Forever Dreaming
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9x14 - Scary Monsters
https://foreverdreaming.org/viewtopic.php?f=174&t=10877		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  bunniefuu [ 04/06/14 10:13 ]
Post subject:  9x14 - Scary Monsters
SCENE 1

FAIRHOPE, PENNSYLVANIA

(Camera pans across the wall where a child's drawings hang. The first picture is of a boy in a red & yellow long-sleeved shirt and jeans walking on green grass. The second picture is of a man and a woman driving in one-seat open vehicles/wagons (with steering wheels) in opposite directions. The third picture is of a boy flying a kite and running toward the edge of the hill.)

(It's night. A little boy lies in bed. He is awake and staring at the ceiling. He doesn't seem tired at all. The tree branches outside his window scratch against the glass. The little boy seems afraid. He closes his eyes and the scratching noise stops.)

(After a brief moment, the scratching resumes. The little boy gasps and opens his eyes. He looks around the darkened room. He sits up in bed and glances at himself in the mirror. He peers under the bed. He doesn't see anything. He gets up and looks in the mirror again and sees something move under his bed.)

TOMMY (yelling): Dad! Dad!

(The bedroom door opens slightly and a dark, shadowy figure appears at the doorway.)

JEFFREY CONLON: Tommy? What is it?

TOMMY: I'm afraid. I heard something.

(Tommy's father leans a little further into the bedroom.)

JEFFREY CONLON: It's just the wind.

TOMMY: No. I think it's under the bed. Can you check?

JEFFREY CONLON: Tommy, there is nothing to be scared of, I promise.

TOMMY: No. There's something under the bed. You have to check.

(From the doorway, Tommy's father crouches down slowly to peer under the bed. He sees something about a foot long scurry across the floor under the bed. Tommy is above on top of the bed watching his father closely.)

(Tommy's father gets up, a little shocked at what he's seen. He takes a breath and lies to his son.)

JEFFREY CONLON: All clear.

TOMMY: You sure? I thought I saw something in the mirror.

JEFFREY CONLON: Tommy, it is just your imagination. Now, let's try to get some sleep, okay?

(Tommy's father backs out of the bedroom door and closes it. Tommy settles back down on the bed and turns to look at his reflection in the mirror. He stares at the dark corner under his bed. The scratching he heard earlier resumes and grows louder. He imagines he sees something.)

(Tommy jumps out of bed and runs screaming to the closed door.)

TOMMY: Dad, help! It's in here!

(Tommy grabs the door handle and tugs at it. It won't budge.)

TOMMY: Help! Help me! Help!

(Tommy pulls on the door handle and the door refuses to open. On the other side of the door in the hallway, Tommy's father holds the door pulled securely shut tight. His son's screams are heard loudly in the hallway.)

TOMMY: Help! Dad! It's in here! Help! Help me!

(Tommy's father braces the door shut keeping Tommy inside his bedroom.)

TOMMY: Dad! Daddy! Dad!

[Fade to black]

OPENING CREDITS

SCENE 2

FBI ACADEMY

QUANTICO, VIRGINIA

(Daytime. A class bell rings. Students and teachers fill the hallway. Scully rushes quickly to her office to grab a quick bite to eat before her next class. An FBI Cadet tries to get her attention.)

FBI CADET: Dr. Scully ...

SCULLY: After lunch. Sorry. All questions answered after lunch. Thank you.

CUT TO:

(SCULLY'S rushes into her office. She seems to have something on her mind. She does. It's lunch. Right behind her is AGENT LELYA HARRISON.)

LEYLA HARRISON: Agent Scully ...

SCULLY: Leyla Harrison. What a surprise.

LEYLA HARRISON: Oh, good. I was afraid I should have made a call first. How have you been?

(SCULLY reaches into her desk and pulls out a plastic Glad (c) storage container.)

SCULLY: Oh, uh... busy. And yourself?

LEYLA HARRISON: I'm back in accounting now. Happily, mind you. No regrets. Although I did relish my big adventure on the X-Files unit last year.

(SCULLY opens the container and pulls out her sandwich wrapped in wax paper. She pauses and looks up at LEYLA.)

SCULLY: I have about five minutes uh, before my next class. Can we talk while I eat?

LEYLA HARRISON: Not a problem.

(SCULLY grabs half of her sandwich and prepares to take a bit when LEYLA opens a thin file she carried in with her. On one side of the file is the gruesome picture of a dead woman covered in blood. SCULLY has the strangest face on.)

LEYLA HARRISON: It's an X-File. I'm sure of it.

(SCULLY puts her sandwich down, composes herself and picks the file up.)

SCULLY: Where'd you get this?

LEYLA HARRISON: It all started when I tracked down a mileage discrepancy in the bureau's vehicle fleet. It turns out a really nice secretary from our Baltimore field office had used a Ford Taurus without authorization.

SCULLY: And what does that have to do with...?

LEYLA HARRISON: Well, she was desperate to visit her grandson which is why she borrowed the car. She's the one who told me about this case. This was her daughter.

SCULLY: And what makes you think this is an X-File?

LEYLA HARRISON: Well, this dead woman's son -- my friend's grandson -- this is Tommy Conlon.

(LEYLA pulls out a photo of TOMMY CONLON. Cute kid.)

LEYLA HARRISON: Tommy is eight years old. And Tommy told her a monster killed his mother. And his father knows all about it.

(SCULLY looks at her sceptically. She picks up her sandwich again preparing to eat it.)

LEYLA HARRISON: I know, I know. Why take the word of an eight-year-old? But ... look at the autopsy report.

(LEYLA once again opens the file and puts it in front of SCULLY before she has a chance to take a single bite.)

