Lucid Psyche
written by
CELESTE M ESCALERA
E-mail: [email protected]
FADE IN:
SUPER: "WEEKS AFTER"
INT. COUNTY JAIL – VISITATION BOOTHS – NIGHT
Overhead lights that never stop buzzing. A row of glass
dividers. Metal stools bolted to the floor like a warning.
Phones on each side, plastic receivers that look disinfected
into dullness.
JACE (29) sits on the inmate side in a county-issued uniform.
His hands are scraped up. His eyes are wide in that way that
says sleep happened, but rest didn't.
He keeps looking at the receiver like it's going to do
something to him.
FLASH FRAGMENT (0.4 SEC)
A kitchen light BUZZING, too loud, too close, like an insect
trapped in your skull.
BACK TO SCENE.
Jace swallows. Forces breath down.
A BUZZER.
On the visitor side, RINA (27) enters first - Her face is
composed, barely. Anger held tight behind the eyes.
MATEO (29) follows - sponsor, family friend. His body is
here. His mind is still in that house.
They sit. Rina close to the glass. Mateo close enough to
share the phone.
Rina picks up the receiver immediately.
Jace hesitates... then picks up his.
Static. Connection.
RINA
We know what happened.
Jace blinks. Like he didn't understand.
RINA (CONT'D)
We know where.
We know what they found.
We know the parts they wrote down
in reports.
She leans forward, voice steady and mean with grief.
RINA (CONT'D)
That's not why we're here.
Beat.
RINA (CONT'D)
I want to know what was going
through your mind.
What you thought you were doing.
Why you did it.
Jace swallows hard.
JACE
I don't remember.
RINA
Don't do that. You remember
something, Jace.
Jace's breathing starts to increase.
Mateo leans closer.
MATEO
Look at me.
Don't drift.
Jace tries. Barely.
RINA
Start simple.
In your version... what did they do
to make you do it?
Jace stares through the glass like it's a screen playing
something only he can see.
JACE
They weren't them.
Rina's jaw tightens. Doesn't say Mom. Dad.
She lets it sit there.
RINA
Okay. Then what were mom and dad?
JACE
Monsters...
Silence.
Mateo's eyes tighten. He's heard Jace spiral before, but
never like this.
RINA
Monsters doing what?
Jace swallows. His voice drops.
JACE
Trying to hurt me.
FLASH FRAGMENT (0.6 SEC)
DAD'S SHADOW stretches too tall... horns, distorted... a low
growl under a human breath.
BACK TO SCENE.
Jace flinches as if he's been touched.
RINA
So in your head... you were
defending yourself.
Jace nods, too fast, shaking.
JACE
It felt like survival.
Rina leans in until her breath fogs the glass.
RINA
And now?
Jace's eyes glass over.
JACE
Now I'm sober and I...
(he can't finish)
RINA
Finish.
Jace squeezes his eyes shut.
JACE
Now it doesn't match.
Mateo's thumb rubs a worn sobriety coin on the tabletop. Not
for show, like a reflex.
MATEO
Good. That's the part I can work
with.
He holds Jace's eyes, steady.
MATEO (CONT’D) (CONT'D)
Stay here. Don't float off.
Rina doesn't move.
RINA
Okay. Tell me what you heard, in
your version.
What did they say that made them
monsters?
Jace's mouth opens. He's listening to something that isn't in
the room.
FLASH FRAGMENT (0.5 SEC)
MOM'S MOUTH MOVING - voice doubled, layered, human words
swallowed by something animal.
BACK TO SCENE.
JACE
It didn't sound like her.
RINA
I don't get it.
Mom didn’t sound like herself
and... you killed mom?
(her voice breaks)
How, Jace? How does that happen?
Jace's eyes fill.
JACE
I didn't... I didn't mean...
RINA
Stop.
Don't tell me what you meant.
Tell me what you did.
Jace shakes his head, panic rising.
JACE
I don't remember doing it.
Mateo cuts in, not gentle anymore. The sponsor tone is still
there, but it's got teeth.
MATEO
No. You don't get to hide behind "I
blacked out" anymore.
That hits hard.
Jace blinks hard. Tears come fast, like his body got there
before his pride did.
Rina watches him like she hates herself for still seeing her
brother in his face.
RINA
You want to know what makes me
sick?
She doesn't wait.
RINA (CONT'D)
I keep trying to find the moment
where this becomes an accident.
Where I can tell myself you were
gone and it wasn't you.
She leans forward, voice cracking but controlled.
RINA (CONT'D)
And I can't find it.
Jace shakes, trying to speak.
Rina interrupts- because she has to.
RINA (CONT'D)
You can cry now? Where was your
heart when you killed MOM AND DAD!?
Jace's body reacts like she hit a nerve.
He inhales too sharply.
FLASH FRAGMENT (0.5 SEC)
A HAND grabs his wrist...
Jace's POV warps: a horned shadow blooms over a familiar
face. Attack!
BACK TO SCENE.
Jace jerks, like he's been yanked, breathing hard through his
teeth.
Mateo catches it, that split-second slip.
MATEO
Jace... Look at me.
Jace can barely hold the receiver.
JACE
I can't...
MATEO
You can. Don't leave me hanging
here.
Jace's eyes flick to Mateo, then drop fast. He can't hold the
stare.
A beat.
Jace tries to speak. Nothing.
Mateo's voice softens, and you can hear the regret in it.
