A Stranger Things Spin Off

Scene 1:

A small 1980’s police station reeks of lingering cigarette smoke. There are a decent amount of officers around, but the facility is slow-moving. The scene closes in on Nat Baker, who sits at a desk waiting for the chief to come over.

Nat Baker’s wrists are lined with handcuffs and she sits slightly hunched. Her elbows are planted into the desk and her hands are held close to her face. She discreetly sucks the blood from her open-wounded knuckles. She slowly rocks back and forth in anticipation, but not anxiety. As an officer comes towards her and sits down, she casually lowers her hands and sits up a little straighter.

Police Officer: *clears throat* So, Ms. Brenner, you’ve had quite an eventful week haven’t you?

Nat: (slightly cringes) You’re not the chief.

Police Officer: What an excellent and intelligent observation you’ve made. Now, I don’t have much time.  You should know what this is about.

Nat sends daggers with her eyes to the office when he pauses. He half-expects Nat to start answering his unasked questions. The officer clears his throat again; looking at his files, and continues.

Police Officer: So the death of your husband, Martin Brenner-

Nat: Ex-husband.

Police Officer: Sure, ex-husband, well, he died tragically last week, and I believe the two of you were not on the best of terms.

Nat shifts her body, preparing to speak.

Police Officer: And, according to my files, you haven’t been able to keep your hands very clean since then either.

(reading from file)  “Assault and battery on a police officer”? That’s not gonna make your case look good, especially only days after Martin’s incident.

Nat speaks through gritted teeth

Nat: They tried to take away Charlie; what was I left to do?

Police Officer: To protect him, that is; they tried removing him in order to protect him. You were posed as a threat.

The officer narrows in on Nat’s open knuckles.

Not to mention, you thought it would be a bright idea to act maliciously in response to the precautionary actions being taken for your past violent shenanigans. (the officer shakes his head and lets out a quiet chuckle) To think that it wouldn’t be logical to remove a child from the supervision a prime murder suspect; the murder of someone involved with the government nonetheless.

Nat: How do you even know he was murdered? Or if I was even near the site? Don’t I at least get an alibi?

Police Officer: How do I know he was murdered? I have the pictures right here, sweetheart. And let me tell you, they’re gruesome as hell. Not to mention, his body was found in a public school. There is not the slightest evidence of an accident or suicide. (he winces) And by the looks of this, someone really had it out for him, the wounds hardly look human.

Nat rolls her eyes

Nat: Martin wasn’t a saint by any means either, I can tell you that much.

Police Officer: Hm, well it seems that you know all his shenanigans and considering he works for the government, you would be the only one who would know where he is and what he’s up to and, well, how to potentially corner him..

Nat defensively opens her mouth to speak but the officer puts his hand up to stop her

And based on the terms of your relations with him and how little you are denying and emotionless you are responding, I think this case will be pretty clear.

Nat: You can’t be serious! I haven’t spoken to Martin in 3 months because of the despicable and illegal things him and his little “governmental force” have been up to. I’ve been watching after Charlie to make sure Martin didn’t get his filthy hands on him and now I’m being accused and ridiculed for my child being taken out of my protection and for the end of a life that I’ve worked my hardest to stay out of!

Others in the station slightly turn their heads towards Nat’s direction

Police Officer: Ms. Brenner, I’m going to have to ask you to calm dow-

Nat: My name is Ms. Baker, Jesus Christ!

Police Officer: Ms. Br- uh- Baker, you’re trying to tell me that I should believe that our government, who I potentially work for and who serves to protect us, is behind a dangerous scheme that you are trying to claim as inhumane and threatening. Let me tell you something, without the government, this country would turn into muck. I believe the officers in those positions understand how vital they are and would believe it to be naïve to gamble with the unorthodox subjects you accuse them of. You do understand how ridiculous you sound trying to protect yourself by this information, don’t you?

Nat’s jaw is clenched

Nat: Where’s. The. Chief.

Just then the station doors open and Charlie is walked by two officers to a back room. The chief strolls in behind the group. There is an apparent emotional switch in Nat’s features as the sight of her son reveals a vulnerable shell of her that has not been seen yet.

Nat: Charlie!

Nat calls his name through a choked up throat and Charlie makes a few attempts to call back “mommy” at her, trying to look past the officers. The chief hears Nat and walks over to her desk and relieves the other officer. Nat now presses her forehead against her retrained hands, a sense of defeat only brought out by seeing her son.

Nat: (whimpers) Please… Just don’t take him away. I- it’s just- you don’t understand- I can’t afford having him being taken away from me. I don’t know what they’ll do to him. They’ll do something- they- they’ll have- they’ll… hurt him or something. I’ll admit to anything if I have to just- please- I can’t… (shakes her head slowly) I’m not crazy, I swear.

The chief takes a few seconds to look and evaluate her. He eventually takes a deep breath.

Chief: No, you’re not crazy.

Nat peers up in surprise

Chief: We’ve been looking at this case from a couple of different aspects; we just needed to sort out who was definitely the mastermind behind all of this. Only I know about this in the station, along with a few outsiders. We’re trying to figure it out though. I need you to tell me everything you know about this energy program within the government. I also want to believe you’re innocent, but I can’t quite do that if you keep getting yourself into trouble; do you understand?

Nat: Yes, yes, of course, thank you. Now what do you need to know? And when will I get Charlie back? He’s part of the deal. I’ll tell you as much as I know and will help out with whatever you need I just-

Chief: Nat, listen, you’ve had a long day. I’m going to fill out more paperwork as you gather yourself for around 10 minutes and I’ll let you go home for the night. Charlie will be safe here with me, I can promise you that. I would give him back sooner, but I already have to justify myself for letting you go, you see. If all goes right, I can probably get him back to you this week. Now I need you to go home and get some rest and be here by 9am tomorrow to do some business. I don’t know how much you know yet, but this case… it’s huge. It’s bigger than our world in a sense. I’ll explain tomorrow.

For the first time in this scene, Nat is very much caught off guard. The chief carefully unlocks Nat’s handcuffs and she gives him a nod of gratitude. Nat stalls for a moment then walks out into the dark knowing she won’t be able to receive an ounce of sleep that night.

Reviews

[Jacob]

I think it's well-written. I'm a fan of Stranger Things and honestly need more of it in my life and I think you perfectly captured the feel of the dialogue and atmosphere depicted in the show. It's not in a very screenplay format though, but that's the only thing I would change.