Tad Williams - A Stark And Wormy Knight

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Only the skin problem, which seems to be getting worse.

ERIC

But what did they say when they sent him here…?

JANICE pulls him away.

ERIC (cont.)

He was in a government psychiatric hospital — under security. I still have the clippings. Would they really just let him go?

JANICE (a little angry)

This isn’t some big investigative report, Eric. Topher hasn’t spoken or moved in years. His dad went to court and asked to have him sent here, so he’d be closer to home.

ERIC (disgusted)

His old man must have been happy Topher couldn’t get into trouble any more.

The OLD WOMAN ERIC has seen earlier rolls out in front of them, then paces them until they stop in front of TOPHER’s door.

OLD WOMAN (eyes wide)

You going in there? JANICE

We’re going to see a friend.

OLD WOMAN (grabbing ERIC’s arm)

You tell my mother I been good. Tell her I never went in there.

As they open the door, she rolls herself backward down the hall.

OLD WOMAN (cont.)

That’s where the devil lives…

The door swings open. It’s a small room, but with TOPHER at the far end it seems very large. He is sitting in his wheelchair by the bed, staring at nothing. ERIC and JANICE hesitate, then JANET at last moves forward and sits on the bed. ERIC picks up a chair and puts himself on the other side of TOPHER.

JANICE

Eric and I are here to see you, Topher. We’ve been thinking about you a lot.

ERIC

Yeah. A lot.

JANICE

We’ve been having… bad dreams. About that night. We thought… you might be having bad dreams too.

ERIC looks at her, a little surprised; this is an unexpected approach. He struggles to find the wavelength.

ERIC

We… want to help you. God, man, we’re so sorry that this happened to you. To all of us.

TOPHER is rigid as a statue, staring past them. ERIC (cont.)

But it isn’t anybody’s fault. It just… happened.

JANICE hesitates, then reaches out and takes TOPHER’s hand. It’s a brave act — we can sense how weird it must feel.

JANICE

I haven’t slept well in months, Topher. You know I’ve tried to help you, come visit you. How can I do that if I’m scared all the time? If I can’t get any sleep?

ERIC

We were all friends, remember? Before that… that bad night. We’re still your friends. We… we miss you. (after a long moment, he touches TOPHER’s other hand.)

Please, man. Please.

The strange tableau falls silent, two people holding hands with a rigid monstrosity, as we DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. — BRENT’S HOUSE — SAME TIME

ADULT BRENT is loading things into his SUV. It looks like he’s getting the family ready for a camping vacation, but not a happy one: he’s very blank and silent, even though his wife TRACY is standing at the front door, talking to him.

TRACY

Brent? What are you doing? Are we going somewhere?

He continues to load the SUV, not answering.

TRACY (cont.)

Whatever it is you’re doing, we’re not going anywhere until you talk to me. What’s going on? It’s like I don’t even know who you are anymore…!

BRENT slows and then stops in the middle of the driveway like a toy winding down. He puts his hands over his face, shoulders shaking.

TRACY

Brent? Brent, you’re scaring me…

INT. — ERIC’S CAR — LATE AFTERNOON

They are driving along a tree-lined road. Both look troubled.

ERIC

… I mean, what was that all about? Are we saying that it’s Topher who’s making us see these things? There are a lot of better explanations, Janice. Janice?

JANICE shakes her head, too tired to talk about it. We close on JANICE’s face, her eyes closed, thinking, hand on head like she’s got a migraine coming on. The sound of The Doors’ “Riders On The Storm” comes up slowly, filling the car. J

ANICE

I don’t want to hear any music, Eric. Could you turn the tape off?

ERIC (sounding strange)

It’s not the tape player.

JANICE (opens eyes)

Then turn off the fucking radio! My head hurts.

ERIC

I didn’t turn it on. It’s not on.

As they both stare at the dark radio dial and the music grows louder, something suddenly appears for an instant in front of the car — a dark shape. JANICE and ERIC both shout in terror and ERIC jams on the brakes, sending the car squealing and sliding. Something THUMPS against the car as they screech to a halt, halfway across the road.

JANICE

We hit somebody! We hit somebody!

ERIC is sitting stunned in his seat, trying to get his breath, when something large and dark lands on the windshield. For a moment there’s a dim glimpse of YOUNG TOPHER’S face, distorted against the glass, then he bursts into roaring FLAMES which surround the car.

TOPHER (screaming with laughter in the flames)

I see you! I see you!

An instant later the flames vanish. Everything is NORMAL, the car still skewed across the empty road, but no sign of anything else.

ERIC turns to JANICE, bloodless, shocked. She’s just as devastated.

JANICE

Oh, my God, Eric, what’s happening to us…?

We pull back slowly from the pair of them, back until we see the car in the middle of the country road, back and back as we DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. — HOSPITAL — NIGHT

The wind is blowing the trees, hard. Except for a light in the front lobby, the hospital windows are all dark. The wind gets stronger, the tree-shadows flailing along the walls.

INT. — BRENT’S HOUSE — SAME TIME

BRENT is sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of the television. The sound is off. As we pan around we see that he has a bottle and glass on the rug in front of him. The glass is upside-down. BRENT has arranged five BULLETS in a little circle on the bottom of the glass, and is holding the sixth in his hand, looking at it. A gun is lying on the carpet next to his leg.

INT. — JANICE’S HOUSE — SAME TIME

JANICE and ERIC have finished a meal of take-out food. JANICE is washing the few dishes while ERIC wanders around in the kitchen/dining room. We can hear the wind getting LOUD outside. He picks up a picture of JANICE’S CHILDREN and looks at it.

JANICE

I’m glad you’re here. I don’t think I could have faced spending the night here by myself.

ERIC

I felt the same about the motel. So… tell me about your marriage. Was he a good guy?

JANICE

Terry? I don’t know. He’s an engineer. Not the most talkative guy in the world. I thought I could make it work. It seemed like a good idea at the time…

ERIC

What went wrong?

JANICE

Nothing, really. But nothing went right after a while, either. Another guy I cared more about than he cared about me. (turns, drying her hands)

But it’s different when a marriage goes off the tracks and you have kids. It’s… there’s still something that worked. I love my children. I miss them so much.

ERIC

I can’t seem to get a handle on it. You married. Children.

JANICE

It’s been a quarter of a century, Pierson. You haven’t exactly stayed in touch.

ERIC

All I’ve been doing since I came back here is saying I’m sorry, and it doesn’t seem to be working on anyone. But I am sorry, Janice, especially about the way I treated you. Shit, I didn’t know what was going on — I was numb, crazy. I was a kid! We were all kids. I just wanted it all to go away.

JANICE sits down on the couch. ERIC joins her.

JANICE

I used to call you. You never called back. It was horrible, having to keep leaving messages with those guys in your dorm — I could just hear them thinking, “Oh, no, it’s that pathetic hometown chick that Pierson dropped… ”

ERIC

It wasn’t like that…