MADHOUSE (entries)

[Adam Isaac]

LA MORT D'UNE HAMADRYADE


Title Card: La Mort D'Une Hamadryade

Music begins: From Grieg's "Norwegian Dance No. 1 in D Minor"
(http://www.resologist.net/Hamadryade.mid)
FADE IN:

EXT. FOREST GLEN - DAY

From the leafy branches of a white poplar tree, Leuce, (a youthful nymph, adorned with a crown of leaves and wearing a white peplos with a himation), leaps through the air and hits the ground, running.

Without a break in her stride, Leuce gazes back, in horror, to look back at the tree. A white powder covers her skin, such that it resembles a marble statue, more than human flesh. Metallic sounds, from behind, frighten and horrify her.

Leuce dashes into the edge of

A FOREST.

Leuce scampers down a path and disappears from sight, from moment to moment, behind thick trees and large boulders.

A steady metallic pounding follows Leuce. She emerges from the forest trail, back into the

FOREST GLEN.

With an unnatural speed, Leuce dashes from tree to tree, and peers out, from under their shelter, with a fearful curiosity.

Leuce retreats down an open trail, through the glen. Her movements become unnaturally slow, and she flickers from a ghostly state to invisibility. Pain wracks her body. She staggers upon legs, with no sign of her having any feet.

Leuce vanishes and reappears. Each time, she raises her arms up in pleadings to large trees, to the Moon, and to the Sun.

Spinning clouds provide the backdrop of Leuce's dizzy faint. Black blood splutters from her mouth, as she struggles to reach the agonizing object in the middle of her back, which cannot be seen despite her semi-transparency. She collapses.

A skeleton, adorned with a crown of leaves and wearing a white peplos with a himation, lies across the felled poplar tree, with an ax buried in its back.

Music ends.

Title Card: Finis

FADE OUT:

[Adam Isaac]

IT'S THE WATER! (1 of 2)

EXT. MONTANA - A RESERVOIR - NIGHT

A battered pick-up juts across the access drive that runs along the top of the dam. In the bed of the truck, two rednecks are hip-deep in matte-black steel drums.

Behind them, the city sparkles.

Tailgate down and serving as a plank over the concrete slope, BROCK and COOPER buck the drums towards the dark lake below. Cooper sidles a drum across the bed and GRUNTS as he tips it over the lip... to fall, fall, fall before... BONG!

The drum careens off the side of the dam... out, over and down to... SPLASH! Cooper turns back to the job as Brock bats a smoke out of a Marlboro deck, sparks it up.

COOPER
Hey...

BROCK
What?

Cooper eyes the three remaining drums uneasily.

BROCK
Chill, cowboy. It's just random sh*t... not flammable.

COOPER
When's the man gonna pay us for this?

BROCK
We get paid when we make the problem go away.


INT. THE LAKE - NIGHT

The drum sinks... down, down, down. Trailing vapor as it settles into muck studded with other drums. Some fresh, some spotted with algae. Some ancient. Already leaking.

The fresh drum slashes a breach in ancient steel as it settles among the other timebombs. Two... three... many toxins meet, merge and CRACKLE like frying bacon as synthesis occurs.


EXT. TOP O' THE RESERVOIR - NIGHT

The bed of the truck is clear. Brock snaps the butt of his cigarette off into the darkness.

BROCK
Problem gone. Let's hit the road.


EXT. RESERVOIR - LAKE SHORE - NIGHT

KATHY squats, a letterman's jacket draped over the teenager's bare shoulders as she inhales a rail off a small mirror. Waist deep in the lake, JOSH splashes water at her.

JOSH
It's not getting any colder...

KATHY
Hold on a sec.

She sniffs, swallows. Winces.

Josh frowns, looks back across the lake... the sound of splashing grows louder... closer. Sounds like frying bacon.

JOSH
What the...?

KATHY
What is it?

As the sound nears, by moonlight he sees the source: a wall of fish throwing themselves out of the water.

JOSH
That... is...

He turns and begins to wade back towards the shore.

JOSH (CONT.)
... f*cking... weird.

Behind the frontline of splashing fish, the waters become calm... as if the stragglers are being absorbed. More fish begin to erupt out of the water around Josh... and ahead of him.

The jacket slides off her shoulders as Kathy takes a hesitant step towards the lake.

KATHY
C'mon, Josh... quit f*cking around.

JOSH
I'm not... motherf*ck!

Almost ashore, his pace begins to slow.

JOSH
Sh*t! I'm burning-

KATHY
What?

JOSH (CONT.)
-my f*cking skin is burning! There's something in the water!

His hand smacks the water... it doesn't splash, it SPLOTS! Thicker... holding him fast. He throws out a hand to Kathy...

JOSH
F*ck! I'm stuck! Get me-

She skirts the water but grabs his hand.

JOSH (CONT.)
-out of-

His eyes go wide and he SCREAMS. The water pulls him back and his grasp white-knuckles on Kathy's... and as he is pulled deeper... takes Kathy with him.

The sound of splashing fades... quiets... and the lake falls silent. The quicksilver surface doesn't even ripple. But it stirs... a mercurial movement.

In the bowels of the dam, the pipes begin to MOAN.


INT. THE BRUENNER HOUSE - DAWN

TOBY shrugs on his backpack as he tears through the house. You can see the distant dam through the kitchen window as the third-grader cracks open the 'fridge. He SIGHS and slaps the door shut. Grabs a glass from the drying rack and turns on the tapwater.

MOTHER (O.S.)
Got five minutes, Toby. Pick it up.

He rolls his eyes. Takes three GULPS from the glass... before the first gulp sets its talons into his stomach.

He COUGHS. The glass slips from his grasp and bounces off the floor. Silver-hued liquid splashes across the linoleum. Toby's eyes roll back in his head and he hits the floor... heels drum.

The spilled liquid skitters towards him...


INT. COOPER'S HOUSE - SHOWER - DAWN

Cooper and the MISSUS wrestle under the showerhead. Hot water sluices soapy lather off of their bodies. The Missus throws back her head and MOANS, a deep chuckle of satisfaction. Cooper GRUNTS and accepts her weight as calves scissor 'round the back of his knees.

The showerhead COUGHS... and the Missus takes the full blast of The Change. Her o-face distorts as the MOAN abruptly shifts octaves and becomes a SCREAM.

COOPER
What the-

His legs are kicked out as the Missus tries to escape over him... his head CRACKS against the wall... and they both hit the tile. They stay down. Cooper unconscious, the Missus shuddering in agony, her WAIL unrecognizable as human...

The fluid sluices up over bare flesh... probing for openings... and finding them, invading. Cooper's eyes snap open as his SHRIEKS join with those of the Missus.

[Adam Isaac]

IT'S THE WATER! (2 of 2)

EXT. HOSPITAL - MORNING

Toby is buckled down on a gurney, his body straining against the restraints. A bone CRACKS! as a howl escapes around the rubber ball lodged in his mouth.

The NURSE looks at the boy... his flesh is translucent, skeleton vivid like an afterimage beneath flesh. Eyes wild with the pain.

She tears her gaze away, looks to the DOCTOR:

NURSE
What in God's name is wrong with him?

Her eyes roll to the sounds of pandemonium roiling from every corner of the hospital.

NURSE
... with all of them?

DOCTOR
They're liquefying... it's as if their bodies are digesting themselves.

NURSE
But what-

DOCTOR
I don't have any f*cking idea what the hell it is! Maybe some chemical agent-

A loud TEAR, as a keening WHISTLE blows a hole through the wall of the boy's cheek, followed by a liquid RATTLE.

The Nurse slaps her hands over ears...

NURSE
Christ! Can't we sedate him any more?

DOCTOR
We give him any more morphine, and it'll kill him.

Their eyes meet...

... and the Doctor reaches for the needle.


EXT. THE MISSOURI RIVER - DAY

The quicksilver beast rolls down the Big Muddy, churning waters calming as they are incorporated. Smaller rivers join the union...

... as do the walking damned. The WAILS of thousands, hundreds of thousands of tortured souls fill the air as they march across the dying landscape... to plunge into the waters, seeking release. Their donation is accepted, but not appreciated... the WAILS continue.

As it intersects with the Mississippi, the one flesh spreads... rolling, rolling, rolling... to the ocean.


EXT. HOSPITAL - TWILIGHT - THREE DAYS LATER

The Doctor and the Nurse sit on a bench across from the hosptal, their attention on a young woman taking a silent dive from the tenth story to the street below... SPLAT!

They don't blink at impact.

NURSE
It's so quiet.

DOCTOR
Why bother coming here? No one needs to leave the house to find damnation.

He takes a swig from a bottle of Maker's Mark and passes it to the Nurse. He CHUCKLES humorlessly.

DOCTOR
"It's the water!" Remember that old ad?

NURSE
Olympia?

DOCTOR
Yeah. I think so. Now it's the Gaia Theory gone to hell...

NURSE
Gaia?

DOCTOR
The Earth as a living, sentient organism. Water has always been life, and now it lives. Seventy percent of the Earth is... was water.

NURSE
And us?

DOCTOR
We're mostly water ourselves. The beast is just... incorporating.

NURSE
What can we do... do about this?

DOCTOR
Accept the inevitable.
(beat)
So... wanna f*ck? Before...?

The Nurse tilts the bottle back, takes two slugs and hands it back. Wipes her mouth.

NURSE
'kay.


EXT. THE CITY - FIVE MONTHS LATER - DAY

The concrete valleys lie dead under the morning sun...

... CREAK ... CREAK ...

... aside from the raggedy form of Brock. The man pushes a shopping cart down the center of the street. The cart is loaded with cases of beer.

BROCK
Hello? Is there anyone... anyone out there?

Bearded, filthy after months without water touching his flesh. He cracks a Budweiser and eyes the empty thoroughfare.

BROCK
Hello? Is there... anyone?

A MOAN rises and he darts a glance at the huddled form on the sidewalk. Like the tree it has become one with, it is desiccated. Frosted in silver. Its poached eyes plead blindly at him.

Behind him, a cloud rolls in. Passing between the spires of silent skyscrapers. Its belly is leprous, swollen.

Brock retrieves a semiautomatic rifle from the cart, chambers a round... SHA-SHINK!

... and at the sound, the cloud shifts course. Rolls in towards Brock.

BANG! The damned thing's head snaps back as the .223 takes off half its cranium. Gray matter hits the pavement. The MOAN continues.

Brock SOBS and chambers another round. He doesn't hear the silver rain begin to pour down, a liquid wall moving in on him... crackling... like bacon frying.

[Adam Isaac]

FLYPAPER MAN (1 of 2)


INT. RUMPEL HOME -- HALLOWEEN EVENING

A star of plastic diamonds at the end of a wand makes a dramatic sweep in the air.

