Creative Spirit with Screenplay
Page 35
Anna fights for a final breath, then her eyes close. She is dead.
CUT TO:
INT. MASTER BEDROOM
Mason locks the door.
CRIS
Will that keep ghosts out?
MASON
Maybe the statue.
CRIS
Statue? I don’t think I like this.
Mason turns and sees that the portrait of Korban is leaning against the wall. He runs to it, smashes it, and shoves it into the fireplace. It burns, and Korban groans in agony.
MASON
Burn, you bastard.
Something pounds on the door.
STATUE (O.S.)
I'll eat your dreams, sculptor.
Mason runs to the window, opens it, and looks up. Looks down, doesn't like the heights.
MASON
Come on.
CRIS
Where are we going?
MASON
Party time.
They climb out the window as the door begins to splinter.
CUT TO:
EXT. SIDE OF THE MANOR
Mason looks down at the dizzying ground below. He grabs the edge of the cornice and pulls himself up, then closes his eyes and helps Cris up.
Miss Mamie's voice comes from the widow's walk.
MISS MAMIE (O.S.)
Now there's only me, Ephram.
CUT TO:
EXT. WIDOW'S WALK
Mason and Cris climb over the railing. Mason sees Anna lying on the planks. He runs to her and feels for her pulse.
MASON
Anna!
CRIS
Is she—
MASON
Anna, are you all right? Please be all right.
MISS MAMIE
She's never been better.
Anna’s calm face, then...
FADE TO:
INT. MANOR
ANNA'S SPIRIT falls through the manor, swirling, she is aware but confused. She finds herself in the BASEMENT. Out of the darkness steps Rachel's Ghost, glowing with a strange light. When the ghosts speak, their voices are distorted.
ANNA
Where am I?
RACHEL'S GHOST
You're home.
ANNA
No. I was up on the widow's walk, I couldn't breathe.
RACHEL'S GHOST
You're one of us now. You finally belong.
Rachel's Ghost holds out her hand. Anna looks at it, then reaches out her own hand. The TWO HANDS mingle, merge.
ANNA
Are you really me?
RACHEL'S GHOST
I had to lose you so Korban wouldn't have you. But he won anyway.
ANNA
No. He doesn't own me.
More strange GHOSTS emerge from the darkness, including the Girl Ghost.
RACHEL'S GHOST
He owns all of us now. Forever.
CUT TO:
EXT. WIDOW'S WALK
Sylva and Miss Mamie stand triumphantly over Anna. The statue carrying the bust rises through the trap door, walks over and stands above Mason.
Cris retreats to the railing to join Paul and Adam. The dead Abramovs play on. Paul reaches into his mouth and pulls out some black dirt.
As Korban SPEAKS, his voice alternates between coming from the statue and the bust.
SYLVA
(to Korban)
I told you I'd fetch her over.
STATUE
And you've always kept your promises.
MASON
(to the statue)
You sorry dead son of a bitch.
STATUE
Come now, sculptor. What was she to you? Nothing but warm, useless flesh.
Miss Mamie holds up her lantern to see the statue. Mason hugs Anna's body.
MISS MAMIE
You're beautiful, Ephram.
STATUE
Unfinished. But I think I can convince the sculptor to flesh me out.
SYLVA
The spell's about done, Ephram.
STATUE
Lovely to see you again, Sylva.
SYLVA
It hurt me so, having to kill you.
STATUE
It was the only way for us to have forever.
MISS MAMIE
No. You promised me.
STATUE
You hideous cow. How could anyone ever love such as you?
MISS MAMIE
The two of us, you said. And my beauty...
The statue LAUGHS, a wooden, ugly sound. Miss Mamie's face begins to age and sag.
STATUE
Beauty was never yours. It was mine to give and take.
CUT TO:
INT. BASEMENT
The ghosts gather close around Anna.
RACHEL'S GHOST
He burns us, Anna. He haunts us and feeds off our pain.
ANNA
What are you afraid of?
GIRL GHOST
The bad man puts us in the tunnels.
RACHEL'S GHOST
Korban knows what scares us most.
ANNA
What can I do? I'm dead, too.
RACHEL'S GHOST
You're his blood. He needed you to come back so he could call in the fire.
ANNA
You mean "Go out frost, come in fire?" I heard Sylva say that.
RACHEL'S GHOST
It's an old mountain spell, only said backwards.
ANNA
You want me to believe in magic?
RACHEL'S GHOST
Believe what you believe. My mother taught me that.
ANNA
Your mother's on his side.
RACHEL'S GHOST
He's still weak. We have to hurry.
