Day 23 Assignment

[carl marshall]

Carl Marshall QE 4
LOGLINE: One person promises the other that they kept the secret, but really didn’t
ESSENCE: REALIZATION OF BEING HUNTED
TRAIT CHANGED for: RENEE: From outgoing to fault finder

SCENE: MAXINE REVELATION

INT. LUXURY HOTEL SUITE – NIGHT

A spacious, dimly lit suite. Candles flicker. Rain patters softly against the window. MAXINE, dressed immaculately in an expensive robe, pours wine into two crystal glasses. RENEE stands near the fireplace, arms crossed, eyes alert.

MAXINE
(handing a glass to Renee)
To secrecy. And survival.

RENEE
To secrets kept and kept well.

They clink glasses. An uneasy silence hangs between them.

MAXINE
You told no one, right?

RENEE
(smiles tightly)
Of course not. I’m not stupid.

MAXINE
Good. Because if this gets out—

RENEE
It won’t.

A tense beat.

MAXINE
(eyeing Renee)
You hesitated.

RENEE
No, I didn’t.

MAXINE
You did. A flicker.

RENEE
You’re paranoid. No one knows.

MAXINE
Then why did my driver ask me about a “charred ledger”?

Renee freezes. Tries to recover.

RENEE
Coincidence. That could mean anything.

MAXINE
He said, “the one you and Renee buried.”

RENEE
(shaken)
He’s bluffing.

MAXINE
(pressing closer)
Did you tell him? Or did someone overhear you telling someone else?

RENEE
(defensive)
I told you I didn’t say anything!

MAXINE
(cold)
I didn’t say you *said*. I asked if you told.

Maxine steps closer. Predatory now.

MAXINE (CONT’D)
Did you need to feel powerful again, Renee? Or just relevant?

RENEE
(snaps)
I kept it! I did!

MAXINE
Then why did the hotel manager just send me *this*?

She hands Renee a small envelope. Renee opens it—inside is a photo: a blurry image of two women burying something at night.

Renee’s face drains of color.

MAXINE (CONT’D)
You buried the secret… but someone *dug it up*.

RENEE
(barely a whisper)
We’re being watched.

MAXINE
No, Renee. We’re being hunted.

Renee’s horrified reaction…

FADE OUT.