Lost Souls Page #17

MAYA:

I know it is. Right after my parents

died, I went to the beach...

(short intake of breath)

I was in the water. Everything was

calm. And then one of those really big

waves hit me. Hard. Pulled me straight

to the bottom. I struggled and finally

ran out of air.

(gulps air)

If it hadn't been for my sister who

pulled me out, I would've drowned.

Legally dead for a couple of minutes is

what they told me.

PETER:

No oxygen to the brain.

MAYA:

Maybe that's my problem.

PETER:

Why didn't you just go along with

Townsend. Get rid of me. I would've...

MAYA:

Until it happens, you're still a human

being.

PETER:

What about after?

MAYA:

Only your body will remain. I believe

your soul will be at peace. If we kill

you, Satan can't stay.

She see him react to this.

INT. PETER'S LIVING ROOM

The door opens. It's dark, except for the luminescence of

Peter's aquarium. We see some of the fish are listing and

the aquarium still has a slow leak. The floor's wet.

PETER:

Claire, are you home?

He SNAPS on the light. Silent. Stuffy. He opens a window.

MAYA:

More air. Always a good thing.

INT. BEDROOM

Peter's box of records is on the bed where he left it. The

ancient news articles are scattered. Some fallen onto the

floor.

Peter picks everything up as Maya sifts the contents on the

bed. We see passing glimpses of a passport, bankbooks,

insurance policies, a will, a set of keys, and then a

parchment copy of Peter's birth certificate. Maya picks it

up.

CLOSE ON:

Time of Peter's birth is 4:55 PM.

MAYA:

Tomorrow afternoon. Four forty-five.

Peter absorbs this.

PETER:

(false bravado)

Plenty of time.

MAYA:

(fingers set of keys in box)

What are these?

PETER:

I don't know. Extra apartment keys.

What's it matter?

MAYA:

(desperate)

Maybe I should check Lareaux's book.

It's in the car. Be right back. Don't

go anywhere.

PETER:

Sure.

Maya leaves the room. Moments later, Peter hears the front

door open and close. Doesn't move, then, suddenly, in a

flurry of anger, he knocks the phone off the bedside table.

A lamp flies off with it. Then he stands and sweeps his arm

across the top of his bureau, knocking off pictures, moments,

a jewelry box. Turning, he flips over a chair and kicks it

viciously.

Breathing hard, he slumps back on the bed. Across the room

he sees a picture of Claire has slipped partially behind the

bureau. Its glass has shattered and only half her face is

visible.

Peter immediately picks it up. Stares down at this smiling

girlfriend. He lays it carefully back on the bureau, trying

to regain some control. He breathes deep, then begins

gathering everything back on to the bed. He looks at the set

of keys. Picks them up. Compares them with his own set.

Trying to think, he stares out his bedroom window at the

building ledge across the way. He SEES the potted geraniums,

now arranged, a simple red flourish.

Then a light snaps on in the apartment below and as he looks

down, noticing it, his eyes shift, a momentary realization

and he looks back down at the keys and leaves his apartment.

INT. ELEVATOR

Peter gets on. He looks at the unknown keys again. Then

pushes the button for the fourth floor.

INT. APT. 4-A - NIGHT

Peter knocks softly on the door. Then more loudly. No

response. He tries on of the new keys, slowly giving it a

turn. It works. He tries the lower lock. The click of this

key is audible as...

INT. APT. 4-A

The door swings open to a dark apartment. Peter stands

warily at the door, then flips on the lights. Nothing there.

No furniture. No occupance.

Peter steps in and closes the door. He looks around at the

emptiness. A cockroach scurries across the floor in front of

him.

INT. LIVING ROOM

He walks through the living room and...

INT. BEDROOM

Only a small table and lamp have been left in the corner.

Peter switches on the lamp. He notices the ceiling's been

dropped. A grid of white tile panels, held by a lightweight

metal frame. He stares at it.

Very slowly he raises the broom upward and pokes on of the

panels. It moves easily. He pushes harder and manages to

angle the panel, sliding it back, so that some of the

original ceiling is visible. He sees:

A lurid splash of color, a tiny fragment of white line, and

part of a strange design.

Peter stares hard at it. He grabs the small table from the

corner and drags it to the center of the room. Standing on

it, he can now easily reach the tiles with his hands.

He SMASHES the panels loose, KNOCKING THEM OUT and dropping

them on the floor. Two, three, four more tiles. Then five.

TIME JUMP CUT TO:

The floor below him is littered with ceiling tiles. Peter

looks up at:

CEILING:

An enormous PENTACLE. Nine feet wide. It sprawls across the

ceiling. Runic symbols crest its edges. For a moment,

Peter's mesmerized.

INT. FOURTH FLOOR HALLWAY

The door of Apt. 4-A is thrown open. Peter takes off,

leaving the door ajar behind him.

INT. PETER'S APARTMENT - CONTINUOUS

The front door is thrown open. Peter steps in to see:

Maya, standing, slightly tense, talking to somebody. The

other VOICE is obscured by the sound of a garbage truck

moving down the street. And as Peter moves farther inside,

past the door, he sees:

Claire, sitting on the overstuffed chair.

CLAIRE:

(gets up)

There you are! My God, darling, I've

been so worried. Are you alright?

PETER:

Claire...

CLAIRE:

This is the person...you were talking

about?

MAYA:

Where were you?

Peter holds out the keys to Claire, ignoring Maya.

PETER:

What're these?

CLAIRE:

I don't know. What are they?

PETER:

I found them in your file box.

CLAIRE:

Must be a spare set.

PETER:

I thought the spare set was in the

kitchen drawer.

PETER (CONT'D)

(to Claire)

You were hiding them.

Claire gets up, moving to Peter, and reaches to embrace him.

He lets it happen, but doesn't reciprocate.

CLAIRE:

Honey, you're exhausted. Do you want to

lie down for a little while?

PETER:

(moving across the room)

I found the pentacle.

Maya's eyes widen with alarm. She turns quickly toward

Claire who's watching them. And as Peter follows Maya's

stare, in one slow move, Claire pulls a Beretta from a drawer

in the aquarium table. She points the gun directly at Maya.

CLAIRE:

She's been stalking you, Peter.

PETER:

So you're going to kill her? Put the

gun down Claire.

Claire ignores him, but before she can make her move, Peter

has grabbed her wrist, twisting her back into the living

room, trying to pull the gun out of her hand. Claire wrests

free of Peter.

CLAIRE:

Listen to me, I love you, Peter, I'm

trying to protect you!

PETER:

You really had me going, Claire. I was

finally ready to propose to you.

CLAIRE:

We're still going to be together.

CLAIRE (CONT'D)

There's nothing you can do about it.

(to Maya)

I've f***ing had it with you.

She lunges at Maya, one powerful move, but as she does, Maya

moves out of the way. And as Maya spins around, Claire goes

for her again, but she trips on the wet floor, losing her

balance. As Peter grabs to catch her, she crashes horribly

through the glass shelves.

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