FanStory.com - Beth by Fleedleflump

FanStory.com
"Beth"

Chapter 1
Beth, Scene 1

By Fleedleflump

Warning: The author has noted that this contains the highest level of language.

INTERNAL - DARKNESS

BETH
I never thought somebody would know me this well. You’re a guiding light, my own personal fucking bible. You’re my smack, Daddy, and babygirl needs an injection.

FADE IN - INTERNAL - OFFICE with book cases - BETH reclines on a chaise lounge, one arm swept up against the wall behind, the other resting, fingers slightly splayed, on one thigh while the other leg dangles downward out of shot. She’s in a simple white t-shirt and stretch jeans, a contrast to the rich claret of the velvet soft furnishings. Light emanates from tiny windows high on one wall. About ten feet away, a suited man perches in a leather office chair, one leg crooked across the other, fingers steepled beneath a salt-and-pepper goatee.

DENNIS
I’ve never been called any of those things before. I’ll admit, I like the sense of power, but deifying me is a little beyond the pale.

BETH (looking him in the eye)
You want me, Jesus? (She flexes the fingers on her thigh and lets her tongue slip between her teeth.) Fuck me, Daddy.

DENNIS (blinks)
Have you done this in the past - used sex to elicit a response?

BETH (frowns)
Sex always (imitates a droning voice) ‘elicits a response.’

DENNIS
I’m intrigued by this confrontational side of you. Did you decide to talk to me this way earlier, or are you reacting to the situation?

BETH (lets the raised arm drop and twists, sitting up)
Is it working - are you seeing me differently?

DENNIS
Of course - you’ve altered the dynamic, but I am wondering what you hope to achieve.

BETH
Maybe that’s all it is.

DENNIS
Something new?

BETH
Something fun.

DENNIS
Well, I’m happy to see the change. I feel like this is progress. You’re showing me something you know is provocative, and you seem comfortable doing it. There’s something to uncover here, I think. Something deep - a driver, perhaps, that we can unlock.

BETH (snorts and shrugs)
You talk like a fucking text book. Which I guess makes sense, since we’re in a wannabe library. (She sweeps her arm around the room.) I’m not in those books though, am I? Most of them are older than me, and I’m right here, sitting in front of you. I’m not a case study.

DENNIS (smiles)
Well, that remains to be seen. We’ve known each other a while, now, and I think we’re only just getting a feel for our relationship. What is it you want, Beth?

BETH
A good job, great friends, a loving partner, kids, house, and a whopping great party at my funeral. How’s that?

DENNIS
That is what you’re supposed to want, indeed. But people don’t really work that way, do they? Most of us want something we know we shouldn’t, or reject something that’s good for us. (He leans forward, looking at her intently.) Pretend I really am Jesus. Make a wish. Look into your heart and tell me what you seek.

Silence rules for a few moments and tension mounts in the air. Just as DENNIS looks ready to speak again, BETH gasps.

BETH (pouting sarcastically)
Daddy, I want a pony!

DENNIS (deflates visibly)
Only good girls get to have ponies.

BETH
Well, if I can’t have a pony, but if I’m a good girl, Daddy, might I know your name?

DENNIS (stands)
That’s not how this works, Beth. This (he points at each of them repeatedly) is not a quid pro quo kind of thing.

BETH (bats her eyelashes)
But if I’m a really good girl?

DENNIS walks to the door and opens it to leave. Via camera movement, we are shown the ground for the first time, and see one of BETH’s ankles is clasped in a manacle, attached to a chain. DENNIS turns back to look at her from the doorway.

DENNIS
Well, if you’re a really good girl, I might even let you leave.

Author Notes UK English, Screenplay.

This is one of two or three scripts I'd like to develop further. I'll post the first scenes of each, and choose one based on your responses.

I hope you enjoyed the read :-)

Mike

Chapter 2
Beth, Scene 2

By Fleedleflump

Warning: The author has noted that this contains the highest level of language.

PREVIOUSLY: We meet Beth, who seems to be having a conversation with her therapist, and tries to get under his skin with sexual language and teasing. As the scene ends, we discover she is in fact being held captive.

-----

INT SMALL STUDY ROOM. BETH is rubbing at her ankle around the manacle that’s chained to a loop in the floor. She's perched on a chaise lounge. At the end of it is a bucket. The room looks like a study, with books on shelves and a large leather armchair.

