They Page #5

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A:

soft THUMP echoes from somewhere in the woods. A place just beyond the wall of

pine branches and shrubbery that shivers in the breeze.

Sam

and Julia look around. They wait. Nothing. Nobody.

SAM:

(slight grin)

The

Boogeyman lives here.

JULIA:

So

will you if you keep talking like that.

They

keep walking. A beat passes.

SAM:

Julia?

Can I ask you something?

JULIA:

Go

ahead.

SAM:

Last

night on the road, after I took the picture and we started walking to Paul's

car, did you have the same feeling?

JULIA:

What

feeling?

SAM:

That

we were being chased.

Julia

doesn't say anything.

She

stops cold in her tracks. Just ahead of her, resting motionless in the ditch,

is ...

A:

BODY ...

Swathed

in dark fur, twisted at a pathetic angle, huge gashes in its side. The corpse

of a Doberman pinscher. Flies are

BUZZING and swarming over the dog's open wounds.

Julia

and Sam move towards the dog's lifeless form.

JULIA:

There's

your monster.

SAM:

That's

a dog.

JULIA:

Right.

Sam

kneels in front of the corpse. Waves off some flies.

SAM:

That's

not what I saw.

JULIA:

I:

don't see any other corpses on the side of the road, do you?

A:

long moment. Sam stares back down at the Doberman's body.

SAM:

That's

not what I saw.

CLOSE:

ON THE DOG:

Eyes

slightly open. A misshapen form plagued with flies.

The

sound of INSECTS SWARMING drowns out the WIND HISSING through the trees.

EXT. FOREST - WALKING TRAIL - DAY

Paul

is jogging through the woods. A light mist hangs in the cool air. The sounds of

the forest surround him.

Suddenly,

the birds stop singing. Paul becomes aware of this. He stops running and looks

around. The forest is deathly still.

The

sound of a TWIG being crushed underfoot. Then nothing.

Another

moment. Paul keeps going, a chill on his spine, looking back over his shoulder.

EXT. SANTA MIRA - TOWN SQUARE - DAY

A:

picture postcard community consisting of quaint storefront shops and manicured

parks.

Paul

stands right in front of a freshly painted realty office building with a

picketed fence, sipping a Coke, watching a HOMELESS WOMAN across the street screaming and shouting at traffic. She's right next to the parked Range

Rover.

Julia

walks out of the realty office.

PAUL:

Finished?

JULIA:

Done.

The cabin has a buyer.

PAUL:

What

about the movers?

JULIA:

They're

coming on Sunday afternoon so we'll have to start packing.

The

homeless woman starts walking off down the sidewalk. Moving away from the

Rover's parking space.

PAUL:

Good.

She's leaving. I thought we were gonna have to make a run for the car.

JULIA:

I:

feel sorry for those people.

PAUL:

Me

too. But that doesn't mean I want to get screamed at.

JULIA:

People

are ignoring her. Maybe that's the only way she can get attention.

PAUL:

She's

doing a good job. Kept me away.

They

start crossing the street towards the car.

JULIA:

How

does someone end up like that?

PAUL:

I:

think we're witnessing it first-hand with Sam. What did you guys find on the

road anyway?

JULIA:

A:

dog.

Paul

stares at her. Surprised.

PAUL:

Really?

JULIA:

Yeah.

Personally, I'm glad we didn't find Frankenstein's monster.

PAUL:

You

just like being right.

JULIA:

(grins)

Damn

straight.

EXT. CABIN - WALKING TRAIL - DAY

Sam

heads away from the cabin, his drawing sketch pad under his arm, moving into

the woods.

INT. CABIN - BASEMENT - DAY

A:

picture is lifted out of the developing basin. The shot of the little girl from

the party. Her expression is distant. Tortured.

Bathed

in the red light, Julia gazes at the picture for a moment, then places it to

the side. She goes to work on the next piece of developing paper into the

basin. She waits. Rocks the basin a bit.

The

TIMER in the basement TICKS.

The

picture starts to manifest. The photo of the children and pool shed at Sam's

house.

Julia

frowns slightly. Something is wrong with the photograph as the details become

more tangible. She lifts the photo out of the basin. Mystified.

CLOSE:

ON:
THE PHOTO

Standing just inside the shed's door is a

BLURRED FIGURE. Featureless. Barely distinguishable. Hiding in the dark.

EXT. WOODS - WALKING TRAIL - DAY

Sam

is sitting on a fallen tree trunk, sketching on his drawing pad with a feverish

intensity.

CLOSE:

ON:
THE DRAWING

A:

rough drawing of the animal's leg, intertwined with steel rods and metal

threads which culminate in a large pulley where the hip bone should be.

INT. CABIN - LIVING ROOM - NIGHT

A:

warm and comfortable cabin. Simple and subdued.

Paul

is seated on the couch, typing into his powerbook which is hooked up into a

phone jack in the wall. Julia stands next to him, holding the photograph.

JULIA:

I've

never seen anything like this before. I thought it might be a flaw in the

negative, but now I'm not so sure. Will you take a look?

PAUL:

(not paying attention)

Okay.

He

keeps watching.

JULIA:

Today.

PAUL:

I'm

busy.

JULIA:

You're

in a chat room with a bunch of strangers.

PAUL:

(defensive)

They're

friends.

JULIA:

Oh

yeah? What are their last names?

They

sit face to face. Paul is speechless for a moment, then impatiently takes the

photograph and looks at it.

PAUL:

I:

don't see anything.

He

puts the photo down and gets back to the chat room.

JULIA:

You

didn't even look.

PAUL:

(he didn't)

I:

looked.

JULIA:

There's

somebody in the shed. I couldn't see it when I took the picture, but now it's

there.

PAUL:

I:

know. Usually when you take a picture, you can't see a blur.

Paul

smiles at her. Completely smug. Julia stares right back.

JULIA:

Give

your "friends" my best.

Julia

takes the photograph and leaves. Paul types into his computer: "JULIA

SENDS HER BEST." The message pops up next to his user name. Within

seconds, several other user names in the chat room respond with "WHO'S

JULIA???"

INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT

Terry

is sitting on the counter, twirling her hair and chatting on a CELL PHONE.

Julia enters the kitchen.

TERRY:

(on the phone)

I'm

not kidding, Dana. There's no phone.

(beat)

There's

a jack and the phone line works, but there's no phone. Uh-huh.

Paul was able to get on the internet. I'm using his cell.

JULIA:

(quietly)

I:

need you to look at something.

Terry

nods.

TERRY:

Hold on.

JULIA:

Here.

Julia

holds out the picture. Terry looks it over briefly.

TERRY:

(polite)

Nice

picture.

She

gets back to her phone conversation.

TERRY:

(cont'd)

I'm

back.

(beat)

I:

don't know if he has any free minutes, but he definitely won't after this

conversation. Uh-huh. Thank God for AirTouch.

Frustrated,

Julia takes the picture and leaves the kitchen.

EXT. CABIN - FRONT PORCH - NIGHT

The

air is completely still. A hush has fallen. The only sound is the ocean and crickets chirping in the grass.

Julia

wanders outside holding some of the developed photographs from the party. Sam

is sitting on the front steps, working on his drawing.

JULIA:

Sam?

Could you look at...

Sam

looks up from his drawing pad.

SAM:

What?

Beat.

JULIA:

Never

mind.

Julia

sits on the porch glider and looks through the photos. The little girl looking

back over her shoulder. The blurred shape inside of the shed.

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