SCENE: AMBER’S
APARTMENT
Rain pours outside. Words appear onscreen:
Thursday
Day 1
Weeble makes herself a PB&J sandwich and puts it in her lunchbox. She picks the lunchbox up and walks towards the door.
WEEBLE
[shouts at Amber’s bedroom door
before leaving]
I’m going to school!
Inside her room, Amber is sitting on the bed, looking at the tape in her hands and breathing nervously.
---
SCENE: STREET
Weeble walks down the street, holding her umbrella above her head and looking at her feet. She stops a few feet away from Danny, who was walking with his head bowed and nearly ran into Weeble. She stares up at him from under her umbrella for a few minutes, then walks around him and continues on her way. Danny continues walking without a word.
---
SCENE: AMBER’S
APARTMENT
Danny holds the picture with the distorted faces in his hand. Amber is sitting across from him on the couch.
AMBER
What do you think?
DANNY
Well it’s a pretty neat-o effect. What
does this have to do with the tape?
Amber picks a digital camera up off the coffee table and hands it to him.
AMBER
Take my picture.
Danny shrugs, sets the picture down and take the camera. He turns it on and aims it at her.
DANNY
Are you going to look at me at least?
Amber flicks her eyes towards the camera. Danny takes a picture. In the preview window he sees that Amber’s face is distorted.
DANNY
…this the same camera?
AMBER
No. Scan the rest.
Danny looks through the rest of the pictures on the camera, which are all of Amber. The faces on all of them have been blurred and twisted just like before.
AMBER
So, what do you think?
Danny shakes his head cluelessly, then looks back up at her
DANNY
Well look, I thought you said this
was about a tape.
Amber sighs and pulls the tape out of her bag. She looks at him, then at the tape, and gets up to walk around the apartment.
AMBER
I’m thinking maybe you shouldn’t
see it.
Danny chuckles.
AMBER
No, I think I should know more
about it first.
DANNY
[stands up, walks over]
Well isn’t that why I’m here? So
you can benefit from my wisdom?
AMBER
Four kids are dead, Danny.
DANNY
Not from watching a videotape.
Come on, show it to me.
Amber puts the tape
in. The clock on the VCR reads
Danny sits in front of the TV and watches.
Amber walks onto the balcony.
She looks through the windows of the apartments across the lot. In one apartment, a woman serves her child, who is watching cartoons from the breakfast table, a bowl of cereal. Two stories up and one apartment over, a man is pacing in front of a TV airing an old black-and-white movie, holding a phone to his ear. One story down and one apartment over a woman is vacuuming in front of a TV where a romance movie is playing. Two stories down, a man sitting in a wheelchair is watching a sports game.
Amber turns as Danny walks outside.
DANNY
Roll credits. That was a
very student film.
[Amber gives him the look]
… I’m sure it’s a lot… scarier
at night.
The phone rings back in the apartment. Amber gasps. It continues ringing.
DANNY
…you going to get that?
Amber walks inside and over to the phone. She takes a deep breath and goes to answer it, but stops. She lets it ring until the machine gets it. Danny walks over to the side table and looks through some papers. He picks up an apple and takes a bite out of it.
DANNY
So you been working a lot?
AMBER
I’m not tired, Danny.
[walks over]
DANNY
Okay.
AMBER
That tape didn’t scare you?
DANNY
No, not really, sorry.
AMBER
Four people are dead.
DANNY
Yeah but like I said, not
from watching –
AMBER
Four people who watched the
tape.
DANNY
Come on, we watched it, we’re
hangin'.
AMBER
It… takes a week.
DANNY
…right.
[goes to leave]
Yeah, I’m just gonna go downtown,
I’ve gotta pick up some cameras from
this guy and then I gotta prep this thing
that I may end up doing next week.
AMBER
Danny…
DANNY
[stops, turns]
Hmm?
AMBER
Would you say that I’m gullible?
DANNY
No.
AMBER
Easily rattled?
DANNY
Definitely not. I mean, you’re a little
highly strung maybe, and you ain’t
much of a dresser, but…
AMBER
Who made it, where’d it come from.
DANNY
[hesitates, then nods]
Alright. Make me a copy, I’ll see
what I can do.
[opens the door, walks out]
AMBER
Thanks.
DANNY
Yeah.
[walks off]
Amber walks back over into the living room. She stops.
The number 1 is
blinking on the answering machine. She walks over and presses the delete
button.