Team Cookie Cabal

Actor: Justine Leah, Nicole Dubin

Sound Design: Eli Ramos

Director: Nicole Dubin

Writer: Eli Ramos, Nicole Dubin

Producer: Nicole Dubin

From Zapsplat.com

Cartoon insect scuttle millipede or centipede

Atmospheric horror drone, dark, sinister and tense with evolving low and high frequency elements

Household Mattress Sit Down On 03

From Freesound.org

“Gore Gourmet » dripping_splish_splash_blood_smash_flesh_murder_bone_break.wav” by EricsSoundschmiede (https://freesound.org/people/EricsSoundschmiede/sounds/513316/)

“BodyDrag2.aif” by bennchico11 (https://freesound.org/people/bennychico11/sounds/44407/)

“horror » Dropping.mp3” by Taira_Komori (https://freesound.org/people/Taira%20Komori/sounds/216924/)

“Dark Tonal Magic Whoosh” by EminYILDIRIM (https://freesound.org/people/EminYILDIRIM/sounds/580456/)

“Underwater sounds – loopable” by carmsie (https://freesound.org/people/carmsie/sounds/329915/)

“Open & Close Lock” by BergesteinProd (https://freesound.org/people/BergsteinProd/sounds/577009/)”my music box.wav” by Reitanna (https://freesound.org/people/Reitanna/sounds/242913/)

SCENE 1

SFX: An ominous ambient hum. We hear someone dragging something heavy. Then, someone lights a match and lights a few candles. We hear chalk scraping on the ground as they complete drawing a sigil.

ALEX:
There’s the candles and the summoning circle. And…

SFX: A knife flashes. Then, we hear a couple drops of blood drip into a bowl.

ALEX:
(HISSES IN PAIN) There’s the blood.

SFX: A page turns.

ALEX:
Okay, here we go. (TAKES A BREATH) “Cerberus, curator of silenti, sino phasmatis venire contra mihi.” 

SFX: A wind rattles the windows. The candles spark higher.

ALEX:
(A LITTLE IN AWE) Okay, it’s actually working! “Phasmatis, radix quod causa of vita, commodo adeo suffragium mihi in meus negotium.”

SFX: A blast of magical energy.

ALEX:
(CHECKING THE BOOK) Okay, graveyard dirt, stir counterclockwise with blood, anoint the body’s forehead. Sorry, Sarah, I know you were always squeamish about blood, but I’m sure you won’t mind. I’m doing this for you, after all.

SFX: The necromancer proceeds to pour dirt into the bowl, stir, and drag her finger across Sarah’s forehead. A squelching noise occurs, and the Necromancer takes a few steps back in surprise. They open the book again.

ALEX:
“Now verily, the body will be engulfed in a chrysalis of flesh and blood, where marrow and sinew shall stitch the soul back to its body before death.” (A LITTLE DISGUSTED) Okay, that’s what that is. “Leave the chrysalis where it lies within the summoning circle. As the body returns to its original state, it may cry and thrash about, but shall emerge unscathed and born anew from its cocoon in seven days time.” Seven days? (FRUSTRATED SOUND) No, no, dammit, I need her back now.

SFX: The necromancer looks back at the chrysalis, which has started to emit strange insectoid sounds.

ALEX:
Okay, no. Patience, patience. I can do that. I’ve been waiting for six years, I can wait one more week.

SFX: The necromancer rushes upstairs.

SCENE 2

SFX: A low, underwater sound. Occasionally, we hear fleshy sounds, then insectoid sounds, including the Phonic Fiction mandatory sound effect. We are inside the cocoon. Then, the sound of thrashing. A wet tearing sound.

ALEX:
(MUFFLED, AS IF FAR AWAY)
Sarah! I see your arm! Do you need help getting out? Wave your arm or something.

SFX: More thrashing. Dimly, we hear a knife, then a stabbing sound. The wet tearing sound continues and we hear viscera and water spilling out of the cocoon.

SARAH:
(COUGHING)

ALEX:
It’s you. It’s actually you. Let me get you out of there.

SFX: The necromancer pulls Sarah out of the chrysalis.

SARAH:
(STILL RECOVERING, COUGHING) Where are we?

ALEX:
Not the hospital anymore. Finally.

SARAH:
What is all this stuff? I’m covered in it. Eww…

ALEX:
Okay, don’t freak out–you remember that book we found in the attic that Mom wouldn’t let us read? Way back when we were kids?

SARAH:
Yeah…? The one you stole from her locked chest up there? I remember you having your nose buried in that a lot recently. I told you, it’s okay, you don’t need to have all the solutions, especially for me–!

ALEX:
But this is the solution! All of this, the book, the ritual, the… whatever we’re both kneeling in, all of this is the solution. Because you’re back. (THEY CORRECT THEMSELVES) Back home. How do you feel, by the way?

