*An unknown person walks through the woods carrying a woven picnic basket on their arm, their feet lightly snapping small sticks on the ground as he goes. He steps over a tree trunk before pushing through a low-hanging branch to reveal a heavenly-green clearing with an unnaturally blue lake in the middle. The figure reaches into their picnic basket, pulling out a neatly folded red and white picnic blanket. Placing the basket down, they open the blanket and spread it across the ground, gently straightening it out. Reaching again into their picnic basket, the figure now pulls out a teddy bear, a stuffed rabbit, and a Barbie doll, cautiously placing them on the blanket, before placing pink-plastic teacups on the ground in front of the toys. Finally, the figure sits, having a plastic teacup of its own which it playfully drink from. Seeming to suddenly remember something, the figure stands up again, running order to the picnic basket once more. They grab one final object out of it, placing it directly across the blanket from them. The figure looks down at the scene in front of them, reaching forward to brush the hair off the face of the severed head on the opposing side of the blanket. Now, seemingly content, the figure pretends to sip once more from the teacup as the sun beats down on the idyllic, magazine-like valley.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*The sun rises over a sign reading “Welcome To Golden Valley”, a stereotypically idyllic town in the background. Outside the high school, the bell rings loudly, alerting the lingering students outside that their latest day of torment has now begun. A car speedily zips up to the front entrance, Mitch and Camila Santos jumping out of it before it has even fully stopped. Their older sister, Carolina shouts through the open window*
Carolina: A thank you for…you know, not making you late on the first day of class would be nice!
*Camila turns around, waving her sister off. Carolina shakes her head before pulling out of her parking spot. One car behind her, Hoop Dancer climbs out of the police car his father is driving*
Robert: You’ll have a good first day I hope?
Hoop *sighing*: Yes, I will dad
Robert: Anyone causes trouble, stresses you out…offers you drugs, please call me
*Hoop pauses, carefully thinking about what to say next*
Hoop: I will, Dad. Have a good day yourself
*As Hoop says goodbye to his father, Anya Rogers runs past with her arms full of posters and signs. She drops one as she sprints toward the school entrance, sighing as she turns to pick it up. As this happens, Kimberly Madonna casually appears behind Anya, whispering a remark in her ear before strutting off into the school. A small tear appears in Anya’s eye, which she promptly wipes away before picking her fallen poster back up*
~~~~~
Lara Andrews (speaking into a microphone): Good morning Golden Valley, and welcome to another beautiful day in our beautiful town!
*Sat in the town’s radio office, Lara warmly greets her listeners, quickly taking a deep sip of coffee*
Lara: Before we get into the show, Mayor Bagwaggle would like to remind everyone that the Tommy Cooney memorial will take place tonight at 8 PM on the high school field. Today marks the 5th anniversary of the tragic evening that claimed a young boy’s life and will forever plague this town’s memories. Entry will be $1 and all proceeds will go to the local dog shelter which Tonny held so dearly in his heart. Alright, now we can finally get into some tunes…
*Thinking she’s turned off her mic, Lara leans back in her seat and turns to her student intern, George Munich*
Lara: Ugh, I’m so tired of the same stupid story day after day for what? 5 years? Seriously, people need to get over it. The boy’s dead, end of
George: Um, Ms. Andrews…
Lara: I didn’t ask for your input. I just wish this stupid town would stop being so hung up about some mentally fucked up boy who loved puppies and then fell into a fucking hole and died. This town’s honestly a better place without him
George: You do know you’re still live, right?
Lara: Oh shi-
~~~~~
*Residents of the town sit in the local coffee shop, sipping their golden elixirs and munching on croissants while chatting about the town’s news, of which there is seemingly very little this morning. Cecily Jones eagerly leans forward to talk to Mary Brucknell, her eyes hungry with gossip*
Cecily: Have you heard about that Brancati girl who’s back in town?
Mary: I’ve heard the whispers
Cecily: Ran off to LA to become a famous actress. Appeared in some shitty movie - what was it? Anyway, she’s back now I guess, failed like they usually do
Mary: It was Toilet Shark
Cecily: Excuse me?
Mary: The movie she was in was called Toilet Shark. It’s about a shark who eats people as they sit on the toilet. It’s genuinely not that bad, you should give it a go. Some guy who’s peeing gets his co-
*Leanne Mitchell starts approaching the table, Mary stopping her sentence dead as she sits*
Leanne: Hi, ladies! How are you today?
*Both Mary and Cecily suddenly seem much less interested, both turning to focus on their cold croissants. Leanne seems dismayed, but still continues to try*
Leanne: What’s the whole memorial thing tonight about?
*The ladies lock eyes, seemingly doing a telepathic match of rock-paper-scissors. Cecily loses and turns to Leanne as a result*
Cecily: A kid died a couple of years ago. It was the biggest gossip in the town since Mayor Bagwaggle’s STD test results got leaked. A few people said it was murder, some kind of coverup-
*Mary suddenly injects herself into the conversation, interrupting Cecily*
Mary: Gordie Griffiths says the kid was the Doll Maker. Some kind of a note admitting to all of it
Leanne: Sorry…who’s the Doll Maker?
