CAST & VOICE TALENT

“Susie’s Deadtime Stories” (Wraparound), written by Kenneth Vigue.

• Alexander Luthor ~ Chad Johnson, Bear
• Kenneth Vigue ~ Narrator
• Jessica Duval ~ Susie, Ella
• Clint Winberry ~ Moose
• Christian Mower ~ Punch, The Night Wolf, Scorched Trick or Treater
• Kevin Chenard ~ Old Man, Ringer, Mama Murmurgh
• Fenwa Teryen ~ Charles Bishop,
• Jessica Marie Dickey ~ Woman, Patsy
• Mary Kalopodes-Saunders ~ Overseer
• Mark Hauswirth ~ Slick Willy

Vignette #1 “Bad Blood”, written by Kenneth Vigue.

• Principal ~ Simon Bugg
• Mrs. Malone ~ Taylor Jinx Knight
• Superintendent Withers ~ Durian Lamont
• Billy ~ Logan Hauswirth

Vignette #2 "The Red Queen", written by Kenneth Vigue.

• Eve Lamont ~ Lucy Middelthon
• Helen Quinn, Lady Alice ~ Jessica Dickey
• Louisa Marlow ~ Mary Kalopodes-Saunders
• Miss Knapp, Mrs. Wilcox ~ Kayce Baker
• Mrs. Timmons ~ Vitriol Blue
• Woman ~ Noelle Rose
• Mr. Baxter (Mr. Handy) ~ Uriah Thompson

Vignette #3 "Mystery, Deceased", written by George Wolf

• Lord Torrance ~ Richard Oliver
• Lady Torrance ~ Kirsty Harrison
• Sam ~ Simon Bugg
• Angie ~ Jessica Dickey
• Tiffany ~ Taylor Jinx-Knight
• Brett ~ Matt Bartlett
• Leo ~ Alexander Luthor

Vignette #4 "Forever and Always"

• Trenton Butt ~ Aurelian Woodlocke
• Atticus Jackson ~ Lucas Thorne
• Simone ~ Kayce Baker
• Grams Thorne ~ Jessica Dickey
• The Wanderer ~ Oliver Larch
• Trey Bradley ~ Kenneth Vigue
• Kevin Quinn ~ Brad Williams
• Melinda Quinn ~ Taylor Jinx Knight
• Cal Ripley ~ Clint Winberry
• Waitress ~ Summer Rose
• Mr. Harvey (Mr. Handy type) ~ Christian Mower
• Vincent Von Ghoul ~ GUEST: Chris Ciulla

Vignette #5 "Death of a Doll", adapted from a story from the Inner Sanctum OTR show, written by Fred Maytho

• Willie Harper ~ Alexander Luthor
• Mr. McGrundy (The Night Editor Bot) ~ Christian Mower
• Mr. Jackson (Mortician) ~ Lucas Wright
• Clerk ~ Keemo Provorse
• The Doll ~ Jessica Duval
• Det. McShea (Fake Kara Nana) ~ Clint Winberry
• Beau Cousins ~ Mark Hauswirth

SFX: HALLOWEEN FX PLAY.

MEDIA: COLD OPENING DIALOGUE MUSIC

KEN: This is Kenneth Vigue. If you grew up in the 80s or even early 90s you know as well as I do, that horror was everywhere and not just everywhere, it was sexy…in prime time and dominated the box office. It was the decade where a burned man wearing a glove forked with knives was haunting the dreams of Elm Street but paradoxically was also on the front of children’s lunch boxes. Scholastic fall book fairs to which you went clutching sweaty dollar bills and a dog-eared multicolored paper catalogue, saw virtually everyone in class grabbing the latest textured cover of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps. It was an amazing era for the exploration of darkness, monsters, and imagination…it was the era I grew up in, that shaped me…and I don’t think it will ever come again. When I was 9 it was decided I needed to get out of the house, and so I joined the Cub Scouts one autumn day and soon enough found myself on weekends summer through fall in the depths of the woods with my sleeping bag pulled up to my chin imagining every shadow ghosting past my tent had teeth and claws. In the evenings we would all walk down to the waterfront where a roaring bonfire awaited. Sketches were performed, knee slapping jokes were told and so were chilling ghost stories. The years flew by, and the word Cub in Scouts was substituted with the word Boy. Over time I found my courage and my voice and began to tell stories of my own and to my great surprise…when I finished, I was met with terrified silence. I began writing them down in a dollar store blank book that I still have all these years later with such charming story titles as “The Psycho Student”, “Mucus Man” and ”The Revenge of the Killer Ghost”. If you’ve been listening this long, you’ll know how much I love writing horror. I think through horror we bring our demons and darkness out to play, to face them as opposed to pretending they don’t exist…because in safely embracing both the light and darkness inside us all, we understand it…and ourselves. This year for Halloween we have something a little different, a horror anthology of morsels Chad and his gang will be pulling out of the Trick or Treat bag for you tonight. We are joined by a special voice actor, Atticus Jackson of The NoSleep Podcast, the very first podcast I ever listened to and love…and if you haven’t discovered it…go subscribe to it right now. This episode also contains a story that is very, very personal to me and I think you’ll know it when you hear it. I am both nervous and excited to share it with you. There are layers to its meaning and may require a second listen to understand what actually happens…but for me, it’s a story I’ve wanted to tell for a while. Now…let’s begin. Halloween has returned to Appalachia and with it, a blanket of fear, anxiety and expectation as the last few years have brought nothing but darkness and despair. But that, is in the future. We open in the distant past before Reclamation Day on the scene of a robbery and murder. A house with no lights on, but something is skipping up the sidewalk towards it anyway. It’s Halloween after all, a time for treats and tricks…or is it?

MEDIA: HALLOWEEN MUSIC.

SCENE 1: FOREST REGION - EXT. NIGHT.

SFX: WIND, CRICKETS. CONFRONTATION HEARD MUFFLED, SLOWLY FADING IN OVER THE WIND AS WE DRIFT TOWARDS THEM. SMASHING IS HEARD AS DRAWERS ARE SEARCH.

WOMAN:            Please! Please! We don’t have any caps! I told you! Please just take some supplies and go!

RINGER:               Bullshit lady! Your old man here was trading down in Sutton today. Saw him with own two eyes! You telling me he came home empty handed? I wasn’t born yesterday.

OLD MAN:           We just trade and barter I told you! Our harvest for supplies! Just supplies! Take it and get the hell out of here! You god damned raiders thought you were king shit living up in your condos! Now look at yah! Your money ain’t worth shit! You’re begging for scraps like rats! That’s what you are! Rats!

RINGER:               Squeek, squeak.

SFX: GUNSHOT.

WOMAN:            WALTER! WALTER!

SFX: GUNSHOT.

RINGER:               God damn it…all over my boots. Look what you did to my boots Old Man!

SFX: FOOTSTEPS. CLOSET EMPTIED. SMASHING AND BANGING.

RINGER:               Nice! At least you’re good for something. Needed new boots anyway.

SFX: SHOES KICKED OFF. LACED UP.

RINGER:               Nice place you got her lady. Let’s see what you’re canning.

SFX: GLASS MASON JAR OPENED.

RINGER:               Ohhhh man…stinks.

SFX: SMASH.

SFX: KNOCKING IS HEARD.

RINGER:               What the…

SFX: KNOCK IS HEARD AGAIN. MORE INSISTANT.

RINGER:               Hey! Who the hell is that! Chains? That you! I told you this one’s mine! Go bother those assholes up the road!

SFX: SILENCE. CRICKETS. CREAKING BOARDS.

SFX: KNOCKING LOUD. POUNDING.

RINGER:               (startled) Jesus…quite playin’ around! You want to be cute?

SFX: GUN RELOADED.

RINGER:               I’ll be right with you dear!

SFX: STOMP TO DOOR. DOOR OPENED.

SUSIE:                   Trick or treat!

RINGER:               What the…

ELLA:                     Smell my feet! Give my fanny a tickle treat! TEE HEE! That’ll never get old!

RINGER:               What do you want kid?

SUSIE:                   Trick or treat mister!

RINGER:               What are you high or something? It’s August…you’re a little early. Nice face…go find some RadX you little shit.

SFX: DOOR SLAMMED.

RINGER:               God damned kids.

SFX: DRAWERS OPENED.

RINGER:               Laser pistol. Nice…ahhh damn….thing needs to be repaired. (calls) You should take better care of your tools walt.

SUSIE:                   (close) TRICK. OR TREAT!

RINGER:               JESUS!

SFX: GUNSHOT.

SFX: LITTLE FOOTSTEP RUN.

ELLA:                     I guess he wants a trick!

SUSIE:                   (Evil laugh echoing around the room)

RINGER:               Hey! Come on out here kid! I ain’t playin’ around.

SUSIE:                   That’s not how you play mister. You have to find us.

RINGER:               These your folks? Huh? You mad? Cope. Rules of the wasteland kid…every man for himself.

SFX: EERIE SILENCE. DOOR SWINGS.

SFX: GUNSHOT.

SUSIE:                   You’re getting colderrrrrrr.

SFX: FOOTSTEPS RUN UPSTAIRS.

RINGER:               I heard you! I got you, you little bitch!

SFX: BOOTS RUN UPSTAIRS.

ELLA:                     (sing song) Black cats and goblins and broomsticks and ghosts…

SUSIE:                   (sing song) Black cats and goblins and broomsticks and ghosts…

SFX: FAST LITTLE FOOTSTEPS.

RINGER:               This is getting old kid…one way up…one way down…

SFX: DOOR SQUEEKS. SHOWER CURTAIN RUSTLES.

RINGER:               (whispers) Got yah…

SUSIE:                   (sing song) Covens of witches with all of their hosts, you may think they scare me, you’re probably right, black cats and goblins on Halloween night.

ELLA:                     (sing song) Covens of witches with all of their hosts, you may think they scare me, you’re probably right, black cats and goblins on Halloween night.

RINGER:               Happy Halloween kid!

SFX: CURTAIN PULLED BACK.

SFX: GUNSHOT. PORCEILAN CRACKS.

RINGER:               Where’d you….

SUSIE:                   TRICK OR TREAT!

SFX: BLADE SLICES LEGS. BLOOD SPURTS.

RINGER:               (screaming) AHHHHH AHHHHH! MY LEGS! YOU LITTLE…AHHHH JESUS CHRIST!

SFX: GUN SHOTS. CLICKING EMPTY.

RINGER:               (crying and moaning for a while while Susie and Ella talk)

ELLA:                     A, B, C, D, E, F, G….cut your tendons make you bleed! He he heeeee!

SUSIE:                   That was a fun game Ella. But there’s no treats…just veggies.

ELLA:                     Veggies are gross! YUCK!

SUSIE:                   I know Ella! Let’s decorate for Halloween!

RINGER:               Come here….you little bitch….I’m gonna carve your eyes out with a knife you hear me!

SUSIE:                   Don’t worry mister! Ella and I love to decorate!

SFX: FOOTSTEPS ON STAIRS.

RINGER:               Come back here! (Screaming dragging himself on floor)

SFX: DOOR OPENS AND SLAMS.

SUSIE:                   Let’s make a jack o’lantern Ella! Remember the Pumpkin House?

ELLA:                     Pumpkin Grenades smell like wet farts. Wheeeee!

SFX: BAG OPENED. CLINKING.

SUSIE:                   Here we go Ella! Just what we need.

RINGER:               I’m gonna kill you! You hear me! I’m gonna skin you alive!

SFX: LIGHT FLICKS. LIGHTS.

SUSIE:                   Happy Halloween!

SFX: MOLATOV COCKTAIL THROW. SMASHES THROUGH WINDOW EXPLODES.

ELLA:                     Let’s play with matches!

RINGER:               Oh god! No! NOOOO!!! (screaming as he’s burned alive.)

SFX: HOUSE IGNITES. WINDOWS BLOW OUT.

SUSIE:                   That was fun Ella! This will make a fun story for our night night book! But…ohhhh…we didn’t get any candy.

ELLA:                     You have to knock on more doors silly! Let’s get some more and then I’ll tell you some more stories!

SUSIE:                   That sounds like fun! No one is wearing any costumes or scary masks.

ELLA:                     Use your switch blade silly!

SUSIE:                   Let’s make someone into a real scary mask!

SFX: KNIFE BLADE FLICKS OPEN. SKIPPING AWAY DOWN THE STREET.

SUSIE:                   (singing) If you go out to the woods today you’re in for a big surprise!

                                If you go out to the woods today you won’t believe your eyes….

                                Beneath the trees where trees where nobody sees they hide and sleep as long as they please and that’s the way the teddy bears have their picnic!

MEDIA: SUSIE’S HALLOWEEN THEME

SCENE 2: ROADWAY - EXT. DAY.

SFX: CHEERY AUTUMN DAY. RADIO STATIC CRACKLES.

OVERSEER (vo): Broadcasting to the people of Vault 76. This is the Overseer. I know these past few years have been hard. So much has changed, so much has been lost and so much is still left to be done. If we were back home in the Vault, I would be wishing you a Happy Halloween right now and we’d planning festivities with more than a few of you planning things I’d end up scolding you for…but in truth, after walking away I’d laugh. What I have to say now is no laughing matter. As we’ve discovered the past few Halloweens this day and long night ahead is not like our experiences in 76. These mountains are old, their shadows long…before we emerged, all who survived before us perished out here, and I think something took root. Grew in the vacuum and loneliness of a world with the memory of life, but devoid of it. Tonight, I need all of us to be watchful, be wary, be careful. The New Responders have field stations set up in Flatwoods, the Red Rocket Truck Stop, Sutton and Watoga. They are armed and protected. If you choose to shelter in place, please salt your doors and windows. Do not go out, do not let anyone in. Against our advice the Whitespring Resort is throwing their usual Halloween ball, and should you not heed my warning and choose to go to those people, do not go alone, do not leave drinks unattended…and don’t, I repeat, don’t eat any of their food. It’s not what you think it is. I’ll be listening…I’ll be here all night. Call me I you need to. Happy Halloween…. Godspeed. Please….be careful. Please stay home.

SFX: PICK UP TRUCK APPROACHES. REVVING. SLAMMING THE BRAKES ON. SQUEELING TIRES.

CHAD:                   Let out the clutch…

SUSIE:                   Like this? Wheeee!

SFX: GEARS GRIND. TRUCK LURCHES.

CHAD:                   Dude I’m serious…I’m gonna hurl. Smooth it out will yah! Pick a damned gear!

SUSIE:                   Uhhhh….how about this one?

SFX: TRUCK SHIFTS INTO HIGH GEAR. ENGINE ROARS.

SUSIE:                   Wheeeee! Over hill over dale, while we hit the dusty trail! As those tampons go rolling alonnggggg!

CHAD:                   Better slow up kid there’s one of them molerat potato things in the road.

SUSIE:                   And it’s HI HI WHEEEEEEE!

SFX: MOLERAT SPLATS. HITS THE TRUCK.

SUSIE:                   Oh no! I hit the kitty! SORRY KITTY! SORRY SANTA! Do you think Santa will be mad?

CHAD:                   The dude gave me a cheerleader Christmas before last. What he cares about is becoming a bit unclear kid. Come on now…ease off the gas…you’re freaking me out.

SUSIE:                   (Sad) Okay fine. This speed is boring though. No whooshie whoosie! Why can’t you drive?

CHAD:                   I don’t understand half the shit that happens around here. Tried to build you that new playhouse out back you wanted and some dickhead kept yelling at me over my PipBoy Radio that I can’t place shit anywhere. Who the hell is that guy?

SUSIE:                   Can we pleaseeeeee go for tricks and treats?

CHAD:                   N.  O.  Hard no. We’ve been over this. I’ve had enough Halloween bullshit to last me a lifetime.

SUSIE:                   But I’ve always gone! Even when it was just me and Ella! We used to have so much fun! All year round! This time there was this nasty man who wasn’t wearing no costume…so Ella and I carved him into a…

CHAD:                   Let’s just…focus on driving okay. Look I know you’re disappointed, but we got it all planned out. Moose and Punch are decorating inside the Rusty Pick, with lights and fog machines and all that stuff. Pats is making little decorated cookies that will be burned enough that we use that Junk Jet to clock dweebs who come knocking on the door. It’ll be fun. Promise. We’ll just shoot on up here to Freddie Fear’s, scrounge you up that witches’ costume and get home before the shit hits the fan.

SUSIE:                   That makes a mess!

CHAD:                   Yeah it does. Yeah…turn slow now comin’ up to a corner here…there you go. Good job kid. You’re getting the hang of it.

SFX: ENGINE SPUTTERS. BACKFIRES.

SUSIE:                   Oh boy! Gunshots! Let’s run them over!

CHAD:                   No no…that’s just backfiring. Don’t know how long this beater’s gonna run. Punch dumped about 12 gallons of Biv’s weird ass cocktails in it before she’d start. She gives out on us we got a long walk back. So keep your fingers crossed okay.

SUSIE:                   Like this?

SFX: SCREECHING TIRES.

CHAD:                   Hands on the wheel! 10 and 2! Christ!

SUSIE:                   (laughs) I know, I know. Did your Daddy tech you how to drive?

CHAD:                   My Daddy taught me to drink….

SUSIE:                   Ohhhh can…..

CHAD:                   And NO. You can’t. Nah we had one of them virtual pod thingies back in the Vault. I used to play this one driving sim that was fun. They had this route up the coast into Maine…beaches, sun…girls in short shorts on roller skates…it was heaven.

SUSIE:                   Oh look! There it is! There it is!

CHAD:                   Nice! Now just pull on in.

SUSIE:                   (Humming random song)

CHAD:                   Kid….kid….you gonna….STOP! HIT THE BRAKES DAMN IT!

SFX: TRUCK SCREECHES INTO THE BUILDING.

SUSIE:                   We’re here!

SFX: DOOR KICKED OPEN.

CHAD:                   (Pained) Jesus Christ on a jetpack…hold up kid! There could be ghouls and shit.

SUSIE:                   Hi Mr. Ghoul! Happy Halloween!

SFX: GRENADES. EXPLOSIONS.

CHAD:                   Yup. (pained)

SFX: DOOR OPENED.

CHAD:                   That’s my girl.

SFX: DOOR BROKEN OPEN.

SUSIE:                   Ohhhhhh! Chad! Chad! Look! All kinds of costumes!

SFX: WALKING.

CHAD:                   Yeah! Nice.

SUSIE:                   A princess costume! Owwww….it’s ripped. That’s no good.

CHAD:                   I thought you wanted to be a witch?

SUSIE:                   I’ll be Princess Witch!

CHAD:                   (laughs) First time for everything. Oh lookie here. Nice.

SUSIE:                   What’s that?

CHAD:                   Skeleton mask. Yoink.

SUSIE:                   But it doesn’t have the bottom?

CHAD:                   Nah. Don’t need it.

SUSIE:                   How come?

CHAD:                   Never you mind. Come on…get your gear and lets beat it for home. Hopefully you didn’t wreck our ride.

SUSIE:                   Oh! Look! Look! It’s still here!

CHAD:                   What is?

SUSIE:                   My crayons! Ella and I used to sometimes visit and she’d tell me stories for night night time. She’d talk and I’d make pictures…we made a book of her stories and our adventures.

CHAD:                   You did huh? You don’t want to write or color anymore?

SUSIE:                   (sad) No…that’s baby stuff.

CHAD:                   Baby stuff huh? Is it because Ella’s gone?

SUSIE:                   Yeah…I wish…I miss her.

CHAD:                   She’s not really gone. Long as we remember her…okay? I know Honeypot Bear isn’t the same.

SUSIE:                   MY BOOK! OUR BOOK! We can go get it! We call tell scary stories with our pumpkins and candy!

CHAD:                   Yeah? Where is it?

SUSIE:                   In our old treehouse home where we lived!

CHAD:                   Treehouse? I don’t know kid day is getting short here.

SUSIE:                   It’s right on the way! Right on the way home! By the cabins!

CHAD:                   Alpine River Cabins? I got stoned there back in the day.

SUSIE:                   Ella and I used to play games with people there….

CHAD:                   Alright, we’ll go get your book, but I’m serious. Let’s get a move on. Look there! Witch’s costumes and hat. There you go.

SUSIE:                   Yay! Time to drive again! WHEEEE!

SFX: RUNNING. CAR DOOR SLAMS. TRUCK STARTS. SLAMS INTO REVERSE.

CHAD:                   Oh come on! Wait God damn it!

SFX: SMASHES INTO TRASH CANS.

SUSIE:                   Come on! Come on! Let’s go!

CHAD:                   This kid is gonna be the death of me.

SFX: FOOTSTEPS. DOOR OPENS AND SLAMS.

CHAD:                   Now. Remember what I said.

SUSIE:                   Only run people over if you mean it….

CHAD:                   What? No I did not say…

SFX: TIRES SQUEEL TRUCK CAREERS DOWN THE ROAD.

MEDIA: TRANSITION.

SCENE 3: RUSTY PICK - INT. DAY

PUNCH:                No! Stupid Mama! Punch make scary spider!

MAMA:                (Mumbles)

PUNCH:                You go make Mole Monster over DERE!

MOOSE:               How’s it comin’ dude? Little squirt will be back here soon.

PUNCH:                Punch plug in lights and foggy machine. Stupid Mama want to make trash can into mole monster with machine that make it jump out and scare.

MOOSE:               What?! Really!

MAMA:                (Mumbles)

MOOSE:               That sounds awesome! Let’s see it!

PUNCH:                Mama make trash! Punch’s spider real scary!

MOOSE:               Hang on, let me pretend I’m strollin’ on through the door here…and…

MAMA:                (EXCITED MUMBLE)

SFX: AIR COMPRESSOR RELEASES.

SFX: TRASH THROWN.

PUNCH:                Punch told you!

MOOSE:               Oh man….I’m covered in trash!

MAMA:                (Mumbles)

PUNCH:                Mama said you smell like ready for breed.

MOOSE:               Uhhhhhh…what?

MAMA:                (Seductive mumbling)

MOOSE:               I’m gonna go change and you can just go….sick weirdo.

SFX: WALKING.

MOOSE:               Pats! How’s those cookies coming!

PATSY:                  Cookies? I don’t know. I’m giving myself a pedicure.

MOOSE:               That our dinner pot! Come on babe…are they done?

PATSY:                  (Moans) Fine. I’ll check.

SFX: OVEN DOOR OPENS. FIRE CRACKLES.

PATSY:                  I think they’re like well done.

MOOSE:               (Sarcastic) That’s my little homemaker…

PATSY:                  I don’t make nothing! Let’s go do something! They are having a Halloween Ball at the Whitespring! Let’s go crash it.

MOOSE:               We went over this already. Chad says we’re staying put, we’re staying put. We had enough trouble last year…and the year before…and the year before that…and like…yesterday…and pretty much…uhhh…every day.

PATSY:                  Look around Moose. This is literally hell. What could possibly be worse?

SFX: THUNDER RUMBLES.

MOOSE:               We really shouldn’t say shit like that.

PUNCH:                Little friend home! Little friend home!

SFX: DOOR OPENED. CLOSED.

SUSIE:                   Well, it wasn’t MY FAULT.

CHAD:                   That was probably the only working truck around here!

SUSIE:                   I couldn’t see where I was going!

CHAD:                   We don’t play hide and seek while driving!

SFX: AIR COMPRESSOR BLASTS. TRASH THROWN.

MAMA:                (Mumbles)

PUNCH:                SUH PLIZZZZZZZ! MEAT OR TREAT!

CHAD:                   Close enough. Uhhh…Mama laundry hamper. You wanna get this trash can off me?

MAMA:                (Mumbles)

SUSIE:                   Hi! Mama! Lookie look! I’m a SCARY WITCH! (cackles). I’m gonna put on my costume and show Honeypot Bear!

SFX: WIND BLAST. THUNDER RUMBLES.

MAMA:                (Scared Mumbles)

SFX: RUNNING DOWNSTAIRS.

CHAD:                   Hey! What crawled up her ass and decided to live there?

PUNCH:                Mama scared! She go into tunnels for Hell Uhmmmm Peen. She no stay she say.

CHAD:                   No…no dude. You say it Hall-o-ween.

PUNCH:                That’s what Punch say Chode! Hell Uhmmmm PEEEEENNN.

MOOSE:               Dude…come look at this…

CHAD:                   I fucking knew it dude…what did I say?

MOOSE:               You ever seen clouds like that?

PATSY:                  Your cookies or whatever are on the counter. I put them out with a fire extinguisher thing. Enjoy!

MOOSE:               Where the hell are you going?

PATSY:                  I am going to the Whitespring.

MOOSE:               Uhhh, no you’re not.

PATSY:                  Uhhh YEAH I am. If you think I’m going to hang out here all night on Halloween while we stare at each other and fondle pasta in the dark and Chad here with his dick out, thanks, but no thanks. Been there. Done that. I’m going to a party.

MOOSE:               Babe! Come on…you can’t just bail…

PATSY:                  Watch me. You coming?

CHAD:                   Don’t look at me dude. You tapped it, you bought it.

MOOSE:               No. We’re supposed to stick together.

PATSY:                  That’s what I figured. See you later lameoids! Patsy’s off to crash a party!

SFX: DOOR OPENS. LEAVES RUSH IN. DOOR SLAMS.

PUNCH:                Stupid Patsy going to get eaten by monsters. Again.

MOOSE:               I’m getting real sick of this dude.

PUNCH:                Punch make music machine go!

SFX: RADIO SWITCHED ON.

BISHOP (vo):      …unconfirmed reports of an unidentified flying object over the Charleston Capital Building. Please stand by…the Night Wolf lost the coin toss and is calling in now…

SFX: PHONE CLICK. LASERS FIRING.

BISHOP (vo):      Night Wolf! You there?! Come in pal!

WOLF (vo)           JESUS CHRIST! I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU SENT ME DOWN HERE YOU JACKASS!

BISHOP (vo):      What’s happening!?

WOLF (vo):         What’s happening? I’ll tell you what’s happening! Mysterious beings from the outer reaches of space are invading our fucking skies and stealing the brainwaves from lifeforms throughout Appalachia! We’ve got the New Responders and Judiciary Guard responding, but there’s too many of them! There’s too many!

SFX: EXPLOSIONS.

BISHOP (vo):      Night Wolf! Night Wolf!

WOLF (vo):         Take that you alien sons of bitches! We’re fighting back! We’ll send this alien scum back to space won’t we fellas!

SFX: LASERS.

