The Rake

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1

Ben, that's too heavy for you.

Just wait for your dad.

CASSIE:
Okay, just put it

by the table.

ASHLEY:
I wanna see it.

- Or just drop it right there.

- Ashley!

It's okay, sweetie. We just have

to put it back in

because if Santa steps on one

of these ornaments he might just

- drop off your gifts next door.

- [BALLS TUMBLING]

[GASPS]

- I'm kidding.

- [BOTH LAUGHING]

I'm kidding. Want to spin? Yeah.

- CASSIE:
Yay!

- ASHLEY:
Yay.

BEN:
Dad!

MAN ON TV:
There's decay

feeding on fear, hate, death.

Death is everywhere.

No one is immune.

I see the pain you've given me

as a gift.

Once you give in...

things become much easier.

DAVID ON RECORDING: What else

has it told you?

Look at me, Jacob.

What else has it told you?

JACOB ON RECORDING:

Pray for you doctor.

Last night, the rake

spoke your name.

DAVID ON RECORDING:

What is the rake, Jacob?

JACOB ON RECORDING: It's too

hard to describe, doctor.

Murphy's entity draws

inspiration from that

of the Native American Wendigo

and the ancient Celtic Arrach.

This disease attaches itself

to willing or unwilling hosts

and grows inside effectively,

leeching off of his or her life.

Jacob believes he must appease

this entity by bringing harm

to himself and infecting those

around him.

- [DOOR SLAMS]

- Benny, what are you doing out here?

Oh, hey, Dad. Mom needs you.

How long have

you been listening?

I, uh...

Listen, buddy, you don't need

to hear this.

It's grown-up stuff, okay?

Okay, Dad. It's cool though.

I'm not scared of monsters

anymore.

Oh, I forgot you're ten now,

you can't be scared.

- Nope.

- Okay, go tell Mom I'll be down

- in a minute, okay?

- Okay, Dad.

All right.

JACOB ON RECORDING: Death

is everywhere. No one is immun.

It will infect us all.

[INDISTINCT CHATTER]

- [GROWLING]

- [MUFFLED VOICES]

- DAVID:
Oh, nice!

- [CLAPPING]

All right, Benny, dude,

you're up.

- Oh, this is gonna be tough.

- Okay. Yeah.

You know, I'm gonna help

you focus here.

- Oh, yeah, that's helping me?

- Mm-hmm.

- [ALL] Oh!

- [CASSIE LAUGHING]

Okay, guys, game over.

You know what that means, right?

Bedtime.

But I'm not even tired!

[KISSING]

Goodnight.

- Goodnight, dude.

- Goodnight.

- You okay, buddy?

- Yeah.

What you saw earlier...

forget about it, okay?

Part of my job is to help people

with the things they make up.

- You understand?

- I get it, Dad.

It's like your comic books.

It's all make-believe.

Got it.

- DAVID:
Love you, buddy.

- Love you too.

You let him in your office?

No, he just, um, peeked in

for a second, that's all.

A second is all it takes, David.

You're right. I'm sorry.

It's okay, just keep the door

locked from now on, okay?

I will. I...

I've just been pounding my brain

over this one.

Oh, sweetie, uh, I know, I...

I can tell.

You'll figure it out.

You always do and that's why

I love you...

Dr. Warren.

I got to go clean up.

[MOANS] Okay.

Don't keep me waiting, okay.

[CASSIE SIGHS]

[DOOR CREAKS]

BEN:
What are you doing?

I heard scary noises in my room.

- What are you looking at?

- Nothing.

- You can't look at this.

- Come on, I wanna see.

Nobody knows where it comes from

but it's always there...

watching over while you sleep.

Waiting for you to open

your eyes for the last time.

It stalks its prey.

It hides and watches you

without you even knowing.

It waits for the perfect moment

when you're least expecting.

It's got one hooked claw

and the other hand has nails

so big

- they look like butcher knives!

- Stop!

You're such a baby.

Do you want me to stop?

You're scaring me.

I don't like this story.

