Freddy's dead - Final Nightmare
script used with courtesey of Daily ScriptFADE IN:
INT. DC-10 AIRLINER - NIGHT
JACOB JOHNSON is sleeping. It doesn't look like a pleasant experience. He is sixteen, dirty blonde, his eyes visibly moving under closed lids as he sits huddle under a blanket in his window seat. The lights are dim -- the shade on the window closed -- a bead of sweat dribbles down his forehead. The HUMMING of the jet's engines vibrates through the cabin.
The boy's eyes snap open.
Jacob glances around nervously. He looks like an escaped convict who just accidentally walked into the Policemen's Ball. A GREYHAIRED MAN two seats away from him gives the teenager a cursory glance, then goes back to his book. Jacob lays his head back and tries to relax. The engines continue to drone.
Until a new noise starts. A WHOOSHING NOISE.
The sound is very faint. But distinct from everything else. Jacob frowns.
The noise gets LOUDER. Jacob's sure he's hearing it now. He looks at the Greyhaired Man. The man catches his eye and the two of them stare at each other for a heartbeat - then Jacob turns away. The Man returns to his book. And Jacob immediately turns back to him.
JACOB Do you hear that?
The man gives him an annoyed look as the WHOOSHING gets louder.
GREYHAIRED MAN Hear what?
JACOB That noise.
GREYHAIRED MAN I don't hear anything.
The man turns back to the book as the sound gets even LOUDER - - like it's coming closer. Jacob squirms in his seat -- sneaks a look at the man again. How can he not hear that? A STEWARDESS walks by and Jacob catches her attention.
JACOB Excuse me.
STEWARDESS Yes?
The WHOOSHING is completely obvious now. The greyhaired man tries to ignore the two people talking over him.
JACOB What is that sound?
STEWARDESS That's just the engines, sir.
JACOB No, it's different. It's not the engines. It's getting louder.
The man sighs -- the stewardess smiles patronizingly.
STEWARDESS We're just gaining altitude to get above some rough weather. That's the sound of the engines speeding up a bit. Everything's fine.
JACOB Um...okay.
The stewardess walks away as Jacob sits back and starts to bite his nails. The whooshing is really starting to BLARE now. He looks between the seats in front of him -- twists around to look behind. He snaps back to the greyhaired man.
JACOB (cont'd) Can't you hear that?
GREYHAIRED MAN (losing patience) Look, kid. Will you relax? It's just the damn engines, okay?
The man glares at him, and Jacob backs off. The sound has grown DEAFENING. Jacob grinds his seat like he's going mad. He looks at the closed window. He reaches out his hand, grabs the handle then rips up the shade for all to see:
A 747 coming RIGHT AT US.
Jacob SCREAMS. The planes CRASH.
Impact - decompression - explosion. The hull of the cabin buckles violently - moaning like a dying elephant - peeling inward revealing RED AND GREEN STRIPING on the outside.
A huge wing section RIPS through the structure - barely missing Jacob - taking the greyhaired man's head clean off - nailing the stewardess in the gut and shoving her body across and out the other side of the cabin.
And Jacob's seat drops down - sending him and us into:
EXT. SKY - NIGHT
Like an intricate ballet, Jacob, his body strapped to his chair, tumbles away from the DC-10 and 747 as they seem to merge and bend into some kind of mutant DC-47 - wings and tails wrapping around each other as debris blooms out like a flower and together they EXPLODE - a fiery ball lighting the nighttime clouds and Jacob's shrieking face.
And Jacob falls and falls and falls, his hair sticking straight up from the blasting wind.
That's when CORPSES start falling past him. The captain of the plane - the stewardess, her body bent in half - the greyhaired man, his head gone but his book still in his hand. More men, women, crew people - and CHILDREN.
But these children aren't dead bodies. Two LITTLE GIRLS and one LITTLE BOY, all dressed in white, plummet down next to Jacob, head first, like high divers. And they're singing:
THE CHILDREN One two, Freddy's coming for you...
The children turn around in the sky so that they are travelling feet first. The Little Boy's pants puff up and the Girls' skirts poof out and RIP UPWARD - the wind taking away their clothes and their skin and their bodies and their hair...