Little PENNY Rumpel, 6, in princess Halloween costume adjusts her crown in a mirror. She bends, scoops up a glittery candy bag on the floor, studies the full effect in the mirror- petite elegance.

CORT (O.S)
Where can I find some creepy
dead bugs?

At a doorway, her brother, CORT, 8, covered from head to toe in brown grocery bags taped end to end.

Penny turns, frowns.

PENNY
Cort, what are you supposed
to be?

CORT
Flypaper.

He twists.

CORT
But I need some bugs on me.

Penny pokes a finger to his paper chest.

PENNY
Suebee.

CORT
Suebee?

LATER

Penny empties a jar of Suebee honey into a plate. She dips a basting brush into the gooey liquid, starts to spread it all over her brother's costume.

LATER STILL

At a window, Penny looks out, checks her princess watch, shakes her head.

EXT. ROAD -- HALLOWEEN EVENING

Cort, alone, grasps a flashlight, surveys a quiet roadway. He spreads his paper arms wide, runs down the road while imitating bigrig truck sounds, VROOOM, VROOOM, BEEEEP BEEEEP

Insects with an eerie "tick" "tick" sound catch against his costume to remain there.

INT. SUV VEHICLE -- CONTINUOUS

DR. HENDRIKS drives along, one hand holds a dictation microphone connected to a tape player on the passenger seat.

DR. HENDRIKS (into microphone)
The mechanics of molecular
generation in subsequent subjects
have thus far failed to exhibit results
conclusive to my theory...

The tape player clatters, he looks down to see the cassette tape unspooling.

DR. HENDRIKS
Jesus Al Roker.

He reaches over to take the tape out, taking his eyes off the road for a moment, then back again, but,
oh, god! too late!

Cort, a deer in the headlights BLAM!!

The boy like a sack of potatoes against the hood, the windshield.

SECONDS LATER

EXT. ROAD

The doctor rushes from his vehicle to Cort on his back on the asphalt. Blood bubbles from the boy's lips, blood pools under his paper-capped head.

The doctor checks for breathing, pulse, looks around, noone has seen this terrible accident.

He picks him up, places him in his SUV.

INT. DR. HENDRIK'S LAB -- EVENING

Test tubes with glowing liquid, computers, books, papers in scattered piles.

Cort lies unconcious with tubes in his arm, mouth. A monitoring device checks his feeble heartbeat as Dr. Hendriks looks down on him.

DR. HENDRIKS
You're dying, dear soul.

He focuses on an insect glued to Cort's costume as it quivers against its restraint.

He looks back to shelves lined with bottles of insect specimens.

The doctor takes a syringe from a table. A sign on the wall beckons him.

"Experimentation breeds genius"

DR. HENDRIKS
God forgive me.

He plunges the syringe into Cort's young heart.

INT. DR. HENDRIK'S STUDY -- LATER

The doctor asleep in an easy chair. A book open on his chest with the title, " Molecular Growth Studies"

A clock ticks on the wall behind him, then chimes. The doctor wakes, rushes to the lab.

INT. LAB

The table is bare, tubes tossed aside, items knocked to the floor.

Wind from a large open window lifts paperwork from tables. The doctor rushes to close it, stares out of it at the darkness beyond with a shiver of apprehension.

EXT. CITY SQUARE-- HALLOWEEN EVENING

A giant inflatable pumpkin next to a festively lite fountain of jetting water.
PEDESTRIANS walk to and fro, an air of celebration in the air.

But, outside a police station, Penny with a coat over her princess costume exits rather dourly with her stricken-faced MOTHER.

PENNY
Mommy, can we just go see
the pumpkin for a minute?

The mother nods and they walk in that direction.

Abruptly, a SCREAM

Pedestrians run in panic.

[Adam Isaac]

FLYPAPERMAN (2 of 2)

EXT. CITY SQUARE -- HALLOWEEN EVENING (Continued)

From the air, Cort, his flypaper body extending several yards wide, scoops down with flypaper wings crisscrossed by transluscent bony spines.

Pedestrians run for safety but some are caught, glued against his body without escape.

Two construction workers with duffelbags run but one falls back into Cort.

CONSTRUCTION WORKER ON CORT
Get me off this thing!

The other pulls at him. Cort twists in panic, lifts off the ground, shrieks of terror from the trapped, Cort flaps back to the ground.

The other worker whips a powersaw from his bag, gears it up. Blades grind against his co-worker's arm, blood spatters everywhere.
Cort relieved of the man's weight takes to the air.

ON PENNY AND HER MOTHER

as they rush up steps to an elevated subway platform.

MOTHER
Come on Penny, hurry!

They make it to the top as Cort lands on the platform. Pandemonium, but Penny turns, halts.

MOTHER
Penny!

Cort and Penny lock eyes. His eyes are swollen and blood vessels spider across his cheek but she recognizes him.

PENNY
You were supposed to
take me Trick or Treating.

Cort lifts off again, a chorus of exclamations from the square as he lands inside the water fountain under the jets.

The people stuck to him wiggle themselves free, slide off into the water, stumble up and run for their lives.

Cort lifts out of the fountain and lands on the square as Penny rushes up, breathless.

PENNY
Take me. Now.

Cort nods. Penny grabs the severed worker's arm at the hefty bicep and holds on as the two disappear into the night air.

EXT. NEIGHBORHOOD -- LATER THAT EVENING

Penny approaches a doorstep in her princess costume and candy bag.

She pushes the doorbell in. Noone answers, the door slightly ajar, Penny takes the initative.

INT. HOME

Penny pokes her head in , enters.

PENNY
Trick or treat.

She sees a man slouched in a chair, his face out of view.

A television in a corner on a news broadcast.

ANNOUNCER (O.S)
This evening's horrific
events downtown may have
been a Halloween prank gone
astray.

Penny spots a plate of shiny red apples.

PENNY
These apples don't have razor
blades in them, do they?

She waits for an answer that will never come. The man's face now in view shows a bullet hole in Dr. Hendrik's temple, a gun clutched in his palm.

Penny drops two apples in her bag.

PENNY
The other one is for
my brother.

She skips out of the house.

EXT. NEIGHBORHOOD

She catches up with the looming shadow of her brother Cort. She takes his hand and they continue along, lite by a number of sidewalk pumpkins on this particular street, all in flickering unison.

you can FADE TO BLACK now.

[Adam Isaac]

THE MYSTERIOUS MONSTERS OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY (1 of 3)

FADE IN:

EXT. WOODS - NIGHT

PETE MCCOY (15), RONNIE HATFIELD (14), and MIKE MCOY(13) run down a dark trail in the even darker woods. The large rising full moon provides their only light, the long shadows it creates dance in the soft breeze.

Ronnie glances over his shoulder.

RONNIE
Think we lost 'im?

PETE
No way old Mc Gregor would follow
us in here.

They slow to a walk. Ronnie looks around nervously.

RONNIE
Why? Why wouldn't he follow us?

MIKE
Because of the monsters.

RONNIE
Monsters?

PETE
Just some crap my mom made up to
keep us out of the woods.

MIKE
It's not crap! Jimmy Butts',
cousin's friend saw one once, and
Tammy Wag --

PETE
It's crap! Let's go.

Ronnie and Mike shoot a serious look at each other before they follow Pete who forges ahead.

RONNIE
What did Auntie Jan, um, your mom
say 'bout 'em?

MIKE
You haven't heard about them in
Buford?

RONNIE
Nup.

Mike looks both ways before speaking in a hushed tone.

MIKE
Kids have disappeared here, lot
of them. Mom says they live in
the shadows. Sometimes, when Pete
and I are bad, Mom says she'll
send us to the woods, where the
monsters belong.

RONNIE
Bad, like soapin' mister Mc
Gregor car?

Mike nods. Ronnie gulps. A branch snaps. Ronnie jumps. Mike hides his smile.

RONNIE
What's that?

MIKE
It's just Pete.

PETE
Didn't mean to FRIGHTEN you.

RONNIE
I reckon we oughta head back, go
'round the woods. Maybe Mike's --

PETE
Ronnie's a scaredy baby.

RONNIE
I'm not ascared. But --

PETE
There's no monsters! It's all
bull****!

Ronnie cowers from Pete's aggressiveness.

MIKE
Leave him alone, Pete.

PETE
Ok. I will. I'll leave him alone.
I leave both of you alone.

Pete bolts off, Mike shouts after him.

MIKE
Pete no! Wait! I didn't mean...

Mike shoots a worried glance toward Ronnie and then runs off after Pete. Ronnie doesn't wait to follow.


EXT. CLEARING - LATER

The shadows of the dark forest crowd the clearing's edges.

Out of breath, Mike and Ronnie enter a patch of moonlight, then both stop to examine their surroundings. They huddle close together as call out for Pete.

RONNIE
I reckon he's gone.

MIKE
He wouldn't, Mom would kill him.

RONNIE
You know the way home?

MIKE
Nope. I stay out of the woods.

RONNIE
Shoot! Just my luck.

MIKE
What?

RONNIE
I'm lost in the woods with a
mama's boy.

[Adam Isaac]

THE MYSTERIOUS MONSTERS OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY (2 of 2)

MIKE
I am not a mama's boy!

Mike pushes Ronnie. Ronnie pushes back.

RONNIE
You are!

MIKE
I am not, you dumb h--

PETE (O.S.)
You are too!

MIKE AND RONNIE
Pete?!

They search for his voice but find only dancing shadows.

MIKE
Where are you?

PETE (O.S.)
Over here.

They approach his voice with caution. As they near the edge of the clearing, the shadows seem to reach out for them.

MIKE
I can't see you.

PETE
I'm right here.

Pete appears from the darkness. Mike and Ronnie breathe a sigh of relief.

RONNIE
We thought you'd run out on us.

PETE
Would I do that to --

Pete struggles, jerking his arms and legs. Mike and Ronnie take a step back.

PETE
What's going on? Hey! Let go.

Pete screams and flails wildly as he falls back into the darkness.

Mike and Ronnie shout with fear as they back up toward the center of the clearing. They hug one another tightly.

MIKE
Oh god! They got him. The
monsters! Did you see them? We've
got to help him.

Mike tries to tear away from Ronnie but Ronnie holds tight.

RONNIE
Are you plumb crazy? He's dead!

MIKE
He's my brother.

Mike tugs himself away and runs off toward the edge of the clearing. Ronnie doesn't budge but shouts after him.

RONNIE
Mike no! Don't go! Mike!

Ronnie hugs himself nervously as he scans the clearing. Mike has disappeared into the shadows.

RONNIE
Stupid. Mike?

A scream as Mike barrels out from the shadows. He shouts at Ronnie as he passes.

MIKE
Run, it's them! Run!

Ronnie's stare follows Mike, perplexed.

PETE (O.S.)
Mike? Come back!

Ronnie snaps his head toward Pete's voice. A dark boy sized figure is just distinguishable inside of the shadows at the edge of the clearing.