WOLF (vo):         OH GOD! THE BRAINWAVES! IT’S SUCKING MEEEEEE! DEAR GOD IT’S SUCKING MEEEEEE!

SFX: PHONE DISCONNECTS.

BISHOP (vo):      Ladies and gentleman we’ve lost the Night Wolf! Please, please if anyone can get down there! Where have all the good men gone?! Where are all the gods! We need a streetwise Hercules! We need a hero! We’ve got to fight! We can’t let them…

SFX: RADIO CLICK.

CHAD:                   Nope. No thanks. Fuck it, come on, let’s crack open some beers and lock this place down tight and good. We’ll take the kid through your haunted house thing downstairs, stuff our faces and then she has this book she made she wants to tell stories from.

MEDIA: TRANSITION.

SFX: CRACKLING FIRE.

CHAD:                   Hey! Don’t eat too much candy kid okay?

SUSIE:                   Okay! Story time?

CHAD:                   Sure kid…let’s see what you got!

PUNCH:                Punch tell story! Punch go! Uhhhh…there was a silly meatbag from Nan….uhhh….tuck….uhhhh….Punch forget.

SFX: BOOK OPENED.

SUSIE:                   Look see! I made all the pictures too!

CHAD:                   That’s great kid….uhhh…is that blood pouring out of that woman’s eyes?

SUSIE:                   Uh huh!

CHAD:                   Okay….

SUSIE:                   You want to read first?

CHAD:                   Nah kid you go ahead…we’ll listen.

SFX: FOOTSTEPS.

MOOSE:               Here you go dude! Something new.

CHAD:                   What is it?

MOOSE:               Punch calls Pumpkin Spice.

CHAD:                   You put pumpkins in beer?

PUNCH:                Extra spicey! Full body!

CHAD:                   Sure, what the hell.

SFX: SIPS.

CHAD:                   (coughing)

MOOSE:               What do you think?

CHAD:                   Got a mouthful of dirt….what the hell…you didn’t wash these?

PUNCH:                Wash? Wash what? Extra spicey!

CHAD:                   (still coughing) Right. Well…A for effort dude. Go on kid…

SUSIE:                   Uhmmm…let’s see…..

SFX: PAGES FLIP.

SUSIE:                   Oh! This one! this one! This was one of the first stories Ella told me….it was just after we found each other when Mommy and Daddy weren’t long quiet….

MOOSE:               Uhhh…long quiet…what the actual…

SUSIE:                   SHHHHHH! NO TALKING DURING STORYTIME.

CHAD:                   Just drink your beer dude. Pass me one of them cookies. Watch me nail the trash can cross the room.

MOOSE:               Over there? No way…Here you go dude.

SFX: TRASH CAN METAL DING.

CHAD:                   Big Chad energy….

SUSIE:                   ANYWAY…this story is about a little boy named Billy. Billy’s family was a bad family, but not Billy. Billy didn’t want to be bad, he wanted to be good…but sometimes kids at school or teachers would make him so mad. So mad he’d do bad, bad things. When his school in Morgantown was decorating for the Halloween ice cream social…he did a bad, bad thing to a little bitch named Amanda....

SFX: MEDIA TRANSITION.

--- VIGNETTE #1: BAD BLOOD ---

SCENE 4: MORGANTOWN ELEMENTARY - INT. DAY

SFX: FOOTSTEPS IN HALL. DOOR OPENS.

PRINCIPAL:         …I told you Superintendent bad blood. Bad family. Every one of them. I want him out. Permanently.

WITHERS:            Calm down Tom…let’s get the story straight here.

MALONE:            What happened? I was in the middle of a session.

PRINCIPAL:         Exactly what I told you would happen. That little sh…child….Billy Peterson had another incident. I hope you’re satisfied my dear Miss Malone. I warned you about that kid. 42 years in education and if there’s one thing I know, it’s BAD blood.

MALONE:            Blackballing a child in this school system because you have history with his old man isn’t just cause to witch hunt the kid into a state of anxiety and paranoia…TOM.

PRINCIPAL:         That’s Principal Sutters, MISS Malone.

MALONE:            What happened?

WITHERS:            That’s what we’re trying to determine.

PRINCIPAL:         I’ll tell you what happened. You should see the mess in there! We’ll all be lucky in her parents don’t sue!

MALONE:            Christ Tom please just spit it out…

PRINCIPAL:         The children were in the cafeteria decorating for the ice cream social. Hanging things, blowing up balloons and such. Mr. Belvedere was monitoring them, so I stepped out to place a call. Once I was done and making my way back I could hear the children screaming to high heaven. So I ran in and there he was. Amanda on the floor, ladder toppled over, paint everywhere…and she’s screaming and there’s Billy Peterson with one of her pigtails in his mouth, growling like some animal and dragging her across the floor. He shook her so hard, it ripped some of the skin along her hairline.

WITHERS:            Jesus Christ…

PRINCIPAL:         So I yell, run over and haul him right up by his collar and he swung at me! The little shit swung at me! I told you bad blood starts at home Miss Malone. That family’s language is violence…fists and worse. You remember what happened with his uncle?

WITHERS:            Bad business…robbery gone wrong or some such, killed two gas station attendants and tried to hot foot before the state police nabbed them over on the Ohio border.

MALONE:            Did you talk to Amanda?

PRINCIPAL:         Amanda? What for?

MALEONE:          To get her side of the story.

PRINCIPAL:         Braid in his mouth…DOWN HIS THROAT. What other side is there?

MALONE:            If you’d paid attention to my reports you’d know that Amanda, Lisa, Steve and Ray have been picking on him. Playing pranks, dumping salt in his lunch…

PRINCIPAL:         Are you sitting there…and telling me that horseplay warrants outright violence?

MALONE:            No of course not Principal Sutters! But there’s no such thing as BAD BLOOD. I don’t have plaques on my wall self-congratulating myself for 4 decades in education, but I do have training and degrees in understanding things you don’t.

PRINCIPAL:         (scoffs) You new age, 21^st century liberal therapist types are all the same. We had decorum in my day…what that kid needs is a good crack with a paddle.

WITHERS:            I tend to air on the side of temperance here Miss. Malone, but this is the 4^th incident from my understanding and lord knows involving his parents doesn’t help. We have no choice but to expel him.

MALONE:            We can’t just give up on him! He’s a good kid! He’s trying, but think of what he goes home to! The home life he has…you don’t just toss someone like and old sock.

PRINCIPAL:         We need your reports and signature to take action. Here. Sign.

MALONE:            I’m not signing that.

PRINCIPAL:         You can and you will Miss Malone.

WITHERS:            Please…let’s not make this a problem.

MALONE:            Just…let me talk to him. Find out what happened…get to the bottom of it. We were making progress in our sessions.

PRINCIPAL:         (exasperated) Unbelievable…

WITHERS:            He’s in the nurses office. Amanda’s mother picked her up already to bring her to AVR Medical for a checkup.

MALONE:            Fine.

SFX: DOOR OPENED.

PRINCIPAL:         Bad blood Miss Malone. I know it when I see it.

SFX: DOOR SLAMMED.

MALONE:            You don’t see shit you old buzzard.

SFX: FOOTSTEPS IN HALL.

MEDIA: TRANSITION.

MALONE:            …you want another sip of water?

BILLY:                    No ma’am.

MALONE:            You can look at me Billy I’m not going to bite. I’m not going to get made or yell at you okay?

BILLY:                    Okay. I’m looking…what? Did you call my pa?

MALONE:            Principal Sutters is doing that. And I’m sorry he has to.

BILLY:                    They’re kicking me out aren’t they? Just like my pa.

MALONE:            They want to, but I don’t want them to, okay? I need your help to stop that.

BILLY:                    It doesn’t matter.

MALONE:            Of course it does, because I’m guessing the reason you’re sulking here and avoiding my eyes is because you know what you did was wrong. Am I right?

BILLY:                    Maybe…

MALONE:            Maybe yes.

BILLY:                    Yeah I know it was wrong, I’m not stupid!

MALONE:            No you aren’t. Despite these incidents you get good grades when you try. But pulling the fire alarm, locking Steve in his locker with that rat…those aren’t good things are they?

BILLY:                    No.

MALONE:            You remember what we talked about last time? Sometimes when we want help, but are scared to ask for it, we do things to get people to notice us. To notice something’s wrong even when we don’t have the words for it.

BILLY:                    Nothing’s wrong.

MALONE:            How have things been at home?

BILLY:                    The same.

MALONE:            Okay. Let’s switch gears here. What happened in the cafeteria? Was Amanda bothering you? Is that why you lashed out at her?

BILLY:                    No.

MALONE:            Then why did you attack her?

BILLY:                    I had to.

MALONE:            Why is that?

BILLY:                    Dunno…

MALONE:            (sighs) Look Billy, sometimes when people do bad things to us, we never let them go. We bottle them up. Everyone thinks about bad things, that’s perfectly normal…

BILLY:                    Do you think about bad things Miss Malone?

MALONE:            Of course I do…

BILLY:                    All the time?

MALONE:            Not all the time, no. But when we bottle things up those things MAKE us think bad things all the time, sometimes make us do things. You remember what I showed you with the balloon? It gets bigger…and bigger…things at home, things at school, things people say, or do, laughing, teasing, even suspecting you of things….

BILLY:                    Like Principal Sutters. He told me I had bad blood.

MALONE:            NO. You do not. There’s no such thing. You are your own person, you aren’t your pa, or your uncle or anyone else you’re family. You’re Billy and no one gets to decide who Billy is or his future but you. Got it?

BILLY:                    I don’t have a future.

MALONE:            Why would you say something like that?

BILLY:                    My Pa says I wasn’t supposed to be here. I was a mistake.

MALONE:            He said what?! (breaths…relaxes remembering she’s a professional) Billy sometimes adults say things because THEY have bad things they’ve bottled up. That’s how it continues…it’s what we call the Circle of Trauma. And it doesn’t stop until you choose to make it stop.

BILLY:                    Sometimes I get so mad.

MALONE:            I know.

BILLY:                    The voice inside me says bad things, thinks bad things…I don’t want to do bad things! I don’t!

MALONE:            Well, what does it say?

BILLY:                    I can’t tell.

MALONE:            Why not?

BILLY:                    Pa said only pussies talk about what we think and feel. I ain’t no pussy.

MALONE:            (chuckles and regains composure) I think…your pa was told that once upon a time by someone who didn’t know any better. If you don’t talk about how you feel, what you think…the circle just keeps going, the balloon just keeps getting bigger until it pops like it today and then you start all over again. It’s better…and safer to let things out.

BILLY:                    I can’t! Pa will get awful mad! Real mad! So I don’t say nothin’.

MALONE:            Billy, do you trust me?

BILLY:                    Yes ma’am.

MALONE:            Have I ever been mad at you?

BILLY:                    No ma’am.

MALONE:            So tell me. You tell me what’s wrong, what you think and say.

BILLY:                    I don’t know.

MALONE:            I know you do, but I do. I want you to trust me and I don’t want you to go and kicked out of here. The cycle has to end Billy.

BILLY:                    It’s okay to tell you? You promise you won’t be upset?

MALONE:            Cross my heart. Tell me. Let it out.

BILLY:                    Okay. Thank you Miss Malone.

SFX: CHAIR SQUEEKS. BODY STARTS CONVULSING.

MALONE:            Billy?! Billy! Oh my god! Nurse! Nurse!

BILLY:                    (Demonic) Billy’s a BAD, BAD BOY…BUT YOU? YOU’RE UPSET…YOU BROKE YOUR PROMISE. (Demonic laughter)

SFX: BONES CRACK AND BODY EXPLODES OPEN.

SUSIE (vo):          Billy’s eyes-- rolled back in his head as his body burst open, and as her mind slipped sideways into madness, Miss Malone thought of a trip into the woods when she was younger and one of the few good memories of Daddy showing her how butterflies were born. She began to laugh, as scaly arms tipped with razored claws hauled the squirming mass of scales and fur free of the now lifeless boy. It didn’t look like a butterfly. Not a butterfly at all. And as the dripping claws flashed towards her, she thought to herself that Sutter was right. Bad blood.

MEDIA: TRANSITION.

SCENE 5: RUSTY PICK - INT. NIGHT

SFX: TRANSITION BACK INTO ROOM.

SUSIE:                   The end.

MOOSE:               (Belches)

PUNCH:                (Belches)

CHAD:                   You said it.

SUSIE:                   Did you like it!?

CHAD:                   Yeah kid that was great! Want to light your pumpkin now? It’s dark enough.

SUSIE:                   Oh boy!

CHAD:                   Here you go. Careful now…that witch costume ain’t made of asbestos.

SFX: LIGHTER FLICKS. PUMPKIN LIT.

SUSIE:                   Ohhhhh! Scary!

SFX: POUNDING ON DOOR.

SUSIE:                   Ohhh! Trick or treaters!

CHAD:                   With the lights off and a huge fuck off sign in neon letters? Nope.

SFX: FOOTSTEPS. FAT MAN LOADED.

CHAD:                   Git lost! Can’t you read?

WILLY:                   OPEN THE DOOR GOD DAMN IT! HURRY! They’re after me!

CHAD:                   Tough shit you old weirdo.

WILLY:                   No you don’t understand! Aliens done probed my pole! And now there’s scorched everywhere! They’re trick or treatin’! Sum a bitches are trick or treatin! BUT THEY’RE TAKING FINGERS AND TOES! GOD DAMNED PACK OF WENDIGOS OUT HERE EATING PEOPLE! It’s HELL! You gotta help me!

CHAD:                   Don’t care. Not this year. Find someone else to deal with this shit. We’re busy.

WILLY:                   Oh god! They’re comin’! Open this door! Please!

CHAD:                   Hey Moose!

MOOSE:               Yeah?

CHAD:                   Grab me another beer will yah?

MOOSE:               Pumpkin?

CHAD:                   Sure what the hell.

WILLY:                   COME ON THEN! THAT’S RIGHT! YOU GOBBLE ME UP YOU PALE ASSED VARMITS! PLENTY TO GO AROUND! CHOKE ON ME! CHOKE ON THIS SLICK WILLY!!! AHHHHHHHHH!

SFX: FOOTSTEPS.

SUSIE:                   Who was that?

CHAD:                   Easter Bunny.

SUSIE:                   But it’s Halloween?

CHAD:                   I know right? Come on…hit us with another.

SFX: PAGES FLIPPED.

SUSIE:                   Ohhhh! This is a good one. Will you read it?

CHAD:                   Sure kid. Let me see…what you got here. In every grave there is a story. Some stories rise up to scream at the stars, others sit, ferment...yet, are patient. This particular story is about a woman who beauty became legend and it begins innocently enough with Rose Hip Tea.

--- VIGNETTE #2: THE RED QUEEN ---

SCENE 6: OFFICE – INT. DAY

SFX: SOUNDS OF OFFICE PHONES RINGING

SFX: PHONE RINGING. PHONE CONNECTS.

WOMAN:            The Wilmont Residence, lady of the house speaking.

HELEN:                  Good morning and Happy Halloween madam, my name is Helen Quinn. I’m your Eve Cosmetics representative. Do you currently have an Eve Representative?

WOMAN:            Well no…Eve Cosmetics you say?

HELEN:                  Oh yes. I’m a Representative who covers your neighborhood. We recently dispatched a Miss Eve bot to your area.

WOMAN:            Oh yes…left me a catalog and a lipstick sampler…

HELEN:                  That’s right! The Eve Autumn Rose lip palette with lasting and vibrant pigments that stays on 50% longer than other leading brands, even while enjoying warm coffee or tea.

SFX: CHILDREN IN BACKGROUND

HELEN:                  I can hear children in the background, it sounds like you could use some Eve pampering!

WOMAN:            (laughs) They do run me ragged.

HELEN:                  (fake laugh) Don’t they though? What are their names?

WOMAN:            Billy and Ezzie, take after Ralph’s side of the family.

HELEN:                  Isn’t that always the way? And I’ll bet you are an amazing Mom!

WOMAN:            Well I certainly try…not easy, not easy…

HELEN:                  Just between us girls, when is the last time YOU put yourself first?

WOMAN:            How do you mean?

HELEN:                  I mean really pampered yourself Mrs. Wilmont? We often give our family, husband and loving children so much of our vim and vigor that time herself always seems to slip away. Then one day you look right in that mirror and you wonder…

WOMAN:            (thoughtful) Where did the time go?

HELEN:                  That’s right Mrs. Wilmont.

WOMAN:            Call me Sue.

HELEN:                  Sue, 30 years ago now when Miss Eve Lamont founded Eve Cosmetics she did so because she saw women just like her neglecting their beautiful selves, giving everything, they had for their families, including your youth and beauty. Her belief that Time Is The Thief of Beauty led to the creation of her first product, right in her home and still our number seller: the Eternal Night Cream. A buttery, revitalizing blend of natural oils and plant healers that works its magic by night, rolling back the years and revealing a vigorous, more feminine you every morning.

WOMAN:            Yes, yes, I’m heard of that…Mrs. Wilkes down the road swears by it.

HELEN:                  Yes indeed! One of our most loyal customers. And I don’t normally do this, but I’ll tell you what…for today only I’d like to offer you my employee discount on our Eternal Night beauty bundle.

WOMAN:            Oh! Oh no I couldn’t possibly accept…

HELEN:                  Please Sue, it would be my pleasure. Do I have your permission to charge your account?

WOMAN:            Well of course! You didn’t have to do that dear.

HELEN:                  That savings is on me. We have an Miss Eve bot in the area and will be dropping off your bundle in 15 minutes. And Sue?

WOMAN:            Yes?

HELEN:                  Tonight, it’s your night okay?

WOMAN:            (laughs) Okay.

HELEN:                  Have a good day!

WOMAN:            You too.

SFX: CLICK.

HELEN:                  Damn I’m good.

SFX: CHAIR ROLLS.

LUISA:                   Another one? Jeez Helen all I get are hang ups or creepy husbands…

HELEN:                  Just luck, I guess. You’ll get it…it took me months to get the vibe right. You just have to listen, feel people out. Pretend like you’re trying to convince your mom to buy you something you really want and are pulling just the right levers…pushing the right buttons.

LUISA:                   I just don’t I’m cut out for sales. If I don’t make my sales goals this month, I’m going to get the axe. You? You’ll probably get promoted to Rose Gold and I’ll never see you again. Have you ever met her? The Red Queen?

HELEN:                  Mrs. Lamont? The Red Queen? (laughs) Is that what you call her?

LUISA:                   I’ve only seen her once at the Christmas party when she rattled on about empowerment in business and pushing ourselves to blah blah blah.

HELEN:                  No, I haven’t. But mark my words…she’ll know my name.

LUISA:                   Oh! Your necklace! That’s lovely!

HELEN:                  Do you like it? Pure silver with a real emerald!

LUISA:                   Must be nice…

HELEN:                  (laughs) No, no…I didn’t BUY IT Luisa. Mom shipped it over from home…a great aunt from Ireland willed it to me. A family heirloom…bit odd leaving it someone you’ve never met. Been in the family for generations, a charm of protection, luck, and good fortune.

LUISA:                   Oh, so THAT’S your secret huh? (laughs)

HELEN:                  (laughs)

SFX: INTERCOM STATIC.

MISS KNAPP:     Representative 2526 please report to my office immediately.

LUISA:                   It’s the Knapp! You’re going to get it! That eagle eyed battle axe probably saw us talking…

HELEN:                  Of course, she did, there’s more cameras in here than Hollywood. What is she going to do? I’m the best salesperson on this floor.

LUISA:                   Shhhh! She’ll hear! Oh, you’re awful.

HELEN:                  Hey if the shift ends and I’m still in there getting an earful, wait for me. We’ll do Friscoes tonight for Halloween! It’ll be a gas! The place will be hoppin’. And Christ’s sake Luisa, put on a nice dress. We need to find you a fella.

LUISA:                   Okay, okay…

SFX: FOOTSTEPS. DOOR KNOCK.

MISS KNAPP:     Enter.

HELEN:                  (overly sweetly) You wanted to see me Miss Knapp?

MISS KNAPP:     Well don’t stand there gaping girl, come in and close the door.

SFX: DOOR CLOSES.

MISS KNAPP:     Sit.

HELEN:                  Yes ma’am (sarcastically)

MISS KNAPP:     (annoyed) Miss Quinn, would it surprise you to note that this week alone exactly 3.72 hours of productivity was lost at your station?

HELEN:                  That sounds about right.

MISS KNAPP:     Would it also surprise you to note that 3.72 hour of productivity equates to $2,100 is lost potential sales?

HELEN:                  Really? Wow.

MISS KNAPP:     Miss Quinn I have little patience for sarcasm, it is the sword of the weak minded. What do you have to say for yourself?

HELEN:                  Well…I think I’d say that based on the current sales trend trajectory of this floor that I exceed the average weekly goal per individual by 236% week over week. By my estimation, your salary increase and that shiny mahogany and ebonite award on the wall there for what was that…ah yes, “Excellence in Sales Management” was due in no small part to my own individual efforts for shifting the mean average of the entire floor.

MISS KNAPP:     (furious) How…DARE YOU! You smart mouthed little…

SFX: DOOR IN THE BACK OPENS.

EVE:                       You can stop there Knapp, I’ve heard quite enough.

HELEN:                  (flustered) Eve…I mean Mrs. Lamont…I didn’t…

EVE:                       You didn’t expect I’d be lurking at the door? Never assume you have the floor my dear, for when you do, its unexpectedly pull out from under you.

MISS KNAPP:     I trust you’ve heard all you needed to hear then?

EVE:                       I have indeed.

MISS KNAPP:     It is with no small pleasure that my dear Miss Quinn that I hereby with prejudice…

EVE:                       Promote you to Rose Gold.

HELEN:                  I…I’m sorry?

MISS KNAPP:     Mrs. Lamont! I must protest…

EVE:                       (steel edged) You’ll what Knapp?

MISS KNAPP:     My…apologies ma’am…it’s just…she’s not the usual caliber of lady for Rose Gold status.

EVE:                       True…but she’s young, hungry and bold. I like that…you have guts my dear. I can use someone like you.

HELEN:                  I don’t know what to say Mrs. Lamont…

EVE:                       Call me Eve…

HELEN:                  Ehm…Eve…

EVE:                       Tell me my dear, what do you do to shake off the dull monotony of existence in inside sales once the clock is punched?

HELEN:                  Well I…have a few hobbies…

EVE:                       Such as?

HELEN:                  Music…I sing. Some light dance, nothing formal mind you.

EVE:                       You sing! Excellent…oh I so wanted to be musically gifted when I was a rarer rose…but alas, it was never a gift I could master. Come with me…Baxter! The door.

SFX: DOOR OPENS.

BAXTER:               Yes ma’am?

EVE:                       You have Miss Quinn’s coat and belongings?

BAXTER:               They were moved to the car ma’am.

EVE:                       Splendid. Right this way…we’re taking my special lift.

HELEN:                  I don’t understand. Where are we going? My friend was waiting for me?

EVE:                       (wheels around) How hungry are you to achieve true success? Not just working at Eve Cosmetics, but to become truly part of it, Rose Gold…our highest achievers immortalized! You live in a rundown apartment in Beckley, shared with 3 other girls, none of whom hold a candle to you.

HELEN:                  How did you…?

SFX: ELEVATOR DOORS OPEN.

EVE:                       I knew girls like those one…a place like that. Rats in the walls…always eating and you don’t know what they are eating…but your imagination can certainly conjure up all sorts of things that keep you up at night. (pause) YOU can have it all, but I need to know that you are HUNGRY. Are you Helen? Are you hungry?

HELEN:                  Yes.

EVE:                       Excellent. As of this day, say goodbye to Knapp, say goodbye to this floor, this building and that shithole you called home. Rose Gold means power, access…being one of my special assistants. Would you like that?

HELEN:                  Oh yes Mrs…Eve.

EVE:                       Good. Your destiny awaits. I’m holding a little Halloween gathering for some of first clients tonight and you shall be our guest of honor…but first…we must swing down to Watoga and find you something appropriate to wear. Push it, would you?

SFX: ELEVATOR BUTTON. DING.

EVE:                       (darkly) Ding ding dearie.

SFX: DOORS CLOSE.

CHAD (vo):          As the office lights dimmed and the workday ended, Helen was whisked into a shining black limousine that idled at the curbside. Dazzled as she slipped inside the plush interior, she found herself whizzing away down the street with a champagne goblet in hand, dreaming at last of a promising future. Far above, on a now empty and dark floor Luisa waited for her friend. She would be waiting for a very long time.

SCENE 7: DINING ROOM – INT. DAY

SFX: SOFT MUSIC PLAYS. CLATTER OF DISHWARE.

 

EVE:                       …oh and it’s absolutely lovely my dear! You must see Paris, you simply must!

HELEN:                  It really sounds lovely. Sorry, Mrs…? I was so dazzled when I walked in the door I’ve forgotten your name.

LADY ALICE:        Lady, nots Mrs. child. Lady Alice. And there, Mrs. Wilcox…

MRS. WILCOX:   A pleasure…

LADY ALICE:        And Mrs. Timmons…

TIMMONS: It’s easy to remember because my husband’s first name is Tim. Tim Timmons…mother warned me about marrying the silly man, but he had money and who doesn’t like that?

LADY ALICE:        Tell us more about yourself child, have you been to the Riviera?

HELEN:                  I…used to go camping with my Dad.

MRS. WILCOX:   Camping? In this economy. (laughs)

TIMMONS: (laughs) Charming. What a simple life you must’ve had.

HELEN:                  I suppose so.

LADY ALICE:        And you grew up on a farm? Didn’t it smell?

HELEN:                  You get used to it…fall was always nice. Smell of the cider, the smoky mornings, dry leaves and the pumpkin patch.

EVE:                       Oh it’s a magical time of year, All Hallow’s Eve. Isn’t it girls?

LADY ALICE:        (Chuckles) Yes indeed it is. Wouldn’t imagine spending it any other place.

HELEN:                  Will I be meeting the other girls? Will they be joining us for dinner?

EVE:                       Of course, you will my dear! We’re working on something special together, very hush hush…but the timing is critical, very critical at this time of the year. I like to spend time with each of the girls their first night here…so much more intimate. We will be working closely after all and doing great things…here, more wine?

HELEN:                  Sure…it’s really quite lovely.

TIMMONS: Yes, where was that vineyard dear? Loire Valley?

EVE:                       Perish the thought, no it was was that little Hungarian vineyard.

