This screenplay is copyrighted to its author. All rights reserved. This screenplay may not be used or reproduced without the express written permission of the author.
S E V E N O S I X
by
Adam Johnson
3336 Spruce lane
Grapevine, TX 76051
(214) 460-1526
adamthejohnson@hotmail.com
FADE IN:
EXT. THE NIGHT SKY
Silence. The night sky is still and unmoving.
From somewhere far away, nearly imperceptible at first, a
sound can be heard. Chanting. In the distance, and slowly
growing in volume, a thousand human voices chant the same
Biblical Latin verse in unison. Something moves in the sky.
SUPER: IN WHITE, BIBLICAL LETTERS:
"For the son dishonereth the father,
the daughter riseth up against her
mother, the daughter in law against
her mother in law; a man's enemies
are the men of his own house."
The chant continues to get louder and louder. The black sky
slowly is filled with haze, as a thick fog rolls over it.
A new super fades up:
SUPER: IN WHITE, BIBLICAL LETTERS:
- - Micah. Chapter 7. Verse 6.
The chant doesn't cease its growing intensity. The fog
continues to pour in, covering the night sky and all of its
stars.
The word "verse" fades, and is replaced by a colon.
SUPER: IN WHITE, BIBLICAL LETTERS:
7:06.
The fog completely drowns out the night sky. The chant
climbs louder still, until just as it passes its thunderous
crescendo--
INT. DELIVERY ROOM - DAY
A NEWBORN's first cry disrupts the chant, and stops it dead.
A DOCTOR lifts the baby from between its MOTHER's legs. It
continues to wail in the plain white, sterilized hospital room.
2.
DOCTOR
Here you are, Mr. Smith, you have a
very upset baby girl.
STEVE SMITH, 40's, and his beautiful, yet justifiably
exhausted, wife TERRI, 30's, laugh in the joy of the moment.
The doctor hands the couple their newborn girl, wrapped in a
blanket.
STEVE
We did it, babe.
He kisses her on her sweaty forehead.
STEVE
Ok, you did it.
They both laugh again, tears now streaming down both their
faces.
DOCTOR
Do you have a name yet?
TERRI
Ashley.
INT. SMITH HOUSE - DAY
Steve opens the front door and steps inside, a look of of
pride on his face. We finally get a better look at him.
Steve is in early forties, in shape but not powerful, with
fading brown hair, and eyes focused from years of study. His
Rolling Stones t-shirt declares that for him.
He looks back outside, at Terri, who is ready to burst with
excitement.
STEVE
No, no. Keep 'em closed, keep 'em
closed! Not until you're inside, hun.
He helps Terri up the steps, her eyes closed, and into their
new home. She is in her early thirties, younger than Steve.
She has a shining mane of red hair that goes just past her
shoulders.
STEVE
Ok, Terr, go for it.
She opens her shining green eyes to the shockingly beautiful
house in front of them. She looks like she can't breathe.
3.
TERRI
Oh, Steve! It's beautiful. It's
downright gorgeous.
STEVE
But?
TERRI
It's too much.
STEVE
Nah, not really.
TERRI
How, Steve? Look at this place. How
can we afford it?
STEVE
Why don't you ask the Regional GM.
He's paying for all this.
TERRI
What, Bill? What the fuck is he-?
Steve looks at her, a huge smile cracking his lips.
She smacks him on the chest.
TERRI
You son of a bitch!
STEVE
And two stores in Boulder.
TERRI
Why didn't you tell me? When?
STEVE
3 weeks ago, and it was part of the
surprise.
A THREE YEAR-OLD ASHLEY runs in as fast as her little legs
will carry her from the back entrance. Followed after a
short distance by the REALTOR.
ASHLEY
Daddy! Daddy!
STEVE
There she is.
He snatches her up quickly into his arms.
4.
STEVE
Do you like it?
ASHLEY
Where's my room?
Steve laughs.
STEVE
Alright. Let's go see your room.
Which one do you want?
She points to the nearest door. Steve turns the handle and
opens it slowly.
It's the downstairs bathroom.
STEVE
Let's keep looking.
He turns to leave, but
ASHLEY
No! That one!
STEVE
Alright. Let me get your pillow.
EXT. SMITH HOUSE - DAY
A very Philadelphia style neighborhood. A lot of small homes,
crammed together.
An SEVEN YEAR-OLD ASHLEY steps over the seat onto her
bicycle. Steve, five years older, and wearing a ridiculous
cycling helmet, zips in circles around her as she struggles
to get her balance on her training wheels. She can't help
but wobble viciously. .
STEVE
Here, hun. It's like this. Let me
show you.
Steve rides a little ways down the street, and into a
neighboring patch of grass. But he doesn't see the drainage
ditch just a few feet from where the grass begins.
His bike throttles forward, his body flies downward. He
disappears from sight.
Steve looks out from within the ditch, on his back. The sky
is blank until Terri steps to the edge of the ditch, and
looks down on him, her hands at her hips playfully.
5.
TERRI
You know, I'm not sure I want you
to be the person to teach my
daughter how to ride her bike.
STEVE
(kidding)
Honey, thank God! I think... I
think my back is broken. Take my
bike and ride for help.
Without saying a word, she turns and walks off.
STEVE
(kidding)
I want a divorce!
EXT. SMITH HOUSE - NIGHT
Terri holds on to Steve's arm to steady him as he walks.
A MAN with long, black hair walks down the sidewalk in the
opposite direction. He's wearing a very long, black coat.
Steve knocks into him hard, and keeps walking. The man's
face is never seen.
Terri apologizes silently to the man and leads her wobbly
husband up the steps to their front door.
TERRI
Come on, nerd. We're home.
They go inside.
INT. LIVING ROOM - NIGHT
Steve has on a different shirt, a more comfortable one, than
he had on just moments ago.
Terri sits on the couch in front of the fire, still wearing
the same sultry black dress, but now with a shawl covering
her bare shoulders.
Steve enters from the kitchen, holding two wine glasses and
a bottle of red wine. He sits next to her on the couch.
STEVE
Would you like some ale, madam?
She leans back on the couch, tightening the shawl around her
chilly body.
TERRI
I just wanna watch the fire.
6.
STEVE
Aye, more for me then, there 'tis.
She smiles at him.
TERRI
Uh oh. Renaissance man has emerged.
You must be on, what, fifth glass?
She giggles. Steve uncorks the bottle of wine and pours
himself a glass.
TERRI
Next it'll be the Drinking
leprechaun. If anything, you're a
very well-traveled drunk.
STEVE
Stop it. That's freaky.
He takes a sip from the wine glass.
STEVE
It's a celebration. I'm allowed.
(beat)
'Sides, you used to like my
impressions.
Her gaze unfocuses from the fire and trails upward to the
mantle above it. On it there is a picture of their daughter,
Ashley, eight and blonde. She's smiling.
TERRI
Look at that.
STEVE
Are they really that bad?
TERRI
Isn't she just the most beautiful
thing you've ever seen?
STEVE
The Irish Guy needs work, I know,
but--
TERRI
(smiling)
Steven!
(beat)
We made that wonderful person.
Steve tops his glass. He looks up at the mantle, trying to
focus his blurry eyes.
7.
STEVE
Which one?
She laughs, as he continues to look.
TERRI
Your Mother.
He looks at her, genuinely believing.
STEVE
I thought Mom was dead.
TERRI
I'm talking about Ashley, nerd.
He looks back up to the picture. The fire tosses shadows all
over the room, all over her portrait. Beside her picture is
a small strange drawing of Ashley's. It's a strange circle,
scribbled onto a piece of paper.
STEVE
I know, I know.
(beat)
You ready to start it all over again?
She smiles.
TERRI
Are YOU?
STEVE
Hey, I didn't do too bad.
TERRI
I'm only kidding. You're a
wonderful father, Steve.
He looks back to her again.
TERRI
And an amazing husband.
STEVE
And a great impressionist.
They just look at each other for a moment. He gets serious.
STEVE
Thank you.
He leans back and kisses her.
8.
TERRI
I'm cold.
STEVE
You want another shirt?
TERRI
Not really.
STEVE
I just turned the heat up. How
about a blanket?
TERRI
How about you finally understand
what I'm saying and hold me?
She smiles at him. He puts the wine glass down on the table
and wraps his arms around her. They close their eyes and
listen to each other breathing.
TERRI
You love me?
STEVE
(as Drinking Leprechaun)
Aye.
She smiles again, eyes closed.
STEVE
I said stop it.
In the background the fire crackles softly.
STEVE
Did we pay that sitter for the
whole night?
TERRI
Yup.
STEVE
You tired?
After a moment,
TERRI
Nope.
INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT
Terri stands near the window in their bedroom, a devilish
look on her face.
9.
Steve stands behind a video camera on a tripod, pointed at
the bed.
She peels off her skimpy black dress.
POV - STEVE'S CAMERA
Her naked body stands framed in the shades-drawn window. The
red RECORD light comes on in the top-left corner.
In the other corner the camera digitally reads the time:
7:05, flashing in white.
STEVE
Ok, it's on.
TERRI
I can't believe we're doing this.
Again.
STEVE
It's a celebration. And, hey, it
worked last time when we were trying.
TERRI
Yes, dear.
Steve looks around quickly.
STEVE
Oh. I left the bottle downstairs.
He heads quickly out of the bedroom.
STEVE
Don't you move!
He doesn't touch the door.
INT. STAIRCASE - CONTINUOUS - NIGHT
Steve trounces down the stairs and into the Living Room. He
snatches bottle up quickly, and heads back upstairs even
faster. Excited, he takes two, sometimes three, steps at a time.
Until he reaches his bedroom door, now partially closed.
His smile fades, quickly replaced by a look of puzzlement.
STEVE
Terr?
He slowly places his hand on the door, his face now
completely blank, and pushes it open slowly.
10.
INT. BEDROOM- CONTINUOUS - NIGHT
Terri stands in the same spot she was. She stands still,
though not completely.
Her naked chest is heaved upward, like she's gasping for
breath. Her limbs tremble at her side, unable to move. Her
face looks up, terrified, in pain, frozen. She is on her
toes, like something is just holding her off the ground.
STEVE
Terri!
Before Steve can even move her limp body falls to the floor,
blood from deep inside explodes from her lips.
The wine bottle lays smashed where he once stood. The wine
that trails down the carpet resembles the blood from Terri's
mouth.
An instant later, he is by her side. In his rush he knocks
over the video camera. It falls to the ground, but somehow
stays pointed at the two of them.
POV - STEVE'S CAMERA
Steve holds Terri's dead body in his hands, as he can only
scream her name over and over. Screaming for help.
In the corner of the camera, the clock ticks forward. 7:06.
He continues to scream for help but then - -
INT. STEVE'S BEDROOM - DAY
Steve's eyes slowly stir open, like waking up exhausted,
from a bad dream. He lies on his side, fully clothed, in his
bed. He looks absolutely horrendous, completely disheveled.
Bags under his bloodshot eyes. He looks like he hasn't
shaven in days.
An extreme sadness fills his eyes.
There are some strange noises in the next room, the noises
that caused Steve to wake from his slumber.
He groans and slowly sits up. The other side of the bed is
empty.
He puts his feet over the edge of the bed, and takes a deep
breath before trying to stand up. It looks like he's been in
that bed for days.
11.
INT. ASHLEY'S BEDROOM - MORNING
Steve leans against his EIGHT YEAR-OLD daughter's bedroom
door. She doesn't see him.
The noises he heard continue as Ashley continues to pack her
toys into a large cardboard box. In fact, there are many
boxes in her room. The room is bare. The walls are pale
white. All of the pictures are removed from the walls. There
is no furniture.
She spots him and looks up.
She gets up as fast as she can and runs over to him, hugging
him at the waist.
STEVE
Hey, Ash. Getting an early start?
She looks up at him and nods vigorously.
STEVE
C'mon. I'll fix you breakfast.
INT. GARAGE - MORNING
Steve loads a very large cardboard box with the words
"BEDROOM" etched across it in black marker into the back of
his Jeep Cherokee.
The back of the Jeep is filled with several other boxes and
suitcases.
STEVE
You sure you're ready to go, sweetie?
ASHLEY
Sure, Daddy. Ready as you are.
Steve grabs another box from a pile beside his car. He bends
down to pick it up.
ASHLEY
I wish Mommy could go too.
Steve is stunned and almost drops the box, labeled: "FRAGILE".
STEVE
Me too, Ash. Me too.
He puts the next box inside the Jeep, struggling to fit it
into the snug area.
12.
STEVE
Ashley, honey, could you go and get
Daddy a glass of water?
She nods and scurries off.
After Ashley enters the house Steve has to force back his
forming tears.
Ashley returns with a glass of water. Steve hides his tears,
wiping them off before she can see.
ASHLEY
Here you go, Daddy.
STEVE
Oh, thank you honey. Now let's go
and get the rest of your stuff so
we can go, k?
ASHLEY
Okie.
There is a framed picture lying in one of the open boxes. It
is a picture of him and Terri. Both of them are in their
wedding attire, snuggling close. They smile for the camera.
INT. ASHLEY'S BEDROOM - DAY
STEVE
What's taking you so long, squirt?
ASHLEY
The bag's too heavy.
Steve bends down to pick it up, but as he pulls up he's
surprised with a much larger weight than he expected.
STEVE
Well, what do you have in here, bricks?
ASHLEY
No, just Goldie.
STEVE
Goldie? You packed your goldfish?
She smiles.
ASHLEY
And the tank.
13.
He unzips the bag and inside is a large glass fish tank
filled to the top with water and a lid to keep it sealed,
and a single fish.
STEVE
How did you even get him into the bag?
ASHLEY
I slid it on when it was empty.
Then I filled it.
STEVE
Well, honey, we don't have to pack
Goldie in this huge tank.
ASHLEY
We don't?
STEVE
No. I think Goldie will survive in
a smaller tank while we're driving.
Go find one and I promise that he
will be fine in there for a while.
ASHLEY
Okie.
Ashley leaves.
Steve looks at the fish-bag and smiles. He stops, and looks
around the bare room where his daughter grew up.
STEVE
Our first house...
ASHLEY (O.S.)
Here you go, Daddy.
She stands in the doorway with a much smaller tank, a round
one with a tiny castle perched at the bottom.
Steve grabs it by the lid and scoops up Goldie and enough
water to fill it almost to the top.
STEVE
There you see? He's fine. Now what
do you say we empty out this sucker,
eh?
He pats his hand on the immense tank.
ASHLEY
Alrighty.
14.
INT. JEEP - DAY
Steve climbs into the Jeep.
ASHLEY
I'm glad I'm finally going back.
Steve looks at her, extremely puzzled.
STEVE
Back? Honey, you've never been.
ASHLEY
Oh...
STEVE
You have Goldie?
ASHLEY
Right here.
She holds up the bowl.
STEVE
How's he doin'?
ASHLEY
He's carsick.
STEVE
Really? Well, maybe we should give
him some fish medicine. But he's
going to have to wait until we get
there cuz I'm all out.
Steve backs the car out of the driveway.
STEVE
Say "bye bye house."
ASHLEY
Bye bye house.
STEVE
Say "bye bye town."
ASHLEY
Bye bye town.
They spot a WOMAN watering her lawn.
STEVE
Smile and pretend to say "bye bye"
to the mean neighbors.
15.
ASHLEY
Bye bye mean neighbors.
They both smile and wave to her.
She waves back.
They turn onto the street and speed away.
OUTSIDE
When they are no longer looking the woman's face goes blank
and she smirks at them with evil intentions. She holds up
her fist and flips them both the bird.
INT. JEEP - DAY
STEVE
And off we go.
Ashley speaks to herself, too soft for Steve to hear.
ASHLEY
Bye bye Mommy.
INT. JEEP - LATER
The fog is extremely thick on this night. The view ahead of
the Jeep is shallow and difficult.
Steve's mind begins to wander. The only memory of the unborn.
TERRI (V.O.)
It's blue! We're gonna have a baby.
He hears her loving voice on the couch that night.
TERRI (V.O.)
