Hell

Hell by Evan Stefanik

ELISSA: Whoever he is...I should've never broken your love. What can I do now?

MOTHER: Nothing. It's too late. (She gets in her face. ELISSA backs down like a little girl.) All I want from you now is to fucking suffer. (She exits fiercely.)

(ELISSA is huddled on the ground, crying and petrified, reminiscent of BOY earlier. She's slightly rocking back and forth, and clutching her head again. She's a terrified little girl.)

BOYFRIEND: (He enters, dirty and tired, like he just got off of work.) Elissa? (Noticing her on the ground, he gets to her level and wraps his arms around her.) What's wrong? Are the noises back?

ELISSA: Shh! I'm trying to listen. I'm trying to remember.

BOYFRIEND: Then focus on one voice. Mine. Do you know who I am?

ELISSA: (She studies him, and is then flushed with relief.) It's you! Cade! You're here to save me! I love you!

(She passionately kisses him, and he jumps back, now standing.)

BOYFRIEND: Elissa!

ELISSA: What's wrong?

BOYFRIEND (with a melancholy tinge of heartbreak): How dare you?

ELISSA: (She stands up, becoming a little vicious and mocking out of defense.) What? Have you stopped loving me now?

BOYFRIEND: Don't do that. I can't hear it! You know I still love you. I did, and I will. (Beat. He looks in the distance, hypnotized by his memory.) I'll never forget that night at the drive in. Sixteen. Lying in the back of my truck with you, meeting for the first time yet kissing like we'd loved each other for years. I liked that night. The moon was bright, and the stars were singing. We were fools. (Beat.) Then matters got more serious. You started pushing things too far, and everything crashed when you got...(beat. The topic is too heavy for him to continue. He escapes his trance.) I just can't let you get away with what you did to him.

ELISSA: Save it, Cade. You're not helping, walking around what happened but not actually addressing it. My mom got to that before you could.

BOYFRIEND: Damn it! You really are as heartless as she said.

ELISSA: (She laughs.) I'm not heartless. Stop being such an asshole to me.

BOYFRIEND: I'm the villain here? After what you did to him?

ELISSA: Oh my God, fine! Let's play. Who's he? What, was it that boy?

BOYFRIEND: That boy? THAT BOY?

ELISSA: (She laughs.) You're getting upset, now. (He slaps her in the face. She instantly settles again.)

BOYFRIEND: (He's crying.) I'm sorry. (He hugs her. She's frozen.) But how can you pretend to not know him?

ELISSA: (She's still mortified.) That's the thing. I can't remember what I did, or who I hurt. And I'm absolutely miserable trying to figure it out.

BOYFRIEND: Elissa, all I need to know is if you care.

ELISSA: Of course I care! I'm being torn apart by guilt!

BOYFRIEND: (Beat.) I meant about him. About me. About your mom. How we're all suffering. (Beat.) You think everything is about you. That's why you did it.

ELISSA: Oh...no. Please. I'm sorry. I am so sorry, truly. I love you. (He rejects another kiss; she becomes frustrated.)

BOYFRIEND: It's too late for that.