MRS. WILCOX:   That’s right! That little art collecting jaunt with…oh what was his name?

TIMMONS: Who even remembers?

LADY ALICE:        Who even cares?

EVE:                       Oh he was a boorish oaf of a man who fancied himself an antiquities collector. I left him at the border and dashed off on my own…so much more fun.

HELEN:                  (laughs) Oh! You left him!

EVE:                       Men make for an entertaining diversion…but I keep myself busy with work and my little hobbies.

HELEN:                  I think it’s wonderful that for all you have that you take time for philanthropic work.

EVE:                       Once my dear Edgar died, I wanted for nothing, not a thing in the world…but, all of this…just a big empty house…it was quite like a tomb…I found myself wandering…room to room…day by day…like a ghost…(slowly, losing control) and time, time always ticking, always ticking…always WEARING you down…robbing your beauty…each second, each minute, each hour grinding you down like the beating tide on a stone… (regains composure)

LADY ALICE:        (clears throat) Careful dear…

EVE:                       Oh! Yes! …and so I decided to fight her.

HELEN:                  Fight…her?

EVE:                       Time my dear! Give myself and every woman everywhere a weapon to fend her off…for a bit anyway. And these women, my sisters, our little….group became my first supporters in that little quest. Couldn’t have done it without you…

TIMMONS: You’ve changed our lives dear Eve…

MRS. WILCOX:   Truer words were never spoken…

LADY ALICE:        Or invoked.

SFX: DOOR OPENS

EVE:                       Ah! Baxter! What have we for dinner?

BAXTER:               Prime rib of beef ma’am, haricots verts and truffled mash with demi-glace.

EVE:                       Splendid. Bon appetite…

HELEN:                  Oh it’s…oh I’m so sorry Mrs…I mean Eve. It looks rather rare for me.

LADY ALICE:        Does it? Does it? Oh my dear, dear child this is a prime choice cut, grass fed and grain finished…

MRS. WILCOX:   …this is no Red Rocket Truck Stop burger.

HELEN:                  It’s just…blood makes me queasy and…

EVE:                       Did you know that meat, when served rare…safely handled mind you for there are no second chances when it comes to bacteria…is the elixir of life itself. Meat as rare as this retains its buttery, fleshy texture…its delicate softness. Come…let me cut it for you…

SFX: WALKING. KNIFE AND FORK.

HELEN:                  Mrs. Lamont I…

EVE:                       Open.

TIMMONS: Open wide little Helen…

HELEN:                  If I can just have…

EVE:                       I said, open. (More calm) Please…indulge me.

SFX: CHEWING.

EVE:                       There…your eyes…the flush to the cheeks. You aren’t just eating steak, you are eating the lingering memory of sweet dewy grass, the sun summer warmth, and the tinkling of bells in a field. In every bite, a memory of life…it’s beautiful symmetry.

HELEN:                  It’s…good. Miss…

MRS. WILCOX:   Look! See! Your complexion now is positively glowing.

LADY ALICE:        She was such a pale little thing before wasn’t she? Best keep eating up dear…

EVE:                       That’s my girl. Beauty starts from within. Speaking of! Ladies! Before we tuck into our Autumnal Repaste, I must show you my latest acquisition!

SFX: FOOTSTEPS.

HELEN:                  Where are we going?

EVE:                       Just out here…come…

LADY ALICE:        Oh you’ll love this child. You won’t soon forget it.

SFX: DOORS OPENED.

EVE:                       Behold.

HELEN:                  Oh it’s! It’s…

MRS. WILCOX:   Yes, we know.

TIMMONS: Simply divine…

EVE:                       My private oasis, my rose garden. Specimens from all over the world, safely protected from the rough weather Appalachia has for the more delicate varieties here in my conservatory. An acre of glass, metal and fully automated temperature controls and irrigation system. I can simulate any weather condition necessary by section to keep these lovelies flourishing.

SFX: FOOTSTEPS.

HELEN:                  They’re beautiful! Such vivid reds!

EVE:                       Yes! And here…so…rose hips. A healer from the ancient world, the secret to my latest innovation in beauty: Rose Hop Tea Blend #3.

LADY ALICE:        These here Eve dear, Hungary you brought them back from wasn’t it?

EVE:                       (Thoughtful) Hungary, yes! Such a beautiful place…ancient, wild and untamed. I went looking for some rare herbs you know, little bit of business with pleasure, scouring for some art pieces and little trinkets to fill this place. My guide and chauffeur, Nikolai

TIMMONS: Oh he was such a dish…

MRS. WILCOX:   My pool boy isn’t half as fetching.

LADY ALICE:        Careful my dear Mrs. Wilcox you are salivating.

EVE:                       …oh you would’ve loved him…the stamina of a young colt. We pulled into this little sleepy hamlet in the Little Carpathians…a mountain range. There was this old man there selling odds and ends scoured from crumbling estates and ancient castles. We haggled over the price on some ornamental statuettes but could tell I was little interested in dropping any more coin on his garbage. So, with a funny smile, he said he had something I may be interested in. And what did he fetch me? A book…a crummy old dusty tome…well I was about to leave when I realized what it was.

HELEN:                  Miss I…I don’t feel good…

TIMMONS: Oh! You look a little pale my dear. Come sit.

HELEN:                  I feel so….strange…

EVE:                       I knew the moment I saw you that you were Rose Gold material.

LADY ALICE:        The others were so disappointing.

MRS. WILCOX:   An encyclopedic knowledge of Mediterranean dishware was an unwanted gift Sister Eve. But this one? So young, so vibrant…and a fiery spirit!

EVE:                       Music was never my gift…I’m so glad it was yours. I’ll enjoy exploring that.

HELEN:                  I need to go…

SFX: BODY FALLS.

EVE:                       Oh my dear…whatever is the matter?

HELEN:                  I feel so…

EVE:                       There, there, now. Shhhh…we’re going to do great things together…

SFX: DISTORTION AND RINGING.

SFX: FADE TO SILENCE.

SFX: WHOOSHING SOUND INTO DREAM WORLD.

SFX: SOUNDS OF METAL GEARS. CRICKETS CHIRPING.

LADY ALICE:        How much longer? I saw a strand of gray this morning and I was aghast.

MRS. WILCOX:   Yes, do hurry up Eve dear I’m hungry.

EVE:                       Patience Sisters. (humming tunelessly)

HELEN:                  (moans) Where…am I….where? Mrs…

EVE:                       Ah! You’re back with us my dear. Splendid. It is much more effective when my girls are awake.

HELEN:                  (frightened) Mrs…I’m…tied…what is this?

EVE:                       Isn’t it beautiful? A weapon against time my dear in rare metals. Around you the petals of a flower, awaiting to close and your ascendance begins!

LADY ALICE:        Rose Gold.

MRS. WILCOX:   Rose Gold!

1. TIMMONS: Rose Gold be praised!

EVE:                       You girls, my girls…I owe you so much. You were the missing ingredient to allow me…

LADY ALICE:        Us…

EVE:                       Yes Sister Alice…continue my work.

HELEN:                  Let me out! Let me out of this!

EVE:                       You know the most vexing thing about antiaging is that topicals can only do so much. Cold creams, night creams…no matter what mix of herbals and oils I found in my journey from one pole to another, all they did…ALL THEY DID was hide the damage time herself had carved on my face and the face of every woman.

HELEN:                  HELP! HELP ME! SOMEONE PLEASE!

TIMMONS: Scream all you like dear, we’re inside an acre of glass and steel in the midst on 500 acres.

EVE:                       Right in the center of my crowning triumph, the fruit of my labors and…oh my manners. You can’t see from down there can you. Upsie daisy!

SFX: SWITCH IS THROW, TABLE GRINDS INTO STANDING POSITION.

EVE:                       There you are! Our precious roses. And they are where your work begins. Time to clock in…make me proud…

SFX: SWITCHES THROWN.

HELEN:                  Please, please…let me go…I won’t tell anyone.

EVE:                       Of course, you won’t my dear. You signed an employment contract. Nondisclosure agreement, page 12, section 3.

HELEN:                  Please! What is…what is that…what’s happening?

EVE:                       That book, that beautiful book I brought back from Hungary contained a false booking and within? The blueprints of a device to make it all possible. The diary of the Countess herself, Countess Elizabeth Báthory…

HELEN:                  Who is…?

LADY ALICE:        Lack of education, whatever is the world coming to. The Countess was a Hungarian Noblewoman child, she married well but suffered from terrible seizures and visions. Desperate for relief she and her nurse wandered into he woods where a daughter of the Earth dwelled in a cave. The witch listened to the Countess explain her malady and whispered a great secret to her that day, a secret that cured her of all that ailed her…and so much more…

SFX: MACHINE STARTS PUMPING.

HELEN:                  What is that?! What’s happening! TELL ME!

EVE:                       I’m getting there child, do shut up. Over 3 decades passed and wild rumors reached the ears of King Matthias II who at last was forced to act after some disturbing accusations were made. When they reached the castle they found the countess at dinner…rare beef I believe it was. But in the basement? Oh dear, dear…

TIMMONS: Blood. Life is in the blood. But not just life…memory, ability…

MRS. WILCOX:   Youth and all that you are…

LADY ALICE:        Shared amongst sisters.

EVE:                       Do you know how old I am dear? 97…yet not a day over 38…

HELEN:                  Oh God! No! No!

EVE:                       The most famous serial murderess in history believed to have bathed in the blood of her victims to remain youthful forever. But that was a myth…she had a machine in her dungeon…a Maiden not made of Iron, but Rose Gold…and she did love her precious roses.

SFX: MACHINE CLOSES.

SFX: SCREAMING BEGINS.

SFX: PUMPS LOUDER.

SFX: SPRINKLER SYSTEM SPRAYS.

EVE:                       Goddess Hecate! Hear us!

LADY ALICE:        Hear us!

MRS. WILCOX:   Hear us!

TIMMONS: Hear us!

EVE:                       Grant us this life

Give us her power

Let us drink of her youth

Taste of her memories

Into the rose

Into her seeds

From which all life springs!

SFX: WIND GUSTS THROUGH. WHISPERS AND DARK MAGIC.

EVE:                       (evil witches cackle)

CHAD (vo):          Within the grinding gears of the infernal machine, Helen’s eyes fluttered as her life’s blood was being pumped away, sprayed out upon the roses from the Rose Gold Maiden forever drinking all that she was and had been. As her screams grew weaker and at last stopped, as the last flicker of life left her. As it did the silent charm around her neck, her precious gift from home began to glow…a heat radiating out across her still chest. Unseeing eyes dilated wide, a black void from which something old, born of vengeance of guardian of the soul clawed its way up from the depths. A scream that was not hers exploded from her lips.

SFX: MACHINE GROANS. STEAM HISSES.

LADY ALICE:        What’s wrong…

EVE:                       Something is…happening…

SFX: THRUMMING AND POUNDING INSIDE THE MACHINE.

SFX: BANSHEE WAIL.

EVE:                       There is something here…something else…

SFX: MACHINE BURSTS OPEN.

SFX: BANSHEE WAIL.

MRS. WILCOX:   What is it! What is she?!

EVE:                       Run! Run! RUN DAMN YOU!

SFX: RUNNING ON PEBBLES.

SFX: MACHINE EXPLODES. STONE CRUMBLES AS THE EARTH SHAKES.

SFX: BODY FALLS.

EVE:                       What is happening?! Goddess Hecate! Protect us!

MRS. WILCOX:   Eve!

CHAD (vo):          As the banshee wailed, the earth split apart and the corrupted remains of her girls, her top performers of Rose Gold status were pulled forth from the soft soil, with crowns of rose bushes, their gnarled roots tangled through ratty fabric and festering flesh. Pulled forth by the revenant banshee’s calls, they collided, a charnel house abomination. Glistening white bones broke and reshaped into something new. Putrid flesh surged amongst thorn branch limbs as the entity exhaled its first breath, the smell of decay wafting over the fleeing women like a wave. Eve fled, tripping along the pebble stone path, leaving high heels long behind her, the dying cries of her sisters, her coven, filling her ears, a symphony of rose bush rustling and rending limbs. She’d almost made it to the door and the safety of the house, cheerily lit from within with jack o ’lantern lights flickering on the walls, when Helen appeared before her. Cold dead eyes glaring at her in judgement, lit from below by the baleful light of a trinket she should’ve seen, should’ve noticed. Her Helen, such a musical gift she would’ve loved to drink in as her own, opened her mouth wide as a final banshee wail escaped her lips. Pain exploded throughout her body and as Eve looked down, her hands wrinkled, cracked, flaking skin, fingers twisted into arthritic claws. She tried to scream, but her breath left her as a thorny limb erupted from her throat. The last thing she saw was her tongue splitting and segmenting into the delicate petals of a rosebud the color of blood.

MEDIA: TRANSITION.

SCENE 8: RUSTY PICK – INT. NIGHT

PUNCH:                Punch not get it.

MOOSE:               That wasn’t scary. That Helen chick should’ve liked, turned into a big wasp or something cool and stung those bitches. Or maybe, yeah…maybe those witches drink the tea, go to bed, and the next day wake up as old bedridden people, immortal, but like…old and stuff.

SUSIE:                   But that’s not the story Ella told.

CHAD:                   How’d I do?

SUSIE:                   It was spooky!

MOOSE:               Give that book here…let me read one.

CHAD:                   Here you go dude.

MOOSE:               Uhhh…let’s see Black Eyed Kids…lame…Headless Truck Driver…dumb. A haunted condom! AWESOME!

CHAD:                   Keep going…

MOOSE:               Awww man…uhhh….oh! Here’s one!

MOOSE:               On a high bluff above the Charleston River, a long shadow is cast from the hulking stone of Torrence House. Its inhabitants are as solitary and secretive as its vast rooms and halls. The Torrence clan was born into wealth and power, seemingly blessed, until one terrible night that shook the town of Summerville to its core. What really happened that night? Are the myths and rumors true? It just so happened that one Halloween a group of plucky, but meddling teens set out to uncover the truth and found out that some secrets are better left buried.

--- VIGNETTE #3: MYSTERY, DECEASED ---

MEDIA: TRANSITION.

SCENE 9: TORRENCE HOUSE – INT. NIGHT

SFX: SILENCE. LOUD THUDS. WOMAN SCREAMS.

LADY T:                 No! No! Noooo!

SFX: LAMP BREAKS, RUNNING UP STAIRS, DOOR SLAMS SHUT

LADY T:                 (out of breath, begging) PLEASE ALISTAIR! PLEASE DONT DO THIS! PUT DOWN THE AXE!

LORD T:                (enraged) WHAT CHOICE HAVE YOU LEFT ME?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU’VE DONE!! MY BOY! MY BOYYYYY!

LADY T:                 I’M SORRY! I’M SO SORRY! (Begins to sob)

SFX: AXE SLAMS ON DOOR, WOOD BEGINS TO SPLINTER

LADY T:                 (SCREAMS)

LORD T:                (creepily) Open up Elizabeth...take your medicine! DEMON WOMAN!

SFX: AXE SLAMS AGAIN.

LADY T:                 Alistair no! NO!!!!

MEDIA: TRANSITION MUSIC

SFX: WALKING IN LEAVES AND STONES.

SCENE 10: TORRENCE HOUSE – EXT. NIGHT

BRETT:                  Come on gang, pick up the pace. Tonight, is the night! We’re bound to find some ghosts!

TIFFANY:              Jinkies! I thought we were going to a Halloween party, Brett. Not investigating another spooky mystery and entertaining your ghost fetish.

BRETT:                  It's not a fetish Tiff! You can’t deny you’ve seen some weird stuff before, things even little miss four eyes over here can’t explain.

TIFFANY:              Go choke on your ascot Brett. Her name is Angie, you know that, try calling her by it for once.

ANGIE:                 Thanks Tiffany. I like your dress. Your legs are lookin’ great.

TIFFANY:              Golly thanks…

BRETT:                  Get a room you two! Don’t need any mysterious clues to see the real reason we broke up Tiff. She find your secret passage yet?

TIFFANY:              A lesbian joke coming from a man wearing an ascot? Who wears an ascot? I DUMPED your one pump chump ass because you act like your God’s gift to women. Every time I would turn my back, you were off flirting with first pair of tits you could find. If my Dad’s money wasn’t tied up in all this ghost hunting shit I wouldn’t even be out here.

LEO:                       As much as I enjoy a lover’s quarrel can we get this over with already? My equipment won’t hold a charge for long, so we better get a move on. Which way are we heading Ange?

ANGIE:                 Just up the hill here gang.

TIFFANY:              (Sighs) So where are we going this time?

ANGIE:                 To solve the mystery of The Torrance House.

LEO:                       (Stammering) You.. you…mean the murder house?

ANGIE:                 Alleged murder suicide house, the police never released a full report about what happened there.

BRETT:                  I heard old man Torrance lost his marbles and chopped up the Mrs. and the Gardner she was banging, then ran himself through a chipper shredder. They never found the kid or his wife though.

ANGIE:                 Rumors Brett.

BRETT:                  Oh yeah? Then what really happened smarty pants?

ANGIE:                 From what I’ve researched at the library, the Torrance family has lived in this area for over a century. Apparently coming from royalty from across the ocean, location unknown. Several Lords have lived in this house with each having several different wives.

BRETT:                  Alright! Sounds like my kind of guy.

TIFFANY:              (scoffs loud) Pig.

ANGIE:                 Not like that, Brett. They had several because each their wives all died young from causes unknown.  In fact, not much is known about their wealth, family, any of it really. I’ve even interviewed the neighbors about them, all they could tell me is that Lord Torrance was always away on business.

LEO:                       And Lady Torrance?

ANGIE:                 She never left the property. Only time she was ever spotted is when she is out tending to her garden in the hedge maze.

LEO:                       Dad was always going on about how he didn’t like them. Thought they were too suspicious, too secretive.  Said it was rude and unneighborly.

BRETT:                  They had to have been hiding something good!

LEO:                       What do you mean?

BRETT:                  Think about it. What kind of people kept to themselves like that unless they have some dark secret to hide?

ANGIE:                 He’s got a point, but that’s not even the strangest part of it all.

LEO:                       What is?

ANGIE:                 The sons.

TIFFANY:              Sons? I thought they only had one?

ANGIE:                 Yeah Brody, but I’m talking about the whole family. For over a century the Torrance family only ever had boys born in that house.

BRETT:                  Yeah, so?

ANGIE:                 So...do you understand the probability of that happening? In over a hundred years there was never a girl born, it was always boys.

BRETT:                  Uhhhh

TIFFANY:              It’s really rare Brett.

ANGIE:                 It’s almost impossible! You are more likely to get struck by lightning or...or..

TIFFANY:              Catch an actual ghost on camera like we’ve been trying to do. To date we’ve found nothing but conmen, weirdoes, thieves and that one Old Pervert…

ANGIE:                 The Mystery of the Ghoulish Groper…

TIFFANY:              And yet we’ve found nothing.

BRETT:                  Awww come on, would you lay off Tiff, we’re trying to get this show off the ground and you keep busting my balls.

TIFFANY:              This show has been all smoke and mirrors, cheap tricks to fool people into think ghost actually exist.

BRETT:                  They do exist, you’ve seen them yourself!

TIFFANY:              I’ve seen shadows and heard noises. This is it Brett, the last mystery. We don’t find something this time we’re hawking this crap, so I get MY Dad’s money back.

BRETT:                  Give up? What do you mean we’re just starting to take off and become a hit

LEO:                       At our last screening of Mystery, Deceased: The Haunted Cave we had ten viewers.

BRETT:                  SEE…

LEO:                       But most of those are us and our parents and I think one of them was the Ghoulish Groper in a trench coat out on bail.

BRETT:                  You’re not helping Leo! Look, we’re checking out this Torrance place, on Halloween night. We are bound to get some solid footage, then the show will take off, you’ll see.

LEO:                       Can we talk about all this later. We need to get moving.

BRETT:                  Angie, lead the way!

ANGIE:                 Aw you actually said my name!

TIFFANY:              Look at that, progress.

BRETT:                  Yeah Tiff, I'm a real changed man.

TIFFANY:              Don’t push it.

MEDIA: TRANSITION MUSIC

SFX: LEAVES BLOW IN WIND/STEPS ON FRONT PORCH/BOARDS CREAK

LEO:                       Hello?

BRETT:                  Nobody’s here Leo, the place is abandoned.

SFX: WIND BLOWS/ FRONT DOOR SLAMS OPEN

LEO:                       If nobody is here, then...who…who opened the door?

ANGIE:                 Well gang, looks like we’ve found a mystery.

BRETT:                  Never mind what I said, looks like we got a ghost inviting us in.

TIFFANY:              Oh, for fuck sakes, it’s just the wind.

BRETT:                  Wind schmind. Leo fire up your ghost gadget doo dads.

LEO:                       It’s an electromagnetic frequency device.

BRETT:                  Yeah that thing.

SFX: WALKING ON FLOORBOARDS/JIGGLES DOOR HANDLE

BRETT:                  Damn, place is boarded up good. Let’s split up. Leo, you and I, we’ll each take a staircase, girls keep a look out down here.

TIFFANY:              Why do WE have to keep a lookout? What kind of sexist nonsense is that?

ANGIE:                 It’s because if someone shows up, WE get caught and HE can make a run for it.

BRETT:                  What?....(scoffs)...No...no that’s not true....

TIFFANY:              WOW...you are a grade A asshole Brett.

BRETT:                  Tiff I...

TIFFANY:              Just go already, before you end up as the next corpse in this house.

LEO:                       (laughs) Damn. Burn.

BRETT:                  Smoke anther join Leo!

SFX: MULTIPLE FOOTSTEPS/WALK UP STAIRS

TIFFANY:              Hey Ange?

ANGIE:                 Hmmm?

ANGIE:                 Do you think we’ll find any...

ANGIE:                 Any ghosts?

TIFFANY:              Yeah

ANGIE:                 Doubtful. I’m more interested in solving this case and getting to the bottom of what really happened.

TIFFANY:              (laughs) Spoken like a true Warren.

ANGIE:                 What do you mean?

TIFFANY:              Angie, as long as I’ve known you, you’ve been solving crimes, no matter how big or small. Just like your Dad. I’m sure you’ll make a great detective someday.

ANGIE:                 Thanks Tiff, I guess it’s just in my blood.

SFX: GHOSTLY FEMALE WHISPERS/NAILS LOOSEN. BOARDS PULL OFF DOOR AND FALL TO THE GROUND

TIFFANY:              Did that just?

ANGIE:                 (gulps) yep, those boards just pulled off the door.

SFX: FOOTSTEPS COME DOWN THE STAIRS.

BRETT:                  What was that bang?

TIFFANY:              Look!

BRETT:                  Nice job girls, how did you get the boards off?

ANGIE:                 We didn’t

LEO:                       Then who did?

BRETT:                  You mean....

TIFFANY:              (persuasively), Look guys this is dumb, it’s not too late let’s just forget this, get the hell out of here…head over to Frat Row up at Vault-Tec U and spend Halloween in anywhere other than here!

LEO:                       I second that Idea...

SFX: EMF RADAR STARTS CRACKLING AND MAKING NOISE

BRETT:                  h yeah! You hear that? No way! We are going through that door, some spirit is calling us for sure!

TIFFANY:              Yeah and we should leave it alone.

LEO:                       Another good idea.

BRETT:                  Ha! So you do admit that they’re real?!

TIFFANY:              I admit to nothing Brett. Last thing I need to do is stroke your ego.

BRETT:                  That’s about the only stroking you were good at.

ANGIE:                 Can it you TWO! I’m going in. (Whispers) Dad would…

BRETT:                  Hell yeah!

LEO:                       I’m not going in there.

BRETT:                  Not even for one hand rolled Doobie Doo?

LEO:                       Okay fine.

TIFFANY:              Ange! Don’t!

ANGIE:                 Hey, it’ll be ok, stick with me.

TIFFANY:              Oh fine!

SFX: DOOR CREAKS OPEN FOOTSTEPS DESCEND THE STAIRS. FOOTSTEPS CONTINUE DOWN THE STEPS/STEP IN SAND AND GRAVEL AT THE BOTTOM.

LEO:                       Are we in the basement?

ANGIE:                 The cellar, but close enough.

SFX: PULLS ON CORD/LIGHTBULB TURNS ON

TIFFANY:              Can you believe this place still has electricity?

LEO:                       You think they would have shut it off, unless it’s got its own power source.

BRETT:                  What’s with all the hoes?

ANGIE:                 This must be the Groundskeepers quarters.

BRETT:                  Wasn’t talking about that (chuckles).

ANGIE:                 Strange...

LEO:                       What?

ANGIE:                 There doesn’t seem to be any exit to the outside of the house other than the way we came in.

LEO:                       You mean there’s only one way in and one way out?

SFX: EMF NOISE STARTS GETTING LOUDER

LEO:                       Hold up you guys! Look...there’s something behind the wheelbarrow and fertilizer....

TIFFANY:              It’s a room. This must be where the Groundskeeper stayed.

SFX: DOOR CREAKS OPEN/FOOTSTEPS DRAG IN SAND/GRAVEL

LEO:                       I can’t see anything.

SFX: CANDLE ON TABLE LIGHTS

LEO:                       Thanks Brett.

BRETT:                  Uhhh yeah, I didn’t light the candle...

LEO:                       Then who...

BRETT:                  Maybe it’s a g.g…g…g…ghoosstttt! (laughs)

SFX: EMF NOISE STARTS GETTING LOUDER

SFX: UNEARTHLY WIND.

TIFFANY:              Guys…I think something’s in here…

ANGIE:                 Give your hands…

BRETT:                  What for?

TIFFANY:              Just do it…

ANGIE:                 Leo you too…

TIFFANY:              Gross Leo…you have the sweatest palms I’ve ever seen.

LEO:                       I am FREAKIN’ out man…

ANGIE:                 Spirit…can you hear us? Heed our call…see our light…

SFX: BOARD GROAN.

LEO:                       I’m…going back to the van.

BRETT:                  Don’t be a pussy Leo.

ANGIE:                 Spirit! If you can hear us! Give us a sign!

SFX: DOOR SLAMS.

TIFFANY:              JESUS CHRIST!

ANGIE:                 Don’t break the circle! Spirit…if you can hear us, knock once for yes, twice for no. Do you understand?

SFX: KNOCK ONCE.

BRETT:                  Holy shit…

TIFFANY:              Brett I swear to God if this turns out to be some old creep again in a costume with his dick out…

ANGIE:                 Spirit, are you Lord Torrence?