You love me?
And his cry when it happened.
STEVE (V.O.)
Terri!
Steve struggles to hold his tears back again, trying to
navigator the fog, when,
ASHLEY
Daddy, where do you think Mommy went?
He sniffles back his shaky voice.
16.
STEVE
Well, Mommy went to Heaven, Ash.
ASHLEY
I know that. But where is she?
STEVE
Heaven's not really a place honey.
I mean, it's a place but - I mean,
you can't find it on a map - This
is a very hard question, honey.
ASHLEY
Well, then how will we know where
to find her?
She looks out the window, at the passing fog.
ASHLEY
All I can think about is how she's
lost. Lost in the fog...
Steve doesn't hear her. Still trying to find the words.
STEVE
You like summer, right?
ASHLEY
No school.
STEVE
That's right. But you wouldn't like
it as much if it were summer all
the time, right?
ASHLEY
No school.
STEVE
But you like school. You like
seeing all your friends again. And
learning new things. And you sure
would miss the winter. You love
trudging around the front yard in
your snow-shoes.
ASHLEY
I guess so.
17.
STEVE
It's a change, Ashley. Like the
seasons, you see? People are born
in a spring, they grow up in a
summer and autumn, and then,
eventually, they die, and that's
like winter. It's not a bad thing,
it's just change. Mommy's in Heaven,
Ash, but she had to change to get
there, she had to die. The part of
Mommy you loved isn't here anymore,
she changed.
ASHLEY
I think winter is coming...
STEVE
What's that, Ash?
A few houses have sprung up along this deserted road. Steve
realizes how close they are.
STEVE
Oh, wait. We're here.
EXT. FOGGY MOUNTAIN TOWN - DUSK
A town perched at the base of a string of small mountains. A
massive wall of fog crawls over the mountains, and heads for
the small town beneath them.
Steve's Jeep pulls in on the main road into the town. Steve
looks at the homes. Unkempt. Dilapidated. Rotting. The
streets are the same, everything's the same. Litter. Trash.
Vandalism. But not a soul in sight. The loneliness is
magnified by the incredible darkness and the silence.
STEVE
Well, not exactly the cozy welcome
I was hoping for.
Ashley looks out the window. She doesn't see a single person
anywhere.
ASHLEY
Where is everyone?
Steve drives slowly, getting good looks at all the
dilapidated townhouses and once-cozy buildings.
STEVE
It looks... empty.
18.
ASHLEY
Why would it be empty?
STEVE
Eh, it's a tiny town. There's
probably a football game going on.
Ashley sees an open front door to a pub swaying in the wind.
STEVE
Let's just find a gas station or
something. I'm sure someone there
can tell us-
Steve's voice is cut off when he sees a DOG run out into the
road, a filthy mutt of a dog, hair standing on end from the
grime over every follicle.
Steve slams on his brakes. The tires struggle hard to grab
the wet, icy road. The car spins to avoid the dog. And
collides head on with a street pole.
After a moment of silence, the dust settles.
EXT. MOUNTAIN TOWN STREET - NIGHT
The clouds of fog creep down the streets of the town. It
continues down the street, past an apartment building.
INT. MOUNTAIN TOWN APARTMENT - DUSK
A MOTHER, lifts a tray of cookies from the oven. Her SON,
just barely five, watches her.
MOTHER
Just go and sit at the table, ok?
SON
Okay, Momma.
She turns her back to her son.
The window behind the dining room table slowly is filled
with the fog. It fills the window, and drowns out the
outside world.
The mother notices the creeping clouds of fog.
MOTHER
Well, would ya look at that.
SON
What is it, Momma?
19.
MOTHER
It's getting a little foggy out.
Must be a storm comin'.
EXT. MOUNTAIN TOWN APARTMENT - FOG
The fog envelops the apartment building, surrounding it.
INT. MOUNTAIN TOWN APARTMENT - FOG
The fog fills the window now.
The lights shut off. The little boy gasps in the darkness.
MOTHER
It's ok, it's ok. It's just the
power. I told you there must be a
storm.
Some of the fog is creeping into the apartment. It's getting
foggy inside.
MOTHER
Are all your windows closed?
SON
My bedroom window is open.
She looks somewhat annoyed.
MOTHER
Go an' close it.
He gets up from the table and scurries into his room.
MOTHER
And bring the candles in Mommy's
bedroom, please.
She takes another long look outside, obviously a little
worried, but the fog is so thick now it's difficult to see
outside at all.
She looks around, the fog is still increasing inside their home.
MOTHER
Did you close it?... Honey?
She turns and heads towards his room.
As soon as she turns her back the knife hidden in her son's
hand strikes. It catches her in the knee, bringing her down.
He yanks the long butcher knife out quickly.
20.
Ferociously fast, before she can even gather her wits on the
floor, his tiny feet scuttle towards her face, the knife
raised again. She screams.
EXT. FOGGY MOUNTAIN TOWN - NIGHT
The little boy steps out of the main entrance to his
apartment building. He tosses the bloody knife aside. His
clothes and face are covered in the same.
He walks slowly, care-free, down the street, towards the
fog-covered sunset.
The only movement in the entire town is the hundreds of
children walking the same path. Others exit their homes,
tossing weapons. All of them bloodstained, all of them
children. All of them babies.
INT. JEEP - NIGHT
Steve jerks awake from the dream, dizzy as he wakes.
Ashley's door swings in the wind. All is calm and still.
Blood trickles down his forehead.
He searches for his daughter but - -
- - SHE'S GONE- -
- - leaving only the goldfish that has been spilled out,
struggling to flop about.
He struggles to make his way out of the Jeep. The door pops
open, Steve falls out.
STEVE
Ashley?! Ashley, where are you?!
He frantically runs around the car, searching for her. But
she is nowhere in sight.
He widens his search, frantically heading in several
different directions searching for her. She is gone.
Steve runs down the main street, one that branches off to
every other street and other parts of the town.
STEVE
Ashley?!
There is a sound, soft, a child's laugh. The sound echoes
from an alley, almost inaudible. A shadow runs across the
black brick wall.
21.
Steve sees it.
STEVE
Ash?
Curious, he follows it.
There isn't a sound, except for Steve's boots splashing the
puddles in the dank streets.
A noise comes from out of the darkness. A squeaking sound,
like an rusty wheel. Impossible if it's a moving object in
front of him, the alley stops in ten feet. Yet, the
approaching sound continues.
Slowly something pierces the darkness and the fog, appearing
from nothing. Steve spots it, startled further by its
meddlesome approach.
It is a rectangular shaped object on top of a stilted set of
four wheels.
A crib, moving of its own will.
It rolls slowly towards Steve, the squeaking sound continues
with unhindered repetition. It promptly stops right in front
of Steve.
Subtly, upside-down crosses are mixed in with the other
playful images of the singing mobile that spins slowly above
the crib.
Steve looks around, hesitating for several moments before he
reluctantly reaches his hand inside the crib and pulls back
the sheet.
Laid onto the pillow with care there is a picture of his
daughter. A joyous photo. His daughter smiling, laughing.
A sound echoes in the distance. A child's laugh.
One of them pops out from behind a building, and slowly
walks up to Steve with the calmest look on his face.
He stops a few feet in front of Steve, not making a sound.
Steve can't do or say anything, completely baffled.
More children, under the age of ten all of them, slowly walk
out of the darkness towards Steve. They gather around the
first child that approached Steve. All of them have the same
care-free, almost smiling look, upon their faces.
The sound of dogs growling.
22.
A few dogs approach as well, mostly Dobermans but a few
mangy mutts as well, and sit in the back rows of two dozen
or so small children. All of the figures just stand
completely still and look at Steve.
Steve, frightened, lets the picture in his hand float to the
ground.
And with that, all of the figures, the children and the dogs,
disperse ever so slowly, and return to the shadows where
they came. One of them grabs the crib and carts it off.
When they've all gone,
STEVE
Okay... that was interesting.
Steve looks down, at the picture that fell.
It's laying with its back up. And something is written on it.
Steve bends down and picks it up.
"WELCOME TO MY NURSERY"
Steve looks around again.
He can only stand there, with all of that immense, thick fog
blocking his view.
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT. TOWN - LATER
He walks aimlessly down the street. Looking, searching, for
someplace to go.
He looks ahead of him, as the fog begins to get thicker and
thicker in front of him.
A sudden fear strikes him, shown on his face clearly.
He looks behind him. The fog is advancing quickly behind him
as well.
He looks all around, in every direction. The fog is
surrounding him. He now only has about a 10 foot radius of
fog-free space around himself.
He takes a step, as though he's about to press forward, but
something ahead of him stops him.
Something small darts across his path just behind the line
of visibility in the fog.
23.
Strangely, the fog divides to his left, a free path opens up.
Steve immediately takes it.
EXT. WALTON HOUSE - NIGHT
He sees an enormous home, three stories. He knocks on the
door desperately.
STEVE
Hello?!
He bangs on it.
STEVE
Hello?! Is there anyone here?
He backs up, still shouting. He runs up to the windows and
bangs on them as well.
The fog is advancing behind him once again, strange shadows
move inside the mass.
He pulls at the handle, leaning all the way back, yanking at
it with all his strength. His grip fails and he falls
backwards, landing on the hard pavement. He shakes the door
like a madman. It doesn't budge.
The fog is slowly creeping up, still thin, around his ankles.
He steps back again, shouting at the upper windows.
STEVE
Hello?! Anyone?!
The fog reaches the front door of the house. As the mass
grows to the height of the door, the lock suddenly clicks,
and the door slowly swings open.
Steve looks at it, wondering. A stiff wind blows in,
splitting the fog even further. The door swings open wider.
INT. WALTON HOUSE - NIGHT
He steps in slowly. The hinges squeak. It's very dark,
gloomy, with shadows dancing around everywhere, hanging over
every corner of the house.
The fog seems to have crept into the house, lightly gracing
the walls with a hazy atmosphere. He makes sure to shut the
door. And lock it.
Steve checks every inch of the house. Mansion-like.
24.
He flips the lightswitch. Nothing happens. He flips it
several more times, trying desperately to make it work. But
it does not.
STEVE
(sarcastic)
Great...
(beat)
Hello? Is there anyone here?
INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT
He slowly walks over to the kitchen table in the next room.
Nothing moves. It is utterly silent.
He looks around, waiting.
INT. WALTON BATHROOM - NIGHT
He splashes his face under the hot water.
He looks at his reflection, clutching the porcelain tight in
his hands.
STEVE
Jesus Christ. What the fuck is
going on!
(beat)
First, Ash, and now this town...
Steve hears something. Wood being thrown around, in the next
room.
INT. WALTON BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS - NIGHT
Steve sees, in the Master Bedroom, a huge pile of broken
lumber and debris thrown carelessly in the corner near the
balcony door.
As Steve watches, waits, a man comes through the door,
holding more broken wood.
STEVE
Hello?
The man, WALTON, forty-something, looks up at him.
WALTON
Who the fuck are you?
STEVE
Who are you?
25.
WALTON
You're in my fuckin' house.
STEVE
I was checking the house. Seeing if
anyone was here.
WALTON
Well... Haven't seen you. Name's
Walton. In case you give a shit.
STEVE
What the fuck is going on? There
are things...
WALTON
Yes. In this house. Everyone's house.
Walton looks at Steve, still unconvinced.
WALTON
...You don't know.
He smiles.
WALTON
How nice for you.
Walton goes back out the balcony door. In a moment he brings
in another long stick of wood, and tosses it into the pile.
Steve starts to move closer.
Walton walks past him. Grabs something from off the table
behind him, Steve doesn't see.
WALTON
You should leave. Get as far away
as you can. Fast.
He goes back out the door.
STEVE
Why?! What is happening?!
The sound of crumbling wood.
Something catches Steve's eye on the wall.
Numerous pictures stapled to the walls, covering them
entirely. Pictures of a charred corpse most of them. Also
many of a crucifixion, modern day.
26.
STEVE
What is that...?
WALTON (O.S.)
Project... of mine.
Wood breaking.
Steve sees the picture of the crucifixion.
STEVE
My God...
Walton laughs. He comes back in, with a last piece of broken
wood, and a sledge hammer. He dumps them in the corner,
beneath the pictures.
WALTON
God ignores this town.
He leaves once again. Steve paces after him.
EXT. THIRD FLOOR BALCONY - CONTINUOUS - NIGHT
The balcony, a section now demolished by the sledge. The
guardrail has been knocked down, and there is now only a gap
where the edge of the balcony was. A thin fog is very slowly
creeping up the balcony and into the house through the open
door.
STEVE
What the fuck are you talking
about?! Just tell me what is
going--!
WALTON
-You don't wanna know!
STEVE
Yes, I d-
WALTON
-The Kid! The kid, ok?!
He relaxes. Kicks a piece of debris down the three story hole.
INT. INSANE ASYLUM - NIGHT
A CHILD is being dragged away, several orderlies grab onto
each of his limbs. He fights to get free.
27.
EXT. THIRD FLOOR BALCONY - NIGHT
Walton struggles to tie a length of rope to the gutter. It
looks like he's trying to repair it.
WALTON
Years ago, in this town, there was
this kid. He killed his own parents
and disposed of their bodies - -
EXT. WOODS - DAY
A man and a woman are hung by their necks from trees.
Their bodies are covered in blood. Their intestines hang out.
INT. THIRD FLOOR BALCONY - NIGHT
WALTON
- - In a rather unfashionable way.
INT. INSANE ASYLUM - NIGHT
The child struggles as they haul him into a room.
EXT. THIRD FLOOR BALCONY - NIGHT
WALTON
When they finally caught him they
locked him up. Mental institution.
Up until one day the nurses heard
screaming from his cell.
(beat)
When they got in - -
INT. CHILD'S CELL - NIGHT
The child is stapled to the wall. Crucified. On fire. Still
alive.
The nurses scream.
EXT. THIRD FLOOR BALCONY - NIGHT
WALTON
He was on the wall, stapled to it,
like a crucifix. On fire.
INT. CHILD'S CELL - NIGHT
Orderlies rush in with fire extinguishers. They try to put
him out. But he won't go out.
28.
EXT. THIRD FLOOR BALCONY - NIGHT
WALTON
Only, there was no gas. No matches.
No possible way for him to set
himself on fire.
He struggles to tie knots in the rope.
STEVE
What are you--?
WALTON
They took the body, or rather what
was left of the body, down to the
morgue.
(beat)
But, the next day, when they went
to find the body for the burial--
INT. MORGUE - NIGHT
The two officers open the door to the fridge/coffin where
his body is being kept. They pull out the table. It's empty.
EXT.THIRD FLOOR BALCONY - NIGHT
WALTON
--it wasn't there. Gone. Without a
single trace of him ever being
there at all.
He tightens the last knot.
The fog is getting thicker behind him, as it creeps up the
three floors of the house.
STEVE
Who is he?
WALTON
He's come back to the town that
killed him.
It's a noose. He reaches up and puts it around his neck, as
he steps to the edge of the hole.
STEVE
Wait. Get away from there! I need
you to--!
WALTON
He's not getting me too.
29.
Walton takes a step forward.
STEVE
Wait!
Walton looks at him.
STEVE
Who is he!?
WALTON
He'll kill us all.
He jumps. Steve screams.
STEVE
NO!
Steve turns away. The rope goes taut.
INT. WALTON BEDROOM - NIGHT
Outside, the sound of the rope stretching is all that can be
heard.
INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT
Steve drags his feet. His face shows his anxiety.
He creeps to the kitchen counter next to the refrigerator.
On it there is a wooden cutting board with a large knife
driven into it.
He looks above the counter and notices a clock - 7:06.
He touches the knife with his index finger and watches it
wobble on the table.
He hears a child's laugh, in the distance behind him. A
shadow on the wall dances in sync with the laughter.
He spins around, startled.
He reaches for the knife perched upright on the table but
finds nothing as he grabs for it. He looks at the table and
notices the knife is gone.
He looks down the path of the long, dark hallway and a
shadow, hidden by the darkness even more, suddenly jumps
from its stalemate. Darting off towards the open bedroom
door around the corner, out of view.