LEYLA HARRISON: Clearly this woman was murdered, and yet ...

SCULLY: ... and yet the coroner concludes that she stabbed herself to death.

(LEYLA nods her head.)

SCULLY: Agent Harrison I see no reason to disagree with the coroner.

LEYLA HARRISON: But ... I mean, how could someone stab themselves sixteen times?

SCULLY: Look, it is unusual but I have seen it before.

LEYLA HARRISON: Tommy's father took the boy to some mountain-top in Pennsylvania in the middle of nowhere. He took him away from his friends -- his family. They don't even have a phone. Tommy's own grandmother isn't allowed to see him anymore.

SCULLY: I'm sorry, Agent Harrison but unless you have other evidence ...

LEYLA HARRISON: Wait, wait. Tommy said that the same monster that killed his mother killed Spanky his pet cat.

SCULLY: Uh, unless you bring me Spanky, there's nothing I can do.

(The class bell rings, ending their conversation. SCULLY stands and re-wraps her uneaten lunch. She hands the sandwich to LEYLA then leaves for her next class.)

SCULLY: Apple and tuna salad?

CUT TO:

SCENE 3

GEORGETOWN

6:42 PM

(Scully's apartment. Night. The phone rights. SCULLY exits the next room (presumably WILLIAM'S room) and partially closes the door behind her.)

SCULLY (to phone): Hello.

REYES: Dana, it's Monica Reyes. Did I catch you at a bad time?

(REYES is on her cell phone in a car. DOGGETT is driving. They're going somewhere.)

SCULLY: I was just putting the baby down. What is it?

REYES: I wanted to get your opinion on an autopsy finding. It's pretty unusual. A woman who stabbed herself sixteen times.

SCULLY: Last name Conlon? I assume you've been talking to Leyla Harrison?

(REYES glances to the person in the backseat of their car. It's LEYLA HARRISON.)

REYES: Yeah. The three of us are headed to Pennsylvania, in fact. It sounds like you're familiar with the case.

(REYES listens to SCULLY on the other end of the phone.)

REYES: What do you mean, "there is no case"?

(REYES glances over at DOGGETT who is listening in on the conversation. LEYLA smiles sheepishly.)

REYES: Oh, right. Thanks.

(REYES hangs up.)

REYES: Why didn't you tell us you'd already gone to Agent Scully?

LEYLA HARRISON: (mumbles) I didn't know that's who you were going to call.

DOGGETT: That's not the point, Leyla. You misled us.

(DOGGETT'S not happy with what he's hearing. He turns the car around.)

LEYLA HARRISON: Agent Doggett, we're almost there.

DOGGETT: "How'd you spend your Friday night, John?" Ran around like an idiot.

LEYLA HARRISON: Agent Doggett ... both of you got in this car believing a little boy may be in danger. What's changed since then? Even if this isn't an X-File (which it is) -- what will it hurt to keep going?

(LEYLA lets out an exasperated sigh.)

LEYLA HARRISON: If Agent Mulder were here, he'd keep going.

(REYES looks over at DOGGETT. He glances back at her. They exchange looks at which DOGGETT nods his head slightly in agreement.)

CUT TO:

SCENE 4

FAIRHOPE, PENNSYLVANIA

(Night. A large two story house sits in darkness. A man with a shovel is busy burying something in the yard. He works diligently covering the hole with dirt mixed with snow. He finishes his job. He is tired. He looks up at the approaching car. It's JEFFERY CONLON, TOMMY'S father.)

(The Agents' car drives up the road and parks in the driveway. The agents get out of the car and approach the man.)

REYES: Jeffrey Conlon?

JEFFREY CONLON: Yeah. Can I help you?

REYES: Hi. I'm Agent Monica Reyes. This is Agent John Doggett and Agent Harrison. We're with the FBI.

(DOGGETT holds out his ID.)

JEFFREY CONLON: FBI. Really? What are you...?

LEYLA HARRISON: We're here at the request of Dorothy-- your mother-in-law. She's worried about her grandson.

JEFFREY CONLON: Tommy is fine. I told Dorothy over and over. There's really nothing more to say.

DOGGETT: Is that blood on your hand, Mr. Conlon?

JEFFREY CONLON: Yeah, I cut myself.

DOGGETT: On what?

JEFFREY CONLON: A piece of broken glass.

REYES: Sir, can we speak with your son?

JEFFREY CONLON: He's asleep.

DOGGETT: It's not even 7:00. It's kind of early for bedtime, isn't it?

JEFFREY CONLON: Not for Tommy. And I'd appreciate it if you'd keep your voice down.

DOGGETT: Look, I'm going to be straight with you. We drove a long way.

REYES: Agent Doggett is very stubborn. I don't think you'll get him to leave until we see your son.

TOMMY: Dad?

(Just outside the door, TOMMY is standing on the porch in his PJs. JEFFREY CONLON walks toward his son. The agents follow.)

JEFFREY CONLON: Tommy, go back inside, please.

TOMMY: I heard something. I got afraid.

REYES: Hi, Tommy. I'm Monica. This is John, and this is Leyla.

LEYLA HARRISON: I'm friends with your Grandmom. She wanted us to come see how you were doing.

JEFFREY CONLON: Tommy, it's too cold out here. Go back inside the house, please.

REYES: Do you remember what you said to your Grandmom? Something about your mother. Do you remember?

LEYLA HARRISON: Monsters. You said there were monsters, right?

(TOMMY tells the agents woodenly:)

TOMMY: No such thing as monsters.

JEFFREY CONLON: Tell Dorothy this is exactly why she's not allowed to visit anymore. Now, good night.

