“Off-Script” — FWG Flash Fiction for 8/9/2025

“Be Prepared” is a great motto, even if you aren’t a Boy Scout.

The prompt is:

https://pixabay.com/photos/graz-country-house-building-7303533

OFF-SCRIPT

The door slammed open, and a woman ran down the third-floor palisade. She was dressed only in a filmy nightgown, and the backlighting showed off her athletic figure. Her red hair streamed behind her as her bare feet slapped the stone pavers. At the end of the balcony, she tugged on a closed door, but its lock held.

Turning around, instead of looking terrified, she frowned, and her shoulders slumped.

“Cut!” came a voice from the courtyard below. Sam, the director, was not happy. “Who the Hell forgot to unlock the blasted door?”

“Sorry, Boss.”

Katrina, the AD, hurried into the building to find the guy with the keys.

“Do I have to do the running thing again?”

Sam looked up at the extra, who was now leaning over the balustrade. The backlighting left little to the imagination.

“Are you still rolling?” he muttered.

“I am now,” Doug, the camera operator, mumbled in return.

Sam smiled at the actress, whose name he had promptly forgotten after meeting her. “No, Darlin’. We’ll pick up with you at the door. Can you throw a terrified look over your shoulder before opening it?”

Her eyes grew wide. “You mean a close-up? Sure!”

“Her parents back on the farm will be so proud,” Doug whispered.

“Until they see what happens to her on the other side of that door.”

The lock rattled, but instead of waiting for her to enter his lair, the vampire inside burst out and fell upon the young woman. Her real scream echoed around the plaza until the monster’s fangs dug into her throat.

After seconds, which seemed like an eternity, of slurping sounds, it flung her blood-drained body over the railing.

“Did you get that?” Sam whispered excitedly.

Doug answered with a quivering voice. “Oh, yeah. All of it.”

THE END