UNTITLED SCREENPLAY

by

My Name Here

123/456-7890
no.such@thing.com
INT. LOVELL'S BALLROOM. EVENING

PURDIE carefully navigates through the large, impressive

room with utmost decorum: her head held high and strides
dainty. Her appearance is immaculate: a dress of pure white,
flowing like a waterfall around her ankles. Her makeup is
expertly applied to highlight her pretty features and her
hair delicately woven into a high bun.

Her picture of debutante perfection is marred only by her

expression of half-suppressed irritation. PURDIE scans the
dense crowed of well-dressed guests for her parents,
something she has been doing all day with increasing
vexation.

They've been avoiding her, it seems. Ever since the night

previous when her mother allegedly went back on her promise
to allow PURDIE to attend suffragette meetings and finally
be allowed to do something that does not involve practicing
etiquette. Even if he involvement only went as far as
meetings.

Her mother couldn't even do it herself. It was her stiff

AUNTY EDITH who had relayed the message. Her cruel smug grin
made PURDIE'S blood boil.

PURDIE let out an angry huff. If she ever manages to

convince her mother to change her mind- again- She is going
to insist on another chaperone. She does not think she will
be able to stand her AUNTY EDITH'S snide, spiteful, petty
little superiority complex any longer.

WILLIAM
(In a cheery, chatty
voice)
Wotcha, Purdie. What's got you in a
tiddle?

PURDIE turns to see WILLIAM, his familiar face making her

smile and she relaxed a little.

PURDIE
(With a smile)
William!

WILLIAM grinned and they hugged briefly.

PURDIE (CON'T)
Have you seen my parents?

WILLIAM
(With an amused grin)
Fortunately for them, no.

Purdie gave him a look of warning, but he continued to smile

widely.
PURDIE
(Looking around)
Have you seen anybody at all? Aunty
Edith?
 2.

WILLIAM
(Anxiously looking
around)
Thankfully, no. That woman scares
me.

As he spoke, PURDIE finally spots her parent's distant

profiles across the room. They're heading into the hallway,
presumably to FATHER'S study. PURDIE laid her hand on
WILLIAM'S arm, and he followed her gesture.

PURDIE
Over there!

Not wanting to miss her chance to have a word with them

before the evening got too busy, PURDIE considered her
options. She cannot just hurry over and force her way
through the crowed, it just wasn't done and it would not
reflect well on her. PURDIE'S eyes flickered back to
WILLIAM, her strong, and more importantly, trusted male
friend.

PURDIE subtly leaned in to whisper:

PURDIE
Catch me.

Before WILLIAM could react, PURDIE pretended to faint. She

put her arm up and made a good, exaggerated show of it. A
little too exaggerated, perhaps. WILLIAM'S arms flew out to
quickly catch her.

The crowed easily parted for WILLIAM as he rushed her to the

hallway, excusing himself and loudly exclaiming that she
needs the Fainting Room.

WILLIAM
(With a grin)
Excuse me! Distressed young lady
coming through!

WILLIAM (CON'T)
(At the doorway,
addressing the guests)
Poor girl needs to take some time
out in the Fainting Room. Please
don't bother her until she returns
in top health!

INT. HALLWAY. EVENING (CON'T)

PURDIE climbed out of WILLIAM'S arms as soon as they were

out of sight. WILLIAM and PURDIE let out a snort of
laughter.
WILLIAM
At least you warned me this time.

PURDIE grinned and gave him a quick hug.

 3.

PURDIE
Thank you. I'll see you soon.
Mother wants us to dance first.

PURDIE rolled her eyes at the thought. It was tradition that

she should dance with the most eligible bachelors, William
being one of them. However, neither of them have any sort of
interest in each other, preferring to remain best friends.
However, while the parents are putting an increasing strain
on this, both WILLIAM and PURDIE are trying to make light of
it the best they can.

WILLIAM gave another improper snort.

WILLIAM
Then I shall await your return with
great anticipation, Miss Lovell.
Meanwhile, I think I should look
for Miss Wilough...

WILLIAM trailed off as a light blush adorned his cheeks.

PURDIE giggled and straightened his jacket and tie for him.

PURDIE
How do you think you will ever get
the pretty girl to dance with you
if you sit around like soggy toast
and do nothing?

WILLIAM
(Looking affronted)
I don't just 'sit around like soggy
toast'.

WILLIAM (CON'T)
(Raising a finger in the
air and pulling a lofty
expression)
Delicate situations calls for
careful planning.

PURDIE raised her eyebrow disbelievingly.

WILLIAM (CON'T)
I am merely...biding my time.

PURDIE tugged on his jacket a little to look him in the eye.

