Fright (2024)

[bunniefuu]

[whispered voice] Emily

[whispered voice] Inside child.

Morning, Emily, have you mopped down

the scullery floor?

It was an awful mess this morning.

Yes, mother.

Good. Now I've got some

fresh bread from the bakery

and a good ham from

Mr. Chalmers in the village.

I thought I could make

you a birthday supper.

Would that cheer you up even a little?

- Maybe a little.

- I've never known

anyone so ungrateful Emily.

Your moods are beginning

to cast a black shadow over this house

and heaven only knows that's

the last thing it needs.

You need to get a grip darling.

I am not going to be around

to answer your every whim forever.

You do realise that, don't you?

[trees creak in the breeze]

[clock ticking]

[door knock]

Wake up Emily. You know

what to do. Hurry now.

Hurry along.

Good morning.

Morning Madam.

How are you today? Keeping well. I hope.

Yes mustn't grumble, and you?

I'm very well. Thank you for asking.

Just a couple of bits for you today

and this for the young lady of the house.

- Thank you.

- How is Miss Emily?

We don't see her in the village.

Oh well she's quite

well. Thank you very much.

I shall pass on your best

regards. Now I really must be

getting on, good day

Madam

[Out of tune music box]

[cough]

[Emily VO - Dearest diary.

Although I have such

little concept of time

and my days such as

they are still drag on,

today is a special day.

My 18th birthday has

arrived to little fanfare.

I can of course envisage

from the books I have read

young women on the

outside celebrating their

passing into womanhood

with grand parties

and with their adoring

friends and families.

All I have to aid in my

celebration, his mother

and this wretched house,

this prison built on the

foundations of my malaise.

I know she's hiding things from me.

Secrets she keeps under

lock and key.

Secrets I must one day expose.

I am going to take a walk

back into the village dear.

Do you have any specific requests being

that this is your special day?

Maybe I could make us a trifle for afters

would make a nice change, wouldn't it?

We need new cleaning cloths.

These ones are turning into rags.

They're practically useless.

Well, that's not very exciting, is it?

I can't be buying you cleaning rags

for your birthday now can I?

I don't need you to buy me

anything mother. Just be quick.

I'll do my best to be back by seven.

In fact, you should come with me.

What?

- Come with me dear. It's important.

You need to come with me

to the village.

No, mother. No,

Come on.

Come on Emily.

Will you come on, you

need to stop fighting me.

You need to leave the house

- No, please no. I can't.

- Come on!

[cough]

[Emily VO] - My mother

speaks of the village

as if this is something I

should be able to envisage,

something I should be able

to somehow conjure up in my mind.

I hope, dear reader, that you will

understand fully the anguish

and pain I feel, that I cannot.

I know that one day as

my mother grows older

and I mature in years, that

I will have to brave the outside

[rising heartbeat]

And the terrors that it holds

[Emily VO] as each day passes,

I grew more aware of this immovable fact.

[door slam]

[crying]

Aren't you going to open it then?

I do hope you like it.

I really do you have such

trouble knowing what to get to

as the years pass.

Mrs. Ratton at the

jewellers said it would've

been part of a set.

Well,

It's a kind thought.

Thank you.

It must have been very

expensive. How did you afford it?

It doesn't matter. Put it on then.

I might put it on later.

I really like it. Thank you mother.

It's just that we really should be

saving every penny for the

upkeep of the house.

I am afraid the money that

I earn won't even begin

to cover the work needed here.

We may as well spend it on something nice.

Now I want all that eaten up.

If you want to have any trifle,

Then why don't we sell the house?

Let somebody else take care of the upkeep.

It must be worth a fortune.

You know exactly why?

No, I don't, but please do let me know.

It's because of you.

It's because of your illness.

I would happily move from

this godforsaken pile,

but how are we to do that

when you cannot even open the

front door

and we've already sold almost

every damn thing in the place

And what of my father

surely he could help with

[slam on table]

You don't have a father.

I'm going to bed. I've had enough of you

and your attitude this evening.

I do everything I can for

you and this is what I get.

You are so terribly ungrateful

and you dare to mention that

scoundrel in this house.

His house.

[owl hoots]

[fox screams]

[eerie sound]

[thunder storm]

[loud creak]

Hello?

Who's there

[floorboard creak]

Mother?

