(The) Femme Fatale (Working Title) By Rob West

INT. CASTLE MARKET. DAY. 12:00PM ADAM PRAED walks through a worn and old-fashioned looking market, he looks to be in his early thirties and is relatively well built. He passes row after row of stalls and shoppers until he reaches an office door. He knocks and then enters the room. He is greeted by JOHN GREENE, who is sitting behind his desk and of a similar age to ADAM, wearing a navy blue security guard uniform. JOHN GREENE Ah! Mister Praed, so nice to see you again. The men shake hands, and JOHN motions to the chair in front of his desk. JOHN GREENE Please, take a seat. ADAM PRAED Thank you. JOHN takes a seat behind his desk and smiles at ADAM. JOHN GREENE So how are you settling in to the city? I understand youve only recently moved in. ADAM PRAED Yes. Very well thank you, Im looking forward to starting work. JOHN laughs, not breaking his gaze with ADAM. JOHN GREENE Im sure. well, Im just glad you could start so soon. I was very impressed during the interview. Glad to find someone with decent experience as a night guard. ADAM PRAED I understand youll be showing me around this afternoon. JOHN GREENE Yes yes, well begin right away Shall we? The men stand up and JOHN leads the way out of the room. They walk through the market. JOHN GREENE I take it you have already been shown round the building?

(CONTINUED)

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2.

ADAM PRAED Yes, I was given the tour this morning, its quite a bit bigger than I had anticipated. He chuckles. JOHN GREENE Yes. And built on an old medieval castle would you believe. You can still see the foundations in the lower levels. ADAM PRAED So the woman who gave me the tour told me this morning, apparently it was a prison for women suspected of witchcraft. JOHN GREENE Linda has such a wild imagination, it was just a barracks. At any rate, did she tell you about the basement? ADAM PRAED No? Is there something I should know. JOHN stops and looks at him quite seriously. JOHN GREENE Well...Yes, the floor is terribly deteriorated down there so we keep it locked at all times. You must never go down there. Health and Safety and all that. JOHN looks at ADAM sternly for a moment then laughs again quite wholeheartedly as they reach a door. He opens it and lets ADAM enter before following. INT. CASTLE MARKET STAFF LOCKER ROOM. DAY. 12:15PM The men enter a small locker room, JOHN goes over to a cupboard and opens it, removing some blue clothes. He hands them to ADAM. JOHN GREENE Here. This is your uniform. ADAM take the bundle as JOHN turns back to the cupboard. He removes a radio, a flashlight and a set of keys.

(CONTINUED)

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JOHN GREENE Also, youll want these. Those will come in handy at night. ADAM PRAED Thanks. JOHN GREENE Those keys are for all the main doors in the building, this small one... JOHN holds up a small key on the chain. JOHN GREENE (CONTD.) ...is for your locker, which is over here. Used to be Old Bills. ADAM PRAED He was the previous night guard? JOHN nods. JOHN GREENE Yes, we were all quite fond of him. It was terribly sad when he... passed. ADAM PRAED Oh Im sorry to hear... JOHN GREENE (CUTS HIM OFF) Its alright. Good luck tonight and Ill see you in the morning. JOHN leaves the room and ADAM turns and opens his locker. The door swings open and a small photograph falls out. ADAM picks it up and sees a worn image of a young woman. He is intrigued by her and gazes for a moment before putting the picture in his pocket. INT. CASTLE MARKET SECURITY OFFICE. NIGHT. 11:59PM ADAM sits alone behind the desk. He is staring at the photo of the woman and seems quite absorbed in it. Sounds of faint whispers can be heard. He snaps from his trance-like pose and places the photo on his desk. As he does this the lights go out in the room. Sounds of him cursing and scrambling for his torch. He enters the hallway of the market, the only light is from his torch. As he scans around the place, he hears a muffled shuffling. His beam catches a glimpse of something move. He moves further in seeing more frequent flashes of someone wearing a Grey dress.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: ADAM PRAED Whos there!?

