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OTTER LAKE FADE IN: EXT. WISCONSIN LAKE DAY Summer. Establishing shot of a nearly deserted lake in the forests of northern Wisconsin. The woods are home to bears, wolves, deer and various other critters. The lake is approximately twenty miles from the nearest town and several miles from the nearest tavern. Looking around we can see the woods are dense and virtually untouched by man except for a couple of ATV/Snowmobile trails that run through them. There are two dirt roads leading from the main road to the lake. There are three rental cabins and one year round log cabin home surrounding three quarters of the lake. Each cabin sits on the edge of the water with fishing docks leading into the water. Each dock has a small fishing boat tied to it. The only sounds we hear are the sounds of the forest. Birds, loons, crickets. We also hear the hungry coos of otter pups. Camera pans the lake and we see an otter family, several adults and a couple of pups, living on the side of the lake away from the cabins. There are a couple of otters relaxing, floating and eating and a couple that are playing. One otter in particular catches our attention as he goes floating by. Although it's hard to tell for sure, he looks to be about three times the size of the rest of the family. He is the giant otter. Suddenly the otters stop what they are doing and lift their heads to the air. We begin to hear voices, very faintly. HAROLD (OS) Okay, here we go. One..two..three..lift. Easy, easy. EXT. CABIN 1/FRONT YARD DAY HAROLD, MARK AND JON are detaching a trailer from their pickup truck. The trailer carries an ATV. The bed of the pickup truck is packed with another ATV, hunting gear and traps (otter/beaver jaw traps), duffle bags of clothes and a large cooler of beer. Harold, Mark and Jon are factory workers and best friends. They are in their mid thirties and rugged in their own way. Harold is clearly the leader of the group. HAROLD Easy guys. Set her down easy. The three unload the ATV and park it next to the cabin. They gather around the truck. JON Damn, I can't wait to get out in them woods. (pause) We the only ones here, Harold? HAROLD So far. Except for the full timers. JON Hope it stays that way. That'd make this weekend a hell of a lot easier. MARK Who wants a beer? JON Hell yeah. HAROLD No beer yet Mark. We got work to do. JON Oh come on. We can still get the work done. MARK Harold's right Jon. Let's set the traps first. HAROLD We unpack the truck, we set the traps, then we drink the beer. JON Okay. (pause) You think that hairy son of a bitch is still here? HAROLD He's here alright. MARK We're going to get him this year...I can feel it. JON What if the traps don't work. Last time he didn't go near them so what if he.. HAROLD (interrupting) If he don't, then we get the guns. Either way that otter's about to see his last day. MARK Then we can get back to our regular hunting. There's a buck in these woods somewhere with my name on it. HAROLD Amen to that. Lets get moving. There is a sudden loud squeal coming from across the lake. JON What the hell is that? HAROLD Told you he was here. Sounds like he's eating something that don't want to be eaten. They listen for a moment for more squeals. They hear none. They begin to unload the truck. INT. WISCONSIN AIRPORT EARLY EVENING SONNY MAC and LAUREN KING are walking through the airport towards the luggage pickup area exit doors. Lauren is a famous movie star, always acting and dressing for her role as diva. She is a bitch to everybody. Sonny is a small time actor and Lauren's boyfriend. He is the complete opposite of Lauren; he is friendly, outgoing and he loves the country. They are being followed by the paparazzi who are taking pictures and shouting questions. PAPARAZZI 1 What brings you to northern Wisconsin Miss King? PAPARAZZI 2 Are you guys finally getting married? PAPARAZZI 3 One picture Miss King? Sonny, just one picture. SONNY Come on you guys. Leave us alone please. PAPARAZZI 1 Lauren, over here. PAPARAZZI 3 Just one picture. Come on don't be that way. SONNY Cut the crap you guys. We're in a hurry. Lauren abruptly stops, faces the cameras and smiles. The paparazzi snap a dozen pictures. LAUREN Okay fellas. Thank you. Enough now. I have to go. PAPARAZZI 2 What are you doing here Lauren? SONNY That's enough!! Sonny grabs Lauren by the arm and they walk even faster than before. SONNY(CONT'D) (to Lauren) Come on. I've got a car waiting outside the luggage terminal. Our luggage should already be in the car. They exit the airport. INT. LIMOUSINE EARLY EVENING The limo is pulling out of the airport heading towards the highway. Lauren and Sonny are sitting in the back. Lauren is looking out the window at the paparazzi that has followed them and Sonny is fixing a drink. SONNY Damn them. LAUREN They're just doing they're jobs baby. Settle down. SONNY Just one more reason why I wanted to come here. LAUREN Peace and quiet? SONNY Nothing but. We are going to be anonymous this weekend. If there are any weekenders at the lake, I can guarantee they're not going to care who we are. LAUREN They might not care who you are but I bet they'll care about who I am. Sonny is pissed off at this comment. He glares at her then turns away. LAUREN(CONT'D) What? What? Oh come on Sonny, everybody knows me. I can't help it. SONNY Lauren, I thought you were going to try working on your "people skills". You don't have to be so self absorbed all the time....especially with me. I love you, remember? LAUREN The only one. Yes. I remember. I'm sorry baby. Forgive me? They kiss and make up. LAUREN(CONT'D) So what am I going to do this weekend? SONNY You won't be posing for any pictures, that's for sure. (pause) We can take the boat out, fish, walk around in the woods. LAUREN No. That's what you'll be doing. I don't like any of that stuff..I'm an indoor girl. SONNY Well if you won't do any of those things for me then you can just sit there and watch me have all the fun. It's going to be great. Peace and quiet and rest and relaxation. LAUREN We'll be back in L.A. in time for my premiere, right? SONNY Yeah, baby. I know you wouldn't miss that for the world. EXT. CABIN 3/FRONT YARD AREA EVENING A van approaches from the dirt road and parks in front of the cabin. The Johns family gets out one by one. JULIAN and MARY, both 40 years old, SCOTT and STEVE, their twin sons, 15 years old and AUNT MERN, 70 years old, Mary's aunt. They are a middle class family who frequently vacation in northern Wisconsin. They each take in their surroundings before the guys start to unload the van and Mary and Aunt Mern walk to the front door. INT. CABIN 3 LIVING/DINING/KITCHEN AREA EVENING Mary and Aunt Mern enter through the front door. This cabin has two bedrooms and two bathrooms, a den and a loft area over the living room. The front door opens up to one large room: living room, dining room and kitchen area combined. The living room has sliding glass doors that lead to the back deck. The back deck has a grill, a patio table and several chairs. There is a fire place in the living room. Mary starts turning on the lights and Aunt Mern walks to the sliding glass doors and opens the blinds. The lake is in full view. AUNT MERN I've forgotten how beautiful it is here. Look at it Mary. Mary walks over to the sliding glass doors and checks out the view. AUNT MERN(CONT'D) I can't thank you enough for bringing me with you. MARY We love having you with us Aunt Mern and we're glad you're here. They hug. Julian, Scott and Steve walk in carrying their luggage. STEVE Same rooms as last time mom? MARY Yeah Steve. You and Scott are in the den. Steve and Scott roll their eyes and carry their bags into the den. Julian carries Aunt Mern's stuff up the stairs to the loft. AUNT MERN (to Mary) Why don't you and Julian take the loft this time. I'll be fine down here. MARY No. You're upstairs. It's your very own room. AUNT MERN But the stairs.. MARY (interrupting) I'll help you. Besides the doctor said exercise is good for you. Aunt Mern looks disappointed. MARY(CONT'D) You promised! AUNT MERN I know, I know. MARY Plus the view from up there is great. You can see the lake and woods and even the sky. Can you imagine a better view as you drift off to sleep? AUNT MERN Or wake up to? MARY Exactly. AUNT MERN Okay, you talked me into it. INT. CABIN 1 LIVING/DINING/KITCHEN AREA EVENING This cabin has one bedroom and one bathroom and a loft area over the living room. The front door opens up to one large room, living room, dining room and kitchen area combined. The living room has sliding glass doors that lead to the back deck. The back deck has a grill, a patio table and several chairs. There is a fire place in the living room. Jon is setting the dinner he cooked onto the dining room table. The table is set for three. Harold and Mark walk in through the front door. JON You guys are just in time. Ready to eat? MARK Hell yeah. I'm starving. And I'm ready for those beers now. The three men sit down at the table and begin eating and drinking. JON How many traps did you get out? HAROLD We each put out three. But this time we put most of them along the shoreline. MARK We should definitely get something tonight. JON I hope so. I don't want this trip to be like last years. I want to enjoy myself this time. I don't want to spend it running for my life.. HAROLD (interrupting) Let's not go there, okay. Last year we were ignorant. We are going to kill that son of a bitch this time. JON Do you really think those traps will kill it? I mean, they're otter traps, yeah, but this is no ordinary otter, they probably won't even phase it. HAROLD No, they won't kill it, but if we can catch it...we can blow it's head off. MARK We should tell Jerome what we're up to. HAROLD Yeah, first thing in the morning. We'll go out and check our traps then go over to Jerome's. JON Not me man..I'm going fishing. Fresh fish for lunch tomorrow. MARK Another reason I love the woods. They nod in agreement and continue eating and drinking. INT. CABIN 2 LIVING/DINING/KITCHEN AREA EVENING This cabin has one bedroom and one bathroom and a loft over the living room. The front door opens up to one large room, living room, dining room and kitchen area combined. The living room has sliding glass doors that lead to the back porch. The back deck has a grill, a patio table and several chairs. There is a fire place in the living room. Lauren and Sonny are sitting on the couch, snuggled together, looking at the view of the lake seen through the sliding glass doors. There is a fire roaring in the fireplace. SONNY Isn't it beautiful? LAUREN I guess. SONNY I could live here forever and never leave. It's just so peaceful. LAUREN Yeah, it's definitely quite. Too quite, for me. SONNY City girl. You don't think you could live here? LAUREN No way. I'm only here for you. To experience some of your way of life. This is not for me. SONNY Too bad. Maybe you'll change your mind in the next couple of days. This way of life can be very addictive. LAUREN It's too quite. I don't like