Kat
Kat
Are you still alive?
Kat
Kat
You haven’t sent me a Snapchat in like, 3 hours…
Kat
Kat
That’s got to be a record 😜
Jenna
Jenna
Lol. I’m alive and…
Jenna
Jenna
I’m in love ❤️❤️
Kat
Kat
With Jonathan?! Ugh, seriously, Jenna?!
Kat
Kat
A magical prom night doesn’t change the facts…
Kat
Kat
He’s a tool.
Jenna sighs, and looks over at her prom date, Jonathan.
He’s asleep, breathing deeply in bed beside her.
She quietly rolls out from under the covers…
Slips on one of Jonathan’s oversized t-shirts…
And tip-toes to the cabin’s kitchen.
Rain hammers the roof above, and lightning flashes outside…
Causing dark shadows to lurch across the cabinets.
Weird how a remote cabin can seem so romantic during the day…
And so creepy at night.
Jenna shivers, then goes to the refrigerator for a glass of water.
Magnets hold old photographs to the fridge door.
Jenna’s eyes linger on one, crinkled with age…
An unsmiling teenage couple poses in front of the cabin.
There’s something…off about the picture…
But Jenna can’t quite figure out what it is.
She shudders as she tries to shake the uncanny feeling.
Kat
Kat
Honestly, I can’t believe your mom let you go to the cabin *alone* with him.
Jenna
Jenna
Lol…it took a LOT of convincing…
Jenna
Jenna
Aaaand a little bit of lying 😈
Kat
Kat
OMG! What did she think you were doing after prom?
Jenna
Jenna
She thinks we’re at a cabin…with a bunch of other couples.
Jenna
Jenna
No way would she let me go just the two of us.
Jenna
Jenna
Not after what happened to Aunt Liza.
Kat
Kat
Aunt Liza?
Jenna
Jenna
I’ve definitely told you about her.
Jenna
Jenna
She disappeared after her prom?
Jenna
Jenna
And they never found her?
Jenna
Jenna
Apparently it was a huge media thing for months back in the ‘80s.
Kat
Kat
Oooooh, right.
Jenna
Jenna
My mom doesn’t really talk about her much.
Jenna
Jenna
We just have an old photo on the bookshelf that she dusts every day.
Jenna
Jenna
It’s kind of weird, to be honest.
Jenna opens the fridge.
It’s empty.
Jonathan’s clearly not the best planner.
Kat
Kat
Okay, tell me one thing before I go to bed…
Kat
Kat
You didn’t sleep with him, right?
Jenna
Jenna
🙄 No, but…
Kat
Kat
…but??
Jenna
Jenna
Well, we were making out in bed…
Jenna
Jenna
And I told him I wasn’t ready for anything more yet…
Jenna
Jenna
And he got annoyed.
Kat
Kat
This is what I’m talking about!
Kat
Kat
He has no right to be annoyed.
Kat
Kat
Seriously. It’s your decision, period.
Kat
Kat
Don’t let that jerk pressure you into anything.
Jonathan
Jonathan
Who are you texting?
Jenna gasps and spins around.
Jonathan is standing shirtless in the bedroom doorway.
Jenna
Jenna
I didn’t hear you wake up!
Jonathan
Jonathan
I’m pretty quiet when I want to be.
Jenna laughs, but the sound of the storm outside swallows her voice.
For some reason, maybe it’s the way he’s looking at her…
She can feel her pulse rise.
Jenna
Jenna
It’s just Kat.
Jonathan
Jonathan
Oh…
Jonathan’s voice turns cold.
Jonathan
Jonathan
Does she still hate me?
Jenna
Jenna
She doesn’t hate you!
Jenna shuffles her feet.
Jenna
Jenna
She just thinks I shouldn’t be catching feelings right now…
Jenna
Jenna
You know, since I’m going to school across the country in the fall.
Jonathan shrugs.
Jonathan
Jonathan
Plans change.
Jenna shivers.
Wearing Jonathan’s t-shirt, she feels strangely vulnerable.
Jenna
Jenna
What’s that supposed to mean?