On the walls next to him he sees a certificate: "DEAN OF
STUDENTS AT ST. GABRIEL'S SCHOOL OF CATHOLICISM.".
30.
He spots several pictures of a father and daughter.
For an instant he sees Ashley next to the man. He blinks and
stares closer at it. But it is not her.
He slides the door open with his free hand, looking before
entering.
INT. MASTER BEDROOM - NIGHT
He searches the room.
The bedroom is empty.
He rushes back out to the entranceway of the room, looking
to the main area again.
Suddenly - -
- CRASH - -
- Glass breaks inside the room -
He rushes back in.
He sees a broken window. The drapes sway in the wind. He
leans out the window, and searches.
Another shadow moves in the dark fog.
Another laugh echoes the night sky.
He glances at his feet. There is a manila folder labeled
"DEAN OF STUDENTS" underneath his foot.
He picks it up. On the tab poking above the symmetrical
pages reads the name: "ASHLEY SMITH".
STEVE
Ashley?...
He opens it and sees a large picture of Ashley of her in her
infancy, lying in a hospital pediatric bed.
He turns the page. He spots the words: "MOUNTAINVIEW
UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL".
He folds up the folder and puts them in his back pocket.
INT. GARAGE - NIGHT
Steve frantically searches through a workbench in the corner
of the garage. There is an enormous rolled up set of papers
on the desk.
31.
He unrolls it. A map.
On the map, he sees a large building labeled "ST. GABRIEL'S".
He sees the neighboring street: "TANTON STREET".
Near the bottom of the map, an equally large spot labeled
"MOUNTAINVIEW HOSPITAL".
A housing complex. A single house is circled.
STEVE
School...
He follows with his finger on
THE MAP
He traces it from the circled building to the school. Then
further, toward the building labeled: "HOSPITAL."
He pulls the piece of paper out from
HIS POCKET
He looks at it, at the words printed at the top.
"MOUNTAINVIEW UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL."
STEVE
Then the hospital.
WORKBENCH
He puts the piece of paper back in his pocket and rushes
over to the workbench against the wall.
He rummages through several tools. He finds a military
inspired flashlight. Flat, with the bulb on a ninety-degree
swivel. He puts it in his breast pocket, aims it forward,
and switches it on. It will now always shine in the
direction he is walking. He also finds a ZIPPO style lighter.
It works. He puts the lighter into his back pocket.
He looks around the garage more, but nothing useful can be
found.
He opens the garage door and heads out into the darkness
INT. CLASSROOM - NIGHT
JILL, 30's, the kind of teacher students would be hot for,
sits at her desk. Her classroom door is open.
She's reading a file at her desk, but it looks like she's
having trouble concentrating.
32.
Her eyes keep looking around the empty, dark classroom.
Frustrated, she gets up and goes over to the window.
She sees the fog creeping along the grass outside. She looks
wary, like she's aware of what it is. She bites her lower
lip in worry. Then, she reaches up and pulls down on the
window, making sure it's shut completely. She checks the
lock as well.
All this, as the fog creeps towards her feet.
She looks down and sees it there. Just as a dog growls
several feet beyond the door. Frightened, she quickly looks
up, to her classroom door, which is cracked open.
Fog from the hall is quickly gathering, and entering through
the small opening. Just as always happens, shadows move
within the fog in the hallway.
She takes a step towards the door, a slow, cautious step, as
the fog continues inside.
Something reaches out. A child's hand, slowly rises, just
barely visible from within the fog. It reaches up for the
door, very slowly.
Jill quickly lurches forward, and shuts the door without
trouble. She quickly locks it and steps back.
She leans against the back of her desk, and slides down. She
just sits there, clutching her knees.
EXT. STREET - NIGHT
Steve walks down the street, comforted only by the small
light of the flashlight, just barely piercing the darkness.
A shadow passes over a street lamp.
He looks at the light, trying to catch whatever passed by it.
There is a loud whispering just behind Steve.
Footsteps rush up right behind him.
He turns and looks down the street, the wall of thick fog is
behind him once again. This time, he knows to head away from
it. He heads down the street.
But the fog quickly blows in, and blocks his path. He looks
around, as it begins to surround him again. He looks very
worried.
33.
Ahead of him, just barely visible in the fog, is the figure
of a child. It has blonde hair, a twinge of yellow in the
dark gray of the fog.
Steve's eyes try to focus on the unmoving figure in the
distance before him.
STEVE
Hello?
The figure turns around and runs in the opposite direction.
Steve follows, slow. Until he stops in the middle of an
intersection.
He looks for the figure, in all directions, but can't see her.
He keeps spinning around, looking for her, when she suddenly
pops out of the fog from nowhere.
STEVE
Hey!
Without thinking, Steve darts after her. She turns and runs.
Down the street the figure of the little girl, about the
size and dress of Ashley, always stays just ahead of Steve
enough that he can't get a good look at her.
STEVE
Ashley?!
She darts right at an intersection. Steve loses her in the fog.
Suddenly, before Steve can even make the turn, to his left a
little girl giggles. The figure is just past a layer of fog.
He turns and runs after her.
After a moment of running, she disappears. Without warning,
she laughs and darts through the fog behind him. He turns,
and again runs after her.
He stops. He watches as she turns right at the next
intersection. An instant later he sees and hears her again,
running to the left of the intersection.
He gives chase. He sees her disappear through the fog to the
right.
She appears behind him, giggling, running. She appears, to
his left, giggling, running. She's only visible long enough
to disappear again through the fog, in a different direction.
34.
Steve chases her down again. Again, she disappears. He just
stands in the center of the intersection, completely
disoriented, entirely confused.
STEVE
Fuck!
He looks ahead. He sees the little girl. He turns right.
She's there. He turns right again. She's there. He turns.
She's there. Turns. There. It's like she's everywhere.
Then, it just stops. She's gone. Steve suddenly realizes
where he is - in a mass of fog, completely engulfed.
Suddenly, the little girl reappears. And Steve, not wanting
to stay idle any longer in this situation, gives chase.
EXT. FOREST - NIGHT
The little girl runs past a dozen densely packed trees.
Before disappearing again.
Steve is following close behind her, winded now.
He stops, tries to catch his breath.
He sees the girl ahead of him. She appears and disappears
behind a dozen different trees, always running in a
different direction. Impossible.
STEVE
(winded)
Jesus Christ...
He takes off again.
He's close to her now, but still too far to see her clearly.
She runs for a thick brush, runs through it without ever
touching a single leaf. She phased through it.
Before he can slow down he's already through the bushes. But
just past them the forest stops, and drops, down a 10 foot
cliff.
He can't stop. He tumbles down the steep hill. And lands
painfully hard on the bottom.
He struggles to get up. Everything hurts. He picks up his
flashlight next to him. It's not working, he smacks it a few
times and life returns to it.
He gets to one knee and sees the street sign just next to him.
"TANTON ST." He heads down it.
35.
EXT. SCHOOL - NIGHT
The school looks like it has been transported from the past.
The main area of it is the typical one large room with the
high ceiling and the enormous bell in the tower. The rest of
it has obviously been renovated and expanded upon to meet
the growing number of students.
Off to the side, in the front of the school, is a small
concrete block, with its name etched across. It reads: ST.
GABRIEL'S SCHOOL OF CATHOLICISM.
But the word Gabriel has been written over in black spray
paint. In its place is the word, AZRAEL.
Steve walks up the small courtyard and walks down a walk-up,
a small enclosed concrete staircase, to the basement door.
He enters.
INT. SCHOOL BASEMENT - CONTINUOUS - NIGHT
The bell on the door dings as he does. But it doesn't stop
with a single ring. It keeps ringing, back and forth, loudly,
shaking violently for 30 seconds as Steve can only watch.
Until it suddenly stops.
He swallows, still staring at the bell when a door slams
shut in the distance. He slowly turns his head toward the
noise, not wanting to even look.
The door he came through remains open. The shadow cast into
the school from the outside light reveals a small girl,
standing just outside the doorway - Unknown to Steve.
Steve is in the personnel tunnels, the bowels of the school,
the basement level. Pipes line several of the walls. There
is almost no light down here.
Steve backs away from the entrance. He starts down an
extremely long corridor.
The only sounds in the entire room are the echoing footsteps
of Steve as he walks down the concrete hallway, and the
churning sounds of the pipes next to him.
There's something else also. Somewhere, too far to hear
anything but a muddled melody, a single verse from some
children's song is ringing out. It's near impossible to hear.
It sounds as though it is coming from a snow-globe, the same
CLING-CLANGY noises that they make, distorted and twisted.
Children laugh in the background as they quietly hum along
to the tune.
36.
Steve rounds a corner in the hallway and a SMALL GIRL, at
least five years of age, stands in his path, staring at him,
smiling.
Steve stops looks at the little girl.
A dozen more smiling children appear from the same corner.
They all randomly position themselves behind the little girl.
STEVE
Uhh, Hi.
The children just stare at Steve and smile.
STEVE
Are you lost?
SMALL GIRL
We are found.
Steve turns dead serious.
STEVE
What do you want?
SMALL GIRL
We wanna play.
STEVE
Where are your parents?
SMALL GIRL
We already play'd with our parents.
Now we wanna play with you.
The children all laugh in unison. They move in on Steve,
closer and closer, still in unison.
Steve's vision flashes and vibrates suddenly. When it stops,
the children are not where they were.
Steve sees a few of the children around the corner, but his
view is obstructed by the wall. The nursery rhyme begins to
get louder. Steve slowly walks around the concrete corner.
But as he does so he realizes he is not in the same basement
he once was. The area around the corner is not a basement at
all - it is a play area. Outside.
The sun is shining on a grass covered playground. The grass
stretches all the way to Steve's feet, where it promptly
transforms back into concrete. Nothing else can be heard but
the same nursery rhyme, echoing, haunting.
37.
There is a jungle jim. A swing set. A sandbox. And a see-saw.
All of the same children are playing on the playground.
Steve walks out of the dark line of the basement, and into
the sunshine.
The song echoes out into the open. No one's mouth moves,
they are all completely oblivious to the joyous, slow-
rhythmic song, emanating from them.
CHILDREN
(singing)
Baby, baby, naughty baby/ Hush, you
squalling thing I say/ Peace this
moment, peace, or maybe/ He will
pass this way/ Baby, baby, if he
hears you/ As he gallops past the
house/ Limb from limb at once he'll
tear you/ Just as pussy tears a
mouse/ And he'll beat you, beat you,
beat you/ And he'll beat you all to
pap/ And he'll eat you, eat you,
eat you/ Every morsel snap, snap, snap.
The children flicker in and out of reality again. Steve's
vision of the playground does the same.
In the flashes, there is a single frame of the playground,
burned to the ground, still flaming. The children are there,
dead, rotting, on the same play pieces they were once on.
And then it's gone. Steve is back in the basement. But it's
not the same either.
Everything about this basement is so dreadfully wrong. It's
darker, quieter, than ever. Blood is everywhere, covering,
dripping from, every inch of the basement. Every pipe. Every
corner. Steve looks around in terror.
He spins around. And all the kids are there, less than an
inch in front of his face. They're all dead. Bloody, rotting
corpses of their former selves.
CHILDREN
Get the fuck out!
Steve falls back from the fright. When he opens his eyes
again on the ground, everything is back to normal. Only a
single echo of a child's laugh is left amidst the usual
sounds of the basement.
Steve can't move.
38.
INT. BATHROOM - NIGHT
Steve's head is bent into a running sink. He dips his hands
into the sink and splashes his face with water.
STEVE
Jesus Christ... I must be losing my
mind.
He splashes his face with water again, and stares at his
reflection in the mirror.
INT. HALLWAY - NIGHT
As Steve walks down the hallways the shadows dance and
squirm around him, unbeknownst to Steve.
There are clocks on the walls - all read 7:06.
There is a quick jump of footsteps ahead of him.
He chases down the sound, nearing it. He catches up to it fast.
He rounds a corner.
No one is there.
He stops for a moment. As soon as he does a scratching sound
comes from the area behind him, a scratching like a jagged
piece of chalk on a noisy chalkboard.
He walks slowly to the noise, as he nears a certain room the
noise grows louder and louder.
He sees a door, through which the sound is emanating from.
He looks at the room number beside the door. The room number
is 106, but someone has graffitied it to make it look as
though it reads 706.
He opens the door and very slowly enters the room.
INT. CLASSROOM - CONTINUOUS - NIGHT
The sound abruptly stops.
He rounds a corner and sees the chalkboard.
On the chalkboard is a single sentence, repeated over and
over again like some demonic Simpsons episode. The sentence is:
"ANSWER THE PHONE".
A phone bursts into a loud ring on the opposite side of the
classroom.
39.
It sits in the center of the only desk in the entire
classroom, a round wooden desk.
The cord that connects it to the wall is cut after six
inches. What's left of it spirals around the edge of the
table. Yet it continues to ring.
All of the numbers on the dialer are sixes.
He picks it up, the ringing bell echoing out, and puts it
next to his ear; there is no sound until the VOICE on the
other end says - -
VOICE (V.O.)
You'll never get her back. She
likes it here.
STEVE
Who is this?!
VOICE (V.O.)
Stop looking for her or I will be
forced to deal with you.
STEVE
Where is she?! What have you done
with her?!
VOICE (V.O.)
You've been warned.
STEVE
Give me back my daughter!
The other end hangs up.
Steve takes it away from his ear and just stares at it. He
slowly sets it back down on the receiver.
JILL (O.S.)
They have her, don't they?
Steve looks back towards the doorway where a woman, Jill is
now standing, hiding partly behind the wall.
STEVE
Who the hell are you?
JILL
Me?
STEVE
Yeah, you. Who are you?
40.
JILL
My--My name's Jill. I--I'm a
teacher here. Who are you?
STEVE
I'm Steve. I'm trying to find my
daughter, she's lost.
JILL
Lost? No, they have her. They have
her now and they'll never let her
leave. They'll never give her back.
STEVE
Who? Who has her? What are you
talking about?
JILL
Them. The town. The evil in this place.
STEVE
The evil?
JILL
It's them, the children. They--they,
I don't know how, but they're--
they're evil. Something's got a
hold of them and it just won't let
'em go... I'm the only one left.
STEVE
How do you know all this? Did you
teach her? I found a file, but--
JILL
Just because there's a file here
doesn't mean she was taught here.
She could have been privately taught.
STEVE
By who? Where is everyone else? I
want to talk to them.
JILL
Everyone else?
(beat)
Dead. They're all dead.
STEVE
What happened to them?
JILL
I don't know...
41.
There is a long silence as neither of them know what to say
next.
STEVE
You're a teacher here. Can you help
me? I was... given this.
He yanks the manilla folder from his back pocket. He tosses
it onto the desk in front of her. She picks it up and looks
at it.
JILL
This... this is from the Attendance
office. But these pages...
STEVE
They're from the hospital. Can you
take me there?
JILL
The hospital?
STEVE
The Attendance office.
JILL
Oh... sure. It's not far, it's just
down the hall.
INT. SCHOOL - NIGHT
They walk down the main hallway in the school.
The school hallways are filled with moving shadows from the
trees outside peering through the windows. Strange noises
echo throughout.
Every hallway and every room of the school are entirely
dilapidated, with dirt and grime and the effects of time
taking hold.
JILL
So, how long have you been in town?
STEVE
The last guy I made small talk with
hung himself. I'm not so sure you
want my company right now.
JILL
Just a little nervous, I guess. The
halls aren't... it's much safer
behind a locked door.
42.
STEVE
Understandable. I never liked
school either.
JILL
Why do you want to know if your
daughter was enrolled here?
STEVE
Cuz I never enrolled her.
JILL
That's a little odd then, don't you
think?
STEVE
Yes, it is.
They round a corner and, and a glass-surrounded office
stands in their path.
JILL
Here it is.
INT. ATTENDANCE OFFICE - NIGHT
Steve looks at the sign above the door for a moment before
entering.