SFX: KNOCK TWICE.

ANGIE:                 Are you Lady Torrence?

SFX: KNOCK ONCE.

LEO:                       Guys….guys…there’s…something over in the corner…

BRETT:                  Holy shit! This is awesome! Get the camera!

ANGIE:                 NO! You can’t break the circle! Lady Torrence…

BRETT:                  We were wondering if we could get a shot of you for the show! Can you like put on a sheet or something?

TIFFANY:              God Brett she’s dead…don’t be such a grifter.

ANGIE:                 Lady Torrence did we want to help you rest, find out what happened to you that night, ten years ago. Will you help us?

SFX: KNOCK ONCE.

ANGIE:                 Did Lord Torrence kill you?

SFX: KNOCK TWICE.

BRETT:                  What the hell…so who did?

LEO:                       Who the hell cares? I want to get out of here while we still can!

TIFFANY:              Ask her…

ANGIE:                 She can only answer yes or no…we’re going to be here a while…

SFX: UNEARTHLY MOAN. LIGHT PULSING.

LEO:                       Uhhh…guys…that shape in the corner…it’s glowing….it’s…a ball…

ANGIE:                 A spirit orb! I think that’s…

SFX: WHOOSH.

TIFFANY:              Ange!

BRETT:                  Angie! What the hell…

LEO:                       It went in her!

LADY T:                 (throaty raspy voice) My boy…my Brody…must protect my Brody…

TIFFANY:              Lady Torrence?

LADY T:                 Yes…

TIFFANY:              No one knows what happened that night. To you, the groundskeeper, your husband.

LADY T:                 Do not mention that wretched man!

LEO:                       Ok ok like we’re sorry ma’am…

BRETT:                  Geez, what she got against the gardener?

TIFFANY:              Not the groundskeeper you idiot, I think she means her husband.

BRETT:                  Why her...

LADY T:                 My….diary…my lost book…hidden here…in Samuel’s dwelling…break the circle…I will show you…

BRETT:                  I dunno Angie said not to…

LEO:                       Works for me man!

BRETT:                  Okay, circle broken I guess.

LADY T:                 There! Move the foundation stone there.

SFX: SCUFFLING ROCK.

TIFFANY:              It is! It’s her diary!

SFX: PAGES FLIPPED.

TIFFANY:              Sam…you fell in love with Sam, the groundskeeper?

LADY T:                 He was the love of my life, a man but so much more.

BRETT:                  Wa ha ho! Nice one Mrs T quite the...

TIFFANY:              Can it Brett!

LADY T:                 My time grows short…please, please…I must protect my Brody…

TIFFANY:              He was never found, like you.

LADY T:                 Lost! Lost! Oh lost that terrible night.

SFX: PAGES FLIPPING/TURNING FOR A BIT

TIFFANY:              Oh my God this is awful!

BRETT:                  What?! What does it say?!

TIFFANY:              He kept you here. Lord Torrance. You never left the house?

LADY T:                 (sighs) Only to tend my hedges I’m afraid.

LEO:                       I’m sorry, that must have been terrible for you.

LADY T:                 It was for a long time. That was, until I met Samuel. Sam was not one for many words but he was always by my side. Helping me tend my hedges and the blooms in the garden. He was my only enjoyment in life.  As time went on Sam, told me stories of the old country, where he grew up. I dreamed of traveling with him, of leaving this wretched place behind and the cynical man who had trapped me here.

BRETT:                  I don’t understand. Why not just leave him?

TIFFANY:              Because she couldn’t....

BRETT:                  What do you mean?

LADY T:                 I was bound here to this place in body and soul, as all Torrence women are…

LEO:                       Like magic?

LADY T:                 Yes. But not the kind you read of in fairytales. Dark magic. The most deplorable of its kind. Alistair came from a corrupted lineage, the only thing more important than their wealth was their legacy. The very first Lord of their line, used his wealth to possess the Keys of Solomon, knowledge to summon and bind demons to their will. A deal was struck. In exchange for wealth and power, they would serve the will of the demon. A proxy, someone who could carry out its dark deeds, sowing discord and sorrow on which it could gorge itself.

BRETT:                  Ok...I can buy into that, but how does that involve you?

LADY T:                 The only way that the Torrance Lords could keep their wealth and power was by producing a male heir to succeed them and continue their blood line. Otherwise, the deal was broken and the house of Torrance…

LEO:                       …would fall.

LADY T:                 Precisely.

BRETT:                  So, through some dark magic all the wives magically had boys?

LADY T:                 Yes. I was young, foolish…only too late did I understand my fate: to bear a male heir to continue the legacy. If she was unable to conceive a son by her first wedding anniversary, she was...disposed of.

TIFFANY:              (choked up) Oh my God that is terrible! How could this go on for so long?

LADY T:                 The Lords kept their secrets locked away tight and the groundskeepers would do their bidding, that is until my Sam. As we fell in love, he opened up to me about the secrets of the Lords. He brought me their secret ledger that they kept locked away. That’s how I learned truth of their foul dealings. All the way back to the very beginning. I studied their records, their dark magic, searching for a way out. Then it happened. I had a son.

LEO:                       But how does that change anything? You just continued the Torrance line.

TIFFANY:              Wait! I get it…the son wasn’t his.

LADY T:                 Yes!

BRETT:                  Huh? I don’t get it.

TIFFANY:              (scoffs) you know nothing of romance. She was in love with Sam! It was Sam’s son.

LADY T:                 Indeed, it was. Alistair wasn’t the only one that could keep secrets, he knew nothing of it, that is until this very night ten years ago.

LEO:                       What happened?

LADY T:                 There! The mirror…look…see…I will show you….

SFX: MIRROR CRACKS, DISTORTS.

SFX: SILENCE. LOUD THUDS. WOMAN SCREAMS.

LADY T:                 No! No! Noooo!

SFX: LAMP BREAKS, RUNNING UP STAIRS, DOOR SLAMS SHUT

LADY T:                 (out of breath, begging) PLEASE ALISTAIR! PLEASE DONT DO THIS! PUT DOWN THE AXE!

LORD T:                (enraged) WHAT CHOICE HAVE YOU LEFT ME?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU’VE DONE!! WHERE IS HE? WHERE IS MY BOY!

LADY T:                 I’M SORRY! I’M SO SORRY! (Begins to sob)

SFX: AXE SLAMS ON DOOR, WOOD BEGINS TO SPLINTER

LADY T:                 (SCREAMS)

LORD T:                (creepily) Open up Elizabeth...

SFX: AXE SLAMS AGAIN.

LADY T:                 Alistair no! NO!!!!

LORD T:                (calms down) No? NO!? Too late for apologies my dear. All the sacrifices I’ve made...

LADY T:                 (sobs a bit and goes silent)…...Sacrifice? (Yells) SACRIFICE?! DON’T, YOU DARE SPEAK TO ME OF SACRIFICE! I NEVER WOULD ASK YOU TO ENDURE THE HELL THAT YOU HAVE PUT ME THROUGH!

LORD T:                Everything that I’ve done, I’ve done for our family! For the Torrance name!

LADY T:                 Name, name, name! All that name has ever brought is misery and heartache into my life! I curse that name! Your family name and its legacy will burn in Hell!

LORD T:                My name gave your life meaning and purpose. When I found you, you were street trash, begging for food. I rescued you from that life, remember?!

LADY T:                 You exploited me. I was a trophy! A means to an end! To live out my days breeding, like some common bitch!

LORD T:                (smugly) Then it seems life has gone full circle for you. Oink oink little piggie.

LADY T:                 (laughs) Go ahead Alistair, make your snide remarks. It doesn’t matter. Kill me! Come for me! You’ll never have my heart!

LORD T:                Oh I will my dearest…I will pull it out of your still beating chest! And him! His betrayal…oh I have something special for him. They’ll never find you…

LADY T:                 Such a sad little boy you are, a little boy mad someone else played with your toys because you’re not man enough to keep them

LORD T:                ENOUGH! AHHHHHH!

SFX: AXE SLAMS ON DOOR, WOOD BEGINS TO SPLINTER

LADY T:                 (SCREAMS)

LORD T:                (creepily) This little piggie went to market! This little piggie stayed home!

SFX: AXE SLAMS INTO DOOR OVER AND OVER AGAIN.

SFX: WINDOW OPENED

LADY T:                 SAMUEL! HELP! IN THE HOUSE!

LORD T:                This little piggie had ROAST BEEF!

SFX: AXE SWINGS AGAIN.

LADY T:                 Samuel!

SFX: DOOR BREAKS OPEN

LORD T:                Till death do us part dearest!

LADY T:                 SAM!

SFX: FOOTSTEPS RUSH UP THE STEPS, SCUFFLE BREAKS OUT

LORD T:                Ugh! Get your hands off! I’ll kill you!

SFX: BLOWS EXCHANGED, VASE BREAKS

SAM:                     Lizzy stay back!

LADY T:                 Sam!...

SFX: SCUFFLE CONTINUES

SAM:                     AHHHHHH!

LORD T:                AHHHHHHH!

SFX: FALLS DOWNSTAIRS

LADY T:                 (screams in horror) Sam! Oh my god Sam!

SFX: FOOTSTEPS SLOWLY WALK DOWNSTAIRS

SAM:                     ….my….dearest…the boy my room…run…

LADY T:                 Sam! No! I won’t…leave you…

SAM:                     ….love…(death rattle:

LADY T:                 Sam…no….no…

LORD T:                (coughs)

SFX: BLOOD SPLATTERS ON THE GROUND

LORD T:                (raspy) He’s first. (laughs) You stupid bitch. You have no idea what you’ve done.

LADY T:                 You took him from me. You took him…I know what I did, but you don’t.

SFX: WHISPERS IN EAR

LORD T:                (raspy) NO! You bitch!

SFX: BODY SCUFFLING.

LADY T:                 Let go! Brody! My boy!

SFX: RUNNING.

LORD T:                I’m coming to get you! I’ll kill you both! You hear! LITTTLLEEEE PIGGGIESSSSSS!

SFX: MIRROR SHATTERS.

BRETT:                  Wait what happened?

LADY T:                 I…cannot see beyond.

TIFFANY:              What did you whisper to him?

LADY T:                 I told him the truth about Brody and about Sam.

BRETT:                  Then what happened?

LADY T:                 I….I think…the garden…my maze…we went to my maze…

TIFFANY:              Come on! Let’s go! Maybe we can retrace your steps.

LADY T:                 Yes….yes…through here.

MEDIA: TRANSITION MUSIC

SFX: WALKING IN LEAVES

LEO:                       It doesn’t add up...

TIFFANY:              Yeah, I wasn’t a believer either about ghosts and spirits...but after tonight.

LEO:                       It’s not that.

TIFFANY:              Then what?

LEO:                       I’m not sure

LADY T:                 This way! This way! I can see the path…the moon is full…I remember…this way…

BRETT:                  Isn’t this the best Leo?!

LEO:                       What?

BRETT:                  What? What?! We actually got to see a real live ghost; we solved the mystery of the Torrance house. This is it buddy! Our ticket to the top. The big time!

LEO:                       I don’t know Brett...

BRETT:                  Aw come on, you always are worrying about this or that, we’ll just relax and enjoy the moment!

LADY T:                 Here! The center of the maze! It’s where we fled. My Brody and I! My beautiful special boy! My break in their cursed chain!

TIFFANY:              I don’t understand…how did you die? Did Alaistar catch you? Did he bury you here?

LADY T:                 There is…something here…there…the orb on the obelisk. Turn it to 3 o’clock. I…must….depart…weak….weak….

SFX: MAGIC WHOOSH. BODY THUD.

TIFFANY:              Ange! Ange!

ANGIE:                 (moans) Uhhh…what…what happened?

TIFFANY:              Lady Torrence possessed you!

ANGIE:                 (weakly) She could’ve bought me dinner first…

LOU:                      Brett what are you doing?

BRETT:                  Turning this orb thingie! Maybe there’s a secret passage like in the Mystery of the Phantom Postal Worker!

LEO:                       No Brett don’t!

SFX: STONE TURNED. DEEP CLICK. GROUND CAVES AWAY. THEY FALL INTO A PIT. BODIES THUD. CRUNCH OF BONE.

BRETT:                  AHhhhhhh! (hisses) Ohhhhh….think I broke my leg….ahhh…

ANGIE:                 My glasses…I can’t find my glasses…

SFX: CRUNCH

ANGIE:                 I found my glasses…great…

LEO:                       Tiff you okay? Tiff? Ah shit…she’s knocked out cold.

ANGIE:                 What do you see?

LEO:                       I think…I think we’re in a cistern.

BRETT:                  (in pain) What…..what the hell is that?

ANGIE:                 In the old days big estates used to have underground chambers to store water in case of drought.

BRETT:                  (still in pain) Learning all sorts of shit today…

LEO:                       Oh…oh my God….

ANGIE:                 What is it?

LEO:                       ….it’s….I think it’s what left of Lady Torrence…

ANGIE:                 She must’ve fallen in with Brody…do you see Brody?

LEO:                       No….oh God…that’s…that’s not what killed her…she was….torn apart. But there’s…other bodies here…there’s…

ANGIE:                 Well what could’ve…

SFX: ANGRY SNUFFLING FROM THE CORNER

BRETT:                  What is that? What the hell is that?

SFX: WEREWOLF HOWL.

MOOSE (vo):      As the creature slowly moved in on them, the light of the full moon shown down on its matted fur, rippling with muscle, and claws clicking on stone. Only then did Angie realize what made Lady Torrence’s little boy so special, how Sam’s bloodline had at last broken the cursed House of Torrence. A heavy tongue licked yellowed fangs and she wondered just how many ghost hunters, urbexers and curious teens had found this place before them. A mother protects and a mother provides, even from beyond the grave. And then she began to scream, but not for very long.

MEDIA: TRANSITION MUSIC

END OF PART 1

BEGINNING OF PART 2

SCENE 11: RUSTY PICK – EXT. NIGHT

CHAD:                   Would you?

MOOSE:               Would I what?

CHAD:                   Bang a ghost?

MOOSE:               What?!?

CHAD:                   I mean like if you saw a really hot ghost chic, would you like say, “Hey! You want to maybe possesses my mattress for a bit.

MOOSE:               DUDE! (pause) Of course.

SFX: POUNDING ON DOOR.

CHAD:                   (sighs) You’ve got to be shitting me.

PUNCH:                Punch answer it.

CHAD:                   Do not open that door dude okay. I mean it. Just tell them to fuck off. I don’t care if it’s Santa Claus tonight…and if it is tell he still owes me 500 caps.

SFX: WALKING.

PUNCH:                Duhhhh Trick or Ween!

SCORCHED:         Uhhh….trick or not us?

PUNCH:                What? What you say?

SCORCHED:         Mmmm….open…door?

SFX: FOOTSTEPS.

CHAD:                   Who is it?

PUNCH:                Trick or wiener?

CHAD:                   We don’t get no candy and you don’t got no kids! There aren’t any. You’re an adult. Beat it.

SCORCHED:         Trick or treat….not us….

CHAD:                   What the…are you a Scorched?

SCORCHED:         Uhhh…no…us..

CHAD:                   You’re a Scorched aren’t you?

SCORCHED:         Trick or…

CHAD:                   Not us?

SCORCHED:         Yes…not us.

CHAD:                   That’s what I figured.

SFX: SWITCH THROWN. TESLA ARCS OUTSIDE.

SCORCHED:         AHHHHHHH!

CHAD:                   Man those tesla’s sure come in handy.

SFX: DOOR OPENED.

CHAD:                   Dusted…what the fuck…

SFX: DOOR CLOSED.

PUNCH:                Stay inside Chode!

SUSIE:                   Oh! Read me this one. This one! It’s a spooky love story.

PUNCH:                Uhhhhh Punch can read?

MOOSE:               Nah dude, it’ll take us till Christmas to get through if you read it.

PUNCH:                But Punch want to tell story!

MOOSE:               Tell you what dude we can read it together and I’ll kick in for the tough words (under his breath) which will probably be all of them.

SFX: DOOR OPENS AND SLAMS.

SUSIE:                   No more Trick or Treaters outside?

CHAD:                   No. There’s no one anywhere.

SUSIE:                   Is everything okay? You look funny.

CHAD:                   Uhh…yeah, all good kid. Just quiet out there. Not a breath of wind and foggy as fuck. How long has the radio been out?

MOOSE:               Radio?

CHAD:                   Yeah…it’s playing nothing but static dude.

SFX: RADIO STATIC FADES INTO FOCUS.

MOOSE:               Huh…didn’t even notice.

SFX: KNOB FIDDLED. STATIC ALL STATIONS.

CHAD:                   It’s all static. Not even Appalachia Radio or Pirate Radio are on air. That’s weird.

SUSIE:                   Another story now?

CHAD:                   It’s getting pretty late curtain climber. Gonna mess up your sleep…be like a zombie tomorrow.

SUSIE:                   But we’re not tired right Honey Pot Bear?

BEAR:                    I sure would like a jar of honey to smother myself with! HA HYUK!

CHAD:                   (sighs) Go on then, but I think you’ve enough candy kid. Grabbin’ some more hot cider. Moose you want some dude?

MOOSE:               Yeah! Bring a pitcher of it.

PUNCH:                Punch read now?

MOOSE:               Yeah dude, go on…

PUNCH:                Yay! For…ummm…

MOOSE:               …ever and Always.

PUNCH:                That’s what I was going to said…(pause) The first year of college can be the loneliest you ever feel, at least Lucas thought so.

MOOSE: (vo):     Away from friends, family, home...and romance? Are you kidding?! But he loved to dream, and what he’d dream he’d write…and in his mind and on the page his monsters, demons and slithering horrors would come to life. If only he had a life and love of his own. One Halloween love found him. Now, if only Lucas could stop screaming…tee hee hee…

--- VIGNETTE #4: FOREVER AND ALWAYS ---

SCENE 12: VAULT-TEC UNIVERSITY – INT. DAY

MEDIA: HALLOWEEN LOVE THEME. FADES TO FILM SCORE. PROJECTOR WHIRS AND STOPS.

1. HARVEY: Kevin, grab the lights will you.

SFX: LIGHTS.

1. HARVEY: And that was George Lynch’s “The Nightmare Carnival”, best summed up by a quote from Carl Jung (actor note: pronounced YOU-NG), “I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become.” You’ll remember we discussed previously that Jung had a different interpretation of dreams than that of his mentor and that in imagery they illustrate our internal conflicts and point to their cure as well. Right, Mr. Thorne you’re up.

SFX: SNICKERS.

1. HARVEY: Mr. Thorne? (sighs)

SFX: FOOTSTEPS. QUIET SNORING.

1. HARVEY: THORNE!

LUCAS:                 (jolted awake) Ah…what? What?

1. HARVEY: It appears that Mr. Thorne is currently exploring A Red Book of his own.

SFX: LAUGHS

1. HARVEY: (quieter) Mr. Thorne this isn’t a podunk high school out in the sticks where you grew up. This is Vault-Tec University. Sleep through my class again and you’re cut. Are we clear?

LUCAS:                 Yes sir.

1. HARVEY: You’re up.

SFX: FOOTSTEPS. SHUFFLING PAPERS.

TREY:                     (low) Pssst...hey Thorne (kissy noises) hope last night was good for you too. (laughs)

CAL:                       I’ve had better. (chuckles)

KEVIN:                  (low laugh)

MELINDA:           (low laugh)

LUCAS:                 (low cough, nervous and rattled now) In Alamogordo, New Mexico on July 16^th, 1945 the first successful atomic bomb completed with the Trinity detonation. Our world as we knew it changed in that instant and with that flashpoint. Oppenheimer later recalled a verse from Hindu, “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.” Bainbridge simply said, “Now we are all sons of bitches.”

SFX: LAUGHTER

LUCAS:                 The fascination with the power of the atom for all its wonders of modern technology generated over a century of iconic science fiction such as, “So I Married An Atom From Space”, “The Atomic Horror” and “Atomic Babes from Planet X”…though that last one was in limited distribution. I feel the best exactly of post-war atomic age science fiction is, “The Atomic Vampire”, first released in August of 2053. Ummm...projector and lights please.

SFX: LIGHTS CLICK. PROJECTOR STARTS.

SFX: CRICKETS CHIRP.

LUCAS (vo):        I wanted you from the first moment I saw you…I just never thought you’d feel the same.

LUCAS:                  What is…this is the wrong film.

LUCAS (vo):        …you won’t tell anyone will you?

CAL (vo):              Not if you won’t. It’ll be our secret.

LUCAS (vo):        I…I really like you.

CAL (vo):              Hey I feel the same.

LUCAS:                 (panic) That’s the wrong film! Please shut it off!

LUCAS (vo):        Can I…umm…is it okay if I kiss you?

CAL (vo):              I thought you’d never ask.

LUCAS (vo):        I’ve never done this before…

LUCAS:                 PLEASE TURN OFF THE FUCKING PROJECTOR.

SFX: LAUGHTER. CHAOS

MELINDA:           Hooooooo! Nice tongue action Lucas! (laughing) Is it getting hot in here? When do the fangs come out?

CAL:                       I think he ate my gum. It’s okay Lucas there’s more where that came from. (laughing)

TREY:                     (laughing) Hey it’s only gay if you kiss back dude.

CAL:                       He told me I had a nice smile. I was tempted to go all the way not gonna lie. (laughs)

KEVIN:                  That’s one way to make captain of the swim team. Fruit thinks a little couch action can make the cut. (laughs)

1. HARVEY: (furious) KEVIN! Turn that off now!

KEVIN:                  (laughing) Yes Mr. Harvey.

1. HARVEY: Mr. Thorne is this supposed to be funny?

LUCAS:                 (emotional) No…I…I didn’t put that there. That’s not my film…they…catfished me…I didn’t know they were….

1. HARVEY: You’re wasting my time and patience Mr. Thorne. Every year I have someone who thinks they can bring their own unique brand of humor or shock and awe to this class with a cute little drop in, though what I just saw there was certainly new territory. Congratulations on your artistic ingenuity.

LUCAS:                 That isn’t mine! I….(hiss of pain)

SFX: HEART BEAT HAMMERING. BONES SHIFT.

1. HARVEY: Not done yet with the show Mr. Thorne? Well we are. Get out. NOW.

LUCAS:                 I…I don’t feel…. (stab of pain and cry out)

1. HARVEY: What’s the matter with you boy?

LUCAS:                 I don’t feel right….

TREY:                     Nothing about you is right, you sick freak.

SFX: LAUGHTER IN CLASS.

LUCAS:                 Please stop…I…can’t stop it….(voice shifts to deeper, darker) it’s coming. You think I’m a monster…I’ll show you what I really am.

MELINDA:           Mr. Harvey…what’s wrong with his face?

SFX: BONES CRACK, SKIN SPLITS.

LUCAS:                 STOP LAUGHING!

SFX: MONSTROUS ROAR.

SFX: SCREAMS BREAK OUT. CHAOS OF RUNNING FEET AND TOPPLING DESKS.

SFX: SLASH OF CLAWS, BLOOD SPILLED. CARNAGE PAUSES FOR A MOMENT.

AURELIAN:          I can see you. I can SEE you. Who are you? LET ME IN!

SFX: ROAR AS VIOLENCE CONTINUES AND THE VOICE AND FIGURE FADES.

TREY:                     Open the door! Open the fucking door!

KEVIN:                  It’s stuck!

SFX: RUSH AND ROAR.  SHE’S THROWN ACROSS THE ROOM.

CAL:                       (crying, panic) Lucas…Lucas…please…I’m sorry…Trey put me up to it…this isn’t you. I’m sorry…please don’t…I like you…I…

SFX: MONSTROUS ROAR OF PAIN. HEAD TORN OFF AND TOSSED.

LUCAS (vo):        His claws dripping with the viscera of former classmates, he at last gave himself to the dark hunger and unspeakable ancient evil cursed upon him. Cast out, hunted, afraid and alone his humanity faded as he run through halls now echoing with screams of terror as they at last saw his true form.

SFX: DISTANT POUNDING ON A DOOR.

SIMONE:              Lucas! Lucas!

SFX: DREAM FADES TO REALITY. BED SHIFTS.

SIMONE:              If you don’t open this door in the next 60 seconds, I’m getting campus security!

LUCAS:                 (moans) God damn it…wait a minute, Simone!

SFX: DOOR UNLOCKED AND OPENED. SIMONE BURSTS IN, A BALL OF ENERGY.

SIMONE:              Right, so it’s Halloween…a holiday that has been YOUR favorite day of the year since we were 5 and not only did you not show up for our costume making lunch date, but you’ve skipped classes for 2 days now. So, I figured I’d just come on over and here and see if you died. I see that you did.

LUCAS:                 Oh ha ha.

SIMONE:              Seriously though you look like you slept in a barn.

LUCAS:                 What are you wearing?

SIMONE:              Well since your prissy ass didn’t show up to help, this is the best I could throw together. I’m an anthropomorphic cat cheerleader.

LUCAS:                 Well, you look like a street walker.

SIMONE:              And what is that smell? Gross Lucas you’re cultivating new forms of life on this dinner plate.

LUCAS:                 Yeah, I know, I know. Just…give me a minute…need to write this down before I lose it. Grab a seat…

SIMONE:              Let me just move a pile.

SFX: TRASH CRASH. WRITING SOUNDs.

SIMONE:              Where’s your roommate? Is he smothered to death somewhere under all this?

LUCAS:                 Gone. He was selected for the Overseer program, started classes, I came back one day after class and all his stuff was gone.

SIMONE:              That’s kind of weird. What are you writing?

LUCAS:                 (embarrassed) Nothing.

SIMONE:              You’re kidding me. The dream again? You’re a psychologist’s field day. You need to let this go.

LUCAS:                 (angry) Let it go?! I didn’t intend to start my first year of college in an existential crisis. I hadn't even told my parents yet...first day of swimming try outs and the guy of frankly anyone's dreams gives me a wink and handshake that lingered just a little too long. First date I've ever had with a guy ever, and I DON’T ask people out.

SIMONE:              Yeah. I know. I had to ask YOU out, remember? Should’ve put two and two together sooner when I’d noticed you side eye my brother coming in from gymnastics.

LUCAS:                 Right? So I do…and of course it turns out to be a cat fishing prank by some asshole fratbros, who were crafty enough to bring a camera and the very next day EVERYONE knows Simone.

SIMONE:              So what if they do?

