Two Winters Past

INT. BEDROOM. DAY.

MIRANDA lays face down on the bed. KAY sits on the floor, crying. 

KAY: I’m not cutting you free!

KAY has trouble standing. She fixes her clothes. She limps out of the room. 

INT. HALLWAY. DAY.

In the hall, she has to prop herself against the wall a moment before she continues to the stairs. It takes her some time to descend. She is crying by the time she reaches the bottom. 

Through the glass door, VIC can be seen breaking open a shed. 

KAY sits on the bottom stair, sobbing. She regains her composure, and rubs her eyes. KAY pulls herself to her feet. 

INT. KITCHEN. DAY.

In the kitchen, KAY cups water from a bin and splashes it in her face, rubbing at the tears and dirt. 

Closeup on KAY's face as she removes her hands and the water runs away. She takes a deep breath, holds it in, and opens her eyes. KAY looks to her left. 

POV out the yard, she sees VIC emerging from the shed. He carries an armload of tools. VIC is laughing. 

KAY struggles, but lifts the bin, and takes it into a side room. 

INT. LAUNDRY ROOM. DAY. 

KAY rests the bin on a red washing machine and dryer. Shelves line the walls, stacked high with towels. 

KAY selects a washcloth and resumes washing her face. She scrubs her ears, and the corners of her nose. That is when her nose twitches to an unpleasant smell. It takes KAY a moment to identify the source. 

To her right, a wooden door hangs slightly ajar. It has been painted and repainted a number of times. Beyond is darkness. 

Closeup on KAY, nostrils flaring, eyes confirming there is something unpleasant on the other side. 

KAY inches forward, pushing open the door with her fingertips. 

Med shot, looking up from dark stairs. A sliver of light marks the outline of the door. KAY's hand is already pushing it open, and her eyes peek around the corner. 

From KAY's perspective, we see nothing, only swollen, twisted stairs leading into the basement. KAY recoils from the stench rising from the bottom. 

KAY finds her wet wash cloth and holds it over her mouth so she can descend. 

INT. BASEMENT. DAY.

The only light comes from a small, dirty window to our right. It is only enough to highlight a cluttered basement.

KAY reaches the bottom.

Closeup on KAY as she looks around, squinting so her eyes can adjust. We are still close on her face when she gasps. 

Wide shot of the basement. At first, we can't see what KAY saw. The walls are stacked shale, the floor is dirt. Antique chairs and dressers are stacked and arranged in the center. In the back corner, three nude bodies hang on meat hooks in various states of disassembly. 

KAY screams and runs up the stairs, falling twice before she reaches the back door.