She walks to a filing cabinet in the middle of the room. She
opens a drawer and shuffles through some of the papers.
JILL
I'm not sure but I think there
should be something in here.
STEVE
You're not sure?
JILL
I'm a teacher not a clerk.
She rifles through more papers and files in the cabinet.
She looks back at Steve, rather embarrassed.
JILL
Not here.
STEVE
What?
43.
JILL
Now, wait, wait. We just have to
find the enrollment records.
STEVE
And where might those be?
To the rear of the room is another door with a large lock.
Jill struggles to open it but the door is locked and won't open.
JILL
It's locked.
STEVE
I can see that.
JILL
What do you propose?
Steve takes a step back, ready to kick it. Just as he moves
to unload on the door it creaks open slowly, no longer locked.
He looks at Jill nervously. She looks back with just as much
puzzlement. For a moment, they look around, checking to make
sure no one is near.
INT. FILING ROOM - NIGHT
Inside there are several rows of large shelves, organized by
year.
Jill runs up to them.
JILL
When would she have started?
She heads for the shelf that reads: "2004".
STEVE
She would have started in August.
The first day.
She stops to look at him.
JILL
A little behind, weren't we?
STEVE
I didn't have a lot of spare time.
She shuffles through the folder.
After a while of looking, she stops.
44.
She looks at Steve again. No luck.
JILL
Why would it say she was already
enrolled? Clearly, she wasn't.
Maybe it was a different Ashley Smith.
STEVE
I saw her baby photo.
JILL
Was she born in this town? In this
hospital?
STEVE
No.
JILL
Then it wasn't-
STEVE
-It was her. I saw her picture. I
know what my daughter looks like.
It was her.
JILL
If you say so. What now?
STEVE
What about... records? Reports?
JILL
If she was ever enrolled here,
there would be records of it.
STEVE
Where?
JILL
The school keeps all of its older
records in storage in the lower
basement. But I don't know my way
around there. It's not well kept
apparently.
INT. STORAGE AREA - LOWER BASEMENT
They exit through a dusty old stairwell. The doorway is
covered in dust. The door jams as the knob turns, but Steve
muscles it open from its creaky hinges.
The hallways are filled with school supplies and desks and
chairs etc. Steve struggles to push the clutter out of his way.
45.
Jill finds a doorway, the word "STORAGE" written on a card
on the front of the door.
JILL
Here.
She opens it, and the scene inside is even worse than out
here. Completely trashed. Desks, chairs, filing cabinets and
everything else are just carelessly tossed around this room.
INT. STORAGE ROOM - CONTINUOUS
Steve enters, and sets the flashlight on top of a desk.
He turns to look around and spots a small cabinet in the
back of the room labeled: "RESTRICTED FILES".
He tries to open it but there is a lock.
Steve looks around for a moment, until his eyes meet Jill.
Already in motion, she drops a brick into his waiting hand.
he takes the brick from her bludgeons the lock open.
Inside there is only a single file.
He pulls it out and on the cover is his daughter's name.
Inside it there is a single page that says: "THE CHILD IS
PROGRESSING AS EXPECTED". And a single room number: 706
He flips it over, expecting more to be on the back, but
there is nothing. Steve is beginning to look increasingly
frustrated. He shows it Jill.
JILL
I know this room. It's one level
above us, in the sub-basement. It's
like a, like a media classroom. But
it's been closed down since before
I got here, because of the-
STEVE
Because of the what?
JILL
Asbestos.
STEVE
Oh... I'm starting to be glad I
didn't enroll my daughter here.
JILL
Apparently, you did.
46.
He stares at the paper in the folder.
INT. BASEMENT LEVEL 1 - NIGHT
Jill and Steve exit the stairwell after their one-floor trek
upwards. This basement is more well kept, but still dingy
and dirty.
He walks down a long, narrow hallway. To the left of him is
a large glass window that looks into a room with many small
cribs and looks like an area for kids.
Several of the cribs have been toppled over and/or destroyed.
Steve walks down the narrow rows of the small room.
STEVE
What is this place... ?
JILL
This building used to double as a
nursery. Before all the asbestos
starting falling from the ceiling.
He looks up, sees a sign above that reads "NURSERY", covered
in dust.
STEVE
Homely.
Both of them continue to walk on, when Steve hears a
creaking sound. He looks over, and sees a metal door
creaking open slowly.
After a moment,
STEVE
Over there.
Steve and Jill go over to the creaky door, and enter the
small back room of the nursery.
INT. NURSERY BACK ROOM - CONTINUOUS
The room is incredibly dark and even their flashlights
barely do anything to illuminate the small room.
Jill shines her flashlight along the walls. She notices how
utterly small it is. There's no furniture of any kind, no
bookshelves, no filing cabinets.
JILL
Wonder what this room was used for.
47.
She continues shining the light across the walls until it
hits something on the far wall, something protruding from it.
Jill jumps, a short cry escapes her mouth, before she really
gets a clear look at it. Steve shines his light on it as
well, after the initial shock.
Hanging from the ceiling, there is a man, dead, stapled to
the wall at an angle. Naked. Bloody. Strange occult symbols
have been carved into his flesh.
STEVE
Christ...
JILL
He still looks... fresh.
STEVE
That he does.
Small drops of blood drip from the symbols carved into his
chest.
JILL
How long do you think he's been here?
STEVE
This man's been dead for more than
just a little while.
JILL
How much longer?
STEVE
I'd say a few years longer.
JILL
How do you know that?
STEVE
Uncle was a mortician. You smell that?
She sniffs the air.
STEVE
They're preservatives. He's covered
in them.
JILL
Why is he still dripping blood then?
How is it possible?
STEVE
I don't know.
48.
JILL
Well, who would want to preserve
THAT? I mean, what's the point?
STEVE
I don't know.
Steve sees something as he watched the blood drip down.
JILL
Listen, Steve. What kind of a
nursery has a-
STEVE
Quiet. Look.
He shines his flashlight on what has caught his eye. The
blood dripping from the man's wounds are falling onto a
rectangular-shaped box, about three feet long, on the ground
beneath the corpse.
Steve can vaguely see the shape of some sort of occult
symbol (The Circle of Amon) beneath the rectangular box.
Steve begins to bend down in front of the box.
JILL
Don't open it.
STEVE
This room was obviously important.
(gesturing to the corpse)
This box is the focal point.
Steve pulls the box closer to him, drawing it away from the
dripping blood.
Steve slowly opens the wooden box to reveal the skeleton of
a newborn baby inside. His spine has been severed at the
neck, and his ribcage strewn about the rest of the box.
Steve and Jill both look on in horror.
JILL
Is that from decay? Like, bone
decay? Why its bones are that way?
STEVE
No. His heart's been ripped out.
Something else catches Steve's eye, something on the ground
where Steve just removed the box.
49.
JILL
Oh my God... This is, this is... It
was just a baby. Why would they
kill it?
STEVE
It looks like some kind of ritual.
JILL
But human sacrifice?
STEVE
Maybe something went wrong. Maybe
it wasn't who they thought it was.
Steve pulls out the item from beneath the wooden box.
They're documents of some kind. Pictures. Steve looks at
them as Jill continues near hysteria.
JILL
But it was just a baby... An infant,
not a month old. And they...
Steve?... Why do you look so scared?
Without looking up, he hands her the pictures and walks out
of the room.
STEVE
Because these are pictures of my
daughter.
Jill looks at the pictures in her hand. There are several
pictures of an infant girl in a crib, as a hand enters the
frame and draws a strange symbol on her forehead with a red
liquid. There are many like this.
After a moment to take it in she chases after Steve.
JILL
This could be anyone!
STEVE
I know my own daughter!
JILL
But this baby is brand new. They
all look alike then. How do you
even remember that far back so clearly?
50.
STEVE
She's my daughter. I've memorized
every inch of her face, from every
day of her life. She's my flesh and
my blood - I would know her
anywhere.
(beat, he starts to
tear up)
She has never, EVER, been in this
town before.
JILL
We don't know where these pictures
were taken.
STEVE
Check the last one.
Jill looks through the pictures again and in one of the wide
shots it's clear the hanging corpse's feet, from just a
moment ago, are slipping into the frame of the picture.
Pieces of words are cut off before they leave Jill's mouth
as she struggles to find more possibilities.
JILL
What do these mean?
STEVE
Something is wrong with this town.
The whole place has been brainwashed
or something. Mass hysteria. And my
daughter is lost out there in it.
We have to get her back. Right now.
INT. BASEMENT ROOM 706 ENTRANCE - LATER
Steve and Jill are still wandering in the basement, looking
for the room. Steve hangs back, looking around corners as
Jill moves on ahead.
Soon, Jill looks up and sees the room number, 706.
JILL
Steve, it's over here.
Steve hurries over and grabs for the handle. The door
struggles to open.
He puts his body into it, leans against it, and it pops open,
billowing dust everywhere.
51.
INT. BASEMENT ROOM 706 - CONTINUOUS
The room is filthy from the years of neglect.
Tables line the walls, as well as a large portion of the
middle of the room. Covering the table-tops are televisions
with VCRs beneath them. They're a few years old.
Jill spots a VHS tape sticking out of one of the VCRs.
Immediately she goes to it and pushes it in. She hits play.
JILL
What now?
Out of nowhere, all of the televisions come alive. Static
blares on on all of them at the same exact moment.
The entire room is lit up from the dozens of televisions in
the room. Steve slowly walks up to one. Underneath the
static sound, it sounds like breathing.
Steve gets right in front of it, and something changes. The
static changes - it's moving.
There's someone behind the static, a figure, indescribable
because of the interference. It's difficult to see anything
at all, except its motion.
A sound comes through. Some kind of feedback. Like a scream,
but in reverse. It's coming from somewhere deep inside the
TV, deep inside wherever the broadcast is coming from.
His daughter's face gets clearer behind the static.
ASHLEY
(garbled by static)
Daddy!
STEVE
Ashley?!
You can begin to see her features now. A black and white
outline of his daughter's face, inched right up to the
screen. The same on all the screens. The static tries to get
worse, vertical bands, horizontal bands, momentary lapses of
broadcast. But she stays.
ASHLEY
Daddy!? Daddy, is that you!? Where
are you?! I can't see you here. I
don't like it here. Save me, Daddy!
The feedback behind her voice is worsening. Blaring sounds.
Static. Electronic howls. Growling. Screaming. Crying.
52.
Jill can only look on in horror.
STEVE
I will! But tell me where you are!
Let me find you!
Steve is going crazy.
ASHLEY
Daddy, I can't hear you anymore!
Where are you?! - - Oh no. He's
here. I have to go or he'll hurt me
again!
STEVE
No, Ashley! Tell me where you are!
But she leaves, the features of her face disappear. Leaving
only the innumerable kinds of strange static.
STEVE
Jesus Fuckin' Chri -- ASHLEY!
Steve pounds on the television, but nothing happens.
The static sound returns to normal. All of the television's
blink off at the same time. Thrusting them back into darkness.
EXT. PARKING LOT - NIGHT
QUICK CUTS
- - Steve and Jill run out into the open area and eye
several parked cars. Steve runs to the first one and pulls
the handle but - -
- - LOCKED - -
- - Jill rushes to another quickly, which is a few feet away,
and it too is locked - -
- - But the third one that Steve reaches for is not. He
opens the door quickly and gets in even quicker. Jill
follows him in fast - -
INT. CAR - NIGHT
- - Steve looks up to the fold down mirror and pulls it down.
A set of keys falls into his lap. He hastily retrieves them
and ignites the engine - -
- - They speeds down the long deserted road - -
53.
- - Steve looks down to the section between him and the
passenger seat - -
There is a CELLULAR PHONE perched in its charger unit. Steve
reaches down and struggles to free it.
It comes loose after a moment with a jolt and Steve dials in
911 while struggling to stay focused on the road.
He only hears the operators beep.
He shakes the phone, taking his eyes off the road for an
instant...
STEVE
God dammit!
JILL
Steve!
He shoots his eyes back up towards the road and gasps from
what is ahead of him.
The road in front of him has been heavily uprooted, like a
small mountain. The metal support beams entangled with the
rubble.
Steve slams his foot on the brake. The car spins a half turn
and slams into the massive rubble pile with its side.
Steve and Jill are thrown around the inside of the car like
a ragdoll. Steve's head bashes the steering wheel, instantly
reopening the wound on his forehead. Blood flies everywhere,
covering him and the inside of the car. Jill smacks her head
don the window, breaking it.
Steve slumps down in the seat. His eyes are closed. He
doesn't move.Neither does Jill.
FLASHBACK: INT. STEVE'S BEDROOM - NIGHT
The wine bottle shatters on the ground. Steve looks to Terri.
Her chest is heaved upward, like something is holding her up.
But it's different this time, there IS something there.
Something reaching through her chest from behind - a hand,
draped in a thick, black cloak.
But the hand, stretching up to the elbow before vanishing,
is all that can be seen.
54.
PRESENT: INT. HOSPITAL - NIGHT
Steve slams his eyes open, jumping to consciousness. He sits
up from the hospital gurney.
He stands up and holds his head, groaning in pain.
STEVE
Fuckin' cell phones...
Steve looks around. He sees the obviousness of the Hospital,
and immediately understands where he is.
STEVE
Jill? Jill?!
She's nowhere in sight.
STEVE
Shit.
Still confused, he exits through a set of swinging double doors.
INT. HALLWAY - NIGHT
The hallway has a few cracks in the walls and the paint is
beginning to thin everywhere.
STEVE
Jill?
The lights on the ceiling hang from long, thin cords. They
all sway from side to side at different intervals, throwing
wild shadows all over the hallway.
A plethora of fall leaves have blown in from somewhere, they
now fill the hall. A draft sends them into the air, and
dancing down the hallway as Steve can only watch. He starts
to follow them.
Steve doesn't see, to his side, the hint of a shadow of
someone standing there. After the swinging light hits it and
retracts, the figure is gone.
The lights flicker, a buzzing sound, then they slam off
entirely.
Steve taps the flashlight in his breast pocket. It gets
brighter for a moment.
STEVE
That's better.
55.
It dies and shuts off completely. All that's left is the
bustling of the leaves.
STEVE
Shit.
He bashes the side of it in anger but it doesn't come back on.
He tosses it aside and reaches into his pocket. He pulls out
the ZIPPO lighter from before and ignites it, just barely
lighting up the room enough for him to see.
A shadow dances in front.
He proceeds with caution. He takes long, waiting footsteps.
There is whispering all around Steve. Dark whispering,
maniacal almost.
Ahead of him there is another series of soft squeaks.
A ceiling light down the hallway jumps to life and shines a
small area of light in the vast darkness.
Steve takes off down the hallway, running for the light
source as fast as he can.
When he gets there the light is above an OVERTURNED
WHEELCHAIR, lying on its side, with its wheel spinning
curiously, causing the squeaking sound.
He passes by it hastily, trying to avert his eyes.
Another light comes on in the distance. Steve runs to it
quickly.
It is a hospital gurney with a spot of blood on the sheet
that is raised over what looks to be a body.
Steve stares at it, his face plastered with worry, fear.
He runs down the hallway.
He sees a sign above a door. "MORGUE". He enters.
INT. MORGUE ROOM - NIGHT
There are a myriad of gurneys with sheets draped over them.
He walks up to one and reads the chart on the end of it. "38
years old".
He reads the one next to him. "42 years old".
56.
The next one. "55 years old".
The room is filled with them, all of them adults.
Steve looks horrified. He backs out of the room carefully.
He runs through another door into a back room.
INT. BACK ROOM - NIGHT
Steve suddenly finds himself in a very dark room, with only
the light of a few small candles flickering. It is another
hospital room, like all the others - beds, tables, medical
supplies. But something is just off about it, something
dreadfully wrong with this place.
Steve walks around the room, sees nothing obviously sinister
about the room.
Then he rounds a back corner into a small hallway, a
changing room of sorts.
The room has been converted into a shrine for someone. There
is a small elevated portion, a podium, with pillows and
blankets. It looks to be a bed.
