“House of Shadows”:

Part 1: The Breach (Scene opens in a dimly lit newsroom. Rain lashes against the window. Elena Ward, mid-30s, smartly dressed but worn down, sits at her cluttered desk.) ELENA Every truth has a cost. Some truths can destroy a man. Others can bring down a nation. The ones I chase? They do both. (She stares at her screen: an encrypted email with the subject line “RENNICK FILES – URGENT.”) ELENA (muttering): What are you hiding, Senator Rennick? (Cut to a hotel ballroom. Campaign banners for Marcus Hale hang across the room. Marcus, early 40s, charismatic and idealistic, is finishing a rousing speech. Carla DuPont watches from the wings.) MARCUS: This country doesn’t need more power brokers. It needs public servants. If you elect me, I won’t serve the powerful. I’ll serve the people. (Applause. Carla approaches as he steps offstage.) CARLA: That was clean. Sharp. The press is eating it up. But we need to talk. Privately. (They move to a quiet hallway.) CARLA (low tone): Rennick’s people want a meeting. Tonight. Off the books. He says it’s “strategic.” MARCUS: Victor Rennick doesn’t do strategy. He does leverage. CARLA: He does what wins. And we need a win. (Marcus hesitates, then nods reluctantly.) (Scene shift: A warehouse loft. Elena meets Noah Briggs, 30s, ex-NSA, ethically ambiguous.) NOAH: You’re playing with fire. Rennick’s been untouchable for decades. He owns judges, journalists… maybe even you. ELENA: Not me. I need what's in those files. NOAH: He’s hiding more than donor lists. There’s a black budget, off-the-books contractors… foreign ties. ELENA: And Hale? NOAH: Clean. But not innocent. He has a past—and Rennick has it in his grip. (Cut to a private estate outside D.C. Marcus meets Senator Victor Rennick in a library filled with leather-bound books and surveillance monitors.) RENNICK: Marcus. You’re doing well. Too well. That makes you dangerous. MARCUS: I didn’t come for threats, Victor. RENNICK (smiling coldly): No. You came because you know I can bury you… or crown you. You want the nomination? Then you play my game. MARCUS: I won’t be your puppet. RENNICK: You already are. You just don’t realize who’s holding the strings. (Victor slides a manila envelope across the table. Marcus opens it, his face darkens.) RENNICK: Fix your past. Or it will fix you. (Scene returns to newsroom. Elena scans redacted files: private meetings, offshore accounts, military contracts. Her phone rings—it’s Julian Rennick.) JULIAN (nervous): I don’t have much time. My father… he’s hiding something worse. I can get you proof. But we have to meet. Now.