Apt Pupil Page #23

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Dussander does not respond. Todd stares at him for a moment,

then moves toward the cellar.

INT. DUSSANDER'S BASEMENT - NIGHT

Todd is half-way down the stairs when he freezes. Sprawled out

on the ground below him is Archie, motionless. The meat fork

still protrudes from his neck like an antenna.

TODD:

Jesus F***ing Christ.

INT. DUSSANDER'S KITCHEN - NIGHT

Suddenly Dussander is more awake than we realize. When he hears

Todd discover the body, he slides his chair over to the cellar

door and slams it shut. His face is red with pain as he pushes

the dead bolt into place, locking Todd in the cellar.

INT. DUSSANDER'S BASEMENT & KITCHEN - NIGHT

Todd races up to the door. He tries the handle and then pounds

on the door with his fist. The following conversation cuts back

between Todd and Dussander on opposite sides of the door.

TODD:

Open the f***ing door! Right now. Right

now!

Dussander shoves his chair under the doorknob. He drags the

table against the door as he speaks. Todd is screaming on the

other side and begins to kick at the door violently.

DUSSANDER:

You give me no choice, boy.

TODD:

What are you doing? Open the door.

DUSSANDER:

If you won't help me, then I'll make you help

me. If you don't, we are finished.

TODD:

F*** you, old man. This is your problem. I

didn't do this. Open the door!

Todd pounds awayat the door. Tears now stream down his cheeks.

His relentless pounding has Dussander enraged. Dussander pounds

back at the door to shut Todd up. It works.

DUSSANDER:

Enough. Enough. Enough! If you don't stop

screaming like a f***ing school girl I'm

going to...

A surge of pain from his chest silences him. He recovers,

speaking slowly and deliberately.

DUSSANDER (CONT'D)

Now listen to me, boy, very carefully. If

you don't help me, I'm going to die here.

And if I die, there is no Stanford for you.

There is no scholarship. There is jail. My

document...

TODD:

F*** your document. I got nothing to do with

this. Don't make it sound like I do. I came

here, I saw this sh*t, and now I'm getting

the f*** out of here. That's what I'm gonna

tell the police.

DUSSANDER:

Why not tell them the truth? Tell them I

locked you in the cellar. Tell them I

wouldn't let you out until you buried the

body.

TODD:

I'm not listening to this.

INT. DUSSANDER'S BASEMENT - NIGHT

Todd runs down the stairs and leaps over Archie's body. Under

the dim glow of a single naked bulb hanging from the ceiling, he

searches for a way out. He crosses the dirt floor toward a tiny

window high on the opposite wall.

INT. DUSSANDER'S KITCHEN - NIGHT

DUSSANDER:

You must be at the window, yes? As you can

see I had it barred a few years ago. A bad

element started to move into the

neighborhood, you know how it is.

TODD (O.S.)

F***.

INT. DUSSANDER'S BASEMENT - NIGHT

Todd realizes he can't get through the bars. He turns around to

find another option. In the obscured background, Archie begins

to stir. Silent and bewildered, he feels the area around him

and rises slowly to his knees. Todd doesn't see him and moves

into a dark corner of the cellar, rummaging through the piles of

cluttered junk for something to help him escape. He disappears

for a moment into complete darkness and then emerges holding a

shovel, a fresh confidence on his face. He holds it like a

sledge hammer.

DUSSANDER (O.S.)

We are wasting time now, boy.

(switches to a loud whisper)

Come back to the door. You are not going to

find anything down there to help you.

TODD:

(to himself)

Oh really?

Todd runs toward the staircase and is only a few feet from

Archie when he sees him. Todd, mortified, lets out a scream.

This startles Archie, who cannot speak. He only gurgles a

SICKENING WHINE, the fork still sticks out of his neck. Blood

drips into his eyes from a gash above his forehead. Yet even on

his knees, he is an imposing figure.

INT. DUSSANDER'S KITCHEN - NIGHT

Dussander, puzzled by the commotion, presses his ear against the

door.

INT. DUSSANDER'S BASEMENT - NIGHT

Archie blocks the stairs from Todd.

TODD:

Get out of the way.

But Archie is too disoriented to move. Summoning all his

courage, Todd pokes the shovel into him, as if to prod him out

of the way.

But when the blade of the shovel touches him, Archie counters

violently, grabbing the metal end and swinging it to the side.

Todd holds tightly to the handle, an act which sends him flying

across the cellar. The shovel stays with Archie, and now he

wields it like it were a child's toy. He slashes it viciously

through the air. Todd hides under the stairs, watching Archie

duel with the shadows. Todd bumps into something. Archie hears

him. Through the slats in the staircase we see Archie jabbing

the shovel at Todd.

TODD:

Stop it! Stop it!

INT. DUSSANDER'S KITCHEN - NIGHT

Alarmed, Dussander reaches for the lock, but hesitates, forever

mindful of the chance of being duped. His ear goes back against

the door.

DUSSANDER:

What are you doing, boy? It's not going to

work, whatever it is.

INT. DUSSANDER'S BASEMENT - NIGHT

Archie pushes the shovel in too far and can't retrieve it. Todd

grabs the other end and pulls it through.

TODD:

F*** this.

Fed up, he comes around from under the stairs and confronts

Archie. Archie sees him and takes a step toward him.

TODD (CONT'D)

I mean it get the f*** away from me.

Archie steps closer. Instantly, Todd tightens his grip on the

shovel. He is no longer afraid. He swings the shovel at

Archie's head striking him. Archie staggers back, stunned, but

then charges forward. Todd strikes him again, this time with

more force and anger. Todd lifts the shovel to strike again,

but this time catches the ceiling light with the metal blade.

The glass shatters. The room goes black.

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