SARAH:
Okay, I guess? My lungs are still not in great shape, I have no idea what you did. But I don’t feel… as fatigued as I did? Yeah, actually, this is the first time in a while that I haven’t just fallen back asleep. How many sentences in are we?

ALEX:
Uh, you’ve said 13. 14 if “Eww” counts as a sentence.

SARAH:
And I haven’t just passed out in the middle of talking! I think that’s a new record.

ALEX:
I think we can beat it. Come on, let’s get out of the basement, your room’s ready. Go upstairs.

SARAH:
Uh, what about all the… flesh and guts and stuff down here? Jesus, did you dump like a bucket of pig’s blood on me Carrie-style? I hate how it’s still warm, eugh.

ALEX:
Hey, I’ll take care of it later. Right now, I think I just wanna talk to you, kiddo.

SARAH:
(LAUGHING) Okay, okay.

SFX: The two of them walk up the stairs and shut the door behind them.

SCENE 3

SFX: A door creaks open. Alex walks over to Sarah, carrying a tray of food.

ALEX:
You must have missed your bedroom a lot, you’ve been up here for like, four days at this point.

SARAH:
It’s getting hard to get out of bed again. I feel like my ribs are broken or something. Like they’re poking through my skin. (A DRY JOYLESS LAUGH) Thought that spell was supposed to help out. I don’t think mom ever taught me a spell that didn’t reverse a few days later. Or at least need renewing. So, when are you going to tell me–

ALEX:
I made your favorite, banana pancakes! Sorry you’re not doing so hot.

SARAH:
I mean I haven’t been doing too hot for years now.

ALEX:
Right… but hey, at least you’re home! They don’t cook mom’s secret recipes in the hospital.

SARAH:
Yeah, but I think we should go back, right? The bruising has not gone down.

ALEX:
(QUICKLY) No. We don’t need to do that. I don’t know how long they’ll keep you. Am I not taking good enough care of you?

SARAH:
No, Alex, that’s not what I meant.

ALEX:
I even listened to you talk butterflies for ages.

SFX: Alex picks up a music box and winds it. It plays gently as they talk.

ALEX:
And I didn’t throw out your little butterfly music box. You’ve had this since we were kids. Blue morpho in here barely turns anymore.

SARAH:
I’ve always liked them, come on! When you’ve been in a bed for like, half your life, watching something so delicate fly around is kind of… freeing in a way. (LAUGHING) Why do you care about this so much all of a sudden?

SFX: Sarah takes a bite of the pancakes.

ALEX:
(DODGING THE QUESTION) May as well start broadening my horizons. (CONCERNED) Look, the bruising will heal, Sarah, it’ll all be-

SFX: Alex goes for a reassuring squeeze of the hand, but instead we hear the sound of squelching flesh and cracking bones.

SARAH:
(HORRIFIED) Alex, my hand!

ALEX:
Oh, hell.

SARAH:
That didn’t hurt. Why didn’t that… What is going on? (FASCINATED BUT IN A HORRIFIED WAY) What did you do to me?

ALEX:
I–you– (FLOUNDERING) You just need more time… Please, rest.

SFX: Alex backs away. Runs. And shuts the door.

SCENE 4

SARAH:
Did you put something in those pancakes?

ALEX:
Nothing we haven’t eaten before.

SARAH:
It was good. All I crave is sweet stuff these days. But my tongue feels funny. Hey, do we have any cookies?

ALEX:
More importantly, how’s your hand? Need it for signing.

SARAH:
Still… not good. Alex, I think we really need to go to the hospital, I’m serious. Look at this.

SFX: Squelch.

ALEX:
So that hand’s done for, isn’t it? Hey, at least you’re not a lefty!

SARAH:
That’s not funny.

ALEX:
Sorry. And I am sorry, I didn’t think that would happen… I thought I did everything right.

SARAH:
You haven’t recast a spell in over two weeks. I’m bedbound, again. And I keep having dreams. Weird ones. Buried alive dreams.

ALEX:
(ADMITTING) I hear you screaming sometimes.

SARAH:
I know you can’t do anything, but it’s scary waking up alone. I feel like I’m getting pinned to the bed. The pain is just… needles. All up and down my sides. And my back too, I think I feel lumps back there. (SMALL VOICE) Alex, what’s happening to me?

ALEX:
It’ll… it’ll be over soon. I’m sure of it.

SFX: Paper shuffling.

SARAH:
Is this that thing you need me to sign?

ALEX:
Yep.

SARAH:
What is this, a conservatorship or something?

ALEX:
You don’t have to read it, just sign.

SARAH:
Jesus, some space please.

SFX: Sarah pulls the papers away from Alex and scans them, quietly whispering to herself.