A silence hangs in the air…
Then Jonathan laughs.
Jonathan
Jonathan
I might still convince you to go to state school with me!
Jenna tries to fake a laugh, but it gets caught in her throat.
She feels her phone buzz.
Kat
Kat
You didn’t work this hard for the past 4 years—
Before Jenna can finish reading the text…
Jonathan grabs the phone out of her hand.
Jenna
Jenna
Hey!
Jonathan
Jonathan
The whole point of staying in a private cabin in the woods…
Jonathan
Jonathan
Is to disconnect.
Jenna crosses her arms.
Jenna
Jenna
When did you get so bossy?
Jonathan opens a kitchen drawer…
And drops her phone inside.
Jonathan
Jonathan
We’re going phone-free for the weekend.
Jenna rolls her eyes…
Her gaze turning again to that eerie, yellowed photo on the fridge.
She’s almost afraid to ask her next question…
Jenna
Jenna
Alright…if you want all my attention, then tell me…
Jenna
Jenna
Who are those people?
Jonathan walks up next to her.
He’s standing uncomfortably close.
Jonathan
Jonathan
That’s my Uncle Donny.
Jenna
Jenna
You look like him.
Jenna
Jenna
So um…were he and your aunt high school sweethearts?
Jonathan shakes his head.
Jonathan
Jonathan
They met later in life. Through work.
He points to the woman in the photograph.
Jonathan
Jonathan
That was someone *much* more special…
Jonathan
Jonathan
His prom date.
Jenna snorts and punches Jonathan’s arm.
Jenna
Jenna
Stop with the flirting already!
Jonathan
Jonathan
I’m serious.
Jenna looks hard at him.
Jenna
Jenna
Isn’t that a little weird?
Jenna
Jenna
To have a picture of your high school prom date on your fridge like that?
Jenna
Jenna
I bet his wife isn’t a huge fan of it…
Jonathan
Jonathan
That doesn’t matter.
Jenna looks sideways at Jonathan.
Jonathan
Jonathan
It’s kind of a family…tradition.
Jonathan
Jonathan
You don’t have to understand everything.
Jenna almost speaks, but bites her tongue.
Maybe Kat isn’t totally wrong about Jonathan…
He can be more than a little rude sometimes.
Jenna sees another photograph of a high school couple standing in front of the cabin…
This one is framed on the far wall.
As she walks toward it, Jenna feels Jonathan watching her.
The back of her neck prickles as she gets close to the photo…
But before she can get a good look, Jonathan speaks.
His voice is strangely flat.
Jonathan
Jonathan
This will be my first time.
Jenna wheels to face him.
Jenna
Jenna
What?
Jonathan
Jonathan
You heard me.
Jenna
Jenna
I…I already said I’m not comfortable doing anything more this weekend.
Jonathan
Jonathan
Oh, I’m not talking about THAT…
Jonathan
Jonathan
I don’t want to sleep with you, Jenna.
Jenna
Jenna
First time for what, then?
Jenna glances nervously around the room…
Searching for a clue as to what his words could mean.
Her eyes fall once more on the framed photograph on the wall.
In it, she recognizes Jonathan’s father.
He’s young, and standing next to…
Aunt Liza.
Jenna turns back to Jonathan…
And sees that he’s holding…
A knife.
Jonathan
Jonathan
It’ll be my first time…
Jonathan
Jonathan
Taking a human life.
Jenna’s heart rate skyrockets.
She stumbles backwards, putting distance between the two of them.
Jenna
Jenna
I…
Jenna
Jenna
I don’t understand.
She frantically looks for an escape.
Jonathan
Jonathan
Like I said, you don’t need to understand.
Then he pauses, grinning.
Jonathan
Jonathan
It’s a good story, though.
Jonathan
Jonathan
My dad was really proud of his prom date…
Jonathan
Jonathan
He always told me stories of the dance, the visit to this cabin…
Jonathan
Jonathan
How she made it all the way to the woods out back before he caught her.
Jonathan
Jonathan
He even showed me news clippings from it.
