Alone

A lonely young woman tries desperately to connect with others while trying to keep something sinister from entering.

INT. HOUSE - DAY 

Open on a shot of a closed front door, inside looking out. 

HEATHER opens the door and walks into her front yard with a rubbish bag. The camera follows behind her as she puts the bag in the black bin, then takes it and wheels it out to the curb side. She looks up and down the street, then decided to bring the bin to the bottom of the street. She looks around; no one else is on the street, even though it's still light out. 

HEATHER turns and we see her face for the first time. She is a thirty something, no make-up, hair simply done, and dressed in scruffy jeans and a t-shirt. She has bags under her eyes, as if she hasn't been sleeping very well. The camera follows her as she walks back to her house, looking around with gentle curiosity but then back at her feet. Its as if she wants to see someone, but is nervous to be seen looking. 

She is at the front gate when she hears a sound up the street: a neighbour, getting groceries out of their car. Heather gives a very faint but friendly smile and a small, awkward hand raise that can only be interpreted as a wave. The neighbour doesn't reciprocate. As to whether they didn't see or just are not acknowledging her, it is unclear. The neighbour goes inside their house. HEATHER stands just outside her gate, slightly crestfallen. She walks through, locks the gate, then goes to her front door, opens it and walks inside. Before she closes the door behind her, she turns to look again outside of her house, up and down the street. No one. No one is there. She closes the door. 

CUT TO BLACK. 

CARD TITLE: ALONE 

INT. HOUSE- KITCHEN - NIGHT 

The shot opens again behind HEATHER. 

We slowly pan in as she does the dishes in a quiet house, only the sound of the water running from the tap. She is doing dishes for one person, next to an open window. There is one plate, one glass, one set of cutlery. Once she is done, she looks at sight of her not nearly full dish rack and pauses. As she considers this sight, we see in the window next to the dish rack a pair of red eyes looking at HEATHER. 

She glances up, seeing something out the corner of her vision. The eyes disappear as soon as she looks up. Seemingly unfazed, she continues to look at the darkened window, as if waiting for something. After a few moments, she takes a deep breath, then turns to the leftovers sitting on her counter, already in containers. The camera follows her as she puts the containers in the fridge, which is sparsely stocked. 

After closing it, she looks again out the window, just to be certain. Nothing is there. HEATHER leaves the kitchen and shuts the lights out. In the window, the glowing red eyes appear again. 

CUT TO: LIVING ROOM - MOMENTS LATER 

Heather sits on the couch, staring at nothing in particular. She looks at her phone. No notifications. After a small pause, she unlocks her phone and stands up. She begins to nervously pace as she makes a call. 

(The next segment is a montage of Heather speaking to various people.) 

HEATHER: Hey, its me. How's it going? 

(CUT TO:) Yeah, I'm good, thanks. 

(CUT TO:) Yeah, and how is Tom? 

(CUT TO:) Haven't chatted in a while. 

(CUT TO:) How's your new job? 

(CUT TO:) (laughing) Yeah, I know. 

(CUT TO:) Yeah, I've been good. Real good. Just doing my thing. 

(CUT TO:) Oh, you know... just hanging out, really. 

(CUT TO:) So, listen, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out tonight? 

(CUT TO:) There's that new movie playing and I thought you'd like to go with me? 

(CUT TO:) ... go for drinks? It is Saturday night, after all. 

(CUT TO:) (Small laugh) Oh my god, you're right. I thought it was Saturday. 

(CUT TO:) No, no, I've not been to work in a while. I'm just taking some time for myself. 

(CUT TO:) What? Oh my god, congratulations! Thats awesome news. Well in that case, we shouldn't go for a drink then. 

(CUT TO:) Well, Tom can come too. No problem with that at all--- 

(CUT TO:) Oh, right. Yeah. Yeah. 

(CUT TO:) No, that's fine, thats absolutely fine. I understand. 

(CUT TO:) Yeah, rain check for sure. 

(CUT TO:) Yeah, I just feel silly thinking it was the weekend. 

(CUT TO:) Heather says various good-byes. She stands and looks at her phone, sometimes with a blank expression on her face, sometimes with tears. There is no one. There is a knock at the back kitchen door. Slow and quiet. Heather stands and stares, trying to keep her composure. The knocking comes again. Slow and quiet, the same rhythm as before. She continues to stare. The same, rhythmic knocking, louder this time. HEATHER starts, and she is brought out of her stupor. She picks up her bag and leaves through the front door. 

