Act l Scene VIII – The Night Remembers
307 Words
Setting: The Adeyemi family house. It is few minutes to midnight. The entire house is asleep. Only the ticking of the wall clock can be heard.
(At rise, Bella is unable to sleep. She sits at the edge of her bed, staring into space. She rubs her forehead as if trying to forget something.)
Her phone vibrates.
She ignores it.
A few seconds later...
It vibrates again.
She looks at the screen.
UNKNOWN NUMBER.
She answers cautiously.
BELLA: Hello...
(Silence.)
BELLA: Who is this?
CALLER: A witness from that night?
Bella's face drains of colour.
BELLA: I think you've called the wrong person.
CALLER: No...
(A pause.)
CALLER: I've been watching you for a very long time.
Bella slowly stands.
BELLA: I don't know you.
CALLER: You know me...
You just don't remember my face.
(Bella's breathing becomes uneven.)
BELLA: What do you want?
CALLER: To remind you...
(A long silence follows.)
CALLER: ...of the man digging a grave.
Bella gasps.
The phone slips from her hand onto the floor.
Suddenly...
Images flash through her mind.
A shovel.
Fresh soil.
A frightened little girl hiding behind a tree.
A man digging.
Bella covers her ears.
BELLA: Stop... Stop... Please stop...
(Grace, awakened by the noise, rushes into the room.)
GRACE: Bella!
(Bella is trembling violently.)
GRACE: Bella, look at me!
What happened?
Who were you talking to?
(Bella stares at Grace with tears streaming down her face.)
She opens her mouth to speak...
But no words come out.
Instead, she throws her arms around Grace and begins to cry.
Grace, confused and frightened, holds her tightly.
She looks down and notices Bella's phone lying on the floor.
The call has already ended.
Grace picks it up.
The screen displays only one message:
UNKNOWN NUMBER
Grace looks at Bella.
Bella keeps crying.
The wall clock strikes midnight.
BLACKOUT.
- Writer
