Agoraphobia

by

Jacqueline Melissa Wong

Jacqueline Melissa Wong

(206) 291-6149
JacquelineMW@Gmail.Com
FADE IN:

INT. BEDROOM - MARSHA’S HOUSE - DAY

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

A bedroom door buckles from the force of violent pounding.

MARSHA -- early 20s, hair disheveled, dressed in old night

clothes -- presses her weight against the door. Her fingers
slip as she races to lock it.

Her friend, RACHEL, calls from the other side of the door.

RACHEL (O.S.)
Marsha, come on out and get
dressed!

MARSHA
No!

RACHEL
Don’t worry; you won’t have to
leave the house.

MARSHA
He’s coming HERE...?
(suddenly panicking)
YOU GAVE A COMPLETE STRANGER THE
ADDRESS TO THIS HOUSE?!

RACHEL (O.S.)
He’s a nice guy--

MARSHA
How do you know that? You never
met him!

RACHEL (O.S.)
He can spell, for one thing. Most
guys on the internet never
acknowledge vowels, so that shows
he’s considerate--

OFF CAMERA,

TIRES SCREECH.

Marsha runs to the window.

THROUGH THE WINDOW,

 2.

a PICKUP TRUCK pulls into the driveway, knocking over a

garbage can.

A startled CAT scurries away.

INT. JASON’S CAR - DAY

JASON (20s) parks the car and reaches into the glove
compartment.

He fumbles around for breath mints as an uncapped red marker

stains his palm with ink. By the time he takes the mints
out, his palm is completely STAINED RED.

He pops a mint into his mouth, smearing red ink on his face.

INT. BEDROOM - MARSHA’S HOUSE - DAY

Rachel continues yelling through the door.

RACHEL (O.S.)
Come on, Marsha. Get over it.

Marsha peers

THROUGH THE WINDOW,

watching Jason who nervously steps out of the car, his hands
and face stained in red.

Marsha GASPS.

RACHEL (O.S.) (cont’d)

I refuse to waste one more
beautiful summer day indoors
consoling my agoraphobic housemate!

Jason heads toward the TRUNK and opens it.

EXT. DRIVEWAY - MARSHA’S HOUSE - DAY

Jason disappears behind an OPEN TRUNK.

INT./EXT. JASON’S TRUNK - DAY

A large garbage bag full of laundry. Jason ties the bag,

staining it red, and places it to the side of his car.
 3.

INT. BEDROOM - MARSHA’S HOUSE - DAY

Still peering

THROUGH THE WINDOW,

Marsha sees the blood-stained garbage bag and clutches her

stomach.

INT./EXT. JASON’S TRUNK - DAY

Jason reaches to the back of his trunk. He grabs a bottle of

liquid detergent, pours it onto his hands and wipes them with
a towel.

INT. BEDROOM - MARSHA’S HOUSE - DAY

Marsha sees Jason conceal the red-stained towel in his

garbage bag and haul it into his trunk. She envisions

EXT. GRASSY OVERGROWTH - DAY - DREAM SHOT

Jason stuffing the mutilated remains of a bloody human corpse

into a similar trash bag and stuffing it his trunk.

INT. BEDROOM - MARSHA’S HOUSE - DAY

Marsha hyperventilates.

MARSHA
Don’t open the door!

RACHEL (O.S.)
Like I said, if you won’t come out
and have fun, I’ll bring the fun to
you. It’s time you got a life,
Marsha.

MARSHA
I already have one, thank you. And
I care for it very much.

DING! DONG!

Marsha’s heart jumps. She freezes.

 4.

EXT. FRONT DOOR - MARSHA’S HOUSE - DAY

Jason checks his reflection in the window and rubs

frantically at the red stains on his teeth.

INT. LIVING ROOM - MARSHA’S HOUSE - DAY

Rachel descends the staircase and strolls toward the

FRONT DOOR.

RACHEL
(calling to Marsha)
I’ll send him straight to your
room.

MARSHA (O.S.)
(pounding on the door)
No Rachel! He’ll chop you up with
a machete and stuff you in a trash
bag!

Rachel rolls her eyes and opens the door.

MARSHA (O.S.) (cont’d)

...I saw it. I saw the bag!
(pounding)
Rachel!

The door swings open, revealing

JASON.

Seeing Rachel, he quickly shoves his hands behind his back.

RACHEL
(loudly)
Jason! Come on in! Nice to
finally meet you.

INT. BEDROOM

Marsha listens intently through her closed door, each word of

dialogue sending deeper chills through her spine.

RACHEL (O.S.)
Don’t just stand there with a
guilty look on your face. If I
didn’t know better, I’d think you
killed a man.

Marsha gasps and presses her ear against the door.

 5.

JASON (O.S.)
Oh, it’s just...one of those
days...

INT. LIVING ROOM

Rachel nears the edge of a crooked couch and stoops down.

RACHEL
(calling up to Marsha)
Rachel! Jason’s here!

Rachel strains to lift the couch. It slips from her fingers.

INT. BEDROOM

Through the door, Marsha hears a THUMP! and a SCREAM! She

gasps in horror.

RACHEL (O.S.)
(screaming)
MARSHA! HELP ME!!!

INT. LIVING ROOM

Jason clamors to the other end of the couch.

JASON
(softly)
Let me help.

RACHEL
(softly)
Thanks. Just trying to make space
for you two.

They lift, and the couch falls with an even louder THUMP!
Part of it scratches Rachel’s finger. She SCREAMS, shakes
her hand from the pain and sucks her wound.