Steve looks down and sees, underneath the bed, partially
hidden by its surface area, the same strange marking that he
has seen before.
He looks up and sees the symbol, etched into the ceiling
above the "bed."
As he stares at the ceiling a noise in the back of the room
startles Steve - an instrument tray crashes to the floor.
He races to the back of the area, there are the sound of
footsteps in front of him.
Steve rounds the corner and he is back in the interior of
the hospital, inside the nurse's booth.
INT. NURSE'S BOOTH - CONTINUOUS
He rifles through the many papers on the desk and finds one
that catches his eye. At the top of the page reads:
ADMITTANCE REPORT FROM PSYCHE WARD, in big, bold letters. He
reads the report aloud.
57.
STEVE
"Child experienced multiple
disillusion syndrome with acute
suicidal intentions. He was treated
for his illness and released. The
next day he was found hung by his
throat with a bed sheet over his
bed. The child was dead upon
arrival."
(beat)
Oh, God.
He spots a piece of paper, with the same letterhead, with
his daughter's name just beneath that. He reads it as well.
STEVE
"Child was admitted with a
multitude of neurological and
psychological deficiencies. And,
also may have suffered physical
abuse by an adult. Strange markings
on her shoulders and stomach have
been found with no clear source of
abuse. Also... "
There is an odd noise coming from the patient room next door
to him. Like a rope being stretched, being pulled and tugged
tightly together.
Steve locates the door in the dimming lights of the hospital
hallway.
The door to the room is ajar. Steve slowly pushes it open.
The hinges squeak and groan.
INT. PATIENT ROOM - NIGHT
Once the door opens he sees him hanging there. A boy in a
white hospital gown, hanging from a bed sheet that is bound
around his neck, connected to a pipe in the ceiling. He
spins in a circular motion slowly, almost unmoving.
Steve walks a little closer to the boy, dead for sometime,
within arms reach.
He reaches out to the boy just as he spins enough to be eye
to eye with Steve.
STEVE
Oh my God.
Steve makes contact with the child's gown. The boy's eyes
pop open and his body jumps to life.
58.
Steve screams and jumps backwards, colliding with a hospital
tray loaded with dishes.
As he struggles to get back to his feet, the boy struggles
to remove the noose around his neck. He gets it free and
drops onto the bed. It squeaks loudly.
Steve runs out of the room back out into the hallway, and
makes a be-line for the double doors that exit the hospital.
LOCKED
The boy slowly rounds the corner and picks up a scalpel on a
tray as he slowly walks towards Steve, a sinister smirk.
Steve struggles with the door, shaking it madly, tugging at
the handle.
The boy draws nearer, tossing the scalpel between his hands.
Steve goes to his left and grabs a chair against a wall. He
picks it up and hurls it at the glass doors.
It shatters and falls to the floor. Steve climbs through the
opening hurriedly as the child draws so very close to him.
EXT. HOSPITAL - NIGHT
He runs and collides with a nearby ledge, falling down,
leaning against it to catch his breath.
He looks up to search for the boy again, but he has
disappeared from sight.
A figure, dressed all in black with a long black trench coat,
and slicked back black hair, looms over him, standing
crouched on the ledge behind Steve. GABRIEL. His voice is
raspy, uncaring, and cocky. Gabriel speaks with a soft laugh,
marveling at his own genius.
GABRIEL
Hi, there.
Steve yells again and jumps up from his resting spot to his
feet, staring at Gabriel.
GABRIEL
Ah, so I see you have met my little
messenger.
STEVE
Messenger?
59.
GABRIEL
Yes, he's been helping us both out
really. Telling me about where you
are. Leading you towards me,
leaving small clues just luckily
lying around when you're not looking.
Images flash in front of Steve's eyes.
- The file placed underneath his feet in Walton's house -
- The files in the hospital -
- The little girl in the fog -
Steve, understanding,
STEVE
What do you want?...
GABRIEL
I have told you before to stay away
or I would be forced to deal with
you. Now I'm dealing with you.
STEVE
You. That was you on the phone.
GABRIEL
Yes.
STEVE
You son of a bitch! Give me back my-
From deep within the shadows behind Gabriela dozen or more
of the town's children emerge. They stop and stand behind
Gabriel, protecting him. Several growling Dobermans come out
as well.
Steve's anger subsides, the appearance of the kids and
animals makes him think twice about advancing on Gabriel any
further.
Gabriel just stands there, with the horde behind him,
smiling smugly.
STEVE
Who are you?
60.
GABRIEL
Who I am is of no importance to you.
It's what I'm after that you should
be concerned with. Do not worry,
Steven. It is not you or your
pathetic existence that I'm after.
No, I'm after something much grander.
STEVE
Ashley...
Gabriel just looks at Steve, Gabriel's eyebrows raised high
in satirical questioning.
STEVE
What the hell have you done with her?!
GABRIEL
Do not worry about your daughter.
She is safe. She is of no use to us
if she is harmed.
STEVE
Why Ashley? Why the children?!
The moment Steve raises his voice Gabriel leaps off the
balcony. In an instant he has Steve by the throat, throttling
him against the wall.
GABRIEL
Lower your voice when you speak to me!
Gabriel releases his vice from Steve's neck. Steve falls to
the floor, coughing.
As Gabriel walks back to the horde of kids and animals,
GABRIEL
A child's mind holds far less
authority over itself than an
adult's, you see. It is less mature.
It has fewer defenses against...
outside influences. All I have done
is lead them in the direction that
their immature little minds already
wanted to. Swayed them towards a
new purpose. The same holds true
for them all, even your daughter.
STEVE
You lie. You poisoned them.
61.
GABRIEL
Poisoned? I was merely a teacher.
Someone to guide them down life's
little path.
STEVE
I don't believe you.
GABRIEL
Just how long has Ashley been here?
STEVE
Since tonight.
Gabriel chuckles under his breath.
GABRIEL
You saw the records at the school,
the birth photos. She wants to be
here, Steven. One more traumatic
event is all I need to throw her
over the edge. I'm seeing that one
through now.
STEVE
No! You're a liar!
GABRIEL
It's all the same, really.
STEVE
The adults... What about the adults,
the parents? What happened to them?
GABRIEL
You know, I have found that there
is such an innocence about children
that seems so sincere that it
actually catches people off guard.
I've watched as mothers pass by
their sons holding what looks to be
a fake kitchen knife and not give
it another thought. Only to turn
her back and -
Gabriel makes a throat-slicing motion. He leans in tight to
Steve.
GABRIEL
It's not fake Mom, it's not fake.
STEVE
You... you made these kids kill
their own parents?
62.
GABRIEL
I didn't make them do anything that
they didn't already want to.
STEVE
Why my daughter? Why Ashley?
GABRIEL
Well, if you must know -- Ashley...
is our savior.
STEVE
What?
GABRIEL
She is the one that will lead me,
you, this entire God-forsaken
planet into darkness. She is the
chosen surrogate daughter of Satan.
The Anti-God.
STEVE
You son of a bitch, you're sick. I
won't let you do this.
GABRIEL
Isn't it said that enough traumatic
events in a child's early life can
have negative repercussions forever
on that child? The moving of a
family... The death of a parent,
for instance.
STEVE
Terri...
GABRIEL
(uncaring)
Yes, how tragic. Now she is already
headed down the path that we have
chosen for her. And, well--
STEVE
Who are you?
Gabriel's image suddenly changes, suddenly serious. He leans
in closer to Steve.
GABRIEL
I am so many, many things, Steven.
STEVE
Tell me your name!
63.
GABRIEL
Which one would you like? Michael?
Sammael? Azrael? Mot? Suriel? There
are so many, Steven.
STEVE
Satan?
GABRIEL
No... but close. Merely someone
who has followed in his footsteps,
you might say.
(beat, leaning closer)
I... am the Angel of Death. The
black hearted demon kicked out of
Heavens' doors only to land in an
even more terrible place. Sent down
upon this damned place to bring
forth the everlasting and forever
torment and darkness. To give life
to the demons that have survived in
the shadows for thousands of years.
Gabriel leans in until he is next to Steve's ear. He
whispers into it.
GABRIEL
(whisper)
And to make your daughter lead the way.
STEVE
You bastard! I swear to God I'll
kill you!
Steve throws a punch at Gabriel, just as he looks to one of
his children by his side. Effortlessly, Gabriel catches the
fist just before it makes contact. He slowly looks back to
Steve, almost as if he's annoyed.
Gabriel's hand clenches tight around Steve's fist. Steve's
face contorts with pain.
GABRIEL
Don't throw the G-word around like
that. I hate that word.
Gabriel clenches tighter. Steve's knees buckle.
GABRIEL
I've humored you long enough.
Consider this your final warning,
Steven. Leave this town, forget
about your daughter, or... I will
rip her pretty little head off...
and feed it to you.
64.
He stops, releases his vice He glances at his watch.
GABRIEL
Oh, look at the time. So little
time left. So, for now, I must go.
But when the sign of Satan appears
on your watch, we will meet again.
Oh, and just so we're perfectly
clear with one another, I leave you
with a gift.
Gabriel walks off, into the alley past the myriad of
children. The darkness consumes him, and he disappears.
Steve takes a step after him, and looks like he's going to
chase him down. The dogs start growling. Showing their fangs.
And Steve stops dead.
The dogs take slow steps forward, advancing on Steve. Steve
matches their steps in reverse.
The dogs take off at Steve. Steve does as well, only in the
opposite direction.
Steve turns down an alley, with no other recourse. The dogs
quickly gain on him, much faster than he is.
One of the five dogs leaps onto Steve's back, biting at his
neck. Steve is taken to the ground.
The other dogs mount steve as well. Biting. Tearing. Eating
Steve alive. Steve struggles to fight them off, but they are
too powerful for him.
In desperation Steve reaches out with his hand for anything.
He manages to grab a metal trash can lid from a toppled
container near the wall.
Just as one of the dogs takes a huge chunk out of his leg.
Steve screams. And floors the animal with the metal lid. It
yelps and leaps off his leg. Steve hits the creatures until
they have let go enough for him to get to his feet. He runs
down the alley.
One of them leaps at Steve again, but he swats it out of the
air with the metal lid, knocking it to the ground.
Steve comes to a fence. Without thinking, he leaps onto it
and struggles to climb over as the dogs gnaw at his feet and
legs.
After a few harrowing moments, Steve manages to fall in a
heap onto the other side of the fence.
65.
The dogs bark like mad just inches away.
Steve rolls onto his stomach, trying to brace himself with
his arms, but have found that they have gone weak and they
shake as he puts his weight on them. Steve's leg flares with
searing pain, as blood pours out from the gaping bite wound.
He slowly gets to his feet, his leg trailing LIFELESSLY
behind him, pouring out a river.
EXT. ALLEY - NIGHT
Steve walks in the cold darkness and fog, clutching his thigh.
The alleyway begins to narrow as Steve travels the length of
it, increased by the clutter of trash and garbage pouring
out from a trash container, which also heavily hinders his way.
Steve looks paranoid, looking over his shoulder constantly,
he rushes through the alley, until he finally finds a nearby
building - The Police Station.
EXT. POLICE STATION - NIGHT
He HOBBLES to the doorstep, struggling to lift his leg.
He reaches for the door handle, but the door is already
cracked ajar.
He hesitates for a moment, looking over his shoulders, then
enters.
INT. POLICE STATION - NIGHT
He shuts the door behind him. He locks both locks and the
deadbolt before leaving it.
He notices a set of stairs in front of him. Small, only
about five steps, that lead up to the area where the desks
are located.
Steve walks down the Police Station hallway. He sticks close
to a glass divider, one that does its duty, between the
lobby and the officer's desks.
He sees a sign, hanging high in the wall, it reads: CELL
AREA. He follows the arrow.
The station is a mess. Papers everywhere. Desks in shambles.
Complete dilapidation. People left here in a hurry.
Steve continues down the passage until he reaches a door
that reads: CELL AREA. He enters.
66.
INT. CELL AREA - NIGHT
The cell room is a small, local size.
Steve slowly walks along the length of the cells, holding
his leg in pain, heading for the desk in the corner.
As he passes by he notices one of the cell doors open just
enough for him to stick his hand through.
He wedges his fingers in and pushes the cell door open,
which requires a lot of effort.
INT. CELL
On what used to be the bed Steve immediately notices
something strange; what looks to be an antiquated music box,
ballerina and all.
Steve looks at it and opens it, the clingy music starting up
as soon as he does.
He's confused to the tune at first, but after just a few
moments his face shows he starts to recognize it, now
distorted and changed to meet other needs.
STEVE
Baby... baby... naughty baby...
Just as he finishes his words the music almost drowns out
completely, but in its wake there are a million very real
screams meshed together into one.
After a second more and more disturbing sounds begin to
filter in, a number of grotesque inhuman groans, dogs
barking, babies crying.
And finally a laugh, the laugh drains out all else, becoming
more and more extreme, getting louder and louder, as the one
laughing laughs harder and harder.
Steve looks disgusted. He hurls the box against the concrete
wall. It breaks into a dozen tiny ballerina pieces on the
ground, but the laugh remains, getting even louder.
Steve turns and jogs away, closing the cell door in front of
him as he does so. He goes into a back room, through a
wooden door.
INT. CELL ROOM - CONTINUOUS
It's a small holding room, with three cells, and a desk
where a cop would keep watch. The room is dark. Steve
doesn't shut the door behind him.
67.
In the last cell a shadow moves without his notice in silence.
He comes to the last cell and a hand jumps out and GRABS him
through the cell grates.
JILL
Steve.
He screams and jumps as the hand grasps around the collar of
his shirt. He yanks himself free and collapses into a wooden
chair nearby.
STEVE
Jesus Christ. Jill? What the fuck
are you doing here?
JILL
Me? What the fuck are you doing here?
STEVE
Hiding.
Jill sees his leg, torn to shreds and bleeding onto the floor.
Genuinely concerned,
JILL
What happened to you?
STEVE
Oh, nothin'. You know, just some
kid and flesh eating pets.
Jill makes no move towards the cell door.
JILL
You need to get that looked at.
STEVE
By who?!
(beat)
I'll be alright.
Steve tears off his sleeve, and ties a tourniquet just above
the wound on his leg, cutting off the blood flow as best he can.
After a few moments of anguish,
STEVE
Where the hell did you go? How'd
you get in there?
68.
JILL
This cell is the only safe place in
this damn town.
STEVE
Where's the key? Let's get you
outta there.
Jill holds the key up so that Steve can see it.
JILL
Like I said, this cell is the only
safe place in this town.
Neither of them see it, but the fog slowly fills the tiny
window behind Jill in the cell.
STEVE
We have to get the hell out of here.
Come back with help.
JILL
Come back?!
STEVE
Yes.
JILL
Why?
STEVE
My daughter is still out there!
JILL
Your daughter is dead!
This stops Steve cold.
As a minute amount of fog begins to creep past the slightly
ajar door from where Steve entered.
STEVE
I can't believe that.
JILL
You have to. You have to stop
trying to find her, Steve. She's
gone.
(beat)
Believe me, I know.
STEVE
And just how do you know?!
69.
She waits a moment. She turns and sits on the bench in the
back of the cell.
JILL
My niece. She was a student of mine
ever since I started teaching here.
After a few of the other children
started to go missing her parents
died. House fire. Electrical, they
said. I took her in, raised her
like my own. She practically was
anyway. After a few days she went
missing too. My husband and I tried
to find her. But there was an
accident when he was driving. It
was an icy road and... He didn't
make it after that.
(beat)
So, unless you want to wind up like
him you might as well stop looking
for her right now.
STEVE
She's my daughter. My daughter. I
can't just stop looking for her.
Jill sees it, the fog creeping across the floor, beneath the
chair Steve has collapsed in.
JILL
Steve...
She spins around, and sees the barred window behind her
completely blocked by smoky fog. It's creeping, and filling
her cell.
JILL
Steve, we have to get out of here.
STEVE
What?
Steve sees it, and rises out of his chair slowly.
STEVE
Oh, God...
JILL
Steve!