BETH
(to self)
What to do, Bethy, what to do? We tried frightened. Well, we didn’t really need to try at first, did we, Bethy? He was clearly ready for that. It just seemed to bore him. And we’ve tried sexy. He liked that, didn’t he, Bethy? He liked us sexy, but he stayed in control.

She sits back on the chaise lounge, casting a slow look around the room.

BETH
(still to self)
Are you actually a therapist, dude? The room’s just about boring enough. Huh. Maybe that’s the key.

Footsteps sound from outside the door, and presently DENNIS enters. He’s dressed smartly.

BETH
What’s with the penguin suit - are you going to an awards ceremony? Did you get shortlisted for Boredville’s annual ‘who’s the most boring bore award’ by the boredom committee?

DENNIS sits in his chair, facing her. His mouth twitches but otherwise he’s expressionless.

BETH
Aw, come on. The suit’s even grey. You couldn’t look any more bland.

DENNIS
(steeples fingers beneath chin)
Are you not going to call me Daddy or Jesus today?

BETH
(shrugs expansively)
Well, let’s be honest, mate, you’d need to get laid to be someone’s daddy, and that suit would put any female to sleep. Your dick’s probably bored of being attached to you. I bet it takes some little blue party poppers to start a conversation downstairs.

BETH pauses momentarily to match gazes with DENNIS. He hasn’t moved a muscle while she’s been talking.

BETH
And as for Jesus, I can’t imagine you turning water into wine. Where the ladies are concerned, more like turning marshlands into the fucking desert, if you get my drift.

DENNIS
To borrow a phrase from rebellious fictional characters, you don’t know me.

BETH
(spontaneously laughs out loud)
Oh, please. Having some books on pop psychology and a metal restraint in your secret room doesn’t make you mysterious. It makes you a tedious movie cliche - a typical guy who wants power over a woman. I bet there’s a place in your head where you think I’ll eventually realise I love you, and I’ll be turned on and I’ll beg you to fuck me in ways only you can teach me. Because you’re, you know, SO experienced.

DENNIS
You already did that, remember?

BETH
And for a few moments, you bought it. I could see it. You did what every boring limpdick loser does - you believed it because you wanted to. It’s the oldest story in the book - if you believe it hard enough, it might happen.

DENNIS
(smiles)
Now who’s reaching for pop psychology?

BETH
What’s the matter - didn’t realise you had someone with a brain on your hands?

DENNIS
On the contrary, it’s your mind I’m most interested in.

BETH
Hah! I KNEW your dick didn’t work.

DENNIS
This is not constructive. It serves only to delay and obfuscate. We cannot make progress if you’re busy insulting me.

BETH
The only progress I’m interested in is getting this manacle off my foot. So, oh grand one, what do we need to do for that to happen?

DENNIS studies her for a while, fidgeting with his legs but stock still up top, fingers still held together beneath his face.

DENNIS
I want to make progress, but I feel a little disrespected, and that makes it difficult to speak to you with a clear mind.

BETH
(slumps back against the wall)
For fuck’s sake, how fragile are you? You have me chained up, you can talk at me whenever you want, and I’m here, talking back. You’re in control, you have the power, this is what you want. So can we get the fuck on with it?

DENNIS
(standing up)
We’re not going to get anything done while you’re being like this, and I can’t be late. We will try again soon, and I expect you to be more open to the process.

BETH
Fine. Go suck some dicks at your awards ceremony. Don’t be surprised if they fall asleep while you’re doing it, though.

DENNIS
Enough! I … I cannot brook this attitude. If we are to get anywhere with this, we must be having productive discussions, not … not insulting my manhood!

He kicks the chair he’d been sitting in and storms to the door, opening it to leave.

BETH
What, no parting words?

DENNIS
I thought you were different. I thought this could be beautiful. But now I realise you might be just like the others.

He slams the door behind him and there’s the sound of a key being turned and retreating footsteps. BETH leans forward once again, idly massaging her manacled ankle.

BETH
(to self)
Others?

Author Notes I hope you enjoyed this continuation. After receiving most votes from reviewers, Beth's script will be the one I work on first. I'll get to Like Father as well, but that will be further down the line. My thanks to everyone who expressed a preference :-).