quite. And it's too dark. I don't like dark either. SONNY Well, for the next few days it's just me and you. No computers, no cell phones...absolutely nothing Hollywood. LAUREN No paparazzi. That's the best part. SONNY Yeah, you can finally let your hair down, Lauren. Have some fun and be normal. You can turn yourself off. LAUREN Easier said than done. Besides I like being "on". SONNY I know, I know. But I want to be with the Lauren I fell in love with..not Lauren the "movie star". Sonny leans in and kisses Lauren. SONNY(CONT'D) You ready for bed? LAUREN Oh yeah. Sonny and Lauren get off the couch and walk toward the bedroom. INT. CABIN 3 LIVING/DINING/KITCHEN AREA EVENING Julian, Mary and Aunt Mern are sitting around the dining room table drinking wine and playing cards. There is a fire roaring in the fire place. AUNT MERN Oh my god, I am so relaxed. I could probably fall asleep on the way up the stairs. JULIAN I know what you mean. AUNT MERN Maybe I could just sleep right here for the night. They laugh a little at this. MARY And by the morning you're back would be so stiff we'd have to carry you around the rest of the vacation. JULIAN Yeah and I'd be way to tired for that. They laugh a little. JULIAN(CONT'D) Why don't we call it a night. I've got fishing and boating and hiking on my schedule tomorrow. Those boys are going to wear me out. MARY Good idea. Tomorrow is another day. JULIAN Aunt Mern let me help you up stairs. AUNT MERN Okay, Julian. Thanks. Aunt Mern and Julian leave the table and walk up the loft stairs. Mary stays at the table and stares into the fire. Julian comes back down the loft stairs and walks over to Mary and reaches for her hand. He helps her up. MARY Too tired for me? JULIAN Not on your life. Why do you think I wanted to turn in so early? He kisses her. They walk to their bedroom. EXT. WISCONSIN LAKE/OTTER DEN MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT The woods are quiet except for the occasional chirping cricket and wolf howl. Raccoons are foraging. We close in on the otter den, where all, except one, are fast asleep. The giant otter is on the move. EXT. WISCONSIN LAKE/SHORE LINE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT He is on land, near the edge of the water, moving very slowly toward the raccoons. He watches them for a moment then charges full speed ahead. The raccoons put up a fight but are no match for the otter. He kills one after another until they are all dead. He eats only one and leaves the rest lying on the ground. The echoes of this animal fight are heard across the lake. EXT. WISCONSIN LAKE/SHORELINE EARLY MORNING Mark is riding an ATV along the shoreline. He is looking for the traps he set the day before. He is carrying a rifle. It is a cloudy and foggy morning. Mark parks his ATV and gets off it to continue his search on foot. He notices the remains of a large animal and walks over for a closer look. MARK What the hell is that? He retrieves his walkie talkie from his pocket and talks into it. MARK(CONT'D) Harold, come in. Over. HAROLD (OS) What's up Mark? Over. MARK Got a nasty mess over here. Some kind of large animal looks like it's been dead awhile. Over. HAROLD (OS) Hunters? Over. MARK No way. Over. EXT. WISCONSIN LAKE/SHORELINE EARLY MORNING Harold is sitting on his ATV, parked along the shoreline, looking down at the ground. He is looking at the dead raccoons. HAROLD I'm looking at what used to be raccoons. Pretty fresh I'd say. Over. MARK (OS) Jesus! Our friend's been busy. Over. HAROLD My traps are clean. Over. MARK (OS) Me too, so far. Over. HAROLD Keep checking. Over. Harold drives away slowly. INT. BENNETT LIVING/DINING AREA EARLY MORNING This log cabin home belongs to JEROME and KITTY BENNETT, both retired and the only full time residents of the lake. They are both animal and nature lovers. This home is quite large with three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a loft area over the large living room. The front door opens into the living room and dining room combination. The kitchen is off the dining room, separated by a doorway. Sliding glass doors separate the living room from the large back deck. The back deck has a grill, a patio table and several chairs and lots of firewood piled in a corner. There is a large fire place in the living room. This home is filled with hunting trophies, animal heads and furs, tastefully decorated. The home is beautiful. Jerome and Kitty are sitting at the kitchen table, drinking coffee. Neither one of them looks rested. KITTY We got company last night, did you hear them? JEROME I heard. KITTY How many do you think? JEROME They're all full. A couple of big shots, a family and Harold and his boys. KITTY Harold's come back for it. JEROME I suppose. KITTY I heard it killing something last night. JEROME Uh, huh. KITTY I think we should go warn our temporary neighbors don't you Jerome? I couldn't bear it if something happened again. The Fismer's were nice people and.. JEROME (interrupting) Let's not talk about that. There was nothing we could do. We didn't know anything back then. KITTY But we do now. Just because the newspapers and the police covered it up doesn't mean we have to too. We've got to warn them. JEROME Okay Kitty, okay. Let's get cleaned up. We've got a long day ahead of us. INT. CABIN 3/LIVING/DINING/KITCHEN AREA MORNING Mary and Aunt Mern are sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee. MARY Julian and I are going into town for supplies. Are you sure you don't want to come with us? AUNT MERN Yeah, I'm sure. I don't want to go anywhere. MARY But there's no phone here, what if something happens while we're gone? AUNT MERN Stop worrying! I'll be fine. MARY You want Scott and Steve to stay here with you? AUNT MERN No, I don't. I'm going to meditate for a little while and enjoy the aloneness. Scott, Steve and Julian enter the kitchen ready to leave. Mary stands up. MARY Okay, if you're sure. AUNT MERN I'm sure. MARY Well, we won't be too long AUNT MERN Take your time. I'll be fine. Julian leans down and gives Aunt Mern a kiss. SCOTT/STEVE See ya later Aunt Mern. AUNT MERN Bye boys. And Julian? JULIAN Yes? AUNT MERN Don't forget my martini mix. JULIAN I wouldn't come back without it. Julian, Mary, Scott and Steve leave the cabin. Aunt Mern gets up from the table and steps out the back sliding glass doors bringing her coffee with her. EXT. CABIN 3/BACK DECK MORNING Aunt Mern, carrying her cup of coffee, sits down at the patio table and looks at the lake. It is a little foggy and partly cloudy, the sun is trying to come out. There are several loons fishing for food and calling to each other. She sees Jon fishing off the dock of his cabin. She waves to him. Aunt Mern notices a wake being made across the lake in the direction of Cabin 1. She tries to make out what is causing the wake but can only see a shadow of something swimming just under the surface of the water. She stands up and watches it for a moment, then it disappears. AUNT MERN That's strange. She walks back into the cabin. EXT. WISCONSIN LAKE/SHORELINE MORNING Harold has parked his ATV along the shoreline and is slowly walking toward one of his traps. He is carrying his rifle and is very cautious. He stops at his trap which has caught and killed one of the otters. It is a small otter, not the giant otter. He talks into his walkie talkie. HAROLD Mark, come in. Over MARK (OS) Find something? Over. HAROLD Got one. Over. MARK (OS) THE ONE? Over. HAROLD No just one of his brothers or sisters. Over. MARK(OS) I'm heading back to the cabin, my traps are clean. Over. HAROLD Meet you there. Over. Harold removes the dead otter from the trap and throws it into the water. He resets the trap. He walks back to his ATV and rides away in the direction of Cabin 1. EXT. CABIN 1/DOCK MORNING Jon is sitting on the dock fishing. It is partly cloudy with the slightest hint of sunshine. His feet are dangling in the water and he is very relaxed. A small portable radio is sitting next to him playing country music. He is throwing bit pieces of ham into the water. He feels something swim by his feet. JON I knew you fish would wake up for this ham. There's more on the hook at the end of my pole. Go eat that. Come on, stupid fish. He feels a nibble on his foot and looks down into the water. He sees nothing. JON(CONT'D) Stupid fish. Come on, I'm hungry. The giant otter sticks his head out of the water next to Jon's feet. Jon doesn't like what he sees. JON(CONT'D) YOU! We've been looking for you. He tries to pull his feet out of the water but the otter grabs his leg with his mouth and pulls Jon into the water. JON(CONT'D) Oh shit! No! Jon tries to pull himself back onto the dock but is pulled under the water instead. He struggles and screams but it's no use. The otter kills Jon and drags his body to the other side of the lake. INT. CABIN 2/LIVING/DINING/KITCHEN AREA MORNING Lauren and Sonny are sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast. Lauren, of course, looks perfect. Lauren heard a scream coming from outside. LAUREN Did you hear that? SONNY What? LAUREN That noise. Sounded like a scream. SONNY Probably just a bird. Don't freak out Lauren. LAUREN I'm not freaking out. Lauren walks to the sliding glass doors and looks outside. LAUREN(CONT'D) So what am I suppose to do while you're gone? Lauren walks back to the table and sits down. SONNY You could come with me. LAUREN I'd hardly call that little thing down there a boat. I'm not getting in that thing. SONNY Suit yourself. Why don't you go for a walk? LAUREN By myself? In the woods? Sonny, do you even know me? SONNY Right, okay. We'll go walking when I get back. It looks like the sun is trying to come out, why don't you put your bathing suit on and sit out on the deck. Try to relax a little. How about that? LAUREN Okay, I guess. SONNY Good. (standing up) I'll be back soon. Sonny kisses Lauren and walks toward the door. LAUREN I love you Sonny. SONNY Love you too babe. Sonny walks out the door onto the back deck. EXT. CABIN 2/DOCK MORNING Sonny is walking towards the dock, carrying his fishing equipment. He puts his stuff in the boat and climbs in. He starts the engine and heads toward the middle of the lake. Lauren steps onto the back deck and watches Sonny ride away. They wave to each other. Lauren steps back into the cabin. EXT. CABIN 3/DOCK MORNING We watch Aunt Mern walk from the back deck of the cabin to the dock. It is partly cloudy with a little sun breaking through the clouds. She is wearing her bathing suit and carrying a towel. She studies the water carefully and sees nothing unusual. She slowly gets into the water. She starts to swim, slowly, carefully. After a few minutes, there is a lot of noise from the loons. They take off across the lake, quickly. Some birds in the trees fly away. Suddenly, it is quite. Very quite. Aunt Mern looks around. She is uneasy. A few yards in front of her she notices a wake being formed across the water. She watches, confused. AUNT MERN What the hell? The wake stops and she sees the hairy back of the giant otter rising