Ransom Deadline

Jess is a 22 year old college student staying at her parents house. Tonight she is home alone in her pajama shorts and t-shirt casually watching TV and scrolling on her phone. She gets a phone call from her father, telling her that he has to stay late working at the bank and she can go ahead and order food if she wants. Jess shares good news with him that she just got accepted for a paid internship and they have a playful exchange.

While Jess is lounging on the living room couch, a Masked Man watches her from the laundry room closet. He backs away into a corner and speaks into a flip phone, confirming that Jess is alone. The man on the other end of the phone tells the intruder to keep Jess in place until the ransom is paid.

Jess is absorbed in her phone as the masked man silently emerges from the closet. Jess notices him too late as he looms over her. Before she can react the man lunges forward, knocks the phone from her hand and holds her down, covering her mouth and muffling her cries. He grabs her wrist and holds Jess in place on the couch, commanding her not to scream and promising not to hurt her if she obeys. With mouth covered by the hand gag, Jess nods and eyes her captor terrified. The man lets go over her mouth and Jess stays quiet. He wraps his arm around her shoulder and holds her closely in place while Jess trembles. The invader talks to Jess, asking her name and about what she is watching on TV. He tells her to pass the remote so he can turn the volume on the TV up. He places the remote on the couch then runs his hand through Jess’s hair while telling her that they are waiting for a phone call. She flinches at his every touch while he runs his hand along her face and through her hair.

After a while waiting on the couch together, Jess’s phone rings. The accomplice on the other end has Jess’s father threatened at the bank and uses the call to confirm Jess is in trouble and if the father doesn’t pay up then she will be eliminated. The masked man holds the phone up to Jess’s ear so she can talk to her father briefly. Jess cries as she tells her father she’s scared but not yet hurt. Her father yells at them to let her go, then the phone is taken away from each of them. Jess looks to her captor in terror as his accomplice tells him that their six minute plan starts now. If the money isn’t secured, he knows what to do. The masked man sets his digital watch timer to start after hanging up the phone.

Jess grabs the TV remote while her captor is looking away and smacks it against his face in an attempt to get away. As she goes for a second hit, the man deftly grabs her wrist and they both stand up in a struggle. The captor quickly wraps one hand around Jess’s mouth to keep her quiet while sliding his other arm around her neck to choke her out with a sleeper hold. Jess struggle hard, pulling at the arm around her neck and the hand clamped over her mouth but she is no match for the strength of her captor. She tries desperately to run away but the man has her held firmly in place in front of the couch. She kicks and grasps at him but it is no use. After much struggle her eyes roll and she blacks out, going limp in the man’s arms. Her captor tosses her body down onto the couch and looms over her.

The man leans in close, brushing her hair away from her face. After a bit Jess starts to wake up and panics. She sits up on the couch while the man keeps his hands on her. Jess begs for him to stop, just as the timer on his watch beeps signifying that her time is up. The man tells Jess that her dad chose money over her. Her eyes go wide in terror, pleading with the man just to stop. As she speaks he punches her square in the face then wraps both of his hands around her neck. Jess fights, gasping, clawing at his hands. Her legs kick wildly in the air as she puts all her strength into resisting the killing force. She gasps for air as the man holds her down on the couch and chokes her relentlessly.

During the struggle, the phone rings and the man looks at it in surprise. He keeps one hand clamped tight on Jess’s neck as he picks the phone up and answers with his other hand. Jess still cannot break free as the masked man speaks to his accomplice on the phone. The accomplice tells the man that the deal worked out and the money is secure. The masked man admonishes his accomplice for taking too long, then asks what’s to be done with Jess. The terrified woman is stills struggling for breath unable to free herself from her captors one handed grasp. The accomplice tells the captor that Jess is worthless now and he can do whatever he wants to her. The masked man hangs the phone up then lets go of Jess’s neck. She gasps for air, hyperventilating from the intense pressure. The man tells her she’s lucky and that her father paid up so she’s free to go. The captor warns her not to do anything stupid and threatens her if she does. He holds up a fist as a threat and Jess flinches back into the couch. The man laughs at her then walks back through the laundry room he emerged from.

Jess takes a long moment to catch her breath, rubbing her neck and reacting to the trauma she just experienced. Looking after where the man went, Jess is hopeful that he was honest in telling her he was done. Jess picks up her phone and dials an emergency number. As the phone rings, the masked man appears in front of her having never left the building. He snatches the phone from her hand and hangs it up. He tells her that she didn’t listen to his warning while Jess promises she won’t tell anybody about what happened, begging fearfully for her safety.

The man tells Jess she is finished then strangles her with both of his hands. Jess kicks and struggles while sitting upright, trying to get free of the grasp. The man pushes her to the other side of the couch and looms over her while keeping the pressure. Jess struggles while on her back but her fight is useless. She gasps as her eyes roll wildly and her tongue sticks out from the intense force ending her life. Her body jerks and twitches and eventually she dies with her eyes open, tongue part way out. The masked man holds on for a long moment, then lets go over her neck revealing a dark bruise forming there. He hoists her body partway up and snaps her neck viciously with a loud snap. He lets her fall back onto the couch while some final twitches and spasms pass through her deceased body. The man gives her some last looks, then makes his escape out the way he came in leaving Jess’s dead body on the couch for her father to find on his return.