She rushes to the cell door. She yanks the key from her
pocket, and holds it through the bars for Steve to grab. He
does, and fumbles at the lock with it.
70.
JILL
Did you shut the door when you came in?
STEVE
What?
JILL
They can't get in if there's no way
in. It's a, a barrier thing.
STEVE
Who the fuck is "they?"
JILL
Them. The things in the fog.
(beat)
The same things that took your
daughter.
(beat)
Steve, did you shut the door? Can
they get in?
Steve looks at the amount of fog now filling the room, and
pouring in from the windows.
STEVE
I'd say they were already in...
JILL
Hurry, get it open. We have to get
out of here.
Steven unlocks it quickly, and they head out the door,
wading carefully through the rising fog.
EXT. ALLEY BEHIND STATION - NIGHT
Jill practically carries Steve down the alley, with most of
his weight leaning on her shoulder. His bloody leg hangs
limp at his side.
EXT. STREET - NIGHT
Jill and Steve exit the alley onto a street.
There is only one path through the fog that Jill can see.
And it leads right to-
INT. CHURCH - NIGHT
Jill sets Steve down in one of the pews in the enormous
Baptist church. She closes the door, and makes sure to lock it.
71.
Suddenly, a man in a black robe enters from a back room of
the church. He rushes out, frightened looking.
Steve and Jill immediately look to him. The man is JOHN, the
Pastor at this church. Middle-aged, 40's, but his gray shows
through. He's still wearing the small white collar beneath
his black shirt collar, the sign of the Clergy.
JILL
Who are you?
JOHN
My name is John. I am the Pastor at
this church. Who are you people?
JILL
I'm Jill and this-
STEVE
-Steve.
He stands up, not without help from Jill, and hobbles the
few feet to one of the pews.
STEVE
The name suits you well.
JOHN
He needs help.
STEVE
I'd say so.
JOHN
What are you doing here?
STEVE
What, no sanctuary, Father?
JILL
We need a place to hold up for a
while. A place where we can feel safe.
JOHN
Don't we all? Don't worry, you will
be safe here. A church is holy
ground. Nothing can enter here.
Beat. Jill and Steve look at each other nervously.
LATER
The church is now silent, with few noises piercing the eerie
silence.
72.
BANG! BANG!
Nails are driven into the wood that is now placed over the
open area where the stained glass windows near the door used
to be.
Steve drives the last nail and drops the hammer, exhausted,
onto the floor. His leg is bandaged heavily.
STEVE
Well, that's the last one.
JOHN
What now?
DISSOLVE TO:
LATER
The church is still. Nothing moves now. No one says a word.
Jill sits in a pew, her legs bundled close, in an upright
fetal position. She's terrified.
John kneels in front of the giant crucifix statue behind the
altar of the church.
Steve sits far away from the others, his wallet open in
front of him.
He looks down, at the pictures of Ashley open in his lap.
His face reddens. He fights again to hold back his tears. He
is not successful.
DISSOLVE TO:
LATER
Steve looks over to Jill, who has fallen asleep on the long
wooden benches, using a rolled up blanket as a pillow.
STEVE
I don't know how she can sleep.
JOHN
She's exhausted. That can typically
outweigh everything else that's
going on.
STEVE
Yeah, I guess.
JOHN
So, what's your story?
73.
STEVE
My story?
JOHN
Why you're here.
STEVE
Me and my daughter drove up here.
We were on our way to the new house
and -
JOHN
You were moving? Why?
STEVE
My wife... My wife died... less
than a year ago. It took me most of
the year just to get myself out of
bed. After that I just couldn't
stay in that house anymore. Too
many memories, I guess.
JOHN
What happened? How did you end up
in this... place?
STEVE
I don't know. We were on a slick
road and - I don't know. The Jeep
just flew off the road.
(beat)
God, it looked so much like a
little kid.
(beat)
When I woke up, she was gone.
Ashley was gone. The only place she
could have gone was here. Now that
thing outside... it has her.
JOHN
What? What thing?
STEVE
That thing. Whatever the hell it is,
it's got her.
JOHN
How can you be sure?
STEVE
He came to me.
JOHN
Who was it?
74.
STEVE
I don't know. He gave me a list
but... none of them were real.
They sit in silence.
STEVE
Wait. Someone did say something. It
seemed... important. He said
something about a kid, in this town
a long time ago, being crucified...
JOHN
Gabriel?
STEVE
You know what he was talking about?
JOHN
Crucifixions don't happen everyday.
STEVE
Who was he?
JOHN
Typical bad seed. Abusive parents.
He came to me a few times. He...
oh no.
STEVE
What?
JOHN
He liked to call himself different
names. Names that connected with
his from the past. We started to
think it was schizophrenia, he was
so involved in them...
(beat)
One of those names was... The
Angel of Death.
STEVE
What?
JOHN
In biblical days one of the higher
order of angels was named Gabri - -
STEVE
No. The guy, the one I saw, he
called himself that. The Angel of
Death.
75.
JOHN
It's not possible.
STEVE
It's no coincidence. All those
names and now this?
JOHN
No. It can't be. They all watched
that child burn.
STEVE
Everything fits.
JOHN
I don't know if they do, for sure.
When dealing with this subject
matter I am inclined to believe in
anything. I believe in the heavenly
Father above us, therefore I am
forced to believe in what's on the
opposite side of the spectrum - the
evil that has plagued mankind for
centuries and centuries. But if he
is what he says he is...
(beat)
What else did he say to you?
STEVE
(lying)
Nothing. He said nothing.
Beat.
STEVE
There was one more thing. I keep
finding these strange markings. On
the ceiling and on the floor. What
does it mean?
JOHN
I don't know. It could be...
markings. Just like a map or something.
STEVE
I don't know...
JOHN
It could be anything.
DISSOLVE TO:
76.
LATER
Steve appears close to sleep. His eyelids droop. His head bobs.
When he looks up again, the faint sound of music can be
heard. Jill and John are gone.
Steve looks around, searching for them, but they're nowhere
in sight.
He gets up, calls to them.
STEVE
Jill? Where'd you guys go?
His voice has a strange echo in it. The music gets louder,
it echoes too. Steve knows the tune.
He looks to the left side of the church, as leaves blow in
from nowhere, blowing across the floor and pews of the church.
He looks to the right, children are playing hopscotch,
practically in slow motion. They don't need to move their
mouths to play the tune.
CHILDREN
(singing)
Baby, baby, naughty baby/ Hush, you
squalling thing I say/ Peace this
moment, peace, or maybe/ He will
pass this way/ Baby, baby, if he
hears you/ As he gallops past the
house/ Limb from limb at once he'll
tear you/ just as pussy tears a
mouse/ And he'll beat you, beat you,
beat you/ and he'll beat you all to
pap/ And he'll eat you, eat you,
eat you/ Every morsel snap, snap, snap.
He tries his best to ignore the singing children. They do
the same to him.
There is only a single door in front of him. He recognizes
it - his bedroom door. He opens it, and enters.
INT. STEVE'S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS - NIGHT
The wine bottle in Steve's hand falls to the floor,
shattering red wine everywhere.
He looks to Terri, her chest heaved upward, the hand
reaching into her back, clutching her heart.
77.
The cloaked hand becomes clearer suddenly, the visible
picture begins to expand farther up the arm.
Past the elbow. Past the shoulder. Up to the head and down
the length of the body. Steve can see the entire figure
killing his wife.
The figure is clothed in an enormous, thick black cloak. A
hood of the same is pulled over his head, hiding his face,
except his mouth. It doesn't look human.
It looks like the Reaper is clutching his wife's heart.
The figure slowly turns its hooded head towards Steve, and
its inhuman mouth twists into a snicker.
It yanks out its arm. And Terri falls to the floor limply.
It disappears in an instant.
INT. CHURCH - NIGHT
Steve jumps awake in his chair.
He is sitting by a boarded window. He was trying to search
past the cracks in the wood to watch the outside world,
before he dozed off.
He gets up.
Jill looks at Steve as he does so. He goes over and talks to
John softly, Jill can't hear what they're saying.
After a few moments, John walks to the back of the Church
and into another room, Steve walks over to Jill.
STEVE
(softly)
We're going to go down to the lower
levels. Make sure there's no way in
or out.
JILL
Ok.
STEVE
Do you want John to stay with you?
I can go alone.
JILL
What? I'll be fine.
78.
STEVE
No. You know what? I think John
should--
JILL
Steve, seriously. I'd much rather
be up here than go into the dark
basement like an idiot.
INT. CHURCH LOWER LEVELS - NIGHT
Steve and John walk down a small flight of stairs, into a
basement level of sorts. They both have candles.
STEVE
How did the town get like this, Father?
JOHN
Anything can be corrupted, Steve.
They reach the bottom of the stairs. It forks into different
directions.
STEVE
(to his left)
That way. See if there are any
exits. Any way that could get us
out of town.
John walks off, the light from the candle flickering down
the hall with him.
Steve heads straight. Most of the lights down here do not
work, only a few, completely random ones.
Each room is connected to the hallway, they branch off. Each
room also has a connection into each of its neighbors once
inside, this way everything is connected.
Steve shines the flickering light of the candle in front of him.
He passes by Breugel's "Triumph of Death" an abstract
painting depicting Hell. Where skeletons ride horseback and
weigh the souls of their screaming victims on scales.
Steve goes into one of the rooms. He sets the candle down on
the desk, as he rummages through the drawers.
INT. CHURCH LOWER LEVELS, JOHN - NIGHT
John is already hammering down shutter doors on one of the
basement windows.
He finishes, and moves on to the next set.
79.
INT. CHURCH - NIGHT
Jill, still huddled in the pew, begins to nod off.
INT. CHURCH LOWER LEVELS, STEVE - NIGHT
Steve leaves the room, with candle in hand. He journeys to
the end of the incredibly long hallway. Each step creaks the
old floorboards.
He finally gets to the end of the hallway. There is a door
there, but after he reaches for it, he realizes it is locked.
Steve looks annoyed.
STEVE
Nothing can be easy.
INT. CHURCH
Jill is fast asleep in one of the pews.
INT. CHURCH LOWER LEVELS, JOHN - NIGHT
John's hammer, nails, and wooden planks lay sprawled on the
floor. He is no where in sight.
INT. CHURCH LOWER LEVELS, STEVE - NIGHT
There is a heavy wooden crack as Steve kicks in the door.
Yellow "DANGER" tape flies everywhere.
Steve is now in the ruins of the old sunday school.
The place hasn't been cleaned for years. Planks hang from
the ceiling, cobwebs everywhere, furniture sprawled about
recklessly. It seems as though the darkness itself has
gotten thicker, Steve's candle barely makes a fuss.
Steve walks forward with caution.
A path in front of him is blocked by debris of all kinds. He
has to turn back.
Steve looks around. He sees only one viable path. He takes
it and enters the door it has led him to.
INT. CHURCH LOWER LEVELS, BACK ROOM, STEVE - NIGHT
The wood creaks open as dust fills the air.
This room could have passed for the library in its day,
regardless of its small size.
80.
Rows upon rows of books line the walls. Steve shines the
light from the candle over them as he struggles to read
their titles past the built up dust.
He finds nothing of interest.
He scans the room, looking for anything. He sees something
above.
He pulls back a twine of branches and cobwebs to reveal a
mini shelf attached to the ceiling.
He reaches in and pulls out several books, covered in a very
thick layer of dust.
Just as he wipes it off to read their titles, something
drops from the mini-shelf and lands with a dull thud in
front of Steve.
He bends down and picks up an ancient looking dagger, made
of what looks to be a type of stone. Steve stares at it,
almost lost in it, until-
JOHN
Steve? You find anything?
John looks at him, puzzled.
INT. CHURCH - NIGHT
Jill rubs her eyes, awake. She gets up and walks off.
She looks lost. Steve comes up the stairs, with John behind.
Jill walks to a far corner of the church, near a desk.
She stares at the desk, and slowly, hesitantly, opens the
drawer with a shaky hand, the drawer rattling, almost like
she's frightened by something.
Steve walks towards her. He sets the books down.
The drawer is completely open now, Jill starts panting,
breathing uncontrollably, terribly fear stricken. She starts
to sob, loud, out of control. A small scream.
Steve puts his hand on her shoulder.
STEVE
Jill... ?
Jill spins around, screaming like mad. She flails her arms,
hitting Steve, trying to fend him off, fighting with all
that she can.
81.
STEVE
Jill!
Blow after blow of female fury rain down onto Steve's chest,
Jill beating, pounding like she's fending for her life.
She screams out, delirious.
JILL
No! No, get away! NO!
Steve starts to get her under control, her fury running low
on steam, more tears than anger across her face now.
STEVE
Jill, it's okay! It's... okay.
Steve hugs her tightly and she's suddenly back, aware again
of who and where she is, and who's in front of her.
JILL
Oh God! Oh God, Steve. I'm so...
sorry. I - I thought you were...
o-one of th-them. Those things.
STEVE
It's alright. It's only me.
Steve puts her into his arms, her tears buried in his chest.
Her sentence muffled she is so deep.
JILL
We're all gonna die here. In this town.
As he hugs her he looks over her shoulder, into the open
drawer behind Jill.
In it there is only a single note, printed on the purest of
white paper in a runny black ink are the words: "LOOK BEHIND
YOU".
Steve takes his attention back to Jill, making sure she
doesn't see again.
STEVE
I know...
LATER
Jill now sits at a table, alone.
John walks over with two cups of coffee and hands one to
Jill as she sits down.
82.
Steve finds another table located far from Jill and John.
Sitting alone he begins to think to himself, a pen and paper
aiding him.
He writes only three figures down, remembering the words in
his head.
GABRIEL (V.O.)
When the sign of Satan appears on
your watch, we will meet again.
On the paper are the numbers: "666".
Steve sits in thought, leaning back in his chair.
Almost without thought he doodles two dots amidst the sixes
so that it appears as a time: "6:66".
He sits up, his attention caught.
STEVE
... appears on your watch...
He draws a line under the numbers, separating them.
Under the line he writes: "6:60," taking a clock hour as far
as it can go.
To the right of that he writes: "= 7:00", meaning seven o'
clock.
He draws a line from the last six on the top line, bringing
it down to the 7:00 line.
He adds the six: "7:06".
He writes one final thing: "666 = 7:06".
STEVE
It's a time...
He frantically searches for one of the dusty books he
brought up with him.
The cover is graced with some kind of foreign language
looking very old. He opens the book and begins to pan
through it. The inside of the book is filled with strange
looking monsters, along with angels and lots of writing. As
he reads on Jill and John strike up a conversation.
JOHN
I asked this same question to Steve:
Jill... Why are you here?
83.
JILL
I live here. I teach at the school
uptown.
JOHN
Ok. But why have you stayed?
JILL
You know this place won't let any
of us leave. It's sealed itself off
somehow. I've tried to leave. Don't
you think I've tried to leave? But
every time I do something happens
that keeps me here. Haven't you
tried to leave?
JOHN
No, no, no, young Jill. I decided
long ago to stick around and try to
fend this off.
JILL
What possible difference did you
think that you could have made?
JOHN
A physical warrior I am not. But a
warrior of God I am. The spoken
word of the scripture is much more
powerful than you give it credit.
If these are indeed the forces of
darkness as we suspect them to be,
then the word of God can destroy
through spoken word alone. Yet,
somehow I have been unsuccessful
thus far.
JILL
Still... that's a glimmer of light.
JOHN
Shadows cannot exist without light.
JILL
But, if that were true, then where
is God in all of this?
JOHN
God will yet show his face. But
only when it is most needed.
Steve searches through the book that he has opened.
84.
Steve finds a picture of another dark angel, another fallen
angel, who looks surprisingly similar to John.
He finds a passage on Gabriel.
STEVE
(to himself)
"And after his arrival, the world
is thrust into forever darkness.
One from which it will never return.
And upon thrusting the world into
darkness his minions will scour the
Earth, searching for any who may
aid in the bringing of the darkness.
And he shall make them his generals
to lead the forces of the dark
against the Heavens."
