HELEN
Wells, come look at this.
Brady steps over to the counter.
CU LEDGER - the pages are stained and wrinkled, like someone once spilled water on them. Many of the signatures of past visitors are blurred or smudged to the point of illegibility. The names we can read are all suspiciously anonymous--lots of Smiths, Joneses, and Johnsons.
HELEN
Seems a little odd, don't you think?
BRADY
I'm too tired to tell anymore. Can we just get checked in?
The manager returns. He hands them each a room key.
MANAGER
If there's anything you need, please don't hesitate to ask me. I'm always at the disposal of my guests.
EXT. OASIS MOTEL
Brady and Helen, tired as hell, trudge up the stairs to their second-floor rooms. They reach their doors--numbers 207 and 208.
BRADY
This is my stop.
HELEN
Yep.
BRADY
I should warn you, I like to have the t.v. on at night. It helps me sleep. I'll try to keep the volume down.
HELEN
That's okay--if it's too loud, I'll just come over there and kick your ass.
They unlock and open their doors. The rooms are like mirror images of each other--a sagging bed, an old t.v., a small nightstand supporting a crooked lamp and a clock.
They step into their respective rooms.
INT. BRADY'S MOTEL ROOM
Brady dumps his overnight bag on the bed and turns on the television.
INT. HELEN'S MOTEL ROOM
Helen surveys the room, not looking too happy. She switches the television's ON-OPF switch to ON. Nothing. She snaps it back and forth a few times. No deal.
CUT TO:
INT. BRADY'S MOTEL ROOM - LATER
Brady is lounging on the bed watching television. Through the thin wall, the RING of Helen's phone can be heard. Brady doesn't seem to notice.
INT. HELEN'S MOTEL ROOM
From the amount of steam in the room and the sound of RUNNING WATER, it looks like Helen is finally taking that shower.
The phone is still RINGING. It's an ancient princess model with a ring like a fire alarm. After five or six RINGS there is a MUFFLED CURSE from inside the bathroom. The WATER STOPS.
INT. BRADY'S MOTEL ROOM
Brady flipping through channels...
Click: An old black-and-white cartoon.
Click: Some artsy-looking thing, shot in negative exposure and accompanied by AIRY SYNTH MUSIC.
Click: STATIC, with a hint of a human image behind.
Click: Another old cartoon.
INT. HELEN'S MOTEL ROOM
Helen comes out of the bathroom wrapped in a long bathrobe, hair in a towel, looking pissed. The phone is STILL RINGING.
The steam seems to have thickened. She's trying to reach the phone, but can't quite seem to get there. It's as if she keeps getting set back. The phone is STILL RINGING.
Suddenly time jumps--Helen's got the receiver in her hand, held up to her ear. She looks surprised. We never saw her actually pick up the phone.
HELEN
Hello?
VAGUE NOISES on the other end of the line--static, pops--but no reply.
HELEN
Is that you, Brady?
The NOISES seem to coalesce into something like a VOICE, or SEVERAL VOICES not quite in sync. It doesn't sound like English. It barely sounds human--full of HISSES and GRUNTS.
Helen seems mesmerized for a moment. Then the spell breaks, and she SLAMS the phone down.
INT. BRADY'S MOTEL ROOM
Brady is still channel surfing. He stops on a--
COMMERCIAL
Poor reception, lots of static. Gaudy yellow letters--"The Encyclopedia of the Unknown"--dissolve into a forest scene--someone with a HAND-HELD CAMERA running headlong through the woods, as though running for his life.
MAN'S VOICE (V.O.)
Do you really want to know the truth about Bigfoot?
... the picture changes to a collection of sunken ships, their hulls split and broken ...
MAN'S VOICE (V.O.)
... the Bermuda Triangle?
... changes to a YOUNG WOMAN standing in a crowded elevator, casting terrified glances at a MAN IN A SUIT standing next to her ...
MAN'S VOICE (V.O.)
... extra-sensory perception?
