The Lamb By Greg Callahan

INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT SARAH (16) is laying on her bed, talking on the phone to her friend, JULIE. SARAH Yeah, my parents are having some people over tonight so I was wondering if I could come over to your place? She listens to the response. SARAH Yeah, that sounds like fun. Alright, Jules, see you in a bit. She gets up from the bed and grabs a jacket. She puts on a pair of shoes and leaves the bedroom. INT. DOWNSTAIRS - NIGHT Sarah comes down the stairs and walks into the kitchen. Her MOTHER is sitting at the table, silently crying with her head in her hands. SARAH Mom? Mother stifles her crying and looks up. MOTHER Hey, hun. Whats up? SARAH Is everything okay? Why were you crying? MOTHER Oh, dont worry about that. Its not a big deal. Did you find something to do tonight? SARAH Yeah, Julie said I can head over to her place. MOTHER Oh, okay. Thats good. Are you heading out now? Sarah nods.

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SARAH If thats okay with you? MOTHER Yeah, thats fine. Mother stands and walks over to Sarah. She gives her a hug and strokes her hair. SARAH Mom? Are you sure you are okay? MOTHER Hmm? Oh, yeah, Im fine. I love you, hun. SARAH I love you, too, Mom. They end their hug and Sarah heads out the door. Mother walks towards a door. She opens it and removes a dark black robe. She starts sobbing silently again. EXT. STREETS - NIGHT Sarah is walking down the streets, which are mostly empty. As she is walking she notices a man, ADAM, start walking towards her. He is dressed like Michael Myers from Halloween. Startled and confused she tries to avoid eye contact as she gets nearer. Before they are within touching distance, another figure, TOMMY, dressed like Frankensteins monster, comes out of the shadows from behind her and grabs her. Sarah screams, turns, and slaps at the man. They both laugh and remove their masks. ADAM Calm down, Sarah. Its just us. SARAH You guys are jerks! That wasnt funny. TOMMY Where are you going at this time of night?

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CONTINUED: SARAH To Julies. Why do you care? TOMMY Just worried about your safety. You remember what happened to Liz last year right? ADAM Disappeared, right? TOMMY Oh, yeah. Walking home alone and Poof she was gone. Some say she was butchered. SARAH Screw you. TOMMY If you want. You can come back to my place, at the very least youll be safe. SARAH Yeah, right. Like thatd ever happen. A MAN from a nearby house comes outside. He is holding something behind his back. MAN Are these young boys bothering you, Sarah? SARAH Uhh, no sir. They are just messing around. MAN Well, yall better get on home. Its getting pretty late. SARAH We will, sir. Thanks! TOMMY Geez, whats his problem?

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The boys start heading off down the street. Sarah continues on her way. The old man removes a black cloak from behind his back and begins to put it on.

4. EXT. PARK - NIGHT Sarah is now walking through a dimly lit park path. There are a few scattered light poles along the path. She begins to hear footsteps behind her. She turns to look but there is no one behind her. Underneath one of the lights is a park bench. A figure sits upon it. It is wearing a black cloak. Its gaze turns towards Sarah, who stops on the path in fear. She hears the footsteps again and risks a quick glance. There are now to robed figures following her. Her breath hitches and she runs off of the path through the park. She comes upon a small playground. Many more figures are here, some on swing sets, others just standing. They all turn towards her. She screams and runs out of the park. EXT. STREETS - NIGHT She runs across the street and turns to look back. She sees all of the figures slowly emerging from the shadows of the park. SARAH Who are you? What do you want with me? The figures continue to walk towards her, slowly. SARAH Ill call the cops. My father is the sheriff. Hell throw you all in jail. From behind her a figure emerges from the shadows, reaches out and grabs her shoulder. She shrieks, shrugs the hand off and runs off down the street. The figures begin to run after her. As she runs past houses she sees many figures sitting on the porches, some even coming out of the houses. Each one starts to chase after her. She comes to an intersection, but doesnt stop running. Bright lights envelop her. There is the sound of screeching breaks. Sarah throws up her hands to protect herself. When she recovers she tries to see into the car but the lights are too blinding.

