Valentine's Eve

Official Selection at Scream Queen Film Festival / Hallucinea Film Festival / Tuesday of Horror / Horror Unleashed / Darkveins Horror Fest / Bizarrya Short Film Festival

It is Friday, February 13th and Mila has just broken up with her boyfriend Tommy after she caught him cheating... again. A Valentine gift package with a note, flowers, and a teddy bear were left at Mila's front door and she reads from the love letter with tears in her eyes. Her friends Emily and Mallory are trying to console her, but really they are just working to convince Mila to go out and party with them that night; both Em and Mal are dressed up and ready to go while Mila is busy weeping in her sweats.Emily and Mal listen patiently and exchange eye rolls as Mila reads the note. They tell her she did the right thing by breaking it off with Tommy, saying that a teddy bear and love letter can't make up for his cheating behavior. But they are unaware that there is more to the teddy than meets the eye -- it contains a hidden camera streaming the conversation between the girls which a masked man watches from his hiding place within the house…

After much convincing from her friends, Mila decides not to text Tommy back and that she will join the group for a night of drinking and partying. Emily and Mal are satisfied with their victory and Mila goes to another room to go get changed into her party attire while her friends pregame. With the masked man still watching from the teddy cam, Emily and Mal gossip behind their friends back with Emily claiming she would let Tommy cheat on her all he wants because his family money would be worth it in the long run. Mal is unfazed by Emily's thirsty behavior and goes down to get them more drinks. Mila gets dressed up and does her Valentine's makeup while listening to music loudly.

Mallory goes to the fridge in the kitchen to grab some more drinks for her and Emily. But she is unaware of the masked invader sneaking up behind her… A gloved hand covers her mouth tightly while his other wraps around her neck in a tight chokehold. She struggle to fight him off but she is too weak and he has caught her by surprise from behind, ensuring there is little she can do to get away. Mal tries to scream out but it is muffled in the attacker's hand. He holds on tight following her every movement, then lets one hand off of her mouth while keeping her in a chokehold, strangling her harder. Mal's eyes roll and her tongue protrudes as she gasps for air. The invader holds on tight and then guides Mal to the ground as she grows weaker. Her feet kick in the air as the attacker moves both hands around her throat and throttles her on the floor. Mal spasms and struggles but it is no use. The killer squeezes relentlessly and holds his helpless victim in place under him. Mal fades away as she is strangled to death, her spittle caught up in her throat and frothing out of her mouth. Mal spasms and shakes and dies there on the floor, her eyes losing focus and gazing off in a death stare. The killer examines her closely then creeps out of the kitchen.

Mila is still getting ready, putting on all her makeup. The sound of the loud music drowning out all other noises while she remains blissfully unaware what is going on in her house. Emily lounges on the bed taking selfies in her dress and waiting for Mal to bring her another drink. She is interrupted by a knock on the door and assumes it is her friend playing a prank. Emily doesn't want to go get the door but as the knocking continues she has no choice. When she opens the door, Emily is surprised to see the masked man looming over her and staring down at her. Emily is taken aback, assuming Tommy is playing some joke on them. He enters the room as Emily backs up while he approaches her silently. Emily tells him he better leave them all alone, but he has her cornered against the bed, shushing her to stop her talking. Emily gives him a look of 'what gives?' and he uses the opportunity to slide both his hands around her neck and squeeze tightly. Emily was not expecting this crushing force and she fights desperately against it. Coughing and gagging, trying to get away, but the killer has her in his clutches and forces her down onto the bed. Emily kicks her feet out in the air and gripping at the hands around her neck trying to break free. The killer squeezes tightly and Emily's face gets more and more red as the pressure builds unrelentingly. She is strangled out on her back on the bed, spasming and swatting away until she gets weaker and her eyes lose focus, eventually locking off in a death stare. The killer moves her body around on the bed and examines her closely. Then the sound of the music from Mila's room draws his attention and he creeps out into the hall towards his final victim. The masked man waits outside of Mila's room where she is getting changed and thinks up his next move.

Mila finishes her makeup and hair, satisfied with her Valentine's look and ready to go out with her friends. She blows herself a kiss in the mirror and then goes into the hall, heading towards the other bedroom. When Mila enters the room and looks up from her phone, she is met with the shocking site of her incapacitated friends splayed out with their death expressions frozen on their faces. Before she can process the situation or react, the masked man emerges from his hiding place behind the door and lunges out with a chloroformed rag, wrapping it around Mila's mouth and nose and forcing her to breath in the noxious fumes. She struggles and tries to scream but it is muffled by the rag held tightly to her mouth. Mila's eyes roll as she struggles, trying to hit the attacker behind her but it is no use. The panic hyperventilation has caused the drugs to work quickly and soon the masked invader is guiding Mila's unconscious body down to the floor.

Mila wakes up some time later, tied up to a chair in her room with her legs bound to the chair and her hands tied behind her back and her mouth gagged with duct tape. Mila wakes up slowly, the terror of the situation dawning upon her. She tries to move but is unable to break the binds. She tried to cry out but her mouth is muffled by the duct tape wrapped tight around it. The masked man approaches his frightened victim and taunts her, showing off the teddy bear camera he has been using to observe them. Mila is terrified and crying out in panic but gets silent as the masked man holds up a knife to his lips and shushes her. He removes the duct tape from her mouth so they can properly converse. After initial confusion, Mila realizes that this masked killer is not her ex-boyfriend Tommy. The masked man smirks down at her and then slowly removes his mask to reveal his face. Mila recognizes him -- it is Derrick, a stalker classmate who Mila has had to reject in the past. Finished with the six years he has spent pining over Mila, Derrick's psyche has cracked and his lovelorn heart has driven him to become a serial murderer. He expresses his love for Mila and frustration that she always ignored him. Mila reminds him that he would stalk and harass her which sets Derrick off in anger and he slaps her hard across the face. He tried to calm himself down, doesn't want to scare Mila away now that he has this chance with her. He expresses his newfound joy of killing, how he can never go back to the real world after this grisly incident. He proposes a new plan to Mila, one where they can run off together and take care of the world's problems as they see fit.

Mila smiles at her captor, determining the best course is to play along as long as she can. She pretends to agree with all of the insane things he has been talking about and Derrick is ecstatic that his plan worked. He hurriedly unties her feet and then the hands behind her back. Telling her all they have to do is bury the bodies and then they will be free to escape. Mila nods and smiles along as Derrick begins to detail his twisted idea, then jabs him in the chin with an uppercut that sends Derrick sprawling to the floor. Mila makes a break for it, but Derrick is too fast. He grabs on to her ankle which brings Mila tumbling to the ground. He grabs on to her as she tries desperately to crawl away. Grabbing on to her legs and moving in close, then sitting on top of her and keeping her in place while wrapping both hands around her throat in anger. Derrick squeezes tight as Mila whimpers in pain, kicking her feet out and sliding them uselessly across the floor. Derrick's rage-filled face transitions into a sick smile as he leers down at Mila while choking her to death. He is too powerful and Mila has no chance at escape as she writhes in agony on the ground. Derrick recites the love letter which he had sent to her while choking her out. After a struggle Mila arms flow down on the floor, her feet twitch and stop kicking, and then her face relaxes into a death stare. Derrick lets go of her neck and falls back against the bed with the corpses of her friends as he catches his breath, exhausted. He looks down at his newest victim with a smile, then leans in and gives her a romantic kiss on the cheek. Derrick closes his eyes and imagines what could have been… Waltzing with a smiling Mila as her ecstatic friends toss rose petals around the happy couple.