DON’T LET THE BEDBUGS BITE
by
Mark Weal
52 Cambridge Rd,
Portswood, Southampton,
ENGLAND. SO14 6US
+44 (0)23 8058 4818
mjw@ecs.soton.ac.uk
1
FADE IN:
EXT. DRIVEWAY - DAY
KATE and DAVE embrace in the driveway of their modest
three-bedroom semi. They’re a young couple in their
twenties and happily married.
Kate is seeing Dave off to a conference and is in slacks
and a T-shirt. Dave is looking professional in his suit,
briefcase in hand.
KATE
Do you really have to go?
Dave smiles at this, you sense it’s a discussion they’ve
had before.
DAVE
It’s only for one night. This
conference is important. If
Larry was going then I might be
able to skip it but he wants
someone to represent the firm.
Kate hugs him tight.
KATE
I know. It’s just I wish you
weren’t going.
DAVE
You going to be OK?
KATE
(a wry grin on her face)
Do I have a choice?
Dave kisses her lightly on the forehead and she releases
him reluctantly.
He dumps his briefcase on the backseat of the car and
goes round to the driver’s door.
DAVE
I’ll ring you as soon as I get
there.
KATE
You’d better. No boozing with
your mates and forgetting about
me.
Dave shakes his head as he gets in the car.
2
As the car pulls out of the drive Kate waves after it
until it is out of sight. With a brief look up and down
the street she heads back indoors.
INT. LOUNGE - EVENING
Kate sits slumped on the sofa watching television. The
telephone is cradled to her right ear.
KATE
(into the phone)
Nothing much. Just watching the
tele.
DAVE (O.S)
I’ve just bumped into Kev in the
lobby, didn’t even know he was
coming to this.
The TV blaring in the background makes it difficult to
hear.
KATE
Hang on a sec.
Kate fiddles around with the TV remote control,
eventually muting the television.
KATE
Sorry about that. I was just
turning the tele down. Did you
say Kev’s there?
DAVE (O.S)
Yeah, I’m popping down to the
bar in a bit to have a drink
with him and catch up.
KATE
Just the one drink of course.
DAVE (O.S)
Of course. What are you trying
to say?
Kate laughs at this.
KATE
Well don’t get too drunk.
DAVE (O.S)
You know me.
(beat)
Everything OK there?
3
KATE
Yeah, I’ll probably go to bed in
a bit.
DAVE (O.S)
I’ll keep my mobile with me if
you need me.
KATE
Thanks. I’ll be fine. Say hi to
Kev for me.
DAVE (O.S)
Will do. Sleep tight-KATE
Don’t let the bedbugs bite.
They both laugh.
DAVE (O.S)
Love you.
KATE
Love you too.
Kate hangs up.
The house is suddenly very quiet. The wind can be heard
picking up outside. Kate reaches over and turns the sound
back up on the television and snuggles back down on the
sofa.
INT. LOUNGE - NIGHT
Kate opens her eyes from where she has been nodding off
on the sofa. She stretches her arms and yawns.
Reaching over she switches the TV off on the remote
control. The house is plunged into silence again.
Getting up from the sofa Kate crosses the lounge to the
hallway.
INT. HALLWAY - NIGHT
Kate moves to the front door and pushes it firmly,
checking that the Yale lock has caught.
CUT TO:
INT. HALLWAY - DAY
It’s the same hallway but another day. A man in a boiler
suit is fitting a new lock on the front door. Kate is in
4
the background watching his progress, hugging herself
nervously.
CUT BACK TO:
INT. HALLWAY - NIGHT
Kate hangs the chain on the door and gives it one more
experimental push.
Standing back, she seems re-assured and heads down the
hallway.
INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT
Kate stands at the sink filling the kettle from the cold
tap. Outside the window the garden looks very dark and
ominous. Bushes blow around in the breeze and shadows
leap across the lawn.
Kate lowers the blinds in front of the window and closes
them shutting out the garden from view.
INT. BACKDOOR - NIGHT
Kate tests the handle to the backdoor. It’s locked and
secured. Some of the nervousness begins to leave her.
INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT
While she watches wisps of steam coming out the top of
the kettle a thought strikes Kate.
Quickly she opens the blind up and checks the window lock
on the window over the sink.
CUT TO:
INT. KITCHEN - DAY
A forensics man is dusting the windowsill and window for
prints while a policeman looks on. Outside in the garden
Kate can be seen crying into Dave’s shoulder as he holds
her.
CUT BACK TO:
INT. KICHEN - NIGHT
The lock checked Kate brings her hand down to find some
white forensic powder on her fingertips.
She brushes it into the sink and closes the blinds again.
5
INT. STAIRCASE - NIGHT
Kate heads up the stairs slowly, a steaming cup of
ovaltine in her left hand. With her right, she switches
out the lights as she goes, leaving a trail of darkness
behind her.
