will you help me?
the trucks are there now. the men are packing all my things. private things. please, make them stop. this is my home for twenty years. and i make every payment until the sickness took my eye. mrs. ganush turns her head to reveal a milky white eye. stephanie hides her revulsion.
i hope to get it soon. i just need a little more time.
please. won't you try?
what?
no. please, it's my home.  i'm begging you.
but where will i live?
i would not burden her.
it's yours.
i am proud woman, miss brown, and never have i begged for anything. but i will beg for you now. this one time. i humble myself before you.
have mercy on me. stephanie stands, tries to pull free, but the old woman will not release her leg.
i, sylvia ganush, beg. on my mother's grave, i beg you.
you shame me. she composes herself. then, slowly stands, puffing up her chest. mu3tering her damaged pride.
i begged you.  her one. good eye fixes it's hardened gaze upon stephanie.
and you shame me. mrs. ganush suddenly grasps stephanie's arm. stephanie tries to pull away but the old lady's grip is strong. mrs. ganush reaches out to pluck the charm bracelet from stephanie's wrist-- but the security guard intervenes.
you bitch! i pluck out your fucking eyes! mrs. ganush's razor sharp fingernails lash out towards stephanie's eyes. but stephanie grabs the old woman's wrists, halting her. the withered hands drop down to wrap around stephanie's throat. stephanie fights for breath as she frantically searches for a weapon. her hand finds the box on the seat next to her. she grabs a handful of colored push pins and jams them into the old woman's arm. mrs. ganush releases her grip. stephanie has time for only a single gulp of air before mrs. ganush grabs two fistfuls of stephanie's hair!. the old woman yanks upon it. stephanie's head is pulled back, over the edge of the seat. ganush braces her feet against the back of the front seat to pull even harder.  stephanie's neck is now bent so far back it's about to snap! stephanie's hand finds the stapler, trips the release. it springs open. she swings it back over her shoulder! ka-thunk! ka-thunk! ka-thunk! with each blow, she delivers a staple into mrs. ganush's forehead. ka-thunk! a lucky shot-- the old lady's white eye is stapled shut. the old woman howls, but her grip on stephanie's hair only tightens. stephanie, about to black out, throws the car into gear and hits the gas. as the car' accelerates, stephanie fastens her shoulder harness with the last of her strength. the old woman's stapled eyelid pops open just in time for her to see.  an oncoming concrete column. stephanie's car slams into it. stephanie is held fast by her shoulder harness. but mrs. ganush's body hurtles forward over the front seat, impacting against the dashboard with tremendous force. close shot of the old woman's head slamming into the dash. in a spray of broken teeth, her dentures eject from her mouth.
you shamed me. the old woman reaches down. stephanie flinches. mrs.'ganush's gnarled hand plucks a thin brass button from the sleeve of stephanie's coat. she waves the button through the air, and breathes out a single word:
lamia.  clouds move past the setting sun. a shadow falls over stephanie. a cold wind makes her shiver.
you want it? stephanie snatches the button back. mrs. ganush smiles cryptically as stephanie stuffs the button into her coat pocket.
soon it will be you, who comes begging to me. it begins tonight when you hear the cry.
the lamia. it's coming for you. a large black, buzzing fly lands on stephanie's face. she swats it away. her vision blurs and she grows dizzy. she leans against the car for support. when she finally looks up, mrs. ganush is gone.
i knew you'd come. stephanie almost jumps out of her skin. as her eyes adjust she sees mrs. ganush sitting on a crate in the corner of the room. her arthritic hands clutching a yellowed photograph.
it's so empty now.
no.
it was what i wanted before you shamed me. now i want to see you suffer.