Sinister Page #5

- Ashley!

- No, that's not it.

What did we talk about?

We only gave you one rule.

It was a big deal for us

to let you paint on your walls.

- What's the rule, Ashley?

- Paint only goes in the bedroom.

And what makes you think

you can paint out here?

I wanted to paint her picture,

but she didn't want it in my room

because that used to be

her brother's room.

What? Who are you talking about?

- Stephanie.

- Who's Stephanie?

She used to live here. Shes the one

Daddy's writing his book about.

Ashley, go to your room

and shut the door.

What the hell were you thinking?

Did you think I wouldn't find out?

Shh. Of course I knew you were

gonna find out eventually, OK?

But don't blame me for not telling you.

You never wanted to know.

Don't try and pin this on me.

I asked you! I asked you if

we were living near the house!

You asked me if we were living

two houses down from a crime scene.

- Don't you dare!

- I said no.

- We never should have come here!

- Tracy, nobody died here.

It's not like we're sleeping

where somebody was killed

or they had to wipe blood

off the walls for the open house.

- You're saying it didn't happen here?

- No. It happened in the backyard.

That is so sick!

God, you think that makes a difference?

- It does.

- No, Ellison. It doesn't.

You have done some

crazy sh*t in the past.

But this definitely takes the cake.

My God. what on earth

possessed you to move here?

- We've never been this broke before.

- That's no excuse.

This place came on the market.

It was a steal.

Gee, I wonder why.

So what Trevor drew last week.

That happened here?

Yes.

The previous owners of this home

were hung from a tree in our backyard?

- Yes.

- That is so sick. Ellison.

And you let our little girl

play back there?

Why shouldn't I?

Our son is having night terrors

and drawing pictures

of this crime at school.

And our daughter just painted

a dead girl on our wall.

She's missing.

Technically she's missing.

I don't wanna hear about

technicalities.

Do you understand

what you've done,

the kind of jeopardy you've put

your children in, your marriage?

Yes, I do!

Is there anything you won't do

for your goddamn book?

Apparently not.

I guess this is all worth it to you.

- It's worth it.

- Putting your family at risk.

- Risk of what? Of more paintings?

- Don't. Your daughter...

My daughter has a father who loves her,

who is always around,

who encourages her to be herself.

The worst thing that has

ever happened to her

is one time she moved into a house

where a family was killed.

She found out about the murders.

So she felt sorry for the little girl.

So she painted a f***ing picture!

That's what she does.

It's what she always has done.

- That's it? That's all you have to say?

- What else do you want from me?

How about a home where

we feel safe, Ellison?

How about neighbours that don't hate us

in a town where I can buy groceries

without getting strange looks?

How about a life that

doesn't involve our kids

drawing and painting the sick details

of some horrific tragedy

or working out their

deep-seated anxieties

by doing bizarre sh*t in the night?

- How about that? Would that be OK?

- I can give all that to you, I can!

- Just when I finish the book!

- This book isn't for us. It's for you.

Tracy, don't say that.

That's not true.

It is true. There are plenty of other

ways you can provide for this family.

Doing What? Teaching?

Editing journalism textbooks?

Don't you understand that writing

is what gives my life meaning?

These books are my legacy.

I have always supported you

doing what you love. Ellison.

But writing isn't the meaning

of your life.

You and me, right here, this marriage

that's the meaning of your life.

And your legacy,

that's Ashley and Trevor.

Your kids are your legacy.

- Did I get Daddy in trouble?

- No. sweetie.

Your daddy got Daddy in trouble.

- I'm sorry I painted on the wall.

- I know.

You get a good night's sleep.

So here's the book

I wrote proving it. Right?

Exactly.

Kidding aside. Would you want

a family? Is that in the cards?

I don't know

If you'd asked me a year ago. I might

have said no. never. I'm a career man

But you know how it goes. You meet

someone. You get a little older.

All of a sudden your career

doesn't seem to matter so much'

You want kids. You start to see other

people with kids and think "I want that"

aho' then you wonder "Is he gonna look

like me? Is she gonna look like her?"

You paint rooms in your head and.

Time for bed.

What is happening?

Sh*t.

Sh*t.

- What the hell are you doing?

- We have to leave here.

What's the matter? What's happened?

You were right.

I made a mistake.

We should have never come to this house.

- We have to leave now.

- Ell. you're freaking me out here.

Get the kids. Pack the car.

We have to leave.

Go!

- Honey, slow down.

- I just wanna get on the highway.

I wanna put as much road between

us and this town as we can. OK?

OK.

- Where are we going, Daddy?

- We're going home, honey.

- Home, home, like you promised?

- Yeah. Home, like I promised.

What about our stuff?

We're gonna call the movers

in the morning, all right?

It's OK.

- Evening, Oswalts.

- Sheriff.

- Licence and registration.

- God.

Driving pretty fast for this

time of night don't you think?

Anything I ought to know about?

Just trying to take your advice.

That's all.

- Which advice would that be?

- Leave town and never look back.

- You weren't bullied away or anything?

- I'm sorry?

What I mean is, I don't wanna be

reading in your book

that angry town folks

chased you out of here.

If you've been mistreated,

I wanna know about it.

There isn't gonna be any book.

No book?

No, sir.

Well. then. I don't see any reason

for me to have your autograph.

Just one more favour. Hold it under 60

till you cross the county line.

Until you're somebody else's problem.

Yes, sir.

Did you mean that?

About the book? Yeah.

You promise?

I promise.

Let's go home.

This goes in the office,

right in there on the right.

Hey, Ell, 10 bucks says

Trevor sleeps through the night.

No, I'm not taking that bet.

Mr Oswalt. Sorry it took so long

to get back to you.

There's been so little written on Buguul

that no one has actually bothered

to scan any of this material before

- Well, what am I looking at?

- You're looking at an engraving

An old sketch from the Dark Ages.

And fragments of a deteriorated fresco

There isn't a lot left.

Everything else has been destroyed

- Why?

- Well. Superstition

Early Christians believed that Bughuul

actually lived in the images themselves

and that they were gateways

into his realm.

- Gateways?

- Yes.

The ancient Church believed

that he would take possession

of those who saw the images

and cause them to do terrible things.

Or in some cases he could even abduct

the viewer into the images themselves.

Children exposed to the images

were especially vulnerable to

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