CHIRON: “CALL 153”

Toni (Early 30’s, dark eyes, weary) Sits at her living room table in her small house, vice grip on her phone, staring at it.

Piles of papers surround her, maps, scripts, scribbles. The walls and whole room is taped up with notes, arrows, circled items. A conspiracy theorists mind made real.

The time on her PHONE blips to 11:11. It Rings. She picks up immediately.

A Woman’s SCREAM on the other end of the line. Toni is totally UNPHASED.

There’s a--

-- Stay Calm. I need you to listen to me carefully.

It’s coming. Oh god It’s --

--Eyes.

How do you?--

--Take a deep breath. Okay?

Toni glances at the clock on the desk, it’s got marker lines and arrows all over the crown. She’s watching the second hand move, timing it to line up with a sharpie line.

Dodge to your right... NOW!

On the phone we hear a SLITHERING, THWACK, and SCREAM.

Oh god!

CHIRON: “CALL 1”

Toni, in work wear, walks through the door with a big stack of mail, sorting through it as she goes, half gets dumped into the trash.

She lets out a big huff an walks over to the sink, splashes some water on her face.

It’s fine. People move on... I can move on.

The phone lights up. Unknown Number. She sees it and flicks it off her screen.

CHIRON: “CALL 2”

Toni is sitting in her living room in pajamas, watching television. We see the lights play against her face as it plays some sort of horror movie.

Just as the tension on the movie ratchets up, we see the time on her phone click to 11:11.

The call happens. Toni ignores it.

CHIRON: “CALL 3”

Toni is on a yoga mat, stretching out. She’s on the phone with SAM.

-- and I’m trying to figure out how to handle this situation without offending anyone. But it’s just so complicated.

Ugh, that sucks. I mean maybe you just gotta deal directly with the problem?

Like you’re dealing with your breakup?

Sam. I’ll have you know I’m over it already. I started my yoga routine up again today.

Alright, so when are you coming out again?

The clock strikes 11:11. The call happens.

Ugh, I’m getting that weird call again.

Toni huffs.

What call?

I keep getting this phone call. Gotta be telemarketers.

Pick it up and tell em off.

Ugh. No thanks. I’m busy doing down dog over here.

Don’t you have a little pent up frustration? Let loose.

Toni considers while balancing, relents.

... Fine.

She huffs and sits down on the floor, looks down and takes the call. She holds the phone up to her ear.

A BONE BREAKING SHRIEK from the other end. Toni recoils and drops the phone. Rattled.

OH GOD. Hello?

She stares down at it.

Help! It.. It’s T--

Toni quickly hangs up the phone.

Beat. Toni looks around the room with unease.

CHIRON: “CALL 4”

Toni chops vegetables and puts them into plastic containers. Her phone sits on a stand across from her as she stares at the clock on the wall, which hits 11:11.

The phone lights up - UNKNOWN NUMBER. She nervously puts down the knife and picks up the phone. Takes the call.

The SHRIEK on the other end of the line makes her wince and pull the phone away from here.

He- Hello? Who is this.

Help! There’s a- a- creature.

Who are you? Stop calling me.

It’s me! You! You’ve been calling me for--

A SNARLING SLITHERING, A THWACK and A SCREAM. SILENCE.

Hello? Hello?!

She holds the phone and stares at it. Hangs up.

CHIRON: “CALL 5”

Toni paces back and forth in her pajamas. She’s on the phone.

What do you mean no record of an unknown call? That’s ridiculous -- I keep getting this call every night at like... 11! -- Cant you just block all unknown numbers? -- Fine! Just send me a new phone!

She hangs up in anger and the phone immediately rings again. She JUMPS!

It’s only Sam. She rolls her eyes and puts it to voicemail.

Toni’s fallen asleep on the couch. The phone RINGS and wakes her up with a start.

She answers the unknown call. The SCREAM.

This isn’t funny anymore. Who the hell is this?

Oh God. Hello?

I said who is this?

It’s Toni. It’s you.

Toni listens intently. It really does sound like herself. The voice on the other end gets very quiet.

It’s here! I-- The eyes! They’re looking at me! Into my mind--

A SHIVERING SLURP and SNARL and THWACK. A SCREAM.

Hello?

You can hear squelching and dripping.

Hello? ... T-- Toni?

Silence. Toni stares down at the phone. Puts it down on the table next to it there’s a pad of paper. She shakily picks up a pen and marks a tally on it.

5 Hash Marks.

Toni paces around her living room. Waiting. She’s on her phone.

She’s got seven new voicemails. She plays the first from the ‘Unknown Number’

(Computer voice)

Next Voicemail.

-- Please! Please! Pick up! It’s--

SLITHER, SNARL, SQUELCH, DIAL TONE.

(Computer voice)

Next voicemail.

-- Looking at me. LOOKING AT ME--

THWACK, SQUELCH, --

(Computer voice)

Next voicemail.

