Revenge

INT. BUDDHIST TEMPLE

The low hum of a Buddhist funeral chant is heard in the background. Our HERO, a teenage Asian boy, is wearing a white cloth wrapped around his forehead. He has tears in his eyes.

CUT TO:

INT. SUBURBAN HOME – LIVING ROOM

The HERO is holding an incense stick, and bows three times in front of a Buddhist altar. Two photographs, framed portraits of the HERO’s mother and father, seem newly added next. HERO plants the the incense stick and walks away.

CUT TO:

INT. SUBURBAN HOME – BEDROOM
HERO walks into his bedroom, and gets a call on his phone. He quickly picks up.

HERO
You find anything out?

FRIEND
Yeah, you gotta hurry though, dude.
I heard my dad talking, they found
the – the car.

HERO
Where?

HERO runs over to a desk and frantically finds a pen and paper.

FRIEND
Um, I’m pretty sure it was in Scarsdale. I think, Sagemont?

HERO
You’re pretty sure?

FRIEND
I’m – I’m positive. Yeah, uh. Sagemont.

HERO writes it down.

FRIEND (CONT’D)
What’re you – what’re you gonna do?

A pause.

HERO
Thanks.

HERO hangs up. Another pause. There’s no time to think, just act. HERO walks over to a backpack full of things he just bought. Duct tape. Scissors. Plastic bag. Inside the plastic bag is a receipt and a newly bought pistol. He takes out the gun and clumsily takes the clip out to make sure it’s loaded, then shoves it back into the backpack. He throws on the backpack and goes to the car.

CUT TO:

INT. CAR
HERO is slowly driving down a street, looking down at the address he wrote down while scanning the houses in front of him. His eye catches on a familiar sight: the cheap, but well-taken-care-of car of his childhood… his parent’s car.

HERO drives down the street past the house and parks the car. He tries to breathe slowly, but he can only manage short, staccato breaths. He grips his trembling hands, and makes up his mind. HERO grabs the backpack and slowly approaches the house.

CUT TO:

EXT. HOUSE
HERO slowly walks up to the front door and puts his ear to the door. There’s some sounds of movement, but nothing in view. He opens the backpack and pulls out the pistol and duct tape. The window next to the next door is slightly ajar and he quietly pulls the window open.

INT. HOUSE

After he sneaks into the house, he makes his way towards the source of the sound, aiming the gun in front of him. HERO turns the corner and sees MAN #1 in the kitchen, looking into the fridge.

HERO freezes for a second. He starts slowly approaching, and then.

MAN #2
Yo, we goin’ out or wha-

MAN #2 walks in from the hallway to the right and stops in his tracks.
HERO’s eyes widen.

MAN #1
What?

MAN #1 turns around and sees HERO. HERO starts to panic, but keeps his gun trained on MAN #1.

MAN #2
Hey… hey man.

HERO drops the duct tape and swings his gun around and fires two shots at MAN #2, who runs back and ducks into another room. HERO looks back, and MAN #1 is crawling out of the kitchen window.

HERO clumsily fires more shots, hitting the fridge, the window, and MAN #1’s gut and leg, causing MAN #1 to fall out of the window. On his way down, he slices his shin on a shard of glass. When MAN #1 lands, he releases a bloodcurdling scream.

Before HERO can think, quick footsteps are heard to his right and he’s tackled by MAN #2. HERO lands on his back just as he sees MAN #2 bringing a knife down onto HERO’s chest. He blocks the knife with his hand just in time, but the knife still pierces through his palm and travels down and plunges into HERO’s shoulder.

A yelp of pain.

MAN #2 and HERO are in a struggle now. HERO is pushing as hard as he can against the knife, but he can feel it drive deeper and deeper into his body. Out of desperation, he starts to jab at MAN #2’s eyes. One of the jabs hits its target, with a spurt of blood coming out of a socket, distracting MAN #2 for a split second.

HERO uses this opportunity to push MAN #2’s hand off of the knife and jams the knife handle into MAN #2’s face, breaking his nose. MAN #2 reels back and falls to the floor.

HERO, dazed, looks down at the knife in his hand and starts to pull it out of his hand. In the corner of his eye, MAN #2 slowly gets to his feet and charges at HERO.

HERO is still halfway pulling the knife out of his hand, so he grits his teeth, and rips out the knife and stabs it into MAN #2’s chest right as he is about to tackle HERO. MAN #2 is taken by surprise, and after a second, falls over. He starts to choke on his own blood as HERO stumbles over to the duct tape that he dropped earlier.

HERO wraps some duct tape around the gaping hole in his right hand and his shoulder, wincing with each step. He picks up the gun, and walks out the front door.

As he opens the door, he sees MAN #1 crawling away, leaving a massive trail of blood leading from the broken window.

HERO lifts up the gun and fires at MAN #1, barely missing him.

MAN #1
Hey man, what do you want!

HERO limps over and presses the gun to MAN #1’s forehead.

HERO
I want to hurt you.

Sirens in the distance.

MAN #1
Why! What the fuck did I do to you?

HERO looks shocked, but it quickly becomes anger. He pulls the trigger, but nothing comes out. With feral rage, he climbs on top of MAN #1 and starts beating him in the head with his pistol.

He continues to beat MAN #1 until his face no longer looks like a face. HERO, exhausted and in covered in blood, falls over to catch his breath. He turns over and sees his parent’s car. He crawls towards it and opens up the backseat door.

HERO crawls into the car and starts to sob uncontrollably. The sound of the sirens come closer and closer. The sound of screeching tires. The sound of policemen approaching the scene. All of that fades out, and only sobbing can be heard.

FADE TO BLACK:

END.

Originally Written on March 2019.