out of the water, almost as if it's trying to stand up. AUNT MERN(CONT'D) Oh dear God! What is that? The giant otter's head comes out of the water and locks eyes with Aunt Mern. Aunt Mern lets out a startled cry and turns quickly to swim back to the dock. AUNT MERN(CONT'D) Our father who art in Heaven, (she does the sign of the Cross) please get me out of here! Oh please! She hurriedly gets out of the water, onto the dock and turns around. She looks around the water and sees nothing. She grabs her towel and walks back to the cabin. INT. CABIN 3/LIVING/DINING AREA MORNING Aunt Mern enters through the sliding glass doors, then turns around to look outside. The lake is empty. AUNT MERN Okay, that was a bad idea. (she looks around the empty room) Now what? EXT. WISCONSIN LAKE/SONNY'S BOAT LATE MORNING Sonny is in his boat fishing. It is partly cloudy with a little sunshine. He has several fish hanging from a stringer and another one on his pole. He takes the fish from his pole and puts it on the stringer with the others. SONNY Okay just two more and I'm out of here. He casts his line again and gets a big "hit". He tries to reel it in but the line sags heavily. He struggles and the line finally breaks and he goes flying backward. SONNY(CONT'D) Son of a bitch! As he is reaching for replacement line, the boat is bumped and rocked from underneath. He stands up and looks from one side of the boat to the other. SONNY(CONT'D) Son of a bitch! The boat is bumped and rocked again and Sonny is thrown overboard. He barely has a chance to come up for air when he is attacked by the giant otter. There is a brief struggle and the giant otter kills Sonny and then drags his body to the side of the lake where a dead Jon is waiting. The empty boat drifts aimlessly. EXT. CABIN 2 BACK DECK LATE MORNING Lauren is sunbathing with her headphones on. She gets up to drink some of her water and looks around the lake. She doesn't see Sonny or his boat. She shrugs her shoulders and lies back down. EXT. CABIN 1 FRONT YARD AREA LATE MORNING Harold and Mark drive up on the ATV's and park them. They walk to the front door. It is partly cloudy with a little sunshine. MARK Where is it? HAROLD Where's what? MARK The one you caught. We could use it as bait or something. HAROLD I threw it in the lake. I didn't want it to be found. MARK I hope Jon's got some food ready. I'm starving. They reach the front door and step inside. INT. CABIN 1 LIVING/DINING/KITCHEN AREA LATE MORNING Harold and Mark walk through the front door. MARK Jon! Hey man we're back. The place is silent. They look around. MARK(CONT'D) Dammit! No lunch. Where is he? HAROLD He must have went fishing. Go check the dock. Mark exits the cabin through the back sliding glass doors. Harold continues to search the inside of the cabin. Mark enters the cabin a moment later through the sliding glass doors. MARK He's not out there. His stuff is there but he's no where to be seen. HAROLD Shit! This can't be good. MARK Where do you think he went? HAROLD I don't know. He couldn't of went far though, the keys are gone but the truck is still here. MARK Well, where the hell is he? HAROLD Let's not panic, I'm sure he'll come walking through that door any minute. (pause) Guess you're making lunch today. MARK Oh man! I knew you were going to say that. INT. CABIN 3 LIVING/DINING/KITCHEN AREA LATE MORNING Julian and Aunt Mern are sitting at the kitchen table. Mary is putting the groceries away. Scott and Steve are hanging out on the back deck, listening to the radio and playing a board game. AUNT MERN I'm telling you I've never seen anything like it. Scared me right out of the water. MARY What were you doing down there by yourself anyway Aunt Mern? AUNT MERN Did you just hear me? I'm telling you something is in that lake. JULIAN What do you think it was Aunt Mern? AUNT MERN I don't know. JULIAN You know, there are beavers and otters that live here. And all kinds of birds.., ducks and loons. AUNT MERN It wasn't a bird. It came UP from UNDER the water, Julian. JULIAN Well then I'm sure it was just a beaver or an otter but they won't hurt you. AUNT MERN This one looked like it could. It was huge...maybe six feet long. MARY I don't think beavers or otters are that big. Julian, why don't you and the boys take the boat out and have a look around. It would make me feel better. JULIAN Good idea. MARY Lunch will be ready when you get back. JULIAN (standing up) We'll be back. Julian exits the cabin through the back sliding glass doors. Aunt Mern watches as Julian and the boys head down to the dock. EXT. CABIN 1 BACK DECK AFTERNOON Harold and Mark are sitting at the patio table, finishing their lunch and drinking some beer. Jerome and Kitty approach the deck stairs. It is still partly cloudy but now there is also a light breeze. HAROLD Hey Mark, look who's here. MARK Oh man. We were going to come find you guys. Jerome and Kitty walk over to the patio table and sit down. MARK(CONT'D) Jerome, Kitty. How are you guys doing? JEROME Harold, Mark. How's it going? HAROLD Just having a little lunch. What can we do for you guys? JEROME Set any traps this morning Harold? HAROLD We set some last night. You're not going to stop us are you Jerome? KITTY No, we're not going to stop you. We want to help you. MARK Well all right. JEROME Did you catch any? HAROLD Just a little one. We don't need any help though Jerome. JEROME Yeah, you do. You haven't been out here in awhile. Our little friend isn't so little anymore. (pause) Have you seen it yet? MARK Not yet but we saw some of it's dinner. KITTY Where's Jon? Did he come with you this time? HAROLD He's around somewhere, don't know for sure. KITTY He missing? HAROLD No, I'm sure he's here somewhere. JEROME We need to go warn the people in the other cabins. We'll help you guys catch it but we have to do this first. Jerome and Kitty stand up to leave. JEROME(CONT'D) You guys coming? HAROLD We'll catch up. We're going to look for Jon first. Jerome and Kitty walk back down the steps and disappear around the corner of the cabin. MARK Are you worried about Jon? Harold doesn't answer. MARK(CONT'D) You are, aren't you? You think the otter got him? Come on Harold, you think that? HAROLD Of course not. Let's not get weirded out. We'll find him. MARK Suddenly I got a bad feeling about this. INT. CABIN 2 BEDROOM AFTERNOON Lauren is in the bedroom changing out of her bathing suit into shorts and a T shirt. There is a knock at the front door. She checks herself in the mirror, and satisfied she looks perfect, goes to answer the door. INT. CABIN 2 FRONT DOOR/ENTRY WAY AFTERNOON Lauren opens the front door and finds Jerome and Kitty standing there. LAUREN Yes? Can I help you? KITTY Hi. I'm Kitty Bennett and this is my husband, Jerome. We live in the cabin just up the road here. LAUREN Can I help you? KITTY May we come in and talk to you for a minute? It's kind of important. LAUREN Are you from the newspapers? Or the rag mags? JEROME What? LAUREN How did you find out I was here? Jerome and Kitty look at each other, confused. KITTY We're here to talk to all the visitors. Can we come in? LAUREN No you cannot come in. I'm not giving interviews or posing for pictures today. Lauren starts to close the door, Jerome stops her. JEROME Listen, lady, I don't know what you're talking about. We don't want your picture. We need to talk to you about your safety while you're staying here. KITTY Please, let us in. LAUREN You'll have to come back later. Sonny, my fiancee, is out fishing and I'm not letting you in while he's not here. Go away! Lauren shuts the door in their faces. EXT. CABIN 2 FRONT YARD AREA AFTERNOON Kitty and Jerome are standing near the front door. It is mostly cloudy now, a storm is inevitable. KITTY What should we do now? JEROME Let's go next door and then come back here after we talk to the others. KITTY Did she look familiar to you? JEROME Yeah. And she's just like I thought she would be. Let's go. Jerome and Kitty walk away towards cabin 3. INT. CABIN 3 LIVING/DINING/KITCHEN AREA AFTERNOON Julian, Mary, Jerome and Kitty are sitting around the kitchen table. Aunt Mern, Scott and Steve on sitting on the couch. JEROME We really do hate to intrude like this but we need you to listen to us. (pause) What we're about to tell you, will seem unreal, even foolish, but it's the truth. JULIAN What is it? JEROME A couple of years ago, there was a family staying here. The Fismer's. They were having a family re-union and had rented out all three cabins. The first few days everything went well. Kitty and I were invited to come over and join them. They had bar-b-cues, fishing contests, boat races.. STEVE Sounds like fun. JEROME It was fun. They were having a great time until... JULIAN Until what? JEROME Until several of them were attacked and killed. MARY Oh my God! JULIAN Attacked by what Jerome? JEROME An otter. Everyone sits in disbelief. MARY That's not possible. SCOTT An otter? You're kidding, right? KITTY We're not kidding. And it's not just an otter. AUNT MERN It's a giant one, isn't it? KITTY Yes. He's very big. Have you seen it? AUNT MERN Yes, I saw it. I was in the water and it came right up to me. KITTY And it didn't hurt you? AUNT MERN No, I got away. It just sat there and stared at me. I was scared to death. The Lord was really looking out for me today. KITTY You're lucky Aunt Mern. No one's gotten away from it before. JULIAN That's impossible. Otters don't kill people. Maybe it was a bear or something? JEROME Julian, it was an otter. We saw it attack. We are trying to warn you. STEVE What are we suppose to do? JEROME Nothing. Just stay away from the lake. There are some guys in cabin 1 who set some traps. We are going to catch it and kill it. Until then, it's best if you stay inside. SCOTT That sucks. We don't want to stay inside. STEVE Yeah, we didn't come here to sit inside. We can do that at home. KITTY Well, maybe you better leave. There are a couple of motels in town. I'm sure they have room and you'd be safer there. MARY We're not going anywhere. I find this all very hard to believe. JEROME You'd better believe it. Believing could save your life. STEVE But we've already been on the lake. We didn't see anything. JULIAN Actually... JEROME Actually what? JULIAN Something strange. We found an empty boat. JEROME Empty boat? Where? JULIAN Floating around in the lake. We brought it back and tied it to our dock. Any idea who's missing a boat? KITTY The lady next door maybe? JEROME She said her fiancee went out fishing this morning. The boat was empty Julian? JULIAN Yes. There was a couple of fishing poles and a tackle box...that's it. KITTY Oh dear God. EXT. WISCONSIN LAKE/OTTER DEN AFTERNOON Dark clouds cover the afternoon sky. A slight wind is blowing. A thunderstorm approaches. Several otters are in the water hunting for food. One of them leaves the water for dry land. He begins to snoop around the water bank for food. He walks right into one of the traps. An otter scream pierces the lake. INT. CABIN 2 LIVING/DINING/KITCHEN AREA AFTERNOON Lauren is sitting at the kitchen table