PURDIE
Will... Talk. To. Her. If you
don't, I will take matters into my
own hands.

WILLIAM
(Suddenly worried)
You wouldn't.
 4.

PURDIE
(In an unnaturally grave
voice)
I would.

WILLIAM gasped in mock horror and PURDIE began walking

speedily down the hallway.

PURDIE
(Turning back and
shouting)
Good luck!

WILLIAM
(Shouting)
You're evil!

INT. HALLWAY. EVENING (CON'T)

PURDIE walked down the hallway. She could hear distant

voices coming from her father's study. None of which she
recognised, but they were muffled and seeming to grow more
distant.

Standing next to the door, PURDIE squared her shoulders

ready to confront them. She put a hand on the door knob and
taken a steadying breath. PURDIE twisted the handle and
opened the door with a little more force than necessary,
striding in with a determined face.

INT. FATHER'S STUDY. EVENING (CON'T)

Empty.

The room is empty.

She almost didn't notice it, but it was the source of the
voices. PURDIE stood stunned to find her father's bookshelf
is a doorway to a secret room.

PURDIE suddenly felt she was intruding, despite her earlier

bravado. However, she was also insanely curious. PURDIE
edged her way to the open door silently and peered inside
the secret room.

INT. SECRET ROOM. EVENING (CON'T)

Her stomach fell.

Slumped on the cold, hard floor are her parents. They are
bound and gagged, wearing what appears to be the clothes
from the day previous. PURDIE gasped. She couldn't help it.
Without thinking, she shouted and stumbled to the floor to
check if they were alright.
PURDIE
(In a very troubled
voice)
Mama! Pappa!
 5.

Her parent's heads snapped up so fast, they could have

broken their necks. They looked terrified. Their eyes wide,
pupils tiny and desperate. PURDIE'S blood ran cold and she
struggled to process what was going on. Before she could say
anything, however, she was yanked away sharply.

PURDIE'S eyes looked wildly around, but she paused like a

dead weight when she spotted the other occupant of the room:
a woman who appeared to be her mother, dressed in this
evening's formal attire. Her resemblance is so eerily
uncanny that PURDIE would have been convinced this was a
dream if the man who had grabbed her wasn't holding her so
painfully.

PURDIE'S eyes shot back to the pair on the floor. They are
trying to shout at the DOPPLEGANGER MOTHER, voices muffled
by the gags. Their hair is unruly, the colour around their
eyes tells her they had a terrifying and sleepless night and
PURDIE could have sworn she saw frightened tears building up
in their eyes.

She had never seen her parents so vulnerable before.

PURDIE'S head shot back to the doppelganger with a look of

outrage.

PURDIE
(Outraged)
Who do you think you are! Let us
go!

DOPPLEGANGER MOTHER
(In a strangely calm
furious voice, directed
at the man restraining
Purdie)
What is she doing here?
PURDIE glanced back at the man who was restraining her, and
she did a double-take. The man looked exactly like her
father. He shrugged and looked unsure.

DOPPLEGANGER MOTHER (CON'T)

(Voice rising, the
calmness of her voice
vanishing)
She was supposed to be distracted!

The DOPPLEGANGER MOTHER'S face twisted with fury, an

expression PURDIE had never seen her mother wear. Terror
shot through her body as the woman looked directly at her
and held up a gun.

The muffled screams of her parent's grew more desperate,

breaking PURDIE out of her shock.
 6.

PURDIE
(Outraged, and a little
hysterical)
What is the meaning of this!

PURDIE demanded, her adrenaline overriding all sense of

self-preservation. The DOPPLEGANGER MOTHER turned to face
PURDIE'S parents.

DOPPLEGANGER MOTHER
(Her voice low and
dangerous)
You two, if you do not give us the
information, you won't see your
little princess again.

Her parent's pained, tear streaked faces was the last thing
PURDIE saw before the DOPPLEGANGER MOTHER knocked her
unconscious with the handle of the gun.

INT. MERIDITH'S CABIN. NIGHT

MERIDITH dropped the bloodied needle and rags into the

boiling pot of water. She glanced back over to the
unconscious fox, looking satisfied with the bandaged scar
wound.

MERIDITH placed a plate of food scraps and a bowl of water

near to the fox for when it awakens. She gently stroked it's
fur and spoke soothingly.

MERIDITH
(In a soothing voice)
S'gonna be alright now. I promise
I'll stop'm some how.

MERIDITH rose and stretched until her back popped. She

arranged herself by her window: The night was beautiful, and
the sounds of the nocturnal wildlife soothing. However,
MERIDITH felt nothing of the sort. She had almost lost one
of her closest friends, one of those she considers family.

