MIDNIGHT CALLER

FADE IN:

EXT. SUBURBAN HOUSE - NIGHT

In a quiet street. Upstairs, a darkened bedroom window 
lies open, the curtain moving gently. 


INT. IZZY'S BEDROOM - NIGHT

IZZY, a teen beauty, lies in bed asleep.

No wait she's not asleep, she fidgets, she rolls over, she 
lifts her head up and punches her pillows into better shape.

She freezes as if she's heard something odd -- she looks 
over her shoulder -- her eyes WIDEN in shock.

Sitting at the bottom of her bed, watching her, is WILLY, 
a teen boy. Willy smiles charmingly and gives her a little 
"hello" wave.

                      WILLY
          Please don't be frightened, I'm 
          not going to harm you.

Izzy struggles to remember who this is.

                      IZZY
          Willy? How did you get in here?

Izzy glances at the window, air moves the curtains.

                      IZZY
          You climbed in my goddamn window?

                      WILLY
          You left it open.

                      IZZY
          I left it open for fresh air, not 
          so some creep could climb inside.

                      WILLY
          I'm not a creep, a creep would 
          have molested you while you slept.

                      IZZY
          Jesus, what the hell do you want?

                      WILLY
          I just wanted to talk to you, find 
          out what you were like. I watched 
          you in school today. I thought you 
          were very beautiful. You smelled 
          nice, too.

                      IZZY
          Gee, thanks, that makes your 
          creeping into my bedroom okay. 

Willy produces a cake from behind his back.

                      WILLY
          I brought cake.

                      IZZY
          What makes you think I want to eat 
          cake at two in the morning? Are 
          you nuts?

Izzy considers the cake, though. It's a good-looking 
chocolate cake with shiny icing.

Willy holds up a can of whipped cream.

                      WILLY
          I brought cream, and plastic forks 
          and paper plates, too.

Izzy frowns as she thinks about this.

                                                  CUT TO:

Izzy sits up in bed, eating cake.

                      IZZY
          This is good.

She notices Willy isn't eating.

                      WILLY
          Cake isn't my thing any more. 

                      IZZY
          That's because you're a goddamn 
          vampire.

                      WILLY
          H-how did you know?

                      IZZY
          I thought vampires couldn't enter 
          someone's house unless they were 
          invited?

                      WILLY
          Leaving a window or a door open, 
          that's technically an invitation.

                      IZZY
          It is goddamn not an invitation.

                      WILLY
          Do you know, it's been centuries 
          since those rules were imposed 
          upon us, without consultation I 
          might add. Their power has faded 
          somewhat over the years. They're 
          completely obsolete now.

                      IZZY
          Who told you this?

                      WILLY
          Someone who knows a lot. 

                      IZZY
          Huh. So why the cake, not that it 
          isn't delish.

                      WILLY
          Well I thought, you know, it would 
          be a nice way to say hello. I didn't 
          want to scare you.

                      IZZY
          I thought vampires were all about 
          scaring people.

                      WILLY
          Maybe some are, I'm not one of 
          them, not yet anyway.

                      IZZY
          Is it like an older vampire thing?
               (old man voice)
          Get off my coffin, you damn kids!

                      WILLY
          Ha ha, something like that, maybe, 
          I don't know, I'm new to this.

                      IZZY
          How did it happen? Were you like, 
          walking through the park alone and 
          someone jumped you from behind, 
          raaawrr!

Izzy makes "air claws" as she growls the animal noise.

                      WILLY
          It wasn't like that at all. I was 
          waiting for pizza delivery. I 
          answered the doorbell and he was 
          standing there.

                      IZZY
          He?

                      WILLY
          My master. He was tall and he was 
          handsome and his eyes seemed to 
          glow, and I was completely in his 
          thrall.

                      IZZY
          He brought the pizza?

                      WILLY
          No, he wasn't the delivery guy. 

                      IZZY
          What kind did you order?

                      WILLY
          Uh, Hawaiian.

                      IZZY
          So you opened the door and it's 
          your man with glowing eyes. What 
          happened then?

                      WILLY
          I invited him in and--

                      IZZY
          What happened to obsolete rules?

                      WILLY
          I was just being polite, I said, 
          "Hello, won't you come in?" as 
          people often do.

                      IZZY
          Sorry, go on.

                      WILLY
          And he came inside and he told me 
          to close my eyes and tilt my head 
          to the side, which I did, and then 
          there was this lovely sharp pain, 
          and then bliss.

Izzy takes another bite of cake and talks while chewing. 

                      IZZY
          How weird is that?

                      WILLY
          I know, right? And yet it was the 
          most natural thing to me.

                      IZZY
          Cool. 

                      WILLY
          I think I went to sleep. When I 
          woke up everything felt really 
          different. I could see so clearly, 
          move so fast. I felt so strong. 
          And I could float, too.