INT. HOUSE - LATER 

Heather returns with a shopping bag full of candy, crisps and drink. She is singing to herself, a fun little song. She seems in better spirits. As she continues to sing, she looks at the kitchen door. There is no sound. Still singing, she goes upstairs. 

LIVING ROOM - MOMENTS LATER 

Heather reenters the living room in comfy clothes, putting her hair up in a messy bun. Picking up her bag of treats, she sits on her couch, turns on the tv, and begins to scroll. 

HEATHER: Now, what to watch? (She sighs as she searches a bit more.) How about a comedy? 

She selects something to watch and opens a bag of treats. She settles in, seemingly content. 

FADE TO: 

We hear inaudible dialogue coming from the tv. 

Heather sits, barely laughing when the laugh track sounds. Her attention strays, and she is somewhere else. The sound turns to tin, and tears come to her eyes. She is about to cry, when the laugh track is heard again, and she returns her attention to the tv. She does a small, half smile at the joke that was just told on the tv, blinks away her tears, and lays in a fetal position on the couch, continuing to 'watch' the tv. 

CUT TO: LIVING ROOM - LATER 

Black screen. 

Knock. Knock. Knock. 

Heather opens her eyes to the same rhythmic knocking from before. Only the light of the tv is in the room. She blinks, confused. The knocking happens again, but this time, on the front door. Heather jumps up, slightly less calm then before. She stands, breathing hard. A violent smash. Heather covers her mouth to stifle a scream. Heather begins to slow her breathing and trying to calm herself down. Her hands become fists, and when the violent bang comes again, she digs deep and goes to the front door. 

The camera follows behind as she goes to the front door and opens it abruptly. There is no one there. She stands, looking out into her front yard, and the street beyond. Just like earlier that day, completely empty. Only a slight breeze blows. Her gate knocks softly. She stands at the open door, deciding what to do next. 

Very quietly, almost to herself, she speaks: 

HEATHER: You are not welcome here, do you understand? You are not allowed in here anymore. 

After she speaks, behind her, in the light of the tv, a black figure with glowing eyes appears and stares at her. Its hungry for her. Unaware of what is behind her, Heather closes the door and locks it. Breathing deliberately and slowly, she returns to the living room and turns off the tv. 

The camera follows her as she begins to climb the stairs. She turns the hall light on, and we see a black hand disappear around the corner of the upper landing. Heather, unaware of what is upstairs, begins to climb. She enters the bathroom and begins to brush her teeth. She look agitated as she gets ready for bed, then turns to walk into her bedroom, shutting out the light on the landing. 

In the dark, right behind her, the red eyes. 

BEDROOM - MOMENTS LATER 

Heather is laying in bed, facing the camera. Wide awake, she has a look of cracking control on her face. At her bedroom door: Knock. Knock. Knock. 

A look of silent terror melts onto Heather's face. 

Again: knock, knock, knock. 

She slowly turns in bed to look at the crack in the door. Two glowing eyes stare at her from out on the landing. Her breath quickening, she turns back around, too terrified to move. Behind her, we see the dark figure enter her room, never taking its eyes off of Heather. Slowly, it begins to walk towards the foot of her bed. As we close in on Heather's face, she begins to silently cry. 

HEATHER: Please. Please, I beg of you. Just leave me alone. Please. 

There is a silence as a black hand lays itself on Heather's arm. She cries harder as the camera pans in, and the dark figure leans in close to Heather's ear, it's answer a high, other worldly rasping rattle. 

CUT TO BLACK. 

INT. ROOM - THE NEXT DAY 

Early morning light shines through the bedroom window. Birds are chirping, but the rest of the World is still asleep. The camera pans back to rest on Heather's profile as she lays on her back, looking up. She lays unblinking and barely moving. Almost like a corpse. She finally takes a gasping breathe as if she had forgotten how to. She slowly turns away and moves to get up. 

The camera slowly pans around the bed as she sits up, rubs her neck and eyes, but not as someone who is looking forward to the day. She moves like someone weary, someone who just wants the night to come again. She sits pensive with her eyes cast down as the camera comes to close in on her face. She finally looks up, out of the window, and we see that her wet eyes are red, though not from crying. Red like the monster from the night previous. She looks sadly out the window, about to cry. 

Its now inside of her. 

CUT TO BLACK. 

END.

Author's Note

I know that this isn't the correct format for screenplays. but I can't seem to adapt Final Draft perfectly :)