(LEYLA looks at DOGGETT. She's disappointed at the uneventful exchange. DOGGETT remains silent and thoughtful. JEFFREY CONLON turns his back on the agents and picks up his son. The two go into the house.)

JEFFREY CONLON: Come on.

(The door closes behind them.)

(The agents stand there in silence. LEYLA sighs. The three slowly make their way back to the car.)

LEYLA HARRISON: I apologize. I let my imagination run wild and I ruined both your evenings. Thank you in advance for not yelling at me.

(When they reach the car, the agents stop. DOGGETT turns around to face LEYLA.)

DOGGETT: Something's going on here.

(LEYLA looks surprised.)

LEYLA HARRISON: Wait ... there is?

(REYES concurs.)

REYES: That little boy only said what his father wanted him to say.

DOGGETT: Did you notice the dirt on that guy's hands and knees? He's been digging. This time of the year he sure as hell ain't gardening. I say we find a judge get a warrant ... search the place.

(LEYLA is stunned. She sighs. She's surprised that she was right after all.)

CUT TO: [INT. TOMMY'S UPSTAIRS BEDROOM]

(From above, the agents are observed moving toward the car. They are preparing to leave. JEFFREY CONLON stands near the window looking down at them.)

TOMMY: Dad?

(JEFFREY CONLON turns from the window to look at his son who is standing by the door.)

TOMMY: The monsters aren't going to let those people leave are they?

JEFFREY CONLON: (gently, reassuringly) They're leaving, Tommy. They're leaving right now.

(JEFFREY CONLON watches the agents get into the car.)

TOMMY: It's too late.

(JEFFREY CONLON turns to look at his son.)

CUT TO: [INT. CAR]

(DOGGETT turns the ignition. The engine sputters but doesn't start.)

DOGGETT: What the hell?

(REYES looks concerned. DOGGETT tries the ignition one more time and as the engine sputters, blood burst through the a/c vents splattering the agents. REYES screams. The agents look surprised.

CUT TO: [EXT. CAR]

(DOGGETT opens the car hood. There is blood all over the inside engine. REYES and LEYLA stand on the side looking down at the mess.)

REYES: Oh, God. A possum, maybe?

DOGGETT: That doesn't make any sense. How'd it get from here into the vents?

CUT TO:

SCENE 5

(Scully's apartment. The living room is dark. Some light from the vicinity of the kitchen and a nearby fishtank pierces the darkness. There is someone knocking on the door. Loudly. A lamp light is turned on. SCULLY rushes out of her bedroom tying the sash to her robe. She peers through the door's peep hole and sees a young dark-haired man standing there ... someone she's never seen before.

SCULLY: Who is it?

GABE ROTTER: It's Gabe Rotter. I have the thing you've been waiting for.

SCULLY: Who?

GABE ROTTER: Gabe ... Rotter. I'm a friend of Leyla Harrison.

(At the mere mention of LEYLA'S name, SCULLY unchains and opens the door. She can't believe it.)

SCULLY: Do you know what time it is?

GABE ROTTER: Hey, I just do as I'm told. Enjoy.

(GABE ROTTER holds out a small dirty box for SCULLY to take. SCULLY takes a step back at the stench coming from the box.)

SCULLY: Whoa. What the hell is that?

GABE ROTTER: A dead cat.

SCULLY: Come again?

GABE ROTTER: Yeah, his name's Spanky. Leyla said you're helping her out on a case and you needed it ASAP, so ... hey, you're welcome.

(SCULLY puts her head in her hands. Could the day get any worse?)

SCULLY: I am going to be exceptionally polite. Leave. Now. Leave now and take that with you.

(SCULLY takes a step back and begins to close the door. GABE ROTTER, not one to be left out of anything, quickly steps into SCULLY'S apartment, uninvited. Him and his box.)

GABE ROTTER: Do you have any idea what I went through to get this thing? I snuck onto the property where your perp there used to live and I dug up the whole thing looking for it.

(SCULLY stands near the door. It's still wide open.)

SCULLY: I don't care. Leave! Now! Please!

(SCULLY'S voice rises.)

GABE ROTTER: Uh-uh. Leyla said she'd go out with me only if I got you the cat, and damn it, I got it.

(GABE ROTTER opens the box exposing the dead cat to SCULLY who, once again, turns away from the stench. Her hand covering her mouth, SCULLY glances down at the cat. She sees something. SCULLY walks past GABE ROTTER and picks up her phone. She begins dialing.)

GABE ROTTER: Oh, god ... you calling the cops on me?

SCULLY: If only. God help me but Agent Harrison might be on to something after all.

(SCULLY turns attention back to the telephone.)

CUT TO:

SCENE 6

(Conlon's residence. REYES is holding her cell phone. Her phone is on "ROAM". She presses the button twice; the phone beeps twice. She holds it to her ear but doesn't hear anything.)

(DOGGETT and JEFFREY CONLON come inside the house.)

REYES: Any luck?

DOGGETT: Our engine's completely shot. His truck won't start even though I can't find one damn thing wrong with it. Looks like we're here for the night.

JEFFREY CONLON: I'd better get Tommy back to sleep.

(JEFFREY CONLON leaves the room.)

LEYLA HARRISON: Phones that won't work, cars that won't start. It reminds me of a case Mulder and Scully investigated. A teenager who was struck by lightning -- his body affected the electrical workings of everything around him.

REYES: I don't think that's what we're dealing with here, Leyla.

LEYLA HARRISON: Agent Mulder wasted no time closing that case. I just try to think like him. What would Agents Mulder and Scully do if they were in this situation?

