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.
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
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
