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7.8 磅 0 2 Cell FADE IN: A SPECK OF DUST Grains of sand dance in the wind. As we glide over a VAST DESERT, the speck of dust becomes a HORSE AND RIDER. CATHERINE YOUNG straddles the beautiful black animal, her
Opposite him, across the valley, is a SHEER ROCK WALL. A
massive cliff face pockmarked with rough "windows." Like a
star, the LIGHT sparkles inside one of them, a fragment of
MIRROR reflecting a beam away from Novak's face to a PATH
cutting across the valley floor to the base of the wall.
The light guiding him, Novak follows the path and starts to
CLIMB, finding stairs or ladders, passing deep, seemingly
infinite passages. Like
tombs, or the "drawers" of a
mausoleum. Deep within one
of them, THE LIGHT FLICKERS.
Fades. And Novak crawls
into darkness.
INT. STARGHER'S WORLD - THE DEN
Novak emerges in a cavernous room dripping with decadence.
The place reeks of sex, pain, lust, and cruelty. As he moves
deeper into the chamber, Novak sees YOUNG STARGHER perched
atop some kind of pedestal, crouching, fingering his mirror
LOCKET, bouncing sparkles of light into the dark corners of
the room
The FLICKERING
LIGHT pinpoints a FIGURE emerging from the
darkness. It is
Catherine. Altered to an image of
Stargher's victims. Her
skin, face, clothing, eyes, are just
like the Victims'. It's a
shocking, strange image, made even
more disturbing by the look of pleasure on her face. Novak
is staggered by the sight.
His vision and hearing become
affected by blurred vision, sharp sounds - then focus to
clarity as he reminds himself...
NOVAK
Not real...
Like an ethereal queen of the damned, she strides toward him,
narrowing her eyes.
NOVAK (CONT'D)
Catherine.
She exhibits no recognition of her name. Catherine
seductively moves closer to Novak, their bodies almost
touching, her hands caressing his hair, lips, neck...
NOVAK
(CONT'D)
Jesus. Catherine. Listen to me...
She presses her finger to his lips and forces him down, onto
the floor, his back to the pedestal. Catherine straddles
Novak, and when he tries to stand, she holds him down,
forcing him to stay.
NOVAK (CONT'D)
LISTEN TO ME!
She steals a glance over his shoulder and glimpses a MALE
FIGURE coming
toward them, coming into the light.
Novak is
utterly unaware of what's happening. Catherine is keeping
him occupied. Waiting for
the arrival of...
STARGHER KING
Catherine LAUGHS. Novak
catches only a fleeting glimpse of
the monster before Stargher King GRABS him by the throat and
SMASHES his head against a pedestal.
BLACKOUT.
INT. STARGHER'S WORLD - THE DEN
Eyelids rise and flutter.
Novak becomes conscious.
And
instantly realizes what's happened.
He lies on the pedestal, face up, spread-eagle, his wrists
and ankles bound to the cold stone surface with leathery
cords. Standing over him, in a pool of light,
is Stargher
King. Wearing what could be
seen as CEREMONIAL GARB, a
silent, solemn Stargher King prepares himself for execution
of a ritual by polishing and arranging an assortment of
shiny, sharp, macabre TOOLS.
Novak shuts his eyes and silently tells himself, Not real.
He opens them, breathes deeply and focuses on Catherine.
NOVAK
You're
Catherine Young. You majored in
Psych at UC San Diego. You
work for
Sunerset Industries.
Stargher King's fingers pass over an array of horrific
instruments - the throat piercer/collar mechanism, a cleaver
knife, a misshapen hammer, a long slender needle...
NOVAK (CONT'D)
Your grandmother raised you after your
parents died in a car crash...
Stargher King lifts the blade-like NEEDLE. So far, Catherine
looks at Novak like he's speaking gibberish.
NOVAK (CONT'D)
When you were twenty-one, you were
arrested for possession and got off with
community service.
Stargher King SLICES through Novak's clothes, exposing the
flesh of his abdomen.
NOVAK (CONT'D)
(reminding himself)
Not real, Pete...This is not real...
(urgency)
You had to work at a center for abused
kids for three months. You
stayed on
two years for no pay. You
give half
your fucking salary to the nursing home
your grandmother stays at...
Stargher King grabs his throat and traces the blade down the
center of Novak's torso.
Novak struggles and pleads with
Catherine.
NOVAK (CONT'D)
I know this because I work for the FBI.
Peter Novak, remember?!?!
(a desperate request)
Remember. You are Cath-
Stargher King cuts his flesh and INSERTS the needle into his
stomach. NOVAK
SCREAMS! This fucking hurts!
NOVAK (CONT'D)
Help me!!!
Stargher King wiggles the needle, pulls it out, and digs his
finger into the wound.
NOVAK CRIES IN PAIN.
NOVAK (CONT'D)
(tears forming, horrified)
Fucking FEELS real!
The intensity of Novak's cries hit Catherine like a
thunderbolt. There's a
glimmer of life, of recognition in
her eyes.
STARGHER KING
(finally speaking)
Me god gut you like a dear.
Although we don't see it, we HEAR something awful. Like
Stargher King fishing around inside the wound. A pale,
sweating Novak tries to stay conscious. He will not go into
shock...
NOVAK
Not real. Not real. Not real.
A FEMALE HAND grabs the tool from the tray.
STARGHER KING
(mimicking Novak, laughing)
Nod reel, nod reel, nod reel...
STARGHER KING IS SLAMMED FROM BEHIND! CATHERINE RAMS THE
THING THROUGH HIS THROAT!
As Stargher King stumbles away
gagging, blood pouring form his neck, we see that she has
returned to normal. The
"bride" persona is gone.