DOGGETT: Agents Mulder and Scully aren't in this situation. Agents Doggett and Reyes are. I don't know about Agent Reyes but Agent Doggett's going to sit his tired ass down.

LEYLA HARRISON: What kind of a course of action is that?

REYES: I think Agent Doggett is saying that right now, we're in the best possible place.

DOGGETT: Exactly. Bottom line we're all concerned for this boy's safety. As long as we're here, nothing's going to happen to him, right?

TOMMY (screaming from upstairs): Help! It's in here! Dad!

(DOGGETT gets up off of the couch in a flash and begins running.)

TOMMY: Help! Help me!

(DOGGETT runs up the stairs. REYES not far behind him.)

TOMMY: Dad!

(DOGGETT turns the corner into the hallway and sees JEFFREY CONLON holding the door to his son's bedroom closed.)

[CLOSED CAPTION: TOMMY: Help! It's in here!]

DOGGETT: Hey!

JEFFREY CONLON: No, don't do it!

(DOGGETT pushes JEFFREY CONLON away from TOMMY'S bedroom door. REYES opens the door and sees TOMMY huddled on his bed. On the floor are two huge earwig.)

REYES: John ...

(DOGGETT appears behind REYES. REYES reaches TOMMY and pulls the boy into her arms while DOGGETT pulls out his weapon. LEYLA arrives at the bedroom doorway. DOGGETT fires at one earwig. The creature breaks upon impact. The agents all watch in horror as the two pieces of the broken earwig grow into two newly formed creatures. They both scurry away under the bedroom wall.)

[Fade to black]

SCENE 7

(Conlon residence. TOMMY is sitting at the downstairs table colouring. It is a picture of a woman wearing black standing next to another person wearing sky blue.)

(REYES is standing quietly on the side watching TOMMY. DOGGETT enters the living area. REYES approaches him.)

DOGGETT: How's he doing?

REYES: He's a hell of a lot calmer than I'd be.

DOGGETT: I checked the place top to bottom. Whatever the hell those things were, they're gone. I have no idea where they went.

(DOGGETT glances down at TOMMY who is still colouring. He approaches the table and sits down in the chair next to TOMMY.)

DOGGETT: That's really good, Tommy.

(TOMMY doesn't say anything.)

DOGGETT: Is that you?

(TOMMY nods his head. DOGGETT points to the woman in black in the picture TOMMY'S colouring.)

DOGGETT: Who's that?

TOMMY: That's her.

(REYES smiles. DOGGETT turns to look at her.)

REYES: Tommy, tell John what you told me about what we saw in your room tonight.

TOMMY: Those are the monsters that hurt my mommy. But my dad says I'm not supposed to talk about it.

(DOGGETT quietly gets up and leaves.))

CUT TO:

SCENE 8

(Tommy's bedroom. There's a picture that TOMMY drew that's hanging on the wall. It's a picture of a boy, his cat, his bike and his house. JEFFREY CONLON is looking at the picture. DOGGETT and LEYLA are also in the room.)

JEFFREY CONLON: This is my house. Why do I have to sit here?

DOGGETT: Tell me what we're dealing with.

JEFFREY CONLON: I don't ...

DOGGETT: Don't tell me you don't know because you're not going to like what happens next. These things were in the room with your son and you knew it. You held the door shut, you son of a bitch.

JEFFREY CONLON: Want to see something? Look at that.

(JEFFREY CONLON rolls up his shirt sleeves to reveal large welting scars on his forearms.)

JEFFREY CONLON: Look at that. That's what they did to me. They almost killed me one time before.

DOGGETT: They? What are they? Some kind of animal? What?

JEFFREY CONLON: All I know is that they won't leave us alone and I'm dealing with this the best way I can. Now it's too late.

DOGGETT: How's that?

JEFFREY CONLON: They mean to kill every one of you and there's nothing you can do to stop it.

(LEYLA stands there silent.)

JEFFREY CONLON: Oh, come on. You saw what happens. You think you've killed one and then it becomes two.

LEYLA HARRISON: I don't think Mr. Conlon is telling us the whole truth.

DOGGETT: No kidding.

LEYLA HARRISON: I mean, I think you can kill them because I don't know what else he would have been burying when we showed up tonight.

CUT TO:

SCENE 9

(Scully's kitchen. Spread out on paper towels are an array of kitchen appliances, from knives, to tongs, a champagne opener, meat tenderizer, salad tongs ... every kitchen utensil available. SCULLY reaches for the salad tongs and begins working on SPANKY, the CONLON'S dead cat.)

(GABE ROTTER stands by the doorway watching as SCULLY (in her "Something smells goo-ood!" green bar-b-que apron and yellow rubber cleaning gloves) begins to autopsy the dead cat on her kitchen table.)

GABE ROTTER: You got to be freaking kidding me. I can't believe you're cutting up a dead cat on your kitchen table.

SCULLY: Will you keep your voice down, please? You're going to wake my baby.

GABE ROTTER: This... this just isn't right. Can you clue me in here as to why the cat's so important?

SCULLY: Because it would seem that poor Spanky here may have chewed a hole in his own stomach ... which you'll admit is unusual behaviour.

GABE ROTTER: You mean ... he killed himself.

SCULLY: Just like his owner, Mrs. Conlon stabbed herself with a knife. The wounds are in the same place and if we figure out why ... well, then, you'll have something really good to share with your good friend Leyla Harrison, won't you?

GABE ROTTER: True that.

(The phone rings.)

SCULLY: Can you hold the ribs open while I grab that, please? Just... Now. Thank you.

(SCULLY and GABE ROTTER switch places. SCULLY answers the phone.)

SCULLY: Agent Scully.