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For a second he thinks he sees a womans face (making voiceless speech in a trance-like manner with her mouth) reflecting in a glass window. He flinches and backs away. ADAM PRAED Show yourself! His breathing can be heard but all goes still for a moment as the sound of heels clacking on the floor get nearer and nearer. He turns behind him as something creeps up and brushes past, knocking him to the floor. His torch goes out. INT. CASTLE MARKET CAFE. NIGHT. (NO TIME IN PARTICULAR) ADAM is in a small cafe, he is sitting in a seat with a table. Slowly revealed is a woman sitting beside him. He looks at her. Her name is LILY WIGHT (23) she looks quite beautiful but is very pale. She is wearing a thin Grey dress. ADAM recognizes her from the photograph. LILY WIGHT So nice of you to join me... ADAM stares at her, looking quite alarmed. ADAM PRAED Its you. The woman in the photograph. LILY smiles at him and puts her hand on his cheek. LILY WIGHT Yes, I see youve taken quite a liking to it. Ive taken quite a liking to you, Adam. Her hand moves across his face, she moves her lips close to his ear, teasingly. ADAM recoils from her slightly but cannot really move far. ADAM PRAED Whats going on? How do you know my name? LILY WIGHT I know quite a lot about you darling. I know why youve moved here and taken this job. I know about the girl. ADAM looks shocked. He still cant really move, LILY kisses his cheek.

(CONTINUED)

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5.

ADAM PRAED She looked old enough. LILY takes her hand off him and smirks. LILY WIGHT Looks can be deceiving. But its okay. I can look after you. ADAM PRAED I dont need your help, Im past all that now. LILY places her hands back on him, turning his face to meet hers. LILY WIGHT Yet I can sense your guilt, your remorse. Dont be afraid. I can help you. If you let me. ADAM motions as if to dispute her but she places her hand on his mouth. He closes his eyes as she kisses his forehead. LILY WIGHT Youre mine! Just like the others. INT. CASTLE MARKET SECURITY OFFICE. MORNING. 06:15AM ADAM wakes abruptly at his desk. Hed been sleeping on his arms. He looks around and sees another JOHN GREENE grinning at him. JOHN GREENE Youre still here? Have a rough night? He laughs as ADAM stands up from his chair. ADAM PRAED Must have dozed off. Guess my body isnt used to these long night shifts yet. JOHN GREENE How are you feeling? ADAM picks up the photograph of LILY from the desk. ADAM PRAED Do you know who this is? He passes him the photo. JOHNS face goes sour. He sighs.

(CONTINUED)

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JOHN GREENE How did you get this? ADAM PRAED But you know who it is? John opens a file from the drawer, he pulls out a small newspaper article and places it in front of ADAM. JOHN GREENE Since youre so interested, yeah. Her name was Lily Wight. She went missing around the time of the Markets opening back in 1963. My father worked here at the time, she was never found. Only her clothes turned up, neatly folded and left right in the middle of the marketplace. But thats all ancient history. ADAM reads the article in his hand. ADAM PRAED Wow. you look a lot like your dad. JOHN GREENE Haha, Bill told me the same. He became kind of obsessed with the case, seemed to think she was killed here and buried somewhere in the foundations. He said hed seen her ghost. Paranoia if you ask me. JOHN sighs and looks mournful for a moment but notices ADAMS confused expression. JOHN GREENE You should get home, get some proper rest. Dont worry about Bills nonsense. Lily Wight hasnt been seen in fifty years. ADAM nods. ADAM PRAED I guess youre right. See you later. He walks out after putting the photograph on the desk. JOHN GREENE picks it up and crumples it in his hand.

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INT. CASTLE MARKET. NIGHT. 12:01AM ADAM PRAED walks through the market, he can hear a dripping sound and using his torch for light, looks for the source. He stumbles across a pool of blood which is dripping from above, bloody footprints leave the puddle and go off round the corner. They are boot shaped. He follows the trail to the back of the market where there are two kids rides. As he approaches they switch on and begin playing their music and rocking back and forth. Whispering builds in the background as ADAM can feel a presence with him. Suddenly the music stops and the lights go out, then a single light appears over a LILY WIGHTS body on the floor, she is in a pool of blood which is where the footprint trail ends. ADAM rushes over to the body, kneeling down beside her. As he does this LILY sits up sharply, her eyes flare and she lets out a bloodcurdling scream. INT. CASTLE MARKET SECURITY OFFICE. NIGHT. 11:59PM ADAM is eating a pot noodle and watching the security cameras. As he eats fragmented audio flashbacks can be heard. JOHN GREENE (FLASHBACK) Second night on the job and I find you asleep on the floor. ADAM PRAED (FLASHBACK) Im sorry John...its this place...I think Im going mad. JOHN GREENE (FLASHBACK) Youre starting to sound like Bill...I told you to forget that nonsense. ADAM PRAED (FLASHBACK) If only it was that easy to forget. One camera shows a shot of an empty row of market stalls. Suddenly the image flickers to to show a set of womans clothes lying neatly folded on the floor. ADAM does a double take but the clothes are still there. The screen flickers again and he sees LILY standing, staring directly up at him. He rushes down to to the shop level. Upon reaching the clothes he hears her voice behind him. LILY WIGHT So glad you could make it sweetie.

