Becoming Emily - Emily's Nightmare

 Excerpt from Becoming Emily by Brad Havens

(formatted to fit this blog post) 

INT. JOE’S APARTMENT - LIVING ROOM - NIGHT 

Joe comes out of the bedroom, pistol in hand. 

Mary Anne is upright, kneeling on the couch, gripping a pillow tightly in her hands like she’s strangling it. Joe watches her writhe, seeming to fight with herself as she straightens, still kneeling on the couch. She pantomimes holding a gun against the pillow and says in a husky voice: 

                                                            MARY ANNE 

                    I told you shut the fuck up, bitch. 

She shoves the pillow into her crotch, grinding against it as she tilts her head back. 

                                                            JOE 

                    What the hell are you doing? 

She seems to jolt out of it for a second, Joe sees tears pouring down her face. He moves to put a hand on her shoulder. 

                                                            JOE (CONT’D) 

                    Hey, hey, hey - Mary Anne? Mary Anne! Wake up! You’re dreaming! 

He touches her shoulder and she recoils like she was prodded. She twists around to see Joe, but from her perspective, he’s another man in silhouette holding a gun and reaching for her. She screams a primal terror, reeling backwards off the couch and sprawling across the floor. Joe freezes, panicked. 

Still separating vision from reality, she flops into a crawl and makes it down the hall to the other bathroom. Leaning into the door frame, she’s able to pull herself into a standing position. 

                                                            JOE (CONT’D) 

                    Mary Anne? Can you hear me? 

                                                            MARY ANNE 

                    I hear you - 

She starts trembling in fear, tears streaming down her face. 

                                                            JOE 

                    Do you know where you are - 

                                                            MARY ANNE 

                    I hear all of them. Screaming, laughing - Oh god, I feel it... I can feel 

                    what they’re doing and they like it! They like it - oh, god, I’m gonna - 

She reels into the bathroom and Joe can hear that she’s vomiting. 

                                                            JOE 

                    Mary Anne! 

He rushes to the door and looks in. 

OVER JOE’S SHOULDER looking into the bathroom, Mary Anne pulls her hair from one side of her face, her head hovering over the bowl. 

                                                            MARY ANNE 

                    Oh, god... 

She rests her head in her free hand, rubbing her forehead, maintaining her aim over the bowl, fighting the vertigo. 

                                                            JOE 

                    Do you know where you are, Mary Anne? 

                                                            MARY ANNE 

                    Uh, yeah, I’m puking my guts out into your toilet bowl! Just give me a 

                    min-huuuh - 

She pukes again, only not so much this time. Joe leaves her to it. She catches her breath, wiping her mouth with her hand. That’s when she notices the blood coming from her nose. 

                                                            MARY ANNE (CONT’D) 

                    Oh, god, not again...

Copyright 2020, Brad Havens. All Rights Reserved.

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