giving herself a manicure. She hears a piercing scream. She jumps, messing up a nail. LAUREN God Dammit! What the hell was that? She walks to the sliding glass doors and looks out. She sees nothing. There is a knock at her front door, she jumps again, startled. LAUREN(CONT'D) Now what? She walks to the front door and opens it. EXT. CABIN 2 FRONT DOOR/ENTRY WAY AFTERNOON Lauren opens the front door and Harold and Mark are standing there. A thunderstorm approaches. LAUREN What? HAROLD Excuse us, Miss but we're looking for Jerome. Is he here? MARK Oh my God...you're Lauren King! LAUREN Yes, I am. And there is no one named Jerome here. MARK It's a pleasure to meet you Miss King. I'm a big fan. LAUREN I'm sure you are. HAROLD Has Jerome been here? LAUREN They were here a little while ago and now they're gone. Now if you'll excuse me. She shuts the door. INT. CABIN 2 FRONT DOOR/ENTRY WAY AFTERNOON Lauren is walking away from the front door when there is another knock. She walks back to the door and opens it. HAROLD Miss King, I hate to bother you again, but if you could just tell us where Jerome went we'll be on our way. LAUREN They said something about going to the next cabin. MARK Miss King are you okay? LAUREN Of course. Why wouldn't I be? MARK You're not scared? LAUREN Of what? You? Hardly. Now excuse me I'm very busy. She shuts the door in their faces. LAUREN (CONT'D) "Oh, nobody will care who you are" he says. "Nobody will recognize you", he says. She walks to the sliding glass doors and looks outside. The storm is fast approaching. LAUREN(CONT'D) Come on Sonny. Where are you? EXT. CABIN 3 DOCK AFTERNOON Julian and Jerome are on the dock checking out the empty boat that Julian found. The clouds are very dark and it is starting to thunder. There is a slight breeze. Harold and Mark walk over to them. JEROME Hey boys. HAROLD Jerome. I think we got one. JEROME I heard. Harold, Mark, this is Julian Johns. (Harold, Mark and Julian shake hands) Julian, this Harold and Mark. JULIAN Nice to meet you? MARK Julian, did Jerome tell you what's going on out here? JULIAN Yes, although I find it hard to believe. HAROLD Believe it. We're going to check the traps. You coming Jerome? JEROME Yeah but we need to deal with this first. (he points to the boat) The girl next door said her fiance went out fishing....well, here's his boat. HAROLD What happened to the fiancee? JEROME Good question. (pause) You guys find Jon yet? MARK No and I'm beginning to think something bad happened to him. They all stare at each other for a minute. Another piercing otter scream echoes across the lake. JULIAN Jesus! HAROLD Come on Mark, let's go. We got another one. MARK Let's hope it's THE ONE. JEROME (to Julian) We've got to check that out. You go next door and tell that girl we found her boat. Maybe her fiance is there. HAROLD He's not. We just came from there. JULIAN Okay but then what should I tell her? JEROME Tell her she needs to come with you to my house. I think we'd be better off if we were all together. JULIAN You really think that's necessary? JEROME Yes. Especially with this storm coming. You don't want to be stuck in your cabin when the electricity goes out. Tell Kitty to take everyone to our house. You go get the girl and meet us at my house. JULIAN Okay, got it. Jerome, Mark and Harold walk off the dock and towards the woods. Julian walks off the dock and in the direction of Cabin 2. INT. BENNETT LIVING/DINING AREA AFTERNOON Mary, Aunt Mern, Kitty, Scott and Steve are hanging out in the living room. KITTY Scott, Steve, would you guys like to watch TV? There's one in our bedroom that's hooked up to a dish. SCOTT That'd be great. KITTY Go ahead and help yourself. First door down the hall. STEVE Thanks. Scott and Steve disappear down the hall. KITTY Can I get you something to drink? How about some fresh coffee. MARY Coffee would be great. AUNT MERN How many people has that otter killed? KITTY Four that we know of. Why? AUNT MERN That look in it's eye. I don't think he's done yet. Kitty leaves the living to go make the coffee. MARY Don't say things like that. You're scaring me. AUNT MERN Maybe we should leave. MARY There is no way I believe that an otter killed four people. Have you seen an otter? Their bodies aren't capable of killing a person. AUNT MERN A nice hotel in the middle of town sounds great. We could take the boys swimming in the pool, or do a little shopping. (pause) We should take the boys out of here. MARY Stop it! Okay, just stop it. We're not going to do anything until Julian gets back. And please don't say anything to scare the boys. AUNT MERN I don't think it's the boys that are scared, Mary. I'm scared. You're scared. The boys are not scared. MARY What could be taking Julian so long? Kitty walks back into the living room carrying a tray of coffee. KITTY Don't worry Mary. I'm sure ALL the guys will be back any minute. Let's have some coffee and try to stay calm. EXT. WISCONSIN LAKE/WOODS SHORELINE AFTERNOON Jerome, Harold and Mark are carefully walking along the edge of the lake towards the otter den. Harold and Mark are carrying rifles. It is thundering and lightning and a light rain is starting to fall. MARK Great! This is the last thing we need right now. HAROLD It's just a little rain. (pause) Keep your eyes open. JEROME Okay you guys, we're getting close. Watch your footing and be as quite as possible. MARK Right. They come to the first trap with a dead otter in it. HAROLD That's not the one we wanted. Dammit! MARK What should we do with it? JEROME We've got to take it out of there and get rid of it. Hopefully it's big brother hasn't seen it yet. HAROLD All right I got his one. You two go ahead and find the other one. Jerome and Mark continue walking along the shoreline. They pass several more empty traps. Each trap is set a little closer to the otter den. They are very close to the den when they come upon the other dead otter in a trap. MARK This isn't the one either. They look around, both of them are uneasy. Except for the thunderstorm, the lake is quiet. JEROME I don't like this. I feel like he's watching us. MARK Who? The big one? JEROME Yeah. Be quite. Jerome is studying his surroundings and Mark is getting his rifle ready to fire. MARK You want to take this one out and I'll keep watch? JEROME Okay. Keep a close eye on the lake. Mark steps a little closer to the water as Jerome starts to take the dead otter out of the trap. The edge of the bank is slippery and Mark is nervous. He is having a hard time standing still. Jerome has successfully taken the dead otter out of the trap. JEROME(CONT'D) Okay, I got it. Let's get out of here. MARK Let me reset it first. Mark hands the rifle to Jerome and then bends down to reset the trap. They hear movement in the water and turn to look. The giant otter is coming out of the water and onto the bank. There is no time to aim the rifle. JEROME RUN! Go! Go, go. MARK Holy shit. Mark and Jerome start running, visibility is not that good. Jerome drops the dead otter as they are running. The giant otter stops at the dead otter. Mark and Jerome run past Harold. MARK(CONT'D) He's coming Harold, time to haul ass. HAROLD Let's just shoot it. MARK No time, no time. Harold joins Mark and Jerome and they run along the bank towards Jerome's house. Behind them an anguished otter scream is heard. INT. BENNETT LIVING/DINING AREA AFTERNOON Jerome, Harold and Mark run into the living room. They are soaking wet, out of breath and scared. Kitty, Aunt Mern and Mary are sitting in the living room. KITTY Oh my God! What happened? JEROME We were face to face, Kitty. MARY Are you guys all right? MARK Yeah, yeah. We're fine. I've never run so fast. Jesus that thing is huge. AUNT MERN (to Mary) Told you. HAROLD We need a new plan. Kitty goes to retrieve some towels from the bathroom. JEROME Where's Julian and the girl from Cabin 2? MARY They're not here yet. I don't know what's taking them so long. HAROLD Maybe we should go check. Kitty comes back into the living room carrying towels. She hands Jerome, Mark and Harold one. They dry themselves off. KITTY (to Jerome) Are you alright? JEROME I'm fine honey..really. (to all) I agree with Harold. We need to get Julian here. We need to all be together. MARK Has Jon been by here? KITTY No, I'm sorry he hasn't. HAROLD Okay, Mark and I will go get Julian. MARY I want to go too. He's my husband and he may need some help. HAROLD Bad idea. If he needs help, we'll help him. It's slippery and wet out there and we don't want to risk something happening to you. MARY Well then what am I suppose to do? MARK Just wait here. Harold and Mark leave the living room. AUNT MERN Jerome, we've made that thing furious now, haven't we? JEROME I'm afraid so. I was hoping to get the dead ones out of the traps before it noticed them, but I think we were too late. He was waiting for us. AUNT MERN So the traps are a bad idea? JEROME They can't hurt but I don't think he will go near them now. Or the others in the family. They're not dumb. KITTY So what now? INT. CABIN 2 BEDROOM AFTERNOON Lauren is in the bedroom packing her clothes into her suitcase. She is crying. Julian is standing in the bedroom doorway. It is raining pretty heavily outside. JULIAN Why don't you let me help you? We are in kind of a hurry. LAUREN My stuff has to be packed a certain way. JULIAN Lauren, listen..I'm very sorry about Sonny. You're upset, I understand that (he goes over to her and grabs her by the shoulders) but we have to go. Just leave your stuff and we'll come back for it after. LAUREN After what? Huh? What? I'm planning on never stepping foot in this place again, so I'm getting my stuff now! If you're in such a big hurry, why don't you just leave? JULIAN I can't leave you here by yourself. Harold and Mark come in the front door and step into the bedroom. HAROLD What the hell is taking you guys so long? We've got to get out of here. LAUREN What are you guys doing here? I don't need any help. MARK Miss King it's nice to see you again. LAUREN Whatever. Lauren continues packing and crying. Harold, Mark and Julian talks amongst themselves. HAROLD How's she doing? JULIAN Not good. She doesn't believe anything bad has happened to Sonny. HAROLD Why is she so upset then? JULIAN Because she thinks he just went off without her and now she has to deal with "us people". MARK She's gorgeous. HAROLD Shut up Mark. MARK I'm just saying, if you've got to be stuck in a room with someone, might as well be her. JULIAN I think we're going to have problems with her. She doesn't seem to get the importance of what's happening here. HAROLD I'll help her. Harold walks over to Lauren and picks her up and slings her over his shoulder. LAUREN What the hell do you think you're doing? Put me down! HAROLD As soon as we get to Jerome's sweetheart. Harold walks out of the bedroom carrying Lauren. JULIAN (to Mark) What happened to you guys out there? MARK I'll explain on the way. Julian and Mark follow Harold. INT. BENNETT BEDROOM AFTERNOON Scott and Steve are in the bedroom trying to watch TV. The storm outside is affecting