Chapter Text
Pages and Purgatory
By: AIM, DISCOPARTEA AND BSCADS
ACT 1
INT. SCHOOL BUS-AFTERNOON
Theo (17), looks out the window quietly as the bus wheels rumble against the rough pavement of the road. His friends Gail (17) and Joey (17) talk loudly in the seat beside him. Well, more Gail than Joey.
GAIL
(loudly speaking)
Dude, did you see that shot I did last game?!
JOEY
(bored)
What…?
GAIL
(Gesturing frantically)
WERE YOU NOT THERE?! Everyone was cheering so loud!
JOEY
(sighing)
They weren’t cheering for you, they were cheering for everyone.
THEO
(sighing even louder)
Do you two ever NOT talk?
GAIL
(pointing at Theo)
Hey, you’re the one being all moody sitting by yourself! Come sit with us!
THEO
(Disgusted)
I'd rather not. . .
JOEY
(Overly cheerful)
Don't ignore us! I know your into acting all emo, but what if we don’t get the same cabin?
GAIL
(whispering)
Hey, I actually heard a rumor about the camp, apparently… some kids went missing because of the counselors–
JOEY
Gail, it says “gullible” on the ceiling.
The bus screeches to a stop, and all the students file out of the bus, the three following. The rows of the cabins seem to stretch on, with a large cabin that must've been the boss’s built at the end. A tall man stands in front of the group, the main boss of the camp.
MR. HOWARD
…And remember, please don’t cause trouble. Our counselors have a lot on their hands at the moment… For the first day, everyone is allowed to explore the campgrounds. Meet at the campfire around 6 PM, and ask the counselors any questions you may have.
Everyone disperses, leaving the three in the main area.
THEO
…I think we should all pick a cabin together.
ACT 2
INT. CABIN-AFTERNOON
The three set their bags on their chosen beds, and Theo walks toward the door.
THEO
Guys, I’m gonna get some fresh air.
Gail nods, not looking up from his phone, and Joey gives a thumbs-up, going back to watching Gail playing.
EXT. CAMPGROUNDS-AFTERNOON
Theo steps out into the sunny campground, looking around at the beautiful nature. He follows the winding path, watching the sun slowly set. He checks his watch, 5:55 PM. He turns around after relishing the moment of peace, heading back to the campfire to meet with the other campers. When he arrives, the fire is lit, yet nobody is around it.
THEO
Uh… Hello?
Silence. Theo narrows his eyes, looking around confused.
THEO
Ugh.. this feels like something straight out of a horror story…
Theo hears footsteps, and he turns around to see a counselor behind him, smiling sweetly but with a mysterious demeanor. A sense of dread blankets Theo, only the sound of crickets rings in the dark.
COUNSELOR #2
Please follow me, Theo. You’re needed.
Theo feels compelled to run, and he does. He hides within the cabin at the end of the trail, the row of cabins for the staff, and shuts the door.
THEO
(out of breath)
Where is everyone..
The floor is covered with seemingly endless pages of frantic writing, and it seemed like nobody was here for a while; being used as a storage unit. Theo reaches down to pick up a page.
THEO
‘June 12, 2019’, 7 years ago...
Suddenly, the door swings open.
GAIL
See Joey? I knew kicking it open would work!
JOEY
Gail, how did you know he was in here..?
GAIL
Heh, just my instincts!
Theo turns around, still holding the pages.
THEO
Where were you two?! It’s 6:00, Nobody was at the campfire.
JOEY
We were looking for you, so we could go down together. I don’t know why you’re even in here.
THEO
Nothing… Wait,but it’s only–
JOEY
6 PM. Yes Theo. You lost track of time.
Theo stands up and walks to them, presenting the pages.
THEO
Dude, read these.
Although Theo hands it to Joey, Gail snatches it from his hands, reading it aloud.
GAIL
“Don’t let them take you, death is imm.. Immi-”
THEO
It’s imminent, Gail.
GAIL
That’s what I said, stupid. Anyway, this whole thing has to be a joke. We should just go to the campfire…
A faint rattling echoes through the cabin. The three turn to the far corner of the room.
JOEY
Oh God, what now…
The dim light from the setting sun flows through a nearby window. A silhouette of two bodies becomes visible, and the rattling becomes a thud.
ACT 3
INT. COUNSELOR CABIN-EVENING
Joey lets out a small scream as the sound reverberates around the space, shocked by the sudden thud. Theo puts a hand over Joey’s mouth, as if to shush him. The figures, obscured from the audience, but not to the characters, stop, as if focusing their attention on the group.
THEO
(faintly)
Oh my goodness…
JOEY
(shakily)
You… have got to be kidding me…
Note this scene should be painfully quiet, consider playing light background noise/music, then have it cut off. Joey’s outburst should cut through the silence. Maybe start up background music after the outburst.
JOEY
(approaches the figures, aggressively, but almost… hesitant)
I thought you all disappeared, but you were here all along... Why did you…?
Theo and Gail look over at Joey with a confused look. Joey sort of collapses on his knees, as if in shock. One of the figures walks up to Joey. It reaches down as if to comfort Joey, but then-
(Music in the background picks up, sounding happy and hopeful.)
COUNSELOR #1
(door slams open)
Kids! Is anyone here, it's getting late and we are worried!
There is a pause in the dialogue as if the counselor was going to say more. The music drops and becomes slow and ominous.
