Paranormal Activity Page #2

ADAM:

I finished cleaning my room, Mom.

BARBARA:

Really? Why don’t we have a look?

INT. ADAM’S ROOM/JOSH’S HOUSE --MOMENTS LATER

The room is very clean but Barbara is inspecting with the

scrutiny of a Marine sergeant, Adam watching, tense.

BARBARA:

Good job, Adam. (then) Don’t you

just feel better when everything is

the way it’s supposed to be?

ADAM:

Sure. I guess.

7.

Barbara notices the bookshelf.

BARBARA:

Adam, didn’t we say you would

alphabetize your books?

ADAM:

I don’t think so.

A MINUTE LATER:

Barbara and Adam examining a 20 PAGE, HANDWRITTEN CONTRACT

titled “MY CONTRACT WITH MOM BY ADAM KEELING”.

BARBARA:

Here, Section B, item 7a. (reads)

“I will put my books away in

alphabetical order.”

ADAM:

But they look neat and everything.

BARBARA:

You agreed to the contract, Adam.

See? There’s your signature.

ADAM:

But you said I had to sign it or I

wouldn’t get my allowance.

BARBARA:

Give and take, sweetheart. We

negotiated.

On Adam, confused.

INT. CAMRY --SAME DAY

Rural road. Josh driving, Athena riding shotgun. Through the

rear window, we can see Collin following them in a PANEL VAN.

JOSH (V.O.)

I’m not sure if Athena’s a bruja or

not but I liked what she said in

her interview.

INT. (FLASHBACK) JOSH’S OFFICE/PCI --DAY

Athena interviewing with Josh.

ATHENA:

My whole life I knew I was special

but I didn’t know how or why.

8.

EXT. (FLASHBACK) STREET --NIGHT

The barrio. Athena hanging with her rowdy HOME GIRLS,

drinking and laughing.

ATHENA (V.O.)

And I was cool with that. Lots of

people are ordinary, right?

INT. (FLASHBACK) LIVING ROOM/GRANDMOTHER’S HOUSE --DAY

Athena’s GRANDMOTHER, gripping Athena by the shoulders,

imploring her, impassioned, her eyes ablaze.

ATHENA (V.O.)

But one day my grandmother called

me over to her house and told me

that I was a bruja like her and

that if I didn’t nurture my gift I

would lose it.

INT. (FLASHBACK) JOSH’S OFFICE --DAY

Josh and Athena, the interview continuing.

ATHENA:

She said other people could waste

their time but I didn’t have the

right. (beat) I had a calling.

RESUME SCENE:

Josh and Athena still driving.

ATHENA:

I’m surprised this dairy farmer

didn’t just put the cow down.

JOSH:

He could have, but what if the rest

of his herd had the same problem?

ATHENA:

So he calls a paranormal consultant

before he calls a vet?

JOSH:

A vet might report the cow’s

symptoms to the Department of

Agriculture. They could quarantine

his farm.

ATHENA:

Rock and a hard place.

9.

JOSH:

Like a lot of our clients. They

have a problem they can’t go public

with so they go online, look for

help. Eventually they find us.

ATHENA:

Speaking of somebody who needs

help, what’s up with Collin?

INT. PCI VAN --CONTINUOUS

Collin driving, brooding.

JOSH (V.O.)

Collin was a grad student in

physics, top of his class.

INT. (FLASHBACK) DORM ROOM --NIGHT

A manic Collin working at his laptop, surrounded by stacks of

textbooks, complicated charts and diagrams.

JOSH (V.O.)

He wrote his thesis on a variation

of the big bang theory that

included a race of cybernetic

aliens.

INT. (FLASHBACK) OFFICE/UNIVERSITY --DAY

Collin yelling at his PROFESSOR, then ripping a page out of

his THESIS and eating it.

JOSH (V.O.)

When his professor demanded

revisions, Collin refused, saying

he’d eat his thesis before he

changed a word of it.