Mike

Chapter 3
Beth, Scene 3

By Fleedleflump

PREVIOUSLY: We meet Beth, who seems to be having a conversation with her therapist, and tries to get under his skin with sexual language and teasing. As scene 1 ends, we discover she is in fact being held captive. In scene 2, Beth tries a more dangerous, insulting approach, and succeeds in getting a rise out of her captor, discovering there may be other victims.

-----

INT. Small study room. Although it's the same room, Beth is now sitting in the large chair, and Dennis is reclined on the chaise lounge. Unlike previous scenes, Beth is wearing glasses, and her hair is tied back neatly. She’s holding a pencil and notepad. Despite their position switch, Beth is still manacled by one ankle, chained to a floor loop next to the chair.

BETH
So what's the purpose of imprisonment, do you think, in this sense?

DENNIS
Societally, imprisonment is to protect the general populace from those detained. It is also to remove from said detainees the freedom of movement generally afforded, so they can understand that freedom comes with the responsibility to act within a framework of rules.

BETH
(Tips her head forward to look at him over her glasses)
But here, now, with me. That's the imprisonment I'm referring to. Hence my 'in this sense' comment.

DENNIS
Imprisonment's imprisonment - I don't seek to redefine it.

BETH
Oh, come on! I'm not a threat to society. You've got me here for a male power game of some kind.

DENNIS
If that is what you believe, then who am I to disavow you of it? We live in an age where the right of differing opinion is held higher than the requirement of truth or evidence.

BETH
But if our opinions are opposites, how can they both be equally valid?

DENNIS
Indeed.

BETH
(smacks her pencil down on her pad)
Stop trying to draw me into inane conversation. You know what I want to know. Look inside yourself. Understand your motivations. Why did you bring me here?

DENNIS
(clears his throat)
There’s no answer to satisfy the angst you feel. Without power, without control, you cannot dictate the conversation. Ultimately, you can give yourself the pencil and the comfy seat, but you cannot make yourself free.

BETH
I know what you’re trying to do. You want to turn the tables, pretend that you have the power.

DENNIS
On the contrary, that’s what you’re doing. Look inside yourself. Peel away the calloused layers of scorn and sarcastic defences. Think about the child who giggled at random things and took people at face value. Find the little you who wants to believe, and isn’t afraid of being vulnerable. Seek her out, and embrace her. That is where you need to be.

They match stares for a while, and both look deeply troubled. DENNIS looks away first.

BETH
I think you’re a good man, a quiet man with strong feelings and a powerful sense of justice. I think that core is clashing with your actions and causing you pain - pain that makes you lash out. In seeking to quell your own inner demons, you find a way to control me as a proxy for yourself.

BETH takes a visible deep breath and waits for DENNIS to look at her again.

BETH
Shake off the big, empowered man for a moment. What’s your own inner child telling you? Is he reminding you that some toys have a soul, that sometimes wanting something doesn’t make it yours? Is he telling you Daddy just has a funny way of showing his love, but that only makes it more special? Or did Mummy curse God for ruining her figure and use you as an ashtray?

DENNIS sucks in a breath and pinches the bridge of his nose, squeezing his eyes shut tightly.

DENNIS
(whispering)
Give me strength, that I might find the way to calm. Give me peace, that I might do what I must.

BETH
(Kindly)
Grow up, little boy. Look for peace in your own actions.

DENNIS
Perhaps I’ve indulged you too much. In seeking the core of you, I’ve found something contrary and controlling. (His lips twist in distaste.) It seems you may not be what I was looking for, after all.

BETH
I can only be me, telling you what you need to do. (she gestures around the room). There are so many books here - so much knowledge that could help you. From this office, you could find a true understanding.

DENNIS’s eyes widen as if in realisation and he laughs loudly.

DENNIS
Oh, my dear … Where do you think you are?

The office fades away, desaturating into a room with no windows, lit dimly by a single, flickering fluorescent strip light. BETH is seated on a stained concrete floor, propped against a breezeblock wall, next to a bucket. The manacle and chain remain the same, the anchor between circumstances.

DENNIS is a silhouette in the open doorway.

DENNIS
Fool.

He closes the door and we’re left in the dark to the sound of sobbing.

Author Notes Apologies for the delay since the last scene. Too many things happening at once :-)

Mike

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