--It’s inside my BRAIN and it HURTS--

THWACK, SQUELCH, --

SUDDENLY There’s a KNOCK at the door. The shadow of something at the door. Toni gasps.

The shadow shifts. Lurches! KNOCKS Again

Wh-- Who is it?

Package for you!

It’s the delivery man. Toni exhales.

Thanks! Just leave it please!

Have a good day!

The delivery man leaves. Toni waits a moment, then cracks the door to grab her package. She rips it open. It’s a new phone.

She takes her old phone and drops it into a full glass of water on the living room table.

CHIRON: “CALL 12”

Toni is sitting on her couch, looking at her new phone in her hand. Staring at it. Waiting. She glances down at the clock on the table. It strikes 11:11.

The new phone in her hand buzzes. UNKNOWN NUMBER

No.. NO!

She dismisses the call on her new phone.

The old phone in the glass of water buzzes. UNKNOWN NUMBER

No.. NO. NO NONONONONONO! NO!

Her fingers trembling, she answers the call.

Oh God. Hello?

Stop calling me. Please stop calling me. I don’t want this.

It’s coming. It’s coming for me. The calls won’t stop until--

SLITHER. THWACK. GURGLE.

--you--

Silence. Toni hangs up. She looks down at the table, where the clock and the notepad sit. She marks on the clock the first sharpie mark and puts another tally mark next to the paper.

12 hash marks.

CHIRON: “CALL 13”

Toni is sitting on her couch, phone on the coffee table next to a clock. She’s holding a pad of paper she’s squinting at, tons of questions scrawled down on it.

She gets up and drags a lamp across the room to the coffee table. Adjusts herself.

The phone rings. She picks up without hesitation. The SCREAM nails her in the side of the face and she winces.

-- Hello

Oh God. Hello?

Where are you?

I’m here! In the house. In the living room.

Toni freezes. Looks around her at the living room.

What do I do? It’s-- Oh god. The EYES. I can’t look away--

SLITHER. GURGLE. SCRAPE. SILENCE.

Toni looks down and around the room. What the fuck.

CHIRON: “CALL 14”

Toni is ready for the call. She has sharpies in her hand and notes on the notepad. The Call. The Pickup. The Scream.

Oh god It’s--

--I’ve got you. We’re gonna get through this okay.

Please!

Don’t look at it. You gotta RUN.

Over the phone we hear a SLURP and GURGLE and THWACK into wood and glass as it barely misses.

Shit! It’s right behind -- OH god. The EYES.

Toni marks the crown of the clock in sharpie to mark the time.

THE EYES are looking INSIDE ME.

SHUFFLING. SLURPING. THUNK. GURGLE. SILENCE.

Toni looks down and writes down the time.

11:11

She gets up and drags another lamp to the coffee table.

CHIRON: “CALL 17”. We see Toni taking more and more notes over time.

CHIRON: “CALL 19”. She tapes off pathways in her house. Measuring steps.

CHIRON: “CALL 25”. She’s stepping through the house like a crime scene.

CHIRON: “CALL 47”. She looks more and more haggard and tired. This is taking a toll.

CHIRON: “CALL 55”. She sits at the coffee table which as become floor lamp central.

CHIRON: “CALL 86”. She’s rehearsing the steps inside her house. Ducking, looking through her drawers in her kitchen. Trying to formulate a perfect plan.

CHIRON: “CALL 102”. She’s looking through her kitchen, figuring out what she’s got in there.

CHIRON: “CALL 112”. Toni is practicing taking a canister of pepper spray out of her kitchen drawer and drawing it to spray it.

CHIRON: “CALL 133”. Toni has a blindfold on and she’s feeling her way through the kitchen, running her hands over things.

CHIRON: “CALL 153”.

We’re back to the opening scene. Toni has copious notes, diagrams, and outlines. The room around her has been turned into a battle zone, with the lamp illuminated central nervous system being the coffee table.

The Call. The Pickup. The Scream.

Oh god! There’s a--

-- Stay Calm! I need you to listen to me carefully.

It’s coming after me. There’s so many--

--Eyes. Don’t Look at them. Close your eyes!

How do you?--

--Take a deep breath. Okay? Dodge to your right. Now.

Toni stands and begins to walk out foot patterns she’s laid out on the floor, much like dance instructions. She holds the pad in one hand and the clock in the other, shoulder pinching the phone.

And duck... NOW.

Jesus Christ. I-- I’m so scared.

I know. I know. Kitchen. Third Drawer. Pull the cast iron out.

We follow Toni to her kitchen. On the walls are arrows, a big clock. It’s laid out like a Rube Goldberg crime scene.

Over the phone we hear the heavy scrape of a cast iron pan. Shuffling Horror.

Look left, use two hands to brace. Ready in three. Two. ONE. NOW!

A large metallic CLACK and SQUELCHING THUD as the pan deflects something.

First drawer on the left. The pepper spray.

A drawer slots open and we hear her rustle around.

It’s black and small like lipstick.

Got it.