Cecily: About five years ago local pets were going missing. A few weeks later they found…a thing. It was some sort of a cat animal made from the pets’ stitched together bodyparts. They never caught the freak. I do find it funny that the pet killings stopped right after that boy died though, he was always hanging around the animal shelter, a real creep if you ask me
Mary: If anything, we’re all glad he’s dead. His big sister, Jasmine though, took it rough, been one of those alcoholic types ever since
*Leanne seems prepared to ask another question when Cecily glances at the clock on the wall*
Cecily: Oh my, it’s late, I should really get going
*Mary nods in agreement at Cecily’s excuse to escape*
Mary: Yes, Antiques Roadshow will be on soon, I don’t want to miss it. They have a pink diamond necklace on this week which I must say I’m rather excited for
*The two women stand and leave the cafe, leaving Leanne alone at the table*
Cassie: Excuse me, miss, could I sit here?
*Leanne turns to see Cassie standing behind her, clutching a large mug of coffee*
Leanne: Yeah, sure
*Cassie sits, smiling at Leanne*
Cassie: Sorry, I overheard your conversation. Those women are absolute sharks and care about nothing but the drama
Leanne: I’m new here…I came here wanting to escape from the coldness of city life, you know? I found this place and it seemed like quite a close-knit, friendly community, but I get here and everyone’s just extremely…I don’t know, rude I guess
Cassie: Yeah, I feel that a lot here. I’m Cassie, by the way!
*Cassie extends her hand and Leanne shakes it. Visible through the window of the cafe, Cecily and Mary part ways, Mary starting to hobble along the street alone*
~~~~~
*On the other end of town, Detective Gasper Poe climbs out of his car and begins walking toward the police station. Just down the street, Heidi Vanderplump distractedly walks past Doyle Mark, her eyes firmly set on her phone. Doyle takes the opportunity to stand up, walking behind Heidi and starting to reach for her pocket. As he does this, she suddenly turns around, screaming at seeing Doyle so close to her. Immediately, Gasper stops unlocking the police station and starts running toward the two to see what the commotion is*
Heidi: Detective, this man just tried to rob me!
*Gasper looks from Heidi to Doyle, shaking his head somewhat*
Gasper: Doyle, is this true?
Doyle: No, detective
Gasper: Are you sure?
Doyle: Yes, detective
Heidi: His hand was halfway into my pocket!
*Gasper sighs, motioning to Heidi that she can go. She scoffs somewhat, and walks away as Gasper and Doyle are left alone on the street*
Gasper: I thought I’d told you that you needed to stop trying to pickpocket residents. If you are going to do it, at least don’t get caught doing it. And learn to lie better, I’ve seen toddlers lie better than you do
Doyle: Sorry detective, I just wanted some money to get some breakfast from the cafe
*Gasper nods, reaching into his pocket to grab a $5 note. He hands it to Doyle with a half-smile*
Gasper: Treat yourself to something, and please don’t let me hear of you doing something again today
*Doyle gratefully thanks him, before the men part ways, Gasper returning to the station and continuing to unlock it. As the door swings open, he notices a note that has seemingly been slid under the door. Curiously, he picks it up, scoffing somewhat as he reads it*
~~~~~
*Walking back from the cafe, Mary finally reaches her house, reaching into her pocket for the door key. Opening the door, she somewhat stumbled inside, closing the door behind her with a sigh. Hanging her coat up, she advances toward her couch, cautiously sitting down. As she does this, a sudden click rings out across the house as Mary gasps in pain, reaching for her hip. As she begins to lie on the couch, she gasps in relief, taking a minute to reflect on her morning*
Mary: Roadshow time…
*Reaching for the remote, she flicks on the TV to see an ad for an expensive brand of panties*
Mary: Oh, those were the days!
*Meanwhile, outside the house, a gloved hand reaches for the garden gnome by the front door, lifting it up to reveal a spare key. The hand picks up the key, slowly unlocking the door in an attempt to not make any noise. The Antiques Roadshow theme music begins to play as the figure enters the house and advances toward the couch Mary is lying on. As they do this, a loud creak can be heard as they step on a loose floorboard, causing Mary to snap her attention away from the TV. Unable to see above the top of the couch, she calls out into the unknown*
Mary: Hello?
*The figure walks toward Mary, her face suddenly turning into pure shock*
Mary: You? What are you doing here? How did you get in? Out! Now, get out!
*Mary slowly tries to sit up, but the figure grabs her, forcefully shoving her back onto the couch*
Mary (very panicked): No! What are you doing? Stop it! Please stop…I’m sorry!
*The figure does not listen to her pleas, revealing a drill. Mary begins to desperately scream as the figure switches the drill on, slowly moving it toward Mary’s right knee. Shrieking as the drill begins cutting through bone, she dramatically thrashes, attempting to grab the figure to no avail*
Mary: Please…DON’T! PLEASE!
*The killer slowly pulls the drill out of Mary’s right knee, before cutting into her left knee. As blood starts spurting out, Mary’s screams reach supersonic force, but there is nobody around to hear them. The figure now moves the drill up to Mary’s throat, her screams starting to become gargling as her writhing begins to slow, before finally stopping. Blood spurts from her three wounds, turning the sofa a deep scarlet shade of red. Wordlessly, the figure grabs Mary’s shoulders, pulling her body off the sofa, and dragging it somewhere unknown, leaving the house full of nothing but the sounds of Antiques Roadshow*
And that concludes the first episode! RIP Mary, but she was sort of an awful human being but still, she just wanted to watch Antique's Roadshow :(
This serves as more of an introductory episode. If your character hasn't been introduced yet then they will officially be in the next episode! Everyone will also get their moment to shine so if you were a bit of a non-entity in this episode then your time will come I promise <3
I'm not really sure how many episodes of this were will be yet but I have 24 (now 23) characters to work with and a lot of them need to be killed off so I'm predicting roughly 10-12 episodes in total