RONNIE
Pete? That you?

PETE
It's me.

RONNIE
You trying to scare us?

PETE
I'm trying to help. Come with me
now and I'll show you the way.

RONNIE
Mike? He --

PETE
He's taken care of.

The boy shadow separates from the larger shadow of the clearing's edge. Ronnie gasps.

RONNIE
You -- you're one of 'em!

Shadow Pete drifts closer. His black arms extended. He reaches toward Ronnie.

PETE
Don't be afraid, Ronnie. You'll
feel better after you join us.

Ronnie bolts away from Pete. As he reaches the opposite edge of the clearing a smaller boyish shadow drifts toward him.

MIKE
Join us.

Ronnie, frightened and uncertain, runs perpendicular to both. The shadows follow him at a steady pace.

PETE AND MIKE
Join us...Join us...

Ronnie runs into the shadows at the edge of the clearing.

THUMP!

PETE
What was that?

Mike yanks off his black Balaclava and runs to the edge of the clearing.

Ronnie lies flat on his back. A big gash on his forehead. Mike shakes him.

MIKE
I think he hit a tree -- I think
he's dead.

[Adam Isaac]

THE MYSTERIOUS MONSTERS OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY (3 of 3)

Pete pulls off his Balaclava and one of his black gloves as he arrives. He feels Ronnie's neck for a pulse.

PETE
S***!

MIKE
Play a joke on the dumb hick you
said. He'll fall for it you said.
He's dead Pete! Dead!

PETE
I -- I didn't mean --

MIKE
How we gonna tell Mom!?

The wind picks up and the leaves rub together in a rustle that sounds like an ever growing growl. It catches the black clad boys' attention.

An undulating man-sized shadow reaches out for them, MC GREGOR.

MC GREGOR (O.S.)
Thought you get away with soapin'
up my car, didn't ya?

The boys tremble and stare at Mc Gregor.

MC GREGOR (O.S.)
You little monsters ain't never
gonna learn...

Mc Gregor's shadow devours their horrified expressions with its darkness. A rifle cocks.

BLACK

MC GREGOR (V.O.)
Don't go in the woods.

BANG!

FADE OUT.

[Adam Isaac]

ATSHEN (1 of 2)


FADE IN:

EXT. NORTHERN WOODS - DAY

Summer shots of forests, lakes, boulders, and muskeg, follow the pace of the NARRATOR's voice.

NARRATOR (V.O.)
Some say that the black flies will drive a man insane, pestering and biting him, in their swarms. Moose, bears, and wolves have drowned in the muskeg, trapped in murky waters having fled there and become stuck in the mud. What happened to Jack-- I'll call him Jack, 'cause that wasn't his name, and to spare his family from any more pain-- was unholy. Never before, nor since, has anyone supposedly been eaten alive, stripped to the bone by black flies. To tell the truth of the matter, I don't think that it was the black flies, but it's a more convenient truth that let's me sleep, at nights, in a dark room.

EXT. HUDSON BAY - DAY

JACK, BOB, and the Narrator, (husky men in their 20s, attired in the hunting fashions of the 1940s), paddle a large canoe, packed with supplies, offshore.

NARRATOR (V.O.)
Jack, and Bob-- and his name wasn't Bob-- and me, went up to Hudson Bay, for some prospecting, fishing, and exploring. The summer days are long. After a few weeks, we'd grown tired of eating fish, baked beans and wild berries, none of our mineral specimens looked promising, and anybody would have been a welcome sight, as we hadn't seen a soul since we left civilization, at the railhead.

The men spot smoke from campfires, onshore, in the distance.

NARRATOR (V.O.) (CONT’D)
Jack saw a column of smoke, late that afternoon. We paddled our canoe for it, attracted like a needle to a magnet.

The men paddle with vigor toward the distant shore.

EXT. INUIT CAMP - DAY

Jack, Bob, and the Narrator meet a group of INNU HUNTERS, (attired by the Hudson Bay Company's trading post), in a squalid campsite, and exchange greetings. Innu women and children retreat into the tents, after a peek at the visitors.

NARRATOR (V.O.)
When we came ashore, we were met by a crowd of Eskimos-- they call themselves the Inuit-- at their summer camp. After a peek at us ragged white men, most of the women and kids retreated back into their tents. The men greeted us, pleasantly enough, and asked if we had any tobacco. To them, cigarettes were gold.

The Narrator passes out the contents of a cigarette pack, and Jack lights up the smokes for all to enjoy.

NARRATOR (V.O.) (CONT’D)
Hunting had been poor. We celebrated, opening some canned ham, and shared some of their venison soup, made from bones gnawed down to the marrow.

The Innu SHAMAN, an aged man, stretches animal hides over a crude framework of saplings, away from the other tents.

NARRATOR (V.O.) (CONT’D)
Their shaman, a toothless gnome, going to consult the animal spirits and communicate with nearby villages, that night, by way their shaking tent ceremony. Imagine a few animal hides thrown over a couple of saplings, no larger than a telephone booth, and that was the Eskimo radio station to their ghosts and gods.

EXT. INUIT CAMP - NIGHT

A bonfire lights the camp and the Shaman's tent. Jack, Bob, and the Narrator watch three Innu ELDERS and the Shaman climb into the Shaman's tent. The tent begins to shake violently.

NARRATOR (V.O.)
Jack just wouldn't play along. The old shaman and elders had squeezed into the tent, and, it was bouncing back and forth, and full of shouting and screeching.

To the dismay of the Inuit men, Bob, and the Narrator, Jack breaks into a boisterous fit of laughter.

NARRATOR (V.O.) (CONT’D)
Jack began to roar with laughter. The shaking stopped. Three somber elders came out, quaking in fear. Jack was about to poke his head into the tent, when the shaman crawled out, gasping for air, and covered in sweat. Jack laughed some more, grabbed the side of the tent, and shook it back and forth.

JACK (V.O.)
(via Narrator's voice)
Some show, eh?

SHAMAN (V.O.)
(via Narrator's voice)
You laugh?

JACK (V.O.)
(via Narrator's voice)
I'm no fool to your tricks.

SHAMAN (V.O.)
(via Narrator's voice)
Come inside, you watch.

NARRATOR (V.O.)
The shaman crawled back inside the tent, followed by Jack. He waved for Bob and me, to join in his bit of fun. He held up the flap of hide, while we crawled inside.

[Adam Isaac]

ATSHEN (2 of 2)


INT. SHAMAN'S TENT - NIGHT

Cramped together, Jack, Bob, the Narrator, and the Shaman squat down and sit shoulder to shoulder. The Shaman begins to chant and closes the flap of hide, plunging the tent into total darkness. Jack flicks out his cigarette lighter and sheds some light on the proceedings.

JACK (V.O.)
(via Narrator's voice)
Grab his arms. I'll sit on his legs. We'll see what tricks he can do then?

Jack, Bob and the Narrator seize the Shaman. A gust from behind Jack blows out the lighter's flame.

NARRATOR (V.O.)
I felt a jolt, like static electricity, come off the shaman's arm, but didn't let go. Howls and screeches burst upon us, and the tent battered against my back.

Tiny pairs of disembodied red eyes multiply across the walls of the tent and begin to spin about with a whirlwind's speed.

NARRATOR (V.O.) (CONT’D)
Then, the eyes appeared, or, rather what like the reflections of animal eyes caught in an auto's headlights, appeared against sides of the tent, but they were very small, as if we'd been invaded by a horde of mice.

JACK (V.O.)
(via Narrator's voice)
Are you holding him?

BOB & NARRATOR (V.O.)
(via Narrator's voice)
Yeah!

NARRATOR (V.O.) (CONT’D)
The shaman fell limp. Something like an elephant's trunk reached down from top of the tent, brushed past my face, and slapped Jack's face.

Jack screams, and, speedily retreats outside, followed by a streak of hundreds of tiny disembodied pairs of red eyes.

NARRATOR (V.O.) (CONT’D)
Jack screamed. He grabbed the side flap and scrambled outside. A buzzing filled the inside of the tent. Those red eyes streamed out after him.

BOB (V.O.)
(via Narrator's voice)
Let's get out of here!

EXT. INUIT CAMP - NIGHT

Bob and the Narrator stand next to the Shaman's tent and look to see which way Jack went. The bonfire casts giant shadows against the shrubs and trees of the woodland.

NARRATOR (V.O.)
The Eskimos pointed to a path.

INNU HUNTERS point to a path into the woods.

INNU HUNTERS (V.O.)
(via Narrator's voice)
He go. Atshen go, too.

NARRATOR (V.O.)
In the darkness, a hundred yards away, Jack shrieked, then silence.

Innu Elders, with grim attitudes, restrain Bob and Narrator from going into the woods and pull them back to the bonfire.

NARRATOR (V.O.) (CONT’D)
Bob and me wanted to go rescue Jack, but the Eskimo elders latched onto us and pulled us towards their fire.

INNU ELDERS (V.O.)
(via Narrator's voice)
He dead! Atshen! Don't go!

EXT. INUIT CAMP - DAY

The Inuit mourn and wail at the stony grave of their Shaman.

NARRATOR (V.O.)
In the morning, the Eskimos buried their shaman under a pile of stones.

EXT. TRAIL ALONGSIDE THE MUSKEG - DAY

The Innu Elders and Hunters lead Bob and the Narrator along a woodland trail bordered by muskeg. The Hunters find a black object next to the trail. Hitting it with a long stick, a cloud of black flies rises and disperses, to reveal Jack, whose boots are stuck in the mud, and who has been nearly reduced to a skeleton sprawled across the mud.

NARRATOR (V.O.)
It wasn't until noon that the elders let us go look for Jack. At the side of the trail, stuck in the mud, Jack's boots held what little was left of him. We buried him, under another pile of stones, next to the shaman.

EXT. HUDSON'S BAY - DAY

Offshore, Bob and the Narrator paddle their canoe, away.

NARRATOR (V.O.)
Bob told me that the Eskimos showed him many marks in the mud, that looked like tiny human footprints and animal tracks. I have to disagree. Jack was eaten alive by the black flies.

FADE OUT:

[Adam Isaac]

EPHRAIM BRUDER (1 of 2)



EXT. ISRAELI AIRBASE -- MORNING

The twisted and charred remains of a fighter jet
aircraft a testament to that volatile
combination of jet fuel and man's haste.

On a BASE CREW as they move somberly and
deliberately through the remains.

INT. ISRAELI AIRBASE INTERROGATION ROOM -- MORNING

A room as restrained as the three persons at a table at its center.

A prim female PSYCHOLOGIST, an older ARMY OFFICER, and in a pilot's uniform with a bandage over a bruised forehead, the handsome
EPHRAIM BRUDER, 26.

EPHRAIM
May I have a cigarette?

The officer nods.

