," the old woman says, "The magickal ether I used to bind his evil soul to this world: imbue it into your belt before it drifts away." [side of face] "Do what now?" [return] "Waste not, child. Learn to grow more powerful with each victory." [full face] "I am just here to complete your legend, to send them to their fate, all five of them." [return] "That legend is a bit exaggerated. There were only 4 of them. Well... ... ... I suppose they have suffered long enough to learn their lessons. I can show you where I have entrapped each one. You and I together can unbind the remainder of the murderers' souls one by one..." [side of face] "After I get a breather." [return] "... We must imbue the binding ether that currently holds them into your new Belt of Binding." [full face] "Why do you keep insisting on that?" [head to shoulders] "The short distance I allow myself to astrally project from my guardpost here taught me enough to be disillusioned with young witches with no faith that magic can do anything more than a good teddy bear can do. You came here with intent to clean up and finish my old projects left undone. You have initiative. You might actually be able to move the needle in this world." [side face] "I'm honored. But. I'm just doing what should be done." [closeup face] "That's exactly what a hero would say."Synopsis
She spends the night in a haunted house and performs a ritual to attempt to free any ghosts of people who died there. After surviving angry poltergeist activity, and meeting a mentor, she crafts a minor magic item which she will use for the remainder of her crime-fighting career.
Plot type
Episode
Parent Plot
Remove these ads. Join the Worldbuilders Guild
Comments