The New Daughter Page #3

Did I kill them?

Well, ants usually don't live

that long anyway, honey,

and remember what you were saying

about there only being one girl ant?

You know, the queen?

Do you think she died?

They can't live without her.

Usually, before one queen dies,

another one is born, and...

See, there's, uh...

See? There's still some

moving around in there.

We'll just... We'll just have to

wait and see, honey.

What happens

if the queen dies before then?

Well, I don't...

Honey, I don't think that she will.

But what if she does?

Sam, I've got to go talk

to somebody, okay?

Can you watch some cartoons?

Could it have been a kid throwing rocks?

No.

Well...

I don't know, then.

We don't get anything out here

bigger than a pig.

Former owners

never mentioned anything.

All they ever asked about

was that old Indian burial mound.

Is that what that is?

Oh, I don't know.

Probably.

Was that the only thing

you wanted to talk about?

No, I wanted to talk to you

about the sale of the house

and the woman that went missing...

Sarah Wayne.

- What?

- Sarah Wayne.

She lived here with her daughter.

I read about it.

- Right.

- Right.

- About that...

- And when I bought the house,

you told me that the seller

was Roger Wayne.

Yeah. No. He was the seller, John.

- He was co-signer on Sarah's loan.

- Right.

When she disappeared,

he became the heir.

You never told me anything about this.

Well, there was no crime committed.

Okay? It was just assumed

that Sarah couldn't make payments,

so she bolted.

Yeah, but she left her 16-year-old

daughter, Stew.

You don't think that was

an important piece of information?

- Oh, come on.

- If not a little strange?

Look, John, the world is full

of deadbeat parents. Hmm?

You're going to love this.

What did you find?

You have to see.

What's up there, Lou?

After Sarah disappeared,

Roger took his granddaughter

Emily away.

Where?

I don't... A suburb of Charleston.

Suburb of Charleston. Okay.

Anything else?

And there was a house fire,

and the girl died.

There was a house fire,

and the girl died,

And you never told me

anything about this.

It doesn't have anything

to do with you, John.

You're going to give me the address

of the house that burned, Stewart,

and then I'm going to find

this Roger Wayne.

I have to know if my family is safe.

Louisa?

Louisa?

Lou?

[screaming]

Seven stitches, Lou.

Seven stitches.

What in the world were you thinking?

I didn't even scare him

He just let go of the ladder.

You're his older sister.

You're supposed to look out for him.

Sorry.

And he said you were

out at the mound again.

- Is that right?

- Yeah.

Yes? Well, what did I tell you?

- Well, you don't let me do anything.

- You...

You just sit here and wait.

You understand me?

We'll be going home soon.

- Hello.

- Hi.

Thanks for coming on such short notice.

Oh, no problem at all.

Cassandra Parker has given you

a glowing recommendation.

Oh, that was nice of her.

Please, uh, come in.

- This is Sam.

- Hi, Sam.

Hi.

My daughter Louisa's upstairs, okay?

I'm only going to be gone

four or five hours, all right?

Okay.

So if I'm delayed for any reason,

I'll call you.

- All right.

- Okay?

You'll be good? Yeah? You'll be okay?

- Big boy?

- Mm-hmm.

- Hmm? All right? Okay.

- Okay.

Um, one more thing.

Louisa is, uh, grounded.

She likes to play out in the fields

in the back,

but she's not allowed to right now.

I'll make sure she doesn't.

Okay. Be good.

[door closes]

[phone rings]

[ring]

[Woman]

Professor Evan White's office.

Yeah, this is John.

Hello, Mr. James.

We just got your email.

Listen...

- It's very interesting.

- Yeah.

The professor's looking at your photos.

Listen, I really...

- Evan, it's our writer.

- What?

The one with the mound.

- Evan.

- Okay, I'll be...

Evan!

Sam.

What?

Come play with me.

Where?

The mound.

We're not supposed to, Lou.

We're not supposed to, Lou.

[glass breaks]

[wings fluttering]

Aah!

- Get out!

- Okay.

- This is my house! Get out!

- All right.

- You're not wanted here.

- Wait.

- Get out!

- Roger Wayne?

Oh. I'm sorry. Are you...

Are you Roger Wayne?

What did you say?

I was going to get rid of that house.

Did you ever go out there?

Just once. I hadn't heard from Sarah

in over three weeks.

I was worried. I drove down.

She was gone.

And Emily...

I heard about your... granddaughter.

You live there now?

Yeah.

Have any children?

Yeah. A boy and a girl.

She changing?

What?

Your daughter, is she changing?

Emily changed.

What do you mean?

When I went out to that house,

I found her locked in the bedroom.

From the outside.

Sarah had locked her in there.

What are you talking about?

I brought Emily back to the city,

but she was sick.

Something inside of her had changed.

One night I woke up. It was pouring rain.

I went to check on her.

She wasn't in bed.

I found her in the backyard,

covered in mud

and digging in the ground

with her hands.

She wasn't really awake,

but she wasn't really asleep, either.

She didn't even seem to notice,

and I thank God for that.

When I picked her up

and brought her inside...

I started the fire.

What?

She wasn't my granddaughter anymore.

I had to do it. So will you.

Wait a minute. You started the fire?

My Sarah couldn't do

what needed to be done.

That's why she locked Emily

in the bedroom.

A father will do anything for his daughter,

even the worst thing.

Even the worst thing!

Taking her away from that place

did nothing!

You can't stop it!

Good night, Sam. Sweet dreams.

Good night, Mrs. Amworth.

Oh. Oh, Louisa, you scared me.

Have you been outside?

You'll definitely have to have a bath

before bed, so go wash up.

Look at you. You have...

[dialing]

- [phone off the hook signal]

- Damn it.

[gasp]

[roaring in distance]

[snap]

Sam? Louisa?

Open the door, please.

Open the door!

[knocking]

Sam!

- Open the door.

- [creature snarling]

- Open the door.

- [chittering]

Louisa?

Louisa, open the door.

For God's sake, open the door!

Oh, Jesus!

Louisa!

Louisa!

- Louisa! Louisa!

- [chittering]

[screaming]

- Please help me!

- [growling]

[screaming]

[slurp]

[creature screeching]

[phone off the hook signal]

Mrs. Amworth?

Louisa.

Sam?

Sam?

Sam, are you in there?

Sam?

Sam!

[Sam whimpering]

Sam. Are you all right?

Sam, are you okay?

What's wrong?

Huh?

Hey. What's wrong?

What's wrong?

I heard screaming.

Louisa.

Louisa, wake up. Wake up.

- Daddy.

- Where's Mrs. Amworth?

- What?

- Mrs. Amworth, the babysitter.

Where is she?

I don't know.

So I just went to bed.

Um, I woke up when my dad

came into my room.

And you didn't hear anyone screaming?

Mm-mm.

You, Sam, you said

you heard the sound of screams, right?

I heard her.

It was scary.

Okay.

Ms. Parker.

[Cassandra]

Maybe it's not too far down the road.

[policeman]

Yeah. Yeah.

So, uh, what happens now?

Well, I'm going to take a ride

over to Evelyn's.

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