Jacob's Ladder Page #6

JACOB pounds the desk, rattling a tiny African violet and

knocking the RECEPTIONIST's forms to the floor. She grunts

angrily and stoops to retrieve them. Standing up her cap

hits a drawer handle and slips off. TWO KNUCKLE-LIKE HORNS

protrude from her skull where the cap had been. JACOB's eyes

lock on them like radar. He backs away. She immediately

replaces her cap and breaks the spell, but her eyes glare at

him with demonic intensity. JACOB, freaked, angry, turns and

runs toward the "In Patient" door.

RECEPTIONIST:

Hey! You can't go in there!

JACOB doesn't stop. A POLICEMAN, guarding the entrance, runs

after him.

JACOB charges through the interior corridors of the aging

institution. A LINE OF MENTAL PATIENTS, all holding hands,

is moving down the hall. They break ranks as he charges by

and begin to scream. Their ATTENDANT tries to calm them down

but the sight of the POLICEMAN increases their hysteria.

They grab hold of him as he tries to get by.

POLICEMAN:

LET GO! GET AWAY!

INT. GROUP ROOM - DAY

JACOB dashes out of view. He runs down another corridor,

wildly searching for a specific room. He finds it and rushes

inside. He is surprised to find A GROUP OF MEN AND WOMEN

seated in a circle. They all look up at him.

LEADER:

Can I help you?

JACOB:

I'm looking for Dr. Carlson. Isn't

this his office?

The LEADER stares at him uncomfortably. After a moment he

gets up and takes JACOB into a corner of the room. Everyone

is watching them. The LEADER speaks quietly.

LEADER:

I'm so sorry. Obviously you haven't

... Dr. Carlson died.

JACOB:

(stunned)

Died?

LEADER:

A car accident.

JACOB:

Jesus, Jesus! ... When?

LEADER:

Last month, before Thanksgiving.

JACOB:

How did it happen?

LEADER:

No one knows. They say it blew up.

JACOB:

(growing pale)

Blew up? What do you mean it blew up?

The LEADER shrugs and tries to put his arm around JACOB, but

he pulls away.

LEADER:

Do you want me to get someone?

JACOB:

No. No. It's okay. I'm okay.

He backs quickly to the door. As he turns to leave he

realizes that all of the PEOPLE in the group are watching

him intently.

Unsettled, JACOB hurries back into the hallway. He is

frightened and confused. Suddenly a voice calls out.

POLICEMAN:

HEY YOU! MAILMAN!

JACOB turns and sees the POLICEMAN waiting for him. His gun

is drawn.

POLICEMAN:

Hold it. Just hold it. Where the hell

do you think you are? This is

Bellevue, for God's sake. People

running around here get shot.

The GROUP LEADER pokes his head out of the door and motions

to the POLICEMAN.

LEADER:

It's alright. He's okay.

POLICEMAN:

(nodding, reholstering

his gun)

Come on, get out of here. I wouldn't

want to interfere with the U.S. Mail.

He leads JACOB toward the lobby. JACOB does not look back.

INT. DELLA'S APT. - NIGHT

WE HEAR LOUD DANCE MUSIC. SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE. JACOB is

with some POST OFFICE EMPLOYEES at a crowded party in a

small apartment. A DRUNK is telling a bad joke and trying to

hold a glass of wine at the same time. It is constantly on

the verge of spilling. JACOB is fixated on it. In the

background, we see JEZZIE dancing and motioning for JACOB to

join her. He nods no. The DRUNK, who keeps asking people if

they "get it," takes JACOB's head nodding as a sign of

confusion and keeps trying to re-explain the joke.

JACOB hears a strange noise and looks around. It seems to be

coming from a covered bird cage. He goes over to it and

lifts the cover. The BIRD is flapping its wings wildly as if

trying to get out. The sound, loud and insistent, startles

him. He lowers the cover.

In the DINING ROOM, several people are gathered around ELSA,

an attractive black woman who is reading palms. She sees

JACOB and calls over the music.

ELSA:

Hey, you! Let me look at your hand!

JACOB shrugs. DELLA, dancing nearby, calls out.

DELLA:

Go on Jake. She reads 'em like a

book.

JACOB:

No, thanks.

DELLA:

It's fun.

CUT TO A CLOSE UP OF JACOB'S HAND. ELSA is squeezing the

mounds and examining the lines. What begins as a playful

expression on her face turns suddenly serious. She reaches

for his other hand and compares the two of them. JEZZIE

looks over from her dancing and eyes the scene jealously.

ELSA:

You have an unusual hand.

JACOB:

I could have told you that.

ELSA:

You see this line here? It's your

life line. Here's where you were

born. And this is where you got

married. You're a married man, huh?

Oh oh. Nope. Divorce. See this split.

She studies his life line with growing concern. JEZZIE tries

to get JACOB's attention. He ignores her.

ELSA:

(continuing)

You know, you got a strange line

here.

JACOB:

(examining it)

It's short, huh?

ELSA:

Short? It's ended.

JACOB:

(laughing)

Oh, terrific.

ELSA:

It's not funny. According to this ...

you're already dead.

JACOB:

(smiling)

Just my luck.

CUT TO:

THE DANCERS. Their movements are loose and getting looser.

The music is strong and insistent. The smokey atmosphere

disfigures the dancers and gives them a strange, distorted

appearance. Suddenly JEZZIE breaks from the crowd and

reaches for JACOB. He pulls away. Some of the MALE DANCERS

call out to him.

DANCERS:

Come on man, show your stuff.

JACOB is easily intimidated. Relenting, he glares at JEZZIE

and nods apologetically to ELSA. It is obvious that he is

embarrassed at his inadequacy on the dance floor.

MAN:

Come on professor. You got feet, too.

JACOB tries to smile but it is pained and unconvincing.

JEZZIE is playing with him, mimicking his movement. A number

of DANCERS notice and laugh, which only increases his

discomfort. JEZZIE's taunting has a strange effect on JACOB.

He grows distant and withdrawn, even though his body is

still going through the motions of the dance.

A MAN taps JEZZIE on the shoulder. She spins around,

smiling, and begins dancing with him. JACOB is left alone,

dancing by himself. He looks away, uncomfortable.

In the shadows a WOMAN kneels close to the floor. She seems

to be urinating on the carpet. JACOB is shocked. Several

DANCERS obscure his view. He turns around.

A PREGNANT WOMAN stands half naked in the kitchen. JACOB

cannot believe what he sees.

In the next room, past JEZZIE, JACOB glimpses a terrifying

image, a MAN whose head seems to be vibrating at such

enormous speed that it has lost all definition. Something

about the image compels and frightens JACOB. Slowly he

approaches it. As he draws nearer to it the tortured image

lets out a scream of such pain and unearthly terror that

JACOB backs away.

A WOMAN, laughing, grabs JACOB, spins him around, and begins

dancing with him. He is totally disoriented.

WOMAN:

Hold me, baby!

She takes JACOB's arm and guides it to her back. THE CAMERA

follows his hand as it reaches the smooth skin beneath her

sexy, loose fitting dress. He runs his fingers up to her

shoulder blades. Then, suddenly, he recoils. Her back is a

mass of shoulder blades, hundreds of strange, bony

protrusions. JACOB gasps. Out of the blue, JEZZIE leans into

him and wiggles her tongue in his ear. JACOB, startled,

jerks his head and his glasses go flying to the floor.

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