“House of Shadows”:

“House of Shadows”: PART 1

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.