The ghosts hold hands. Rachel's Ghost leads the ghosts in chanting the spell, then Anna joins in.
GHOSTS
Go out fire, come in frost. Go out fire, come in frost. Go out fire, come in frost.
The ghosts merge into one entity, and are absorbed inside Anna. She glows with power.
CUT TO:
EXT. WIDOW'S WALK
The statue wobbles slightly. Mason looks at the lantern that Miss Mamie is holding. Miss Mamie is aging, fading badly. Ransom’s Ghost, George’s Ghost, Lilith, the Abramovs, the cook, and Paul gather around the statue.
STATUE
Say the spell, Sylva.
SYLVA
Give me my years back first. Make me young.
STATUE
Call in the fire for me, and you can have them.
MISS MAMIE
(to Korban, gasping)
I sacrificed everything...for you.
SYLVA
You don't even know what sacrifice is. I'm the one mixed his grave dirt with yarrow and bloodroot and lizard powder. I wrapped it in the bloody burial gown of my own daughter. I'm the one that spelled Ephram up from the dead. And I'm the one that gets to be young forever.
STATUE
(to Sylva)
Say it...
SYLVA
Make me young.
Sylva's wrinkles begin to fade, as if she is stealing Miss Mamie's youth.
SYLVA
Go out frost, come in fire.
Miss Mamie screams as she dries to a desiccated corpse, then to dust which blows away. Mason grabs the lantern she was holding.
CUT TO:
INT. SPENCE'S ROOM
Spence at the typewriter. The portrait of Korban is melting. Spence types: "Go out frost, come in fire."
SYLVA (V.O.)
Go out frost, come in fire.
CUT TO:
EXT. WIDOW'S WALK
Sylva gazes lovingly at the statue.
STATUE
(to Mason)
Worship this dream you have made.
The glowing ANNA-GHOST coalition rises through the roof behind the statue. Lilith sees it and tries to become the smoke again. Anna inhales her.
SYLVA
Look out, Ephram!
Mason looks from Anna's body to the ghost coali
tion.
MASON
Anna? Is that you?
ANNA
We're the fuel. Burn him.
The statue turns. The Anna-ghost coalition merges with the statue and the bust.
SYLVA
(rushing)
Go out frost, come in—
Mason slams the lantern against the statue. The flame leaps over the statue and the bust, burning the fuel of the ghosts. Korban screams.
The FLAMES rise twenty feet above the statue, impossibly high. The statue tries to run, but is blind. Smoke pours from the chimneys in huge puffs. The widow's walk is beginning to catch fire around the statue.
Mason drags Anna's body away from the fire.
Anna coughs and opens her eyes.
MASON
Anna!
ANNA
(weak)
I think I like this side better.
The flames spread wider. The Abramovs slump in their chairs as their instruments burn. Paul, Ransom’s Ghost, and George’s Ghost fade into the fire. Ransom’s Ghost waves at Mason before he disappears.
Cris and Adam run for the trap door and escape. Sylva's shawl catches fire.
MASON
We're cut off.
ANNA
(sitting up)
Over the rail. Maybe we can reach those branches.
Mason looks to the ground sixty feet below and gets dizzy. Anna stands and steadies him.
ANNA
Oh, I forgot. You're afraid of heights.
MASON
I'm more afraid of dying.
ANNA
You ought to be. It really sucks.
They climb over the railing. Anna catches a tree branch, pulls herself over. She reaches back and grabs Mason's hand.
ANNA (CONT'D)
Keep your eyes closed.
MASON
I'll just pretend I'm dreaming.
Anna pulls Mason to safety. They move down the branch, then Sylva comes to the railing. Anna reaches a hand to her.
The fire is growing, the entire manor is burning, with smoke pouring from the windows.
SYLVA
I loved your Momma, but I loved Ephram more.
ANNA
Give me your hand.
SYLVA
I reckon we'll be together till the end of time after all. Only on his side, not mine.
Sylva walks into the fire.
Mason and Anna climb down the tree as the manor burns.
CUT TO:
INT. SPENCE'S ROOM
Spence types the final line of his manuscript: "Go out frost, come in fire." Beneath that, he types "The End."
He sniffs. Smoke. He looks up and the portrait bursts into flames.
Spence's chair falls over backwards, he knocks his manuscript to the floor. He tries to collect the pages, but the flames spread too fast. He runs to the door, sobbing, clutching a few burnt pages.
CUT TO:
EXT. MANOR LAWN
Mason and Anna join Cris on the lawn. Adam and Bridget are at the edge of the forest, watching the manor burn.
Mason puts his arm around Anna.
MASON
Is he gone?
ANNA
He fed on dreams, but he lived in the walls. There's no one left to free him.
