The Sandman

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1

WOMAN:
Please, no!

Someone help me!

- Anybody! Please!

- [thunderclap]

No! Get away from me!

GIRL:
Daddy?

[woman screaming]

GIRL:
Daddy!

I'm hungry.

I know. Me too.

Don't worry.

It's all gonna be over soon.

[siren blaring]

[police car passes]

[thunderclap]

- [thunderclap]

- [gasp]

[metal creaks]

[squeaking]

Hello?

Someone there?

[thunderclap]

[squeaking]

Told you it's the Sandman

Here comes the Sandman

- Daddy?

- Oh, jeez! Oh!

Hey, I told you

to wait in the car.

[rustling]

It's here, isn't it?

Mm-hmm.

Okay, let's go.

Let's go.

- [gasps]

- Watch it.

[police radio chatter]

Okay.

We have to go out

the back, okay?

Let's go. We gotta go.

Go, go, go.

Go, go, go.

Okay, almost there.

Daddy!

Okay, they probably

have a key up front.

I'm scared.

All right, remember what

Dr. Elliot told you to do

whenever you get scared?

Just close your eyes

and count back from five.

Okay?

Okay.

I'll be right back, okay?

Five.

MADISON:
Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

See? Everything's gonna be--

Daddy?

Daddy!

[sand falling]

[rock]

[camera clicks]

Don't have a horse

in this race

Or a smile on my face

I don't need to come clean

when I meet you

I'm a live machine

All right, you can

lean back a little

and rest your head

in your hand.

[continues]

Wanna bring in the stool?

Sort of drape your leg over.

And lose the bra.

Okay, hold it.

Move those to the selects.

- These two?

- Yeah.

All right.

How come you don't pose?

'Cause somebody has

to take the pictures.

Yeah, but you're hotter

than half the girls in here.

- Only half?

- Uh-huh.

And I suppose you'd want me to

take my clothes off too, right?

Is that an offer?

There is just

one little problem.

What's that?

You'd have to figure out

how to take the lens cap off.

- I'd have figured that out.

- Oh.

Eventually.

[phone ringing]

This is Claire.

[door closes]

DETECTIVE:
When was the last

time you saw your brother?

It had been awhile.

He moved around a lot.

He ever say why?

When you have

a rough childhood,

it's hard to feel comfortable.

Any idea what

he was doing upstate?

Is this about my brother's death

or my brother?

Answer the question.

[sighs]

No. No idea.

And you had

no contact with him?

Every once in a while

I would get an email, okay?

That's it.

What is this about?

Did he do something wrong?

Parker, Arizona.

Crawford, Colorado.

Farmington, New Mexico.

Each of these were taken when

your brother was either living

or staying within

five miles of the scene.

Now, I'm gonna ask you again.

Do you have any idea what

your brother was doing upstate?

All right.

I think we're done here.

Do me a favor.

Stay available...

just in case we have

any more questions.

Wait.

My brother's daughter,

Madison.

Where is she?

DOCTOR:
The child is exhibiting

extreme signs

of post-traumatic stress.

It's not surprising,

given the circumstances.

The police interviewed her

at length,

regarding the death

of her father,

but she was uncooperative.

Has she said anything

about that night?

Madison thinks someone

named "The Sandman"

is responsible

for the death of her father.

The Sandman?

Children often make up

boogeymen

to deal with

their real life fears.

Fear of the dark,

fear of the unknown.

I think this Sandman

is Madison's way

of dealing with

the death of her parents.

Is this for her protection?

Ours.

[buzz]

No! Let go of me!

I don't wanna be here anymore!

- I wanna go home!

- Be still!

No! No!

[screaming]

- Be still!

- Let go of me!

How about I give you something

to calm you down?

No!

[glass shatters]

[alarm blaring]

ORDERLY:
Hey!

CLAIRE:
Madison!

- [screams]

- Madison!

- Grab her.

- Come on!

Take her back to the room!

Like I said.

Uncooperative.

Her eyes are so soulful.

I'm Mrs. Farmer.

Department

of Children's Services.

Claire.

My brother told me

she was born en-caul.

It's where the amniotic sac

is still intact.

Apparently, it's special.

It's supposed to be

a sign of luck.

Madison is a lot things.

I wouldn't say lucky's

one of them.

Miss Blake, do you have

a moment where we could...

go somewhere and chat?

Yeah.

The good news, Miss Blake,

is we have a system in place

to help children like your niece

receive the care that she needs.

You mean with someone

other than with her family.

I assumed, with your background,

you wouldn't be seeking custody.

- What does that mean?

- Miss Blake--

Don't you think we should be

talking about this first?

Do you have any experience

raising a child?

No.

- Are you married?

- No.

What about your career?

Okay, look.

I understand that I'm not

a perfect housewife, okay?

But my brother would have

never wanted his daughter

raised by strangers.

Even if those strangers

were better equipped

to see that his daughter

received a proper upbringing?

Am I gonna need a lawyer?

Can you afford one?

Miss Blake, because you are

the girl's only living relative,

no one can prevent you

from taking custody temporarily.

Permanent guardianship, however,

is another matter.

Daddy?

- [screaming]

- [beeping accelerates]

Help! Somebody!

What's happening? Madison?

- She's having a nightmare!

- Madison?

Get away from me!

Four milligrams of ketamine.

Madison, hey, can you hear me?

Can you hear me?

[beeping decelerates]

Hey.

There you are.

It's all right.

It's just a dream.

Is he gone?

Who?

The Sandman.

Yeah.

He's gone.

You're safe.

Hey, do you know who I am?

Aunt Claire?

You can just call me

Claire, okay?

Hopefully you're gonna come

live with me really soon.

How does that sound?

Don't make promises.

She's just a little girl.

She needs some hope.

She needs to stay here

for further examination.

Indefinitely.

He's scary.

He just wants

what's best for you.

Can you stay with me

till I fall back asleep?

I'll do even better and stay

with you while you're asleep.

How's that sound?

Shortly after she arrived,

Madison started exhibiting

symptoms of night terrors.

After one of the orderlies

was hurt,

we started a policy

of restraining her at bedtime.

Typical patient might suffer

one to two episodes a week.

Madison suffers

three to four a night.

We recommend that Madison

remain in our care

for further observation.

[hinge creaking]

[clicking]

[creak]

Miss Duffy?

You know you're not supposed to

be out of your room after 11.

[girl whimpering]

Miss Duffy?

I know you're in here

somewhere.

Megan, what are you doing

down there?

He... He...

He was... there.

- [sand rustling]

- [Megan whimpers]

[screaming]

Oh, don't worry about him.

That's just Stanley.

Hi, Stanley!

Let's go.

It's just

right through there.

Hey! There she is!

Wyatt, this is Madison.

Madison, this is my...

This is Wyatt.

Hi, Madison.

So what do you think?

I painted the walls,

I got some toys.

CLAIRE:
Oh. Bow and arrow

for a little girl?

- Yeah.

- Mm-hmm.

Where'd you get

all this stuff?

Goodwill.

I had like a $5 budget.

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