DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL

EXT. WOODS – DAY

Bare feet pound hard against the ground as a petite young woman, Anna, races through the brush. Her breath, hard and rapid. She dodges the oncoming branches and leaps over sharp-looking stones. Her long dark hair weaves behind, catching the breeze along with the flow of her white summer dress.

She takes a peek over her shoulder – just one – and her wide-eyed gaze, frowning lips, and worried brows suggest she’s not doing this as a hobby.

This is a chase.

One she fears she’ll never escape.

Deeper into the forest, the sun barely escapes through the leaves. Tiny rays dance around her every movement. But as she slows, a certain presence lingers near. A dark one. She clutches her chest, gasping for air.

Her breath becomes short and rapid.

ANNA: Oh my God! I c-can’t…run… (winces)

The tightness in her chest buckles her knees. The forest spins in place and a sudden chill fogs her breath. She rubs her shoulders in hope for some warmth, but even her hands were as cold as wet snow, despite it being the middle of the driest summer they’d seen.

The sound of crunching sticks creep behind her. Without turning around, her heavy gaze drops off to the side.

UNKNOWN VOICE (O.S.): Don’t worry. You won’t need either breath nor warmth much longer. (cackles)

Anna spins on her heels, facing her assailant. The assailant is an Effigy. Exactly as she is, but with all black eyes and ghastly pale skin. Like looking into a fun-house mirror of the future or of something dark within.

The Effigy has an uncanny mien about them. A type of confidence most rejected. The kind that’s purely undeserved in a twisted reflection of Anna’s fears.

However, Anna has a bit of a glow about her skin, brought upon a soft brim of youth and a successful influencer status. She tosses her arms down into tiny balls of fists.

ANNA: (fed up) What do you want? Why do you want to kill me? I don’t even know who you are.

EFFIGY: (rolls eyes) It’s not that I want you dead… (ominous) I need it.

ANNA: (begging) Why? What did I do? Please, you don’t have to do this. I won’t tell anyone if you let me live, I promise! No one will know. Please!

The Effigy backs her up against a tree with a sharp dagger in the shape of an ice pick pointing just below her jugular. The bark stings Anna’s arms.

The dagger presses into her skin further, dragging down towards the center of her chest with enough pressure to cause a slight mark, but nothing too abrasive.

Her breathing picks back up, more rapidly than before. She shakes her head, eyes watering.

ANNA: P-please… p-please don’t…

She starts gagging, uncertain why her throat aches with a scorched dryness. Her eyes swell as she inspects the back of her arms finding that the bark is covered in poison oak. Harmless to most, deadly to others.

They tilt their head with a slight, coy smile. Yet all she can see in their reflection is her face crawling with swollen redness, her mouth agape, and blueish streaks below her own eyes.

Tears stream down her face as she grabs out with a single hand, holding herself steady with the other. She pleads without a voice.

The Effigy backs away, disgusted.

Anna drops to the ground and attempts to grab at their feet to no avail. Slowing, turning more blue, and unable to see anything as clearly as before, her own strength fails, and the side of her face plummets into the dry ground.

A final breath puffs from her lips as the twinkle of life flees from her amber eyes, turning them from a golden escape into a blackened abyss.

Within her final moments, they acknowledge a familiar face.

CLAY DONOVAN