Haunting in Venice

amulya

Act I – Arrival & Gathering Inciting Event: Isabella Contarini, the elegant widow, invites a select group of acquaintances — a priest, a historian, a young heiress, a skeptical medium, and her loyal servant — to her fading palazzo on the Grand Canal. She claims she wishes to hold a séance to reach her late husband. Tone: Glamour laced with unease. The palazzo is grand yet crumbling, candlelit masks staring down from the walls. Each guest arrives hiding a secret, wearing their own metaphorical “mask.” First Haunting: During the séance, a voice whispers a forbidden truth that none should know. The chandelier shakes, and the first crack appears in their perfect façades. 🌫️ Act II – Secrets & Shadows Tension Builds: Strange occurrences spread — footsteps in empty rooms, reflections moving in mirrors, masked figures glimpsed in fog outside. Each character suspects another of deception. Revelations: Lorenzo’s charm masks his debt and betrayal. Caterina doubts her own powers, fearing she’s just a fraud. Father Matteo hides guilt from a wartime sin. Isabella’s marriage may not have ended as cleanly as she claims. Atmosphere: The city mirrors the tension — fog thickens, canals flood, Venice feels like a drowning labyrinth. Trust erodes. 🌊 Act III – The Flood & The Unmasking Climax: A storm lashes Venice. Waters rise, trapping the group inside the palazzo. The haunting grows violent — masked apparitions corner them, voices accuse them. The Truth: One secret (Isabella’s husband’s death, or a wartime betrayal) is revealed to be the heart of the haunting. The ghost may be real, or it may be the characters’ collective guilt brought to life. Unmasking: Each character is stripped of their “mask.” What they’ve hidden is forced into the open — betrayals confessed, guilt admitted, innocence shattered. 🌑 Act IV – Aftermath Resolution: As dawn breaks and the waters recede, Venice appears serene again — but nothing is the same. Some characters are dead. Survivors are forever changed, their masks shattered. The palazzo stands as a silent witness, its walls holding the echoes of all that was revealed. Final Note: A mask floats in the canal, carried away by the tide — a symbol of the faces we hide and the truths that always find their way to the surface.