Echoes Page #3

---

Yeah.

That's why you've been having

such extreme reactions.

I'm sorry.

I thought you could...

do without them.

I was wrong.

What are you doing?

Anna.

Don't touch me!

You know, maybe this writing gig's

just a bit too much pressure for you.

I can't stay here tonight.

Oh, God.

- I'm gonna stay in town.

- You serious?

We'll talk tomorrow.

Okay, well, listen.

Take these.

Have a good night's sleep.

Who is it?

It's Anna.

We met this afternoon.

I need to talk to you.

I'm closed.

You can come by again

in the morning.

Are you sure?

These are all handcrafted

from various tribes.

Some from my own family,

in fact.

Some I just picked up

over the years.

Let me know if you're interested

in anything

and I'm sure we could work out

some kind of a discount.

Could we just start the session?

Yeah, of course.

Why don't you, um...

pick one of these stones.

- This one?

- Sure.

Good choice.

Really?

I don't have a free hand

for the drums.

This will work just fine.

Just relax.

Why don't you, uh...

take off your top.

You gotta be kidding me.

Do you want me

to help you or not?

You've gotta

be f***ing kidding me.

Now lay down.

Now...

We'll search for the chakra

with the most negative energy.

Whoa.

What was that?

What just happened?

What was that?

Do you ever, uh,

feel a growing pressure

in your chest

when you... when you dream?

A feeling of numbness in your limbs

almost as if you were paralyzed?

How did you know that?

In the native culture,

it's known that spirits can possess

the body when you sleep.

They can capture the soul

and take control of the flesh.

To do what?

It depends what you've done.

But I haven't done anything.

No, I don't know what's happening to me,

all right?

You have to help me.

Please.

The only... only way to fight off

this spirit is to control your dream

and command it to leave.

We'll induce a wake-initiated

lucid dream

and you'll become conscious.

When you reach that state,

I need you to perform

some sort of physical activity

so that your muscles

will echo that movement

in this realm.

Lay down.

Just listen...

and focus.

Listen and focus.

Let yourself sink

deep into the bed.

Let your limbs go numb.

Okay.

Don't fight it.

That's it.

That's good.

You are awake in your dream.

That's good.

You're in a state of pure awareness,

but totally...

...paralyzed.

That's good.

That's good.

Stay in control.

Stay in control!

Stay in control.

Stay in control!

Anna!

Anna!

Oh, my God.

Paul?

Have a good rest?

'Cause I didn't.

Spent the night

worried about you.

Feeling guilty about

swapping out your drugs.

But then I discovered this.

Wednesday.

Thursday. Friday.

Sunday.

Where's Saturday, Anna?

I... I don't know.

That's weird because...

Saturday's the night

you were here by yourself.

Let me show you something.

I couldn't really care less

about the surveillance cameras.

Well, it's not as though anything

really happens around here, is it?

But then Shadow found

something out there.

And I thought to myself...

"What is Jeremy's body doing

buried in my backyard?"

Look...

I'm sure there is some

perfectly rational explanation

for all of this.

And if there is...

you should tell me

before I call the police.

I'm gonna make the call.

You should stay here.

It can get pretty dangerous

outside.

There's nowhere for you

to go anyway.

Come on.

Come here.

All right, you stay here,

Shadow.

All right? Stay.

So what now?

Eh? You're not gonna

go anywhere.

Neither are you.

Well, why would I?

The police will be here

in a minute.

Great, then you can tell them

what happened to Vera Palm.

What?

The blind woman who mysteriously

went missing out on the salt lake.

Who you keep

pretending not to know

although her dog

is standing right over there.

Yeah, he dug this up

out on the salt lake.

So tell me, Paul.

How did she go missing if her

guide dog was out there with her?

Vera was my wife.

She was a very talented,

but, um...

unsuccessful architect.

This house was supposed

to change all of that.

For two years, the only thing she

did was work on this project.

Day in, day out.

She became obsessed

with the place.

And by the time she laid

the foundations...

we were living

completely separate lives.

We were like complete strangers.

She invited me out here to

celebrate when it was completed.

Paul? Are you still there?

But why would I?

I wanted you

to come out and celebrate.

This house had stolen my wife.

I can't believe you're doing this.

Paul?

Paul, are you still there?

On the way home that night...

she fell asleep at the wheel

from sheer exhaustion.

When they found the car,

they said, um...

that she was lucky because...

the Joshua tree she hit stopped

her from going over the cliff.

But a branch came in through

the windscreen and, um...

blinded her.

Then what happened?

I became her scapegoat.

If I didn't already feel guilty,

she made me feel guilty.

She didn't miss a chance

to make me feel her pain.

I really tried,

but I just couldn't imagine...

being her caretaker

for the rest of my life.

So when she started

to get better,

I got her the dog.

And she came to live out here

by herself.

My life was finally

becoming normal again.

And then something fantastic

happened.

I met someone new.

Someone I could

fall in love with again.

Then Vera called me

one day and said...

said she wanted me

to come out here

to discuss something.

It was the best time we'd had

for over a year.

Anyway, by the time

we got to the salt lake,

I realized what it was all

about.

She said she wanted

to move back to Los Angeles,

have another go at our marriage.

It was the last thing

I wanted to hear.

So I told her about us.

She was furious.

She said she would divorce me.

I would lose everything.

All my savings, the house.

She said she would ruin me

if I didn't stay with her.

Who wouldn't side with a blind woman

whose husband had cheated on her?

I couldn't let that happen.

You killed her.

We'd, um...

we'd walked quite a long way

into the salt lake.

And I just, um...

took the dog

and kept on walking.

They never found her body.

This happened on March 2nd.

Yeah.

And Jeremy knew.

He saw me coming home

without Vera.

Started asking some questions.

But an illegal immigrant

is easy to keep quiet.

You have to tell the police,

Paul.

No, I'm not gonna let her

ruin my life.

No, you... you don't understand.

You have to, all right?

It's the only way she'll stop.

What are you talking about?

It was Vera that killed Jeremy and

she's gonna come after you next.

Have you gone completely nuts?

If you don't tell the police,

I will.

Well, be my guest.

I can't wait to see

the expression on their faces

when a... a drug-abusing writer

with a history of mental illness

tells them that my ex-wife's

ghost

is on some kind of revenge

mission.

I'll let you do the talking.

She said she would

Rate this script:3.0 / 1 vote