Ephraim pulls a pack from his front pocket, shakes a cigarette out, lays the pack on the table.

EPHRAIM
I prefer overnight duty, the
sunglare on the planes all day,
the other pilots will tell you,
you climb out with a headache.

PSYCHOLOGIST
Have you had any problems
sleeping?

EPHRAIM
No.

He takes a drag of his cigarette, his hands
noticeably tremble.

EPHRAIM
You don't believe me--
anything I've told you.

OFFICER
One of our pilots is dead,
Ephraim. An aircraft destroyed.
We just need some clarity.

Ephraim looks at the floor.

OFFICER
Go back to this radio chat
you had with Jacob before--
Ephraim?

Ephraim looks up-- on his eyes, intelligent,
unwavering.

FLASHBACK TO

EXT. ISRAELI AIRBASE -- NIGHT

The exterior and cockpit lights of two fighter jets on a tarmac.
In the cockpits, at their 24- Hour watches, the helmuted
Ephraim and JACOB.

INT. EPHRAIM'S COCKPIT

Ephraim looks over to Jacob's jet several yards
in front of his.

EPHRAIM (on headset radio)
Jacob, Sarah may have
her talents but in choosing you
over me, she's shown she has
a talent for misjudgement.

JACOB (over radio speaker) O.S
Ah, Ephraim, the better
part of me wants to put
all this aside for friendship's
sake, the other wants to
kick your ass.

Ephraim smiles.

A sudden flash of white like a puff of smoke
from Jacob's cockpit shield.

Ephraim leans in to see.

A crack like a twisted spine of ice crystals
across Jacob's cockpit shield.

FLASHBACK ENDS

INT. INTERROGATION ROOM -- MORNING

Ephraim takes comfort in a drag of his cigarette.

EPHRAIM
It was--

OFFICER
The tower crew said
you did not respond when
they noticed your shield being
retracted.

EPHRAIM
I was thinking I
could help.

OFFICER
Help?

Ephraim shakes his head.

FLASHBACK TO

INT. EPHRAIM'S COCKPIT

Garbled tower transmission.

Ephraim is focused on Jacob's cockpit shield
as his own lifts up.

From Ephraim's POV, Jacob's head is
abruptly thrown back.

Spurts of blood in vicious waves splash
against Jacob's cockpit shield.

A high-pitched squeal.

Ephraim opens his mouth, words come out
as hoarse squeaks.

EPHRAIM
Tower, there's something--

Ephraim's eyes widen

ON JACOB'S COCKPIT

A claw smacks against Jacob's shield, then a
face, A CREATURE, two eyes, reptilian
set in a skin of white oozing scales.


A flash of a tail, quivering transluscent wings.

INT. EPHRAIM'S COCKPIT

Ephraim's hands move quickly.

A whirr, clicks. On Ephraim's controls,
lights glow, a buzz, a steady tick.

A low sound of something dislodging.

EXT. TARMAC

A missle whooshes from Ephraim's jet, reaches
Jacob's.

BLAAAAAAAM! An eruption of flame, a deafning blast.

Ephraim is thrown back.

FLASHBACK ENDS

[Adam Isaac]

EPHRAIM BRUDER (2 of 2)

INT. INTERROGATION ROOM -- MORNING

EPHRAIM
My duty was to defend the
state of Israel.

Ephraim buries his head in his hands. The psychologist looks at him with some sympathy, turns, meets the officer's unmoved eyes.

OFFICER
Ephraim, had you ever
seen this "creature" before?

Ephraim sits up, looks at the two disbelieving
faces, chuckles.

EPHRAIM
Oh, of course, yes, at a
market in Haifa, on a bus
in Tel Aviv, at my grandmother's
in Switzerland waltzing in
the gazebo.

He shakes his head.

EXT. ISRAELI AIRBASE -- MORNING

Airbase crew pore over Ephraim's cockpit. One grasps a flight helmut and speaks into a walkie-talkie.

INT. INTERROGATION ROOM -- MORNING

A mlitary police officer enters and hands a note to the army officer.

The officer reads it.

OFFICER
Your helmut, Ephraim. It was
found with focal vision on
magnify.

EPHRAIM
Magnify?

PSYCHOLOGIST
Have you been having
problems with your vision,
headaches?

Ephraim shakes his head.

EPHRAIM
I must have knocked the
switch when I first tried
to get out to help.

Ephraim stands up, walks to the other side of the room, paces.

OFFICER
They haven't found any evidence
this creature of yours ever existed.

Ephraim is distracted, calculating in his mind.

EPHRAIM
With it on magnify, the creature, it
would have been no bigger than--

He notices the cigarette pack on the table,
stares at it. His eyes grow wide with the
possibility, the horrible possibility.....

ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE GLASS OF
THIS INTERROGATION ROOM,

an OFFICIAL watches the proceedings.

A high-pitched squeal,

Blood, thick, drenches of it, splash against the
glass, the official falls back from the sight.

EXT. ISRAELI PRISON SINAI DESERT -- DAY

Stark barracks, barbed wire in a blowing sand storm that bares a resemblance to a falling
snow.

An elderly PRISON WORKER shuffles through a dark hallway pushing a food cart.

He halts at a prison cell. He takes a food tray from the cart, tattooed numbers fading but visible on his arm. He places the tray in a slot of a cell.

PRISON WORKER
Ephraim Bruder, Shalom.

Ephraim, now gaunt, bearded, retrieves the tray.

EPHRAIM (quietly)
Shalom.

INT. CELL

Ephraim sits, grasps a piece of bread from the tray, slowly chews.

OFFICIAL (V.O)
Such a monstrous thing
among us, who can believe?

INT. GOVERNMENT BUILDING -- DAY

The official is escorted down a hall to
a set of double doors flanked by military
police with automatic weapons.

OFFICIAL (V.O)
How to explain such a terror?

The official enters a room where several
men, some in white smocks surround a
glass box.

The official joins them.

OFFICIAL
This, it--- it never happened.

He pushes a button on the glass box.


A cloudy gas fills the box engulfing the very small creature as it struggles against steel restraints.

A sudden whoosh as flames fill the box.

On the witnesses as the consuming flames
send shadows flickering on blank faces.


FADE TO BLACK

[Adam Isaac]

BECOMING (1 of 2)

EXT. VICTORIAN HOUSE - DAY

In the back yard, sturdy and shirtless, PETER chops wood.

PETER (V.O.)
It was a way to earn funds for
my next term at university.

A shadow watches from an upper storey window.

PETER (V.O.)
He was a kind employer, but a
strange one, an unseen one.

As he throws more logs on a small pile of chopped wood, Peter looks askance at the window. The figure slips back into the darkness. Peter smiles slyly.

PETER (V.O.)
He might have been paying me
just to watch.

Sweat drips down Peter's smooth chest.

PETER (V.O.)
But I didn't care -- I needed
the money.

Peter brings the axe down hard against a log. He lets go of the handle and the axe remains where it is. Peter wipes his brow.

PETER (V.O.)
When midsummer was its hottest he
supplied me with lemonade.

A door closes. Peter spies a jug of lemonade on the porch. It glistens with condensation, an empty glass stands by its side. Peter scans the backside of the house as he moves toward the porch.

PETER (V.O.)
But one question burned hot inside
of me -

Peter takes a long sip of lemonade. Then he glances toward a lower story window. The curtain falls back.

PETER (V.O.)
One that could not be quenched by a
cool anonymous drink. Who was this
odd man?

Peter's eyes narrow.

PETER (V.O.)
It was another fortnight before I
received my answer.

The pile of chopped wood grows.

PETER (V.O.)
It was a day I can never forget.

INT. HOUSE - A FORTNIGHT LATER

The open porch door throws a distorted rectangle of afternoon light which reaches far into the dark house.

PETER (V.O.)
He was a consistent employer, always
left my pay packet outside of the
closed porch door. But this week
things were different. My pay packet
was missing and the porch door was open.

A person like shadow grows inside the rectangle of light.

PETER
Hello?

Silhouetted, Peter stands in the doorway, trembling slightly.

PETER (V.O.)
It was his way of inviting me in. If
I knew what was inside then I would
have turned and run, pay packet or not.
But I was curious...foolish...

Peter walks into the house.

PETER
Sir?

PETER (V.O.)
I was trespassing, any first year law
student would be able to tell you that,
but somehow this felt right, like I belonged.

KITCHEN

Peter inspects the dim but tidy kitchen. He rubs a finger along the clean counter.

PETER (V.O.)
Or maybe I just didn't care. Either way I
had made my choice --

DINING ROOM

Peter enters a large ornate dining room. An open door emits a warm orange glow.

PETER (V.O.)
Even if it was the wrong one.

SITTING ROOM

Peter enters the richly decorated room. A fire crackles in the fireplace.

A dancing worm of smoke slithers up from behind a tall wing back chair. It meets a cloud of smoke that obscures the top of the room.

The chair faces away from Peter hiding the MAN occupying it. Peter moves closer for a better look.

PETER
Sir? I'm sorry but I --

MAN
You are as intelligent as I expected.

PETER
Pardon?

Another step closer; Peter sees the shadowed side of the man's face, a shock of his grey hair, his forearm and hand holding a rosewood pipe.

MAN
Come no closer. I've a story to tell
first.

Peter stops. The man waves his pipe as he drones. The cloud of smoke drifts lower.

PETER (V.O.)
He told the story of his origin. One full
of distant exotic lands I could never hope
to visit.

Between them, in the smoke, iconic landscape images flash like an around the world travel brochure. Peter's eyes widen.

PETER (V.O.)
He told me everything and I listened. I
could not have moved had I wanted to, but
I didn't want to.

Wisps of smoke curl around Peter, he breathes them in.

The floating images change to portraits. He stares at the them with glazed eyes.

PETER (V.O.)
His knowledge washed over me like waves
from a fresh sea and I wanted to drink the
entire ocean. Then suddenly I was full.

Peter takes staccato breaths, panic. The last image he sees before his vision blurs is a bare chested wood-cutter.

[Adam Isaac]

BECOMING (2 of 2)

PETER (V.O.)
My overburdened brain felt so heavy that it
took every ounce of my energy just to hold
it up.

A blurred MAN leans over the armrest of the wing back chair and stares at Peter.

MAN
Come here boy. It's time.

Peter sways forward, then back. His eyes close then he falls forward to the ground.

BLACK

FADE IN:

INT. ELEGANT BEDROOM - DAY

Light streams in from a slender part in the drapes. At the bottom corner of the bed there is movement under the quilted satin comforter.

PETER (V.O.)
The next morning I awoke in a more luxurious
bed than I could ever imagine. It was a
challenge to exit that bed that morning.

The sheet turns up and Peter's bare legs reach to the floor.

PETER
Sir?

PETER (V.O.)
My employer was not be found, neither were my
clothes. Had my employer removed them?

