CARD: The Night Before - 11.32 PM

Don is sitting on the couch, in relative darkness. He pours himself a fresh glass of vodka as the phone rings. At first, the sound startles Don. His eyes fix on the phone, but even when he has finished pouring his glass, he doesn’t make an attempt to answer the call. He just lets the answering machine do it for him.

INT. DON’S LOUNGE - EARLY AFTERNOON (END FLASHBACK)
Don continues staring at the answering machine from his sitting position as the second message starts.

INT. DON’S KITCHEN - EARLY AFTERNOON
Don reservedly approaches what lays on the kitchen floor. He then kneels wearily. He gazes at this thing for a sustained period before the sound of a car driving through the street brings Don out of his trance. He stands and goes to the window, which is just above the sink. Don peers through it and watches as the car moves up the street and then turns left, driving away. Once it is out of view, Don appraises the small stack of dirty dishes on the sink. Don thinks for a moment.

INT. DON’S LOUNGE - NIGHT (FLASHBACK)

CARD: That Morning - 1.14 AM

Don is laying on his couch, with the light in the room now off. His eyes are closed and the bottle of vodka has only a quarter of it’s contents remaining. Don is incredibly inebriated and close to being passed out. The phone rings. The silence of the room causes the ringing phone to sound extremely loud. Don’s eyes open, startled. The call goes to the machine. Don and Leslie’s lead-in message plays before the beep. Leslie, drunk and crying, leaves a message.

INT. DON’S KITCHEN - EARLY AFTERNOON (END FLASHBACK)
Don stands at the kitchen sink, staring at the dishes. A few moments pass before he turns the hot water tap on. He puts his hand under the water and waits for it to get hot before turning the cold water tap slightly. As the water pours, Don bends and opens a cupboard door which is under the sink. He takes a bottle of dish washing liquid, opens it and pours some into the sink, at the exact spot the water is streaming into. Once the sink is full, Don turns off both taps. He puts all the dirty dishes in the water, then grabs most of the dirty cutlery and does the same. Now there is only one dirty object that is not submerged. It is a knife. There is blood on the blade and underneath it, there are a couple of drops. Don stares at the knife for a moment, entranced. His trance is broken, however, when he hears a voice.

INT. / EXT. DON’S LOUNGE / DON’S HOUSE - MORNING (FLASHBACK)

CARD: That Morning - 10.35 AM

Don is asleep on the couch. His head is still buried under the pillow that he retreated to after hearing Leslie’s message. The doorbell rings, waking him. With a tired hand, he pulls the cushion off his head and drops it beside the couch. He moans lightly as the doorbell rings again. Don pushes himself up and then gets to his feet. He puts his hand to his forehead and keeps it there as he winces. Don walks delicately to the front door and opens it. Standing on the step, looking as if she’s barely slept a wink, is Leslie. Don stares at her coldly, her appearance instantly bringing back the pain of the night before. Leslie’s bottom lip quivers and tears well in her eyes. Silence lingers for a time before Leslie collapses onto Don with a hug. She clutches him tightly as Don just stands, staring past her.

INT. DON’S KITCHEN – MORNING
Don stands over the sink, his hands gripping it hard. He is breathing heavily, awash with anger. Leslie enters behind him, keeping a safe distance.

INT. DON’S KITCHEN - EARLY AFTERNOON (END FLASHBACK)
Don stares at Leslie, whom he thought was dead. She lays on the ground, her eyes barely open, her chest bloody.

INT. DON’S LOUNGE - EARLY AFTERNOON
Don enters, panicked. He goes to the phone and goes to grab it, but stops. He sits on the couch and gazes at the phone. He buries his head in his hands and his breathing becomes increasingly heavy. After a few moments, he takes his head from his hands and grabs the phone. He dials 000 and holds the receiver to his ear.

INT. DON’S KITCHEN - EARLY AFTERNOON
Don walks toward Leslie, but stops a few paces away. Leslie struggles to look at him.

EXT. / INT. DON’S HOUSE / DON’S LOUNGE - EARLY AFTERNOON
Don goes to the door. He leans into it, resting his head. With his head against the door, he begins turning the knob. From outside, we see him open the door to JUSTIN (a 20 year old male). Justin is wearing casual clothes and appears recently showered. He has a black eye and is physically bigger than Don.

INT. DON’S KITCHEN - EARLY AFTERNOON
Justin is getting up and turning from a kneeling position beside Leslie. He is heading out of the kitchen when Don enters. In a hurried, violent moment, Don raises the broken bottle and begins to bring it down hard at Justin’s chest.

After a few moments of darkness, we return to the scene. Don stands over two bodies in the kitchen. Justin and Leslie aren’t moving. Justin has four stab wounds on his chest. Leslie still has just the one but she has finally passed out. Don stares, traumatized and shocked. He drops the bloody broken bottle and it smashes to pieces on the floor. Don turns away, his gaze vacant. He slowly stumbles out of the kitchen.

INT. DON’S LOUNGE - EARLY AFTERNOON
Don stumbles to the front door and steps out, closing it behind him.

EXT. DON’S HOUSE - EARLY AFTERNOON
Still gazing vacantly, Don sits on the doorstep. He is shaking. Six seconds pass by before Don tentatively reaches inside his pocket and pulls out his lighter and packet of cigarettes. He pulls a cigarette from the packet and returns the packet to his pocket. He then puts the cigarette in his mouth. Don raises the lighter to the cigarette, his hand shaking with increasing intensity. The lighter falls from his fingers. He looks down at it, his lips now quivering. The cigarette falls from his mouth and lands near the lighter. He just stares at the ground, shaking. After a few more silent moments, Don buries his head in his hands.