Chapter 8 (The SURFACK Club)

Chapter 8 (The SURFACK Club) is the eighth chapter of The Clearwood Murders: Episode II - The SURFACK Club and the twenty-fourth chapter of the overall Clearwood series. It was written by Donald Newton and was to be published on August 29, 2020 along with Chapter 7.

Plot
More flashbacks show how bad things got with Clarence's affair.

Full Chapter
INT. CLEARWOOD MEMORIAL HOSPITAL - CLARENCE'S OFFICE - DAY

Clarence is sitting at his desk and going over paperwork when he finds himself spacing out. He's thinking about the phone call that he got the other day from Skiface about Susan Baines Connors.

DISSOLVE TO:

FLASHBACK

INT. MOTEL - DAY

Clarence and Susan are arguing about their affair.

SUSAN: (upset) You said that you love me!

CLARENCE: I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I just can't do this anymore.

SUSAN: WHY?

CLARENCE: Because...I'm married. Remember?

SUSAN: Leave her. Be with me. I love you so much, Clarence. You are my world.

CLARENCE: I'm sorry. I can't do this anymore.

SUSAN: But I love you, Clarence.

CLARENCE: But I don't love you. I love Kathy.

Hurt by this, Susan SMACK Clarence across the face. They are both surprised by this.

SUSAN: I'm sorry, Clarence. But you hurt me. How could you come into my world like this only to destroy it?

CLARENCE: I never meant for this to happen. I shouldn't have let this go as far as I did.

SUSAN: But you did. Now you must own up to it and live with in.

CLARENCE: I'm going to have to. By ending it.

SUSAN: (begging) No! Clarence! (starts crying) Please!

CLARENCE: I'm sorry, Susan. But it's over.

Clarence goes for the door. But Susan tries to stop him.

SUSAN: Please, Clarence. Don't go! Please!

Clarence is able to get Susan off of him as he walks out the door. She drops to the floor and starts crying.

SUSAN: NO! CLARENCE!

But Clarence is gone. Susan just lies on the floor, sobbing. Devastated.

DISSOLVE TO:

A montage of Susan stalking and harassing the Carter family in a similar fashion that Glenn Close stalked Michael Douglas and his family in Fatal Attraction;


 * Following Clarence everywhere he went.


 * Meeting Kathy at the store and acting like someone who could be her friend (Kathy is unaware of she is at this point).


 * Picking up Little Andrew from school to take him out for fun.


 * Beating up a teenage girl who called Lorraine a slut, making Lorraine like her.


 * Comes by the Carter house pretending to be Kathy's friend where she "meets" Clarence, much to his horror.


 * The Carter family is having dinner at a restaurant. But Susan is there. And it's here does Kathy realize that there is a problem with Susan and Clarence.


 * After Kathy learns of the affair, Susan proceeds to call and harass the couple.


 * Susan leaves love notes to Clarence at home and work.

It becomes to the point that Clarence goes back to the motel with the intention of killing Susan. But he cannot bring himself to do it. But he does say one last thing to her.

CLARENCE: I never want to see you again.

Then he leaves.

INT. MOTEL - DAY

Realizing that it is truly over between her and Clarence, Susan writes a note for Clarence and leaves it on the bathroom sink. She turns the bath water on and fills the tub with water. She removes all of her clothes and gets inside the bathtub. She sits down and looks at her wrist. She picks up a razor blade as she takes one last thought about her decision.

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. MOTEL - DAY (LATER)

Lying in the bathtub now colored with blood is -- SUSAN BAINES CONNORS -- DEAD. She slashed her wrists and died alone from blood loss. The police are present after being called upon her body being discovered. Walking in to find her body is -- Clarence. He is shocked by this.

CLARENCE: Oh, my God. Susan! What have you done?

Clarence moves over to her body and touches her. By doing so, he gets her blood on his hands. It is now does Clarence feel great guilt over this. He has driven her to kill herself over their affair.

OFFICER: Clarence, there's a note on the sink. It's for you.

Clarence goes to the sink and finds the note. He picks it up, staining the paper with her blood, which imprints his fingerprints onto them. He reads the note.

SUSAN: (voice over) Dear, Clarence. When you saved my life, I never thought that it would lead to the end of my life. You became my hero and the love of my life. Without you, I cannot live. That robber may as well have killed me that day. But you killed me by accepting me, by sleeping with me, by telling me that you loved me. You killed me by lying to me. If I cannot be with you, I shall have no reason to live anymore. I love you, Clarence. Goodbye. Love, Susan.

Clarence tears up over this. He did care for her. Maybe deep down, he had some kind of love for her. And now he will forever feel guilt for her suicide.

DISSOLVE TO:

PRESENT DAY

Clarence is coming back to reality as he wonders what will happen next from the mysterious caller. Suddenly, this is answered when -- BEEP. Clarence checks his phone and finds a text message.

UNKNOWN CALLER: (Text Message) Your secrets are in the storage room.

Curious to what this means, Clarence gets up from his desk and leaves his office.

INT. STORAGE ROOM

Light slightly comes into the dark storage room when Clarence opens the door to walk in. He turns on the lights and is shocked by what he sees; Tacked on the walls are crime scene photos of Susan's suicide, letters written by Susan to Clarence, including the suicide note still stained with his fingerprints of her blood, and photos of Clarence and his family that Susan took when stalking them. Sitting on a table at the end is an audio recording diary by Susan.

SUSAN: (voice on recording) I love Clarence. He is the man I want to be the father of my children. I want to spend the rest of my life with him. If I can't have him, then nobody can. If I can't have him and he refuses to be with me, I will die. How can he sleep with me and not stay with me? Why can't he just leave his wife for me?

Horrified by this sight, Clarence closes the storage door so that nobody can see inside before locking the door. Then he proceeds to pull down all of the photos and letters from the walls. He takes out the tape from the audio recording and breaks it. He tears up the letters and photos and throws them in the trash.

Before he can do anything else -- RING. Clarence answers the phone and, to no surprise, the caller is;

SKIFACE: All those love letters, all those dances you went to with her, and all those nights you went to bed with her. You certainly made her think that she found the man of her dreams. But then you crushed her dreams. She wanted a family with you. She wanted your children. But you took it all away from her. You took away what she loved the most. Her dreams of having you, of being your wife, and having your children. And now, for her, I do the same to you. Take away what you love the most; your life, your wife, and your children.

CLARENCE: Leave me alone, you bastard!

SKIFACE: I can't do that. I cannot nor will I stop...until you and everyone you love is dead.

CLARENCE: I killed two killers in my life already. I swear to God, I will kill you too.

SKIFACE: We'll just see about that, asshole. We'll just see about that.

CALL IS DISCONNECTED. Clarence is now terrified. This is now official to him. He's facing another killer threatening him and his family, once again, over his past.

CLARENCE: (to himself) What do I do?

Deaths

 * CD = Chapter Death (Deaths in the chapter)
 * SD = Story Death (Overall deaths in the story)
 * SRD = Series Death (Overall deaths in the series)

Trivia

 * This chapter reveals that Susan Baines Connor committed suicide over Clarence ending their affair.