From behind and from the neck down, Peter, walks across the floor toward a vanity.

PETER (V.O.)
What revolting act might he have forced me to
perform while I was in such a vulnerable state?
I thanked the stars that I could not remember.

He stops, gasps, and covers his privates. A shock of grey hair and a naked shoulder visible in the mirror.

PETER (V.O.)
Then I caught sight of him -- only it wasn't him.
It was me.

Peter raises his hand to his face, and the mirror image follows. Peter screams as runs out of the bedroom door.

PETER (V.O.)
Somehow, in some way, I had become him, and he
was hideous --

HALLWAY

Peter runs in a panic along the hallway, his face in shadow. He opens doors, looks in each room, screams out for his employer.

PETER (V.O.)
I was hideous.

The hallway ends at a curtained window. Peter throws open the curtains, the sun streams in. Peter recoils, covers his face with his hands. He drops to his knees and weeps.

PETER (V.O.)
His revolting act, it had nothing to do with sex.
No, his kink was far more intimate and violating.
How could he do this to me?

DINING ROOM

From behind, Peter eats alone at the dining room table.

PETER (V.O.)
I stayed in this house. Where else could I go in my
condition? No one asked me to leave, everyone
assumed I belonged here. Maybe I did.

STUDY

Peter sits at a roll top desk and scribbles in a ledger.

PETER (V.O.)

Everything I could possibly need was left in obvious
places. There was enough money so that I could live
comfortably for many years--

SITTING ROOM

Peter sits in a wing top chair but only the shadowed side of the his face, a shock of grey hair, his arm, and rosewood pipe in his hand are visible.

PETER (V.O.)
Without ever having to leave the house. Yes, my
benefactor provided for of all my needs. Except
companionship, he hadn't done anything to provide
me that.

Peter sighs. The fire in the fireplace crackles and dances.

PETER (V.O.)
The flames of the fire were my only friends and we
spent endless nights discussing cures for my
affliction. Then one night, we found the answer.
I understood what I needed to do, what I was meant
to do.

INT. UPPER CORRIDOR - DAY

Outside is the sound of wood being chopped. Peter pulls aside the curtain and peeks out the window.

PETER (V.O.)
I hired a university student. One who was young and
foolish but thought himself intelligent.

The curtains fall closed as Peter quickly steps back.

PETER (V.O.)
Then one midsummer day I withheld your pay packet and
left the porch door open.

INT. SITTING ROOM

The rooms is thick with smoke. Suspended in the smoke is the image of a bare chested wood-cutter. Then it blinks out.

Peter leans over the armrest of the wing top chair and turns showing his horribly wrinkled face full on. He looks directly at us and smiles a creepy smile.

PETER
Come here boy. It's time.

BLACK

FADE OUT.

[Adam Isaac]

SEX DOLL (1 of 2)



EXT. HOUSE - DAY

DONNA MATRIX (30) smoking hot. A perfect 10 paces back and fourth on the front porch.

A delivery truck rumbles down the street. Stops in front of Donna's house.

She sprints down to the truck as fast as she can on her five inch spiked heels.

Excited she watches as the driver puts a big box on a hand truck. He turns to Donna. Stares at her with glassy expressionless eyes.

DRIVER
Where do you want it?

She impatiently waves him along.

DONNA
This way.

INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY

The big box sits on the floor in the middle of the room. Donna kneels next to it. Clasps her hands in delight.

She rips the packaging apart.

Inside is a man bundled up in fetal position. He wears jeans and a tight T-shirt. He's buff. In his late 20's.

Donna pulls him out of the box. Lays him down on the floor. His eyes are closed. He appear to be sleeping.

Donna leans down. Inspects his face. Touches his cheek.

DONNA
Wow... you looks so real. You're beautiful. So handsome.

She reaches into the box. Pulls out a manual. On the cover is printed "Perfect Partners Inc.".

She flips it open. Reads.

DONNA
To activate your new partner follow these simple instructions...

She reads on for a moment.

DONNA
...Very important. You must start by giving your partner a name. If you skip this part, it might cause your partner to get confused and act irrational.

She puts the manual down. Studies him up and down.

DONNA
Hmmm... what shall I call you?

She feels his body all over. One hand glides over his crotch. Lingers then squeezes.

DONNA
Wow! I'm impressed.

Her bright glassy blue eyes stare at him.

DONNA
I will name you Peter!

She turns back to the manual. Reads on.

DONNA
...mumble... mumble... Here we go. Locate the intravenous catheter in your partners right arm.

She turns Peter over on his back. Checks his right arm. A catheter sticks out in the fold of his arm.

She turns back to the manual.

DONNA
Let's see... inject your partner with the liquid in the white syringe.

She peeks at a clear plastic bag inside the box. It contains one white and many purple syringes.

DONNA
(reads)
Do not use a purple one at this time as it might cause your new partner to become aroused.

Donna laughs.

DONNA
Duh! I didn't buy you so we could play chess.

She takes out the white syringe. Injects it into Peter.

After a moment Peter moans. Stirs.

Donna's eyes widen as she watches Peter come alive.

Peter sits up. Glances around the room then turns to Donna.

PETER
Where am I?

Donna is speechless. Mouth agape. The tip of her tongue makes a lap around her lips. She reaches her hand out to Peter. He's reluctant, but takes it.

DONNA
I'm Donna... Donna Matrix.

PETER
Hi. I'm...

DONNA
You're Peter.

PETER
(confused)
Peter... yeah... what am I doing here?

DONNA
You're my new sex partner.

He checks her out. Not too bad!

PETER
Oh okay... What do I do?

[Adam Isaac]

SEX DOLL (2 of 2)

INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT
Donna looks down with contempt at Peter. She's dressed in a short tight black latex dress, fishnet stockings and tall spike heeled boots. A Cat o' nine tail in her hand.

Peter's on all fours in his birthday suit. A thick black leather choker around his neck. A chain attached to the choker is held by Donna's iron fist.

DONNA
Let's try this again shall we. Who do you belong to Peter? Who are you here to serve?

Peter's eyes well up.

PETER
You Donna.

Donna brings the whip down over his back. He cries out.

DONNA
Excuse me?

PETER
I'm sorry Mistress. I belong to Mistress Donna Matrix.

She bends down. Strokes his head.

DONNA
Good boy. Now come here and make me feel like a real woman.

Peter sniffles. Crawls up to her.

LATER

Donna sits in a chair. She wears a black leather bra and panties. She casually smokes a cigarette.
Peter is on the floor in front of her. His face is swollen and bruised. His back red. Raw with whip marks.

He sniffles.

DONNA
What's wrong Peter? You're not man enough to keep a simple woman happy?

She pulls him closer by the chain attached to the choker. Without any emotion she sticks a purple syringe into the catheter in his arm. Pushes down the plunger.

DONNA
I paid ten thousand dollars for you. Don't tell me five times is all you can do.

Peter's face contorts, turns red.

DONNA
Make me holler. Make me scream or I will make sure you do... except you will holler and scream out of fear and pain... Is that clear?

Peter nods. Tears stream down his face.

LATER

Peter is on the floor. Totally beat up in a fetal position.

DONNA
C'mon Peter. Ten times? That's it? That's one thousand dollars per time.

She spasms slightly. One eyelid flutters then she bring the whip down on Peter again. He shakes in pain.

She grabs another purple syringe. Plunges the liquid into Peter's arm.

Peter gasps. Struggles up on his knees.

PETER
Please Mistress. I can't do this anymore.

Donna's voice stutters.

DONNA
You do what I tell you!

Her eyes roll around in their sockets.

DONNA
Now come here and make me happy.

Peter cries.

PETER
Please...

LATER
A finger punches the number 911 on a phone keypad.

INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT
Two male paramedics burst into the room.

Peter lies sprawled on the floor. Bloody and beat up.

The paramedics glance with vacant glassy eyes at Peter.

BILL
I don't understand why they are so popular.

MATT
I know. They freak me out. Too human like.

Donna lies on the bed spread eagle. Dead glassy eyes stare at the ceiling.

A hand checks her pulse on her neck.

BILL
Circuitry overload.

Matt pulls out some tools from a bag.

MATT
Everyone always overdo it.

Bill shudders. His mouth contorts. His foot shakes.

Matt smiles.

MATT
Looks like you need to reboot.

Bill chuckles.

BILL
I know.

Matt pulls a circuitry board out of a bag.

Bill peels the skin in the back of Donna's head aside exposing advanced computer wiring and circuitry.

BILL
She'll be fine. Should be up and running in just a few.

MATT
What do we do with him?

BILL
Who cares? He's just a human.

[Adam Isaac]

RUSALKA (1 of 3)


EXT. LOUISIANA SWAMP - NIGHT

Mist drifts across moss covered branches on towering cypress trees.

A baby cries in the distance. Darkness.
The swamp is choked with a shroud of mist and fog and covered over by a dense roof forest canopy.
A dog howls. Something splashes in the swamp.
It howls again-- farther away now.

EXT. SHACK - NIGHT

At the edge of the swamp.
a door opens, spilling light onto the porch.

JOHN LABATTELLE, a grizzled Cajun in his 40s, holds a burning kerosene lantern.

JOHN
Buseph! Come here, boy!

He puts two fingers in his mouth and gives a long piercing whistle. It echoes deep into the depths of the dark swamp.

Silence.

Three large alligator trophy skulls hang mounted on nails to the side of his shack, along with: Nets, fishing lines, bait and tackle.
He grabs a rifle leaning there.

The lantern casts a shadow of John's figure onto an empty crib visible through a window. A jumble of battered nails hold the window nailed to the sill.

FLASHBACK

INT. SHACK - NIGHT

John hammers nail after nail into the window sill-- nailing the window shut.
Outside the window, pigs root in the pigpen. A litter of piglets nuzzle against the sow.
The door is locked by an enormous deadbolt and padlock.

John wears a large key on a chain around his neck.

The empty cradle in the corner.
A photograph of a beautiful young woman tacked to the wall.

RUSALKA, the same beautiful woman as in the picture, holds onto John's waist from behind.

RUSALKA
Why do you choose me?

JOHN
I needed a wife.

RUSALKA
But why me? Why me, John?
She pulls him around to face her.

RUSALKA
Was it my picture? My letter? My words? The drop of perfume I put on the paper?

He steps back.

RUSALKA
Did you not feel something? A force? A not... a not-stoppable... unstoppable... force. What drew you in? What led you to me?

She steps away from him, her belly full and swollen.

RUSALKA
I was your "návnada". How you say... "enticement to the fish"?

JOHN
I dunno. Bait? Lure? I dunno. I wanted you. You came. That's all there is to it. Now you're here.

RUSALKA
Did I capture you, John? Or did you capture me? Who holds the chain?

She eyes the key around his neck.

He unlocks and opens the cupboard. A large wooden box on the shelf.

