Rightfully Mine

A Screenplay by Alasse Fefalas

Maera wants her own rights, but her brother tries to kill her so she runs away, bumping into a person named Azrel who said he would help her.

FADE IN:

INTERIOR RASKUS HOUSE, MAERA�S ROOM         EARLY EVENING

MAERA, a small-built teenage girl looks out her large opened WINDOW as she watches the grey clouds shimmer orange-purple while the sun cowardly hides behind the glittering sea. The wind picks up speed and creates a melody of the dry leaves on the trees.

The burgundy haired girl listens carefully to the wind, knowing that light RAIN is falling from the sky. It dampens the road and creates puddles of water, making it hard to walk.

She hears heavy footsteps, the metal tinkle of locks being handled and a loud click at which she then knows that the door is now unlocked from the outside. She takes a deep breath for the upcoming onslaught from the intruder of the room.

A medium-built teen, MICHAEL, stands at the doorway of the room, eyes blazing with fire, eyebrows arching at a high angle and gritting teeth.

MICHAEL
(through his teeth)
Why didn�t you wake me up, you useless woman?
She gives him a skeptical look, as if he is an idiot.

MAERA
(sneers condescendingly)
I can�t get out of this room unless you unlock the door, dear brother. Maybe if you use that object placed atop your neck, you might find the answer yourself or understand the situation, even a little bit, before insinuating that I didn�t wake you up.
(With a raised voice)
I have done nothing wrong, and you have no authority to push me around, even though you are the older sibling. I am still, after all, the one and only daughter of the Raskus house.

MICHAEL
(sneers)
It appears that you don�t know do you, sister. Father has given ME authority of the whole house, which thus includes you too.
He smiles and walks towards her.

MICHAEL
I�ve grown tired sister. Of you and your complains about your non-existent �rights�.

Michael takes a grab at her, but she is the faster one and manages to dodge the attack and launches one swift and sharp kick of her own to his back. Stumbling a little, he regains his balance and throws a punch at her, landing straight in the gut.

She is thrown backwards, landing hard on the ground. Her face contorts as pain courses through her body. Eyes shut, she still feels the vibration of an incoming person coming towards her. He comes closer and suddenly feels himself being tripped backwards and lands on his butt. Maera gets up the same time as Michael and retreats backwards.

Angrily, Michael reaches into his pocket and pulls out a SWITCHBLADE. He lunges at his younger sister and sweeps his hand towards the left, WOUNDING her. Repeatedly he attacks her, randomly swinging the blade at her, until he backs her to the wall.

Beads of SWEAT rolled down Maera�s face as she blindly reaches around her for a weapon. Her grip tightens on the first thing she touches and throws a LAMP she had grabbed to Michael, confusing him. Taking the opportunity of when he is confused, Maera runs towards the window.
Her step takes her flying out the window which, fortunately, was on the first storey. The rain has stopped but the floor is still slippery which made it harder to run.

Taking SHELTER under the graceful arms of the shadows, she regulates her breathing that is coming in small droves. She looks around and notices a small pathway that leads away from the road. She takes that path, hoping that he would not find her here.

Her feet continue their march, carrying her far down the path. Slowing down slightly, she turned her head back, to make sure they did not follow. Then, out of nowhere, a sudden BUMP from the front causes her
to fly backwards slightly.

AZREL (V.O)
Ah... I�m so sorry. Are you alright?

She curses under her breath as she lands on the ground, hard. A small gasp of shock causes her to lift her head up as gaze into the eyes of the shadowed figure. He, AZREL KRELM looks intently at her, and sticks out a hand to help her up.

Maera stares at the hand and finally gives in, taking the hand and pulls herself up. A sharp gasp escapes her lips when the man accidentally brushes against her wound. His eyebrows crumpled into a FROWN, and pull her towards the small light at the side of the path.

Shock is written on his face when he sees the multiple cuts on her body. Her face reddens as she turns her head away from his gaze. She tries to pull away her hand but he holds firmly on to it, not letting her go.

AZREL
Come to my house. Your wounds need looking into. You can�t walk around all wounded like this.

MAERA
No... It�s okay... Please let go of my hand.

AZREL
No, I insist. They could get infected like this.

MAERA
... Alright then. I�ve no other choice, do I?

CUT TO:

EXTERIOR OUTSIDE AZREL�S HOUSE        EARLY NIGHT

Maera�s jaw dropped when she sees the huge HOUSE in front of her. Azrel opens the door and nudges her in. She does not say a word about his house, but her face shows profound amazement.

He directs her to a seat, and left momentarily to the kitchen to get the medical box. He dresses her wounds slowly and carefully, making sure he does not hurt her anymore.

AZREL
What�s your name? How did you receive this wounds?

MAERA
(hesitantly)
Maera. And I don�t need to explain that to a stranger...

AZREL
Ah, but seeing that you are already here, in this stranger�s house, doesn�t it mean that you actually trust me?