Spence stumbles out the front door, his hair singed. He reaches safety and kneels on the grass, looking up at the flames rising into the night sky.
FADE TO:
INT. MANOR LAWN-MORNING
The manor is a heap of ashes, still smoking. Anna and Mason stand by the horse pasture. Mason has a bandage around his head.
The barn lies in ruins, the carriages and hayrake twisted and broken. Adam and Bridget walk in from the road.
BRIDGET
The bridge is gone.
ANNA
Korban took it all with him. Everything that was his.
BRIDGET
We heard some sirens. Maybe somebody from town saw the smoke.
MASON
The bridge was the only way in.
ANNA
Sylva told me there's an old trail down the side of the mountain. I can take a horse to the river and make it into town.
MASON
Need some company?
ANNA
I'm more experienced with horses. It'll be faster if I go alone. But you can help me find a saddle.
They start digging through the barn rubble. The horses are curious and come to watch.
CUT TO:
EXT. MANOR LAWN
Spence, crawling, grabs at pieces of ash as they float down. His face is smudged with charcoal. Bridget stands over him.
BRIDGET
You damned idiot, why don't you move away from the heat?
SPENCE
Word?
BRIDGET
You should be glad that crap got burned. It would have killed your career, if you still had one.
Spence holds up a small piece of ash.
SPENCE
(pathetic)
Ephram. What are the words?
BRIDGET
You said your favorite words were "The End." They sound pretty good to me, too.
She walks away from him.
Spence’s face changes, eyes spark red embers.
SPENCE
(to himself, in Korban’s voice)
It never ends.
CUT TO:
EXT. MANOR LAWN
Anna is mounted on horseback. Cris, Adam, and Paul stand by the rubble. Mason approaches Anna.
MASON
What happened here? I mean, what are we going to tell them?
ANNA
I've got a theory, but a theory is about as useful as a match in hell.
MASON
You were dead.
ANNA
(nods)
Yeah. Did you miss me?
MASON
What was it like? To. . . you know.
Anna looks back at the smoke, then down. On the ground she sees the bouquet of flowers. Now they are alive, vibrant with color.
ANNA
Somebody once told me it's just like being alive, only worse.
Mason picks up the flowers and gives them to Anna.
MASON
See you soon?
Anna gives him her half-smile.
ANNA
If you promise not to carve anything bigger than life for a while.
Anna rides the horse into the woods toward the rocky edge of the mountain and the world.
FADE TO BLACK
Table of Contents
CAST LIST:
Mason Jackson, sculptor
Anna Galloway, paranormal researcher
Ephram Korban, evil indeed industrialist
Sylva Hartley, old witchwoman
William Roth, photographer
Miss Mamie, hostess
Jefferson Spence, pompous writer
Bridget, arm candy
Cris, artist
George’s Ghost, handyman
Table of Contents
You should read these other thrillers because you deserve a strange, daring adventure:
THE RED CHURCH
Book I in the Sheriff Littlefield Series
By Scott Nicholson
For 13-year-old Ronnie Day, life is full of problems: Mom and Dad have separated, his brother Tim is a constant pest, Melanie Ward either loves him or hates him, and Jesus Christ won't stay in his heart. Plus he has to walk past the red church every day, where the Bell Monster hides with its wings and claws and livers for eyes. But the biggest problem is that Archer McFall is the new preacher at the church, and Mom wants Ronnie to attend midnight services with her.
Sheriff Frank Littlefield hates the red church for a different reason. His little brother died in a freak accident at the church twenty years ago, and now Frank is starting to see his brother's ghost.
The Days, the Littlefields, and the McFalls are descendants of the original families that settled the rural Appalachian community. Those old fa
milies share a secret of betrayal and guilt, and McFall wants his congregation to prove its faith. Because he believes he is the Second Son of God, and that the cleansing of sin must be done in blood.
"Sacrifice is the currency of God," McFall preaches, and unless Frank and Ronnie stop him, everybody pays.
Learn more about the real haunted church that inspired The Red Church or view it for Kindle at Amazon or Amazon UK
DRUMMER BOY
Book II in the Sheriff Littlefield Series
By Scott Nicholson
On an Appalachian Mountain ridge, three boys hear the rattling of a snare drum deep inside a cave known as "The Jangling Hole," and the wind carries a whispered name.
It's the eve of a Civil War re-enactment, and the town of Titusville is preparing to host a staged battle. The weekend warriors aren’t aware they will soon be fighting an elusive army. A troop of Civil War deserters, trapped in the Hole by a long-ago avalanche, is rising from a long slumber, and the war is far from over.