At the top of the stairs she switches on the light in the
bedroom. She flicks out the landing light, which leaves
her silhouetted in the bedroom doorway.
With one last nervous glance down the stairs she steps
into the bedroom and closes the door behind her.
INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT
Kate sits in bed, her knees drawn up to her, a book
perched atop them. The ovaltine steams away on the
bedside table beside her.
Outside, the wind blows stronger, distracting her from
her book. The CREAKING of the window frame grows louder
with each gust.
Finally, having had enough, Kate gets out of bed and pads
over to the window. She pulls it firmly shut and closes
the window lock forcefully.
Returning to bed she draws the duvet up even tighter
around her and goes back to her book.
Silence.
Kate puts the book down again looking uneasy. She reaches
across and switches on the radio on the bedside table.
Some cheery jazz comes out of it.
Kate goes back to her book.
There’s a loud THUMP from somewhere.
Kate drops her book, the bookmark cascading to the floor.
She sits bolt upright in bed. Her hand flicks out and
switches off the radio.
She listens, her head cocked on one side.
Silence.
Quietly, she puts her book on the bedside table and slips
out of bed.
She creeps to the door and listens carefully with her ear
to it.
6
Silence.
INT. STAIRCASE - NIGHT
Kate opens the door to the bedroom slowly, light spills
down the stairs into the darkness. She peeks from around
the doorframe.
At the bottom of the stairs, all she can see is darkness.
She flicks on the landing light with her left hand, still
not moving from the bedroom.
Still nothing.
She stands there for what seems like an age before
quickly switching off the landing light and shutting the
door again.
INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT
She climbs back into bed and picks up her book.
THE PHONE RINGS!!!
Kate jumps three feet in the air with shock.
Barely having got her breath back she picks up the
handset.
KATE
Hello?
INT. BUSY HOTEL BAR - NIGHT
Dave stands by the entrance to the hotel bar, phone to
his ear.
DAVE
Hiya babe. Just thought I’d give
you a ring to wish you
goodnight. You OK? You sound a
bit funny.
KATE (O.S)
That’s because you scared the
life out of me.
People are waving at Dave from across the bar and
signalling for him to come over. He turns his back to
them.
DAVE
Sorry about that, are you in bed
then?
7
INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT
Kate hugs her knees as she talks to Dave on the phone.
KATE
Just sitting here reading my
book.
DAVE (O.S)
I’m going to finish my drink
then I’ll be off to bed as well.
KATE
Just one for the road eh?
INT. HOTEL BAR - NIGHT
DAVE
Something like that. Anyway,
sleep tight...
KATE (O.S)
Yeah I know. Love you.
DAVE
Love you too.
INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT
Kate puts the phone back on the cradle.
CUT TO:
INT. BEDROOM - DAY
The bedside cabinet, draws on the floor, contents strewn
about, the phone off the hook.
CUT BACK TO:
INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT
Everything’s back to normal. Kate is staring absently at
the phone.
She puts the bookmark in the book and closes it, placing
it on the bedside table.
She reaches over and switches off the radio.
She goes for the bedside light switch but hesitates.
Finally she switches it off.
Darkness.
8
As her eyes (and the camera) adjust we make out bizarre
shapes and shadows around the room. Her breathing is the
only sound.
A strange looming shape seems to be in the chair in the
corner. Is someone siting there?
Kate switches the light on.
It’s one of Dave’s jumpers carelessly discarded over the
back of the chair. She gets out of bed, takes the jumper
folds it neatly and puts it back in the drawer.
CUT TO:
INT. BEDROOM - DAY
The bottom drawer of the chest of drawers out on the
floor, jumpers everywhere.
CUT BACK TO:
INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT
Kate, climbing back into bed and having another look
around. Everything seems ok.
She switches off the light again.
Darkness.
Silence.
Then, a NOISE.
The light is back on, Kate hardly breathing, not even
daring to take her hand away from the light switch. She
seems to be shaking.
Hearing nothing, Kate reaches for the phone and dials.
INT. HOTEL BAR - NIGHT
A mobile sitting on a table, switched off. The BUZZ of
lively conversation in the background.
INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT
An answer phone cuts in. Kate puts the phone back on the
cradle, now visibly shaking.
She gets out of bed and puts a robe on.
She moves slowly to the door.
9
She opens the door and peers into the darkness.
INT. HALLWAY - NIGHT
Kate flicks the hallway light on.
Slowly she moves along the hallway.
She looks through the open door of the spare bedroom.
Reaching in, Kate flicks the light on and then steps back
into the hallway.
INT. SPARE BEDROOM - NIGHT
She creeps into the spare room and looks around.
Everything seems ok.
Going to the window she checks the window locks. Outside
the wind is still howling.
She checks the wardrobe and peers under the bed from a
few feet away.