SARAH:
Alex, is this–is this my will? (SHE SCOFFS) Okay. So I am dying. That’s a morbid joke. If it is a joke at all.

ALEX:
It’s… not. Look, you know how mom set up that trust, right? The one for all of your medical expenses.

SARAH:
Yes?

ALEX:
Well… after you… pass, the money’s all supposed to go to that charity group you volunteered for. The, uh…

SARAH:
The Nabokov Society.

ALEX:
Right! Right. It’s just… all of it, Sarah? Taking care of you was expensive. And once the money dips past a certain point, I’m gonna have to sell the house.

SARAH:
Is it that bad? What happened to the money mom left for you?

ALEX:
That’s not important.

SARAH:
(IRRITATED) I think it is. This is about my money, isn’t it? What did you do, spend all yours on some stupid new toy? New car maybe? I hear it when you leave the house. Sounds real fancy.

ALEX:
It’s not like it was easy taking care of you! I’m allowed to spend my money however I want to deal with the stress of–

SARAH:
(SLOW CLAPPING) Yeah, good excuse. Good show, Alex. So you want my money after I die. That’s why you took me home? That’s why you won’t take me to the hospital after this?

SFX: Sarah brandishes her hand.

SARAH:
You want me to sign this after all that? At least the Nabokov Society cared about me, missed me when I stopped going to meetups–you didn’t want to even see me until I was in a coma for the first time! I should have known this whole stunt was an act. You only care when you think I’m dying.

ALEX:
(EXPLODING) Do you really want me to be homeless for the sake of some… (INCREDULOUS) butterflies?

SARAH:
How desperate are you? I was in the hospital for five months, the money’s not releasing for another six years.

ALEX:
Sarah, I–!

SARAH:
Explain yourself. Now.

ALEX:
For a while there, you were really weak. The hospital couldn’t do any more for you. And before I came home, you… died.

SFX: Horror stinger.

ALEX:
We didn’t even have a chance to say goodbye.

SARAH:
So then how am I here?

ALEX:
You know how mom taught us that spell for keeping veggies fresh? They hadn’t taken your body yet, so I just…

SARAH:
Holy shit, Alex.

ALEX:
I had you on magical ice for a while, till I upgraded. (ACCUSATORY) See, I spent some of that money on you. Then I had to study. A lot. Took me all the way up until the deadline. The book Mom had… I don’t understand why she locked it away. She had the solution to save you!

SARAH:
How does that make sense, Alex?! If I’m alive, the money is going back to me.

ALEX:
Except you’re not alive to anyone. But me. You died six years ago, Sarah, but the money’s still in there! I’ll just claim I found an updated version of your will and we’ll be fine! Just like old times! I’ll figure out a cure for you. I promise.

SARAH:
That book was probably locked away for a reason because it’s not working. I’m rotting–or changing–or something! So your cure won’t work! Magic can’t help with whatever this is. It’s probably making it worse! (SARAH WINCES, THEN STARTS TO COUGH AGAIN)

ALEX:
You are so goddamn selfish, Sarah, you know that? We’re supposed to take care of each other and I have been taking care of you for so long!

SARAH:
Yeah. Sure. I’m such a burden to you, aren’t I?

ALEX:
(SNAPPING) Yes, you are.

SARAH:
(SCOFFS) You could have at least lied to me. I’m done, I’m turning you in. The state will take care of you.

ALEX:
Hold on! You can’t do that to me. I really did want you back. I’ll be patient this time…

SARAH:
What do you mean? The deadline…?

ALEX:
No, I… I pulled you out. Doesn’t that at least prove that I care about you? You kept saying how much you wanted to live. I knew you did, knew four days in when I pulled you out of that chrysalis. You just couldn’t wait to come back.

SARAH:
You took me out of the cocoon… early? Alex. It’s not the spell that got messed up. You messed up.

ALEX:
What? No, Sarah–

SARAH:
It’s like I told you before. When you take a butterfly out of its chrysalis early, it’s all… bits. Goop, basically. You have to let it come out on its own and find a place to inflate its wings, otherwise it’ll come out… wrong.

SFX: A cracking sound.

ALEX:
Your ribs–!

SARAH:
They’re not ribs. They’re… legs. Six of them. And my tongue…

SFX: It stretches, impossibly long.

SARAH:
(AS IF SHE’S HOLDING HER TONGUE, FASCINATED) A proboscis.

SFX: With a final squelch, Sarah transforms, unfurling a set of–

ALEX:
(HORRIFIED) Wings? What the hell are you?

SARAH:
(FULLY MONSTROUS, YET FOR THE FIRST TIME… FREE) Exactly what you made me.

SFX: With an inhuman shriek, Sarah descends on Alex.

ALEX:
(SCREAMS)

MUSIC: The butterfly music box plays, as Sarah flies off into the sky.