He takes out the locked box. Opens it with the key. A shining silver bowl inside, illuminated by the kerosene lantern hanging from a bent nail in a beam.

A picture of a pregnant Rusalka holding her belly.
A magazine clipping. He unfolds the old magazine page. An advertisement for mail-order brides: "Russian brides! Czech brides! Your choice!"
He looks over at the crib.
The window, by the empty crib, now locked and nailed shut.

He puts the key back around his neck.

END OF FLASH BACK

EXT. SHACK - NIGHT

His neck, bare of the key and chain, glistens with sweat.

He hears a sound. he swings the lantern around,
takes a step off the porch, leaving the door wide open.

JOHN
Who's there?

He cradles his rifle protectively.

A dog barks far, far in the distance. Then silence.

JOHN
Buseph!

He takes a step toward the swamp. Then freezes as he sees...

floating lights, orbs, come up out of the water... then disappear into the mists. Fireflies dance in the darkness.

Sounds of a baby crying drift over the swamp. Then fade away.

VOICE
John... John, come to me...!

Rusalka appears behind a twisted tree covered with Spanish moss.

Her eyes shine like green fire with no visible pupils. Her skin extremely pale and translucent and her hair, green with milfoil, drips with moisture.

RUSALKA
Help me find the baby! Do you hear the baby?!

She holds out the key on the chain to him.
John runs back to the shack-- to the open door. He slams it shut. He leans against it, breathing heavily.

A knock on the door. The sound of a key turning in a lock.

Then...

He grits his teeth, grabs his gun and opens the door.
No one there.

He shoots blindly into the swamp.

JOHN
Stay away! Don't you come here again!

The echoing gunshots fade away...
Silence.

[Adam Isaac]

RUSALKA (2 of 3)

INT. SHACK - NIGHT

John locks himself in the shack. His stomach growls. The cupboard door is unlocked-- the wooden box with the silver bowl is missing.

One tin of soup, opened. He scrapes the inside with a spoon. Nothing.

JOHN
Pigs!

EXT. PIG PEN - NIGHT

The pigs are all gone. The gate latch broken.
He screams into the swamp.

JOHN
Yeaaaagghhhh!

EXT. SHACK - NIGHT

He wears his rubber hip boots. He grabs his rifle.
looks up at the 'gator skulls nailed to the wall.
John hangs his kerosene lantern off the barrel of his rifle.
He cradles the rifle in his arms. The lantern swings, sweeping light across the retreating darkness.
He wades into the swamp.

EXT. LOUISIANA SWAMP - NIGHT

The light swings in the night, casting, catching pale eyes in the darkness. Illuminated eyes reflecting the lantern's light. catching the beady eyes.
The denizens of the swamp watch him closely as he makes his way deeper into the heart of the swamp; glowing pairs of eyes watch his progress.
The ribbons of mist coil around him, wrap around him.

He lifts the barrel of his gun higher to elevate the lantern, peering through the fog.
He steps carefully, feeling for hidden sinkholes.

A hulking half-submerged shadow with beady red eyes, burning like red embers, detaches from a sunken log and makes its way toward John.
He raises the gun to aim it at the alligator.
He hears a sound and looks to his left.
A little lost piglet stands abandoned on a small island.
It squeals plaintively in distress, echoing across the watery expanse.
The alligator changes direction... toward the piglet.
John rushes toward the island-- recklessly. He plunges into a sinkhole, dropping the lantern off the end of his gun.
The lantern sinks into the muck, casting, light receding into murkiness.
Darkness encroaches. Swallows him.
He feels around in the darkness, and climbs onto the island. He cradles the piglet in his arms.
Then a light here and there. The fireflies arrive. They swarm around.
His lantern rises from the muck, beckons him forward into the heart of the swamp like a mobile beacon.

Rusalka emerges from the water. Dripping, hair perpetually wet, dripping with milfoil. he reaches out her arms. Her eyes, totally white, devoid of pupils.

RUSALKA
You've come! I'm sorry. I left. I left you... Come help me...!

Arms outstretched, entreating...

RUSALKA
Come help me find the baby! The baby is out here somewhere...!The baby! Can't you hear the baby?

The baby's cries seem to move throughout the swamp.

RUSALKA
Find the silver bowl and we can baptize our little child. If a little child dies before it's baptized then it will wander lost forever.

She holds out the key on the chain to him.

RUSALKA
The Father will christen it. With His blessing.

John shrinks back.

RUSALKA
Father grant us your blessing! Father! Father!

John finds the muddy chain and keys in his hand.
The wooden jewelry box bobs to the surface in the water.

The surrounding lights start to fade...
He clambers in and unlocks the box.
A blinding glow engulfs him.
A floating bowl bathed in a silvery glow rises above him.
Small floating glowing orbs, like drunken fireflies dance around him.
Rusalka appears behind a partially-submerged tree then disappears. She emerges, dripping water and weeds.

The silver bowl hovers above him. He reaches toward it, like his savior, lit like a halo among the swirling mists.

RUSALKA
Do you hear it?

A baby's crying is heard again.

This time it comes through Rusalka's mouth... and the pig's mouth.. and the alligator's...
The cries come from all the denizens of the swamp. and those that have wandered in and gotten lost. A dog, Busephalus, with no pupils, cries the baby's cry.
The kerosene lantern rises--
the light grows brighter... illuminating, revealing. The lantern is held by something-- a slender translucent tendril.

It rises higher still, revealing a shipwrecked church houseboat, broken and half-submerged. The steeple's cross dangles precipitously, the roof torn off revealing a skeleton in priestly vestment rags collapsed on the pulpit in front of rows of empty pews.

VOICE
...mon Pere...

Something coils around John's hand like a child's fingers.

The church houseboat has grounded itself on a gigantic cypress treefall mound. But the mound moves...

It is something alive...

[Adam Isaac]

RUSALKA (3 of 3)


A glowing orb on a stalk, approaches John, luminous.
A prehensile tongue. Tendrils. Tentacles. Writhing.

A hideous hybrid of a mewling humanoid fetus and a bioluminescent deep-sea VIPERFISH; elongated lower jaw sporting bristling teeth, with an array of writhing translucent tendrils and tentacles, covered in luminescent lures. Pale, colorless glowing pupil-less eyes.

VIPERFISH THING
Bless us, Father! Feed us, father!

A tapered tendril coils around John's fingers like a child holding his father's hand.

A multitude of tentacles and tendrils puppeteer a myriad of fauna: alligator, loon, owl, egret, deer, dog, pig, trout, wild boar.
All saying the same word.

VIPERFISH THING
Father! Father!

Rusalka steps forward. A tendril attaches to the base of her skull, where it fuses with the spine.
She comes closer...

Something caresses John at the back of his neck. The chain and key are back... and something else.

[Adam Isaac]

The Horror From Beyond

FADE IN:

EXT. SPOOKY CASTLE - NIGHT

Lightning streaks across the stormy black sky, outlining a
sinister Transylvanian fortress.


INT. LABORATORY - NIGHT

Electrical equipment from the 1930s buzzes and crackles.

Something vaguely human in shape lies on a table, covered
with a white sheet.

EVIL SCIENTIST (V.O.)
The storm is almost directly overhead!

Thunder BOOMS.

FRIGHTENED SERVANT (V.O.)
Master, I'm frightened!

EVIL SCIENTIST (V.O.)
Open the storm hatches!

FRIGHTENED SERVANT (V.O.)
Master, what if something goes wrong?
It could destroy us!

The sound of a painful SLAP.

FRIGHTENED SERVANT (V.O.)
Ow!

EVIL SCIENTIST (V.O.)
I said open the hatches!

Hands grip a big lever and pull it over.

A section of the ceiling directly overhead opens, exposing
the stormy sky. Lightning flashes.

EVIL SCIENTIST (V.O.)
Excellent! Timing could not be
better. Elevate the subject.

FRIGHTENED SERVANT (V.O.)
Master, I beg you, I implore you not
to do this.

EVIL SCIENTIST (V.O.)
Fetch me my big stick.

FRIGHTENED SERVANT (V.O.)
No, Master, no! Not the big stick!
It hurts!

EVIL SCIENTIST (V.O.)
Then obey my commands! Elevate the
subject!

Hands move a lever clockwise.

The table is lifted into the air on wires... higher and
higher... towards the open ceiling and the waiting storm.

EVIL SCIENTIST (V.O.)
Faster! We must not miss the most
powerful electrical discharges.
Faster!

FRIGHTENED SERVANT (V.O.)
I'm doing my best, Master!

The sound of a painful SLAP.

FRIGHTENED SERVANT (V.O.)
Ow!


EXT. CASTLE ROOFTOP - NIGHT

Pulleys hang over the opening, controlling the cables attached
to the table.

Up comes the table, still covered by the white sheet.

Lightning flashes are dazzlingly bright. Thunder BOOMS almost
in synch.


INT. LABORATORY - NIGHT

Looking up at the table, suspended high above.

EVIL SCIENTIST (V.O.)
Open the circuits!

Hands grip old circuit breaker levers and pull them down
into closed position. Sparks fly. Equipment HUMS.


EXT. SPOOKY CASTLE - NIGHT

Lightning rages around the castle -- then a giant bolt comes
crackling down, turning the entire castle negative.


INT. LABORATORY - NIGHT

Machinery blows up, sparks fly, smoke billows.

FRIGHTENED SERVANT (V.O.)
Master!

EVIL SCIENTIST (V.O.)
Lower the subject! Lower the subject!

Hands move a lever counterclockwise.

The table slowly descends.

EVIL SCIENTIST (V.O.)
Faster, faster!

FRIGHTENED SERVANT (V.O.)
I can't make it go any faster!

The sound of a painful SLAP.

FRIGHTENED SERVANT (V.O.)
Ow!

The table comes back down to its original position.

A hand reaches out, takes hold of the white sheet -- and
pulls it away!

REVERSE ANGLE

For the first time we see the tall EVIL SCIENTIST and his
short hunchbacked FRIGHTENED SERVANT wearing white lab coats.
They're butt-ugly zombie mutant monsters who could crack
mirrors just by looking at them.

Evil Scientist drops the white sheet and reacts with horror
at what he sees. Frightened Servant cowers behind him, even
more horrified.

FRIGHTENED SERVANT (V.O.)
Master! It's hideous! It's
disgusting!

EVIL SCIENTIST (V.O.)
I was a fool! I should have heeded
the warnings! The world is not ready
for this monstrosity!

Lying on the table is the most beautiful woman ever created.
Flawless skin, flowing hair, enormous firm boobs. Her eyes
blink open.


EXT. SPOOKY CASTLE - NIGHT

Lightning streaks across the stormy black sky.

FRIGHTENED SERVANT (V.O.)
Master! Master! I'm frightened!

FADE OUT to corny "BWA HA HA HA!" evil laughter.