COUNSLER #1
(slow and warning)
Kids, I need you to get out right now, you don't know what you're dealing with.
The figures scramble away from the group, Joey reaches out but the figure doesn't acknowledge him. Theo grabs Gail’s hoodie from him, and picks up one of the many diaries from the ground, wrapping it in the hoodie.
THEO
…we just need to find my watch; I dropped it somewhere.
COUNSELOR #1
We can find that later, I want you to leave, kids.
GAIL
Alright, alright we’ll leave!!
(whispers)
…stupid counselor…
The kids walk out of the cabin, Joey being led by Gail, and Theo is keeping a firm grip on the diary. The counselor reaches out and grabs Gail’s wrist, forcefully dragging him toward their cabin.
COUNSELOR #1
For disobeying the rules of going into counselors cabins, you all will not be leaving your cabin for the rest of the evening.
GAIL
What about our dinner?!
You can't send us to bed without food, I'm pretty sure that's illegal!
COUNSELOR #1
(looking down in disgust)
Sure, we'll send food to your cabin.
The counselor walks out and slams the door on them. The boys are left in silence, the sounds of the campground playing around them.
GAIL
(in a shaky voice)
That was weird.
THEO
Tell me about it.
JOEY
So Gail, I know I just dismissed you when you
were talking about the whole kids disappearing thing…
GAIL
(Starts speaking, but stops as if reconsidering)
Yes…?
JOEY
(takes a deep breath)
Before I moved to Garland, I had a good friend, Sandra. She was two years older than me but we hung out all the time. The summer before sixth grade, her parents had to go on a month-long work trip. So she was put in an away-camp.
GAIL
You’re not saying she went to this camp..?
JOEY
(nods)
I never knew the exact name of the camp but… I'm pretty sure it was this camp. Anyway, she never really liked her parents, so when the camp told us she ran away... we believed them.
THEO
So she disappeared.
JOEY
I mean, sure but– (chokes up emotionally) that figure, it was warped and groutesque but... I think it was her.
Gail puts his arm around Joey’s shoulder, trying to comfort him as he holds back tears.
JOEY
That was the main reason I moved to our town, it was too hard to be around where she disappeared.
THEO
(pulls out the diary)
I picked this up from the floor, when we were hiding…
GAIL
(Grabs the diary from Theo’s hands)
Sandra Gutierrez, dated June 2019.
JOEY
That's her, she always kept tons of diaries.
GAIL
(Flipping through the pages and wincing)
This girl really does not like her parents, and she is really salty about going to this camp. If she said any of this aloud, I don't blame you for thinking she just ran away.
THEO
What else does it say?
GAIL
Uh… she was sneaking around the kitchens at night and saw the staff… oh God… I'm going to be sick.
THEO
(grabs book)
Holy hell, it says (gags)that she saw the staff preparing a human body, but in the way that someone prepares meat.
Silence falls over the cabin, the music and ambiance fades out leaving dead silence, out of nowhere footsteps on gravel are heard faintly outside the cabin, MUSIC becomes ominous.
THEO
(stammering, in a low tone)
And that the chunks of prepared flesh were dumped into the soup and sandwiches they served the next day.
The footsteps get louder and louder all the group freeze and turn towards the door.
MR. HOWARD
Hello kids, I have your dinner!
The door opens and Mr. Howard walks in, balancing three plates of food in his hands. When he sees all the kids on the floor gathered around the open diary, the MUSIC turns dark once again.
MR.HOWARD
You have no idea what you're doing.
JOEY
You killed them!
MR.HOWARD
YOU HAVE NO IDEA!
Mr.Howard throws the plate at the wall, and stomps towards the group, they stand up clutching the diary.
JOEY
Get away from us you monster!
MR.HOWARD
They wont believe you, you have nothing to back it up!
GAIL
This whole book is filled with proof!
MR.HOWARD
The ramblings of a depressed teenager are no good for you! I think I’ll just take that and leave you all to eat.
The group runs to the window, Mr. Howard letting out a scream behind them, hiding in the forest edge.
THEO
God damn it— We need to call the cops, but they took our phones on the bus…
JOEY
Gail, didn’t you sneak your phone in?
GAIL
Yeah, I did…
Gail frantically dials 911, while Joey and Theo peer over the bushes looking for counselors or Mr. Howard.
CALL RECEIVER
911, how can I help you?
Time passes to morning, bright blue and red lights illuminating from a police car. An interviewer stands in front of the three boys.
INTERVIEWER
So what happened next?
The campground is covered in police tape. The boys stand next to a news reporter who holds a microphone up to their faces.
JOEY
Well, the police arrived and they apprehended Mr.Howard. They also launched a full scale investigation into the camp.
THEO
They found some really disturbing things in there and well, at least it makes us not sound crazy.
INTERVIEWER
You mentioned some grotesque figures that resembled your friend, did you ever get an update on that?
JOEY
Well, that's the one part of our story that sounds truly crazy, they never found anything related to that.
THEO
It was… weird for the most part. We never did get answers for the things that went on in that campground, all we can do is put that behind us and live out our new lives.
INTERVIEWER
Absolutely inspiring. And what about you young man?
The interviewer turns to Gail, who is blankly staring at the forest edge and into the bushes.
GAIL
I… uh… I guess we have to move on.
There is nothing else left to do now.
END OF PLAY