SHERIFF JACK COOGAN: Yeah, ma'am, this is Sheriff Jack Coogan. I got a message to call this number.

SCULLY: Hi, Sheriff. Thanks for getting back to me. I appreciate it. I'm an FBI agent and I've been trying to reach three of my colleagues that are up in your area.

SHERIFF JACK COOGAN: Were they on some kind of case?

SCULLY: Well, they're looking into some concerns expressed by the grandmother of a child. The family name is Conlon and I have an address ...

SHERIFF JACK COOGAN: No need. I was back up there a couple of weeks ago. Got into a kind of a shouting match with the father.

SCULLY: Over what?

SHERIFF JACK COOGAN: The grandmother asked me to look in on the boy. Father told me to get the hell off his property. Boy seemed fine, so I did.

SCULLY: Well, as I say, sheriff, I need to contact my colleagues.

SHERIFF JACK COOGAN: I'm happy to take a drive up there but can't promise much tonight. The roads are icing up as we speak. Won't be easy getting in.

SCULLY: Look, sheriff, they may be in danger. Could you please find a way?

CUT TO:

SCENE 10

(Conlon's back yard. DOGGETT is digging. JEFFREY CONLON and LEYLA are standing nearby. The shovel hits something hard. DOGGETT reaches into the shallow hole and cuts his finger on a piece of glass. He's bleeding.)

DOGGETT: Ow!

LEYLA HARRISON: Oh, my god.

DOGGETT: It's no monster, Agent Harrison. Dead or alive. You want to explain this, Mr. Conlon?

(DOGGETT pulls out a dirty shard of glass with a around sticker on it and holds it up for CONLON to see. It's the same kind of sticker that was on the mirror in TOMMY'S bedroom at the beginning of the episode.)

JEFFREY CONLON: It's just a mirror from my son's room.

DOGGETT: Why'd you bury it?

JEFFREY CONLON: 'Cause he was afraid of it.

DOGGETT: I want you to get Tommy bundled up in warm clothes. I want you to pack anything you think he might need.

JEFFREY CONLON: Why?

DOGGETT: 'Cause I don't believe one damn thing you've told me except that we're in danger and we're walking out of here, all five of us.

(While DOGGETT gives JEFFREY CONLON instructions, LEYLA kneels and looks into the shallow hole at the broken mirror pieces. She looks up after JEFFREY CONLON leaves.)

LEYLA HARRISON: I know what you're thinking. Black magic. Mirrors are powerful symbols in conjuring in the dark arts. That's what this is. Right?

(DOGGETT listens to LEYLA finish her theory. He doesn't believe it.)

DOGGETT (dryly): Uh-huh.

(DOGGETT walks away leaving LEYLA standing next to the shallow hole. LEYLA follows him inside.)

CUT TO:

(INT. -- Up in TOMMY'S bedroom, JEFFREY CONLON is busy packing a bag like DOGGETT instructed. DOGGETT is there helping grab things from the boy's closet. REYES and TOMMY are both there also.

DOGGETT: We passed a sheriff's station maybe six miles down the mountain. It'll be a hike, but we can make it.

TOMMY: Dad, the sheriff...

JEFFREY CONLON (interrupting): No. Tommy ... don't worry about the sheriff. He's going to help us.

(The agents all watch TOMMY'S reaction to the mention of the Sheriff. TOMMY seems upset that no one's listening to him. He walks around the bed and into REYES' arms. He clings to her.)

REYES: What's up, Tommy? What's the matter?

(Someone is knocking on the door downstairs. DOGGETT reaches for his gun.)

DOGGETT: Stay here.

(JEFFREY CONLON looks silently at his son. TOMMY doesn't say anything.)

CUT TO: [INT. DOWNSTAIRS]

(DOGGETT walks to the nearby window to see who is outside. It's the Sheriff. DOGGETT opens the front door.)

DOGGETT: Man, you're a sight for sore eyes. John Doggett.

(The Sheriff walks into the house. DOGGETT closes the door behind him.)

SHERIFF JACK COOGAN: I'm the Sheriff.

DOGGETT: Who called you?

(LEYLA and REYES make their way down the stairs. JEFFREY CONLON and TOMMY are behind them.)

LEYLA HARRISON: Perfect timing.

REYES: We were just leaving, sheriff. We need a ride.

SHERIFF JACK COOGAN: Sorry, you can't leave.

DOGGETT: What do you mean?

SHERIFF JACK COOGAN: You can't go anywhere. It's too cold.

JEFFREY CONLON: It's not him.

(DOGGETT turns his back on the Sheriff to look at JEFFREY CONLON.)

DOGGETT: What?

(While his back is turned, the Sheriff reaches for his gun. REYES calls out a warning to DOGGETT.)

REYES: Gun!

(DOGGETT manages to knock the gun out of the Sheriff's hands. The two men fight. REYES moves in closer but doesn't interfere with the fighting. TOMMY watches with interest.)

REYES: Let him go!

(The two men continue fighting. DOGGETT reaches back and punches the Sheriff in his abdomen. His fist goes clear through. DOGGETT has a look of horror on his face. His fist is covered with blood.)

JEFFREY CONLON: oh...

(JEFFREY CONLON pulls his son into his arms to shield him from the sight. DOGGETT pulls his bloodied fist out of the Sheriff who falls back on the floor motionless. DOGGETT'S hand is drenched and dripping with blood.)

(REYES, who was standing just behind DOGGETT, slowly lowers her gun. Her eyes on DOGGETT'S bloodied fist.)

[Fade to black]

SCENE 11

(Scully's apartment. GABE ROTTER has somehow gotten his hands on MULDER'S ID badge. He holds it up, looking at it.)

