Paranormal Activity Page #6

31.

TED:

Well they better be fine. They

better be damn fine!

EXT. CAL’S PLACE --SAME DAY

A ramshackle two-story house. Cal and his BAND MEMBERS

sitting on the porch, throwing back beers.

BAND MEMBER 1

If we’re gonna party tonight we

need booze money.

BAND MEMBER 2

I’m tapped out.

CAL:

Me too.

BAND MEMBER 3

What about your scrag?

Angle on Danni, in the yard, washing Cal’s car.

CAL:

I’ll find out. She’s gotta be good

for something.

INT. KITCHEN/JOSH’S HOUSE --SAME DAY

Adam frightened. Through the pass-through he can see into

the dining room and living room. Barbara is meandering

around, bellowing and knocking things over, gradually losing

her mind.

EXT. BACKYARD/JOSH’S HOUSE --SAME DAY

A frantic Josh, talking on his CELL with one hand and

inexplicably MOWING THE LAWN with the other.

JOSH:

This is Josh. Barbara ate some

worms!

INTERCUT:

INT. PCI --CONTINUOUS

Collin and Athena on the speaker phone with Josh.

COLLIN:

Barbara did what?!

ATHENA:

Oh my God!

32.

JOSH:

We need a de-wormer, Collin.

COLLIN:

The commercial ones don’t work!

I’ve tried them all. The worms

don’t even react!

JOSH:

Then formulate one yourself. I’m

on my way.

COLLIN:

Right!

They disconnect, we stay with Collin and Athena. Collin

starts bustling around, gathering chemicals and muttering to

himself. Athena thinks a bit, then grabs her jacket and

exits the office.

RESUME JOSH:

taking the GRASS CATCHING BAG off the lawn mower. He rushes

towards the house with it as Adam comes out.

ADAM:

Dad! What’s wrong with Mom?

JOSH:

She’s not feeling well, Adam.

Josh hurries past Adam and into the house.

INT. DEN/JOSH’S HOUSE --SAME DAY

Barbara lumbering around, huffing and grunting and banging

into things. She stops, smells something, sniffs loudly.

We follow her following her nose through various rooms and

then into the hallway to an open door. She looks inside.

Stairs lead down to the basement. Piled on the cement floor

is an inviting MOUND OF FRESHLY MOWN GRASS. Barbara huffs

approvingly. She descends the stairs, and the door slams

shut behind her!

INT. HALLWAY/JOSH’S HOUSE --CONTINUOUS

Josh has just shut the door, Adam looking on. Immediately,

we hear Barbara trying to get out but Josh jams a HOCKEY

STICK between the door and the opposite wall, wedging it

closed.

ADAM:

You’re locking Mom in the basement?

33.

JOSH:

Just for a little while, until she

feels better!

INT. BASEMENT/JOSH’S HOUSE --SAME DAY

Barbara still trying to get out. She hears VOICES, bounds

down the stairs, crosses to a narrow transom (too narrow for

escape) that’s just above ground level. Through it she can

see Josh and Adam come out of the house.

EXT. JOSH’S HOUSE --CONTINUOUS

Josh moving quickly to his car, Adam trailing.

ADAM:

What’s going on, Dad?

JOSH:

It’s a long story, Adam. I’ll

explain it to you later.

ADAM:

Where are you going?!

JOSH:

To the office.

He stops, kneels, takes Adam by the shoulders.

JOSH:

Now listen to me closely. Don’t go

in the kitchen, don’t eat anything,

and whatever you do, don’t let Mom

out of the basement, do you

understand?

ADAM:

But Dad -

JOSH:

You’re in charge while I’m gone,

Adam. I’m counting on you.

Josh gets in his car and drives away. On Adam, alone and

afraid.

EXT. (FLASHBACK) HILL OVERLOOKING CEMETERY-- NIGHT

It’s dark now. Young Josh drinking a chocolate milk through

a straw. Finished, he puts the empty carton into his

backpack and surveys the cemetery. It’s quiet and still.

Disappointed, he sighs, stands up, puts on his backpack...

...and then a DARK SHAPE glides silently out of the trees

nearby.

34.

Young Josh freezes, watches the shape move through the air as

effortlessly as a bird carried on the wind, swooping in

circles around the cemetery and then descending, landing

silently on the ground. It’s a WITCH, young, gaunt, flowing

robe, piercing eyes.

CU YOUNG JOSH:

stunned.

END ACT 2

ACT 3

INT. PCI --SAME DAY

Collin is conducting an experiment. THE BOX OF WORMY COTTAGE

CHEESE we saw before is enclosed in a large AQUARIUM.

35.

At either end of the aquarium are TWO ELECTRONIC DEVICES that

look like modified radar guns. A BEAM is shining from one

device to the other, passing through the cottage cheese.

Both devices are humming, indicator lights flashing.

Josh bursts in, crosses quickly to Collin.

JOSH:

Where are we?!

COLLIN:

I’m trying to kill the worms

electromagnetically without hurting

any cellular structures around it.

JOSH:

So the cottage cheese is Barbara?

COLLIN:

Yes. The question is, will the

worms die and leave Bar --the

cottage cheese intact.

Collin turns dials and pushes buttons, the humming gets

louder, the lights more intense, the worms squiggling.

COLLIN:

They’re reacting...

The cottage cheese EXPLODES, covering the inside of the

aquarium, muck shooting up to the ceiling.

EXT. DAIRY FARM --SAME DAY

Delila still ramming the gate on the breeding stall,

weakening it, Jim and Ellen watching, worried.

ELLEN:

What happens if she gets out of

there, Jim?

They look at each other.

INT. LIVING ROOM/FARMHOUSE --MOMENTS LATER

Jim enters, crosses to a gun rack and finds a DEER RIFLE.

INT. PCI --SAME DAY

Josh and Collin staring at the aquarium mess.

COLLIN:

I’m sorry, Josh.

JOSH:

It’s okay. This is all my fault.

36.

Athena enters, excited.

ATHENA:

I have something!

Athena shows them a small APOTHECARY BOTTLE. She opens it,

spills what looks like a FINE, UNIFORM GRAVEL into her hand.

ATHENA:

Laccophilia Hydrolatus.

A parasitic beetle. They’re

dehydrated.

COLLIN:

Dehydrated beetles?

ATHENA:

The Laccophilia live in the desert

and during the dry times they

burrow underground and basically

hibernate. They can stay that way

for years, and then when the rains

come, they rehydrate and come back

to life.

JOSH:

Where did you get them?

ATHENA:

An herbalist in Chinatown. My

grandmother’s boyfriend.

COLLIN:

I don’t understand.

ATHENA:

The Laccophilia will eat the worms.

JOSH:

They do this in commercial

agriculture. Introduce one

parasite to get rid of another.

COLLIN:

But if the Laccophilia are inside a

living body, won’t they propagate?

Won’t we just be replacing the

worms with Laccophilia?

ATHENA:

They have a short life cycle, a few

hours, and these are just males.

COLLIN:

How can you tell?

37.

ATHENA:

Because they’re wearing little jock

straps --that’s what the herbalist

told me!

COLLIN:

But you said worms are demonized.

Won’t they be resistant to ordinary

Laccophilia?

ATHENA:

They’re demonized too. Me, the

herbalist and my grandmother did a

little ritual on them.

INT. (FLASHBACK) HERBALIST SHOP --DAY

Athena, ATHENA’S GRANDMOTHER and an ELDELRY CHINESE HERBALIST

performing a ritual over the apothecary bottle, making

strange movements, chanting in Chinese and Spanish, incense

burning.

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