Father John walks to the window, thinking heavily about the
events. Jill seems lost in her own world.
Steve reads to himself.
He stops, looks to John, still pacing.
Steve closes up the book and puts it back onto the table,
covering another book that he previously overlooked.
Steve looks at his watch. He sees the time nearing 6 AM.
He looks outside through a crack on a window. It's still dark.
STEVE
Forever darkness...
He spots something on his watch. He sees the brand name of
the watch: "EZEKIEL".
STEVE
Ezekiel. Ezekiel...
Steve walks to another set of books. He pulls out a large,
old Bible.
He opens it up and hastily flips through the pages, until he
stops at the book of Ezekiel. He pans through it with his
finger, turning the page when it was called for. His finger
stops once he finds Chapter 7.
STEVE
706.
He pans through the chapter, stopping at verse 6.
85.
STEVE
Chapter 7, Verse 6. Of Ezekiel.
He finds the passage and reads it to himself.
STEVE
"An end is come, the end is come:
it watcheth for thee; behold, it is
come."
(beat)
When the sign of the Devil appears
on your watch...
Steve looks to the passage.
STEVE
The end has come... Jesus.
JILL
What is it?
STEVE
Nothing. It's nothing. I just... I
just can't sit here anymore. I feel
helpless, I have to go back out
there. I have to do something.
Something.
JILL
You can't go. You still don't even
know what's out there.
STEVE
Maybe that's good. Ashley is still
out there somewhere. And staying in
here solving these little riddles
isn't bringing her any closer to me.
I don't fear them.
JOHN
It's ignorance.
STEVE
What?
JOHN
You do not fear them because you
know not what they are. You know,
we all do, that something is out
there but you rectify journeying
outside by rationalizing the fact
that you cannot say exactly what
they might be. Noble. Stupid, but
noble.
86.
STEVE
Look, we still need supplies. The
lights are fading, and between my
one bullet and John's toy we're
runnin' low on defense too.
JILL
He's right. We can't pray that
those doors will stay closed all
night, that nothing will come after
us again. And the batteries on this
place are dying, the light's
protected us so far, I don't think
we should exactly let them dim.
JOHN
He's right, of course. I knew this
before I even met him, just, who
plans on doing something about it?
John looks around the room, questioning them both.
STEVE
It's me, I'm going. I saw a couple
of places that might help us
earlier, when I had a good look at
a map. I think I can find it.
JILL
In the dark?
STEVE
Wouldn't be the first time tonight.
JOHN
He's got his lighter besides. And
the street lights.
STEVE
Moon's no help, that damn fog seems
to take that away from us. But
there's something else, seems like
there's something helping me,
showing me where to go.
(sarcastic)
You might be able to guess, Father.
JOHN
Rainbow in the dark.
STEVE
Give me the knife.
87.
JOHN
It was lost in the fight.
STEVE
Damn.
JOHN
The odds are against you.
JILL
So, you're going? Just like it's
not even a big deal?
STEVE
I doubt if it would even do any
good. Could use it on myself if it
gets too bad.
JOHN
He's right Jill.
JILL
That's why I'm so worried.
STEVE
I'll be sure to bring ya back
something nice.
JILL
Just watch your back, ok? And stay
in the light, what you can find.
STEVE
Of course.
JOHN
Godspeed.
EXT. STREET - NIGHT
He holds no lighter, no flashlight. He is sure to stay
underneath the sick yellow glow of the street lamps, looking
around nervously every few seconds.
EXT. GRAVEYARD - NIGHT
Steve walks along a dirt path, the soil crunching underneath
his feet as he kicks up dust. The graveyard itself is huge,
filled with darkness and fog. For a long while he walks
around the yard, scanning the various headstones.
88.
INT. CHURCH - NIGHT
John and Jill sit a table across from each other, waiting
anxiously for Steve to return. Jill is first to speak.
JILL
What's happening, Father?
EXT. GRAVEYARD - NIGHT
Steve walks for only a short while before he comes across a
freshly made grave, the dirt still perched slightly above
ground level in an arch.
He looks at the headstone. "Anita Berkeley". He sees the
dates. "February 10, 1983 - January 19, 1991"
JOHN (V.O.)
In the Bible, the Earth is thrown
into darkness after the rapture.
Just past the gravestone he eyes another fresh grave. He
gets up and walks to it and sees on the gravestone another
decade old child. "September 29, 1984 - January 24, 1991"
JOHN (V.O.)
After everyone who was holy has
been sent to Heaven the devil will
cast himself down -
He looks past the stone and sees another fresh grave. And
another past that. And another. Most of this section of the
graveyard is filled with the same style of graves. All very
freshly dug with headstones made for children.
Dozens and dozens of graves.
JOHN (V.O.)
-And let evil roam the dark lands.
STEVE
They're children. All of them. Just
kids... What happened here?
He gets up and dusts off his hands and walks down the entire
length of the graveyard, stopping at several stones to see
who they were.
Steve kneels down, examining a young child's gravestone
heavily, his back turned to the rest of the graveyard.
89.
JOHN (V.O.)
Demons, the children of his
corruption, will finally exit his
dark house.
As he's looking down a spot of dirt stirs slightly above one
of the graves.
JOHN (V.O.)
Now devoid of all that was once
righteous,-
Steve buries his eyes in one of his hands, rubbing them,
exhausted.
The dirt stirs more, much more this time, just moments
before a hand FIRES out from the grave, feeling around for a
good hold.
It grabs the dirt, pulling himself out, emerges one of the
children that fill so many of these graves.
JOHN (V.O.)
-The demons will rule the Earth.
Several of the other graves are happening in the same way,
more kids, a dozen at least, have begun to extricate
themselves from their last sleep.
The dirty, gruesome, children slowly hobble towards Steve,
still deeply immersed in his own thoughts.
JOHN (V.O.)
All that was once protected, will
wither and die.
Steve reaches out and touches the gravestone with his hand,
showing his respect as the dozen or more drag their feet
through the fog, coming closer to Steve with each harsh
breath they take.
They are right on top of him now, right behind him, above
him looking down, still, he is oblivious.
JOHN (V.O.)
All that was once watched after,
will be turned a blind eye.
One of them reaches out slowly with his hideous hand.
JOHN (V.O.)
And death-
90.
Steve's face, in his hand, as the hand very slowly comes
past his ear, above his shoulder.
JOHN (V.O.)
-shall have no dominion.
It grabs, latching on as hard as it can.
Steve spins around on his knees, and sees
- - NOTHING - -
The graves lay untouched.
INT. CHURCH - NIGHT
John and Jill.
JOHN
Evil wins.
EXT. HARDWARE STORE - NIGHT
Steve stands in front of the store, staring at the neon sign.
Even from the outside looking in the store looks ravaged.
The shelves are empty, and, like everything else in this
town, dilapidated.
INT. HARDWARE STORE - NIGHT
QUICK CUTS
- Steve grabs a shopping cart with a quickness and rage
unrivaled by female holiday shoppers -
- Three high powered durable flashlights with wide beams fly
into the cart -
- Several red flares drop in just afterwards -
- A Kerosene camping lantern -
- Many wooden planks bounce in as well. As well as a hammer
and nails that spill out all over the inside of the cart -
- A sports bag to carry everything -
Steve sees a glass case.
Steve stops, slows down his shopping spree. He looks up
"WEAPONS AND AMMO"
91.
Only a few of the weapons are left.
He grabs first a very wicked and enormous knife with a
beautiful curved design. A show knife, but effective enough.
Hanging nearby that there is a very new, but very worn,
fireman's axe, which he grabs quickly from its pegs on the
wall. Nothing remains of the weapons department.
Steve grabs the cart and heads for the door.
He suddenly stops, seeing something just o.s. He reaches out
for it, and yanks it from its rack.
Instantly it's already on. He throws his shoulders forward,
adjusting the collar of the ruggedly worn brown leather
jacket to fit more snugly with one deft move.
The sports bag in one hand, the weathered axe in the other,
Steve stands still, looking proud.
STEVE
Oh yeah. It's time to kick a little
ass.
INT. CHURCH - NIGHT
Steve SLAMS the doors open, Jill jumps from the sound.
Steve bends down and unzips the bag.
He hands John the stack of flares, and the lantern.
STEVE
Put them around the church.
He hands Jill the flashlight. Before John walks out he
exudes the gorgeous knife, and hands it to him, who looks
troubled and happy at the same time. Steve tosses the empty
bag aside.
STEVE
We make a stand. Anything tries to
come in now - -
Steve walks over to the table and slams the axe down,
embedding it deep within the splintered wood.
STEVE
We kill it.
LATER
The church is calm.
92.
John is hammering away, securing the rest of the windows and
a few lone doors in the distance with the wood and nails
Steve brought with him.
Steve clutches his axe.
JILL
That's some hardware you found there.
STEVE
Oh... yeah.
JILL
You find the Indiana Jones display too?
Steve looks at his coat.
STEVE
Impulse buy. Near the register.
JILL
Things are looking up.
STEVE
Little bit.
JILL
What now?
STEVE
We wait for it to happen.
JILL
What?
STEVE
Not sure. Could be anything.
JILL
At least we're prepared now.
STEVE
It's not enough.
JILL
What do you mean?
STEVE
We can't stop it, not with these.
JILL
Why bring them?
93.
STEVE
For our comfort. Die fighting seems
better than alone in the dark.
JILL
You don't think we'll get outta here?
STEVE
I've seen too much tonight to think
much of anything involving hope. If
John's right... we're in over our
head.
JILL
You think he's right?
STEVE
I don't know... it's like he
knows stuff. Stuff he shouldn't. I
still don't get a good vibe from him.
JILL
He's been good to us so far.
STEVE
You should rest. Try. It should
happen soon.
Jill gets up, grabbing Steve on the shoulder as a gesture of
support as she walks off.
LATER
Steve is busy reading one of the books. He turns the page in
his lap.
There is an image of a circle made out of strange markings.
QUICK CUT
The same image on the podium in the nursery basement.
"THE SACRED CIRCLE OF AMON"
STEVE
Circle of Amon? "In scripture times
the Circle of Amon was used as a
means of protection against outside
influences or obstructions."
Steve sees an image of the circle placed on the ceiling.
94.
STEVE
"Amon was known as the Egyptian
Ram-headed God of the sun and
reproduction. The circles were
commonly placed just below and just
above the subject. Only in rare
circumstances was the Circle of
Amon used. They were often used in
the religion of Satanism to protect
an item of unusual importance."
Steve sees a child placed in a hay stack inside the Circle
of Amon.
He turns the page.
There is another image of the child. Much closer and older.
Steve's eyes widen.
The child looks just like Ashley, a painted portrait of her.
Steve sees in the picture another familiar item - the
ancient dagger he found in the basement.
He turns the page and an even bigger picture fills the page.
Steve exudes the dagger from inside his shirt, and places it
next to the large picture to compare. it's exactly the same.
Steve reads the text.
STEVE
"Athame, also known as ritualistic
knives, were used in neo-pagan
witchcraft ceremonies. The Athame
was often used for casting the
Circle, and was believed to bear
great power.
He slams the book shut and throws it down onto the table in
front of him, exposing a book hidden beneath others. He
picks it up and reads the title. "BIBLICAL TRANSLATIONS".
He opens the book up to find on each left hand page a
strange ancient dialect and on each right hand page is the
english translation of those spoken words.
He picks up the book from earlier with the strange language
gracing the cover.
He searches through the book with the translations until he
finds the language that is the closest match to the strange
dialect on the cover of the book.
95.
He searches the page, constantly returning to the cover of
the other book as reference.
STEVE
It's not here.
JILL
What?
STEVE
Huh? Oh nothing.
He flips through several more pages until he finds the
alphabetical translations of the strange dialect.
He pulls out a piece of paper and a pen from underneath the
stack of books. He begins to translate the strange phrase on
the cover of the book, into an english sentence.
He sees Jill, trying to get comfortable enough to sleep.
He sees John, pacing back and forth, nervously waiting.
Steve goes back to his work after several long moments of
dazing.
His eyes widen as he sees the completed phrase for the first
time. "SATAN'S SCRIPTURE".
Steve's eyes shoot over to Jill.
STEVE
Jill.
The book he was holding drops to the floor and it
instinctively flips in the wind to the picture of the DARK
ANGEL. On the bottom of the page in a caption is the word
"JOHN".
Steve rushes to Jill.
STEVE
Jill. John is - -
Behind Steve - -
JOHN
Something the matter?
Steve spins around to face John, his eyes now burning with
an extreme new evil. John drives his knife into Steve's
lower abdomen. He holds the wound in pain and collapses onto
the floor.
96.
JILL
Steve!
John wields the knife in his hand, covered in Steve's blood.
He tosses the knife into his other hand. He removes the
white strip in his collar and wipes the blood from the knife
with it, throwing it to the ground in disrespect.
Jill clambers off. She runs through a stairwell door.
JOHN
Oh, good! It's always more fun that
way.
John's face has become SINISTER looking, his voice MANIACAL.
He slowly follows her. A smile on his face now.
He glares at his reflection in the knife.
JOHN
It was certainly fun when I killed
your husband.
He goes through the door.
INT. STAIRWELL TO ATTIC - NIGHT
JOHN
He begged for his life, you know.
He pissed his pants too. I told him
to go with some fucking dignity,
but... you know him.
Jill's feet pound up the stairs.
JOHN
The crash didn't gut his body
though. I did. I guess you could
chalk that little diddy up to Gabe.
John's up the steps.
INT. ATTIC - NIGHT
The attic is large. Not a single room, more like a top floor.
JOHN
You people really are fools, you
know that? It's going to be fun
filleting you for the barbecue.
A door slams behind John.
97.
He turns and laughs.
JOHN
Steve's dead. You're the only thing
left of this fucking town.
He goes through the door.
INT. UPSTAIRS ROOM - NIGHT
JOHN
Did you really think I knew all I
was saying from The Bible alone?
All the details and juicy tidbits,
did you really think they came from
something as holy as that?
Jill runs behind him. She goes through the door.
JOHN
Where ya goin'? Everything's
boarded up, remember? Thanks to
your boyfriend, well, former. And
his new fangled macho 'tude.
INT. UPSTAIRS HALLWAY - NIGHT
JOHN
My bible, on the other hand,
contains much more data on the subject.
Jill whimpers nearby.
JOHN
Did you really think you would make
it through the night? Did you?
Camped out in this place? Your
enemies were held back because I
told them to stay back.
Her feet scurry away.
JOHN
And if you did make it through the
night, if I allowed you to live
that long, did you really think the
night would end? He's already taken
this town, seized it for his own.
The night here will never end.
Forever darkness for the demons to
play in. And once I'm rid of you,
he will take the girl as his wife
and we shall rule the darkness for
all eternity.
98.
He looks at the knife and sees some blood left on the blade.
He licks it off.
JOHN
I'll be his general, his second in
command. Luring the only two people
left alive to death, how could he not?
Her feet patter on the wood floor.
She runs into a closet.
INT. CLOSET - NIGHT
Jill pulls on the handle, not going to let anyone open it.
INT. UPSTAIRS HALLWAY - NIGHT
John smiles.
JOHN
Oops. Did someone run into a closet?
INT. CLOSET - NIGHT
Jill looks around. She speaks the words without making a sound.
JILL
(mouths)
Fuck.
She pulls on the handle harder.
INT. UPSTAIRS HALLWAY - NIGHT
He walks towards the door.
INT. CLOSET - NIGHT
The muffled sound of John's feet echo in the closet.
INT. UPSTAIRS HALLWAY - NIGHT
John knocks on the door.
INT. CLOSET - NIGHT
Jill jumps at the sound.
INT. UPSTAIRS HALLWAY - NIGHT
He swings the door open as fast as he can.
99.
It's empty.
INT. CLOSET - NIGHT
Jill runs out of the closet.
INT. UPSTAIRS HALLWAY - NIGHT
Jill emerges just behind John.
She breaks a lamp over his head from behind.
He folds over in pain.
She tries to run away, but John grabs her by her hair and
throws her into the wall. Jill smacks her head and looks dazed.
