The Haunting Page #6

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Mrs. Dudley peers at her. A beat. And then, cryptic:

MRS. DUDLEY

It's a job. I keep banker's

hours. I set dinner on the dining

room sideboard at six. You can

serve yourselves. Breakfast is

ready at nine. I don't wait on

people. I don't stay after

dinner. Not after it begins to

get dark. I leave before dark

comes. We live in town. Nine

miles. So there won't be anyone

around if you need help. We

couldn't even hear you, in the

night.

NELL:

Why would we --

MRS. DUDLEY

-- no one could. No one lives any

nearer than town. No one will

come any nearer than that. In the

night. In the dark.

And with that Mrs. Dudley grins, rictus-like. She turns and closes

the door after her.

Nell stands there a long moment, the room silent, heavy, old. She

goes to the windows, peers out. Nothing but forest for miles. The

sun is setting.

Nell removes her windbreaker, opens her suitcase, takes out a

blouse and skirt. Decent enough clothes, but cheap, the tags still

on them.

INT. 2ND FLOOR HALLWAY, NORTH WING - DAY

Nell emerges from her room in her new clothes. The hallway curves

away into the distance, lined with massive, ornate doorframes like

the one to her room.

Trying to get a better look, Nell searches the walls for a light

switch, but can't find one. She follows the chair rail back to --

INT. MEZZANINE - SUNSET (CONTINUOUS)

-- the mezzanine at the top of the stairs. She searches in vain

for a light switch there. Finally she spots a set of curtains and

slings them open.

The light, late-day though it is, makes her wince. The window

looks down on the driveway. Outside a BEIGE CAR crunches over the

gravel. Somebody else has arrived.

Nell watches the car move past, trying to get a glimpse of the

driver, but from up here, all she can see is roof.

NELL:

Finally.

She backs away from the window, spins around --

-- and out of the darkness, powerful, mad, looms the visage of Hugh

Crain. It is the painting. It is only from up here on the second

floor with this curtain open that the FACE is visible in the late-

day sunlight.

Despite the artist's discretion, the lines in the man's skin, his

eyes, his posture, cry of unspeakable sickness.

Unconsciously, Nell takes a step back. In the far b.g., near the

end of one of the halls, a DOOR stands open, the second or third

set of doors in the Gothic Hallway left of the painting. Just as

it starts to come into view, and we're starting to see it, it

swings silently shut.

But Nell has caught the movement out of the corner of her eye.

INT. 2ND FLOOR HALLWAY, NORTH WING - DAY

Nell stares down the long hallway. Which door was it?

NELL:

Hello?

No response. She starts down the hall, slow at first, then faster.

She passes door after door, shadow after shadow, and as she nears

the end of the hall... there is no door here. Not within 20 feet

of, where we thought we just saw it.

A WHISPER. VOICES. Nell backs away. And then LAUGHTER. Behind

her. It's coming from another stairwell. Very real... and very

human.

INT. BACK STAIRWAY - DAY

Nell looks down from the top of the stairs. Below Mrs. Dudley and

THEO, 20s, exotic, sophisticated, in Vera Wang leather, wrestle with

a pile of designer luggage. Theo peers up. She's dark, sexy in an

amused, worldly way: someone who has seen and done it all.

THEO:

You may think I have a sickness

about packing, but asking people

to help me shlep the stuff I take

with me everywhere is a cheap and

exploitative way of making new

friends. My name's Theo.

Theo foists a very heavy bag off on Mrs. Dudley who looks like she's

been handed a snake. That makes Nell smile. She comes running down

to help with the bags.

NELL:

I'm Eleanor but everyone calls me

Nell. Eleanor Vance. Nell. I'm

really glad you're here. Really.

Theo is a little thrown by Nell's gushing.

NELL (cont'd)

What a beautiful jacket.

Theo looks her over... and understands. Nell is desperate to be

liked.

THEO:

And what you're wearing, that's

great, too.

NELL:

This? It's from a thrift shop.

THEO:

What did it cost?

NELL:

Fifteen dollars.

THEO:

That'd be seventy in New York.

You stole it!

NELL:

(embarrassed by the

simple truth)

It's all I could afford.

THEO:

Wait. You're not wearing that

ironically? This is really you?

NELL:

I don't know what you mean.

Mrs. Dudley, walking ahead, looks back at them. Then continues up.

Theo makes a face at Mrs. Dudley's back. Nell smiles, a little.

THEO:

A week. You and I? We're going

to have fun.

INT. THEO'S ROOM - DAY

Mrs. Dudley opens the door, letting Theo and Nell into a large

bedroom, a mirror-image twin of Nell's room, except it's decorated

in rich red-orange velvets.

THEO:

This is so twisted.

She dumps her stuff on the floor, grabs a banister on the four-

poster bed, swings cat-like onto its high mattress.

MRS. DUDLEY

I set dinner on the dining room

sideboard at six.

Mrs. Dudley lays Theo's suitcase on a luggage stand.

MRS. DUDLEY

Breakfast is at nine. I don't

stay after dinner. Not after it

begins to get dark.

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