[Emily VO] - I know it's out there and

despite having never seen its

face, never having looked into its eyes,

it represents the door

to this prison in which I am confined.

One day I shall be free.

Free from it, and free from her.

[cough]

What's the matter, mother?

You don't sound well.

I'm fine dear. Now, how

are you this morning?

How does it feel to be 18?

Much the same as 17, I would imagine.

Yes I suppose. Mother would now be a

good time for us to have a little talk.

I have some things on my mind

that I feel would be

very helpful to share.

Of course dear, won't

you come and sit down

now what is the issue at hand young lady?

You've not been yourself lately.

Let's see if we can make you feel better.

Is he dead? Who dear?

You know who? Mother.

I just need you to be honest with me.

Just this once. Why are there

No pictures?

How many times, we don't talk about him?

He's the reason we cannot afford to eat

or light this damned house.

But I want to talk about him.

Where is he? What do you

know? You have to tell me.

He's my father.

All I can tell you dear is

that he's not worth the energy

you seem so very keen on giving him.

I promise you, no good can

come from these questions.

Is he dead?

I don't think so. No.

You don't think so? So

do you know where he is?

You have to tell me.

I'm afraid I simply cannot. Emily,

one day you will understand.

One day it'll become crystal clear to you.

I promise you that. Now, I'm

going to take a bath and I

would appreciate some quiet.

Mother, stop, please.

What?

What's the matter with you now?

Why am I like this?

- Like what?

- Why am I so helpless?

Surely a normal girl of my

years would simply go out

and find her father and be

damned what her mother thinks.

I just want to go outside.

Is that really so much to ask?

You'll do well to

mind your tone young lady.

I don't know why you are like you are.

I suppose some people

are born blind, others

with a physical deformities.

You have your mental issues

and I'm afraid that is your

cross to bear, not mine.

[sobbing]

[birds tweet]

I know you say it's all in my mind,

but I truly do believe it

to be real. The creature.

It's not real Emily,

how many times

listen to yourself dear.

You sound like a mad

woman - creatures indeed.

Well, maybe I am exactly

that. Maybe I am mad.

At least that would confirm to me that

what I see is imaginary.

It would help me sleep at night?

I really don't know what I can say

to put your mind at rest dear.

- It's out there now.

- What?

Come and see for yourself.

It's in the trees.

There's nothing there,

Emily. Nothing at all.

What are we to do with you?

There is something.

- Then just name it.

- Sit with me tonight.

I can feel it in me. It'll

come to the house tonight.

I need you to see it.

Of course dear. I'm taking a

stroll into the village

in a moment - maybe I could get us cocoa

and shortbread, something

tasty for the vigil.

[narration] - I have decided

with some trepidation

to use this diary entry to

write a letter to the father.

I have never known - Dearest father,

The pages of this diary are a testament

to a life you have not known

to a daughter you have never held

and to a cursed house That

now holds me prisoner.

There is so much I can tell you about

how I have arrived at this moment.

So much you have missed

and so much I would dearly

[scream from outside]

MOTHER!

Please mother,

Help us,

please.

- Is she dead?

- No. She's breathing.

Please help me get her inside.

I'm sorry I'm I'm afraid I can't.

Please miss Emily, help.

I'm sorry. I'm afraid I can't.

Please forgive me.

I have a fear.

A fear that one day soon my

mother will no longer be here.

I fear that this will leave me bereft.

I am ashamed that I have

been left so helpless

by this woman, a woman I love

and detest in equal measures.

I'm sorry dear.

I am sorry for what I did.

What did you do? You are always mine.

That's why

still mine.

The whole world knew,

I could not let you...

You were so young.

So innocent

No, no, no mother.

No

Mother, no.

- November the third.

- What?

What did you say, mother? What did you say?

Look, all the doors, bolt

all the windows - hide.

Hide yourself away. Emily.

November... the third.

[sobbing]

Good morning mother.

What have you done?

What on earth am I supposed to do?

[narration] Yesterday was a day I

have been dreading for

what seems like an eternity.

She has gone and taken with

her so many secrets that I

so wish she could have shared

and me, I have a battle of

my own that has just begun.

I'm 18 now, a woman, and I

have to act in such a manner

and I have to overcome these

demons that reside inside me,

the demons that reside inside me

and the demon that resides out there.

Why have you done this? Why

have you chosen now to die?

And why did you teach me so little?

For goodness sake, I cannot

even prepare my own porridge.