After the tragic passing of her family, MERIDITH re-located

herself to the woods to avoid getting into deep trouble with
money and debt. She already had some survival knowledge
thanks to her parent's occupations, but it was a very steep
learning curb.

Over time, she developed bonds with the local foxes. A vixen
had been killed by the wealthy men who fox hunt, leaving
behind several kits. MERIDITH didn't have the heart to just
leave them, so she adopted them. A couple of fox generations
later, and MERIDITH is friendly with most of the foxes in
the woods.
She does not have much in the way of wealth (which is to say
absolutely nothing but her humble cabin in the woods), so
MERIDITH cannot afford to get them medical attention. She
had to self-teach herself medicine and first aid in order to
 7.

save them, using whatever knowledge she had of her father's

former occupation, before he was bedridden and before the
accident that killed them all.

Sometimes she succeeds. Sometimes.

Sometimes is isn't enough.

EXT. MERIDITH'S WINDOW. (CON'T)

MERIDITH'S gaze travelled to a small plot of lumpy earth,

stone slabs adorning each one. A graveyard. She sighed sadly
and rested her had on the window beam.

A breeze carried an unusual noise. MERIDITH perked up and

listened closer. It was coming from somewhere in the forest.
It sounded like...voices.

Curious, MERIDITH climbed out the window and navigated

herself along the tree tops.

EXT. FOREST. NIGHT

PURDIE wakes up in a cold sweat on the forest floor. Her

debutante dress ripped and filthy, her hair is now
half-loose and filled with foliage. Blood is tricking down
her head, pooling on the grass.

The first thing that PURDIE registers is her throbbing head.

She groans as she opens her eyes, seeing only large
shapeless blobs of dark colour. She slowly registers that
she is sprawled out on the floor, that she is aching all
over with her leg twisted in an uncomfortable position. It
was as if she had been pushed out of a moving vehicle.

A light breeze caresses her face. The smell of pine and

dirt. If she twitches her fingers, she feels grass. PURDIE
could not tell if the sounds of the wild animals were loud
because of her thumping headache, or because she is
uncomfortably close to them.

Memories from earlier flooded her mind, startling her into

moving. PURDIE tries to sit up, weakly calling out for her
parents.

PURDIE
(In a small, weak voice)
Mama... Papa...

EXT. FOREST. NIGHT (CON'T)

MERIDITH comes to a clearing, and looks down from the tree

branches to the girl sprawled out on the floor beneath,
pitifully calling out for her parents. MERIDITH takes in the
girl's appearance: obviously not there of her own will,
probably seriously hurt, and definitely of the wealthy sort.

MERIDITH scoffed at that last piece of information. The

sound cut through the silence.
 8.

EXT. FOREST. NIGHT (CON'T)

PURDIE flinched at the sudden noise. She called out

tentatively.

PURDIE
Who's there?

A beat of silence.

The bushes ruffle viciously. PURDIE's body jolts painfully

and her head snaps towards the sound. A FOX jumps out from
the bush and halts frozen in front of PURDIE.

With her vision slowly returning, PURDIE could just about

make out the FOX and she relaxes a little, thankful it is
not THE DOPPLEGANGERS.

A snap of branches, a ruffle of leaves, and a loud thud.

A dark figure towered over her. PURDIE'S face whipped around

to the figure. It was standing almost on top of her, a
shadowed face glaring at her, eyes piercing.

Fear swiftly rose up in PURDIE: her breathing halted, spots

began dancing around her eyes, and suddenly all noises of
the forest became tinny and indecipherable.

PURDIE dropped lifelessly to the floor. She fainted.

EXT. FOREST. NIGHT (CON'T)

The figure leans back out of the shadows, and is revealed to

be MERIDITH. She gazed at PURDIE, unimpressed.

MERIDITH glanced at the FOX. It relaxed and sat down giving

a short yip in greeting. She nodded in reply and turned back
to PURDIE. The unconscious girl was lying in tire tracks
which had cut through the clearing. MERIDITH bent down and
looked closer, picking up a broken leaf.

MERIDITH sighed, rolled her eyes and began to walk away.

FOX
Bark!

MERIDITH turned around to look at the FOX.

MERIDITH
(In mildly bored,
confused tone)
Wha'?

The FOX yipped again and motioned towards PURDIE. MERIDITH

looked surprised, then unimpressed.

MERIDITH (CON'T)
(Sounding incredulous)
Yer kiddin'? She's one o' them!
 9.

The FOX yipped once more and whined.

MERIDITH (CON'T)
But-

MERIDITH sighed and looked around at the tracks again.

MERIDITH (CON'T)
Fine.

MERIDITH grumbled as she picked PURDIE up bridal style and

began walking back to her cabin. The FOX following behind.