MATEO (CONT'D)
When you say you don't remember..
part of me wants to be grateful for
you.
Beat.
MATEO (CONT'D)
And part of me wants to hate you-
because, I remember enough for both
of us.
He swallows hard, voice cracking.
MATEO (CONT'D)
And I keep thinking about those
calls.
I keep hearing my phone buzz- and
me rolling over.
FLASH FRAGMENT (0.4 SEC)
A PHONE SCREEN in darkness:
JACE - MISSED CALL (7) Vibration crawling across a
nightstand.
BACK TO SCENE.
Mateo swallows hard.
MATEO
So no... I'm not here to ask you
"what happened."
I'm here because you were supposed
to be clean.
Rina's voice comes low, sharp.
RINA
Tell us.
Jace is shaking.
JACE
Because if they were monsters...
then I am not...
He can't say "a murderer."
Rina finishes it without saying the word.
RINA
Then you were the victim?
Jace sobs into his hands, receiver pressed crooked to his
cheek.
His shoulders shake violently, the kind of crying that isn't
asking for forgiveness.
The HUM fills the silence.
Then... Mid-sob...
Jace lifts his head too fast.
A thin LAUGH leaks out. Distorted. Not humor.
A malfunction.
Rina recoils, disgust mixing with fear.
RINA (CONT'D)
What the hell...
Mateo freezes. Eyes sharp.
Jace laughs again, tears still running. His voice speeds up,
spiraling.
JACE
Okay. okay...
If my memory is lying then maybe.
maybe I can...
I can fix it.
Mateo cuts him off, firm.
MATEO
No. You can't put this back
together like a missing puzzle
piece found.
Jace's laugh chokes into a sob.
JACE
I don't remember your version.
I get pieces... and then something
in me fills in the rest.
Jace blinks, like he just came back online.
Rina leans in, voice low and lethal.
RINA
Okay... then help me understand.
Because I keep trying to find
something that makes this... not
you.
Jace shakes, staring at the glass like it's water.
RINA (CONT'D)
What made you think you had to do
any of it.
Jace blinks. That question hits different.
JACE
I-
MATEO
Just tell her what you believed.
RINA
What did you think was happening in
that room?
What did you think Mom and Dad
were?
Jace freezes.
FLASH FRAGMENT (REPLAY – 0.6 SEC)
Same kitchen. Same light. Same wrist-grab...
NOW: restraint. Hands shaking, pleading.
A clear human scream: "PLEASE!"
BACK TO SCENE.
Jace inhales like he's been punched.
When he speaks, the voice is smaller. Wrong somehow.
Then, quieter, almost like a correction.
JACE
No. I- I don't know if it was me.
Rina's face crumples for a fraction of a second, then hardens
again.
RINA
Say it.
Jace can barely breathe.
Then, something in him settles.
The shaking stops like a switch got flipped.
He lifts his head. Wipes his face once - clean, almost
annoyed by the mess.
When he speaks, it isn't small anymore.
JACE
...It was me.
A beat.
Jace looks straight through the glass at Rina. Steady. Almost
daring her.
JACE (CONT'D)
I killed them.
Not a confession. A claim.
A statement. Calm. Slight smile.
Mateo's eyes shut for a second-because he recognizes that
tone. When they open, they're sharp.
Rina stares at him like she's seeing a stranger wearing her
brother's face.
RINA
Why?
Jace's mouth twitches - pride, not humor.
JACE
Because somebody had to.
Mateo moves closer to the glass, palm flattening on the
counter-quiet warning.
Rina stands abruptly, chair scraping.
The receiver trembles in her grip.
RINA
I'm not here to save you.
I'm here so I don't drown in what
you did.
She hangs up.
Dead line.
Mateo stays one beat longer, staring through the glass.
He reaches for the receiver-hesitates-then picks it up like
it weighs something.
MATEO
I walked into your aftermath.
I know you aren't Jace.
He swallows hard.
MATEO (CONT'D)
Jace will not pay for your crime.
Mateo hangs up and follows Rina out.
Jace remains alone. Fluorescent HUM.
He doesn't slump. Doesn't shake.
He just sits there, too still-watching the dead phone-and a
thin, eerie grin pulls at his mouth, like someone else is
pleased to be there.
No escape route. No story left to hide inside.
Genres:
["Drama","Psychological Thriller"]
Ratings
Scene
2 -
Unraveling Truths
INT. JAIL WAITING HALL – CONTINUOUS
Rina walks fast. Mateo follows.
A wall-mounted TV plays LOCAL NEWS.
ON SCREEN: blurred home exterior, police tape.
NEWS ANCHOR (V.O.)
...new court filings reveal
previously sealed medical history
in the case.
A graphic appears.
ON SCREEN (GRAPHIC):
"PRIOR DIAGNOSIS REPORTED"
"MEDICATION LAPSE ALLEGED"
"TOXICOLOGY: METHAMPHETAMINE INDICATED"
Rina stops dead. Reads it.
Mateo stops behind her.
Neither speaks.
Rina's face changes - not forgiveness, not relief.
Just an added layer of grief she didn't ask for.
She keeps walking.
Mateo follows.
INT. COUNTY JAIL – CELL – NIGHT
Jace sits on the bunk, staring at the wall.
JACE
I didn't do this.
A beat... then his face shifts. Calmer. Wrong.
JACE (CONT'D)
I know. I did.
A thin, eerie grin.
FADE OUT.
THE END