MAERA
Fine. My brother and I aren�t that tight. We�ve been fighting ever since we were young. Furthermore, Father isn�t home much, so bro�s the man of the house. But he always bullies me, day in and day out. Just like just now, and now he says he�s grown tired of me, so he tried getting rid of me. We really fought, literally, and I bumped into you when I was running away. And now here I am!

When she finishes her story, she gasps and covers her mouth, surprised that she had actually told him the whole story.

AZREL
(smiling)
I see. So that�s your story. Well, I am Azrel. Azrel Krelm. I know your father, Maera. He�s a colleague. And I can help you with your problem. I know of just the right thing, so you don�t have to worry, alright?

Maera puts down her hand from her face and turned to stare into his eyes, making sure he is not lying. When she sees the purity of his statement, her face broke into a beautiful sincere smile.

Blackness, however, clawed into her consciousness, making her smile falter. Azrel is momentarily surprised when Maera falls forward, but he catches her with ease. His smile returns when he sees the peaceful look on her face. His hand reaches out to stroke her face in affection.

AZREL
(softly)
Foolish girl...

He takes her legs in one hand and holds her back in another. With one movement, he picks up the girl, bridal style and brings her to a fully furnished room and lays her on the bed gently. Sweeping stray hair from her face, Azrel gives her a small peck on her pale forehead and tells her to rest well. He then leaves the room, and closes the rood behind him.

CUT TO:

EXTERIOR OUTSKIRTS OF TOWN        MIDNIGHT

Azrel is walking around in search of Michael, and finds him at the outskirts of town. A loud NOISE from the jetty attracted his attention and there, he finds Michael caught in a brawl.

It is a one against FIVE PEOPLE, but Azrel does not rush out to help the boy. He merely stands in the shadows and watch as the fight progresses.

Michael is outnumbered, but he is the better fighter. They are not organised, throwing punches whenever they feel like it, and kicking at the non-vital places.

He, however, dodges most of the punches and gives them his own short, strong and precise ones. His attacks are powerful, injuring them badly, but he still receives some injuries from their random attacks.
Despite their injuries, the five guys fights back by drawing KNIVES from their pockets and swing at him.

Caught unawares, Michael instantly shields himself using his arms and quickly launches his counter attack to disarm them, literally.
Screams of pain fills the air as Michael attacks. Unable to fight any longer, the five of them ran away, deigning Michael as the victor of the fight.

Catching his breath after the gruelling fight, he limps towards the shadows to rest. Unknowingly, he leans on the same wall that Azrel is resting on, side by side they stood, yet Michael still does not sense another person beside him.

AZREL
If I were an enemy, you would be dead right now.
Wide-eyed, Michael jumped slightly and took out his switchblade and pointed it at Azrel�s throat.

AZREL
(unnerved by the knife)
Your fighting skills are remarkable to be able to go up against the five of them alone, moreover without even drawing your weapon.
Upon hearing that, Michael relaxes is muscles that were ready to attack at any time and FIDDLES with his switchblade.

AZREL
What are you doing fighting so late at night, anyway?

MICHAEL
(sighs)
I�m relieving stress caused by that wretched sister of mine. She always rebel against me over the smallest things when I have the power in the house with our father almost never home due to work. I wanted to kill her and be done with it, but that cockroach ran away and now I can�t find her.

Anger creeps into his face as he talks about his sister. In anger, he takes his blade and drives it deep into the wall, only inches from Azrel�s face.

MAERA (V.O)
(shouting)
AZREL!!

Maera runs towards them and kicks Michael away from Azrel.

MAERA
(continued, growling)
Don�t come closer. I warn you.

Michael picks himself up from the ground and glowered at her. His eyes reflect the anger that has welled up inside of him while hers blatantly told others that she absolutely loathes him.

They charge at each other with their fists and starts punching and kicking each other.

AZREL
Look, children. Fighting won�t do any good for this kind of problem!

The fight irritates Azrel as they are still fighting each other despite his words to them of not fighting. Apparently they were not listening.
His mood switches between irritation and amazement as his mind registers that Maera was an equal match to Michael. Every attack he gave was dodged and every attack she gave him was quickly dodged by him.

However, his irritation grows so much that he cannot bear it any longer. He steps between the both of them and stop they freeze in their step in fear of accidentally hitting him. He glares angrily at each of them, and they both slump in defeat, a gut feeling telling them that they cannot win against him.

AZREL
Calm down, idiots! Listen to me! I know your father well, and he�s told me what he wants for you two respectively. Michael is to learn about politics as he is the heir of the family. He has authority in the house over all but his sister. Maera is free to do whatever you want, but only with the condition that you help your brother with his studies in politics as you have greater knowledge about it. Neither can control each other, and if there is to be any problems, they are to go to their uncle to ask him for assistance in solving the situation. Alright?

Both look at each other and slowly nod their heads. They agree on their rights and conditions. Azrel slaps each of them on their shoulders lightly and they turn to see him smiling happily at their reconciliation.

MAERA
Azrel, wait. Who is our uncle then? I don�t remember having any uncle...

Azrel�s answer left the siblings thoroughly shocked.

AZREL
(smile grows wider)
Me.