HOTEL MURDER SCRIPT

GABE enters the hotel room, his black coat the only thing covering the large spatters of red on his white shirt underneath. His pale and panicked face is covered in red smears, he looks over to a single phone sitting in a dark corner of the room on a table. He’s fixated on it for a moment and then notices that he’s covered in blood. He rushes into the washroom and THROWS WATER on his face, he’s shaking and violently nervous.

THE PHONE RINGS this sends GABE into a panic, he’s terrified to answer the phone. After 3 long RINGS he finally answers; nearly in tears.

Gabe

Hello?

The Voice

You’re back? Gabe?

Gabe

Yes

The Voice

Both of you are there?

Gabe

No, I don’t know what happened to Calin

The Voice

Did you do it?

Gabe

Yes

The Voice

Was it you or Calin?

Gabe

Calin killed him

The Voice

Stay there, wait for him. Wait for my call.

The Voice hangs up; leaving Gabe rattled

CALIN ENTERS, he’s slightly rattled but more composed than Gabe. He’s wearing a dark coat which covers all but the slight red stain on the collar of his white dress shirt underneath. He goes right to the washroom to clean up.

Calin

Did he call?

Gabe

Yes

Calin

And?

Gabe

 He wanted to know if we did it

Calin

What did you tell him?

Gabe

I said you killed him

Calin

What did he say about the money?

Gabe

He didn’t say anything, he hung up

Calin

He’ll call back. We wait here until he does.

Gabe

What if he doesn’t, we can’t just sit here.

Calin

Yes we can

Gabe

The police are already going to be looking, hotels and busses will be the first places they start.

Calin

We stay and wait for that phone to ring, otherwise what the hell have we just done?

Calin pulls out a gun and examines it, it’s the murder weapon.

Calin

How many people saw you come back here?

Gabe

What?

 Calin

How many people saw you running through the lobby with blood on your face?

Gabe

I don’t know, no one I think

Calin

You think?

Gabe

No one, I got back here fast. No one could have seen me.

Calin

You better hope not, get cleaned up. Take your stuff (he reaches underneath the bed and pulls out a bag full of clothes) Throw your clothes into this bag.

CALIN throws a black bag towards GABE, GABE picks up the bag and along with his things he goes into the washroom.

He rips off his bloody wardrobe and jumps into the SHOWER, the red water pouring down the drain. When he’s alone the images of the horrible things he’s just done are inescapable and the guilt and fear are written all over his face. 

While he’s in the shower he thinks he hears the sound of CALIN on the phone, he sneaks out of the shower and inches towards the door. He can clearly hear that CALIN is TALKING OUT LOUD but can’t make out any of what he’s saying, as he leans in to listen his FOOT SLIPS AND SQUEAKS loudly along the tile floor; prompting CALIN to come through the door.

Calin

Get dressed

Back in the main room CALIN is putting his old clothes into the bag, he pulls out the gun.

Calin

There’s a bridge a few blocks from here, I need to get rid of these things

He puts the gun in the bag.

Calin

You stay here incase the phone rings.

Gabe

What if the phone doesn’t ring, what are we going to do?

Calin

We still have what he wants, he needs us. It’ll ring.

Gabe

A cellphone…someone died over that.

Calin

He died because he got himself involved with dangerous people

Gabe

And now so have we, how do we know they won’t just kill us?

Calin

We don’t. Stay smart, don’t do anything stupid and do exactly what they tell us and we’ll be fine.

Gabe

How much?

Calin:

What?

Gabe

How much did they offer you?

Calin

One million…same as you right?

GABE reluctantly nods his head

Calin

Right

Gabe

A million dollars to give up your soul…

Calin

I am an atheist

Gabe (tearfully)

I am not.

CALIN collects his things

Calin

There’s a bridge a few blocks from here, the water’s fast moving and deep. Even if they find these things it won’t be for months at the earliest. I won’t be gone long, stay by that phone.

CALIN leaves

GABE is left alone in the dark room, he hears the SOUND OF SIRENS in the background and feels uneasy. He stares at the phone nervously. When it RINGS he’s startled. He answers it.

The Voice

Who has the cellphone?

Gabe

Calin

The Voice

Put him on

Gabe

He’s not here, he just left

The Voice

That’s lucky for you

Gabe

Why?

The Voice

I am about to give you an offer that you definitely want to hear first

Gabe

I don’t want anything anymore, I just want this to be over so we can each just go home.

The Voice

Each?

GABE gets silent, he has a nauseating feeling

The Voice

Right now there are two people out there who know that we hired you to kill that man, knowing what you know about the people I speak for…did you really think they would just let you both walk away from this?