(CONTINUED)

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She laughs quite disturbingly. ADAM looks around for her but instead sees bloody footprints leading toward the basement. ADAM PRAED Not this again... Following them; he reaches the basement door, to his shock it is wide open. He moves to the doorway and can see a man hanging from a noose tied to the ceiling. He is wearing a blue uniform and looks quite old. He recoils. LILY appears near the corpse, she moves around it, groping and touching it. The whispering can be heard quite loudly. Sounds like an incantation. LILY WIGHT Whats that Lilith my sweet? A visitor? She turns to ADAM in the doorway. He begins to back off. ADAM PRAED Who is that? What the hell is going on? LILY WIGHT Dont you know? Surely you can work it out. ADAM PRAED Old Bill... LIL laughs and the door to the basement swings shut in front of ADAM. LILY WIGHT He belongs to me now! ADAM runs back to the shop area, he can hear LILY laughing still and the lights are flashing on and off. In the distance he can see her approaching him in the intervals of light. She moves gracefully and calmly. ADAM PRAED Back off! Im warning you. Stay away! She is now right in front of him. LILY WIGHT Oh no dear. I dont think you understand. She disappears. Behind him ADAM hears a new voice. That of a young girl.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: GIRL No Mister Praed. Please stop.

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ADAM turns in horror to see the young girl he was accused of having underage sex with. ADAM PRAED No. She never said that! GIRL Please stop. Please. Youre hurting me! ADAM PRAED Youve got it all wrong! ADAM turns and runs, LILY can be heard laughing still. He reaches the lift and gets in. He presses the up button but the lift take him down. The door opens to reveal LILY. She grabs him through the door and pushes him to the floor. LILY WIGHT Youre mine. I told you that! ADAM PRAED No, youre not Lily Wight. Looks can be deceiving. You said it yourself! She laughs. LILY WIGHT I can be anything you like sweetie. How about that little girl again? ADAM gets to his feet and looks around for her location in the dark. GIRL Do you want me? ADAM PRAED No!I dont. I never did. He backs up against the door to the basement, LILY reappears in front of him. LILY WIGHT Well thats too bad... youre right about one thing though. I am not Lily. ADAM PRAED What are you then? She moves closer to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. (CONTINUED)

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LILY WIGHT So long have I been down here... centuries. Trapped in the darkness until HE unleashed me. ADAM PRAED Who?! LILY WIGHT You know who, he even gave me a body to inhabit; in exchange for his survival... ADAM PRAED ...John... it was him in that photo! LILY cackles manically. ADAM tries to struggle, but her grip is too tight. LILY WIGHT You neednt worry now, your sins are washed in blood and fear...behold my true form! ADAM lets out a terrified yell. INT. CASTLE MARKET BASEMENT. NIGHT. 01:00AM There is the door to the basement. ADAM can be heard screaming and banging on the door from the other side. He is trapped in there with LILY. From the shadows JOHN GREENE is revealed by the flame of his cigarette as it hangs in his mouth. We hear a ADAMS screams stop abruptly as a loud thud hits. We hear a terrifying shriek as blood oozes from under the door. JOHN steps forward with a mop in his hand. Fade to Black. INT. CASTLE MARKET. DAY. 12:00PM A MAN (33) walks through a worn and old-fashioned looking market, he looks to be in his early thirties and is relatively well built. He passes row after row of stalls and shoppers until he reaches an office door. He knocks and then enters the room. Faint whispering builds through the walk and echoed laughter can be heard as he enters the room. The shot pans to reveal LILY standing in the background. Watching.