GABE ROTTER: So, this is Johnny Fabulous, huh?

(SCULLY approaches from behind and snatches MULDER'S ID badge from GABE ROTTER. She is on the phone. GABE ROTTER continues to mumble to himself.)

GABE ROTTER: Oh... "Mulder's so smart. Mulder's so dreamy." That's all Leyla ever talks about. Mulder and Scully, Scully and Mulder, blah, blah, blah.

(SCULLY hangs up the phone and sighs.)

SCULLY: This Sheriff, Jack Coogan, I'm just getting his answering machine.

GABE ROTTER: Hey, you're really worried. I thought you didn't find anything. You told me there wasn't anything inside that cat.

SCULLY: No, there wasn't. But it certainly seems like there should have been.

GABE ROTTER: What does that mean?

SCULLY: Well, the pattern of bite marks. I mean, it seems to me that the cat was trying to get at something in its stomach to chew something out.

GABE ROTTER: Something. What?

SCULLY: I don't know. I mean, there wasn't any sign of it but it obviously caused a great deal of pain. And I'm thinking maybe it goes the same for the woman who tried to stab herself. I mean, what if that was a frantic attempt to... to cut something out.

GABE ROTTER: Wait a minute. Is Leyla in danger up there?

SCULLY: All I know is we're wasting our time talking about this.

(SCULLY picks up the phone one more time and begins dialing.)

GABE ROTTER: Who are you calling now?

SCULLY: My mom. I'm going to beg her to baby-sit.

CUT TO:

SCENE 12

(REYES is picking at the hole in the Sheriff with a wooden spoon. The spoon is bloodied and red. DOGGETT appears behind her wiping the blood off of his hands with a towel.)

DOGGETT: Got anything?

REYES: Yeah. A salad spoons no one's ever going to use again. And the sheriff here? Do not ask me to explain it but he's got absolutely no internal organs. He's like, he's like a big bag.

DOGGETT: You know what else? This isn't blood. Whatever it is, I bet it's the same crap that's all over the inside of our car.

(DOGGETT finishes wiping his hands and moves to gently lay the towel over the dead Sheriff's face.)

DOGGETT: I've been thinking. You know, I hate to sound like Agent Harrison but Mulder and Scully had a case like this that I remember where they were trapped underground with these mushroom spores that caused hallucinations. Never mind.

REYES: I don't know what to say, either. Maybe Mulder and Scully would see something that we don't.

DOGGETT: How? Nothing here makes any sense. Unless that's the very thing that we need to see.

(DOGGETT seems to have an idea. REYES looks a little confused by what DOGGETT just said. He leaves the room. REYES follows.)

CUT TO:

(TOMMY is busy drawing another picture. It's a picture of a blonde-haired boy in a light blue shirt standing in a rowboat fishing.)

DOGGETT: Agent Harrison, you want to take Tommy up to his room?

LEYLA HARRISON: Sure. Come on, Tommy.

(JEFFREY CONLON look up. TOMMY ignores LEYLA and continues drawing. REYES moves toward TOMMY.)

REYES: What's the matter? You like Leyla, don't you?

TOMMY: Can you stay with me instead?

(TOMMY gives REYES a hug.)

REYES: Sure. Come on.

(The two leave the room. DOGGETT watches them leave. He turns to address JEFFREY CONLON.)

DOGGETT: I'm just a cop, Mr. Conlon. Maybe I don't have the imagination to connect all the pieces of this insanity together. You said that wasn't exactly the Sheriff in there and I want to know what you meant. In fact, you tried to warn us that bag of goo wasn't the sheriff. You were trying to help us.

LEYLA HARRISON: Yeah, so why not help us now? Tell us what you know, Mr. Conlon for Tommy's sake.

DOGGETT: Your son Tommy ... you move him up here in the middle of nowhere and you lock him in the room with those things. Now, if you're just trying to get rid of him is that all this is?

(JEFFREY CONLON is offended by DOGGETT'S insinuation.)

JEFFREY CONLON: I love my son. I love my son, you bastard.

DOGGETT: Well, you locked him in the room with those things.

JEFFREY CONLON: Because I knew they wouldn't hurt him.

DOGGETT: Now why is that? They hurt you they certainly hurt your wife. Why didn't they hurt Tommy?

CUT TO:

(Tommy's bedroom. TOMMY opens a dresser drawer and pulls out a stack of drawings. He gives them to REYES.)

TOMMY: I made this.

REYES: You drew all these?

(REYES goes through the drawings one by one. We don't get to see the first one. The second one is a picture of a boy in a sky blue shirt riding his scooter down the sidewalk. The third picture is of the two earwigs. The next picture is a picture of a dark-haired woman wearing black with an earwig inside her belly. TOMMY points to the picture.)

TOMMY: This one's you.

REYES: Why would you draw this, Tommy? Why would you imagine such awful things?

(TOMMY is watching REYES with eyes filled with a strange glint of anticipation. He says the words, but we no longer believe him.)

TOMMY: Because I'm afraid.

CUT TO:

SCENE 13

SHERIFF'S STATION

SOMERSET COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

(SCULLY and GABE ROTTER enter the Sheriff's Station.)

SCULLY: Sheriff Coogan? Sheriff?

SHERIFF JACK COOGAN: Are you Agent Scully?

SCULLY: Yeah. I, uh, I still can't contact my partners. Were you able to get up there?

SHERIFF JACK COOGAN: I just got back from trying. The roads at that elevation are way too dangerous right now.

SCULLY: Well, Sheriff, there are three FBI agents who may be in grave danger.

GABE ROTTER: That's my girlfriend up there, Hoss.

