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turning to page one
turning to page one
A big room, cheerfully decorated. Instrumental music plays. Some strobe lights hang from the ceiling and there are two tables laden with sandwiches and refreshments. Couples dance. Two women sit at a table: Nosebleed Woman and her Best Friend. A woman sits on her own at the next table. She is the Heartless Woman we saw at breakfast. Biscuit Woman enters and goes over to her table.
BISCUIT WOMAN
May I join you?
HEARTLESS WOMAN
No, you may not. And don’t you dare
come near my table again.
BISCUIT WOMAN
I’m sorry.
Biscuit Woman goes to the table where Nosebleed Woman and her Best Friend sit.
BISCUIT WOMAN (CONT’D)
Can I sit with you?
NOSEBLEED WOMAN
Of course. You are third in line.
I’m first, then it’s my best
friend, then you.
BISCUIT WOMAN
Thank you very much.
NOSEBLEED WOMAN
She has no feelings whatsoever.
Feels nothing at all. Just be
careful around her, keep your
distance. Understood?
BISCUIT WOMAN
Okay.
NOSEBLEED WOMAN’S BEST FRIEND
She’s the best hunter in the hotel.
Silent and very fast. She’s the
women’s record holder. 192
captives.
BISCUIT WOMAN
Who’s the men’s record holder?
NOSEBLEED WOMAN
An assistant university professor.
He’s not at the hotel any more. He
left in 2009 after a year here. 282
captives.
David approaches their table.
DAVID
Who’s first?
NOSEBLEED WOMAN
They go to dance. Romantic instrumental music plays. There are around ten couples on the dance floor. Limping Man dances with a woman next to them and Lisping Man dances towards the back. Next to them, the Hotel Manager dances with her partner. She smiles at him. He smiles back at her, trying to be polite. Nosebleed Woman’s nose starts to bleed, staining David’s shirt.
NOSEBLEED WOMAN (CONT’D)
I’m sorry, I’ve got blood on you.
But don’t worry. There are many
ways to remove blood stains from
clothes quite easily. One is to
wash the item in cold water and
then rub it with sea salt. Another
is to scrub the stains with cotton
wool dipped in ammonia.
NOSEBLEED WOMAN (CONT’D)
The third way is to use water and
flour mixed into a paste, like
toothpaste, especially if the
clothes are delicate or brightly
coloured. But never use hot water
on blood. Ever.
David doesn’t seem to mind much. An alarm goes off. They all run from the ballroom.