📝 CARRIAGE OF THE DEAD

Episode 1: “The Door Beneath”

Written by Phetolo 

---

COLD OPEN

EXT. CITY SKYLINE – NIGHT

Dark clouds roll over the city. Streetlights flicker. A humming silence builds — until:

BOOM!

A blackout sweeps across buildings in a wave of darkness.

Cut to:

---

ACT 1 – THE SPARK

INT. SCHOOL BASEMENT – NIGHT

Dimly lit, dusty. HALLEY (14, bold, inventive) and her twin brother HENRY (14, cautious, loyal) crouch near a humming device: Halley’s energy-detecting drone.

HENRY

(whispers)

You sure we’re not gonna blow up the science wing again?

HALLEY

That was one time. And technically, it was a “micro explosion.”

She powers on the drone. It BEEPS rapidly, spinning toward a corner.

HALLEY (CONT'D)

Bingo.

The drone hovers over a section of cracked floor. Halley kneels, brushes dust aside, revealing a RUSTED TRAPDOOR.

HENRY

Was that always there?

HALLEY

Nope. And that’s why we’re opening it.

---

INT. SECRET VAULT – LATER

The team has gathered: ZARA (13, sarcastic hacker), MARCUS (15, builder with oil-stained gloves), and JUNO (14, calm, spiritual).

They descend carefully. The walls glow faintly with ancient symbols.

In the center: a glowing MACHINE pulsing softly, like a heartbeat.

ZARA

This is way older than anything online. Like, pre-internet cursed.

JUNO

I feel something... wrong.

HALLEY

Or maybe... revolutionary.

She kneels, examining the control pad. Her fingers hover over a glowing button.

JUNO

Halley. Please don’t.

HALLEY

Just one scan. What’s the worst that could happen?

She presses the button.

WHOOSH!

A burst of icy wind floods the room. The light surges. Everyone stumbles back.

A shadow swirls above the machine. For a split second, we see a twisted silhouette — LORD MORROW — whispering in an ancient tongue.

LORD MORROW (V.O.)

<i>(unintelligible, echoing)</i>

The glow vanishes. Silence.

HENRY

What was that?!

JUNO

We woke something.

---

END ACT 1