INT. BEDROOM

Marsha’s eyes bulge. She imagines

INT. LIVING ROOM - DREAM SHOT

Rachel lying on the living room floor, soaked in blood with

Jason wielding an axe and chuckling sadistically above her.
 6.

INT. BEDROOM

Huddled at the foot of the door, Marsha rocks back and forth,
tears streaming down her cheek.

MARSHA
(whispering through tears)
I’m so sorry, Rachel!...I’m so
sorry!

WHHHIRRRRRR! WHHHHIRRRRR! WHHHHIIIIIIIIIIRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!

She suddenly stops short as the sound of GRINDING METAL, like

that of a CHAIN SAW, hacks into something soft and fleshy on
the other side of the door.

INT. LIVING ROOM - DREAM SHOT

Jason, wearing a hockey mask, wields a bloody chain saw over

Rachel’s lifeless body.

WHIRRRRR!

INT. KITCHEN

Rachel revs a BLENDER to puree some smoothies.

Jason wrings his hands and surveys the house with

anticipation. He creeps up to Rachel and whispers to her
amid the whirs.

JASON
(whispering)
Look, I was just wondering...Is
Marsha...you know...weird? I-I
mean...she seems really secretive.

Jason peers into the dark empty hallway with trepidation.

RACHEL
(whispering back)
Oh, no. I think it’s just that she
doesn’t like being around people.
Sometimes -- well, most of the time
-- she locks herself in her room,
mumbling things.

Jason paces back and forth, beside himself with nervousness.

Rachel smiles.

RACHEL (cont’d)
You two will get along great.
 7.

JASON
(whispering)
Can I use your bathroom real quick?

RACHEL
(whispering)
Up the stairs and down the hallway.
Can’t miss it.

INT. BEDROOM

The whirring stops. Marsha holds her breath.

INT. LIVING ROOM

Jason gulps and begins creeping slowly, nervously, up the

stairs.

INT. BEDROOM

Marsha remains frozen in silence. Suddenly, she hears

FOOTSTEPS slowly approaching her bedroom.

Step...step...step......STEP...

She looks about the room frantically. Her eyes rest on a

BASEBALL BAT

in her closet. She inches toward it.

INT. HALLWAY

Jason pauses before an

ARRAY OF CLOSED DOORS, wondering which one leads to the

bathroom.

He takes a deep breath and turns toward Marsha’s bedroom

door.

INT. BEDROOM

The sound of HEAVY BREATHING.

A shadow eclipses the opening beneath Marsha’s door.

Staring intently at the

 8.

DOORKNOB,

Marsha raises her baseball bat, poised to attack.

The knob turns and the door JOLTS.

Marsha suppresses a gasp.

The knob turns and the door JOLTS.

She slowly reaches for the knob.

INT. HALLWAY

Jason gives up and turns toward another door.

He takes a deep breath and chuckles to himself.

JASON
Nothing to worry about. She’s
probably just shy. Absolutely
nothing to worry ab--

As his hand reaches for the door knob,

MARSHA’S DOOR SWINGS OPEN.

Out of the darkness bursts

MARSHA,

wielding a baseball bat and SCREAMING at the top of her

lungs.

Jason turns, terrified.

She STRIKES at Jason.

Jason SCREAMS for dear life and ducks.

INT. LIVING ROOM

He scrambles down the

STAIRWAY, past Marsha’s frantic bat swings and amid her

incessant SCREAMING.

Jason falls to the floor. He hoists himself up and runs like

mad,

tumbling head-over-heels over the couch.

 9.

Marsha follows him, SCREAMING and swinging the bat at Jason’s

head.

Jason ducks as the bat hits the couch.

Jason SHRIEKS and scrambles

OUT THE DOOR.

EXT. RESIDENTIAL STREET - DAY

Jason sprints down the street, SCREAMING at the top of his

lungs, never pausing to look back.

Marsha can be heard calling after him.

EXT. DRIVEWAY - MARSHA’S HOUSE - DAY

Marsha follows him outside, swinging her bat and screaming.

MARSHA
(calling after Jason)
STAY AWAY, YOU SICKO!!!! OR I’LL
HACK YOUR LIMBS OFF AND STUFF YOU
IN A TRASH BAG!!!

Jason speeds away.

Panting and trembling, Marsha wipes away her tears. She

turns toward the house and sees

RACHEL standing in the doorway, BEAMING happily.

Marsha stares back at Rachel in shock.

MARSHA (cont’d)
Rachel!

RACHEL
Marsha!

MARSHA
(embracing Rachel)
You’re okay!

RACHEL
You’re okay!!!!

Marsha looks about her, astounded.

RACHEL (cont’d)
You finally left the house!
 10.

Marsha looks around.

MARSHA
...I left the house and I’m
okay!...I left the house!

Tears of joy stream down Marsha’s cheeks as she and Rachel

embrace.

INT. BEDROOM - JASON’S HOUSE - MONTHS LATER

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

A bedroom door buckles from the force of violent pounding.

Jason, hair disheveled, dressed in old night clothes, leans

all his weight against the door.

His friend ROBERT calls out from the other side of the door.

ROBERT (O.S.)
Jason!...You can’t stay in there
all your life.

Jason remains frozen. The pounding stops.

ROBERT (O.S.) (cont’d)

I’ve got just the thing--

JASON
No, you don’t.

ROBERT (O.S.)
Don’t worry. This one’s really,
really shy. In fact, she’ll be
more afraid of you than you’ll be
of her.

Jason’s hands tremble along the side of the door, his fingers
slipping as they race to lock it.

FADE OUT.