... and finally dissolves into a blandly handsome BLOND MAN sitting at desk, a set of encyclopedia-type books stacked in front of him. The poor reception makes the man look gruesome, cadaverous. He stares piercingly into the camera.
BLOND MAN (ON T.V.)
"The Encyclopedia of the Unknown" can give you the answers. There's only one question: Do you really want to know?
The man on screen holds his pose uncomfortably long.
Brady finally changes the channel--CLICK. It's the commercial again.
BLOND MAN
Do you really want to know?
Click: the commercial.
BLOND MAN
Do you really want to know?
Brady scans through the channels faster. Click.
BLOND MAN
--really want to know?
Click.
BLOND MAN
--want to know?
Click.
BLOND MAN
--to know?
Click.
BLOND MAN
--know?
Click.
BLOND MAN
--know?
Click--
The blond man is replaced by a GRAINY VIDEO of a man and a woman talking. The angle is odd--shot from about waist level and looking almost straight up. It is dead silent.
Because of the odd angle, it takes Brady a moment to recognize the two people--himself and Helen, talking in the autopsy room two days before, as seen through Larry Johnson's dead eyes.
CUT TO:
INT. HELEN'S MOTEL ROOM
Helen, in sweats, opens the door to her room. Brady is outside with his overnight bag.
BRADY
Okay, I know you're going to call me paranoid, out I think it might be a good idea if we didn't stay in separate rooms tonight. If it's a problem for you, that's okay, but with all--
HELEN
Come on in.
Brady is surprised to hear Helen agree so quickly. He steps into the room.
HELEN
I'll warn you, the t.v. doesn't work.
BRADY
No problem.
The door SLAMS shut.
CUT TO:
INT. HELEN'S MOTEL ROOM - LATER
Helen is on the bed, doing some paperwork. Brady comes out of the bathroom in a t-shirt and pajama bottoms with a toothbrush in his mouth.
BRADY
(a little slurred)
Whatcha working on?
HELEN
Our expense report. I can't figure out the difference between "general" and "miscellaneous."
Brady turns to the sink and finishes brushing his teeth.
HELEN
Wells ... can I ask you something?
BRADY
Shoot.
HELEN
Why did you join the FBI?
BRADY
Got tired of kicking in crack house doors.
HELEN
You could have taken another police assignment for that--some speedtrap out in the suburbs. What drew you to the Bureau?
BRADY
Do you really want to know? You'll laugh.
HELEN
Try me.
BRADY
You remember the t.v. show The F.B.I.?
HELEN
(laughing)
With Efram Zimbalist, Jr.?
BRADY
Who?
HELEN
The main guy, what's his name ... Erskine.
BRADY
Yeah, that's the show--not the later one, with the guy from Mannix.
HELEN
You're seriously te
lling me you joined the FBI because of a television show?
BRADY
No, that's bullshit. Just me trying to sound cool. I'm not sure if I can explain what led me to join the Bureau, or even what made me want to be a cop in the first place. It would probably come out something like what Ricky said, you know? Being able to do something about all the bad shit in the world.
HELEN
I think I know what you mean. Except it never seems to end--for every bad thing you turn over there's something worse underneath. And under that ... and under that.
BRADY
You never find that one big thing at the heart of it all. (Beat) Okay, so do I get to ask you something now? Since we're bonding and everything?
HELEN
Sure, go ahead.
BRADY
When we were in the car, during the storm ... you said you'd heard that sound before.
HELEN
Did I? I must have been thinking of that tornado that picked up my house when I was a little girl back in Kansas.
BRADY
Come on--no more bullshit.
HELEN
Right. No more bullshit. (Beat) Do you dream, Wells? I mean, I know everybody dreams, but do you remember your dreams?
BRADY
Sometimes.
HELEN
Have you ever had a dream where you're terrified, but you can't tell exactly what you're terrified of? Maybe it's a dark room, or a flight of stairs ... or some curtains that are fluttering just a bit.
Brady jerks a little at the word "curtains," but Helen doesn't notice--she's starting to space out a bit, caught in the spell of her description.