He whispers in her ear.
JOHN
Now it's time to meet your maker.
She comes to. Jill tries to fend him off, she slaps him
across the face numerous times.
He wields the knife over his head with both hands gripped
around the base of the knife, ready to strike.
A knee to his groin sends him to his knees.
She runs off. John gets to his feet, he runs in an opposite
direction.
Jill looks behind her as she runs. She's almost to the
stairwell door.
John jumps out in front of her and drives the knife into her
abdomen. Jill tries to utter something, but no words come out.
John makes an "aww" face. He retracts the knife, and she
falls to the floor.
JOHN
See? Wasn't that fun?
Jill squirms in agony on the floor.
JOHN
Ohh. If it makes a difference,
you're even tougher than Steve was.
He bends down. The knife at her throat.
100.
JOHN
I mean, that little bitch, after
all this, one little wound to the
stomach just put him down, didn't it?
Jill stares up at him.
JOHN
It's like, hey, be a man for a
chan - -
His face turns to agony and surprise.
He rolls over Jill, onto his stomach. The axe embedded in
between his shoulder blades.
Jill coughs up blood. She looks up and sees Steve, holding a
bleeding wound at his side.
He KICKS the body once, gently. Then kicks it again, harder.
He sees Jill.
STEVE
Oh, God, Jill. Come on, come on - -
Don't. Don't, don't, don't, don't,
don't...
INT. CHURCH - NIGHT
Steve holds Jill up, her arm over his shoulders, all her
weight rests on him.
He sits her down into the chair.
STEVE
It's not bad... I think you'll be
okay.
JILL
It... hurts.
STEVE
I know. I know...
Steve grabs the first aid kit off of the table nearby. He
pulls out the bandages and alcohol.
He tries to bandage the wound.
STEVE
It seems like only yesterday when
you were doing this to me.
101.
JILL
It was... today.
They both smile.
Steve finishes. He pulls her up and she stands on her own.
She looks better.
JILL
Ow! Oww...
STEVE
Well, don't run the marathon before
the whistle blows.
JILL
No, I, I think I'm okay.
STEVE
You are. You - -
His voice is cut off by Jill's gasp of pain.
She looks at Steve and falls to the floor.
John stands behind where she was. The bloody knife drips.
He laughs. Blood gurgles in his throat.
John slashes with the knife. Steve evades it. And he throws
a punch across John's face, spinning around from the impact.
Steve sees the axe, still in John's back.
He pulls it out, the axe makes a grotesque sucking sound.
John is pushed forward with the removal of the axe. He turns
around, holding his back.
Steve swings.
John's head hits the floor.
Steve goes to Jill.
JILL
Steve...
STEVE
I'm here.
JILL
I don't think... that I'm going to
get... to see her, after all...
102.
STEVE
Who?
JILL
Ash... Ashley.
STEVE
Yes. Yes, you will. You're not - -
not gonna...
JILL
John... asked me... why I...
STEVE
What?
JILL
I stayed... because I saw you...
at my school.
STEVE
Jill...
JILL
Just... don't lose her, like I
lost... everybody else.
She passes.
STEVE
No...
Steve holds her. He cries.
His face soon turns to anger. Tears stream down his
infuriated face.
He grabs the axe.
Off somewhere in the distance we hear him laugh, and then a
door opens and closes quickly, the sound echoing throughout
the chapel walls.
GABRIEL (O.S.)
D'aww. That's two women you've lost
now. Well, three, really.
His voice seems to be coming from EVERYWHERE, ECHOING
throughout the halls of the chapel.
103.
GABRIEL (O.S.)
But, hey, you're still here, right?
Saving yourself, there's no real
wrong in it. Trust me when I say
you have to look out for yourself.
Steve faces towards the front door when Gabriel appears out
of nowhere, in the blink of an eye, behind him.
GABRIEL
There is nothing watching over us.
Steve spins around.
STEVE
Gabriel.
GABRIEL
Ah, look who's catching on.
STEVE
What do you want?
Gabriel looks at Jill's body.
GABRIEL
Look at her, she's just some slut
with a soul. Was anyway. Nothing
she could have offered would have
tempted me to take it. You, on the
other hand...
(to Steve)
You have proven a greater asset to
me than you can ever know, Steven.
Well, actually, it's not really you
that is the asset.
STEVE
Ashley.
GABRIEL
Yes, the girl.
STEVE
Where is she?
GABRIEL
She's somewhere where time...
stands still.
STEVE
Is she alive?
104.
GABRIEL
You really don't understand do you?
Here. Let me show you.
The church is filled with a brilliant light and the entirety
of it is transported to another time and place in a
brilliant flash of speed.
EXT. BURNING CITY - NIGHT
A chorus of chanting rises from somewhere deep within the
fiery earth.
GABRIEL (V.O.)
You see Steven, within her Ashley
holds an incredible power. A power
so great the Heavens will bend to
her will.
A BARREN WASTELAND, with BLAZING FIRES around every corner
and utter DESTRUCTION raining free across the land.
GABRIEL (V.O.)
But it must be allowed to grow, to
mature. Just like any other girl.
Image of two shadows walking through a blazing fire, HOLDING
HANDS.
GABRIEL (V.O.)
For this reason, I would never hurt
her. She's far too important for
something as trivial as death.
The two figures walk towards us, still shrouded in darkness.
GABRIEL (V.O.)
But I must wait for her power to
ascend. And once it does she shall
reign with me. As my Queen.
The figures emerge from the darkness. One, Gabriel. The
other, Ashley. Hands locked, ruling the chaos.
STEVE
No!
His scream throws the world back into reality, soaring back
into the church.
STEVE
No! I won't let that happen. I
won't let you have her.
105.
GABRIEL
Oh, I already have her. But it'll
be up to you to see if I keep her.
Better hurry. Time's almost up.
His body PHASES out, dissolving slowly into nothing. Steve
lunges for the ghost-like image, but passes through it like
smoke.
STEVE
Damn it!
Steve grabs the knife and stuffs it in the back of his pants.
STEVE
You want to talk about time? Fine.
I know just where to go.
EXT. CLOCK TOWER - NIGHT
The tower is huge and menacing. Steve looks up the hard
angle from the very bottom to the top. A section of the
clock face is missing and Gabriel's cloak sways in the wind.
INT. CLOCK TOWER STAIRCASE - NIGHT
The entire base of the tower is a set of winding stairs that
seem to go up forever. Steve limps up each step, struggling
to balance himself. He holds his side, his face contorted
with pain.
INT. CLOCK TOWER PEAK - NIGHT
Steve finally reaches the top, wheezing heavily.
Gabriel still sits in the hole in the face of the clock, at
ease, holding a music box exactly the same as the one that
was found in the cells.
GABRIEL
Ah, so I see you finally made it.
How was the walk up?
STEVE
Where is she?
GABRIEL
Why, I'm sure I don't know who
you're talking about.
STEVE
Ashley. Where is she?
106.
Ashley stands in a corner. Her hands are bound together in
front of her.
The clock outside ticks another minute.
Gabriel is suddenly behind Ashley, with one of his clawed
fingers at her throat.
GABRIEL
I was wrong about what I said -
time isn't still here anymore.
STEVE
You said you wouldn't hurt her!
GABRIEL
Yes, I did indeed. However, there
is one little thing I neglected to
mention. In order for her to rule
with me forever she sort of has to
be, well, dead. And right now she
ain't.
STEVE
The Circle of Amon.
GABRIEL
Just what in the hell are you
talking about?
STEVE
The Circle of Amon. You have to
have the Circle of Amon in order to
perform the ceremony.
GABRIEL
And just who, pray tell, told you
that silly idea? John the Baptist?...
Gabriel moves away from Ashley.
GABRIEL
Do me a favor.
STEVE
What?
GABRIEL
Look out that window.
Gabriel points to the hole in the clock face.
GABRIEL
Do it!
107.
Steve turns his head and takes a few steps toward the window.
He sees the city streets winding and twisting, some of them
blocked off by large blocks of road that have been uprooted.
The roads seem to form an oddly familiar shape.
GABRIEL
Tell me, boy. When since you have
been here have you looked to the sky?
Steve begins to understand. The clouds begin to pass by,
clearing his view.
GABRIEL
I'm sure it's been a while, what,
with all that damn fog blocking
your view. Am I right?
They pass almost entirely. The fog begins to lift.
GABRIEL
You know that fog isn't there for
your annoyance. You've been blinded
by it thus far, but I think you're
ready to see it now.
Steve can see the entire town.
GABRIEL
What do you see, Steven?
STEVE
My God.
The roads of the town wind and twist to form the symbol of
the Circle of Amon. The symbol jumps out once the town can
be seen in its entirety.
GABRIEL
That's not the best part - - Look up.
Steve peers up and sees that the clouds have formed the top
symbol of the Circle of Amon.
GABRIEL
Incredible, isn't it? All this
while you have been my little
experiment. Cut off from the
outside world. Rather, protected.
Up until this point I wasn't sure
if you were ready.
STEVE
Ready for what?
108.
GABRIEL
I didn't make it easy. Couldn't.
STEVE
What?
GABRIEL
You're still her father, Steven.
STEVE
I don't...
GABRIEL
You can still be with her.
STEVE
You kidnapped her. Took her away
from me! Because you want me to
care for her?
GABRIEL
Don't be stupid. I brought her back.
And she came. Knowing full well the
price of her immortality.
STEVE
What are you talking about?
GABRIEL
She will never get sick. She will
never die.
QUICK CUT
An image of Terri, dying, flashes.
GABRIEL
I know that has become a problem in
your family.
STEVE
Terri...
GABRIEL
All I'm asking is for you to be her
father, Steven. She and I would
rule the world. And you would be
the one who made it all possible.
Care for her, Steven. Guide her,
coach her, as you would any other
child. All that time I spent
bringing her here. Enrolling her in
these schools. Caring for her.
(MORE)
109.
GABRIEL (CONT'D)
Tending to her. Don't let it all go
to waste, Steven. I only have one
more gift to give her. Then it will
be too late.
STEVE
What are you asking me to do?
GABRIEL
I'm asking you to love her,
Steven... Must your wife's death
be in vain?
STEVE
What?!
Gabriel grabs Steve's head and THRUSTS them both into
another time and place.
EXT. STEVE'S HOUSE - NIGHT
Back to the day of his wife's death. Steve and Terri walk
down the sidewalk towards their home. Ahead of them, a
figure in black walks their way. He looks familiar.
GABRIEL (V.O.)
Do you remember me now, Steven?
STEVE(V.O.)
No... it can't be.
Steve, in his drunken state, bumps into the man in black.
STEVE
Hey, watch it buddy.
The figure turns after striking Steve with his shoulder, his
long hair frenzied from the impact, and looks at Steve as he
turns and walks away. A snicker comes across the man's face.
Gabriel.
INT. STEVE'S BEDROOM - NIGHT
The wine bottle crashes to the floor.
Terri's chest is heaved upward. The figure in the black
cloak stands behind her, clutching her heart through her back.
The figure's shape suddenly morphs and changes again. The
thick, black cloak becomes Gabriel's trench. The hood hiding
his face fades into Gabriel's hair. He smiles with glee.
110.
He retracts his hand and Terri falls limply to the floor. He
disappears in an instant.
INT. CLOCK TOWER PEAK - NIGHT
STEVE
No... It was you?
GABRIEL
I needed something, something to
block Ashley's and my presence here
from your mind. Depression over
your wife seemed to work fine.
(beat)
Who do you really think it could
have been? You saw me and you
pushed it out.
(beat)
You hid it from yourself, Steven.
(beat)
In your heart you knew what was
happening all this time, yet you've
done nothing. Why? Because it is
your destiny. It is your destiny to
rule along side your daughter.
STEVE
No.
GABRIEL
So what will it be Steven? Will you
serve in Heaven? Or rule in hell?
STEVE
No.
GABRIEL
Just think of the possibilities.
STEVE
I said no!
Steve hurls the axe, right at Gabriel.
It flies through the air, spinning, spiraling. It lands
perfectly in the side of his abdomen, splitting it open.
GABRIEL
That was my favorite shirt! You
wrecked it.
STEVE
What?
111.
GABRIEL
Damn, that must be your favorite
word or somethin', isn't it boy?
What? What? What? Well how 'bout
you tell me your fucking answer,
Steven.
STEVE
My answer is no.
GABRIEL
Well I guess it's time to die then.
Gabriel rushes at Steve, and lets a right-cross fly across
Steve's face. Steve is hurled through the air and lands
against a wall some thirty feet away.
The Athame flies out of Steve's shirt and spins across the
floor of the room, far away from Steve.
Gabriel rushes to Steve, who is still trying to come back
after that incredible punch.
Ashley's ropes look loose. She lets go of them with her
thumb and they drop to the floor. Never tight to begin with.
GABRIEL
You know, you could have had it all
Steven.
Gabriel picks Steve up by the throat.
GABRIEL
Girls. Money.
He lifts him above his head.
GABRIEL
POWER!
He hurls Steve across the room as if he were a ragdoll,
sending him crashing into a pile of wooden boxes, shattering
them all.
GABRIEL
But noooo. You had to do the right
thing. Had to be the good little
Christian boy and follow God. By
the way, how's the leg?
He slams his foot onto Steve's wounded leg. Steve cries out
in pain.
112.
He picks up Steve with both hands by the collar of his shirt,
spins him around once, and sends him crashing through the
wall that is only a foot away.
He kicks Steve in the stomach and he slides across the floor
back near the large hole in the other room.
GABRIEL
Aw, does that hurt?
He jabs his finger into Steve's open stomach wound. He
screams out in pain again.
GABRIEL
Ok, you know, I'm through playing
around.
Gabriel picks up the axe from the floor.
GABRIEL
This game is over.
He wields the axe over his head with both hands, ready to
strike it down, when he suddenly stops. He looks to Ashley,
still bound. Steve is a bloody heap on the floor, ready to
pass out.
GABRIEL
Wait. I am a man of my word. You
will live to watch your daughter die.
He walks over, axe in hand, to Ashley. She whimpers.
Steve grabs the Athame blade quickly from the floor nearby,
before Gabriel even notices he's already to his feet.
Gabriel leans in close to Ashley. He licks the length of her
cheek slowly. Steve runs at Gabriel. Ashley's eyes widen in
shock.
Steve slams the blade between Gabriel's shoulder blades. He
cries out in pain.
Steve collapses, too exhausted and injured to do anything
more. He watches the events unfolding from the floor.
Gabriel struggles to extricate the knife from his back, but
he can't reach it. From somewhere deep within the wound, a
glowing black light is trying to escape.
A new shape, a new figure, like a ghost that Gabriel has
been inside this whole time slowly, subtly, appears around
Gabriel. Gabriel's eyes glow red, in pain. The hint of wings
can be seen behind him, black wings. Black limbs.
113.
A head shaped like a demon's. The Angel of Death in its true
form.
The demon instantly fades, and Gabriel collapses onto the
floor. Dead.
Steve lies broken on the floor, utterly decimated and near
death. His breathing shallows. His eyes slowly close.
Feet patter to his side. Steve looks up, all he can see is a
hazy light. The figure looms over him, shielding his dying
eyes from the light, filling them with darkness.
The clock outside strikes 7:06.
The figure stomps out the light.
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT. CEMETERY - DAY
Winter has arrived. Snow covers every inch of space. And
begins to fall from the sky.
PRIEST
- - And to this body we pray. That
it may rest in peace. For all
eternity. In peace with the Lord,
our God. Ashes to ashes. Dust to
dust. Amen.
A silver casket is slowly lowered into a grave.
The hinges of the pulley squeak. A woman sobs nearby.
Ashley is dressed all in black. She watches as the casket
lowers into the grave. Her face is sad, but she does not cry.
The casket finishes lowering.
The woman sobs loudly.
Ashley's saddened face fades.
The headstone reads: "Gabriel - Rightful Father to the Beloved"
Ashley smiles.
FADE TO BLACK
THE END
Return to SimplyScripts.com