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SARAH Please! You have to help me! She looks towards the figures, all of them gaining on her. SARAH (pointing to figures) I dont know who they are, but they are trying to get me. Please help! The driver emerges from the car, wearing a black robe. SARAH (whimpers) No. She takes off down the road behind her. She sees a house with its lights on, no figures on the porch or near it. She runs up the steps onto the porch and hammers on the door. A curtain in the front ruffles and she sees an old man peering out. SARAH Please, sir, please help me! These people are following me. I think they mean to hurt me! The curtain closes. SARAH No please, wait! I need your help! Please! OLD MAN (INSIDE) Im sorry, young lady. I cant help you. No one can. It has to be this way. It always has. Praise be to the ancient ones. The lights turn off. Sarah, confused and frightened, back away. From behind her the figures all gather on the street and stop moving. She turns and sees them. She leaps off of the porch and begins running through the adjacent lawns. SARAH Help! Please someone help me! She continues to scream and run, but no lights come on in the nearby houses and no one seems to hear her pleas.

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Down the street she sees more figures coming to close her in. She sees a side street and turns down it. There is a sign that reads Dead End Ahead. At the end of the street she sees a church, a graveyard in front of it. There are lights on in the church and she can see the priest standing in the window, lighting candles. SARAH Oh, thank God! She looks behind her, again, and sees the figures coming together and heading down the street. They are now walking, but at a quick pace. EXT. GRAVEYARD - NIGHT She sprints towards the church and runs through the graveyards entrance towards the massive church doors. She looks behind her one last time to see the figures slowly coming through the graveyards entrance. She trips over a grave stone and falls into an open grave. Lying there, stunned, she starts to sob. She looks up to see the figures crowding around her grave. SARAH Please, dont. Please! My father is the sheriff. A couple of the figures lower themselves into the grave to lift her out. INT. CHURCH - NIGHT The church doors open and Sarah is dragged though by two of the figures. She is bound and gagged, her feet dragging behind her. Standing among the church pews are more figures. Each of them turns to watch as Sarah is dragged down the aisle toward the front, where a stone alter rests with a priest standing beside it. The two figures dragging her stop in front of the priest. The priest raises his arms and looks up at the ceiling. PRIEST Oh Ancient Ones we bring to you one of our own as a sacrifice we make! For years you have watched over our small town and we commit to you (MORE) (CONTINUED)

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PRIEST (contd) this young girl in the hopes that you maintain a benevolent eye when you look down upon us, your servants and most loyal followers! ALL FIGURES Oh merciful Gods we beg this of you! The priest lowers his arms and looks at the two figures. PRIEST It is time. You may bring her up. The two figures carry the girl up to the alter, where they raise her and remove the binds from her feet, keeping a strong grasp on her legs. She squirms and kicks but to no avail. They secure her legs to the alter and do the same to her hands. She continues whimpering. PRIEST Ever since our towns founding we have been protected and watched over by the gods of old. We have survived through the most difficult times, through economic depression and we have been spared from natural disasters. Our crop has always been plentiful, our families always healthy. As we sacrifice this young soul we must remember that to not do so would be the end of us and our small town. We must continue to do as our fathers and mothers did before us, and so we must continue until the end of our days. ALL FIGURES Praise be to the Ancient Ones! The priest steps behind the stone alter and removes a small sacrificial dagger from his robes. He raises it high above his head. Sarah screams and struggles as the knife plunges. Blood splatters all over the alter and the priest. Sarahs struggles cease. Everyone in the church bows their heads.

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ALL FIGURES AND PRIEST Thanks be to the Ancient Ones. There is a small moment of silence and then all of the figures remove their robes. They are all adults ranging from their late twenties to early sixties. Small talk ensues as they begin to exit the church. The priest pulls out a small handkerchief and begins to wipe off the blood. The two figures who carried Sarah up remove their cloaks. One is the sheriff, still in uniform, the other is Sarahs mother. They stand next to the alter, crying silently. The sheriffs arm is around the mother. The priest walks over to them. PRIEST Im very sorry for your loss. I know how hard it is to have your child taken from you. But it must be done, you understand? Mother nods and wipes her eyes. PRIEST Good. Now if you would like we can go back to my house and have a cup of tea. Lets begin the road to recovery, huh? The sheriff and mother nod. The priest puts his arms around them and together they head down the stairs and out of the church. We follow them down the aisle, through the doors, and through the graveyard. We pause at the entrance, viewing the church resting peacefully behind the graveyard.