LUCAS:                 You wouldn’t understand.

SIMONE:              Uhhh…yeah actually I do. So, you’re into guys, who the hell cares? If they have a problem with it, let them. Before this, before here, neither one of us gave a flying fuck what anyone thought back in school. You are today, the same person you were before making out with that dickhead.

LUCAS:                 It’s not that simple. All my life I’ve felt like I’m even here. Like I’m just empty, going through the motions of EVERYTHING. At first I thought it was because I was gay that I felt like I didn’t belong, but I think it’s more than that.

SIMONE:              That’s a state of mind Lucas and I’m sorry, but only you can do something about that. You’re a hell of a horror writer who frankly kept me up at night with your rough drafts, but for weeks now look at what you’ve been writing.

LUCAS:                 What do you mean?

SIMONE:              Don’t toy with me, I made claws out of 3 ring binder loops.

LUCAS:                 My dreams…what I’m writing…I’m the monster.

SIMONE:              Right. So stop…because you’re not. You aren’t defined by what THEY say you are, you’re defined by what YOU say you are.

LUCAS:                 Thanks.

SIMONE:              You’re welcome. Wanna pet me?

LUCAS:                 (laughs) No. I don’t know where you’ve been.

SIMONE:              So, pep talk over. You are going to take your undead carcass down to the hall to shower, change and then we’re going out.

LUCAS:                 Out? Where?

SIMONE:              You know that old, abandoned farm down by the Nuka Cola plant? Some of the guys from the Delta Tau Epsilon frat setup a haunted hedge maze down there. Come on it’ll be fun, they even setup a stage! Frank and the Ghoulies are playing, you love them. Guess what they called the corn maze? Come on guess.

LUCAS:                 I have no idea.

SIMONE:              Corn of the Macabre. (laughs)

LUCAS:                 That is…a Dad level joke and it’s awful. Come on, let’s just hang out here. I’ll clean up, we can pick up a pizza. Vincent Von Ghoul will be on at 8 doing an all-night marathon of the classics, even 12 minutes of footage cut from Night of the Fish Men!

SIMONE:              Tempting, but no. Go. Shower.

LUCAS:                 Please. The very last thing I want to do is get drunk surrounded by those people.

SIMONE:              (exasperated sigh) Clearly you weren’t listening to me a moment ago. Well, you have fun here, I’m going to go chase tail. Meow baby.

LUCAS:                 Oh, come on, don’t leave like that.

SIMONE:              When you come to your senses and decide to stop feeling sorry for yourself, here’s the flyer with directions and you’d better show, because if I have to walk back…hell hath NO fury…

SFX: DOOR SLAMS.

LUCAS:                 (sighs) Yet another relationship I fucked up.

SFX: FOOTSTEPS ON CARPET.

SFX: TV SWITCHED ON.

VINCENT:            …been expecting you. Forgive me we haven’t been formally introduced, have we? My name is Vincent Von Ghoul and tonight from the haunted halls of my castle dark will slither and crawl a tour de force of ghastly ghouls and villainous vampires on this night of All Hallow’s Eve. Darkness now falls across the land and quite soon the midnight hour will be close to hand. Creatures will crawl in search of blood, to terrorize your neighborhood. Dim the lights now and cuddle close in the shadows with another living soul, because tonight we begin with Arch Oobler’s, “The Dark…”

SFX: TV SWITCHED OFF.

LUCAS:                 (sighs) Sorry Vincent. I’m not feeling it.

SFX: ROTARY PHONE DIALED.

SFX: RINGING.

GRAMS:               (angry, threatening) I swear to god you little shits if you ask me one more time if my refrigerator is running I will hunt you down and carve you like a pumpkin.

LUCAS:                 Umm…gram?

GRAMS:               Oh! Hi sweetie. Sorry about that. Fallout from mischief night…was just about ready to rip the phone off the wall. (laughs) How was your day?

LUCAS:                 Fine I guess...

GRAMS:               Mmmm hmmm…skipped classes again, didn’t you?

LUCAS:                 Yes ma’am.

GRAMS:               (sighs) Look kid, we don’t always get to pick our own card in life. Sometimes you have to take the hand dealt to you.

LUCAS:                 Yeah (pause) how’s Dad?

GRAMS:               Bah…he’s moping down at Haven praying to the good Lord to figure out where he went wrong. I tried to talk to him…

LUCAS:                 How did that go?

GRAMS:               Well, it ended with me calling him a stubborn son of a bitch and reminding him that He (emphasis) doesn’t make mistakes on what he puts on this green earth.

LUCAS:                 (laughs) Sure that went over well.

GRAMS:               He’ll come around, he takes after his father. Your Mom on the other hand, I could smack her. You’d think she just discovered a new hobby…talking to this one and that one. The Wilkinsons over in Beckley have a son up in Boston attending MIT who is bi and your mother was peppering her with the most ridiculous questions and trying to set you two up. Chased Mrs. Wilkinson right out of the golf club until finally the woman told your mother in no uncertain terms to get help.

LUCAS:                 Oh…oh no. She didn’t… (coughing)

GRAMS:               You okay?

LUCAS:                 Yeah…just a little cough…been bothering me all day.

GRAMS:               Hang on a minute…what the hell are you doing in the dorm? Where’s Simone? You two should be out painting the town.

LUCAS:                 Yeah, not this year. She went to this haunted corn maze party some of the frats are throwing.

GRAMS:               And you let her go to a frat party ALONE? Have you plum lost your senses boy?

LUCAS:                 I…didn’t really think about it. I tried to get her to stay in with me.

GRAMS:               Look kid, (calls off to Mr. Handy in the room) No, no…not with a flamethrower you stupid robot! (back to Lucas) Honey, I need to go…that secondhand Mr. Handy is burning my caramel sauce for these apples…they cleaned me right out of the first batch! I’ve got to get a move on before the kids start TPing the porch.

LUCAS:                 Okay Grams.

GRAMS:               You find something to wear, get your ass out there and tomorrow I want to hear all about, okay?

LUCAS:                 Yes ma’am. Hey what time is it?

GRAMS:               Just goin’ on 7. Why?

LUCAS:                 My clock’s busted. Keeps flashing 11:11. Love you.

GRAMS:               Love you too!  (calls off into the room) Now look what you’ve done you stupid son of a…

SFX: PHONE CLICKS.

LUCAS:                 Right. Party it is. Now to figure out a costume…

SFX: CLOSET OPENED. CLOTHES SHUFFLED.

LUCAS:                 (light coughing…slowly intensifies to choking)

SFX: TRANSITION MUSIC ECHOES AND FADES.

SFX: CRICKETS CHIRP. OWL HOOTS. CAR APPROACHES AND ZOOMS BY. TRANSITION INTO CAR. HALLOWEEN MUSIC ON RADIO.

MEDIA: “BLOOD RED MOON” PLAYS https://youtu.be/HnfQvITOfaI

LUCAS (sings):   setting my soul free…setting my free…I finally surrender…waving my white flag.

                                I wanted it bad. Always tried too hard, but now that’s over.

                                I can finally, finally be me…

                                There’s no love under the blood red moon.

                                Ain’t got no loyalties and no one to please.

SFX: CAR ACCELERATING FROM BEHIND.

LUCAS:                 What the hell…riding my ass…just go around dickhead.

SFX: HONKING.

LUCAS:                 What is their problem?

SFX: WINDOW ROLLED DOWN.

LUCAS:                 GO AROUND ME ASSHOLES!

TREY:                     HEYYYYYYY LUCASSSSSSS! MIND IF WE REAR END YOU?! (laughing)

SFX: ENGINE REVVING. MORE HONKING.

LUCAS:                 (lightly coughing) Fine. I’ll pull over. Assholes.

SFX: RADIO STATIC. SONG SLOWS. THUMPING SOUND. RUSHING WATER.

LUCAS:                 What the hell?

SFX: PEELING TIRES AS THE VEHICLE FLIES BY.

SFX: SONG DISTORTS AND REPEATS.

under the blood red

                                                                under the blood red

                                                SFX: AURALIAN IS HEARD OVER THE RADIO.

AURELIAN:          (warmly, not threatening) I’ve got you. Stay with me….

SFX: CAR STALLS.

LUCAS:                 You’ve got to be kidding me.

SFX: CAR SLOWS ON GRAVEL.

SFX: CAR IGNITION FIRES, SLOWLY WINDS DOWN.

LUCAS:                 That’s…impossible. A nuclear powered car can’t run out of juice.

SFX: CLUNK IN BACK. IGNITION STOPS FIRING.

LUCAS:                 Great. Just great.

SFX: DOOR OPENS. SLAMS.

SFX: EERIE NIGHT. WIND. LEAVES RUSTLE.

LUCAS:                 I knew I should’ve stayed home. Where the hell am I anyway?

SFX: PAPER RUSTLES.

LUCAS:                 Farm should be just down the road a bit…well, fuck it

SFX: PAPER TOSSED TO STREET.

LUCAS:                 …not me just walking down a dark road by myself on Halloween. This is crazy…this is crazy…(trailing off)

SFX: FOOTSTEPS ON CONCRETE.

ELLA (VO):           …Lucas felt cold, a cold he’d never felt before, that penetrated deep into his bones as he walked down the road in the full dark. Over his head, clouds had snuffed out even the starlight and as he crested the top of a hill his sense of unease had grown into a suffocating panic as he heard a familiar distant sound behind him.

SFX: CAR STARTS. IDLES.

LUCAS:                 That’s…HEY! HEY THAT’S MY CAR! THAT’S MY CAR! Who is that? Cal! Trey! I swear to Christ I’ll report you to the police!

SFX: CAR REVVES ENGINE.

LUCAS:                 Who is that?

SFX: CAR REVVES. PEELS OUT. ACCELERATES UP THE ROAD TOWARDS HIM.

LUCAS:                 THIS ISN’T FUNNY! QUIT FUCKING AROUND!

SFX: BLOOD RED MOON PLAYS MUFFLED, GROWING LOUDER.

LUCAS:                 What the hell….what the hell!

SFX: RUNNING.

LUCAS:                 STOP! STOP PLEASE!

SFX: ENGINE REVS, GROWLS, METAL GRINDING….THUMPING GROWS LOUDER, MUSIC CONTINUES TO TWIST, SPEED UP AND SLOW DOWN.

SFX: TRIP. FALL.

SFX: CAR SCREECHES TO A HALT. REVVING. GUST OF HOT ENGINE LIKE A BREATHING BEAST.

LUCAS:                 PLEASE! Please leave me alone. What do you want? What do you want from me!? (light coughing)

SFX: AURELIAN’S VOICE ECHOES AROUND HIM, UNEARTHLY ON THE WIND.

AURELIAN:          (whispers) Are you scared?

LUCAS:                 Yes…

AURELIAN:          I’m sorry.

SFX: GUST OF WIND AS THE SONG NOTES FADE OUT. CAR FADES AWAY.

LUCAS:                 (panting, upset) What…what the actual fuck is going on?

WANDERER:       Help! Someone…oh God…please help me!

SFX: SCRABBLE ON GRAVEL.

LUCAS:                 Hello? Who’s there?

WANDERER:       Oh thank God! Please! I’m stuck….please help me…I’m here! I’m here!

SFX: FOOTSTEPS ON CONCRETE.

LUCAS:                 Who is that? Oh! Oh my God hang on…

WANDERER:       Tire….was changing tire…jack slipped. Please help me.

LUCAS:                 Hang on. Don’t move. (strains) I can’t….can’t lift the trailer.

WANDERER:       The jack! Use the jack!

SFX: JACK POSITIONED AND LIFTS THE TRAILER.

WANDERER:       There! There…oh thank God…almost…

SFX: SCRABBLING ON GRAVEL.

LUCAS:                 Are you alright sir?

WANDERER:       Yes…(panting) yes…thought I bought the farm (weak laugh)

LUCAS:                 You should’ve had flares out! Someone could’ve come over the hill and clipped you.

WANDERER:       They did. Some speeding jackass kids. Tore over the hill and sideswiped my trailer.

LUCAS:                 Yeah I saw them. Ah shit your head…you’re bleeding.

WANDERER:       Bumped my head on the road. God damned kids.

LUCAS:                 Hang on. Here…

SFX: FABRIC RIPPING.

LUCAS:                 Keep some pressure on that. You should get to a hospital to make sure you don’t have a concussion or need stitches.

WANDERER:       Nah…me? I’m a tough old vulture. (ironic laugh) You uhh…heading to a party?

LUCAS:                 What? Oh…pirate costume gave me away, huh.

WANDERER:       Is that what that is? (laugh) Speaking of dumb moves on a dark road what on earth are you doing out here by your lonesome?

LUCAS:                 My…car broke down. Or…something.

WANDERER:       Right run of bad luck for the both of us tonight.

SFX: STUMBLES

LUCAS:                 Whoa careful! Yeah you’re not driving anywhere. Here let’s get you inside.

WANDERER:       Just feelin’ a little lightheaded.

LUCAS:                 It’s okay. Party I’m headed to, there’s a little service station just up the road here with a phone. I can ring for an ambulance.

WANDERER:       No, no, no…I’m fine, really. Appreciate the concern though. Don’t know what I would’ve done if someone hadn’t come finally.

SFX: METAL STEPS. CAMPER DOOR SQUEEKS OPEN.

WANDERER:       Mi casa et su casa (laughs) pardon the mess.

LUCAS:                 This is…this is amazing.

WANDERER:       This old junk? The accumulated detritus of decades of roaming the open roads kid. Just plunk me down in my rocker here.

SFX: CHAIR SQUEEKS.

WANDERER:       There…head stopped spinnin’ for a minute.

LUCAS:                 You an antiques dealer or something?

WANDERER:       Or something (laughs). I’m a bit of a wanderer you’d say, soul of the road! Mary and I have been collecting things from here and there along the way for years now. Though most of this junk looks like estate sale leftovers. (weak laugh)

LUCAS:                 Mary? Your wife?

WANDERER:       Yes…that she was. Dear, sweet soul.

LUCAS:                 Oh…oh I’m sorry.

WANDERER:       Bah…nothing to apologize for, my life was all the better for her in it. What about you? Got yourself a girl?

LUCAS:                 Not…as such.

WANDERER:       Just starting college then?

LUCAS:                 Yeah, Vault-Tec University. First year…haven’t quite found the right one yet.

WANDERER:       You’ll know when you do. Oh, you’ll have people drift in and out of your life like passing faces in the rain. Some for a night, some for longer…but you’ll know when you find her. It was like that with Mary and I, high school sweethearts…and from then until the last day there wasn’t a day, I didn’t love her as completely as she deserved.

LUCAS:                 It must’ve been terrible to lose a love like that.

WANDERER:       Feels like a long time ago now I lost her, and longer still since we sold the house and hit the road. She was a stubborn thing…doctors told her she’d have months. So, we hit the road until…the road ran out for us. (silence) You hear people introduce their spouse at some cocktail party or shindig and they’d say, “this is my other half”, or my “better half” they throw that statement around with a smirk without knowing the real power and truth behind that saying. My Mary, she was my twin flame, my other half.

LUCAS:                 Twin flame?

WANDERER:       Like a soulmate, but so much more.

LUCAS:                 I’ve never met anyone I’ve connected with like that. It’s great that you carry those memories with you though…in all of this.

WANDERER:       Oh there’s more than memories here now. I took her death hard, but I kept going…kept collecting…looking for something to capture death itself, force it to give me back what was taken from me. Oh, what I collect now isn’t old furniture and dishware.

LUCAS:                 Capture death?

WANDERER:       Yessir…capture death and I had a trump card…knowledge. See twin flames, true soulmates… have a powerful cosmic connection. They are one soul shared on this plane. Cleaved right down the middle and split into vessels, the ying and yang and yet they fit together to form a perfect whole. They’re drawn to each other through time and space, the most unstoppable force in the universe. Twin flames never lose that connection…even beyond the veil of death and with the right medium you can cast a lifeline out, to hook on in the dark and reel them back. Yessir, that’s what I collect now…

LUCAS:                 Some of these objects are supernatural?

WANDERER:       Yup! They all have a story to them. Some more than others, but each and every one of them has been touched by the beyond.

LUCAS:                 So is that a haunted chamber pot over there (laughs)

WANDERER:       (annoyed) Never, ever laugh in the face of darkness my boy…it don’t like it.

SFX: ROCKING CHAIR SQUEEKS. FOOTSTEPS.

LUCAS:                 Yeah…look I need to get going. Glad you’re okay. You sure you don’t want me to call an ambulance?

WANDERER:       Ambulance schmanbulance. I’ve had enough of doctors and their nonsense for a lifetime.

LUCAS:                 Do you have the time?

WANDERER:       I wish (laughs) it’s 11:11. Here, hold on now…I’ve got something for you.

LUCAS:                 For me?

WANDERER:       Yessir. A good deed and a good deed should never go unrewarded, and this particular object holds power sure, but not for me…not anymore.

SFX: RUMMAGING IN DRAWER.

WANDERER:       Ah! There she is!

LUCAS:                 A mirror?

WANDERER:       (spiteful) This is much a mirror as you are a pirate. You’re into Halloween I take it?

LUCAS:                 Yeah of course.

WANDERER:       Ever had your fortune told at a carnival?

LUCAS:                 Been to a carnival yeah, but those fortune tellers always weirded me out.

WANDERER:       Divination is an ancient art, a proper science when you get right down to it, that looks beyond the veil to see the threads of fate and destiny…now attempting to meddle with those is asking for trouble…

LUCAS:                 Like the story of the Monkey’s Paw.

WANDERER:       Right! But this mirror here gives you a glimpse only and leaves the rest up to you. What it reflects isn’t lottery numbers or your dream job, no…it will show you your truest love, bound by fate.

LUCAS:                 You can’t be serious…

WANDERER:       As serious as the grave. Finding it wasn’t easy, taking it was even harder…but I didn’t realize until later what its purpose was. So, I’m giving it to you.

LUCAS:                 To me? I can’t take this…it looks old…it’s black painted…and…are those gems?

WANDERER:       You could certainly hawk it and pay the rest of your schooling. But if you’re smart, you’ll use it, because it’s power is tied to this night and this night only each year.

LUCAS:                 How does it work?

WANDERER:       Carve a fresh picked apple into slices of 9 and in a darkened room before a candle you must wait. At the stroke of midnight, not before, not after… eat eight slices and eight slices only. The ninth slice throw into the mirror and your truest love will appear.

LUCAS:                 Into the mirror?

WANDERER:       Yup. At midnight mind you, not before, not after…and be careful with that mirror. Supernatural objects when broken, well their power leaks out into the world…and you don’t want any part of that trust me. Now, take it.

LUCAS:                 You’re sure?

WANDERER:       Destiny can’t be fought boy. It’s already decided that it’s yours. Take it.

LUCAS:                 Okay…thanks.

WANDERER:       Now! I’m feelin’ better…so what say I drop you off at your party, eh?

ELLA (vo):            Lucas and the strange old man finished putting the spare tire unto the rickety old trailer and clambered into the pick-r-up. With the roar of an engine and spitting of gravel, pulled unto the dark and lonely road. Their headlights barely broke through the heavy fog that seemingly had drifted out of the deep woods and shrouded all in a ghostly haze. Lucas’ sense of foreboding crept further up his spine as more than once he could’ve sworn, he saw dim headlights behind them.

MEDIA: SURFING GHOUL MUSIC PLAYS.

SFX: LAUGHING, DRINKING, GAMES.

SIMONE:              (laughing) Get your paws off me and put a ice pack on that thing. Jesus Mark. I’ll be right back (mumbles under breath) gross. Well I’ll be god damned!

LUCAS:                 (Sheepishly) I had a witty remark or possibly a pirate-y yarrrrr comment about you being a fine wench, but how about just, “Okay fine I’m here and you wouldn’t believe the shit I’ve been through.”

SIMONE:              (laughing) Did you make an eyepatch out of socks? Sweetie that’s adorable. Guess you haven’t inherited the gift of arts and crafts yet with your membership card.

LUCAS:                 I’m only on chapter 3 of the agenda: showtunes. My car died on the way here.

SIMONE:              That’s…weird.

LUCAS:                 Some assholes practically pushed me off the road and I can’t get it to start. But then, hell I don’t know…I think someone stole my car and is stalking me with it.

SIMONE:              (Deadpan) You’re supposed to shoot up Calmex, not eat it.

LUCAS:                 Oh ha ha. I’m not high.

SIMONE:              Someone is stalking you…with YOUR car.

LUCAS:                 Yes…

SIMONE:              Well I don’t see YOUR car anywhere…

LUCAS:                 What are we going to do?

SIMONE:              WE are going to get ME proper drunk. What’s with the shopping bag? Did you buy snacks? PLEASE tell me you bought snacks…

SFX: BAG RUSTLES

SIMONE:              A mirror?

LUCAS:                 You want it with or without french onion dip?

SIMONE:              So, your car broke down, it started taunting you and you decided to go shopping. Fever dream much? I can slap you, so you’re sure you’re awake if you want.

LUCAS:                 No! That same truck that was riding my ass and got me to pull over in the first place clipped some old guy’s trailer while he was changing a tire. I helped him out and as a thank you he gave it to me. It’s…a magic mirror or something.

SIMONE:              (laughing, choking on beer) What? Like Mirror, Mirror In My Hand, Show Me Treasure Fast As You Can?

LUCAS:                 Not exactly…it’s supposed to show you your true love, but only at midnight.

SIMONE:              You’re kidding. Oh shit! It’s almost midnight…come on, let’s go see the hottie you’re going to marry and then it’s my turn.

SIMONE:              Is there a spell or something?

LUCAS:                 No, I need a fresh apple cut into pieces and a candle.

SIMONE:              There’s some old apple trees…and I’ve got a knife.

LUCAS:                 Oh my god! Where did you get that?

SIMONE:              You think I’d go out on Halloween to a frat party without someone to scare the bejesus out of some handsy fella? Hold this jack-o-lantern. We’ll use this. Come on.

LUCAS:                 Quit tugging me! I don’t think this is a good idea.

SIMONE:              It’s a great idea!

SFX: GRASS RUSTLES.

SIMONE:              Pick one. Pick a juicy one…

LUCAS:                 Simone, there’s no apples left on the tree…

SIMONE:              Yeah, there is! Up there.

LUCAS:                 We know how clumsy I am, if I try and climb this thing I’m going to end up in traction. Here this is fine.

SIMONE:              One off the ground? Gross.

LUCAS:                 I’ll just carve off the gross bits.

SFX: TRUCK PULLS UP.

TREY:                     Hey hey! Now the party can really start!

KEVIN:                  Mark you’d better have saved a keg for us or I’ll beat your ass!

MELINDA:           Whoooooooo! Happy Halloween fuckers!

LUCAS:                 God damn it…

SIMONE:              Trey, Cal, Kevin and Melinda….the trashy quintet.

LUCAS:                 I do not want to run into them…please? Let’s just get this over with, steal some beer, get your car and crash watching Vincent Von Ghoul all night.

SIMONE:              Okay fine, but we’re doing this first, deal?

LUCAS:                 Deal.

SFX: WALKING IN GRASS. SHED DOOR OPENS, CLOSES.

LUCAS:                 Simone.

SIMONE:              What?

LUCAS:                 This is an outhouse, not a shed. Oh my god that stinks…

SIMONE:              Beggers can’t be choosers. So, what do you do now?

SFX: CUTTING APPLE.

LUCAS:                 I need to cut 9 slices, eat 8 and toss the last one into the mirror with the candle…err…jack-o-lantern shining on the mirror.

SIMONE:              Then what?

LUCAS:                 I guess he’s supposed to catch it.

SIMONE:              (laughing) And then what? Climb out and say, “excuse me my love I think you dropped this? Wanna make out.” That’s hilarious.

LUCAS:                 What time is it?

SIMONE:              Almost midnight, I think.

LUCAS:                 Well, check your watch the old man said it has to be midnight.

SIMONE:              Okay 15 seconds…

LUCAS:                 Here…you hold the mirror…I’ll sit on…oh my god this is gross…and eat.

SIMONE:              If he has 6 pack abs and black hair, I want pictures. Of like…the WHOLE deal…

LUCAS:                 (laughing) Shut up. Okay…here we go.

SFX: EATING APPLE.

SIMONE:              Anything happening?

LUCAS:                 (mouth full) Not yet…wait…

SFX: EATING APPLE.

SIMONE:              Wait, what?

SFX: HUMMING. WIND BUFFETS THE OUTHOUSE.

LUCAS:                 There’s…the reflection in the mirror…it’s getting cloudy.

SIMONE:              Are you serious? Well don’t stop eating!

SFX: EATING APPLE.

LUCAS:                 That’s impossible…just…

SIMONE:              What do you see? Let me look.

LUCAS:                 No! Don’t move too much. I need to stay reflected. It’s a road…no, a cemetery…there’s someone standing…a shadow…

SFX: EATING APPLE.

SIMONE:              Can you see him?

LUCAS:                 It’s foggy…wait…he’s moving.

SIMONE:              What is he doing?

LUCAS:                 He’s getting closer. But there’s something wrong with…that can’t be right.

SIMONE:              8! That’s 8! Throw the last piece!

LUCAS:                 I don’t think…

SIMONE:              For Christ’s sake Lucas just throw it!

SFX: THROW. GLASS REFRACTS, RIPPLE OF WATER. THUMPING. SPLASHING, GETTING LOUDER.

LUCAS:                 He caught it! He’s…oh my god…

SIMONE:              What?

LUCAS:                 There’s no head…Simone, it has no head!

SFX: CRASH AS THE OUTHOUSE IS SHAKEN.

LUCAS:                 (screaming)

TREY:                     Whoooooooooooo! It’s the big gayyyyy ghost!

KEVIN:                  You two making out in there? I think this kid’s a trysexual…try anything once (laughing)

MELINDA:           Open the door!

SFX: DOOR SMASHED. PUMPKIN FALLS AND SHATTERS. MIRROR CLUNKS AND BREAKS.

LUCAS:                 The mirror!

CAL:                       Mirror? Simone, you teaching him makeup tips? He’d look pretty with a little eyeliner.

KEVIN:                  What?

MELINDA:           Dude…

CAL:                       It was a joke.

SIMONE:              Shut up Cal. Shouldn’t you all be harassing pledges or, more preferably gearing up for toxic alcohol poisoning?

TREY:                     This one’s got a mouth.

MELINDA:           Yeah, she does. I’d love to punch it…

SIMONE:              You name the place princess.