As
Stargher King emits animalistic growls, Catherine turns and
sees an intact Novak standing next to her. As if nothing had
happened.
Catherine and Novak RUN out of the den, into the tunnel from
which Novak gained access.
He stops, ready to press the
sensor, when a FLICKER OF LIGHT dances across Catherine's
face.
CATHERINE
Wait...
NOVAK
Like hell
"wait."
But she won't listen and he's forced to play catch up as she
moves further from the den toward the cliff face. The
FLICKER OF LIGHT shines on the entrance to a specific TUNNEL.
CATHERINE
He wants us to follow. The
little
boy...
NOVAK
Little boy?! That's him!
CATHERINE
He brought you to me, didn't he?
If you
want Julia to live, trust me.
Trust
him.
INT. TUNNEL/CUBBYHOLE
On her hands and knees, she enters the TUNNEL, not waiting
for him to respond. She
knows what he'll do... Catherine and
Novak crawl through the dark, grimy claustrophobic space,
playing with his mirror locket.
CATHERINE
Carl...
He so desperately wants her affection, but fear prevents him
from reaching out to her.
CATHERINE (CONT'D)
This is Peter.
Scared, he shakes his head "no."
CATHERINE (CONT'D)
Don't be scared. You're my
friend and I
would never hurt you.
She extends her hand.
Oh-so-hesitantly he takes it.
CATHERINE
(CONT'D)
Will you take us to her? To
Julia?
Shyly, hesitantly, he nods.
She smiles gratefully and
affectionately touches the boy's face. Clasping her hand,
Young Stargher leads
Catherine and Novak into utter darkness.
INT. STARGHER'S WORLD - THE IDEALIZED CELL
More stylized than the actual cell, it's bigger and ornately
decorated, with the atmosphere of a church. Individual
IMAGES hang like SHRINES, each showing Julia Hickson from
different angles.
Central to the room is a WINDOW INTO THE CELL ITSELF. Where
we find a beautiful, mermaid-like JULIA HICKSON floating in
water. Peaceful, joyous.
IN THE CENTER OF THE ROOM, we find Novak and Catherine, she
holding the hand of Young Stargher, he stunned at the sight
of Julia. The child looks
at Catherine with beatific, sad
eyes, regarding her as one would a saviour.
NOVAK
Where the hell are we?
CATHERINE
Carl, do you know? Like on
a map...
He shakes his head and buries his face in her shoulder.
CATHERINE (CONT'D)
It's okay, it's okay. You
helped so
much already. I'm proud of
you.
As a frustrated Novak
searches for anything identifying,
Catherine comforts the boy and looks deeply into his sad,
haunted eyes.
CATHERINE (CONT'D)
Carl, I think I can help you.
Would you
like that? Even if Peter
can't find
Julia, I want to help you.
The boy leans against her and she caresses his face.
CATHERINE (CONT'D)
I
promise.
Novak finds himself standing in front of the idealized cell.
Mounted beneath the glass is a shiny, perfect metal plaque
reading CARVER INDUSTRIAL EQUIPMENT, with a logo. Novak
recognizes it from the
hoist in Stargher's basement.
NOVAK
Let's go.
He pulls her to her feet.
Feeling betrayed and rejected, the
child breaks away from her.
THE ROAR OF STARGHER KING shakes
the cell. Terrified, the
boy searches for a place to hide.
CATHERINE
CARL!
Novak feels what's coming.
NOVAK
COME ON!
CATHERINE
I can't leave him!
STARGHER KING APPEARS! His
throat wounded, bloody mess, he
descends out of dark nothingness, HOWLING with rage. He
reaches for Catherine, but Young Stargher runs in front of
her.
STARGHER KING CLAMPS HIS MASSIVE ARMS AROUND THE CHILD!
Little Carl opens his mouth in a silent scream... Catherine's
arms reach out to
him, but Novak clasps her hand and presses.
And she is haunted by the sight of a frightened child in the
arms of a monster...
INT. CAMPBELL CENTER - LABORATORY
Henry notices significant activity on the monitors.
HENRY
They're back.
Everything happens fast. He
and Miriam frantically cease the
procedure.
Novak and Catherine are lowered and Novak startles them by
quickly regaining consciousness.
Miriam attempts to inject
him with stabilizing drugs, but he's already trying to tear
himself out of the apparatus.
NOVAK
Get me out!
Miriam MOVES into the PROCEDURE ROOM.
NOVAK (CONT'D)
GET ME OUT!
Miriam tries to follow protocol, but Novak is moving like a
fish caught in a net, ripping and tearing his way out of the
apparatus and suit. He gets
to his feet, but soon falls to
his knees, dizzy and disoriented.
MIRIAM
Don't
move!
Novak is not listening.
Fighting off any after-effects- both
physical and mental - he moves for the door.
MIRIAM (CONT'D)
Agent Novak!
Catherine is coming back and Miriam moves to her. Novak
pauses just for a moment.
NOVAK
Is she alright?
MIRIAM
Yes. But you're going to
sit down right
now. I have to...
Novak is already gone.
INT. CAMPBELL CENTER - CONFERENCE ROOM
Novak speed-dials a number on speaker-phone, hurriedly
dresses, and locates a photograph of Stargher's basement.
When he hears someone pick up the line, he barks:
NOVAK
This is Novak, who've I got?
A confused Ramsey enters and listens.
INT.
STARGHER HOUSE - BASEMENT
A team of FBI AGENTS is meticulously going through every inch
of Stargher's house.
Crisscrossed wooden beams have been laid across the pit
allowing forensics experts to search without disturbing
anything. On the other end
of the direct line is COLE...
COLE
Agent Cole.
(INTERCUT WITH NOVAK AND RAMSEY)