RESUME SCENE:

JOSH:

He was booted out of school,

humiliating for a guy like him.

(beat) He’s got something to prove.

Up ahead, they can see the dairy farm. Jim and Ellen waving.

JOSH:

I think we’re here.

EXT. DAIRY FARM --MINUTES LATER

Josh, Athena and Collin meeting Jim and Ellen.

10.

JIM:

Mr. Keeling? I’m Jim Crowley and

this is my wife, Ellen.

JOSH:

Please call me Josh. These are my

associates, Athena Ortiz and Collin

Clark.

Everybody shakes hands. We hear Delila BELLOW.

JIM:

That’s Delila.

JOSH:

We need to take a look at her.

Ellen notices Collin adjusting the M-PAC.

ELLEN:

You’re not going to kill her, are

you?

COLLIN:

Oh no, ma’am. This is an M-PAC

device. Multi-Purpose Attack and

Control. It’s charged with a nonlethal

pulse of super-compressed

argon gas.

JOSH:

Actually, I thought we’d let Athena

take the lead.

Collin is put-out. Athena reacts, who me?

INT. MILKING BARN --SAME DAY

The barn is a mess and full of shadows. Josh and Athena

enter. They can hear Delila’s HEAVY BREATHING coming from

somewhere in the darkness. Warily, they creep forward.

ATHENA:

Josh, I have a confession to make.

JOSH:

Now?

ATHENA:

I’m a little worried about the

bruja thing. I mean I’ve watched

my Grandmother a lot but I’ve never

actually done stuff on my own.

We hear a threatening HUFF. Delila steps into view. Her

condition has worsened, she looks truly berserk.

11.

JOSH:

I think you better get started.

ATHENA:

I’ll try an incantation from El

Salmo de Los Muertos. It’s

supposed to have a calming effect

on animals.

Athena holds her hands out, palms up, intones in Spanish:

ATHENA:

Este en la paz apacible tranquilo,

ningún daño vendrá a usted, esté

en la paz con mí y curaré su dolor.

Deje la energía de mi terraplén del

corazón usted con amor y deje el--

Suddenly, Delila lets out a roaring BELLOW.

ATHENA:

I don’t think this is working.

Delila paws the ground and charges.

ATHENA:

Josh?

Josh seems unconcerned, Delila building speed.

ATHENA:

Josh?!

JOSH:

Anytime, Collin.

Collin appears with the M-PAC and fires. An INVISIBLE PULSE

warps the air, hits Delila and stops her cold. She staggers.

Angle on Josh, Athena and Collin as we hear Delila SLUMP to

the ground. Collin looks at Athena, smug.

COLLIN:

Radio Shack. There is no

substitute.

A LITTLE LATER:

Josh examining the unconscious Delila, Athena taking pictures

with a digital camera, Jim and Ellen watching.

JOSH:

She’s got no obvious contusions or

lacerations, no blood anywhere.

Josh uses a mini-lite to check Delila’s eyes.

12.

JIM:

If you don’t mind my asking, how

does a fella get into a field like

this?

JOSH:

Started early. I was that kid.

(off Delila) Her pupils are dilated

but she’s not aphasic.

JIM:

That kid?

INT. (FLASHBACK) YOUNG JOSH’S ROOM/APARTMENT --EVENING

A chemistry set, models of spaceships hanging on wires,

terrariums full of lizards and spiders, a poster of Stephen

King looming over everything. YOUNG JOSH, 10 years old,

reading a comic book with great concentration, stacks of them

nearby, a PET SNAKE slithering up his arm.

JOSH (V.O.)

You know, the loner, the oddball,

the one everybody called “weirdo”?

RESUME SCENE:

Josh checks Delila’s nose and ears.

JOSH:

I was a curious kid too, almost to

the point of stupidity. (off

Delila) Ears are clean, no

discharge or ectoplastic residue.

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