LUCAS:                 We don’t want any trouble. WE were just leaving.

TREY:                     No, no, no. See we have a problem fruit. Because you went and blabbed to Mr. Harvey after our little joke, Mr. Harvey reported us to the Dean, who is shutting down the fraternity and possibly expelling us.

LUCAS:                 How is that my problem? This was your stunt.

TREY:                     No, see it IS your problem, because my old man…he doesn’t accept failure…

SIMONE:              Sounds like he needs to take that up with your Mom.

SFX: PUNCH

SIMONE:              (yelps)

LUCAS:                 LEAVE HER ALONE!

SFX: GRABBING.

TREY:                     Hold him.

CAL:                       Trey…what the hell are you doing man?

MELINDA:           Trey let’s just go back to the party.

TREY:                     Shut up Mel. You want some too Cal? Or did you maybe like it more than you let on?

CAL:                       No.

SIMONE:              Let him go you assholes!

SFX: PUNCHING.

SFX: SWITCH BLADE.

TREY:                     See, he taught me shit rolls downhill…and before I get mine, you’re going to get yours. I’m taking my pound of flesh…

SFX: GUST OF WIND. THUNDER RUMBLES.

MELINDA:           Trey….

TREY:                     You got a pretty little face on you, don’t you? …and me? I haven’t carved my pumpkin yet…

SFX: THUNDER INCREASING.

CAL:                       Trey! Don’t! Jesus Christ…

KEVIN:                  What the hell is that…

MELINDA:           Trey I don’t like this…

TREY:                     Shhhh…close your eyes, Lucas.

SIMONE:              NO! LUCAS!

SFX: MONSTROUS ROAR FROM THE SKY. LIGHTNING BOLT EXPLODES INTO THE GROUND. BODIES THROWN EVERYWHERE.

TREY:                     (coughing) What the…

SIMONE:              (coughing) LUCAS! RUN! RUN! LUCAS!

SFX: SCRAMBLE TO FEET. RUNNING THROUGH FIELD.

TREY:                     GET THE FUCK UP! COME ON! GRAB THE TRUCK! YOU’D BETTER RUN FAIRY! YOU’D BETTER RUN!

SFX: RUNNING ON GRAVEL.

LUCAS:                 (panting in panic)

SFX: FLASHES. HEART BEATING. WATER. THUMPING.

SFX: DISTANT PEELING OUT, SPEEDING DOWN ROAD.

ELLA (VO):           His blood pumping in his ears, Lucas’ mind was reeling, filled with flashes of water, choking, a song screaming in his mind. Fueled by panic and adrenalin he didn’t see the fallen sign warning of danger ahead. He didn’t see the ivy-covered final warning DEAD END. The bridge was out and as Lucas found himself at the edge of broken and rotten wooden beams, he looked down, far below to the roiling river. The truck crept forward towards him, Kevin and Melinda standing in the bed, Trey behind the wheel with an expressionless face, while Cal stared ahead gripping the dashboard in horror. His escape was blocked by the truck, creeping ever forward. Lucas turned to face them…blinded by the truck’s high beams.

SFX: WIND. THUNDER.

LUCAS:                 PLEASE! TREY! DON’T! (crying continuous and pleading with his life for a bit while they talk)

KEVIN:                  Dude this bridge…doesn’t look safe.

TREY:                     It’ll hold long enough…

SFX: BRIDGE CREAKING. TIMBERS SPLITTING. TRUCK CREEP FORWARD.

MELINDA:           What are you doing?

CAL:                       Come on man this has gone far enough…

TREY:                     I just wanted to see if he can fly…and if he can’t…an unfortunate accident. Problems solved.

LUCAS:                 PLEASE! STOP! I won’t tell anyone! I’ll tell the Dean it was just a joke! PLEASE!

SFX: ROAR.

KEVIN:                  What the fuck is that!

SFX: WIND WHIPS AS SOMETHING GRABS HIM AND CARRIES HIM UP.

KEVIN:                  (screaming, being pulled up into the sky)

MELINDA:           KEV! KEVIN!

TREY:                     What’s going on?

MELINDA:           Something grabbed Kevin!

KEVIN:                  (screaming growing louder, closer)

SFX: CRASH OF BODY INTO WINDSHIELD.

CAL:                       Jesus Christ! Jesus Christ man!

TREY:                     Glove box! Glove box! Gimme the gun!

MELINDA:           TREY! TREY! IT (screams)

SFX: WINGS SWIRL AS SHE’S THROWN OFF THE BRIDGE INTO THE RAVINE AGAINST THE CLIFF FACE. BODY CRUNCHES AND FALLS TO THE WATER.

CAL:                       Oh my god…no, no…fuck this man! Fuck this!

SFX: TRUCK DOOR OPENS. RUNNING DOWN BRIDGE.

TREY:                     GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE!

SFX: WINGS SWOOP.

CAL:                       (screams, gets cut off)

SFX: BODY TORN APART. ROARING.

SFX: DOOR OPENS. PISTOL COCKED. BRIDGE GROANS UNDER THE WEIGHT OF THE TRUCK.

TREY:                     What is that? What is that thing? Did you do this? DID YOU!

LUCAS:                 (crying) NO! No I don’t…please, please…

SFX: BRIDGE SUPPORT SNAPS.

TREY:                     (screaming)

SFX: TRUCK SLIDES OFF, SMASHES TROUGH BEAMS.

LUCAS:                 Oh god no…

SFX: FALLING THROUGH THE AIR AS THE BRIDGE COLLAPSES INTO THE WATER BELOW. EXPLOSION OF WATER. SINKING.

AURELIAN:          Breathe…come on breathe…I’ve got you. Stay with me.

SFX: WATER FADES AWAY. WORLD EXPLODES BACK INTO FOCUS.

SFX: WIND WHIPS. WINGS FLAPPING.

LUCAS:                 (coughing) What…what the…oh..oh my god! No! No! Let me go!

SFX: ANNOYED ROAR.

SFX: PUNCHING.

LUCAS:                 Let me go!

SFX: DROPPED TO GROUND. BODY ROLLS.

SFX: CREATURE LANDS.

LUCAS:                 Ah! Damn it…stay…stay away from me!

SFX: WINGS FOLD INWARD, BONES CRACKING, MISTS SWIRL.

LUCAS:                 What in the f…

AURELIAN:          Uhhh…hi.

LUCAS:                 (screams)

SFX: RUNNING. MUD SPLASHES. SLIDES UNDER CANOE.

LUCAS:                 (heavy breathing) This is a dream. This is a dream. This has to be a dream.

SFX: FOOTSTEPS APPROACH.

LUCAS:                 (yelling) Get the fuck away from me! (panic) You...that monster back on the bridge, was you? That thing? What the hell are you? You're...you're a vampire! Nosferatu! The Undead! Get back unclean spirit I've got...this broken oar and look! Another one...I am now making the sign of the cross!

AURELIAN:          You’re adorable honestly, but two rotten boards a cross do not make.

LUCAS:                 I have…an oar! And I swear to God, I will beat you with it!

AURELIAN:          That would be hilarious.

LUCAS:                 Are...are you wearing tennis shoes? What kind of vampire wears tennis shoes?

AURELIAN:          What kind of person makes a pirate costume out of shoe polish-stained gym shorts and socks? Okay, okay...hey! Truce. Hi...if you can stop screaming for a minute, we can do introductions properly. And I have to say, all things considered…you called me, so all of this is incredibly rude.

LUCAS:                 I didn’t call you! I don’t even know you.

AURELIAN:          You did.

LUCAS:                 I did not!

AURELIAN:          (sighs) Right, so…taking a step back here and just toss right out reaching out to me with John Dee’s lost scrying mirror and start over.

LUCAS:                 John Dee? Who the hell is John Dee?

AURELIAN:          Yeah, toss that right out. Right out of there. Forget I said it. Look, give me a tick, I’m out of practice here as far as talking to people go. Usually there’s just a lot of…you know what, nope…don’t say that. (clears throat) Good evening! I’m Aurelian Woodlocke, which you know, doesn’t exactly roll of the tongue in the 21^st century, but when it was given to me it was a banger…a right proper name. And you are…?

LUCAS:                 Lucas…

AURELIAN:          Lovely! Uh Lucas what…?

LUCAS:                 Just…Lucas…

AURELIAN:          Fair enough, stranger danger and all that. And firstly, let me just say that back there is not at all how I was planning this to go. If not for those assholes back there, I had figured I'd lurk in the shadows at the party for a bit, you know making sure you could see me… build up the intrigue, before slowly approaching you through the crowd. Then maybe doing some dancing where we don't speak, it’s just all intense, dark and mysterious and why the hell not? It’s Halloween. Oh! And the whole time right, you'd be thinking, "Who is this mysterious stranger? Why is he so cold?" And then we'd go for a walk in the corn maze, and I'd freak you out a little with a cat and mouse game disappearing around corners and then just when you were a little lost and on the verge of panic, I'd gently take your hand and pull you through to the exit. Because, and without words, I'd want you to know that whenever you felt that way...I'd be there for you…forever and always. A promise. And we'd have a real moment there...I think. But yeah, so that was the plan. Instead, it was all blood, guts, and "oh my god what the fuck is that?" and heart pounding terror. Which, in hindsight, probably isn't the best first impression I could've made. Are you going to come out from under there? It looks muddy. Hey! Do you like pancakes? I could kill for some 2am pancakes. The Red Rocket Truck Stop makes little smiley faces in whipped cream.

SFX: MUD SPLASHES RUNNING.

AURELIAN:          Or we could...annnnnnd you're running away. (sigh) I'm way too old for this.

SFX: WHIRL OF WIND, WINGS BURST FORTH AS HE LIFTS OFF THE GROUND.

SFX: RUNNING ON PAVEMENT.

LUCAS:                 Thank God a car…HEY! HEY! HELP! PLEASE STOP!

SFX: CAR HONKS. SKIDS.

SFX: WINGS WHIP AND PULL HIM OFF ROAD.

SFX: CAR SPEEDS OFF.

SFX: WINGS FOLD IN, TRANSFORM BACK.

AURELIAN:          Are you absolutely insane? Did your Mum not tell you not to run into the bloody road? Second time tonight I saved your ass thank you very much.

LUCAS:                 So, you’re not going to…?

AURELIAN:          Yessss…you’ve got this…

LUCAS:                 Drink my blood and kill me?

AURELIAN:          On a first date? What kind of man do you take me for?

LUCASE:               WHAT?!

AURELIAN:          Kidding. Your face! (sighs) You’re going to be a lot of work. Come on…

SFX: FOOTSTEPS ON PAVEMENT.

LUCAS:                 Come on where?

AURELIAN:          Pancakes. Smiley faces with whipped cream.  Or, you know…you can hang out here in the middle of the road in the dark because there’s no third time with me. Suit yourself!

LUCAS:                 (mumbles) God damn it. (sighs) Wait up!

AURELIAN:          Want me to fly us there?

LUCAS:                 NO! I’m good…I prefer you like this…

AURELIAN:          Unbelievable…again with the rude. I’ve been told I have quite fetching wings.

LUCAS:                 Why?

AURELIAN:          Why what?

LUCAS:                 Why did you save me?

AURELIAN:          (laughs and then pauses) Wow…that is…huh. You really don’t know do you?

LUCAS:                 Know what?

AURELIAN:          You can’t see yourself, what you are and what this is…right here, right now. And even with all that considered, you have kind eyes…when they’re not screwed up in terror.

LUCAS:                 I didn’t think you were real. Vampires I mean.

AURELIAN:          There’s not as many of us left as there used to be, but if you want to blame someone blame Hollywood. The moment some old fart put on clown makeup, slicked his hair back and put on a Romanian accent it was the end of the mystery and legend. (Fakes Bela Lugosi). “I am Dracula, I bid you welcome. I never drink…wine. Blah blah!”

LUCAS:                 Okay come on, he never said “Blah blah!” Don’t be trash talking Bella in my presence. The man was a legend. You’ve seen it?

AURELIAN:          Aye…when it first came out. My point was, once monsters were packaged for entertainment, people only looked to see them on the screen or in dreams…not in reality. If you don’t look, you don’t see.

LUCAS:                 How old are you?

AURELIAN:          (laughing) Should we throw out the cocktail party rules and talk religion, politics and how much money I make?

LUCAS:                 Oh, come on that’s a fair question.

AURELIAN:          (coughing the answer) Over 400.

LUCAS:                 Got a little something in your throat?

AURELIAN:          Probably someone yeah… (laughs…fades awkwardly)

LUCAS:                 Doesn’t it bother you?

AURELIAN:          What?

LUCAS:                 Killing people.

SFX: WALKING STOPS.

AURELIAN:          There it is. Right. Before we go any further, I need to make one thing perfectly clear. That back there, was for you and honestly you shouldn’t dwell on it because they were assholes.

LUCAS:                 Yeah, I know…

AURELIAN:          Secondly, and this is the important one…every one of us has their own rules. I have mine, but suffice to say I feed, I don’t kill…not anymore. We’re all a little overzealous in our youth and frankly the Victorian era was boring as fuck, so there wasn’t much else to do. Got it?

LUCAS:                 Yeah fine.

AURELIAN:          Good. On we trot.

SFX: WALKING.

LUCAS:                 The mirror showed me you.

AURELIAN:          And it showed me you. Unfortunately, not all of me shows up in a mirror. Hazard of the lifestyle…it’s why we all have bed hair.

LUCAS:                 Do you believe…

AURELIAN:          In fate? Yes. Because…and you don’t understand why…

LUCAS:                 …this feels effortless. Talking to you I mean.

AURELIAN:          Don’t be.

LUCAS:                 What?

AURELIAN:          You were thinking you should be scared, terrified even.

LUCAS:                 What so you can read minds or something too?

AURELIAN:          No, but I can read you. I don’t ever want you to be afraid of me. And you are scared aren’t you? But it’s not me…

LUCAS:                 No. There’s something after me. I feel it. Something odd happened with my car and I keep (coughing) I can’t breath…it’s like…

AURELIAN:          (concerned) Hey…hey…it’s okay. Lucas? Lucas?

SFX: CAR APPROACHES.

LUCAS:                 I think it’s happening again…the car.

AURELIAN:          Nothing and no one will hurt you. I’ve got you.

SFX: CAR JERKS, SLOWS AND SKIDS TO A STOP.

SIMONE:              (drunk) Lucas! What the actual fuck!?

LUCAS:                 Simone?

SIMONE:              Well, it’s not the Great Pumpkin! Where the hell have you been?! I’ve been scared sick…are you okay?

LUCAS:                 Yeah, I’m fine!

SIMONE:              And who…the hell are YOU?

AURELIAN:          Good evening I’m…

LUCAS:                 (cutting him off quick) You should not be driving right now. Come on…

SIMONE:              (whispers conspiratorially) Who’s the hottie?

LUCAS:                 Please, let’s just get into the car…

SIMONE:              Stop pawing me and introduce me, Lucas. Jesus where are your manners. Hi, I’m….

SFX: VOMIT.

AURELIAN:          …vomiting on my shoes. Charming.

LUCAS:                 Oh my god! I’m so, so sorry.

SFX: CAR DOOR OPENS.

SIMONE:              Are you gay?

LUCAS:                 SIMONE! JESUS CHRIST SHUT UP!

AURELIAN:          Sure, why not?

SIMONE:              Lucas don’t you think he’s hot? (yells) LUCAS THINKS YOU’RE HOT!

SFX: DOOR SLAMMED.

LUCAS:                 I am so sorry…she’s normally…no, you know what that’s pretty much an accurate representation of Simone.

AURELIAN:          (laughing)

LUCAS:                 What?

AURELIAN:          (laughing)

LUCAS:                 Stop it. What? (laughing)

AURELIAN:          Come on…let’s go for…

SFX: WATER NOISES. LOUDER THUMPING. MUSIC PLAYS.

SFX: DINER NOISE EXPLODES IN.

AURELIAN:          PUMPKIN PANCAKES!

LUCAS:                 Pumpkin pancakes?

AURELIAN:          Pumpkin pancakes all around! And don’t spare the whipped cream.

WAITRESS:          Comes with a side of bacon or sausage, toast of your choice and home fries.

SIMONE:              (drunkenly) They’ll have the sausage. (laughs, burps).

SFX: HEAD HITS TABLE.

WAITRESS:          Is she okay?

SIMONE:              (moans)

LUCAS:                 Can we just get some water for her please?

AURELIAN:          And maybe a few doggie bags…

LUCAS:                 Just the pancakes is fine really.

WAITRESS:          She pukes on the carpet you’re cleaning it. (mumbles) Every year…Christ I hate Halloween.

AURELIAN:          The maple syrup is from Vermont you know.

LUCAS:                 Right, so I’ve gotta ask…what’s with the pancake obsession? You’re ruining my supernatural immersion here.

AURELIAN:          I could enthrall you and make you think you’re a beagle if it’ll help.

LUCAS:                 (yells to waitress) Waitress, can we get a side of garlic bread please?

AURELIAN:          You’re a monster.

LUCAS:                 Takes one to know one.

AURELIAN:          As I was about to say, I’ve eaten all over the world….the opening of the Restaurant Botin in Madrid and L’Auberge Saint-Gabriel in Montreal, had a most excellent lobster cooked to perfection by Alfred Prunier and shared a Derby Chicken Pot Pie at the Brown Derby with Alfred Hitchcock and told him the consistency of his prop blood was way off…

LUCAS:                 Okay that last one you’re making up.

AURELIAN:          BUT as old as I am the pancake dwarfs me in its shadow, dating back 30,000 years when it was more like hardtack than the fluffy deliciousness it now is.

LUCAS:                 Hardtack?

AURELIAN:          The driest spoil-proof biscuit in human history, love. (pause) Blushing suits you. As the wheel of time wore on, civilizations rose and fell and the humble pancake kept being refined, perfected…countless generations, the Ancient Greeks and Romans all adding their twist on it, until at last we have…

SFX: PLATES PLACED ON TABLE.

WAITRESS:          2 pumpkin pancakes and a water.

SIMONE:              (moans)

AURELIAN:          Ah! Look at that. Thank you my dear. You’re a treasure.

WAITRESS:          (annoyed) Whatever.

SFX: WALKS AWAY

LUCAS:                 I think she likes you.

AURELIAN:          Of course she does, I’m charming. Now traditional pancakes are superb, but pumpkin pancakes? A flavor profile that takes the warmth of an autumn fire, and the essence of October, of tree skirted sunset hued crunching leaves and the burnt buttery fragrance of the last jack-o-lantern glowing in the cool dark…wrapped into a fluffy pillow. Add in some unctuousness of good proper butter and very finest Vermont maple syrup and you have… (pause) Work with me here…fork and knife, on you go.

LUCAS:                 Oh! Sure…let me just…

SFX: PLATE CLATTER.

LUCAS:                 (eating) It’s…wow…

AURELIAN:          RIGHT?! Bon appetite.

SFX: CUTTLERY CLATTERS.

AURELIAN:          There you are.

LUCAS:                 Huh?

AURELIAN:          You’re smiling. See? Pumpkin pancakes. And after…

LUCAS:                 After…we need to get Simone home and…

SFX: WATER NOISES. DROWNING…MUSIC FADES.

SFX: DOOR CLOSES. FOOTSTEPS ON GRANITE.

AURELIAN:          All tucked into bed?

LUCAS:                 Yes….on her side. She’s going to have a hell of a hangover tomorrow. I…uhhh…

AURELIAN:          Go on then.

LUCAS:                 Had a nice time, you know after the…

AURELIAN:          (faking bad vampire) BLAH! BLAH! I’M A VAMPIRE.

LUCAS:                 (laughing) Yeah. That.

SFX: CLOCK TOWER BEGINS CHIMING.

AURELIAN:          And there’s the bell. Unfortunately, unless you’d like a second date with a dusty skeleton, I need to turn in.

LUCAS:                 Second date?

AURELIAN:          Well yeah, unless you don’t want to?

LUCAS:                 No! I mean, yeah…how about…

AURELIAN:          Tonight’s fine.

LUCAS:                 Good. Great. Well…

AURELIAN:          Well.

LUCAS:                 Yeah…

AURELIAN:          (exasperated) You ARE going to be a lot of work…so are you going to kiss me good night or what? Technically our second kiss what with the mouth to mouth at the river.

LUCAS:                 (confused) The pancakes…

AURELIAN:          Yeah?

LUCAS:                 Did you pay for them?

AURELIAN:          Of course…I’m old fashioned like that.

LUCAS:                 I don’t remember…

AURELIAN:          Remember what? Hey…are you okay? Your heart rate…you’re panicking…

SFX: HEARTBEAT INCREASING.

LUCAS:                 I don’t feel…

SFX: BODY THUD TO GROUND.

AURELIAN:          Hey, hey I’ve got you…what is it…Lucas? Lucas? What’s wrong?

SFX: STATIC OVER LOUDSPEAKERS. SONG FADES IN SLOW, CRACKLED AND DISTORTED.

SFX: CAR CREEPS SLOWLY TOWARDS THEM LIKE A CAT. ENGINE REVVING.

AURELIAN:          LUCAS! No! Don’t….don’t go!

LUCAS:                 (weakly) My….car. It found me.

SFX: PLUNGE INTO WATER. TIME REFRACTS AND REVERSES.

--- DO NOT RECORD VOICE LINES, REPEAT OF PREVIOUS ---

LUCAS (sings):   setting my soul free…setting my free…I finally surrender…waving my white flag.

                                I wanted it bad. Always tried too hard, but now that’s over.

                                I can finally, finally be me…

                                There’s no love under the blood red moon.

                                Ain’t got no loyalties and no one to please.

SFX: CAR ACCELERATING FROM BEHIND.

LUCAS:                 What the hell…riding my ass…just go around dickhead.

SFX: HONKING.

LUCAS:                 What is their problem?

SFX: WINDOW ROLLED DOWN.

LUCAS:                 GO AROUND ME ASSHOLES!

TREY:                     HEYYYYYYY LUCASSSSSSS! MIND IF WE REAR END YOU?! (laughing)

SFX: ENGINE REVVING. MORE HONKING.

LUCAS:                 (lightly coughing) Fine. I’ll pull over. Assholes.

--- DO NOT RECORD VOICE LINES NOTE ENDS. CONTINUE ---

SFX: SLAM INTO CAR.

LUCAS:                 What the fuck are they doing?!

SFX: TIRES SCREECH. SLAM AGAIN. FISHTAILING OUT OF CONTROL.

LUCAS:                 Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh SHIT!

SFX: CAR SMASHES THROUGH RAILING, PLUNGING INTO THE RIVER BELOW.

SFX: WATER FLOODS INTO THE CAR. STRUGGLING. DROWNING. HEART BEAT SLOWS. WATER MUFFLED RADIO CUTS OUT.

SFX: FADE IN TO HEARTBEAT MONITOR IN HOSPITAL.

AURELIAN:          Stay with me. I’ve got you.

SFX: AURELIAN’S VOICE FADES INTO SIMONE.

SIMONE:              Lucas? Oh my God Lucas!

LUCAS:                 (weakly) Si….Simone?

SIMONE:              It’s okay. You’re okay. Jesus, you scared the shit out of me. Called your folks and they should be here soon.

LUCAS:                 What happened?

SIMONE:              When you didn’t show at the party I got worried and more than a little pissed off figuring you were sulking in your room still. I drove back and saw the road blocked. Police everywhere and ambulances, then I saw your car being towed out of the water. Near as they can figure, Trey and his gang ran you off the road into the river, and then lost control themselves.

LUCAS:                 They’re dead?

SIMONE:              Yeah…they’re trying to haul their truck out, but it was in deep.

LUCAS:                 …the party…I met you at the party.

SIMONE:              No sweetie, you never made it there.

LUCAS:                 But I remember it happening…(pause) getting fuzzy now…Aurelian! You met Aurelian.

SIMONE:              Aurelian? (Pauses) Was someone with you? I mean were you bringing someone to the party tonight?

LUCAS:                 No…we met after we…(pause) after we…sorry, it’s slipping away now.

SIMONE:              It’s not important. Just rest okay. I need to get the hell out of here. They told me only family could come in here.

LUCAS:                 You’re a real rebel.

SIMONE:              Through and through. Lucas?

LUCAS:                 Yeah?

SIMONE:              I love you.

LUCAS:                 Love you too.

SIMONE:              I’ll visit tomorrow. Good night.

SFX: DOOR OPENS AND CLOSES.

SFX: WHITE NOISE FADES UP. HEARTBEAT MONITOR STEADY. DISTORTS AS HE DRIFTS TO SLEEP.

AURELIAN:          I thought she’d never leave.

LUCAS:                 (panic) You…I thought…

AURELIAN:          You gave me quite the scare back there.

LUCAS:                 You got me out?

AURELIAN:          I was terrified I would break you getting your heart started again. I haven’t been that scared in a long, long time. You were so cold.

LUCAS:                 Is this real?

AURELIAN:          (laughs) Here, give me your hand and see for yourself

LUCAS:                 (chuckles weakly) And you say I’m cold.

AURELIAN:          You’ll get used to it, I hope. When I was reborn, oh…such a long time ago now, what I gained couldn’t hold a flame to what had been lost. A part of me that was the price for a choice. I didn’t realize how empty I would feel without it. And then, you, you’ve been haunting my dreams for years now and I yours I imagine, though I never knew your name and you never knew mine. The witch drew me here, told me I would find you here. Then, at last to see you last year at the Pumpkin House, I was so struck dumb that you were real…that I lost you in the crowd. And then, there you were, getting into your car tonight in just about the worst Halloween costume I ever saw. So, I followed…was working up the perfect plan to introduce myself and then…

LUCAS:                 I thought it was a dream…I thought I met you tonight, earlier…but none of that happened?

AURELIAN:          The mind is a funny thing, a mystery even in this age and sometimes I think it shows us a vision of things to come. You were on the verge of death, so it tried to protect you in the face of it, warning you that you were approaching the abyss.

LUCAS:                 Telling me I was drowning.

AURELIAN:          Drowning? No my dearest…it was trying to warn you about me.

LUCAS:                 What are you?!

AURELIAN:          Your life is fleeting and fragile. I lost you at my beginning and I’ve lost you twice since. I cannot bear to lose you again.

LUCAS:                 No! Please don’t!

AURELIAN:          (whispers) Are you scared?

LUCAS:                 Yes…

AURELIAN:          I’m sorry. Shhhh…it’ll be quick. And then? Forever and always.