I am helpless.

You must of course know mother,

that I will do all I can

to have you buried and for

service to be held in your honour.

I intend to use this obligation

as the jolt I require

to change my life, to be born again.

I must be brave.

I know, but I now feel I

have no choice in the matter.

Be brave, be born again

or perish in the bed next to yours.

[door knock]

[CRASH]

[whispered voice] Inside child, inside.

Mother

If you can hear me,

if you are in the better

place, please help me.

I beg of you, please come back

and save me from whomever

or whatever is haunting this place.

Is haunting me.

[narration]

- Dear diary, of all the

awful things that have

happened over recent hours,

one thought has entered my mind

and will not leave - November the third.

These were my mother's last words.

A glance at the calendar

tells me I have just a

month to wait.

I know of course that I need to eat.

I believe there are

provisions in the basement,

but mother has always told me

that it is an evil, malevolent place

and that I must never venture down there.

But still, I must eat

[whispered voice] There's evil down here

where the black hand hides

She thinks it's where the devil resides

The night.

Why must you come?

[thunder storm]

[thunder and rain]

[window rattling]

[window rattling]

[whispered voice]

- Emily

No, I'm not scared of you.

I shouldn't be bullied in my own home.

[whispered voice]

- It's time

Time for what?

You cannot hurt me. You are the outside.

And although this house is

my prison, I am the inside.

After all these years,

the years of torment you

of caused me - hurt me,

you cannot.

[door banging]

It's just noise. Noise cannot hurt you.

[door banging]

You are nothing. Just shapes

and sounds to curse me in my life.

I shall not sleep tonight

and not because of you,

but because I will wait

for the day to break.

And when it does, I will start a new life

tomorrow I shall be reborn.

[clock ticking]

[scratching at window]

[muffled whispers]

You are the outside.

You are the outside.

[whispered voice]

- Emily

[door creaks]

You are the outside

You are not here.

[whispered voice] - If

the girl goes to sleep

and is afraid no more,

[whispered voice] - Then

the hell that is outside

will open the door.

[thunder storm]

I have waited mother,

I have stayed alive

until today, the day you said that.

Well, you said nothing.

You uttered the words.

And then you died, selfish to the last.

[crack of thunder]

Your deed has turned the last month

of my life into a living nightmare.

And yet here I am, waiting for

the unknown,

waiting for nothing

[whispered voice] - If

she's left on her own and

is starting to cry

- then Emily knows that...

- Emily must die.

[narration] Dear reader,

this entry will be brief

as I have not the energy

to write more than a few words.

This house will soon lie

empty and the memories

and nightmares that it

holds within its walls

will soon be forgotten.

I hope that in the future a

wonderful new family will come

and make it a happy

place once more. For me,

however, it has been a cruel place.

A prison who's only root

of escape it seems is death.

Goodbye.

Goodnight mother. I hope

that we shall meet in the other place.

I hope that there we shall be free.

I love you

[music box playing]

[narration]

- Dear Emily.

Why are you not returning my letters?

I feel it is time for me to

explain a little further.

I do hope my letters are

reaching you young Emily.

Writing them is truly the only thing

that is keeping me alive.

How could you do this?

How could you do this to me?

I hate you. I hate you so much.

What have you done?

You monster.

[narration]

- I write to you in the hope

that one day you may

be able to forgive me.

So where to start?

Your mother and I met in 1910 on the set

of Jack Goldwyn's Moon over Cairo.

I was just a lowly stage

hand and she a chorus girl.

We were soon married much to the disdain

of your late grandparents.

All I can really say about your mother is

how wonderful she was at the beginning.

I can never excuse what happened,

but as her notoriety grew,

I found the transition

to playing second fiddle

to your mother incredibly demeaning.

The years I spent across Belgium

and France were a type of hell on earth.

But you know what was worse,

Emily? Even than that?

Having to see Anna's career rocket

and stardom beckon her while

I rotted away in a damp trench.

It was too much to bear.

[thunder storm]

[narration] Dear Emily,

I feel it is time for me

to explain a little further.

When I returned from w*r, my

brother Richard informed me

that your mother had been seen

out in town with another man,

a famous Broadway actor.

It was soon after this that she announced

that she was pregnant.

I was told that a nanny

would be brought in

to raise a child.

She wanted me, a mere Irish

commoner, to disappear.

This was not a course of

action I could tolerate Emily.