the TV reception. They are getting aggravated. STEVE This sucks. SCOTT No kidding. Can't go outside and now we can't watch TV. STEVE What do you want to do? Mary enters the bedroom. MARY How you boys doing? STEVE Not great. The TV won't come in anymore. MARY I'm sorry guys. This isn't exactly the vacation we planned. SCOTT What's going on out there? Is there really a giant otter out there that kills people. MARY That's what they say. I'm beginning to believe them. SCOTT You scared? MARY No. As long as we stay in here we'll be fine. STEVE We've got to leave sometime. MARY I know. We're working on what to do next. Kitty enters the room. KITTY Sorry about the TV. We've got some bored games in the closet if you're interested. And cards. STEVE Okay. Thanks. KITTY (to Mary) Julian's here. Safe and sound. MARY Thank god. KITTY (to boys) You guys might be interested to see who he brought with him. STEVE Who? They all leave the room. INT. BENNETT LIVING/DINING AREA AFTERNOON Julian, Harold, Mark and Lauren are drying themselves off with towels. Lauren is still upset. LAUREN Great! Just great! Look at me. I'm a mess. Aunt Mern is sitting on the couch. AUNT MERN Honey, we've got a lot more important things to do than worry about how you look. What's the matter with you? LAUREN What's the matter with me? Are you kidding? I've just been kidnapped from my cabin, I don't know where Sonny is, I'm a mess... HAROLD Oh will you shut up! Just shut up! We've got someone missing too you know! Lauren is silent but pissed off. Mary, Kitty, Scott and Steve enter the living room from the hallway leading out of the bedroom. SCOTT (to Steve) Oh my God! That's Lauren King. STEVE I don't believe it. KITTY Lauren, I've got some dry clothes you can change into if you want. LAUREN Okay I guess. Do you have a blow dryer too? KITTY Sure. Come with me. Kitty rolls her eyes to Jerome. She and Lauren leave the room. MARY (to Scott and Steve) Do you think you guys can keep Miss King occupied for a while? SCOTT Excellent. STEVE Yeah, mom, I don't think that will be a problem. MARY Great. We'll send her to the bedroom. You guys play a game or something. Scott and Steve walk back to the bedroom. JULIAN She is a real piece of work. MARK Okay, let's make a plan to catch that son of bitch. Jerome? Everyone takes a seat. JEROME Well, I think the traps are going to be of little use now. I don't think they're the smartest animals in the world but they won't go near those traps again. HAROLD So we'll have to take a different approach. JEROME Yeah, but the first thing we need to do is go to their place. MARK What? JEROME We need to see exactly how many there are. MARK I thought it was just one. JEROME One big one, yes. But we need to see how many are in the family. We know that three of them are already dead. JULIAN We're not concerned with the little ones, are we? I mean, otters are known to be happy go lucky...playful even. JEROME That's true but they can also be aggressive. And they have vicious tempers. MARY Then you shouldn't go over there. HAROLD They only attack if cornered and we won't do that...we'll be okay. MARY Yeah, but it's storming and you won't be able to see clearly. How do you know you won't "accidentally" corner one? JULIAN Yeah and we can't even see them when they're underwater. The big one could attack us before we even see him coming. JEROME We don't have any choice. Kitty enters the living room. JEROME(CONT'D) We have to go. HAROLD Okay, let's go. Jerome, Mark and I will go. JULIAN What about me? HAROLD You stay with the women...and your sons. EXT. WISCONSIN LAKE/WOODS SHORELINE AFTERNOON Jerome, Harold and Mark are walking along the bank of the lake. It is raining a little harder now. They are carrying flashlights and rifles. Jerome is leading. JEROME Stay close to the shore line but do not go in the water. We'll search the perimeter of the lake, checking the traps as we go. Harold and Mark nod in agreement. HAROLD And keep your eyes open for Jon. Maybe he's hurt out here somewhere. MARK Right. They continue walking. EXT. BENNETT HOUSE/FRONT DOOR AFTERNOON The rain is coming down pretty hard and it is a little darker. Visibility is not so good. We hear noises and see a dark figure, low to the ground, approaching the front door. The giant otter is dragging the body of Jon towards the front door. The giant otter sets Jon's body directly in front of the front door then disappears around the side of the house. INT. BENNETT LIVING/DINING AREA AFTERNOON Mary, Kitty, Aunt Mern and Julian are sitting in the living, looking uneasy. They hear noises coming from beyond the front door. AUNT MERN Did you hear that? What was that? KITTY I'm not sure. Maybe the guys forgot something. JULIAN I'll go check. Julian gets up and leaves the living room. Aunt Mern, Mary and Kitty wait patiently. They hear Julian open the front door. Julian screams. JULIAN(CONT'D)(OS) Oh my God! Oh my God! Julian slams the front door closed and runs back into the living room just as Mary and Kitty are about to run to the door. MARY Julian! Julian, are you all right? KITTY What happened? JULIAN It's Jon.., I think. KITTY Jon's back? Thank God! Did you let him in? Where is he? Kitty starts for the front door. JULIAN Kitty don't! Don't go over there. KITTY But Jon? JULIAN He's dead. I'm sorry. Kitty leaves the living room and walks to the front door. AUNT MERN How did a dead man get to the front door? MARY That's a good question. JULIAN Better question is, what are we going to do with him? Kitty walks back into the living room, visibly upset. KITTY That's Jon alright. (pause) We have a couple of tarps on the back porch. We should at least cover him up or something. MARY Good idea. I'll go get it. Mary walks to the sliding glass doors off the living room, that lead to the back porch. She opens the door as Kitty walks over and flips on the outside light. At their feet lay the body of Sonny. Mary and Kitty scream. Steve, Scott and Lauren run into the living room from the hallway leading out of the bedroom. SCOTT Mom! Dad! STEVE What's going on? What happened? Lauren notices Sonny's body, screams and rushes over to him. Julian grabs her. JULIAN Lauren don't! LAUREN Oh my God! Sonny! Sonny! No! She screams and cries uncontrollably. EXT. WISCONSIN LAKE/OTTER DEN AFTERNOON Jerome, Harold and Mark have reached the otter den. It is still raining and somewhat dark. They are huddled together, low to the ground, watching the den. MARK Now what? Several of the smaller otters are hanging out in the den, seemingly unaware of Jerome, Harold and Mark. The giant otter is nowhere to be seen. MARK(CONT'D) Look at them...just hanging out like nothing's happening. HAROLD They're just animals dumb ass. What did you think they would be doing? JEROME Shh! Let's not draw attention to ourselves. (pause) I don't see the big one anywhere. Do either of you? Harold and Mark look around and shake their heads no. JEROME(CONT'D) Good. I see three of them in the den. HAROLD Yeah, three. JEROME We didn't find anymore in the traps. It's possible though, that there are more swimming around, but for now, we're up against three. HAROLD Maybe that's the last of them. JEROME Yeah, maybe. MARK Let's take them out. Mark aims his rifle. HAROLD I agree. But we'll have to shoot straight AND fast. If we all shoot together we can take them out at one time. JEROME We may only get one chance. If we hesitate, they'll scatter. You guys ready? The three men aim they're rifles, each picking a target. HAROLD Ready...aim...fire! Rifle shots ring out through the air. INT. BENNETT LIVING/DINING AREA AFTERNOON Lauren is sitting on the couch, crying and Aunt Mern is trying to console her. Julian and Kitty are covering the body of Sonny. Mary and Scott and Steve are talking quietly in a corner. STEVE Mom, I'm starting to get really scared now. I don't like it here anymore. MARY I know, I know. I don't either. SCOTT We've got to get out of here. (pause) Mom, how can something like this happen? I don't understand. MARY I don't know. I honestly don't know. I'm so sorry you boys had to see Sonny like that. SCOTT How can an otter do something like that? MARY It's not just an otter, honey. SCOTT What then? MARY I just don't know. STEVE Why can't we just get in the van and get out of here? Julian and Kitty have finished with Sonny. They walk over to Mary and Steve and Scott. SCOTT Dad, we want to get out of here. JULIAN Me too. This is just too much. I think it's time we called the police. KITTY I've already tried. The storm has knocked out the phone line. JULIAN Do you have a cell phone? KITTY No. STEVE Why don't we just walk to our cabin, get in the van and leave? JULIAN Okay. But we need to wait for Jerome and Harold and Mark. We can't just leave them. KITTY (to Scott and Steve) Why don't you guys make yourself something to eat. I'm sure the guys will be back soon. Help yourselves to whatever you can find. STEVE I'm not hungry. SCOTT Well I am. Come on Steve. Steve and Scott go to the kitchen. KITTY Do you think we can all fit in your van? JULIAN It will be tight but we're not leaving anyone behind. We'll go straight from here to the Sheriff's office. MARY I hope they get back soon. EXT. WISCONSIN LAKE/OTTER DEN AFTERNOON Jerome, Harold and Mark have walked to the otter's den and are looking at the otter's they killed with their rifles. All three otters are dead. It is raining pretty hard now, visibility is not great. The shore line is slippery. MARK Nice shootin'. Now, where is the big guy? Behind them the giant otter has gotten out of the water and slowly and quietly, stalks up behind them. Harold turns to have a look around and sees the giant otter just as it is lunging at Mark. HAROLD Look out! Harold tries to push Mark out of the way but is not successful. The giant otter bites down on Mark's leg and yanks. Mark falls over. Jerome and Harold try to free Mark from the otter. The otter is unfazed and begins to drag Mark away. Mark is screaming and putting up a good fight. Harold and Jerome grab their rifles and aim. HAROLD(CONT'D) Shit! I can't get a shot without hitting Mark. JEROME Me either. They charge at the giant otter and start hitting it with their rifles. Mark is still screaming. MARK Get this god damn thing off me! Get it off me! The giant otter drags Mark to the water and pulls him under. HAROLD Where'd he go? Dammit I can't see him. JEROME I don't know, I don't know. Harold and Jerome are at the edge of the water, shinning the flashlights over the water. HAROLD Dammit! Mark! Mark! (pause) I'm going in. JEROME Harold, NO! Harold jumps in the water and frantically searches for Mark. Jerome stands on shore, rifle ready, watching. HAROLD Where'd he go? JEROME He hasn't come up yet? I don't know. HAROLD Shit! I can't find him. Harold and Jerome look around. HAROLD (CONT'D) Mark! Mark! JEROME He's gone Harold. Get out of the water. HAROLD No. I'm not leaving him here. JEROME You're going to be next if you don't get out of that water. Come on! Harold, looking defeated, finally gets out of the water. HAROLD Son of a