(The Sheriff turns and points to the FAIRHOPE map hanging on the wall.)

SHERIFF JACK COOGAN: This is the only road up to that mountain. We've got ice leading all the way up to the peak.

SCULLY: Well, we have to get up there. I mean, there must be a way.

SHERIFF JACK COOGAN: I'm sorry. Helicopter, snowplough or pack mule -- unfortunately, I'm fresh out of all three.

(GABE ROTTER looks at the SHERIFF, his mouth open. SCULLY has pretty much the same look on her face also.)

CUT TO:

SCENE 14

(Conlon's residence.)

LEYLA HARRISON: What if Tommy were at the center of this somehow? The monsters ... the Sheriff.

(LEYLA turns her head to indicate the body of the Sheriff on the floor.)

LEYLA HARRISON: Agent Doggett?

(The two agents slowly walk to the empty space on the rug where the Sheriff's body was and no longer is.)

LEYLA HARRISON: Where the hell is the body?

(Off to the side, REYES makes her way down the stairs. She's in pain and clutching her stomach.)

DOGGETT: Monica, what happened?!

(DOGGETT turns toward the stairs and makes it barely in time to catch REYES as she collapses onto the ground floor.)

REYES: The boy!

(She is in pain and can barely get the words out.)

REYES: The boy, it's all him.

(DOGGETT lifts up REYES' shirt to reveal something moving around insider her abdomen. LEYLA is absolutely horrified.)

LEYLA HARRISON: Oh, my god.

(REYES continues to scream in pain. JEFFREY CONLON slowly approaches the agents. DOGGETT turns angrily to him.)

DOGGETT: Is your son doing this?!

JEFFREY CONLON: I told you. I told you to leave.

(DOGGETT gets up and grabs JEFFREY CONLON. REYES is still screaming in pain.)

DOGGETT: If this is your son, make him stop!

JEFFREY CONLON: I can't. You don't think I've tried? I can't stop him from .. from imagining things. I can't stop him from being afraid. He's just a little boy! He doesn't mean to do these things.

REYES: The hell he doesn't!

(REYES knows that TOMMY is doing these things deliberately. DOGGETT is angry at the uncontrolled son who inflicts pain and ineffective father standing before him.)

DOGGETT: If you won't stop him, I will.

(DOGGETT leaves JEFFREY CONLON and runs up the stairs to confront the child.)

CUT TO:

(DOGGETT turns the second floor corner onto the hallway. TOMMY is walking down the hallway as if he were nearby watching REYES in pain. He is about half the hallway away from DOGGETT. He turns around slowly.))

DOGGETT: Tommy? Stay right there.

(TOMMY has a grin on his face and defies DOGGETT by turning his back to him and running down the hallway back into his bedroom. DOGGETT takes off after him. TOMMY shuts the door in DOGGETT'S face. DOGGETT opens the door and enters the room across from TOMMY'S bedroom and falls down into darkness where the floor once was. DOGGETT continues to fall.)

(DOGGETT hits the floor with a loud thud. He rolls over and sees the light from the hallway through the door quite a distance above him. In the darkness around him, there is a scratching noise. All around him, giant earwigs converge upon him. Covering him completely.)

(DOGGETT yells.)

[Fade to black]

SCENE 15

(Outside Conlon's residence. It's still lightly snowing outside. Icicles hang from the tree branches, the car is still parked in the driveway and REYES' cries of pain fill the air.)

CUT TO:

(Inside. REYES is screaming. LEYLA is holding REYES arms down--restraining her- preventing her from hurting herself.)

REYES: Please! Please! You have to get it out! Get it out of me!

LEYLA HARRISON: Agent Reyes, hold on. Please, hold on.

(LEYLA struggles to hold REYES down. She turns her frustration to JEFFREY CONLON who is still where DOGGETT left him.)

LEYLA HARRISON: Mr. Conlon, help us.

(JEFFREY CONLON cowers nearby. LEYLA stops and lets go restraining REYES as something happens to her eyes. She covers her eyes with the palms of both her hands. When she pulls them away, they are covered with blood. LEYLA'S eyes are bleeding.)

LEYLA HARRISON: Oh, my god!

REYES: Please!

(JEFFREY CONLON makes a decision and leaves the two women to venture upstairs where TOMMY is.)

CUT TO:

(Tommy's bedroom. TOMMY is drawing a new picture. It's a close-up of a blonde-haired woman whose eyes are bleeding.)

CUT TO: [HALLWAY]

(JEFFREY CONLON walks purposefully down the hallway toward TOMMY'S bedroom. Just as he reaches to open the door, DOGGETT appears, unharmed, and stops him.)

DOGGETT: Listen to me and listen good. These things -- these things aren't happening.

JEFFREY CONLON: What?

DOGGETT: How the hell could the it's like I've been saying all along. It's not possible.

JEFFREY CONLON: No, this is all real. My wife is dead.

DOGGETT: She believed it was real and she stabbed herself. But because I couldn't believe it ... not really ... it couldn't hurt me.

(JEFFREY CONLON realizes that his son had deliberately caused his wife's suffering that led to her death. A brief flash of anger takes hold of JEFFREY CONLON and he lunges for the doorknob to his son's bedroom. DOGGETT stops him.)

DOGGETT: Now, come on. You're going to help me.

CUT TO:

(Inside TOMMY'S bedroom, TOMMY has completely coloured LEYLA HARRISON'S eyes red. TOMMY stops drawing and looks up. All is silent.)

TOMMY: Dad? Dad!

(There is no answer.)

TOMMY: Dad, get in here!