LUCAS:                 NO! HELP…NURSE! NURSE!

SFX: FANGS PIERCE. QUIET DRINKING.

MEDIA: OUTRO LOVE THEME FADES UP.

SCENE 13: RUSTY PICK – INT. NIGHT.

PUNCH:                That was a stupid story. Punch want story about big monster.

SUSIE:                   Wasn’t that a romantic story Mr. Honeypot Bear?

BEAR:                    Please just burn me.

MOOSE:               I don’t get it. Like…they’re both dead, right…so, you know how do they? Ummm…it kind of takes a heartbeat to get the ol…

CHAD:                   Jesus Christ, just turn the page dude.

MOOSE:               No, but like think about it…

CHAD:                   Who the hell thinks about that?!

SFX: CHAIR SQUEEKS.

CHAD:                   Enough stories kid, bedtime…let’s go.

SUSIE:                   Just one more pleassssssse?

CHAD:                   I said NO.

MOOSE:               Oh, come on bro, we’ve kept her cooped up in here for days. Let her have some fun.

CHAD:                   If I wanted your advice on raising a kid, I’d ask for it.

SUSIE:                   (sad) It’s fine. I’ll go. Halloween is stupid anyway. Getting too old for kids’ stuff.

CHAD:                   (sighs) (under his breath) God fucking damn it…. (normal volume) Hey! Get on back here. Just one more and I mean it this okay? Stop busting my balls.

SUSIE:                   Yay!

CHAD:                   Come up here on my lap.

SUSIE:                   Will you read this one?

CHAD:                   Sure…which one do you want?

SUSIE:                   Ummm…oh! The last one…

CHAD:                   Last one huh? Okay. Uhhh…this one’s called Death of a Doll.

SUSIE:                   It’s Ella’s story! This one’s, my favorite.

CHAD:                   Ella’s story huh. Okay…let’s see. This is the story of Willie Harper. Willie had been a war correspondent, seen the worst of humanity and had his fill of it, but ink paid his bills, kept him warm, fed, and every now and then took care of a cheap thrill with a dame.

MOOSE:               (chuckles) Dude had to pay for it. Weak.

CHAD:                   …And so it was that Willie found himself on his first assignment for the Charleston Herald at two in the morning on Halloween night, sweating profusely and on the border of a panic attack as he lurked in the shadows down by the waterfront. Willie has one hand in his pocket, palms sweaty, gripping a revolver. In the other? A doll that belongs to a dead girl tucked under his arm. A block away leaning against a streetlamp is the Man in Black… waiting for him…

--- VIGNETTE #5: DEATH OF A DOLL ---

SCENE 14: CHARLESTON HERALD – INT. DAY

MEDIA: HALLOWEEN MUSIC

SFX: OFFICE NOISES. TYPEWRITER’S IN BACKGROUND. RADIO PLAYS SOFTLY.

MCGRUNDY:      Harper? Harper! Oh, for fuck’s sake.

SFX: BOTTLE PICKED UP. THROWN IN TRASH.

WILLIE:                 (jolts awake) JESUS!

MCGRUNDY:      First week on the job and you’re already hitting the sauce? Christ sakes Willie get it together.

WILLIE:                 I just dozed off for a minute…

MCGRUNDY:      Yeah sure, sure. Remember it’s my ass on the line for landing you this gig in the first place. I stuck my neck out for you…. but you show up pass out drunk here again and you’re through…got it?

WILLIE:                 Yeah fine, fine.

MCGRUNDY:      You’ve been haunting this place enough…get your ass out there and come back with some ink.

WILLIE:                 This isn’t a battlefield, Rich. You looking for a feel-good story about rescuing a cat from a tree? Or another piece on the Pumpkin House…think there’s a centenarian lady down at the cat house…oh she’s a real looker…all of 5 teeth left. Front page stuff.

MCGRUNDY:      Don’t get cute with me. You want a good story? Go where they end and work backwards.

WILLIE:                 What the hell does that mean?

MCGRUNDY:      The city morgue Willie. Your first assignment. Don’t come back until you scare up something to print.

WILLIE:                 Fine, fine.

MCGRUNDY:      And it better be a damned good one!

MEDIA: TRANSITION MUSIC

WILLIE (vo):        That’s how it started. 10 days ago, and if my drunk ass hadn’t hit Roonie’s at noon for a few high balls that day I wouldn’t be standing here now. I keep telling myself this is 2076, and I keep saying this is Charleston, West Virginia where nothing thrilling ever happens. I wanted it that way, because sometimes when I close my eyes I still hear the explosions, see the dead faces…feel the cold wind and snow biting my face with far too many teeth. I didn’t want this…wanted someplace quiet…away from the dark and the cold. Funny thing about that darkness is you bring it with you like a lost cat. It has teeth too…it eats, and eats…and grows, getting bigger and bigger until it has legs like a man, legs that run…and hands that choke…and a face like a man’s, but not a man. At three o’clock he’s coming for me. Sure, you’ve got a right to think I’m crazy standing around waiting to be killed, with a doll underneath my arm. But I had to write my story. The last story I’ll ever write. The story that started at that morgue.

MEDIA: TRANSITION MUSIC ENDS.

SFX: DOUBLE DOORS SWING. NEON LIGHTS FLICKER ON.

SFX: FOOTSTEPS.

JACKSON:            Right back here. Quiet week normally until Halloween and then we get all sorts of darned fools that end up here that shouldn’t have done whatever and did and met their maker. Looks like you might be in some luck tonight son.

WILLIE:                 How’s that?

JACKSON:            I’ve got someone who could use your help, who is far past the point of anyone else helping. Right…here we are. Come around the table. What’s your name?

WILLIE:                 Will Harper.

JACKSON:            All right Willie, come down to the coolers with me. Unless I'm very wrong I've got a story in there for you.  The girl in locker number seven, been here four days, tomorrow we close the case on her.

WILLIE:                 What does that mean Mr. Jackson?

JACKSON:            It means, in spite of everything the police have been able to do, they can't find out her name, where she lived or anyone who knew her.

WILLIE:                 (mumbles) This is where stories end.

JACKSON:            Eh? What’s that?

WILLIE:                 Nothing. How was she found?

JACKSON:            Some boaters fished her out of the Charleston River, tomorrow she goes to the city burial grounds. I seen all kinds come through here, the old ones, even the poor little ones. I’ve seen shit that would turn you white, people who ended bad…in ways you better not even ask about. But it’s people like her that haunt me the most. They get put in a plain pine box marked Jane or John Doe and they’re forgotten. Horrible fate…because despite everything there’s always someone out there who hold their name in their heart and never know what happened to them.

WILLIE:                 Suicide or murder?

JACKSON:            There’s not a mark on her. And I checked and rechecked. Police say it wasn’t murder, probably a suicide…but I know better. I want you to look at her face and you tell me.

SFX: LOCKER OPENED. DRAWER SLIDES OUT. SHEET MOVED.

JACKSON:            Willie. Meet Jane. Look Willie. Look at her face.

WILLIE (vo):        And I did, God help me I did. A chill crawled right up my spine…her face contorted into a frozen scream, eyes wide yet frighteningly clear. I had seen the eyes of dead men, dead women, they all looked the same…the light of life, the soul, whatever you want to call it snuffed out like looking into the windows of an abandoned house. No one home. And despite the forever scream frozen on her lips, she had been beautiful. Skin a perfect ivory, hair was like fine spun copper and the light…the light was still in her eyes. It was STILL in her eyes…

JACKSON:            You see it too don’t you son?

WILLIE:                 She’s…dead?

JACKSON:            Quite dead, you can bet your boots I checked before we started the autopsy, but as God is my witness, she’s…wrong. Just wrong. She saw something that scared her to death, scared the life right out of her…right out…the life is gone, but she’s still in there.

WILLIE:                 I…I need to sit….

JACKSON:            Welcome to uncanny valley kid. Let me grab you a glass of water.

SFX: FOOTSTEPS. LIGHTER FLICKED CIGARETTE LIT.

WILLIE:                 (calls out) She had no identification on her at all? Clothing labels? Receipts?

JACKSON:            Nothing. Drink this. No clues at all, except one. Here.

SFX: PAPER BAG PASSED.

WILLIE:                 A doll?

JACKSON:            Yeah, one of them talking dolls. All waterlogged. When they pulled her out she was clutching this doll close to her chest for dear life. Had to…well I had to use force to get her hands off it.

WILLIE:                 Jesus…what about serial numbers? Doll should have a…

JACKSON:            This one doesn’t. Police called up RobCo trying to trace it. They claimed it had to be a knock off since all theirs have serial numbers laser printed on them during assembly. Dead end. Police are done with it.

SFX: DRAG ON A CIGARETTE.

WILLIE:                 Mr. Jackson…I…don’t think me mad, but I feel angry. I don’t know why but I’m angry. Her face…something scared her sure, but I think she was murdered. Her eyes…

JACKSON:            I know…they’re begging for help. Even now. For someone to help her.

WILLIE:                 Yeah.

SFX: SHEET COVERED. DRAWER CLOSED.

JACKSON:            Yessir I’ve seen all sorts come through here…the Mudgett boy I had to fish a silver bullet out of. Old man Cleaver from the mill…when they found him his own hands were still choking the life out of him, severed at the wrist. There are places where the skin of the world is thin…and sometimes I think we walk on a soft spot and fall right through. Least we can do for those poor souls is to know what happened to them and why. A dead girl with living eyes that nobody wants and a doll. There’s your story Willie.

WILLIE:                 The doll.

JACKSON:            Yeah?

WILLIE:                 Can I have it?

JACKSON:            (chuckles) Here. Take it…glad to be rid of it. Thing gives me the willies.

MEDIA TRANSITION.

WILLIE (vo):        I beat it back to the paper on fire to do a story about the dead girl and her doll.  As the city blocks flashed by my mind wandered…I thought of Jim Lemming, my photographer up in Anchorage whose screams as he was dying were so loud my ears rang for hours afterward. Her eyes…that’s what scared me. She had no life left to draw breath into her lungs, no air to pull in and push out through her voice box to cry out in terror. How could she? In her final moments she did the only thing she could do. Screaming with her eyes.

SFX: OFFICE CHATTER. TYPEWRITER FINISHES.

WILLIE:                 Well?

MCGRUNDY:      (grunt)

SFX: PAPER BAG SHIFTS.

MCGRUNDY:      A dame and a doll huh? Think she was murdered?

WILLIE:                 I do.

MCGRUNDY:      But the cops don’t think so?

WILLIE:                 No.

MCGRUNDY:      And they are closing the case tomorrow?

WILLIE:                 Yup.

MCGRUNDY:      So, you’ve got no clues, facts or anything to go one except some broken doll?

WILLIE:                 That’s about it yeah.

MCGRUNDY:      (laughs) All right Harper. I’ll give you a day. Cops have been wrong before, go ahead. But I hope for your sake you’re right Willie. This is your one shot.

WILLIE:                 Don’t worry, I’ll get the story.

MCGRUNDY:      Uh huh…hey don’t forget to take your dolly along. This one you don’t have to pay for. (laughs)

MEDIA: TRANSITION MUSIC

WILLIE (vo):        McGrundy’s crack stung more than I thought it would. Morbidly as I made my way up a dirty staircase to my sad apartment I wondered if I were one day just to disappear if anyone would notice, anyone would care. How many John and Jane Doe’s every year die with their entire life story fro  zen on lips that would never move again?

SFX: KEYS IN LOCK. DOOR OPENED SLAMMED.

WILLIE (vo):        In a grim state of mind, I threw my coat on the table along with the doll. I stared at the ghost of a ruined man in the grimy hall mirror. I couldn’t shake the feeling that her eyes had been screaming out to me. Screaming something. If only the doll could talk, could tell me about her. Who was she? What was she like? Was she kind? A teacher? An artist? Where did she live? Did she have family who should know? Should mourn her? Get closure…who killed her? Who did this? Who did it doll? Hmmm? Who?

ELLA:                     Maaaaaa maaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.

WILLIE (vo):        The next few moments are electrifying vivid. The doll was sitting on the table. I didn’t touch it, didn’t prop it up, wasn’t even looking at it when it spoke. Then it spoke again.

ELLA:                     Kara Nana, Kara Nana…

WILLIE:                 What the hell?

WILLIE (vo):        I spun around to look at the doll, that to my horror now had a puddle of muddy water pooling beneath it…slowly spreading out on the table until it began dripping on the floor. I was almost too afraid to touch it…even now I don’t know what possessed me to.

ELLA:                     Kara Nana.

WILLIE (vo):        The doll was soaking wet, as if it was just hauled in from the river…and that sound it made…it wasn’t a sound…more like a name. A name that plucked at the edge of my mind, one I’d heard before, but couldn’t remember from where or when. I stuffed the doll back into the bag and tore out of my apartment, straight back to the Herald and headed down to the reference room, the slowly drying doll and bag tucked under my arm.

SFX: BELL RINGS.

CLERK:                  Hold your horses…hold your horses. I’m comin’. Oh…Hopper isn’t it? The new fella?

WILLIE:                 It’s Harper.

CLERK:                  Hopper…Harper. Whatever. What did you need?

WILLIE:                 I want to know if you've got anything in the files on someone name Kara Nana, spelled with a K or a C.

CLERK:                  Huh (Chuckles.)

WILLIE:                 What’s so funny?

CLERK:                  Don't tell me he's around again.  If you've got a lead on Kara Nana you've got some story.

WILLIE:                 Oh?  Will you get me the clips on him?

CLERK:                  Clips? Oh, there’s no clips. Something older. Hmmm…now let’s see. Ah! Here it is.

WILLIE:                 What’s that?

CLERK:                  Meyer’s Anthropology. I’m sure it’s in there.

WILLIE:                 Anthropology? Why? Who is he?

CLERK:                  He? Didn’t say it was.

SFX: PAGES TURNING.

CLERK:                  There you are. Kara Nana.

WILLIE (vo):        The words screamed at me from the page in faded, but still bold ink. The words her eyes had been screaming out to me, but I couldn’t hear. The Devil.

SFX: WORDS ECHO.

SFX: BOOK DROPS.

CHAD:                   No. No fucking way. That’s enough time for bed.

SUSIE:                   What’s wrong?

CHAD:                   This has gone far enough. Not him, not tonight. Not again. Come on kid…knees and elbows. We’re done.

SUSIE:                   It’s just a story.

CHAD:                   Yeah, like it was just a train, just a carnival or just a drive-in. Took weeks to sleep soundly after that shit.

PUNCH:                Duhhh…Chode need more brew. Cool him tits.

MOOSE:               What’s with you dude? You’ve been climbing the walls for days now. You’re freaking her out.

SUSIE:                   Why are you so upset? I don’t understand why you’re so mad.

CHAD:                   (sighs) I’m not…I just…it’s weird around here every day of the year, but we have a poor track record when it comes to Halloween. I just…don’t want anything to happen to you. Not now. Not again, okay? If I get mad it’s not you. If I get scared…it’s not for me. Never for me, you clear?

SUSIE:                   Yes.

CHAD:                   Sorry.

SUSIE:                   It’s okay.

CHAD:                   Just gimme a minute, okay?

SFX: WALKING. SWITCH THROWN. METAL SHUTTERS CLOSE. TURRETS ACTIVATE AND ROTATE SCANNING.

MOOSE:               Lockdown?

CHAD:                   Hired that dweeb Brian to build some defenses just in case.

MOOSE:               You PAID for something?

CHAD:                   Yeah I know bro. My hands were shaking.

SUSIE:                   All better?

CHAD:                   Safe as houses curtain climber.

SUSIE:                   Can we finish the story?

CHAD:                   Yup. (pause) Moose?

MOOSE:               Yeah?

CHAD:                   Keep your eyes peeled out the windows okay?

MOOSE:               Uhhh…kay…but seriously dude I think you’re losing it.

CHAD:                   Let’s see…Willie remembered at last where he’d heard the name. The almost forgotten myth from Asia. Lucifer on earth wearing out one body after another walking the earth always.

WILLIE (vo):        Kara Nana. I remembered it now from college. I decided on a long walk down along the Charleston riverfront, my head whirling with a maddening conflict.  I think I would have given up the whole thing then but always at the point of going home to bed or chucking the blasted doll in a can, the face of the girl in the morgue blanked out other thoughts.  By the time I looked up, I was near AVR Medical Center and a little cluster of sidewalk artists painted on the lawn, patients in wheelchairs bundled up in sweaters and draped with blankets looking on, watching them work. I strolled past, my eyes glances over canvases in splashes of autumn colors…cheery autumn scenes of Appalachia. As I approached a tall, angular man with a gleaming bald head pockmarked with moles I glanced at his paintings and stiffened in utter shock.

BEAU:                   What’s the matter friend, the stuff that bad?

WILLIE:                 That one…the one with the girl…

BEAU:                   Woman with a doll I call it. Like it?

WILLIE:                 The GIRL! Who’s the girl?! Do you know her?! TELL ME!

BEAU:                   Sorry pal. I only sell paintings, I ain’t no matchmaker.

WILLIE:                 No, no, no you've got me all wrong.  I've got a good reason for asking.  Look, I'll prove it.  Here.

SFX: BAG CRINKLES

WILLIE:                 Isn't this the doll you painted with the girl?

BEAU:                   Where'd you get that?  I haven't seen Hazel in a week, she left for the coast.  She insisted on posing with that doll. Never put the thing down. Something wrong? Where is she?

WILLIE:                 If I tell you, will you promise to say nothing for a while?  I'm a reporter for the Charleston Herald.  My name is Will Harper.

BEAU:                   What? Where the hell is she?

WILLIE:                 I'll take you to her, she's at the city morgue.

MEDIA: TRANSITION MUSIC.

WILLIE (vo):        An hour later we came out of the morgue.  Beau Cousins had simply nodded at my questioning look if it was the girl he knew.  Hazel. I had a name, a name at last. But the look on her face…it was even worse the second time. I could’ve sworn her face was more twisted than before. Trying to shake the dark wasps buzzing around in my mind I had a sudden impulse, and I handed the artist Hazel's doll.

BEAU:                   Why are you giving me the doll?

ELLA:                     Kara Nana.  Kara Nana.

BEAU:                   What in the hell?

WILLIE:                 You heard it! I knew it…what did that sound like to you, what did you hear?

BEAU:                   The doll said Kara Nana.

WILLIE:                 Say it again, say that name again.  What did you hear the doll say?

BEAU:                   I distinctly heard it say Kara Nana.

WILLIE:                 Then I'm not crazy.  And do you know who Kara Nana is Mr. Cousins?

BEAU:                   I'm afraid I do. But who do YOU think he is?

WILLIE:                 The devil, Lucifer, Satan…

BEAU:                   In a sense.

JACKSON:            Well boys?

BEAU:                   It’s her. It’s Hazel.

JACKSON:            Poor thing…at least she has a first name now.

BEAU:                   What will happen now?

JACKSON:            We still don’t have a last name…no proper identification we still need to put her in the county burial plot like all the rest.

BEAU:                   Do you have any spare cash?

WILLIE:                 Why?

BEAU:                   I have some saved.  If you can make up the difference, we claim Hazels body and give the child a decent burial. Is that right Mr. Jackson?

JACKSON:            That’s right. Just have the Undertaker come collect her.

WILLIE (vo):        We fixed it up with Jackson at the morgue, the old man even chipped in some for her burial himself.  At five that afternoon Beau Cousins and I plus two grave diggers in the city cemetery were watching a bright new casket being lowered into a new grave.

BEAU:                    Man that is born of woman hath but a short time to live, and is full of misery. He cometh up, and is cut down, like a flower; he fleeth as it were a shadow, and never continueth in one stay.  In the midst of life we are in death.

WILLIE                   Thanks Beau.

BEAU:                   I liked her too Willie, very much. She deserved better.

WILLIE:                 Kara Nana…who is he?

BEAU:                   (sighs) A monster. A demon. But first a drink…come on, let’s head back to my place. It’s time I told you how I met Hazel….and the man who calls himself Kara Nana.

WILLIE (vo):        We took the taxi back into the city, the autumn light splashing reds, yellows and oranges across our faces…the shadows growing long, menacing along the road as the limbs of now naked trees loomed over the road as if leaning in, waiting for something about to happen. We arrived at Beau’s loft and with shaking hands he poured me a drink as I looked over the canvases on easels that littered the floor like tombstones. The bag the doll was in had become damp…

BEAU:                   I could have loved her you know. (pause) So could you have by the look on your face had you not met her too late. I met her at the Mission house, she wanted to be painted with her doll. It was an odd request, but somehow that seemed right to me. I don’t know why…like they were one and the same.

WILLIE:                 Go on…

BEAU:                   Well, we worked here for three weeks on the painting.  I paid her enough so that she could go to California.  A dream of hers.  One night as we walked the streets nearby Kara Nana appeared.

ELLA:                     Karaaaaaa naaaaaa naaaaaa

BEAU:                   (scared laugh) Yes dollie…Kara Nana…or the man that calls himself Kara Nana.  The devil or the human form of the devil however you choose to think. Let me ask you something Willie…you’ve been around the block of the world…gazed into the abyss. Do you believe?

WILLIE:                 In the devil? There can’t be such a thing…it’s just a myth. The trapping of religion to scare us into behaving.

BEAU:                   Do you really believe that? You don’t have faith?

WILLIE:                 I left my faith in Anchorage. HE wasn’t there…it was just blood and madness and it’s not over yet. You see the headlines…we’re standing on the knife’s edge…all it takes is one push. Just depends on who does it first. There are no demons, no monsters…only man.

BEAU:                   I’ve met the Devil and you’re wrong…he was no man. Eight years ago, in London in a café. He wanted me to paint his portrait. I was too scared not to.

WILLIE:                 What’s he like?

BEAU:                   Squat massive man, apelike. As I painted him, he admitted to me such crimes I could hardly hold my brush.

WILLIE:                 Like what?

BEAU:                   He made his living as a professional murderer.  Very discreetly, very cleverly, very effectively.

WILLIE:                 Why didn't you turn him in?

BEAU:                   Haha, really now.  I like to paint and to live.  He was so pleased with the painting he told me any time I needed to rid myself of someone he'd be around.

WILLIE (vo):        What I said next, I wish with all my heart I could’ve taken back. Even now. I don’t know why I said, wish I hadn’t said it…but her face. It wouldn’t stop screaming at me in my mind’s eye…screaming for justice, vindication, release…to rest and to sleep. She’d never rest until it was done.

WILLIE:                 We could catch him.

BEAU:                   Who?!

WILLIE:                 Kara Nana.

BEAU:                   You’re crazy…we don’t even know if it was Kara Nana is the one.

WILLIE:                 So, I’ll find out if it was.

BEAU:                   I’m not looking to get discretely disposed of myself. Leave this alone…find another story, any story.

WILLIE:                 If it was Kara Nana, was him and YOU knew him…YOU painted him and didn’t do anything to stop him eight years ago…

BEAU:                   Stop! That’s enough…fine, fine…Christ almighty…alright. What’s the plan?

WILLIE:                 You’re going to get in touch with him and ask him to a little job for you…

MEDIA: TRANSITION:

WILLIE (vo):        I thought I was being so clever, thought I’d meet up with him, get to the truth or at least rule him out as the monster responsible for killing Hazel. It was all arranged. Beau would call in his little favor and I could do nothing but wait. That was over a week ago, an exciting week for me covering all sorts of stuff in the paper.  I had begun thinking that Beau Cousins was an imaginative phony.  Even my editor McGrundy had stopped kidding me about Hazel's doll perched on my desk.  Then this morning at nine thirty I got a call.

SFX: OFFICE SOUNDS. TYPING. PHONE RINGS.

WILLIE:                 Charleston Herald, Willie Harper here.

BEAU:                   Greetings and farewell Willie, this is Beau Cousins.

WILLIE:                 Oh, whats up?

BEAU:                   The devil is in town Willie, he wants to see you.

WILLIE:                 Kara Nana?

BEAU:                   Yes, I saw him last night.  He was delighted to help me get rid of you.

WILLIE:                 I see.

BEAU:                   I told him you were a reporter planning a story about art, which tore my work to pieces.  What's the matter Willie?  Change your mind? It’s not too late to call this off if we both just let it go.

WILLIE:                 No, no, no.  I can’t. Did he say where?

BEAU:                   He never lets his clients in on the details but he did say I'd be rid of you by three o'clock tomorrow morning.

WILLIE:                 Th…thanks Beau.  I'll be seeing you.

BEAU:                   Quite seriously Willie, I hope so.  Remember, bullets don't work on some things.  Goodbye.

WILLIE:                 So long.

SFX: PHONE CLICKS.

WILLIE (vo):        By three this morning he said. Three AM on Halloween because of course it was. I didn't know where, exactly when or if I could get the drop on the devil and force the truth about Hazel out of him. I’d need to head home to pick up my pistol. I stuffed the doll into a bag and started out, but McGrundy caught me.

MCGRUNDY:      Hey Harper!

WILLIE:                 Yeah?

MCGRUNDY:      Woman found burned to death up at the Whitespring.

WILLIE:                 That’s all?

MCGRUNDY:      No…that’s the weird part. They found her in the elevator. Nothing left of her but her legs and shoes. Paint didn’t even peel on the elevator. Go out on it, phone it in.

WILLIE:                 Right.

MEDIA: TRANSITION

WILLIE (vo):        I took a cab up to the Whitespring, stopping at home first to pick up my loaded insurance policy just in case. It was a strange business, complete spontaneous human combustion. Coroner was puzzled, chocked it up to a freak electrical short. I wasn’t convinced. When I hit the lobby upstairs an unaccountable chill got me in the small of the back. The doll shifted inside the bag…all the sound and heat bled out of the room. I was scared. The kind of scared you feel when you’re 5 and the monsters hiding in the shadows have real claws but you grow, and you forget. You forget what raw fear really is. I stopped short and turned around.  It was my first look at Kara Nana.  He was leaning against the wall, a heavy set ill shaped man whose arms sloped weirdly from his neck into a heavy stump.  He was eying me with cold, emotionless eyes.

1. KARA NANA: Some murder huh?

WILLIE:                 Yeah, how'd you know?

1. KARA NANA: I get around.

WILLIE:                 Murder a hobby of yours mister?

1. KARA NANA: No. It's strictly business. Better put your piece in your inside coat pocket, it shows on your hip. Be seeing you Willie.