Gabe

What do you mean? You told us if we killed him…if we killed him and gave you his phone you’d take care of us.

The Voice

That was a lie. Here is the situation you’re in, only one of you is allowed to leave that hotel room. If you want to get paid…if you want to live then you’ll take care of that last loose end for us and kill Calin; because Gabe…when he gets back I am going to offer him the same deal. What do you think he’ll do?

Gabe

Please, I don’t want the money, I don’t care anymore…I just want to leave. I’ll disappear.

The Voice

We’ll find you. We’ll find you and we’ll gut you. Don’t you DARE.

Gabe

Please, I didn’t even kill him. It was Calin!

The Voice

Then all Calin has to do is kill you and he gets to live, gets to be a rich man. What’s a little more blood on his hands if it means killing the only witness to what he did?

Gabe

Please…

The Voice

Gabe…I am hanging up now. The next time I call, if Calin answers I am going to tell him to kill you; and he will. Whichever one of you is left alive, wait there for my last call.

He HANGS UP. Gabe is frantic, he paces the room. Time is moving fast, he’s gripped with fear and wrestling with his decision. Suddenly his flight instinct takes over and he runs for the door, as he opens it he’s startled by the sudden appearance of CALIN, CALIN looks confused and angry.

Calin

What are you doing?

Gabe

I was just going to go looking for you?

Calin

Are you stupid? It’s bad enough you already have half the hotel looking at me suspiciously. What the HELL were you thinking running back here in your bloody clothes? Everyone was looking at me, everyone! They suspect something, and you’re going to go running out the door looking like that?

Gabe

What do you mean?

Calin

You’re shaking! You’re covered in sweat! What happened? Did the phone ring?

GABE is silent

Calin

GABE!

Gabe

No…no one’s called. Calin we need to leave, we need to get out of here now.

Calin

What do you mean no one’s called?

Gabe

I’ve been waiting the whole time, I don’t think anyone’s going to call. Why would they? They don’t need us anymore, they don’t care about what’s on that phone. I am telling you we need to get out of here, it’s not safe.

Calin

Shut up! You don’t know that.

Gabe

Why would they just let us walk away from this? They probably have someone on their way here right now to make sure we can never tell anyone what happened. We need to run, NOW.

Calin

I don’t hear any sirens, I don’t think the police even know yet and I am not running. That phone call is the whole reason I did this, you want me to just forget about it and run because you’re scared? Sit down. Neither of us is leaving tonight.

CALIN turn his back to put his coat in the closet, when he does GABE grabs the first weapon he can find, a ball point pen beside the phone.

Gabe

Calin, I am leaving.

Calin

No you’re not

Gabe

Yes I am, I can’t do this.

Calin

Do what?

Gabe

Be here, I can’t wait here. I need to go, I am going to leave and catch a bus out of the city. You can have my share of the money, I don’t care.

Calin

And where the hell would you go?

Gabe

I don’t know, just away. Far.

CALIN is silent, secretly he feels more comfortable with the idea of GABE not being around. GABE makes him nervous. His momentary silence is taken as approval and GABE quickly heads towards the door.

The PHONE RINGS

Calin

WAIT!

GABE freezes, he’s tembling.

CALIN answers the phone, GABE closes the door and turns towards Calin. In his eyes is the look of a man who has fearfully realized that he’s going to have to do something terrible.

He slowly reaches into his pocket and pulls out the pen, inching closer to CALIN. CALIN’s face has lost all expression, he looks up at GABE with steely eyes. CALIN looks back, for a brief second he realizes that GABE heard the same offer he was just told.

CALIN springs up towards GABE but is met almost instantly with a blow to the neck. Blood sprays across GABE and CALIN SCREAMS as GABE pulls out the pen and takes another stab, again plunging it into CALIN’s neck. CALIN falls back on the bed and GABE springs on top of him, stabbing him again and again in the neck as blood sprays all over him and the room.

CALIN can only weakly grip GABE’s neck as GABE tearfully stabs at CALIN’s neck countless times. CALIN’s hand becomes too weak to hold up and it drops, GABE finally stops. He leans in and watches closely as his friend mumbles inaudible last words, looking directly into GABE’s eye’s CALIN breathes his last breath and dies.

The room is silent, in the distance we can hear faint SIRENS. GABE falls to the floor beside the blood soaked bed. He has no change of clothes, the SIRENS are getting louder and he’s starts to convulse. He notices something on the floor beside the phone, it’s the gun that CALIN said he threw in the river.

Overcome with guilt GABE raises the gun to his head, THE PHONE RINGS.

END