                      IZZY
          Float? You mean like, fly?

                      WILLY
          I guess so, though don't ask me 
          for a demonstration, I'm not very 
          good at it yet, I keep bumping 
          into things. It took me five minutes 
          just to reach your window.

THUMPING AND CRASHING NOISES FROM THROUGH THE WALL.

Concerned, Izzy throws her blankets back to get out of bed 
but Willy makes calming gestures, stopping her.

                      WILLY
          No, it's okay, it's fine.

                      IZZY
          That's my mom's room, what's going 
          on, Willy?

                      WILLY
          You don't need to worry, she'll 
          calm down in a moment, trust me.

                      IZZY
          Trust you, you crept into my room 
          while I slept, and you're a vampire, 
          how can I trust you?

                      WILLY
          Your mom just panicked, that's 
          all.

The noise has stopped, all is calm again. 

                      WILLY
          See, she's not struggling any more. 
          My master has made her his thrall.

                      IZZY
          Your master is biting my mom?

                      WILLY
          Well that's possible, yes, he very 
          probably is, but you have to 
          understand what vampirism is.

                      IZZY
          Educate me.

                      WILLY
          You called me undead, but you know, 
          it's not really like that. We're 
          not just reanimated corpses. We 
          don't just die, we ascend.

                      IZZY
          Your soul goes to Heaven?

                      WILLY
          It's more like, we're given flair. 
          We become shinier than we were.

Willy leans forward, lowers his voice.

                      WILLY
          You could have flair too, if you 
          want.

                      IZZY
          Is there a trial version?

                      WILLY
          What?

                      IZZY
          You know, like Amazon Prime, if I 
          decide I don't want to be a vampire, 
          can I cancel my subscription after 
          30 days and go back to being human 
          again?

                      WILLY
          It doesn't work like that, no.

                      IZZY
          Okay, then count me out. Thanks 
          for the cake and all, but it's 
          time for you to go.

                      WILLY
          Well okay, I tried the nice 
          approach, I guess I'm going to 
          have to be more insistent.

                      IZZY
          Have you even done this before?

                      WILLY
          Look into my eyes.

                      IZZY
          Are you a virgin vampire? Am I 
          your first victim? Oh my God.

                      WILLY
          Just, will you cooperate with me a 
          little here, why can't you just go 
          along with it?

                      IZZY
          I don't know, maybe because you're 
          the worst vampire ever?

Willy bares his fangs and looks nasty for the first time.

                      IZZY
          Hey, that's more like it, now we're 
          talking. 

A KNOCK on the bedroom door. 

                      WILLY
          Come in!

                      IZZY
          Hey this is my room, you know, I 
          do the inviting.

The door creaks open wide enough for a creepy face to push 
in, it's a man with a very pale face and long stringy hair. 
His eyes have rolled to reveal the whites.

                      WILLY
          Master, I am here. I am about to 
          make this girl one of us. I just 
          need another couple of minutes!

The head comes further into the room.

Willy's happy smile becomes surprise and then horror.

The head is not attached to a body. The severed neck drips 
blood. A hand is holding the head up by its hair.

IZZY'S MOM pushes the door wide. An older version of her 
daughter wearing a nightdress, her hair in curlers.

                      IZZY
          Hey Mom.

                      MOM 
          Everything okay, sweetie?

                      IZZY
          Sure.

Willy stands, stares at the dripping head.

                      WILLY
          What have you done to my master?

Mom holds up the head and looks at it, frowning.

                      MOM
          What, this creep?

She tosses it to Willy, who catches it and WAILS.

Izzy reaches under her bed, brings out a baseball bat and 
hits Willy so hard he flips backward out of the window. 

Izzy and Mom go to the window and look down.

INSERT Willy lying on the lawn, groaning. 

                      MOM
          He's still moving.

                      IZZY
          I just gave him a love tap to calm 
          him down. You okay?

                      MOM
          I'm fine. Son of a bitch bit me.

Izzy inspects Mom's neck.

                      IZZY
          You're good, hardly a scratch.

Mom taps the dead vampire's head with her slipper. 

                      MOM
          He really picked the wrong house, 
          didn't he? Must have been an out 
          of towner. Didn't know who he was 
          dealing with.

Mom indicates outside.

                      MOM
          Want me to take care of him? I'm 
          awake now.

                      IZZY
          It's okay, you go back to bed, 
          I'll handle it. Oh, you want some 
          cake?

                      MOM
          Dear God, he brought you cake?

                      IZZY
          A new level of vampire cunning. 
          Sweet dreams.

Izzy climbs out the window and jumps.

Mom picks up the head by its hair and leaves the bedroom.

FADE OUT 

                                                        Feb 2019