The Cell Page #13

WOMAN (CONT'D)

Oh no. You're not going anywhere.

Martin enters and sneers at the boy.

MARTIN:

Go back to bed, worm.

WOMAN:

It's okay, we was just.

MARTIN:

Shut up, c*nt.

The woman cowers, familiar with his violent moods. The boy

hurries to his room, but Martin grabs him by the collar.

MARTIN (CONT'D)

What is that?

He pulls the doll from the child's hands, turns to the woman,

and SMACKS her across the face with it, gashing her cheek.

MARTIN (CONT'D)

You give him nothing. Whore. Are you

his mother? ARE YOU?

Terrified, she shakes her head "no." Martin sees Young

Stargher quietly crawling away, hoping to escape.

Martin lifts the boy off the floor with one hand and holds

him in front of the woman.

MARTIN (CONT'D)

You see that? SEE IT? You slithered

out one of them. But where is she now,

Carl? As far from you as she could get,

that's where.

(shoves him at the woman)

You want a mommy? Is that what you

want?

The poor boy trembles with fear. And Martin notices a puddle

of urine on the floor. He drops the boy and laughs.

MARTIN (CONT'D)

Little worm pissed his pants.

Humiliated, Carl covers himself and hides in a corner.

Martin and the woman LAUGH AND LAUGH, delighting in the boy's

humiliation.

INT. CLOSET

Feeling the boy's shame, Catherine turns and finds a FADED

POSTCARD taped to the wall.

INT. STARGHER'S WORLD - BEDROOM

Martin has discovered his son's secret hiding place - a

camouflaged corner of the attic. Arranged in deliberate,

artistic fashion are scavenged DOLLS. Heads, limbs and

torsos held together with twine, tape and wire. Some wrapped

in filthy plastic. Faded photographs (including one of his

MOTHER), mementos, and most disturbingly, the feathers and

bones of dead birds, insect carcasses, and dissected,

desiccated mice. There's something peculiarly beautiful

here, but Martin doesn't see it. Not at all.

MARTIN:

Only girls play with dolls...

He turns and we see Carl is bound to a wooden support beam, a

piece of tape covering his mouth. The boy is stripped to the

waste, barely conscious, face streaked with tears and sweat.

MARTIN (CONT'D)

What kind of thing are you?

INT. CLOSET

A WEIRD NOISE snaps Catherine back to "reality." She turns

just as a door opens behind her. Responding to the

"invitation," she moves through it.

INT. STARGHER'S WORLD - BATHROOM

The adult Carl Stargher sits at the edge of the tub, his back

to us, smoking a cigarette. A white German Shepherd PUPPY

clicks across the tile floor and YIPS at Catherine. She

again hears the WEIRD NOISE. A STAINLESS STEEL BOWL wobbles

as Stargher's bloody rubber-gloved hands fill it with

something. Stargher knows she's there and isn't surprised by

her presence, but he's not sure what to make of her. What to

do with her. He rises and walks past her to the sink. He

pulls off the gloves and washes his hands, glancing at her in

the mirror.

Catherine cannot resist looking in the tub. She sees a dead

girl, her torso sliced open. Disgusted and mortified, she

pulls back.

STARGHER (O.S.)

She was the first...

She turns, and Stargher is no longer at the sink.

STARGHER (O.S.) (CONT'D)

Didn't know what I was doing...

She turns, where's this voice coming from?! She steps back.

STARGHER (O.S.) (CONT'D)

Be careful...

The bumps into the stainless steel bowl and it topples to the

floor, spilling its contents of human organs. Wobble-wobble

wobble. The bowl makes its now-familiar noise.

STARGHER (O.S.) (CONT'D)

What did you do now? You make a mess?

And she can see him coming out of the shadows. Catherine

backs into a corner, fearing what will come.

STARGHER (CONT'D)

I hate a mess.

Stargher steps into a pool of light, shooshes the puppy into

the hall, shuts the bathroom door, and looks right at

Catherine.

STARGHER (CONT'D)

Why are you here?

God almighty, what does she say? What does she tell him?!

STARGHER (CONT'D)

Don't lie, now...

SCRITCH-SCRITCH-SCRITCH. The puppy scratches at the door and

whimpers, but Stargher's not about to let him back in.

Moving slowly, carefully, he approaches Catherine.

STARGHER (CONT'D)

Liars will be punished.

Catherine makes a break for the door. "Playfully," Stargher

makes a half-hearted attempt to block her, but she evades him

and reaches for the knob. But the door's not there. SCRITCH

SCRITCH-SCRITCH. She can still hear the dog, but there's no

damn door. She turns:

No door. No window. The girl's body and bloody remains have

vanished. An OVERHEAD LIGHT flickers on, giving the room the

look and feel of the cell.

STARGHER (O.S.) (CONT'D)

Where do you think you're going?

Catherine turns, back to the wall, calm and intimidating,

Stargher stands in the center regarding her with great

curiosity. Catherine's ready to press the sensor.

STARGHER (CONT'D)

Don't do that.

She hesitates.

STARGHER (CONT'D)

If you go away, you'll never find her.

How did he know?

STARGHER (CONT'D)

If you never find her, she dies. Like

the rest.

Catherine stops and listens. She can't leave now. The path

to Julia has appeared.

STARGHER (CONT'D)

I mean, that's why you're here, right?

Why you came to my happy little home?

He reaches for her and she flinches. Expecting such

behavior, Stargher grins.

STARGHER (CONT'D)

You're pretty. A pretty, pretty thing.

Catherine cannot show her fear, not now. She composes

herself and approaches him.

CATHERINE:

I want to help you, Carl.

His grin broadens to a smile and he almost laughs.

STARGHER:

Help me? That's good. That's a good

one.

(malevolent)

Liar. Whore. C*nt.

Catherine stands her ground.

CATHERINE:

You sound like your father.

He gets close to her face and sneers.

STARGHER:

I am not like him.

Stargher retreats into the shadows, but Catherine persists.

CATHERINE:

Then help me. Where is Julia Hickson?

STARGHER:

Why?

CATHERINE:

Maybe, because you want to.

STARGHER:

Is that right? You think you know me?

INT. CAMPBELL CENTER - LABORATORY - DAY

Henry sees a rapid rise in Catherine's warning meter.

HENRY:

Miriam...

INT. STARGHER'S WORLD - BATHROOM

A wave of fear, of impending doom, overtakes Catherine.

STARGHER (O.S.)

You wanna know who I am? You stupid

b*tch!

And when he emerges from shadow, Stargher is STARGHER KING.

STARGHER KING:

Now shud you mouth, priddy thing, or me

god slice you from the kunt to the tits.

Catherine moves to touch the sensor in her hand. He GRABS,

LIFTS and SLAMS her onto the floor, the back of her head

HITTING HARD. Her vision blurs. Ears are ringing.

STARGHER KING (CONT'D)

Me god want you stay.

Stargher King straddles Catherine and pins her arms behind

her back. She's unable to touch the sensor. With the tip of

the TOOL he traces a line from her pelvis up the center of

her suit.

STARGHER KING (CONT'D)

Me god mek you beaudiful...

He shoves the tool through her neck and presses the trigger.

A COLLAR CLAMPS SHUT around Catherine's neck and...

She blacks out.

INT. CAMPBELL CENTER - LABORATORY

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