Scene 09
[Pick up the pace. Of course she couldn't have just torn it up and refused. That would've been too easy.
The worst thing in the world to Toni was being unable to keep others from harm. It was just the way she was. She wanted to protect people. That's what happens when you're basically like a dog. It would be easy enough to turn that against her.
It was like Christmas all over again. It started with the phone. Every time she went near it she heard the screaming voices of people she knew: her friends, her family, people she had met while stuck in Mayfield whether or not they were still here. It got worse as the day went on. She'd turn a corner and see the corpse of a friend lying in a pool of their own blood, until she blinked and it disappeared.She tried to distract herself, but soon the screaming and the bodies began appearing on TV. She couldn't even sleep well, because she could still see them even with her eyes closed.
She managed two days. It was Tuesday morning when the thought crept into her mind: you can make it stop.
That thought shocked her more than any of the gory visions had. That she would even let it cross her mind frightened her. Whatever the town was doing to her, it was working. She couldn't give in. She couldn't kill that man, she wouldn't kill that man. But as she tried not to look at the vision of one of her fellow theatre majors hanging in the doorway, she wondered how much more she could take.
[A: All over town, you will find Toni just after she's had another 'episode'. She's either leaning against something trying to compose herself or holding her hands over her ears. She's fine. Not.]
[B: Are you a friend of Toni's? A coworker? Casual acquaintance? She's coming to your house. No, not for anything bad! She just wants to check on you, even if she just did a couple days ago. Maybe if she sees you alive it might relieve the crushing anxiety and hallucinations for a bit.]
The worst thing in the world to Toni was being unable to keep others from harm. It was just the way she was. She wanted to protect people. That's what happens when you're basically like a dog. It would be easy enough to turn that against her.
It was like Christmas all over again. It started with the phone. Every time she went near it she heard the screaming voices of people she knew: her friends, her family, people she had met while stuck in Mayfield whether or not they were still here. It got worse as the day went on. She'd turn a corner and see the corpse of a friend lying in a pool of their own blood, until she blinked and it disappeared.She tried to distract herself, but soon the screaming and the bodies began appearing on TV. She couldn't even sleep well, because she could still see them even with her eyes closed.
She managed two days. It was Tuesday morning when the thought crept into her mind: you can make it stop.
That thought shocked her more than any of the gory visions had. That she would even let it cross her mind frightened her. Whatever the town was doing to her, it was working. She couldn't give in. She couldn't kill that man, she wouldn't kill that man. But as she tried not to look at the vision of one of her fellow theatre majors hanging in the doorway, she wondered how much more she could take.
[A: All over town, you will find Toni just after she's had another 'episode'. She's either leaning against something trying to compose herself or holding her hands over her ears. She's fine. Not.]
[B: Are you a friend of Toni's? A coworker? Casual acquaintance? She's coming to your house. No, not for anything bad! She just wants to check on you, even if she just did a couple days ago. Maybe if she sees you alive it might relieve the crushing anxiety and hallucinations for a bit.]