HELEN
Nothing especially disturbing in itself, but still you feel that fear of something infinitely terrible. And the last thing you want to know is what that something is. The knowing would be the worst part. And it gets so bad that that you have to wake yourself up before you're ripped apart by your own terror.
She comes back from her spell and looks at Brady.
HELEN
Have you ever had a dream like that? Because, lately, I have. And the sound in them is just like that storm.
Brady looks away.
BRADY
You're just overworked. We both are. Let's get some sleep.
CUT TO:
INT. HELEN'S MOTEL ROOM - LATER
The two agents are asleep, Helen in her bed, Brady in a chair. They are restless--having bad dreams.
DREAM SEQUENCE - Brady and Helen stand together in an elevator, not unlike the one in FBI headquarters. Their stance is awkward and oddly posed--they look as if they've been caught off-guard, then frozen in place. TREACLY ELEVATOR MUZAK is playing a familiar but unidentifiable tune.
MOTEL ROOM - CU ON BRADY
He is twitching slightly.
DREAM
The elevator stops. The doors open a few inches. We get a glimpse of BLACKNESS on the other side--not just shadow, but a living darkness that seems to churn like a whirlpool. The muzak is drowned out by a ROARING like an approaching tornado.
MOTEL ROOM - CU ON HELEN
Her face is twisted into a look of pain.
DREAM
The doors open a little further, revealing more of the abysmal blackness. The ROARING GROWS. In the elevator, the agents are still frozen in place. A few more inches. The roar has become a HOWL.
Finally the agents move, stepping through the doors into the roaring blackness--
MOTEL ROOM
The HOWL in the dream becomes the cacophonous RINGING of the phone. Both agents wake with a start and sit bolt upright. The phone RINGS again. Brady picks it up.
BRADY
Hello?
No reply ... at first.
BRADY
Hello?
STATICKY VOICE (ON PHONE)
Hello? Brady, is that you?
Brady turns his eyes to Helen. Though nearly lost in a storm of vague BACKGROUND NOISES, the voice on the phone is clearly hers.
The voice changes slightly--still a near-perfect imitation of Helen's, but muffled, as though spoken through clenched teeth.
STATICKY VOICE (ON PHONE)
Three o'clock. Showtime.
Brady and Helen look at the motel clock: Its green luminescent hands point to three o'clock ... a.m.
STATICKY VOICE (ON PHONE)
You don't want to miss it.
The voice is lost in HISSES and POPS.
CUT TO:
INT. HELEN'S MOTEL ROOM - A FEW MINUTES LATER
Helen comes out of the bathroom after hastily throwing some clothes on. Brady, already dressed, is dialing Helen's cell phone.
HELEN
Any luck with Ricky?
BRADY
I'm trying right now.
We hear a number of RINGS ON THE PHONE, then a CLICK as the line is PICKED UP.
BRADY
Ricky?
No--the unmistakable HISS of an answering machine tape. The voice that speaks is not Ricky Smith's.
ANSWERING MACHINE (ON THE PHONE)
Hi, kids! We've all gone to the magic show! See you there!
CLICK--the machine hangs up.
BRADY
(a bit dazed)
I got his machine.
HELEN
His machine? Brady, you dialed your own cell phone--how could you get a machine?
BRADY
I don't know.
HELEN
Are you sure you dialed the right number?
BRADY
Yes ... I mean, I think so.
HELEN
You think so?
BRADY
Would you just lay off? I don't have the number memorized, all right? I don't usually have to call myself!
Brady starts dialing again. Helen throws her head back in frustration ... then notices something near the door.
HELEN
What is that?
BRADY
(not paying attention)
What is what?
HELEN
(pointing)
That.
Brady looks. On the floor, Just inside the door, is a large manila envelope.
Helen steps cautiously toward the door. She picks up the envelope gingerly. It is labeled "FOR THE NEWLYWEDS." We can hear FAINT RINGING over the cell phone.