[Adam Isaac]

THE FIGURE ( 1 of 2)

FADE IN:

EXT. OLD FARMHOUSE - NIGHT

The dark of night smothers the farmyard as a light rain falls from the heavens.

A think forest surrounds the old two story farmhouse and yard, except for a single dirt road leading the way to and from.

In the distance, we hear the faint SCREAMS of a young woman. The SCREAMS continue as the rain becomes heavier and heavier.

A flash of lightning lights up the dark farmyard as a CLASH of thunder fails to overcome the SCREAMS, which are even louder now.

At the edge of the forest on the far side of the yard, the young woman runs out making her way to the farmhouse. The young woman is JULIE, 20-something. Her face is covered in fear and tears.

JULIE
KEVIN!

Julie continues to run towards the farmhouse. She looks over her shoulder to see behind her.

Nothing.

She stops running for a moment, confused.

A large figure then emerges from the forest. Obviously not human, but with human features, THE FIGURE stands tall on two legs, with a twisted face. Looking as if it were covered in afterbirth.

Julie stands frozen in fear, staring at The Figure.
The Figure ROARS, revealing large fangs, dripping with a slimy substance.

Julie SCREAMS as she takes off back towards the farmhouse.

JULIE (CONT'D)
KEVIN! Open the door!

The Figure takes off behind her, taking to all four legs.

The door of the farmhouse opens up to reveal KEVIN, a young teenage boy.

A flash of lightening lights up the yard.

He notices Julie running at full speed, SCREAMING, but he sees no sign of The Figure.

KEVIN
Sis? What’s wrong? What’s going on?

The flash of lightning fades, the yard goes dark once again. The darkness reveals The Figure, running behind Julie.

Kevin takes a few steps back, realizing what Julie is running from.

JULIE
Kevin, run! Go upstairs! I’ll lock the door behind me when I come in!

KEVIN
Julie, what is that thing?

JULIE
JUST RUN!

Kevin pauses for a split second, then darts off back into the house.

Julie continues to run, looking over her shoulder.
She falls down, into the rain and mud. She flips over to her back to see behind herself.

The Figure is still running towards her.

Julie SCREAMS, stands, and starts running back towards the farmhouse.

She’s gets closer to the door.

And closer.

And she makes it.

She runs into the farmhouse, slams the door and locks it.

Once again, lightning flashes, lighting up the yard.

INT. OLD FARMHOUSE

Julie stands at the door, looking out into the yard.
Nothing.

She breathes a sigh of relief as she looks out the window with no sign of The Figure.

The flash of lightning dies down as the yard once again goes dark, revealing The Figure on the other side of the glass window, right in front of Julie’s face.

The Figure begins to pound on the door, ROARING.
She SCREAMS as she stumbles backwards and runs to find Kevin.

JULIE
Kevin! Where are you?

Kevin appears at the top of the stairs.

KEVIN
Right here sis, come on!

Julie takes off up the stairs to join Kevin.

INT. OLD FARMHOUSE - UPSTAIRS

JULIE
Kevin, turn off all the lights!

KEVIN
What? Why!?

JULIE
Kevin, I can’t explain it, I have no clue why, but every time the lightning flashes that thing vanishes into thin air. You can only see it in the dark.

Kevin just stares at Julie, and starts to cry.

JULIE (CONT'D)
Don’t worry, it’ll be fine. Just turn off the lights.

KEVIN
What is that thing Julie? What happened out there in the forest?

JULIE
I have no idea what it is. Let’s just get these lights off.

Kevin and Julie begin to quickly turn off all of the lights upstairs. They grab a few flashlights to keep by their side, just in case.

INT. OLD FARMHOUSE - DOWNSTAIRS

The lights are still on downstairs.

The figure is pounding on the door from outside. It gets more and more violent, pounding harder and harder.

The door begins to bow in.

Finally, The Figure ROARS once again, and SMASHES the door in. It slowly walks into the farmhouse...and promptly fades into the light.
As it walks across the floor, invisible, the broken glass and wood from the door breaks down even more, under the weight of The Figure.

Claw marks begin to appear on the walls.

The Figure ROARS, shaking the walls with the force.

[Adam Isaac]

THE FIGURE (2 of 2)

INT. OLD FARMHOUSE - UPSTAIRS

Julie and Kevin make their way to the upstairs bedroom.

JULIE
Ok Kevin, get in the back of the closet and stay still. No matter what happens, do not move or say a word.

She helps Kevin into the closet.

KEVIN
What? What about you? I’m not leaving you out there alone with that thing.

JULIE
Kevin, dad will be home any minute. His shift at the planet ended almost an hour ago. I’ve got to warn him before he comes into the house.

Julie takes Kevin into her arms, hugging him.

JULIE (CONT'D)
Kevin, just stay right here. I’ll be fine, I promise.

Julie closes the closet door and takes off.

EXT. OLD FARMHOUSE

A car enters the farmyard on the old dirt road and pulls up to the farmhouse and parks. It is Julie and Kevin’s DAD, middle age.

He exists the car and begins to walk towards the farmhouse.

INT. OLD FARMHOUSE - UPSTAIRS

Through a window, Julie notices her dad pull up outside and sees him walking up to the house.
She opens the window.

JULIE
Dad! Don’t come in the house!

EXT. OLD FARMHOUSE

Dad can hear Julie calling out, but can’t make out what she’s saying.

DAD
Julie? What are you doing up this late? It’s almost dawn!

He continues to walk up to the house and notices that the door has been totally smashed in.

INT. OLD FARMHOUSE - DOWNSTAIRS

DAD
What the...

He walks over the broken wood and glass.

DAD (CONT'D)
Julie, Kevin, are you ok? What in the hell happened down here?

Julie makes her way to the stairs.

JULIE
Dad, run upstairs, quick. It’s somewhere down there!

DAD
What’s down where? What are you-

At that moment, he goes silent. Blood begins to flow out of his mouth as he struggles to speak.

He begins to seemingly float in midair.

Julie SCREAMS, runs down and turns off the downstairs light. The entire house is now dark.
The Figure appears, with both claws tearing into Dad’s midsection.

Slowly dad’s torso begins to open up, his innards spilling out onto the floor.

JULIE
Dad! No! Oh my God, no!

Julie turns around and runs back upstairs.

INT. OLD FARMHOUSE - UPSTAIRS

Julie opens the closet door and joins Kevin.

KEVIN
Julie? What happened Julie?

Julie begins to lose it, uncontrollably crying.

JULIE
The sun will be up soon.

She pulls Kevin closer as they hold one another.

EXT. OLD FARMHOUSE - DAWN

A light rain continues to fall as the sun begins to rise.

INT. OLD FARMHOUSE - UPSTAIRS

Julie slowly cracks the closet door open so that they can see out of the room to the stairs.

The floor begins to creek. The Figure makes its way upstairs.

KEVIN
Can you see it?

Julie peers out, and within the remaining darkness she can see The Figure begin to appear upstairs.

JULIE
No Kevin...

As the rising sun begins to flood the upstairs with light, The Figure slowly begins to disappear once again.

JULIE (CONT'D)
I can’t see it at all anymore.

The Figure ROARS a mighty roar as it totally fades into the light. The floor creeks more and more as it moves closer to the closet.

Julie continues to hold Kevin close in an embrace.

JULIE (CONT'D)
Don’t open your eyes Kevin, don’t open your eyes.

FADE OUT.

[Adam Isaac]

THE HORSE BENEATH HIM (1 of 3)

FADE IN

EXT. DESERT - NIGHT

Horseback Texas Rangers take the dark land at a cautious
trot until -

The Captain holds up his clenched fist.

The procession stops.

RANGER
What is it?

CAPTAIN
Movement. On the bluff.

RANGER
Coyote, maybe?

And the way he replies --

CAPTAIN
No.

Brings upon a heavy silence that makes the wind seem that
much louder as it sends the loose sand to flight, whispering
over the sun-baked ground.

RANGER
Wind's changing direction.

CAPTAIN
Yeah.

RANGER
He's here isn't he?

CAPTAIN
Yeah.

And then, unmistakable, the sound of a PLUCKED bow string.

CAPTAIN
Take cover!

All the the rangers except one slip off their horses and
take cover beneath them.

The odd man out is the youngest among them. JIMMY PICKET
(16), scared immobile, stuck to his saddle.

RANGER
Jimmy! Get down!

Jimmy remains frozen. Steaming piss runs down his horse's
ribs.

Another PLUCK echoes across the valley --

CAPTAIN
Two...

And ANOTHER --

CAPTAIN
Three.

The sand settles for a moment then begins shifting in the
opposite direction as the wind changes again.

The Captain stares at the sand, transfixed.

CAPTAIN
It's true...

Right before he catches an arrow in the throat.

Two more rangers go down immediately after.

And from somewhere close or far away, impossible to tell, a
piece of taught sinew is continually pulled and PLUCKED --

Arrows rain down around Jimmy. None of them errant. Each of
them finding a home deep inside the soft flesh of one of his
friends.

Jimmy looks down at them, the dead and the dying. The
Captain meets his gaze as his throat overflows with blood.

CAPTAIN
Run.

The Captain draws his revolver, sticks it under his chin and
pulls the trigger.

Jimmy's horse spooks and takes off running.

EXT. DESERT - NIGHT

Jimmy rides, haggard and half-awake, adrenaline giving way
to fatigue.

JIMMY (V.O)
They say he's a demon, a spirit, an
Indian shaman. They say he's the
devil hisself. That he's got red
eyes, fangs like a wolf and the
glossy smooth skin of a snake. They
say he never misses. That when an
arrow leaves his bow it will find
it's target, sure as ****. They say
he can shoot farther than a Henry
rifle. That he controls the wind
and bends it to his will. They say
all this despite no one ever living
through an encounter to give a
first hand account. Not till the
night of the twelfth, July,
eighteen-eighty seven, when my
company of rangers fell right into
the archer's snare. I was the
greenest of them boys. Indian war
veterans all. Yet here I am the
only one to have gotten away.

EXT. DESERT - MORNING

Jimmy rests against a chaparral bush, his horse tethered
nearby while he scribbles upon a piece of paper. "I feel" --

JIMMY (V.O)
-- like I should watch my back
but somehow I know by the pit of my
belly the archer ain't following.
The only question is why. Why me?
There's no way I was just lucky.
There's no way.

EXT. DESERT - LATER

Jimmy rides. The sun burns relentless. Heat waves dance like
dervishes on the horizon.

[Adam Isaac]

THE HORSE BENEATH HIM (2 of 3)

JIMMY (V.O)
I make for El Paso. It's a long way
and I'm almost out of water. They
say horses can find water better
than any man so I'm letting mine
guide herself so long as she keeps
heading West-like. I think back to
the first time I ever heard of the
archer.

INT. BAR - NIGHT (FLASHBACK)

Jimmy and the rest of the ranger troop crowded around a
table, drinking whiskey and playing cards.