bitch! I can't believe this. It's like the re-union all over again. (pause) I'm going to kill that son of a bitch! JEROME We've got to get out of here. Come on. Harold and Jerome run towards Jerome's house. INT. BENNETT LIVING/DINING AREA AFTERNOON Kitty, Mary and Julian are sitting around the dinning room table. Aunt Mern and Lauren are on the couch. Lauren has calmed down a little but is still upset. LAUREN This is too much. Too much. What am I going to do without Sonny? He's the only one who loved me. What am I going to do? AUNT MERN I'm so sorry Lauren. I really am. LAUREN I'm scared. I am really scared. In the movies I have people telling me what to do...how to react. Oh, I wish some of those people were here right now. AUNT MERN This isn't a movie Lauren. No one here will tell you how to act. You've lost someone dear to you and it's okay to be scared. We're going to get out of this just fine. LAUREN What if we don't? What if we die just like Sonny? Harold and Jerome walk into the living room through the sliding glass doors. They are soaking wet and visibly upset. Kitty rushes to Jerome and hugs him. KITTY Oh my God! Are you okay? JEROME I'm fine. JULIAN Where's Mark? JEROME He didn't make it. MARY Oh dear God! KITTY I think it's time we got out of here. Let the sheriff handle it now. Julian and Mary have a van and we can all squeeze in it... HAROLD (interrupting) I'm not going anywhere. JEROME He's right. We can't go anywhere..you didn't see this thing in action..we have to take it out. MARY My boys are scared to death. We've got to get them out of here. JULIAN She's right. You have no idea what we've been through while you were gone. LAUREN Sonny's dead! And so is your friend. HAROLD Friend? Jon? JULIAN Yeah, I'm sorry. He's out front. Harold leaves the living room walking towards the front door. AUNT MERN If Harold and Jerome want to stay and see this thing through to the end, that's fine. But I think the rest of us should go. KITTY If Jerome stays, then I stay. AUNT MERN The less people that are here, the less people it can kill. JEROME She's right. You have to go, Kitty. I don't want anything to happen to you. KITTY You're my husband and this is our house and.. Harold walks back into the living room, interrupting Kitty. HAROLD Everybody's leaving! Right now. (to Julian) Where's the keys to your van? JULIAN On the table in our cabin. HAROLD Okay. I'm going to get the keys and bring the van back here. Everyone be ready to go when I get back. Stunned silence by everyone as Harold leaves the cabin. EXT. CABIN 3 FRONT YARD AREA AFTERNOON Harold is walking fast toward cabin 3. He is very alert and visibly upset. The rain has let up a little but the sky is still dark. It is thundering and lightening. He makes his way to Cabin 3 and sees the van immediately. He notices something is not quite right. Upon closer inspection he sees that all the tires are flat. HAROLD What the hell! God damn it! He takes one last look around and runs back to the Bennett house. INT. BENNETT LIVING/DINING AREA AFTERNOON Harold runs through the front door into the living where everyone is waiting. MARY Okay, we're ready. HAROLD We're not going anywhere. Son of a bitch got the van...all the tires are flat. JULIAN What? MARY That's impossible. I don't care how big that thing is...it CAN NOT flatten tires. HAROLD Well it did. (pause) But, I have another idea. AUNT MERN What? HAROLD Our ATV's. (to Scott and Steve) Can you boys drive those? SCOTT/STEVE Yeah. No problem. HAROLD Good. We have two, so you can each drive one. You can each take a passenger so at least four of you can get out here. I'm staying so the rest of you can determine who goes. MARY Well, I think Aunt Mern should be one of them. AUNT MERN Don't I get a say in this? MARY No. I'm sorry. You need to go. Anybody have a problem with that? Everyone shakes their head no. JEROME Okay. So who else goes? Mary and Kitty look at Lauren. KITTY I think Lauren should go. She's pretty shook up. LAUREN You just think I don't belong here. You're trying to get rid of me. KITTY Lauren, you're upset and we don't blame you. We are too. But this really isn't your element. LAUREN Oh and it's theirs? (she points to Julian and Mary) He's an accountant for God's sake. They're "out of their element" too. MARY We've been coming here for years... HAROLD (interrrupting) Okay, enough! Lauren, Julian, Mary and Kitty will draw straws, so to speak. That's final. Jerome steps outside the sliding glass doors and gets four sticks from his kindling pile. JEROME Sticks will have to do. He breaks one so it is much smaller than the rest. JEROME(CONT'D) Okay, who's first? Lauren, Kitty, Mary and Julian walk to Jerome. They each pick a stick. Mary picks the shortest one. JEROME(CONT'D) That's it, Mary. You and Aunt Mern go with the boys. We'll give you directions to the Sheriff office. Go there, tell them what's going on and get someone out here fast. Okay? MARY Okay. Mary is distraught about leaving Julian. She goes over to him and hugs him. MARY(CONT'D) Please be careful. Let them kill it. You stay safe. JULIAN Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Just make sure you get the boys to safety. Okay? Julian and Mary hug each other. HAROLD Okay, come on. We'll go together to my cabin. You'll leave from there but we have to be quick. I don't know where that thing is now. You guys ready? Scott, Steve, Aunt Mern and Mary shake their heads yes. HAROLD(CONT'D) Let's go. They walk toward the front door. JULIAN (to Jerome) So what's the plan? JEROME I don't know yet but whatever we do, we have to do it together. It's going to take all of us working as a team to get through this. Julian nods his head in agreement. JEROME(CONT'D) (to Lauren) Lauren? You okay? LAUREN Great, just great. KITTY It's going to be dark soon. Why don't I get us some food together and we can discuss a plan over dinner. JEROME Good idea. KITTY (to Lauren) I could use some help. LAUREN I don't cook. KITTY (exchanging a glance with Jerome) Well, come with me anyway. Lauren and Kitty walk to the kitchen. EXT. CABIN 1/FRONT YARD AREA EARLY EVENING Harold, Scott, Steve, Aunt Mern and Mary are outside of Cabin 1. Harold is handing keys to Scott and Steve. It is raining again and almost dark. Visibility is not good. HAROLD You should have enough daylight left to get you out of the woods. Follow the road...stay ON the road. Don't try to take any short cuts, you'd never find your way through the woods, especially in this rain. SCOTT Okay. HAROLD Go as fast as you can and don't look back. And stay together! SCOTT Okay. Scott and Mary climb onto one ATV and Steve and Aunt Mern climb on another. HAROLD Scott, you and your mom go first, yours has a brighter head light. SCOTT Okay. HAROLD Aunt Mern and Mary..,you two keep your eyes open and stay alert. Okay? MARY Okay. And you guys be careful Harold. HAROLD Go on! Hurry, get out of here! And watch your backs. They ride away. Harold watches them for a minute. When he's confident they are safe he turns toward the Bennett house and starts walking. He hears a noise, not far away from him, and turns to look. He stops but sees nothing. HAROLD Where are you you piece of shit? Come and get me. Come on! He looks around, waiting. Nothing happens. HAROLD(CONT'D) I didn't think so. He starts to run toward the Bennett house. The otter springs from it's hiding place and slams itself into Harold. Harold falls down with the otter on top of him. The otter is biting him and Harold is putting up a fierce fight. He manages to knock the otter off him and stand up. He is a bloody mess but runs as fast as he can. The otter follows. They near the Bennett house. EXT. BENNETT HOUSE FRONT YARD AREA EARLY EVENING HAROLD Jerome! Jerome! Help! Jerome! The otter has caught up with Harold and once again knocks him down. Harold is screaming in pain. Jerome, Kitty, Julian and Lauren run out of the house and see Harold fighting the otter. They stand in the rain, watching. HAROLD(CONT'D) Jerome, shoot it! Shoot it! Jerome runs back into the house. LAUREN Oh my God! Oh my God! Jerome runs back out of the house, rifle in his hands. He aims. HAROLD Shoot it! Jerome shoots and knicks the otter. It screams in pain. Harold manages to free himself and stumble to the house. The otter sits and stares at Jerome, Harold, Julian, Kitty and Lauren. Jerome is frozen with fear and can not shoot the rifle again. Finally, slowly the otter crawls away. INT. BENNETT LIVING/DINING AREA EARLY EVENING Harold is lying on the couch. He is in pain and bleeding. Kitty is cleaning him off and bandaging him up. Jerome and Julian are sitting at the dining room table. There is food on the table. Lauren is pacing around the room. KITTY My God Harold you're a mess. But I think you're going to live. You're lucky. HAROLD Yeah, lucky me. KITTY This may hurt a little. Kitty pours some antibacterial solution on one of Harold's wounds. He grits his teeth in pain. KITTY(CONT'D) Sorry, sorry but I need to get this cleaned. No telling what kind of diseases that monster is carrying. LAUREN What the hell was that? I mean, what the hell was that? There is no way any of this is happening. I'm Lauren King for God's sake..this shit doesn't happen to me. JEROME (walking towards Lauren) Lauren you've got to calm down. LAUREN Calm down! Calm down? How can I calm down, did you see that thing? What the hell was it? JEROME (raising his voice) It's an otter, Lauren. What the hell do you think we've been trying to tell you all day? LAUREN Don't you yell at me and don't treat me like I'm stupid. KITTY No one thinks your stupid Lauren. LAUREN Otters are small..they're cute and cuddly and they're SMALL! That thing was huge.. KITTY (interrupting) Well, it's true. It's just that that one is NOT small or cute or cuddly. JULIAN Why isn't it? I mean, how did it get..like that? Was there some kind of toxic waste here or something? JEROME No. There is no environmental or ecological explanation. Kitty and I have lived on this lake for fifteen years. The water is not contaminated, no radioactive waste....the trees and plant life here are consistent with what you should find here. Nothing out of the ordinary. JULIAN You've been here fifteen years? How long has that thing been here? JEROME We don't know. The first time we saw it was at the Fismer family re-union. That was two years ago and I'm guessing that thing was a couple of years old then. LAUREN So what are saying? It's just a really BIG otter? JULIAN I've heard of giant otters before. They can reach six feet in length. That thing was definitely...at least six feet long. Giant otters are just one of..like..thirteen different species, right? HAROLD There's a problem with that theory, Julian. Kitty has finished with the bandages and Harold tries to re-position himself on the couch. JULIAN What's that? HAROLD Our giant friend doesn't have the same characteristics as the "giant otter" species. The nose is different...diamond shaped...it's hair or fur is much thicker. And the colors are all wrong. Giant otters have distinctive white markings