Okay fine, I'll stop.

I told you were too young

for this stuff.

[THUDS]

Oh. Ben?

You gotta be kidding me.

[SIGHS]

Seriously.

[CASSIE GRUNTS]

- [GRUNTS]

- [CASSIE PANTS]

CASSIE:
David! [GRUNTS]

David!

JACOB ON RECORDING: It's here,

it's always here.

- [CRIES] David!

- What was that?

CASSIE:
Stay back! [CRIES]

[CASSIE PANTING]

Go to your room!

JACOB ON RECORDING: The Rake is

a disease that needs no motive,

once you give in...

- [PANTING]

- BEN:
What's going on?

- Listen to me. Listen to me.

- ASHLEY:
Mommy.

You have to stay here, okay?

Be very quiet.

- I'm going to get help.

- ASHLEY:
Mommy.

Just be quiet, okay? Okay? Okay?

[CASSIE WHISPERS] Okay?

Stay quiet, okay?

- I love you.

- BEN:
Mom?

- [BREATHING HEAVILY]

- [DOOR KNOB RATTLING]

- [THUDS]

- [CASSIE GRUNTS]

[CASSIE PANTING]

David! David!

CASSIE:
David!

JACOB ON RECORDING:

...traumatizing but...

- [BANGING ON DOOR]

- ...what came out of her...

[CASSIE CRIES]

[KNIFE TEARS]

[SIGHS]

In conclusion, Jacob's obsession

with the Rake could be seen

as a supernatural hallucination.

DAVID:
Cassie!

[GASPS]

[DOOR CREAKS]

JACOB ON RECORDING:

Beyond compare...

it convinced me to come

to the despair.

I see the pain you've given me

as a gift. Once you give in...

death, rebirth...

giving and taking.

[BOTH GASP]

It will infect us all.

JACOB ON RECORDING: These scars

are testament

to my transformation.

- Honey.

- NICOLE:
What?

- Is everything okay?

- Yeah. I'm fine.

- Our new chapter, right?

- Right.

- Ready?

- Mm-hmm.

Nah, hold on.

- Let's do this the right way.

- [NICOLE CHEERS]

There's something to be said

about tradition.

Looks like everything got here

in one piece.

- Where do you want to start?

- I don't know. Tell me,

- where do you want to start?

- Oh, okay, I'm sorry, what were

you just saying to me

about tradition?

Is this for real

Or is this a dream?

I find it hard

Hard to believe

Don't wake me up

Because it feels

Because it feels

[ANDREW SIGHS]

There is so much sh*t

in that barn.

Like, literal sh*t?

Yeah, like, literal sh*t.

Come here.

- So, what do you think?

- Mm...

I definitely think

it's a fixer-upper.

But that's okay.

- I'm used to those.

- Oh!

- Is that so?

- Mm-hmm.

Was I really that bad?

No. Otherwise,

I never would've said "I do."

- Point taken. Ouch.

- [CHUCKLES]

- I'm glad you did.

- Me too.

Stop distracting me.

We got work to do. We got people

- coming over tomorrow.

- Okay, okay, boss.

What time are they coming?

Ben and Michelle said six

and then Ashley...

I don't know.

Don't worry, it's going

to work out, all right.

There's my woman.

How are you doing?

- Good.

- Good?

Good.

[MOANING]

[DOORBELL RINGS]

Swear to God that better be

f***ing God.

- Hey.

- Hey! We weren't expecting you

so early. Did you have a friend

drop you off?

- Uh, I took a cab.

- Great, come in.

Sorry about the mess, we were

gonna have everything

all cleared up by the time

everyone got here tomorrow.

It's so good to see you!

Here.

Thank you.

That's very thoughtful of you.

- What is it?

- It's a spider plant.

Native, is it?

I don't know.

I just know they're, like,

impossible to kill.

Low maintenance. Come in,

I'll show you around.

- We can put this away.

- [ASHLEY LAUGH]

Come on!

I'm down to 14 today, I think.

Half are for my anxiety, mixed

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