Dear Emily,

happy 18th birthday.

Oh, how the years have

flown. I have wonderful news.

I hope to see you soon.

The governor informed me

that my release date had

been brought forward due

to an error during my trial.

I shall leave this terrible

place on November 3rd.

I do not know if you are reading this

as you have never replied

to my correspondence,

but if by some chance you are, I want you

to know just one thing.

I'm sure you have been told

some hideous versions of

what took place in the

basement on that winter night,

but please believe me,

Emily, I acted out of love

and out of passion.

No one believes they're capable of m*rder

until they're pushed to their limits.

Your mother did not

deserve to die as she did,

but I did not deserve to be treated

as I was. In my mind

once she was gone, I could care for you,

but of course I was not in my right mind.

I was quickly arrested

and you, just a helpless

child, were left in the

care of the nanny.

I hope she looked after you, Emily. Soon

I shall apologise to you in person

where I shall make everything right.

Until then, Patrick,

You are not my mother.

Who the hell are you?

The basement - mother

[narration]

- Dearest Emily, my love.

If you are reading this

letter, then I am gone.

Please forgive me.

I should have told you all of this

before we parted but I was too ashamed,

ashamed of my appalling act.

I knew that terrible book.

I created - a book that

I made you read night

after night as a child would haunt you so

and haunt you it did.

I simply could not think

of a less cruel way

to keep you from the

evils of the world outside

and to keep you from

finding out the awful truth.

Truth is important Emily.

You will guess from

the newspaper clippings

that I kept, that I am not your mother

and I am equally ashamed of this betrayal.

Your mother Anna, was a wonderful

and talented woman, a

force of nature cut down

by a jealous monster called Patrick Quinn.

Quinn is not your father and

he knows this to be true.

He vowed during his sentencing

that he would be back

to finish his work should

he ever be released.

I of course, believed

he would rot in prison

until the day he died.

And this is why I have never

passed on any of his letters.

Letters that were full

of his twisted lies.

Quinn is to be released

on the 3rd of November.

Emily, I truly hope that

by the time you are reading this letter,

that date will have long since passed

and that Quinn will have

disappeared like the miserable

coward that he is - and that you...

[door opens]

Hello, Emily.

Where are you going? Look,

at you - you're a mess?

Why don't you come through here and

we'll clean you up.

First thing we need to

clear up is a question

that's been eating me

for many, many years.

Why did you not return my letters?

WHY?

I never saw the letters.

I promise you that.

Did you not wonder

where I was or even who I was?

Of course, I've been longing for somebody

to save me from this place.

What do you mean 'this place'?

Surely it's the dream of any young girl

to live in a house like this.

This is a house I've dreamed

of living in night after night.

I would happily have swapped.

Swapped!

You don't know what you're saying.

You have no clue as to

what I've been through.

Why did you m*rder my

mother? How could you

Well you see little lady,

if you'd read me letters,

you'd know - she was a wh*re.

She belittled me for years

and then when I was

away fighting, fighting

to keep her safe,

she screwed that man.

You didn't have to k*ll her.

You could have just divorced.

Listen, I didn't mean to k*ll her,

But things got out of hand.

I just wanted her scarred.

I wanted her to have a face

that no one could love.

A face that would stop her

working, stop her mocking me

and stop other men from wanting her.

But she was a

lot tougher than I gave her credit for.

You see, she put up

quite a fight.

I can tell you.

That is enough.

Oh, no.

No, it's not.

Do you know why I'm here?

Did that nanny of yours tell

you what I said? I bet she did.

Where is she anyway, where is she hiding?

- She's gone.

- Gone?

- Gone where?

- Just gone.

The other men I fought with

are all living happily now.

Some of them have grandchildren,

you know

What did I get?

Years of hell in that place.

And a b*stard child.

- I'm not your child,

- You're quite right?

But this is my house

and I intend to live in

it for the rest of my days

without you

So how would you like

to do this?

Best not put up too much of a fight

Downstairs.

- What?

- I want you to do it downstairs.

If I am to die, please let

it be where my mother died.

It's all I ask

As you wish.

Up.

- Where?

- What?

Where did it happen?

Here, let's just get this done.

I have other things to take care of.

Where Exactly

Here, this is where she laid.

I know who you are and I

know you are a good woman.

You asked for forgiveness.

I happily grant you that

Sleep well.