CAPTAIN
What happened to them? These
"shamblers" as the papers have
taken to calling them...

EXT. TOWN PERIMETER - DAY (FLASHBACK)

A little girl walks with her mother toward a stagecoach when
she stops mid-stride, staring off into the distance where --

Perhaps a hundred or so shambling, sick-looking people
stumble toward town, their eyes milky, their skin gray and
green with rot.

The little girl SCREAMS --

The shamblers lips pull back into a collective snarl and
they sprint toward town as people begin to take notice.

INT. BAR - NIGHT (FLASHBACK)

The Captain takes another gulp. Points toward a wanted
poster behind the bar.

CAPTAIN
Well it's kind of like that poster
there. Dead or alive. When one of
these poor sons of bitches gets
stuck with one of that devil's
arrows, by some magic, curse,
poison, or elixir, they become
dead...and alive. And that ain't
even the worst part. Worst part is
what they're driven to eat.

Jimmy stares at him. Tunnel vision.

CAPTAIN.
Us. The living. The still warm and
breathing. Nothing holds a candle
to the appetite of the dead.

EXT. TOWN PERIMETER - DAY (FLASHBACK)

The shamblers storm the town. Deputies pop off shots to no
avail. The shamblers shrug them off and keep coming, tearing
into women and children alike, ripping skin from meat and
meat from bone --

CAPTAIN (V.0)
Nothing.

EXT. DESERT - LATER

Jimmy rides. His face and hands severely burned through
overexposure.

SUPER: TWO DAYS LATER

JIMMY
(to himself)
Nothing. Nothing...

His bone dry lips crack when he talks. He licks the blood
from them as he continues to write. "It's days later" --

JIMMY (V.0)
-- When I realize I'm dying. I need
water. It all depends on that.
Somehow my horse continues on. I
try not fall out of the saddle. I
fear I'd be too weak to get back
on. Should I not make it I pray
this message finds someone...

LATER

Jimmy has looped a piece of string through the paper which
he hooks on a limb of a tree as he passes.

JIMMY (V.O)
-- with the good decency to find
my body and see fit to give me a
Christian burial.

Jimmy looks over his shoulder at his note, fluttering in the
wind.

[Adam Isaac]

THE HORSE BENEATH HIM (3 of 3)

LATER

Jimmy sits slumped in the saddle, burned so bad he's almost
unrecognizable. Shadows flit about him in the sand.

Vultures.

Jimmy slides his pistol out and empties the cylinder into
the sky. The gun falls from his hand.

A moment later a dead vulture slams into the ground a ways
off.

The horse stops walking.

Jimmy fights for balance, confused by the abrupt halt.

The horse walks over to the writhing vulture, bends it's
head down --

AND STARTS TO CHEW!

Jimmy can hardly believe what he's seeing.

He looks down at the horse beneath him. Really looks. It's
hair is coming off in clumps, floating away like dandelion
seeds. The skin underneath lies gray and green with rot.

Jimmy inspects the horse as best he can until he finds it --
an arrow lodged underneath the saddle, barely visible, the
surrounding area caked with blood.

JIMMY
You son of a bitch...

Jimmy leans too far and falls from the horse.

It twists its head to look at him with milky dead eyes. Vulture blood dripping from its snout.

Jimmy crawls away toward his gun. He flicks out the cylinder
and fumbles with his cartridge belt, burned fingers dropping
shell after shell as the horse walks up behind him --

Bends down --

And takes a bite out of the top of his head like an apple.

FADE OUT

[Adam Isaac]

JUST A QUICK THANK-YOU NOTE (1 of 2)

FADE IN:

EXT. STRETCH OF LONELY HIGHWAY - DAY

A beat-up sedan scoots along.


INT. SEDAN - DAY

Driven by SHAWNA a rock'n'roll babe with bad habits and a
low-cut top. She grooves to cool guitars.

LOOKING UP AHEAD, an empty junction.

Suddenly the radio turns to static mush, Shawna tuts annoyance
and tries to tune it back.


EXT. MACK TRUCK FRONT - DAY

Close up of a chrome grill -- a horn BLARES.


INT. SEDAN - DAY

Shawna is frozen in a moment of wide-eyed shock.

WHITE OUT


INT. HOSPITAL CORRIDOR - DAY

Shawna's POV looking up at strip lights. She's on a trolley
being pushed along by PARAMEDICS and NURSES.

PARAMEDIC
--over the top of her. They had to
cut her out of the wreckage with
blowtorches.

On the trolley, Shawna's head is clamped in a brace. Her
eyes flicker left and right in panic.

SHAWNA
I can't feel my legs!

NURSE
That's because you don't have any.

SHAWNA
Oh. My. God!

PARAMEDIC
That's harsh.

NURSE
She won't even remember.

Shawna is horrified.

WHITE OUT


INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY

Shawna lies asleep in bed with a bandage around her head.
The sheets are arranged to reveal that has no legs or arms.
She's just a torso and a head.

DOCTOR BEARD looks into the room and studies her.

Shawna wakes up and notices him.

SHAWNA
Hello?

BEARD
I'm Doctor Beard. You're in a
hospital.

SHAWNA
No ****. How long have I been here?
My mouth tastes like ass wipe.

BEARD
Three days. Can you remember what
happened?

SHAWNA
Mother ****** slammed into the side
of my car.

BEARD
So I was told. Well, our paramedics
got to the scene quickly. They saved
your life.

SHAWNA
Maybe they should have let me die.

Doctor Beard sits on the bed. There's plenty of room.

BEARD
It's God's will they didn't.

SHAWNA
God is a funny guy.

BEARD
No, you don't understand. I think
you were sent here for a purpose.

Off Shawna's puzzled look--


INT. BRIEFING ROOM - DAY

Shawna is strapped into a wheelchair so she doesn't fall
off, what with having no arms and legs.

Doctor Beard operates a slide projector that beams pictures
onto a screen. Various arms and legs, all shapes and colors.
Flick, flick, flick, dozens of arms and legs.

SHAWNA
What the **** is this?

BEARD
We have an arrangement with other
medical facilities across the country.
We're licensed to receive and recycle
off-cuts, as we call them.

Flick, flick, flick. Dozens of arms and legs.

BEARD
Put simply, if you see any limbs you
like, we'll attach them to your body.

SHAWNA
If I had chunks, I'd be hurling them
'bout now.

BEARD
That's understandable. It usually
takes a while to get used to the
idea. But you have to understand,
these are perfectly good parts,
they've all been tested, joints have
been upgraded, veins replaced--

SHAWNA
Wait wait wait. Go back a couple of
frames.

Doctor Beard makes it happen. Shawna stares at a good-looking
pair of legs.

SHAWNA
Those look good. Do they come with
matching arms?

BEARD
I'll check the records and let you
know.


INT. GYMNASIUM - DAY

Shawna, now with arms and legs, wearing a track suit, jogs
on a treadmill.

Doctor Beard enters and smiles at the sight.

BEARD
Getting used to the new limbs, huh?

SHAWNA
Are you kidding? Watch this.

Shawna turns off the treadmill, sits down on a thighmaster
machine and powers through a set of brutal exercises like
The Hulk. The machine clangs and groans in protest.

BEARD
Hey, take it easy there.

SHAWNA
They're stronger than mine ever were.

BEARD
I've been looking at the tissue
compatibility test results. One
hundred percent match. Those arms
and legs really like you.

SHAWNA
I'm getting to like them, too.

BEARD
I'm thinking another couple of days
observation. If everything looks
okay, you can go home. All righty?

SHAWNA
How do I pay for this? How much
does it cost?

BEARD
Don't worry about it. We're funded
by research grants.

Beard exits. Shawns frowns.


EXT. THE CITY - NIGHT

Bright lights twinkle. A beautiful sight.


INT. SEEDY BAR - NIGHT

Shawna sits at the bar knocking back Tequilas.

A SLEAZY GUY sits down on the stool beside her.

SLEAZY GUY
Hey, buy you a drink?

SHAWNA
Would you like to **** me?

SLEAZY GUY
I like a chick with class.

WHITE OUT


INT. NURSE'S DESK - DAY

Doctor Beard arrives wearing a coat and carrying his leather
briefcase.

DUTY NURSE
There's a police detective, he's
waiting in your office, I hope you
don't mind.

BEARD
Did he say what he wanted?

DUTY NURSE
Didn't you hear this morning's news?

BEARD
Nah. Too depressing. Rachmananov.

DUTY NURSE
You better let him tell you.

Beard heads for his office.

[Adam Isaac]

JUST A QUICK THANK-YOU NOTE (2 of 2)

INT. BEARD'S OFFICE - DAY

DETECTIVE WINFIELD examines certificates hanging on the wall.
Beard enters.

BEARD
I'm Doctor Beard, what's this all
about.

Winfield shows his badge.

WINFIELD
Detective Sergeant Lance Winfield,
Homicide. We found notes with your
name on them. That's why I'm here.

BEARD
What notes, where? I'm afraid I'll
need some context. Did you say
Homicide?

Winfield takes a photograph from an envelope, gives it to
Beard.

The photograph shows the Sleazy Guy lying in an apartment.
Blood everywhere. His arms and legs are missing.

WINFIELD
That's the latest of fifteen
homicides, all happened last night.
Identical M.O. His pelvis was
crushed, as if he fell into some
giant industrial crushing machine.
Shock killed him. The arms and legs
were removed after death. Another
fourteen guys just like him were
****ed to death in the last twelve
hours. You want to see the note
that was left with the body?

Winfield gives a yellow Post-It to Beard. It reads, "Give
these to Dr. Beard. Tell him thanks."

Winfield takes out a second photograph. It shows arms and
legs in a transparent plastic sack, blood pooled at the
bottom.

WINFIELD
"Give these to Dr. Beard." Any
theories?

BEARD
I think I know who did this. We had
a patient. A woman. She was in an
auto accident. I made her whole
again.

WINFIELD
You made a monster, Doctor. And we
have no idea where she'll strike
next.


EXT. THE CITY - NIGHT

Twinkling lights. Not so beautiful now, huh?

FADE OUT

[dpaterso]

Read the 13 contest entries and pick your 1st, 2nd and 3rd favorites! PM the 3 titles to Adam Isaac (http://messageboard.donedealpro.com/boards/private.php?do=newpm&u=371) by Nov 14. You can't vote for your own entry.

LA MORT D'UNE HAMADRYADE
IT'S THE WATER!
FLYPAPER MAN
THE MYSTERIOUS MONSTERS OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY
ATSHEN
EPHRAIM BRUDER
BECOMING
SEX DOLL
RUSALKA
THE HORROR FROM BEYOND
THE FIGURE
THE HORSE BENEATH HIM
JUST A QUICK THANK-YOU NOTE

-Derek