Helen unfastens the envelope and lets the contents slide into her hand. It's a black-and-white--
PHOTOGRAPH
--of Brady and Helen together in the Oasis Motel lobby. They look awkward, caught off-guard. It is identical to their positions in the elevator dream.
BRADY
Helen, I had this dream--
HELEN
--about an elevator.
Brady is speechless. From the cell phone in his hand we hear the CLICK of the line picking up.
ANSWERING MACHINE (ON PHONE)
Hi, kids! We've all gone to the magic show! See you there!
EXT. OASIS MOTEL - NIGHT
Brady and Helen come out of the room and look down Main Street.
Crampton is dead but for one building--the Masonic Hall. Though still every inch a ruin from the outside, the hall is brightly lit within. We can hear strains of CALLIOPE MUSIC--that same elusively familiar tune from the elevator dream.
INT. MASONIC HALL
Brady and Helen burst through the door and stop in their tracks, stunned. The Spectacular Display of Illusion and Ventriloquism has begun.
The inside of the hall is completely restored ... no, not restored--new, as it must have looked sixty years ago. Intricate ceiling work, warm gas-fed lamps, tapestries depicting ancient figures--perhaps the original Freemasons.
It is a full house, standing room only. The audience is a collection of ultra-glamorous and artificial-looking men and women--a grotesque version of an Academy Awards or Broadway opening night crowd. Grinning clowns work the crowd, juggling and performing petty sleight-of-hand tricks. The CALLIOPE MUSIC is playing that same tune, over and over and just a little too loud.
What the fuck?
ON STAGE - a VENTRILOQUIST is performing. On his knee is the dummy from Illusions of Empire--Laffo.
VENTRILOQUIST
So, Laffo, why do they call you Laffo, anyway?
LAFFO
(in a hillbilly dialect)
A-cuz I'm so funny, I'll make ya Laff yer head off! A-HAW HAW HAW HAW HAW!
Laffo's head starts to SPIN AROUND as he LAUGHS. The LAUGHING becomes an INSANE CACKLING. Suddenly the dummy's head POPS OFF and lands on the floor ... but KEEPS LAUGHING, the mouth still moving in time.
BRADY
What is this?
HELEN
The center ring of the circus.
BRADY
So none of this is real?
HELEN
I don't think that matters anymore.
For a second they're both stunned into silence. Then a look of determination crosses Brady's face.
BRADY
Okay, Helen, let's split up and get a better look at things.
HELEN
What?
BRADY
The weirder things get, the more important it is to go back to the basics, treat it like any other situation, remember?
HELEN
Are you not seeing what I'm seeing? This isn't like any other situation, Brady!
BRADY
I know, but it's the only way we're going to get through this. You take that side, I'll take this side. We'll meet up front, by the stage. Got it?
Helen Just looks dazed.
BRADY
Helen! Have you got that?
HELEN
Got it.
They each draw their sidearms and start moving through the crowd in opposite directions. The audience members don't seem to notice them at all.
ON STAGE - the ventriloquist is standing and waving to the audience, Laffo's head CACKLING AWAY in his other hand. The ventriloquist ducks through the curtain. The CALLIOPE MUSIC ENDS WITH A FLOURISH. An unseen EMCEE'S VOICE fills the room.
EMCEE
(O.S.)
And now, ladies and gentlemen, the moment you've all been waiting for, the centerpiece of our display: The Metamorphosis!
There is the sound of APPLAUSE, though nobody in the audience is actually clapping. Treacly MUZAK, cranked to distorting, is pumped into the hall.
The freckle-faced kid from the Fix-It shop pushes a wheeled platform onto the stage. On it, a LARGE-BODIED FIGURE is tied spreadeagle to a modified wheel of fortune, dressed from head to toe in a skeleton suit. An X is taped across its mouth. The kid dashes off stage.
IN THE CROWD - Brady and Helen are now on opposite sides of the room, separated by the sea of people. Brady waves to get Helen's attention.
BRADY
(shouting)
Helen! Helen!
Crampton Page 7