Pull the red tab with your right hand and aim it with the left. Like pulling back a pool cue. Hold your breath till I say so and Don’t LOOK!

Okay.

SPRAY IT NOW!

A snap. A gasp. A hissing sound as spray hits the horror. An otherworldly scream and hiss as the monster is sprayed.

Head to the back door. Low. ON the floor. Be quiet. You can breathe again now.

Oh thank you. Oh god.

Whisper.

(whisper)

Ok

(whispering)

I need you to turn the knob without making it creak. Apply pressure into the door jamb while rotating the handle. Got it?

After a second we hear Squelching shuffling over the phone.

I got it. I’m out! Oh thank you.

RUN! RUN!

Toni jumps up and down. Fist pumps.

Thank you. Oh thank you. Oh god.

An otherworldly SNARL. SQUISH. THWACK. GURGLE. DIAL TONE.

Toni! Toni?

Toni lays on her couch. Surrounded by a rats nest of plans, takeout containers. Everything. She wakes up with a scream.

She looks around and takes stock of what her life has become, suddenly aware of all that has consumed her.

Toni sits on the floor next to her fridge. Opens the door up and takes out a half eaten burrito. Munches on it.

Her phone goes off. She leaps out of her skin.

It’s Sam again. She slowly tears up, tries to stop sob-gasping as she answers the call.

(defeated)

Hi Sam.

Toni! Hey, it’s been a while. How you been?

Toni struggles to respond.

Still feeling the breakup? Talk to me.

Toni can’t contain herself no matter how hard she tries. She’s tired and breaking.

I.. I’m not doing well Sam. I.. I’m stuck. I can’t seem to get out of the house. I’ve been trying for months. Just trying to help myself escape and I can’t. Every night it happens. It’s coming for me and I can’t escape. It’s killing me.

Uhhh. Should I come over?

Toni gasps, looks around her room.

No. I-- You can’t right now. I...

She sits for a moment.

Toni?

It’s like... There’s just something I’m running from.

Grief? Toni.. It’s not like that. It’s not something you can solve. Especially not by running from it. Trust me. I know it feels like if you just changed one thing, or another thing, or whatever.. you’d fix it. But it doesn’t work like that... It’s not something you can fix. Sometimes you just gotta cut through all those thoughts and face your pain.

Toni sees her knife block out of the corner of her eye.

I-- I think that’s it.

Toni? Are you sure--

She hangs up on him.

CHIRON: “CALL 154”.

Toni sits on her couch. Takes a deep breath. The Call. The Pickup. The Scream.

Oh God It’s--

Eyes. I know. Don’t look at it.

What?

Close your eyes!

How? I can’t see it. I should run.

Toni looks down at her notepad.

No. We’ve tried that 153 times. Each time you die. Every time.

OH.. God. No..

So listen to me.

A slithering squelching sound. Toni looks down at the clock, instinctively shouts.

Duck! Now!

On the phone you hear a Tentacle WHOOSH.

You need to get into the kitchen. Grab the knife from the block.

I-- I have to run.

No you don’t. You have to FIGHT.

I can’t!

You can. You have to. Do it. NOW.

You hear her scrambling over the floors while the monster gurgles.

How? I can’t see it.

Just listen to the sound of my voice okay? Get the knife.

Whimpering on the phone.

Oh. Oh god.

The big one.

A ‘shwhing’ sound over the phone. We hear the rattling of the wood block.

Oh-- Oh. Oh God. I can’t.

You have to do it. Dodge left and then swing at it with everything you got when I say.

It’s-- i’ts--

Three.. Two.. One.. NOW!

On the phone you hear an otherworldly SHRIEK and the scuffling of feet. A SQUELCH and a SHANK as a knife sinks into obsidian flesh. The creature SCREAMS.

Now hit it with the cast iron. Third drawer.

The drawer slides out. We hear the heavy metal scrape of a pan.

Where?

Toni looks around her kitchen’s taped up room.

Your left.

THWACK. Metal on eldritch bone. Another SHRIEK.

Fuck. Fuck!

Fight Toni! Fight! Kill it!

THUNK. SLASH. SQUELCH. SCREAM!

SILENCE.

Toni! .. Toni are you there? What’s happening?

GURGLE.

-- Toni!

(distant)

I’m.. I’m here. It’s dead. I looked.

Toni breaks into tears of joy.

We did it. We did it!

Hey, Toni. Uh. I’m sorry. Just remember you’ll get yourself through this.

Huh?

The phone disconnects. Toni looks down. She hung up.

Toni looks around. Taking in the chaos of her life now. She walks back into her living room.

Toni slowly lowers herself down to her couch, putting her phone on the table in front of her. She exhales a long, ragged breath. Cradles her head in her hands and softly cries.

The phone in front of her suddenly lights up.

UNKNOWN CALLER.

She reaches for the phone. Picks it up, What?

Hello?

Her front door is darkened with a shivering shape--

He- Hello? Who is this?

OF AN ELDRITCH HORROR.

CUT TO BLACK

Toni SCREAMS!