on their throat. This one doesn't. I have had a very close up view of it's throat. And most importantly, they live in the South American rain forests NOT northern Wisconsin. JULIAN So what is it then? HAROLD Lutra canadensis.......Nutria de Sumatra.....Lontra del naso peloso. LAUREN What? KITTY The North American River Otter. Nothing more, nothing less. LAUREN You mean it's just a freak of nature or something? JEROME Exactly. It's genetics. Has to be. LAUREN Genetics? Yeah, like when two dwarf parents have normal size children or average size parents having a kid that's seven feet tall. JEROME Something like that. All the other otters we saw were normal size. This one has a genetic deformity of some kind. LAUREN And from what I saw, it has super powers too. JULIAN How the hell are we supposed to kill it? EXT. WISCONSIN LAKE/WOODS EARLY EVENING Steve and Aunt Mern are riding on the ATV, seemingly lost. Scott and Mary are nowhere around. It is raining slightly and almost dark. Steve brings the ATV to a stop. STEVE I can't believe this! How could we have lost them? They were right in front of us. What happened? AUNT MERN It's okay, it's okay. We got a little too side-tracked trying to keep our eyes open for that beast. It's okay. Let's think for a minute. Turn off the engine for a minute. Steve shuts the engine off. STEVE Why? AUNT MERN Let's listen for a minute and see if we can hear the other ATV. They listen but hear nothing but the rain. STEVE It's useless. I don't hear anything. This sucks! AUNT MERN Okay, well lets not sit here too long. Let's just keep going the way we were, it's bound to lead us somewhere. Steve starts the engine and they begin riding again. INT. BENNETT LIVING ROOM EARLY EVENING Harold is un-conscience on the couch. Jerome, Kitty, Julian and Lauren are sitting around the dining room table. Some of the food has been eaten. KITTY Harold has had it. There is no way he can go back out there. JEROME I know. I know. (to Julian) Looks like it's just you and me. JULIAN I was afraid you'd say that. What's our plan? JEROME First, let's just make sure that no one here wants to capture that thing alive...turn it over to some agency for scientific study or something stupid like that. LAUREN Yeah, that's what they'd do in the movies. They always do that and more people end up getting killed. JULIAN I don't think any of us want to SAVE it. Everyone shakes their head no. JEROME Good. Then we're gonna blow it's head off. EXT. BENNETT HOUSE BACK YARD AREA EARLY EVENING Julian and Jerome are hiding in the woods, separately, rifles ready. The rain has momentarily stopped. Everything is soaked and slippery. Kitty is pacing back and forth on the back porch. She is holding a large butcher knife. Lauren watches from inside the house. KITTY (to herself) Okay, here I go. Kitty slowly walks down the steps, she is very alert. She walks to the dock and stands there waiting for the giant otter to attack. KITTY(CONT'D) Okay, I'm here! Come and get me! Here I am! From behind her, Jerome screams. EXT. WOODS NEXT TO BENNETT HOUSE EARLY EVENING Jerome screams as the giant otter attacks him. He starts beating it as it bites him in the throat. Kitty comes running over, slipping every few steps in the mud. KITTY No! No! Jerome! Kitty charges at the giant otter and stabs it repeatedly with her knife. The otter then turns to Kitty and attacks her. Julian runs over to Kitty. He has a hard time keeping his balance on the wet ground. JULIAN Kitty! Kitty, get out of there. Julian tries to pull her away but it is too late. Jerome and Kitty are dead. Julian runs as fast as he can back to the house. Lauren is standing on the back deck, frozen in fear. JULIAN Cone on Lauren, move your ass! Get in the house. Julian grabs Lauren and pushes her through the sliding glass doors. INT. BENNETT LIVING ROOM EARLY EVENING Harold is laying on the couch, barely conscience. Lauren and Julian are are in a state of shock as they run through the sliding glass doors. JULIAN Damn it! I can't believe this. Never in my life have I seen anything like this. LAUREN That is not an animal! It's not! What are we going to do? My God what are we going to do? JULIAN It's like reading our minds or something. How does it know what we're planning? Harold? Harold? LAUREN Don't waste your breath, Harold's out of it. JULIAN Great. Just great. (pause) Wonder if the phones are working yet. Julian walks over to check the phone. Lauren watches him. JULIAN(CONT'D) Nope. Still dead. What about a cell phone? Lauren, you have to have a cell phone, right? Have you tried it? LAUREN Only about a million times. There's no signal out here. JULIAN Damn. What about your car? LAUREN I don't have a car. JULIAN How'd you get here? LAUREN A limo. And it's not coming back for another two days. JULIAN Figures. Great. We might not be alive in two days. I'm gonna go check Jon's pockets for keys to their truck. That's our last hope. Julian leaves the room towards the front door. EXT. BENNETT HOUSE FRONT DOOR EARLY EVENING Julian, being very cautious, bends down over the body of Jon. He carefully pulls the tarp off and searches Jon's pockets. He doesn't find any keys. It is raining again. He looks around and studies the area for a moment then goes back inside. INT. BENNETT LIVING ROOM EARLY EVENING Lauren is sitting next to Harold on the couch. Julian walks in the room. LAUREN Did you find them? JULIAN No. There's no way we're going to get out of here unless we kill it. Finish what we started. LAUREN That's insane. Every time someone goes outside they get killed. We need to just stay in here. We're safe in here. JULIAN For how long? We can't stay in here forever. LAUREN Your wife should have reached the cops by now. Let's just stay in here and wait to be rescued. JULIAN I pray that they made it. But even if they did and the cops come..if that thing is still alive there's a good chance more people will be killed. It's up to us now Lauren. We've got to kill it and we've got to do it now. LAUREN How? We're no heroes Julian. We don't know the first thing about any of this. I wish I would have never come here..I can't believe this..I want to go home... HAROLD (interrupting,very groggy) In the front yard...from the roof. We need to lure it to the front of the house. And we have to hurry..I don't think I have much time left. Julian walks over to Harold's side. JULIAN Harold you've got to relax, you're going to be okay as long as you stay put. Lauren and I will.... HAROLD (interrupting) No. It has to be me. I want it to be me. After this, get me to the hospital okay. JULIAN Okay. I promise. What's the plan? EXT. WISCONSIN LAKE/WOODS EVENING Steve and Aunt Mern are riding on the ATV, lost in the woods. They stop in front of a trail marker. It is raining and dark. They are soaked, cold, and scared. STEVE It's no use. I don't know where in the hell I'm going. We're lost. AUNT MERN No, no we're not. Look over there, (she points to the trail marker) a trail marker. Go in the direction of the arrow. It's got to take us somewhere. STEVE But where? AUNT MERN Either the main road or back to the lake..I guess. STEVE Or to another trail. AUNT MERN Just go! I feel like a sitting duck out here. STEVE I hope it goes to the road..we're almost out of gas. They drive off following the direction of the trail marker. EXT. BENNETT HOUSE FRONT YARD AREA EVENING Julian and Lauren are on top of the roof. Julian has his rifle ready. Lauren carries a flashlight. As she moves the flashlight around, they study the area carefully. Harold is sitting the middle of the yard. He holds a hunting knife. It is raining and very dark. Visibility sucks. HAROLD You guys ready up there? JULIAN Ready as ever. They wait for a moment or two, looking in all directions. LAUREN This is so stupid..I don't understand why we can't stay in the house. This is suicide. JULIAN Not for us. For Harold. He's a sitting duck down there. Now stop complaining and start looking. If he dies it will be our fault. LAUREN No, no it won't. None of this is my fault. Harold hears a noise to his right. HAROLD Shh! Shh! I heard something. (to Julian) To my right, to my right. He's coming. Lauren shines the light to Harold's right side and Julian aims the rifle. The giant otter charges toward Harold. LAUREN There it is, there it is. Shoot it Julian. Julian takes aim, shoots and misses. The otter stops and looks around. Julian aims and shoots again. He misses again. The otter takes off after Harold who is desperately trying to get to his feet. JULIAN I've got to help him. Take this. (he hands the rifle to Lauren) I'll get it off Harold and you shoot it. LAUREN No, no. I've never shot one of these before.. JULIAN Just aim and pull the trigger. And I pray your aim is better than mine. Harold is trying to hold the otter away from himself. He is fighting for his life. Julian runs into the front yard. JULIAN(CONT'D) Hey! Hey over here! Julian runs up behind the giant otter and kicks and punches it. JULIAN(CONT'D) Come on, come on! Over here you piece of shit! The otter releases Harold and faces Julian. Julian backs away slowly and the giant otter gets ready to charge. JULIAN(CONT'D) Shoot it Lauren! Now! Now! Lauren shoots. She hits the giant otter and wounds it but doesn't kill it. It races toward Julian. LAUREN Run Julian run! Get back up here. JULIAN I can't. You're going to have to shoot it again. Shoot it again! Lauren aims the rifle again. In the background we hear the engine of an approaching ATV, getting louder as it gets closer. Julian is trying to keep his distance from the otter. Steve and Aunt Mern come hauling ass down the ATV/Snowmobile trail. Steve sees what's happening and doesn't slow down. He rams the ATV right into the giant otter, hurting it badly. JULIAN(CONT'D) Lauren, again, now! Blow it's head off. Lauren fires the rifle and blows the giant otters head off. Everyone is silent and still for a moment. LAUREN Oh yeah! Yeah! I got it, I got it. Hah! Bet you guys are glad I didn't get the short stick now, huh? Woo- hoo! Julian runs over to Harold. JULIAN Harold? Harold? Come on man, we got it. We got it! Harold is dead. Steve and Aunt Mern get off the ATV and rush into Julian's arms. STEVE Dad are you okay? JULIAN Yeah thanks to you. What are you doing here anyway? STEVE We got lost. JULIAN Lucky for us. Lauren is still on the roof. LAUREN Can someone help me down? In the background we hear police sirens approaching. Lauren collapses on the roof, crying and shaking uncontrollably. STEVE I got her Dad. Steve walks away. Julian and Aunt Mern survey the damage around them. AUNT MERN Thank God you're alright. JULIAN Yeah. But Harold didn't make it. AUNT MERN What about Kitty and Jerome? JULIAN They didn't make it either. AUNT MERN My God. Julian and Aunt Mern walk over to the dead giant otter. JULIAN It's all this things fault. Can you believe it? This thing has killed nine people. AUNT MERN The authorities won't be able to cover it up this time. Steve and Lauren walk up to Julian and Aunt Mern. Aunt Mern takes Lauren into her arms and hugs