Nothing there.
She switches off the light and moves back into the
hallway.
INT. BATHROOM - NIGHT
Kate checks around, moving the shower curtain back with
the toilet brush so she doesn’t have to stand too close.
She looks at herself in the mirror. She looks haggard and
scared. She blows her nose and drops the tissue into the
wastebasket.
CUT TO:
INT. BATHROOM - DAY
The wastebasket is full of broken bottles and rubbish.
Other debris is scattered around the place. In the mirror
we can see Kate standing in the doorway in tears.
CUT BACK TO:
INT. BATHROOM - NIGHT
Kate looking at herself in the mirror.
INT. HALLWAY - NIGHT
Kate tiptoes down the stairs hugging the wall.
10
Downstairs is mostly in darkness, punctuated by strands
of moonlight and deep shadows.
INT. DOWNSTAIRS HALLWAY - NIGHT
Kate switches on the downstairs light.
Moving quickly to the front door she checks the locks.
INT. LOUNGE - NIGHT
The lounge is empty and as we pan slowly round it...
CUT TO:
INT. LOUNGE - DAY
The lounge, chairs overturned, pictures off the walls,
drawers emptied onto the floor. The TV and video missing
from their stand.
CUT BACK TO:
INT. LOUNGE - NIGHT
The lounge restored to how it should be, but somehow it’s
not the same.
INT. DOWNSTAIRS HALLWAY - NIGHT
Kate moves through to the kitchen, switching the lights
on as she goes.
INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT
Kate checks the back door. Locked.
She moves back into the kitchen and gets a glass from the
draining board. Moving to the fridge she gets a carton of
orange juice out.
CUT TO:
INT. KITCHEN - DAY
The fridge contents half-eaten and left on the
worksurface and floor. The door half open.
CUT TO:
Kate, wearing rubber gloves, on her hands and knees
scrubbing the fridge furiously.
11
CUT BACK TO:
INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT
Kate, shaking slightly, drinking the orange juice.
A THUMP outside. Kate is startled. She switches out the
kitchen light. She peers through the blinds into the back
garden.
EXT. BACKGARDEN - NIGHT
The door of the shed bangs in the wind. THUMP.
INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT
Kate, unable to stop shaking. She starts to cry. She
slides down to the floor, where she sits hugging her
knees to her chest.
CUT TO:
INT. KITCHEN - DAY
Kate in the middle of the wrecked kitchen, crying. Dave
is holding her, looking slightly helpless to know what to
do.
We slowly move around the kitchen taking in all the mess
and debris, sensing that the room has been tainted now.
CUT BACK TO:
INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT
Kate putting the glass in the sink and wiping her eyes.
INT. LOUNGE - NIGHT
Kate switches out the light and closes the lounge door.
INT. DOWNSTAIRS HALLWAY - NIGHT
Kate switches off the light and heads up the stairs.
INT. UPSTAIRS HALLWAY - NIGHT
Kate’s hand hovers over the light switch. She takes a
last look around, decides to leave the light on and goes
into the bedroom closing the door behind her.
12
INT. BEDROOM - MORNING
A thin shaft of sunlight peeks through the gap in the
curtains.
A bright summer’s day illuminates the room through the
thin curtains. The SOUND OF BIRDS can be made out.
As we slowly drift around the room we see a chair jammed
under the bedroom door handle.
The bedside light is on, a cloth draped over it to soften
the light.
The bed, at first looks empty, but looking closer a
huddled figure can be made out in the corner of it.
The duvet drawn round her like a cocoon, Kate sleeps on
her side, curled into a tight ball.
At last she looks peaceful, her cheek still glistening
from tears, a half smile resting on her lips.
We pull back and let her rest.
EXT. DRIVEWAY - DAY
Dave’s car pulls up onto the drive.
The engine switches off and he steps out.
EXT. FRONT DOOR - DAY
Putting his key in the lock Dave tries to open the front
door.
It opens about three inches and then the chain catches
and stops it opening further.
Dave stands there confused.
Pulling the door shut he moves off to the side of the
house.
EXT. BACK GARDEN - DAY
Kate is hammering nails into a loose board on the shed.
In the background Dave enters the garden from the side of
the house and walks across.
DAVE
Hiya Babe.
Kate doesn’t even look round and continues hammering.
13
Dave is by the shed now and sees what Kate is doing.
DAVE
I said I’d do that Kate.
Kate stops hammering and turns to face Dave. She starts
to say something but then stops, an angry look on her
face.
DAVE
I’d have got round to it
eventually.
Dave begins to back away as Kate slowly edges forward,
the hammer held high.
FADE TO BLACK:
DAVE
Babe...
(beat)
Pumpkin...
(beat)
Don’t do that now...
(beat)
Really, Darling, perhaps you
should put that down...
(beat)
Sweetheart?
FADE OUT: