The Butterfly Effect Page #20

MR. MILLER

That's dangerous! You could blow your hands off!

EVAN:

Been there, done that.

Evan, standing near the fireplace, defiantly strikes the match with this thumb and lowers the flame to the short fuse.

Mr. Miller charges Evan just as the fuse is lit! Mr. Miller knocks the blockbuster from Evan's hand and it rolls towards the other side of the room, resting peacefully against the video camera.

Kayleigh's eyes are dazzled by the sparkling fuse and she bends down to pick it up --

MR. MILLER/TOMMY/EVAN

Kayleigh! NOOOOOooooo!

EXT. MILLER'S HOUSE - DAY - 1989

BOOM! The blast is deafening.

FLASH! SMASH CUT TO:

INT. SUNNYVALE - EVAN'S ROOM - DAY - 2002

Evan, twenty, wakes up with a bloody nose.

EVAN:

Oh God, Kayleigh...

Evan gets a new series of QUICK IMAGES and FLASHED FACES.

INT. FAMILY COURTROOM - DAY - 1989

Evan (now seven) is institutionalized before a judge.

INT. SUNNYVALE INSTITUTION - DAY - 1989-1994

Evan (seven through twelve) GROWS UP in an institution.

INT. DR. REDFIELD'S OFFICE - DAY - 1989-1994

Evan undergoes years of therapy under Redfield's care.

FLASH! SMASH CUT TO:

INT. EVAN'S ROOM - SUNNYVALE - DAY - 2002

Evan lies in a room, same posters from college adorn the walls. Blood flows freely now.

EVAN:

(sobbing uncontrollably)

Kayleigh...no! You can't die again! I won't let this happen. I won't!

Evan fights off the pain and looks under his bed for something.

EVAN:

Where are they?!

His journals are missing! He runs from the room.

INT. DR. REDFIELD'S OFFCIE - DAY

Evan runs into Dr. Redfield's office just as another patient is leaving.

DR. REDFIELD

Hey, Evan. What's the big rush? We don't meet for another hour.

EVAN:

Where are my goddman books?

DR. REDFIELD

Books?

EVAN:

My journals! Where are they?

The doctor looks heartbroken, as if Evan has had a relapse.

DR. REDFIELD

It kills me to have to go through this again. There are no journals. There never were. It's part of this fantasy world your mind created to cope with the guilt of killing...

Evan looks stunned. Refusing to believe it.

DR. REDFIELD

Think Evan. You've invented a disease that doesn't exist. Alternate universes with colleges, prisons, paraplegia...

EVAN:

But I...I need those books.

DR. REDFIELD

You remind me of your father. He always screamed for a photo album even though he never had one.

EVAN:

Photos?

Evan's eyes roll back and he collapses lifelessly to the floor.

INT. SUNNYVALE LABORATORY - DAY

Evan lies on a platform and gets another series of CAT-scans.

INT. EVAN'S ROOM - NIGHT

Evan, no longer incapacitated, stares out the window into the darkness. Alone. Trapped. Hopeless.

INT. DR. REDFIELD'S OFFICE - DAY

Later that day, Dr. Redfield posts the new CAT-scan slides on the light box and shudders when he sees the results. Andrea looks on anxiously.

DR. REDFIELD

Jesus, no.

Andrea, biting her nails, is unable to conceal her fear.

ANDREA:

No dances, just tell me.

DR. REDFIELD

(devastated)

The hemorrhaging...the neural damage is irreparable. I'm frankly surprised he still has use of his motor functions.

Andrea begins to break down in tears. Evan secretly listens in from the hallway. His gaunt face looks deep in thought. He takes a breath and enters the lab, making sure not to look directly at his weeping mother.

EVAN:

Hey, Mom, didja remember to bring those goofy old home movies we used to make?

Andrea wipes tears away, nodding in advance.

INT. DR. REDFIELD'S CORRIDOR - NIGHT

Evan sees no one is watching him in the institution corridor as he throws his weight into the door of the doctor's office, breaking it open.

Sporadically, severe VIBRATIONS invade Evan's environment, threatening to distract him from his mission.

INT. DR. REDFIELD'S OFFICE - NIGHT

Evan enters the office and tears the file cabinets apart, looking for something. His nose bleeds profusely and he repeatedly wipes the blood off his face with irritation.

Evan sees a cardboard marked TREBORN, E. Grabs it and hides under the doctor's desk.

INT. DR. REDFIELD'S CORRIDOR - CONTINUOUS FLASHLIGHT BEAMS stab through the darkened corridor hunting for him. An ALARM SOUNDS. GUARDS are shouting.

INT. DR. REDFIELD'S OFFICE - CONTINUOUS

Evan, under the doctor's desk, grabs some paper and begins writing in shorthand.

EVAN:

If anyone finds this, then I guess my plan didn't work and I'm already dead.

Again, the world flutters as if it were attached to a paint-shaker. He takes a deep breath.

EVAN:

But I I can just go back to the beginning of all this, I might be able to save her.

Fatigue overwhelms him, but he continues writing...

INT. DR. REDFIELD'S CORRIDOR - CONTINUOUS

Dr. Redfield catches up with the rest of the guards.

DR. REDFIELD

He's not in his room. Search the grounds.

INT. DR. REDFIELD'S OFFICE - CONTINUOUS

The cardboard box is overturned. Evan finishes threading a SUPER-8 film projector and turns it on. Careful not to let any light spill against the wall, Evan projects it at the underside of the desk.

We see familiar home movie footage from his childhood: Lenny, 5, has a birthday party. Kayleigh is there.

ANGLE ON EVAN'S EYES

Getting lost in the memory.

CHAOTIC NOISES of CHILDREN'S PARTY bleed into Evan's reality. The world SHUDDERS UNCONTROLLABLY.

SMASH CUT TO:

EXT. LENNY'S BACKYARD - DAY - 1987

Evan, 5, comes to at a birthday party. He's unexpectedly gently prodded forward by Andrea.

ANDREA:

Go on, Evan. Introduce yourself.

Evan slowly approaches Kayleigh, only five. She smiles bashfully at him. An old memory comes back to him.

KAYLEIGH (V.O.)

When my folks split, they gave me and Tommy a choice who we wanted to live with. I couldn't stand my dad, but I knew if I lived with my mom, I'd never see you again...

Evan slowly looks around the yard, taking in the reality of this distant memory. He even inhales the aroma of the place. Savoring the moment. He locks eyes with Kayleigh.

ANDREA (O.S.)

He's not usually this shy.

It's time. Evan leans over to Kayleigh as if he's about to kiss her. Then whispers in her ear:

EVAN:

I hate you. If you ever come near me again, I'll kill you and your whole family.

Kayleigh reacts predictably. Bursting into tears and runs into Kayleigh's mother's arms.

KAYLEIGH'S MOTHER What did you say to her? What happened?!

Evan ignores them. He can't take his eyes off Kayleigh.

EVAN:

Goodbye.

His eyes well up.

FLASH! SMASH CUT TO:

INT. EVAN'S DORM - DAY - 2002

Evan wakes up with a bloody nose. He grabs a pillow and covers his head with it as a flood of memories seizes him.

Lenny (looking fit) grabs a towel from atop an award-winning flatworms project and hands it to Evan.

LENNY (O.S.)

You alright? Should I call the doctor?

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