hold_me.EXE
Part 1
A sweeping shot of the Appalachian mountains comes into view from above. A drone films the extravagant greenery from above. The southernmost region of the once regal state of Virginia. The woods below open up into a large area filled with rows of mobile homes. The drone slowly descends towards a lime green trailer. It lands safely on the front deck. A large man wearing a black t-shirt covered in Cheeto dust exits the trailer’s front door suddenly! He quickly retrieves the drone with droplets of sweat falling from his face onto the small porches deck boards.
The man charges back inside to dock his drone but nearly trips over clothes on the floor. A large framed picture of an elderly woman dominates the living room. Candles all around the bottom illuminate the dirty glass and the large photo encased within.
Magic the gathering cards litter the floor alongside dungeons and dragon books and dice. The trailer is nasty on the inside. A glass of soured milk has mold growing inside of it alongside stale dried pieces of bread. A name tag from the dollar store on the wall reads, “Noel Reason”.
Noel redocks his drone in the only clean corner of his mobile home. He loads up the drone footage on his gaming laptop soon after. Shots of the mountain can be seen throughout but shortly turns sinister. A neighbor’s trailer comes into view on the footage. She lives across the road and Noel’s utter fascination with her is evident. Violet rents the trailer directly across the road from Reason. A work-from-home coder, Violet, rarely if ever leaves her trailer. This warm July night, most of the trailer park went to a local fair in town.
Noel sits the laptop down and then peers out the window. He can see Violet moving around in her well-lit home. Reason recently lost his mother and it left him devastated. Pictures on the wall around his mobile home all show him and his mother hugging in nearly every photo. Tears stream down his face as he glares at the large photo on the coffee table in the center of the room. He hugs himself slowly. Noel wraps both arms around himself before squeezing slightly to find himself displeased with the results. Reason peers out the window as rain droplets begin to hit the top of his trailer. The sun fades slowly while Violet dances around her living room.
She dances around all alone. The entire trailer is lit up. She realized earlier she could make more noise with so many in the park has gone to the fair. Violet is wearing a pair of pink panties and an old ripped Pantera shirt. The attractive computer coder is in her mid-thirties and loving life for the most part. She slowly retrieves one of her Nirvana albums from one of her grandmother’s old milk crates she’s kept all these years. She slides the live unplugged album out of the sleeve before placing it slowly on her record player. The vinyl slides into place as she reaches out with her right hand to put the needle in just the right spot. A small tattoo above her thumb of a small smiley face comes into view. On her right hand, she has a small nautical star in the same area. The record begins to spin as she slips on a pair of Bluetooth headphones. “The Man Who Sold The World” begins to play in her ears while she takes hold of a swift mop to clean the cheap vinyl floors of the mobile home while jamming out.
Violet peers out the window briefly as darkness engulfs the trailer park outside. She bops her head as the guitar lick on the song takes hold of her. She begins to mop while still dancing to the music inside her headphones. She looks down at her laptop she’s updating. The front door directly behind her slowly begins to slip open. The rain outside becomes more severe as someone comes into her home without her knowledge. The large figure behind her is wearing a hood. Violet continues to smile and dance to the music. She closes her eyes before spinning around away from her laptop to continue mopping. She turns to see a face she recognizes but panics nonetheless. The unknown individual is holding a buck knife in his right that glistens in the light from above in the center of the living room.
Violet attempts to dash for the kitchen! The headphones fall off of her head and hit the ground in a thud that breaks them! The music then begins coming out of the record player at a high volume. “The Man Who Sold The World” becomes the soundtrack to this vicious attack by total accident.
The large hooded figure punches Violet in the face as she attempts to run! She falls back and clips the edge of her head on her own coffee table! She comes up in a daze before rolling onto her belly. Violet snatches up her outdated iPhone. The figure comes in from overhead behind Violet with the knife. She crawls towards her computer while holding the phone tight. The unknown individual suddenly drives the knife into the back of her skull! A droplet of blood in the center of her forehead marks where the tip slightly came from the other side. Violet slumps to the cheap linoleum floor. The wireless router begins to blink green while her life fades away. Violet’s body begins to rock from being raped in a blur as she perishes finally on the floor.
The hooded individual finishes this heinous act quickly. The man then trashes the trailer and steals anything small of any value. He finds her prescription pills and makes sure to steal every last one by throwing the empty bottles on the floor. The gloves he wears keep his prints off of anything. The unknown male then takes the bloody knife back out. The scene turns even grimmer as the hooded figure starts cutting off parts of the now deceased Violet.
The hooded figure then peers at the laptop computer. Violet made her living with it and it reads across a black screen, “I live.”
This confuses and frightens the murderer slash rapist in a way that causes him to leave the trailer in a hurry. He dashes out the front door leaving it wide open! The fair is rained out causing people of the trailer park to return home early. One of the women walking by the trailer to get home notices Violet’s door wide open and peers in to see her dead naked body. The rain comes down as the red and blue lights begin washing over the trailers in a dance of dread.
The Sheriff himself alongside deputies arrives at the trailer without delay. They find Violet dead inside her trailer missing her head and both arms. The bloody scene has left not even a single clue or print. The Sheriff interviews every neighbor including Noel Reason. A knock at his trailer door can be heard from inside.
Noel goes to the door with a sleepy look on his face. Bread crumbs on his black shirt show he’s done nothing all evening.
What’s happened, Bud, Noel asks with real concern throughout his tone.
The new girl across the road was just butchered, Sheriff Bud replies.
Are you kidding me, Noel replies with an expression laced with shock.
Yeah. She was killed right across the road. We believe a drifter that’s been seen around town here could be involved. Did you see anything, The Sheriff replies with a question.
Noel sits down in a chair close to the door. The sheriff peers in to see the large picture of Reason’s mother and slumps his head a bit.
I did not see or hear anything. I take that back. I did hear loud music coming from that direction around thirty minutes ago but she does that often so it seemed normal. I would have helped her, Bud had I known, I swear! Noel exclaims while welling up with tears.
I know you would have, Noel. You have never bothered a soul and I am so sorry about your mother’s passing. I will need you to come down to the station in the morning for a statement. All your neighbors will be right alongside you. We will catch the monster who did this, The Sheriff states with real confidence.
Noel stands back up out of the chair to extend his hand out onto the right shoulder of the lawman. Reason pats him slightly to reassure the sheriff.
I know you will. I’ll see you first thing in the morning, Noel replies softly.
The Sheriff heads back out the door while Noel shuts it slowly. He reaches down and twists the lock. He walks around the dimly lit room to shut all of his dark out curtains. Noel walks down the long hallway of the trailer towards the bathroom. The smell of bleach overtakes everything as he approaches the restroom. Reason bends down and slightly lifts up the bathtub to reveal a large yellow plastic dollar store bag.
The contents of the bag can’t be made out as Noel struts back down the hallway in a hurry. He leaps onto the couch like a child before ripping the bag open. He sits on the couch directly in front of the large picture of his deceased mother. The reflection on the dirty glass shows Noel placing a severed arm across his body and then another! The hands of the arms reveal Violet’s happy face and nautical star tattoos. The arms drape down his body in a hugging fashion while he retrieves the head. He presses it up against his own sweaty face. The dirty glass reveals Noel using these body parts to fill a void left by his mother’s sudden passing. Violet’s eyes are wide open as he nuzzles her severed head with his own nose in a loving manner. Back across the road, the police have cleared the crime scene for state trooper investigators.
The router box continues to flicker green while a digital miracle has occurred in this small Virginia town.
___
Part Two: Coming Asap.