Thirteen Ghosts Page #6

ARTHUR:

In your dreams, kiddo.

(CONTINUED)

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They come to a great hall, a soaring open space with alarge stained glass ceiling and, strangely, an equallylarge brass and copper floor. With only one other doorat its opposite end, the room is a great glass cube.

RAFKIN:

(under his breath)

Ohhh, Cyrus. What did you do...

ARTHUR:

Okay. First rule. No throwing

stones.

BEN:

It's marvelous, isn't it? A

living work of art.

A few chuckles. But Rafkin looks troubled. Sweat

beads on his forehead. His head is killing him, andhe's rubbing incessantly on his temples.

RAFKIN:

(to Ben)

Excuse me, the sooner you show mewhere you hid the basement thesooner I'm outta here -

BEN:

I believe it's down the hall,

second door on the right.

Rafkin walks off, holding his head, leaving the othersstill examining the house.

Bobby's eye catches on the design in the floor made of aseries of concentric metal rings. There's a brass disk

in the center, two feet in diameter, with symbols etchedinto its surface, spinning slowly.

Bobby goes to place his foot on it, when Arthur lifts him

up.

ARTHUR:

Don't touch anything. At least

until we got some propertyinsurance.

He places Bobby down beside Kathy and Maggie.

BEN:

Arthur, we have some papers tosign in the library. After that,

I'll give you a tour of the place.

Arthur turns to the three of them.

(CONTINUED)

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ARTHUR:

I don't want you guys to move fromthis spot. We'll be right back.

KATHY:

Dad -

BOBBY:

What happened to checking out ournew digs?

ARTHUR:

You can see it all from here.

KATHY:

Dad... you're being paranoid andoverprotective.

ARTHUR:

Yeah... of all this stuff. I know

you guys too well.

(points to spot)

Stay. Right. Here. I mean it.

The three of them nod, appeasing him. Arthur and Ben

walk off.

After a beat, Kathy, Maggie and Bobby slip away...

28 INT. BASEMENT 28

Rafkin descends the stairs. Downstairs is a maze of

narrow glass corridors. Not much else. It's all very

clean and sterile. Not a spider web in the joint. In

fact, there's nothing alive down here.

Rafkin removes a pair of ghost glasses. Slips them on.

An AUDIO PIERCING GAINS in VOLUME with every step Rafkintakes.

THROUGH GHOST GLASSES

RAFKIN:

Alright, you sick bastard, where'dyou put my money?

As soon as Rafkin reaches the bottom step, he's assaultedfull force by the psychic waves around him.

RAFKIN:

Aaahh!!

(CONTINUED)

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He keels over and vomits.

The assault becomes too much, he collapses against a wall.

When he doubles over in pain... we reveal a ghost behindhim in the glass. It's a teenager from the '50s, a high-

schooler in a letterman's coat, the victim of a horrific

auto crash. He holds a baseball bat menacingly over his

shoulder.

Rafkin, sensing its proximity, turns as the ghost swingsthe bat with all his might. Instinctively Rafkin leapsback, but the glass holding the ghost holds. With

exception of the red symbols that EXPLODE across itssurface, the barrier remains intact.

But the ghost within is suddenly gone...

Rafkin lands with fright a few feet back up the hallway.

RAFKIN:

Sweet Jesus... not you.

As he turns about him, another ghost launches out of thedarkness at him, only to be stopped by the glass. It's

an older, Pilgrimess woman in stocks.

Rafkin's jolted by this vision. He's driven to the other

side of the hallway. Again, when he turns around, the

ghost is gone. He turns to face the Fat Man and the

Little Woman ghosts.

This sends him flying.

Rafkin races back down the corridor in shock. Soon he's

lost in the underground maze of glass, confused by allthe twists and turns.

He finally reaches the foot of the stairs.

And bolts up them...

CUT TO:

29 INT. CYRUS'S LIBRARY 29

Ancient weapons are displayed hanging on the walls.

Arthur and Ben take them in.

ARTHUR:

Was Cyrus a hunter?

(CONTINUED)

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BEN:

You could say that.

Arthur's attention is now drawn to the rare collection

of books piled up against the walls. We PAN, FOLLOWING

Arthur, discovering a pair of ghost glasses on a shelf.

ARTHUR:

This is incredible, Chaucer,

Dickens, Hemingway... these are allfirst editions.

Arthur carefully handles the books.

BEN:

Your uncle was quite a collector.

Of many things.

Ben removes a folder of papers from his briefcase. Lays

them across the desk. Hands Arthur a pen. Arthur

reluctantly pulls himself away from collection.

BEN:

I've highlighted where you'resupposed to sign.

(indicating)

First here -

Arthur takes the pen from him, pauses.

ARTHUR:

Look, I didn't want to bring thisup in front of the kids. This

place... it's amazing, and we'reextremely grateful, believe me,

but I don't know how we can

afford it... I'm just a teacher...

and the taxes on it must be...

well, to be honest...

(long beat, almost

to himself)

... a fire took away everything wehad...

BEN:

Not to worry, Arthur, your unclewas a genius with finances. He

took care of everything. Estate

taxes. Inheritance taxes, you name

it. You'll never have to worryabout money ever again.

Arthur takes this in. Scans the documents. Finds

the highlighted area, and is just about to sign, when...

(CONTINUED)

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RAFKIN (O.S.)

Arthur!!

Arthur looks up and sees --Rafkin standing in the doorway,

looking horrible, out of breath, trying like hell to shedthe vomit-stained Power & Light jumpsuit he's been wearing.

RAFKIN:

(panicked, rambling)

We gotta talk.

Arthur looks with panic at Ben.

ARTHUR:

What the hell's wrong with thebreakers?

RAFKIN:

My name's Dennis Rafkin, and I -

BEN:

Sh*t, you're Dennis Rafkin?

(to Arthur)

My office warned me about this guy.

RAFKIN:

(an urgency in

his voice)

You gotta listen to me... thisis gonna be hard to swallow...

but I used to hunt displacedspiritual energy... with youruncle.

ARTHUR:

What?

RAFKIN:

... P.K. agents, Revenants, Eidolons,

Umbras, wraiths... any of this ring abell?

Arthur looks back and forth from the lawyer to the vomit-

stained psychic, thoroughly confused. Rafkin takes a beat.

RAFKIN:

Alright, let's do this the easy way.

Ghosts, Arthur. I used to hunt

ghosts with your uncle Cyrus and -

ARTHUR:

Ghosts??

Ben starts laughing, more loudly than is appropriate.

(CONTINUED)

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RAFKIN:

(rolling his eyes,

stating the obvious)

Disgruntled souls trapped on earthbecause of unfinished business,

yes.

(to Arthur)

Listen, you gotta get your kidsand get the hell out of here, now.

BEN:

This is one for the books. I

never met a real live lunatic

before.

RAFKIN:

Hey, a**hole, I'm not talking to

you. You can stay in here as long

as you want.

(to Arthur)

I know it sounds crazy, but thisis serious. The basement is filled

with containment cubes. If I were

you -

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