(The house is still silent. TOMMY goes over to the window and looks outside to the grounds below. DOGGETT his helping REYES; JEFFREY CONLON is helping LEYLA. The four of them are making their way to the car and away from TOMMY.)

(TOMMY watches from the second floor window. Everyone is getting into the car. TOMMY isn't going to let them leave.)

CUT TO:

(Front yard. Both REYES and LEYLA are in the car. DOGGETT turns back toward the house. JEFFREY CONLON runs after him.)

JEFFREY CONLON: Wait. Wait ... wait a minute. Where are you going?

(DOGGETT picks up a gasoline can. He turns around and instructs JEFFREY CONLON.)

DOGGETT: You wait here.

(DOGGETT goes back into the house.)

CUT TO:

(Back inside the house. TOMMY is standing on the staircase. DOGGETT opens the gasoline can and begins pouring the liquid all over the living room.)

(TOMMY watches from above. Curious. Unafraid.)

TOMMY: What are you doing?

(DOGGETT doesn't answer him. He continues to pour the liquid from the gasoline can all over the living room floor. TOMMY walks further down the stairs.)

TOMMY: What are you doing?

DOGGETT: You're a smart boy, Tommy. What's it look like I'm doing?

TOMMY: No way.

DOGGETT: If I don't stop you, my friends are going to die.

(DOGGETT tosses the empty gasoline can aside and faces TOMMY who also reached the ground floor.)

DOGGETT: You think I'm going to let that happen?

TOMMY: You won't do it. You're lying. You'd get burned, too. You're just trying to scare me.

(DOGGETT pulls out a single match from his pocket and with a flick of his thumb, the match flares to life. DOGGETT holds the flame up in front of him for TOMMY to see.)

DOGGETT: Scared yet?

(DOGGETT throws the match to the floor igniting the liquid from the gasoline can.)

(Flames roll across the rug as the liquid catches fire and spreads rapidly around the room. Amidst it all, DOGGETT doesn't move. His angry, disapproving gaze is fixed solely on TOMMY. He shows TOMMY no fear at all as the flames rise higher and higher around them both.)

(TOMMY watches as the fire spreads from the floor rugs to the chairs, the sofa and along the floorboard behind him. TOMMY'S eyes widen as the fire spreads. He looks back at DOGGETT who hasn't taken his gaze off of TOMMY. Neither has he moved. He has no intention of leaving and makes no move to do so either. TOMMY'S eyes finally widen in fear as he realizes that the fire around him is real.)

CUT TO:

(Inside the car. LEYLA moves the towel away from her eyes. The towel isn't bloodied and neither are her eyes bleeding.)

LEYLA HARRISON: Oh, thank god.

REYES: Agent Harrison?

LEYLA HARRISON: Monica, are you all right?

REYES: Where's John?

(Both REYES and LEYLA HARRISON look out the car window. They see a Jeep cross the bridge, over the driveway and park. SCULLY and GABE ROTTER get out of the car and start running toward the house.)

CUT TO:

(Back inside the Conlon residence. GABE ROTTER bursts through the door, trips and falls on the floor hurting himself in the process.)

GABE ROTTER: Ow! Ow.

(DOGGETT gently lifts TOMMY off of the floor. Everyone walks back in to the house.)

JEFFREY CONLON: Tommy.

(DOGGETT gives TOMMY to his father who is worried about him. LEYLA HARRISON helps GABE ROTTER up off the floor. REYES walks in to the living room.)

DOGGETT: He's breathing. Passed out.

SCULLY (to JEFF CONLON): I'm a medical doctor.

(DOGGETT sees REYES and walks toward her. His eyes darting downward toward her abdomen.)

DOGGETT: You're all right?

(REYES calmly looks around the living room. She sees the empty gas can lying on the floor. The floor and carpet is soaked. A worried look crosses DOGGETT'S face. REYES kneels to examine the liquid on the floor from the gasoline tank.

REYES: Water. You filled it with water.

DOGGETT: That's not what Tommy believed.

[Fade to black]

SCENE 16

(Inside the X-Files office. The camera lingers on the "I WANT TO BELIEVE" poster. LEYLA HARRISON is standing in the middle of the X-Files office staring at the poster. GABE ROTTER comes to stand next to her.)

GABE ROTTER: "I want to believe."

(A smile crosses GABE ROTTER'S face.)

GABE ROTTER: So, this is where the magic happens?

(LEYLA HARRISON smiles.)

LEYLA HARRISON: It still happens.

(LEYLA turns to look at SCULLY. SCULLY looks up at LEYLA and smiles.)

LEYLA HARRISON: I'm happy it's in good hands.

REYES: Hey.

SCULLY: Speak of the devil.

DOGGETT: That so?

GABE ROTTER: Leyla keeps going on and on about how you saved the day.

LEYLA HARRISON: I really do have to commend you, Agent Doggett. You solved this case. If it weren't for you ... I don't even like to think what would have happened. I have to say, it's clear to me now that you were better- equipped for this challenge than even Agent Mulder would have been. Absolutely. I mean your lack of imagination saved our lives.

DOGGETT: Gee, thanks.

LEYLA HARRISON: That... didn't come out right. Did it?

SCULLY: So, any news on the boy?

REYES: We just got back from the psych center. Their doctors don't quite know what to make of him. I think it goes without saying. However, they have come up with a stopgap treatment.

CUT TO:

(Inside the Psychiatric Centre. JEFFREY CONLON walks down the corridor and stops at a closed door with a window.

SCULLY (Voiceover): What's that?

DOGGETT (Voiceover): A way to stifle his imagination.

(JEFFREY CONLON looks inside. TOMMY is sitting in a recliner chair watching 30 television sets.)

[Fade to black]

[THE END]
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