her. AUNT MERN(CONT'D) You're okay. Everything's going to be okay now. The police cars pull up in front of the Bennett house. Several POLICEMEN exit their cars and look around. Scott and Mary get out of one of the police cars and run over to Julian. They hug. JULIAN I am so glad to see you. And the police are here..finally...thank the Lord. MARY I'm so glad you're okay. Mary kisses Julian. SCOTT (to Steve) What happened to you man. One minute you're there the next you're not. STEVE I don't know. We were driving around in circles, felt like forever, and the next thing we knew, we were back here. Scott hugs Steve. A policeman walks over to them. POLICEMAN (to Julian) Sir, can I speak with you over hear for a moment? Julian walks away with the policeman. They huddle together for a moment. Scott, Steve and Mary get a closer look at the giant otter laying dead at their feet. Julian walks back over to join them. JULIAN The cops are going to keep this quiet. They don't want anyone to know what happened up here. They don't want to cause a panic but I think they just don't want to have to explain themselves. I mean, this has happened twice now. MARY That's crazy. How are they going to hide this? JULIAN I don't know. Same way they did last time I guess. LAUREN That's what they think. AUNT MERN What do you mean? LAUREN Sonny died here. I'm not going to let them keep this a secret. I'm going to make sure the whole world knows what happened here. For Sonny. Lauren walks away from the group and heads for the group of policemen. They recognize her and gather around her like puppy dogs. EXT. HOLLYWOOD MOVIE THEATER AFTERNOON A crowd of fans has gathered around the theater. They are screaming and cheering. A swarm of paparazzi are stationed on the corner of the red carpet and the street. They are taking pictures. Several reporters are stationed along the red carpet, speaking to celebrities as they pass by. This is the premier of Lauren Kings new movie, My Heart for You. MOBY SMITH, a reporter for the Los Angeles Review, waits for Lauren to appear. He is talking quietly to his CAMERAMAN. MOBY She should be here any minute. I doubt she will talk to us., she never does, but I want lots of video. I'll voice over later. The cameraman nods his head in agreement. MOBY(CONT'D) With Sonny not here, she'll be totally vulnerable. The cameraman points to the street behind Moby. A limousine is pulling up to the curb. CAMERAMAN That's got to be her. MOBY Okay, okay. Camera on. The cameraman adjusts his equipment to get close ups of Lauren. The driver of the limousine walks around to open the back door of the car. The first to exit the car is Julian, followed by Mary, Steve, Scott and Aunt Mern. CAMERAMAN Who the hell are these people? MOBY I don't know, I don't know. Lauren is the last to exit the limousine. She steps out and the crowd goes crazy. She smiles and waves. The six of them proceed down the red carpet. MOBY(CONT'D) What is going on with her? Are you getting this? CAMERAMAN Yeah, yeah. Every bit of it. Looks like she's heading straight for you. Moby looks confused as Lauren makes her way down the carpet and stops right in front of him. MOBY Miss King. Great to see you. You look beautiful, as always. LAUREN Thank you Moby. MOBY I'm caught a little off guard here, I wasn't expecting you to stop. Who do you have with you? LAUREN These are my friends. My very good friends. Julian and Mary Johns. Their sons, Steve and Scott. And of course, Aunt Mern. These people literally, saved my life. MOBY Well, of course, it's very nice to meet all of you. Miss King, we are all very sorry to hear of Sonny's death, would you care to make a statement regarding that accident. LAUREN Yes, I would like to make a statement. First of all, it was not an accident. (Lauren turns to her friends) I told you I wouldn't let them cover it up. For Sonny! And Jerome and Kitty and Harold and Jon and Mark. (they nod in agreement and Lauren turns back to Moby) I repeat it was not an accident and you, Moby, have the exclusive. Sonny, and some other very fine people were killed, mauled to death, in a small town in Northern Wisconsin. The authorities there have refused to acknowledge what happened. For the safety of others, and in memory of our lost friends, I want every reporter, starting with you Moby, to let the truth be told. Moby and the cameraman stand there in disbelief as Lauren leans in and hugs Moby. LAUREN(CONT'D) (whispering in Moby's ear) Go there, start asking questions, expose the truth. Thank you. Lauren smiles into the camera and walks away. JULIAN (to Mary) I think that's the nicest, most un- selfish thing she has ever done. MARY (to Julian) I think this experience has changed her forever. For the better. They smile at each other and continue to walk the red carpet. The crowd goes crazy with excitement as Lauren passes by them. MOBY (VO) There you have it ladies and gentlemen. From the lips of the woman who experienced a weekend from hell and lived to tell about it. I, for one, am going to Wisconsin. More on this story as I uncover the facts. Lauren, Julian, Mary, Steve, Scott and Aunt Mern enter the theater. EXT. CABIN 2 FRONT YARD AREA AFTERNOON One month later. A car approaches from the road and pulls to a stop in front of cabin 2. It is a beautiful sunny day. There is no evidence left behind of the otter attacks that occurred at the lake: the area is remarkably clean. LISA AND SHANE MONTGOMERY, twenty something newlyweds, get out of their car, stretch their legs and look around. SHANE My God! This place is awesome. What do you think Lisa? Is this the perfect place for a honeymoon or what? He rushes to her and kisses her. LISA It's perfect Shane. In the woods...all alone...imagine the possibilities. SHANE Oh my imagination is already on double time. They kiss again. SHANE(CONT'D) Let's unpack and get the party started. They unload their suitcases and food supplies from the car and carry them into cabin 2. INT. CABIN 2 LIVING/DINING/KITCHEN AREA AFTERNOON The inside of the cabin is spotless. There is no evidence of anyone having been here before. Shane puts the suitcases in the bedroom and Lisa puts their food supplies on the kitchen table. Lisa opens the blinds on the sliding glass doors and looks out at the view. Shane comes up behind her and puts his arms around her. LISA Never in my life have I seen something as beautiful as this. SHANE (kissing Lisa's neck) I have. LISA I'm so glad you brought me here. SHANE I do take all the credit for this brilliant idea. They kiss. LISA We're the only ones here? SHANE Uh huh. What do you want to do first? LISA Why don't we see what the bedroom looks like? They kiss as they walk toward the bedroom. EXT. CABIN 2 BACK DECK EARLY EVENING Camera scans the back deck. The patio table on the back deck is crowded with beach towels, lotion, beers, chips and a radio. The radio is on. Shane and Lisa talking, very faintly, from the dock. SHANE (OS) Who's going first? LISA (OS) You go first. SHANE (OS) I always have to go first. Why do I always have to go first? EXT. CABIN 2 DOCK/LAKE EARLY EVENING There are several loons floating in the lake, and the woods are alive with the sounds of birds. Lisa and Shane are standing on the edge of the dock, looking around. They kiss LISA In case something's in there. SHANE Oh, so I'd be the first to go? Lisa smiles. LISA Yeah, you the man, remember? SHANE Okay, okay. Shane jumps into the water. SHANE(CONT'D) Come on Lisa..jump. I'll catch you. LISA Is it cold? SHANE Of course it's cold. This isn't Florida. But I'll warm you up. After much coaxing by Shane, Lisa finally jumps in. They swim around and goof off. They are laughing and having a good time. We watch Shane and Lisa swim but their voices drown out as we listen to the radio that is playing from the picnic table. ANNOUNCER (VO) Sorry to interrupt the music people but we have a story just in. A local story coming to us all the way from Hollywood....As most of us have already noticed our town has been over run by reporters lately, asking questions about an incident that happened here last month. It seems several people were attacked and killed at Forest Lake by..get this people...a giant otter. Can you believe that? I said a giant otter. So far the authorities have not commented publicly about this, but it really makes you wonder, doesn't it? We've all witnessed government cover- ups before haven't we? But I for one have been to Forest Lake several times and have never witnessed any giant otter. A twist to this story is that it originated from Lauren King, the movie star. Could it be a publicity stunt for an upcoming movie? That's my guess. I'm sure this isn't the last we'll hear from the so called Hollywood reporters but let's not panic people the revenue is just want this town needs.... The announcer voice drowns out as Shane and Lisa's voices grow louder. LISA My God this water is freezing. How can anything live in this water...the fish must be ice cubes. SHANE Come here you..I'll warm you up. They begin kissing and are oblivious to the wake that is being formed a short distance away from them. Several birds fly from the trees, and the loons quickly leave the lake. The woods suddenly become very quiet. Lisa is the first to notice. LISA Do you hear that? SHANE What? I don't hear anything? LISA Exactly..it got so quiet all the sudden..like everything just died. SHANE What? They look around. Shane finally notices the wake that has formed and is headed straight at them. SHANE(CONT'D) What is that? LISA I don't know. Something swimming under the water..I guess. What did you say lives in this lake Shane? SHANE Just fish..and maybe a few turtles. LISA I don't think that's a fish or a turtle. The wake suddenly stops, a few feet from Lisa and Shane. They are a little uneasy and a little confused. LISA(CONT'D) What happened Shane? Where'd it go? SHANE I don't know. LISA Let's get out of here. They begin to swim back to the dock. Something brushes past them. LISA(CONT'D) Did you feel that? What was it? SHANE I don't know just keep swimming...hurry! Hurry! They swim faster with Shane in the lead. Lisa is pulled under the water. Shane doesn't look back so he doesn't notice she's gone at first. Finally he turns around. SHANE(CONT'D) Lisa? Lisa! Lisa! He is panicking and confused. He is screaming. SHANE(CONT'D) Lisa! Lisa! He swims around, under the water, trying to find Lisa. He dives and comes up for air several times without Lisa. He gets more panicked each time. SHANE(CONT'D) My God! My God! Lisa!!!! He comes up the final time. He opens his eyes and takes a deep breath. He turns around in circles several times, looking for Lisa. He feels something brush past his legs. SHANE(CONT'D) Lisa? He reaches down and nothing is there. He swims back to the dock. As he is about to climb onto the dock he looks back onto the water one last time. Behind him is a giant otter, emerging from the water. Scott screams. The giant otter attacks Scott and pulls him under the water. FADE OUT THE END
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