His words send shivers down Jenna’s spine.
Jonathan
Jonathan
So…
Jonathan’s grin widens, like a kid.
A psychopathic kid.
Jonathan
Jonathan
When I suggested asking his date’s niece to prom…
Jonathan
Jonathan
He loved the idea.
Seizing what may be her only chance…
Jenna turns and sprints down the hallway.
Maybe she can make it to the front door before—
A dark shape bursts in the entryway.
Jonathan anticipated her move…
And cut her off through another hallway.
Jenna whirls around, bolting up the stairs.
She can hear his footsteps pounding behind her.
Jenna runs into a bedroom…
And slams the door shut, locking it tight.
From the other side of the door comes a gentle knocking.
Jonathan
Jonathan
Knock, knock.
Jenna
Jenna
I just want to go home! Please!
Jonathan
Jonathan
You don’t get it, Jenna.
Jonathan
Jonathan
Dad would be so disappointed if I couldn’t finish off my prom night right.
Jenna can feel warm tears on her cheeks.
Jenna
Jenna
I was…I was going to go to college.
She chokes back a sob.
Jenna
Jenna
I was going to—
Jonathan
Jonathan
Like I said, Jenna…plans change.
Something slams into the door, and Jenna lets out a scream.
The sound comes again, and this time, the door cracks.
One or two more hits could break it down.
Jenna runs to the window and pushes it open.
She crawls out onto the sloping roof…
Then carefully crab walks her way down toward the gutter.
There, as if on a balance beam, she gingerly takes small steps…
While trying not to look over the gutter…
And down into the dark chasm below.
Jonathan
Jonathan
You picked the wrong window to climb out of, Jenna!
She looks back and sees Jonathan leaning out the window.
He’s shouting through the rain.
Jonathan
Jonathan
It’s a 60 foot drop down the edge of a mountain!
Jenna keeps inching along.
There’s a drainpipe on the side of the house…
If she could just get there and shimmy down to the ground…
But she needs to move fast.
Because Jonathan is now coming after her.
Jenna tries to crawl back up the sloping roof toward the peak…
But the shingles are too slick with rain.
She slips, bloodying her knees.
Lightning flashes nearby, illuminating the black sky for a moment.
It glints off of Jonathan’s knife.
Jenna can’t give up now.
She crawls further up, until finally…
She’s standing on the peak of the roof.
But Jonathan’s only a few feet behind her.
Just as he lunges toward her…
She aims a foot at his chest.
She karate-kicks…
Hard.
Jonathan tumbles backward down the roof…
And off the edge.
Gasping for air, Jenna scoots down the roof’s peak toward the other side of the house…
Away from where Jonathan just fell.
She climbs into a window below.
But just as Jenna gets inside again…
She hears Jonathan’s strained voice behind her…
Jonathan
Jonathan
Babe! Help me!!
Jonathan
Jonathan
Please!!
Walking across the room…
She peers out the window left open from her escape.
And below she sees Jonathan’s fingers clinging to the edge of the gutter.
He must have managed to grab onto it right before plummeting off the roof.
Jonathan
Jonathan
I…I totally fooled you, right?
Jenna tentatively leans out the window…
And sees him dangling from the gutter.
For a moment, Jenna wants to believe him…
To believe this is all a bad joke.
But she knows it’s not.
Jenna sees his fingers edging farther up onto the gutter.
With her help, he’d be able to pull himself up to safety.
Jonathan
Jonathan
Okay, I get it. Not funny. I’ll give you a ride home.
Jonathan
Jonathan
Just come help me up.
For the first time all night, he sounds like the Jonathan she knows.
Smart, funny…
Normal.
Jonathan
Jonathan
You said you just wanted to go home, right?
Jenna hesitates.
Jenna
Jenna
Well, plans change, right Jonathan?
In one quick motion, Jenna slams the window shut.
The force rattles the walls…
And reverberates down to the gutter.
She watches as Jonathan’s fingers lose their grip…
And smiles to herself while she listens to his screams…
As he plummets to the rocks far below.
Kat
Kat