mirror by the nanosaurus numineux

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EXT. STREET - NIGHT

Rural area. Lonely house. Darkness all around.

Almost inaudible TINKLING.

INT. ENTRANCE HALL. HOUSE - CONTINUOUS

Empty house. No light except for one that frames the door to the basement at the opposite side of the front door.

Feeble tinkling fades in. Almost in a rhythm.

INT. BASEMENT - CONT.

Wooden stairs leading down to a lounge converted into a work station.

Tinkling fills the room.

A middle-aged man, M., faces away as he works at a large table. He keeps his eyes on the table as he hits a metallic HANDLE on the side of the table with a HAMMER.

He hits the handle louder. And louder. And LOUDER.
A gasp.

Something jerks on the table.

M. hits towards the head of the table with a swift blow.

A LOUD THUMP: something heavy, hidden by M., drops back down, inert.

INT. PUB - NIGHT.

Mid-sized pub. Mostly full. Live folk music. Happy atmosphere.

Long bar with a large MIRROR behind it.

On a solitary table facing away from the bar, M. sips at a coffee. He wears GLASSES, but his face is hidden.

In the corner of the pub nearest to the toilet, a man with COWBOY boots talks to a clearly drunk younger woman.

The woman wants to get out of the pub, but Cowboy insists that she stays.

The woman is uncomfortable. She stops to think of an excuse.

Long pause. Cowboy stares at her the whole time.
She indicates the toilet.

Cowboy protests with a laugh.

She insists.

Cowboy takes CAR KEYS out of his pocket. The drunk woman concedes and leaves for the toilet, as he exits the pub.

As Cowboy opens the GLASS FRONT DOOR of the pub, the face of M. is seen staring at it.

M. gets up.

EXT. PARKING LOT. CONT.

Cowboy walks toward a SHINY PICKUP TRUCK.

M. follows Cowboy. He accelerates the pace to reach him before this one reaches his car.

Cowboy inserts the key, looks up and sees M. in the reflection of the car window.

Cowboy turns around to face M. M. hits him, but Cowboy dodges it.

They struggle. Cowboy throws M. against the car's mirror. M. breaks his glasses against it. His face gets cut.

M. gets bestial, and jumps on Cowboy's back. He puts his arm around Cowboy's neck, squeezes his throat in his elbow pit, and chokes him until this one falls on the ground, unconscious. M. lets himself fall on top of him, exhausted.

M. catches his breath. Looks up for witnesses.

The woman stands at the entrance of the pub.

M. and the woman stare at each other, both immobile.

The woman walks back inside the pub without a word.

INT. BASEMENT - NIGHT.

M. pulls the heavy unconscious Cowboy on the table.

He secures him with plastic straps.

INT. BATHROOM/BASEMENT - CONT.

M. turns on the bathroom light.

He checks his cut in the mirror. It's only superficial.

He carefully washes his face with water.

He contemplates his reflection, as the water drips down his face. He is lost in his thoughts...

... until some stirring at the table snaps him out of it.

He grabs the HAMMER on his way out of the bathroom.

INT. BASEMENT - DAY

A couple of HEAVY BOXES on the PRISTINE TABLE, with the rest of the room turned back into a lounge.

M. contemplates the wall across the table.

He takes a SQUARE TILE MIRROR out of one of the boxes, and holds it up onto the wall at his head's height.

He considers it, then marks the location on the wall with a pencil.

INT. BASEMENT - LATER

M. contemplates his work: a wall covered in MIRROR TILES, which reflect the entirety of the room, from waist to head height.

M. sees the table's reflection on the mirror wall.

He catches his own reflection and looks away.

INT. BASEMENT - NIGHT

M. carries his new unconscious VICTIM down the stairs to the basement.

His gaze catches his reflection in the mirror. He turns his face away immediately.

He attaches the victim to the table in a hurry, accidentally leaving the straps LOOSE, and fetches the hammer.

M. tinkles with the hammer on the table handle. Slowly, steadily.

Gradually, his eyes go up to look into the mirror.

M. sees his reflection in the mirror; he contemplates the scene:

The attached victim.

The tinkling hammer.

His own terrified eyes.

The victim stirs awake. M. doesn't notice it. His eyes are still fixed in his own reflection, coupled with the hypnotizing sound of the hammer.

The victim looks around, not sure where he is. His eyes fall on M. and his hammer. He jerks up to grab hold of the hammer, but the straps stop him.

M. comes back to his senses, hits the victim with the hammer. This one pulls on the straps hard enough that they snap, and grabs M.'s hammer hand just in time to diverge his blow. The hammer only hits the victim's temple; blood runs down his face.

The victim jumps at M.'s throat with both hand. In the scurry, M. drops the hammer, and grabs the victim's hands to pull them away from his throat.
The victim thrust M. against his mirror wall, and smashes it to pieces, leaving only A FEW BROKEN TILES on the wall.

M. grabs a FRAGMENT of mirror and charges the victim. This one is stronger, he turns the shard against M. It gets closer to M.'s throat, but he resists.
The victim feels faint; he has lost a lot of blood from his head injury. M. slowly pushes the shard away when his gaze returns to the last pieces of mirror on the wall.

M. looks at his reflection.

Long breath.

M. releases the tension all at once, and lets the shard of mirror drive into his open throat.

Black.