WILLIE (vo):        He brushed past me and out the doors into the autumn dusk and then and only then did I feel the trickle of blood leak from my clutched palms, nails cutting clean into the skin. That was hours ago now. It’s almost three…I was wandering the streets waiting for him until at last I turned around and there he was. He hasn't moved from the lamp post in two hours. I'm not waiting, I'm not waiting another minute, I'm going to meet the devil and have it done with.  He doesn't move, will a bullet do it?  Can I trick him into admitting Hazel’s murder or will he kill me first?

SFX: CLOCK BEGINS STRIKING THREE.

WILLIE (vo)         Three o’clock!? It’s three o’clock! He’s…no he’s moving…he’s coming towards me.

ELLA:                     KARAAA NAAAA NAAAAA. KARAAAAAA NAAAAA NAAAA COMESSSSSS.

WILLIE:                 Hold it! Hold it right there! I’ve got a gun!

SFX: CAR SCREECHES TO A HALT.

BEAU:                   WILLIE! Get in!

1. KARA NANA: Hey! Stop!

SFX: DOOR OPENS SLAMS.

BEAU:                   He’s in! Step on it mac!

SFX: CAB PEELS OUT AND ACCELERATES AWAY.

WILLIE:                 You were right…you were right…I should’ve left it alone.

BEAU:                   I’ve had this cabbie driving all over Charleston trying to find you. Didn’t feel right just leaving you out there with him. You looked scared to death.

WILLIE:                 I've got to hide Beau, let’s beat it somewhere. The station! Police station.

BEAU:                   They’ll never catch him. He’s a ghost, be gone before they so much as walk out the door. Going to my loft. Time to end this. You got the doll with you?

WILLIE:                 Yeah. Been carrying it around all day…don’t know why.

BEAU:                   I’m glad you did.

WILLIE (vo):        The cabbie slammed on the brakes in front of Beau’s loft. We passed him a wad of bills and he left, no questions asked. Beau threw open the door and tore up the stairs into the darkness.

BEAU:                   We need to finish this Willie.

SFX: FOOTSTEPS RUN.

WILLIE:                 Beau! Beau! I can’t see.

BEAU:                   Hurry! He followed us!

SFX: FOOTSTEPS ON STAIRS.

WILLIE:                 Beau? Where are you?

BEAU:                   (Ominously) Right in here Willie.

WILLIE:                 What is…Jesus Christ!

SFX: FLAMES FLICKER.

WILLIE (vo):        (Terrified, borderline mental break rant) The canvases on easels, Beau’s easel’s were surrounded by flickering Jack O’Lanterns whose shadows cast upon the canvas now changed the smiling faces of women, men, families and children, into leering tortured faces of the damned. The Landview Lighthouse was now a tower of beheaded souls crying out for release beneath a putrid green toxic sky…the Pumpkin House was now pulling screaming children inside its molding decayed pumpkin innards, its stone walkway like a lolling tongue. The cranberry bog, no longer a cheery glade, but a hellscape in Nuclear Fire with monstrous things flying in the sky.

BEAU:                   What’s the matter friend, the stuff that bad?

WILLIE:                 You…no, no this is crazy.

BEAU:                   For a reporter you’re not very observant Willie. Wee Willie Winkie…who didn’t didn’t see me….

ELLA:                     KARA! NANA! KARA NANA!

WILLIE:                 You’re Kara Nana! But who was the…

BEAU:                   The hulking fellow? Detective McShea. He’s been tailing you for days now, tipped off by that superstitious old fool at the morgue that someone at last had claimed poor Hazel. I’ll deal with him later. I like to paint…discretely…he’ll spoil everything.

WILLIE:                 What did you do to her? Her face…

BEAU:                   Poor, poor Hazel. So very young, a blossoming rose with dreams of California and the silver screen. She came to me to pour her deepest secrets and desires as they all do. And so I painted her. Here…look here…

WILLIE:                 Hazel…

BEAU:                   Yes…I call this one Death of a Doll. She took one look at it, at her own fear frozen face forever floating beneath the river and the poor thing…the deed was done. Just one look Willie…

WILLIE:                 You! I’ll kill you!

SFX: GUNSHOTS.

BEAU:                   (Demonic laugh) I told you Willie, guns don’t work on some things.

WILLIE:                 Stay away from me!

SFX: DOOR SLAMS SHUT.

BEAU:                   I think not. I’m so sorry Willie, but this is about choice. Choice and fate. You had a choice and your choices brought you here. Here to my gallery. This one! This one here Willie! This one is your painting…I call it “Terminus Type”…would you like to see?

WILLIE:                 No! No! Let me out of here! Let me out!

ELLA:                     KARAAAAA NANNAAAA

SFX: THRUMMING. EARTHQUAKE. BAG RIPS.

ELLA:                     KARAAAAA NAAAAA NAAAAAAAA NAAAAAAAA

SFX: POUNDING ON THE DOOR.

BEAU:                   What is this? WHAT IS HAPPENING.

SFX: FLOOR SPLITS.

ELLA:                     KARAAAA NAAAA NAAAAA!

SFX: DOOR EXPLODES. BRICK AND GLASS SHATTER.

WILLIE:                 Jesus Christ!

BEAU:                   No! No! It can’t be! You can’t! You can’t!

KARA NANA:      (Demonic, furious) YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU……

SFX: SHATTERING GLASS. FLAMES LICK THE WALLS.

WILLIE:                 What the hell is that?!

KARA NANA:      Kara Nana Mr. Harper, the definite article. Not a pale shadow copy like this quivering fool before you. Beau Cousins? Really…you unimaginative troglodyte.

BEAU:                   They were for you! I…collected these souls for you!

KARA NANA:      (furious, disdainful) No, you collected for YOU. For power, with whispered thoughts of greater purpose. Did you really think I wouldn’t hear? The echoes from below are louder to my ear than the deepest sorrow on the lips of widowed bride on this plane of existence. And paintings? Really? You embarrass me…

BEAU:                   Please! Please!

KARA NANA:      This one though…as pure and unblemished as a virgin bride. You wish to create art my dear Thuul Haadan?

SFX: VORTEX OF PAINT AND BLACK ICHOR ENVELOPES HIM.

BEAU:                   Nooooooooooooo. MASTER NO! Please! I only wish to serve! I only serve you!

KARA NANA:      (singing) Half a pound of tuppenny rice,

Half a pound of treacle.

That’s the way the CHARLATON goes,

Plop! goes the easel.

SFX: PAINT SPLATTERS TO CANVAS.

BEAU:                   (small voice) Help meeeeee! Help meeeeeeee!

KARA NANA:      What do you think Mr. Harper?

WILLIE:                 You’re him! You’re him!

KARA NANA:      And YOU my dear Mr. Harper, oh your story has practically written itself. “Death of a Doll?” Really? A body in a morgue with no name, a mysterious doll, a devil figure…it’s all so pedestrian, isn’t it? In ink bound words that dribble off the page framed by a dime store narrative that reeks for what passed as high-class entertainment in the last century before people actually learned how to write compelling narrative. So! Let’s change things up a bit…but bear with me…prose isn’t my primary skill set.

WILLIE:                 What are you going to do to me?

KARA NANA:      To you? YOU Mr. Harper? You the quivering boy who fancied himself a man after daddy’s footfalls on the stairs could no longer scare you. You heard him that night he came home drunk once again, a tired old cliché, heard his footfalls on the stairs…and then the cacophony of a sound so loud and so new you dribbled a little you naughty, naughty little boy.

WILLIE:                 Stop! Stop it!

KARA NANA:      It was the symphonic sound of bones and boots slamming down walls and wood until at last a blissful silence. Your freedom. A terrible accident wrote the coroner, but the beautiful truth of it is that you heard him wailing to you all night long didn’t you Willie? You left him there in a broken pile on the floor like discarded laundry. Then, freed of him, you thought death itself was a friend didn’t you? So, you sought it out…on battlefields where once again when it got too close…came a-callin’, you laid there and listened and watched as faces were blown apart and people you clinked glasses with mere hours before at the officer’s mess turned to ash before your very eyes with all the wonder of man’s technology. I do love your capacity to reinvent death and destruction.

WILLIE:                 (Crying) I still hear him…

KARA NANA:      Yes I know you do. Do you know what I would do to you?

WILLIE:                 (Crying) No….

KARA NANA:      I would steal your eyes, pluck them right out of your head to bathe you in the forever dark, your ears heightening in perception and in the dark…do you know what happens in the dark Willie? Oh it was worse than Daddy’s belt and clutching calloused hands. If we linger in the dark too long our minds get bored with it and start conjuring things up to keep insanity at bay. The footfalls Willie. You’d hear the footfalls and his voice for a long, long time…even long after you’re clad in a jacket in cold concrete room mewling like a wounded calf.

WILLIE:                 (Crying) Oh God no…

KARA NANA:      But! This isn’t about you. And what you did! Good for you son, really bravo! (Claps) Really well done. But the best twist in your tale is this you simpering fool. This story isn’t even about you. YOU my dear broken human being who clackety clacks his tales of murder and missing persons do not even exist.

WILLIE:                 (Crying slowing) What?

KARA NANA:      Allow me to demonstrate…

WILLIE:                 No! Get off me! Get off!

SFX: RIPPING PAPER.

WILLIE:                 (Mangled screaming as he torn to pieces) Nooooo. NO PLEASE! STOP! STOPPpppppp (fades to shrine wine)

ELLA:                     KARA NANAAAAAA! KARA NANAAAAAAA!

KARA NANA:      Oh shut the fuck up.

SFX: FOOT SMASHES THE DOLL.

KARA NANA:      Thus concludes our little tale. Did you enjoy it? Our little pantomime in prose on All Hallow’s Eve (pause) Chad?

SFX: BOOK DROPPED.

CHAD:                   No…no fucking way…

SUSIE:                   What’s wrong? Dad! Daddy!

MOOSE:               Dude…somethings…

PUNCH:                Bad! Bad man!

SFX: PAGES FLIPPING.

DARK (vo):          Chad threw the book to the floor in horror, the black and orange glitter breaking free of the construction paper frame to spill until the floor forming the shape of a silhouette all too familiar. Blind terror gripped him as his heart surged with adrenaline and the suppressed nightmares and memories came flooding forth like a black wave forming two words: Mr. Dark.

CHAD:                   SUSIE! COME ON! MOOSE! PUNCH! We need to get the fuck out of here!

DARK (vo):          He said, as he tried to lift his beloved Susie from the floor and run screaming out into the encroaching fog that had enveloped the Rusty Pick. The motion to lift her and run only to find he couldn’t, threw him momentarily off balance and he stumbled backward, pinwheeling against the table. Susie was frozen in place, her mouth slowly twisting into a frozen scream, as rooted to the floorboards as if she had grown from its knotted holes.

CHAD:                   You can’t be here! You can’t be! He’s still frozen in there! We bottled your ass!

DARK (vo):           Chad ranted as he tried in futility to shake free from the earth the one thing in all of this world, he held most dear. In a circle around him, his friends terrified eyes and frozen screams laid silent judgement on him, all quite unable to break free of the spell they themselves had woven this evening. Only then did he understand that every story, in EVERY story, Dark was there all the time. (switches voices to match ones in the stories)…Mr. Jackson the mortician, The Wanderer on the road….every story, all me.

CHAD:                   LEAVE US THE FUCK ALONE YOU SON OF A BITCH!

DARK (vo):          He spat into the air. He paused, suddenly aware of a rising sound outside, slowing rising in volume. The wind. The wind of 100, 1,000, 10,000 pages swirling about the building like autumn leaves caught in a hurricane, their pages edged so fine that they cut into not just the air itself, but reality. With a grim realization, he at last understood what they had done.

CHAD:                   We’re in the book. When? When I first picked it up and opened it. That’s when you did it.

DARK (vo):          The pages of Susie’s and Ella’s grimoire of whispered horrors flipped faster still, passing beyond his ability to see between pages, now a milky half circle of undulating letters, ink, stories that were now writing something new into being. The splash glitter face from the floor broke into a rictus grin as the devilishly handsome, fashionable, endlessly inventive Mr. Dark with just…the most based tattoos…like honestly and properly these tattoos are just, if you saw them, you would audibly moan I mean they are that hot and seriously if right now you are imaging a Celtic knot or tribal tattoo anywhere on my person I want you to put this down, head into the kitchen and put your head in the oven…I’ll wait. (pause) Where was I? Ah yes…Dark told the oafishly top heavy, dullard and poorly written Chad…

DARK:                   “Did you really think you could contain me? Oh, come now, COME NOW, there are doors into this reality that if that Bufftits riddled brain of yours were to envision for one instant, your head would shatter like melon. It’s Halloween you stupid son of a bitch…WHERE ELSE WOULD I BE?! Ohhhhh and there are so many places I could be right now, but with you…this is personal,” he crooned in dark extasy.

CHAD:                   Your tats suck dude! No one wears that carnie crap anymore! It looks like paint by numbers.

DARK (vo):          (through gritted teeth) Chad shouted back as he…no. I’m not doing this. You’ve had aspects of me shackled and bound for a full year now and this isn’t your story. It’s MINE. And if there is one thing I am…it’s PISSED. OFF.

SFX: ROOM SHAKES. WIND INTENSIFIES OUTSIDE. WHISPERING BEGINS.

DARK (vo):          Enough with the build-up and meta 3^rd wall breaking fuckery…let’s take this to the last page! (Clears throat) Spellbound, Susie, Moose and Punch jerked forward like puppets on invisible strings, their silent screams so loud, that the edges of their mouths in perfect o’s began to crack and bleed crimson, weeping from their face in rivulets.

CHAD:                   Susie! Susie! Come on! Please! GOD DAMN IT DARK!

DARK (vo):          Outside, the pages of books never written, pages cursed and torn from the tomes at Alexandria not seen since the first empires of man, sliced into earth, air, time and space as the building itself begin to shift out of reality. Chad, impotently looked on as his friends clasped hands in a circle above the writhing book as the din reached a final crescendo and!

SFX: WIND ENDS. WHISPERS. PAGES STOP AND SLOWLY TURN.

DARK (vo):          The book lay open, the ink, pencil and crayon of a child’s hand now moving across pages, forming arcane runes wreathing colored paper pages as a new story, the finale story, bubbles into reality from beyond. His friends, his family, his loved ones enthralled began to chant…

SUSIE, MOOSE, PUNCH (together):

It’s a dark, dark night…

CHAD:                   Oh hell no…WAKE UP! COME ON!

SUSIE, MOOSE, PUNCH (together, menacingly):

In a dark, dark wood…

And in the dark, dark wood…

There is a dark, dark road…

CHAD:                   Salt!

SFX: RUNNING.

SUSIE, MOOSE, PUNCH (together, menacingly):

And down the dark, dark road,

There is a dark, dark church.

And in the dark, dark church,

There is a dark, dark room.

SFX: RUNNING. SALT SPRAYED EVERYWHERE.

CHAD:                   Eat salt dickhead! (Pause)

DARK (vo):          Chad yelled like a fucking idiot.

CHAD:                   Not working…why isn’t it working?

SUSIE, MOOSE, PUNCH (together, menacingly):

And in the dark, dark room,

There is a dark, dark hole.

DARK (vo):          The limp dicked loser that was Chad didn’t realize that they were outside reality, the rules, charms and wards that could’ve helped him more moments ago now rendered useless having passed beyond the veil.  For the very first time Chad at last felt something he’d never felt before, self-doubt...fear of the failure Daddy always foretold that he would be at last coming to pass. Unseen by all, a long shadow stretched across the face of Appalachia from the hole once occupied by the Rusty Pick. Ebony fingers, lacking substance at last reaching forth, on the one night of they year when they could…clawing across night sky towards the Mire, longing for shadow and master to be connected once more.

CHAD:                   (broken) I…I don’t know what to do…I don’t know what the fuck to do…Susie…I’m sorry…

SUSIE, MOOSE, PUNCH (together, menacingly):

And in the dark, dark hole,

These is a dark, dark bottle….

DARK (vo):          Shadowed hands smashed through Haven Church’s doors, silencing its forever mourning organ music. Down the hall…just there, buried by the Librarian…

CHAD:                   Rules? No rules…

DARK (vo):          The fingers reached through the earth towards the screaming witch’s bottle, the dark form swirling inside. “THERE! JUST THERE! OPEN IT! OPEN IT!,” cried Dark!

SUSIE, MOOSE, PUNCH (together, menacingly):

And in the dark, dark bottle,

There was …

CHAD:                   …another bottle.

DARK (vo):          …what?

CHAD:                   The shadowed hands of a dumbass who just can’t help himself hesitated.

DARK (vo):          Before plunging back towards…

CHAD:                   A Mole Miner named Tiffany, out looking for gift for a date night for her molefriend. Saw this sweet bottle and thought to herself, (puts hand over mouth to fake mole miner) MUMMMMGGPHHHH TREASUREE HH, she mumbled.

DARK (vo):          What are you doing?! STOP THIS!

CHAD:                   Chad grinned and picked up the book off the floor, relief flooding over him as his guess paid off. Dark mumbled…mumbly.

DARK (vo):          (Mumbles) that’s…not enough a word!?

CHAD:                   Realization dawned as Dark realized his mistake. Outside reality and in between…uhhh…whatever…no rules, meant no control. No control meant his perfect story, his piece of resistance…

DARK (vo):          See now I know you are fucking with me! You know that’s not how you say that!

CHAD:                   …could be controlled by anyone. Turning to his family, Chad spoke the magic words to release them from his dark spell. “Fuck off spell.” And they were released.

SFX: BODIES FALL TO FALL.

DARK (vo):          And yet a part of them was not free, bound by the book and clutched in the black, Dark closed a shadowed fist over their minds…and began to squeeze.

CHAD:                   Chad, being Chadly, remembered that in his own god damned story book Dark wrote that magical objects lose their power if destroyed. So Chad pulled out his flame thrower…

DARK (vo):          (exasperated) OH COME ON! THAT IS JUST LAZY WRIITING!

CHAD:                   And in a slow motion action (slow down voice comicly) threw the book into the air, blasting it with righteous flames.

SFX: EXPLOSION OF FIRE AND MAGIC.

SFX: BUILDING SHAKES, RUMBLES.

SUSIE:                   (waking up) Ch…Chad?

CHAD:                   Hold on kid!

MOOSE:               What the hell…

PUNCH:                BAD MAN! GO AWAY! GO AWAY!

SFX: BUILDING LURCHES BACK INTO REALITY, WINDOWS BLOWING OUT, GLASSES FALLING. BODIES FALL TO FLOOR.

CHAD:                   Hey, hey…let me look are you okay? You hurt?

SUSIE:                   I’m okay…what happened?

CHAD:                   I think you’re old enough to not need bedtime stories any more okay?

SUSIE:                   Big girl stories?

CHAD:                   Uhhh…I don’t know what that is….Moose, Punch you good?

PUNCH:                Punch got boo boo!

MOOSE:               What the hell was that all about dude?

CHAD:                   The usual shit. I’m getting the kid to bed.

SUSIE:                   Wait!

SFX: RUNNING.

SUSIE:                   Good night Mr. Punch.

PUNCH:                Nighty night!

SUSIE:                   Good night Mr. Moose!

MOOSE:               Night Squirt!

CHAD:                   …come on curtain climber.

SFX: WALKING.

MOOSE:               Halloween here sucks dude.

PUNCH:                (crying) Bad man come back! Punch not like bad man!

MOOSE:               It’s okay buddy. I think it’s done now. Don’t cry dude…

PUNCH:                Punch just want be left alone with family. Make brew.

MOOSE:               Tonight was a complete washout.

PUNCH:                (sniffling) Yeah…

MOOSE:               I’m still wired.

PUNCH:                (sniffling) Punch too.

MOOSE:               Want to get wasted and blow some shit up?

PUNCH:                D’uh…okay!

MOOSE:               Grab the NukaShine dude.

SFX: RUNNING DOOR SLAMS.

SFX: SQUEEK OF BEDSPRINGS.

CHAD:                   All tucked in there. Here, grab your Honeypot Bear.

SUSIE:                   Honeypot Bear keep me safe?

CHAD:                   Yeah of course.

BEAR:                    You gave me a loaded handgun. You’re a horrible father figure. But if it gets me that sticky icky honey in my belly…I’ll do anything! H’yuk!

CHAD:                   Sorry I was so upset earlier.

SUSIE:                   It’s okay.

CHAD:                   All things considered…if I hadn’t been such a puss and took you out tonight none of this would’ve happened.

SUSIE:                   It’s not your fault.

CHAD:                   From here on out I’ll listen more okay?

SUSIE:                   Okay. Night night kiss?

CHAD:                   Sure. Night night kiss.

SFX: KISS.

SFX: BED SQUEEKS.

CHAD:                   Good night kid.

SUSIE:                   Chad?

CHAD:                   Yeah kid?

SUSIE:                   He’s going to be really mad at you.

CHAD:                   Yeah. Get some sleep now.

SFX: DOOR CLOSES.

SFX: FOOTSTEPS DOWN HALL.

CHAD:                   (sighs)

SFX: BROOM SWEEPING.

SFX: WIND GUSTS THROUGH DOOR.

CHAD:                   Oh come on man…

SFX: RADIO CLICKS ON. LIQUOR POURED.

DARK:                   No rest for the wicked. (sips whiskey) Ahhhh.

SFX: MISSILE LAUNCHER LOADED.

CHAD:                   Leave. Now.

DARK:                   I’m not really here. Point of fact, neither are you. You fell asleep on her bed with a shotgun at the ready. You should see this it’s charming and incredibly wholesome. Before our evening comes to a close and the first light of day strengthens the barrier and I’m sent packing, I thought we’d have a little talk you and I. Because to my great surprise, we’ve never really done that have we? Come. Have a drink with me. No tricks. Not this time. Scout’s honor.

SFX: WHISKEY POURED.

DARK:                   To your…well I’d say your health but with the exception of Sleepy Simon no one hates you more than I do. To your eventually death! Skoll!

CHAD:                   Why?

DARK:                   Why?

CHAD:                   Why do you keep coming back here? West Virginia. You could be anywhere and bother anyone else. And looking at the scoreboard, you’re not doing so hot here.

DARK:                   Ah…fair enough question to ask really. I’ve been around…well around forever really in some form or another. You see, you people, you are like musical notes on a page. A temptation here, a curse there, and eventually you have oh such a beautiful song…misery in g minor! I conduct my business here, and in the Pitt, in the Commonwealth and Capital Wasteland, in the Mojave and even further still west where men plot in the middle of the polluted ocean. All of those places I conduct my business. Each person a note, each event a chord, until at last everything, everything is connected. My symphony, ready to played just like it was on October 23, 2077. Oh…that was lovely. Brought a tear to my eye. And yet, vexingly…the concert was not concluded. Your kind have an irritating habit of enduring.

CHAD:                   I’ve never met anyone who likes to talk as much as you do. Jesus Christ, can we get to the point already.

DARK:                   In short, here is where it all starts. This is just the beginning of your story my dear Chad, we’re merely halfway through, and what’s coming? Oh…buckle up kiddies….no refunds on this ride. You sense it don’t you? The great black tide…the Apocalypse after the Apocalypse…it’s why you keep them all close. Keep them here. Keep them safe.

CHAD:                   What is coming?

DARK:                   Are you asking?

CHAD:                   I am asking.

DARK:                   Knowledge comes with a price.

CHAD:                   Oh here we go…

DARK:                   I didn’t make the rules I am bound by, HE did. Blame HIM, though you’re more apt to pray to a topless Mothman dancer than Him, you heathen fool.

CHAD:                   Right. We’re done. I’m going to bed to wake up, so I can go to bed. Happy Halloween. Go fuck yourself.

DARK:                   STOP. Fine. I can’t give you the answer (whispers) that would be telling. (Normal volume) And it can still change you know. Free will is something beyond my control as you’ve discovered. I am offering you a one-time, no strings attached deal. One time and one time only because its Halloween and Little Susie didn’t get her candy apple.

CHAD:                   What deal?

DARK:                   It is simply this. Let Simon out.

CHAD:                   You have got to be shitting me dude.

DARK:                   Let him out, let him go…and then cross the bridge at Point Pleasant. You will find, to your great shock as most things are…that you can. My gift to you. Go out there. Build Hedonism 2! Start a BroFit colony for fitness focused losers overcompensating for their teeny tiny bits. Hell by Christmas you could be running a roadside topless bar populated by ghouls and call it Skins, decorating a Christmas tree with cap stashes and condoms! You go do whatever your heart desires and you will never, ever see me…

CHAD:                   …ahhhh

DARK:                   …or hear from me again. As I said, no tricks, no loopholes…no dubious fuckery.

CHAD:                   Why do you need Simon?

DARK:                   THAT is my business.

CHAD:                   No. See you around.

DARK:                   Are you sure? I will not offer this again.

CHAD:                   Yeah…you know why? Because you offered it in the first place. You don’t give freebies…so I figure the only thing coming to fuck up your stupid symphony of whatever is a jukebox full of Chad. You’re trying to move us out of the way, off the board. For someone who’s been around as long as you have, I ain’t even been around for a fraction of that and I see right through the angle of “deal”.

DARK:                   (sighs) On your own head be it. You know no one quite gets under my skin like you do. But emotion born of fire is like trying on a new pair of shoes. And my perpetual leg skipping day friend, I'm loving breaking them in. This short Halloween treat has been fun, and you know, I'll leave you one final glistening red candy-coated apple surprise that isn't a razor blade, but will cut just as deep. I am timeless...you...are not. You, your friends, this land, this world, all have a shelf life. And based on its expiration date, it'll come quite soon...sooner than you think. And before the end, before the red burning end, my aperitif will be seeing you mad and mindless, broken and without hope, or...mmm...I can taste the heady bouquet already...killed and betrayed by those closest to you.

CHAD:                   Whatever. See you around!

DARK:                   That you will…

SFX: WALKING.

DARK:                   Oh and Chad?

CHAD:                   What?

DARK:                   I sent a blood tick to drink from your midsection. Wakey wakey bro.

CHAD:                   (screams awake) AH! AHHH! WHAT THE FUCK!

SFX: GUNSHOT. SCREECH.

SUSIE:                   (Susie moaning in sleep) Take that you bad kitty.

CHAD:                   (Panting) Jesus…

SFX: BED SCREECHES. FOOTSTEPS. WINDOW OPENED. NIGHT BREEZE RUSTLES LEAVES OUTSIDE.

CHAD:                   Bring it.

MEDIA: HALLOWEEN OUTRO MUSIC.