THE CHILDREN (cont'd) Three four, better lock your door...
Leaving three tiny SKELETONS - taunting and laughing as Jacob screams and covers his eyes.
THE CHILDREN (cont'd) Five six, grab your crucifix...
And the Skeletons sprout wings - leathery and veiny - the wind catching them and sending them up and away as their voices echo in the sky.
THE CHILDREN (cont'd) Seven eight, gonna stay up late...
Jacob takes his hands away from his face and starts to frantically pull on his seat belt. SNAP - it flies off his back and miraculously turns into a PARACHUTE. Rope swirls into the air - the wind grabs the canvas - and Jacob's body slows with a violent jerk.
But at least he's not falling anymore. Jacob catches his breath as he starts gently floating through the sky. He smiles. This isn't so bad. This is actually kind of fun. Not for long, though, because his new upward momentum carries him back up to:
The winged children's Skeletons. Jacob's eyes bug out as he rises into them and they start to circle. They move closer and we can see something in their hands:
SCISSORS
Jacob twists his body, trying to steer his parachute away from the demons. One of the Skeletons swoops up to his face and pokes its scissors inches away from Jacob's eyes. It sings alone:
CHILD Nine ten, never sleep again!
The Skeleton cranks its arm back - ready to plunge the scissor's blades into Jacob's sockets. The arms swings toward him - then suddenly diverts up past his head, heading for:
THE CHUTE'S STRINGS
The Skeleton flaps its wings and poises its scissors at one of the ropes. The other two Skeletons join it over Jacob's head. The three of them look down at Jacob, their boney jaws in a perpetual smile.
JACOB No!
The Skeletons nod "yes". SNIP - SNIP - SNIP - they cut away at Jacob's parachute as he swings underneath them, trying to pull away - SNIP - SNIP.
The parachute flutters away - the Skeletons cackle - and Jacob plummets.
ON JACOB
We stay with him as he screams and shrieks and yells and the clouds part and the ground rises quickly up to meet him. The ground becomes a town, the town becomes a block, the block becomes a house, the house becomes a roof, and...
INT. JACOB'S BEDROOM - NIGHT
KA-BLAM! The ceiling explodes as Jacob's body plows through, slams down, shatters the bed, and we immediately:
CUT TO:
INT. JACOB'S BEDROOM - MORNING
Jacob's eyes blast open as he sits up from bed in a cold sweat. A dream. The worst fucking dream from hell anyone would ever want to have -- but still just a dream. He takes a few deep breaths as a soft KNOCK is heard at the door.
JACOB Yeah..
ALICE JOHNSON opens the door and sticks her head in. She's thirty-two, blonde, with a caring smile.
ALICE You okay, honey?
JACOB Yeah, Mom. I'm fine.
ALICE Alright. Better get cooking or you'll be late for school.
JACOB On my way.
Alice closes the door as Jacob gets out of bed and stretches. Sunlight is leaking through the bedroom window shade and Jacob walks over to it. He reaches out and pulls up the shade.
And there's nothing buy sky. Jacob frowns and pokes his head out the window.
JACOB'S POV - THE GROUND
is once again racing up towards us at seven-thousand miles an hour. The entire house is falling.
BACK IN THE BEDROOM
Jacob leaps away from the window. The WINGED SKELETONS reappear outside -- dancing in the air -- cackling with glee.
The bedroom starts to SHAKE violently as Jacob stumbles into the center. The roof starts caving in and the walls begins to crumble.
ANGLE STRAIGHT DOWN ON JACOB.
Jacob grabs his head, looks up at us, and SCREAMS. We suddenly stay where we are as the house drops down and we punch out through the roof and our shot becomes an:
ANGLE STRAIGHT DOWN ON THE HOUSE
as it falls away towards the ground. We watch as it becomes a small dot - and finally impacts on the surface. A mushroom cloud of smoke silently puffs out in the distance below
EXT. TOWN - NIGHT - AT THE CRATER
Smoke and dust whirl around a huge hole in the earth. Splintered shreds of lumber stick up in the air like giant toothpicks. Some of the toothpicks start to move.
Jacob rises out of the destruction, charred, scraped, battered and, unfortunately, alive. He climbs up to the edge of the crater. He looks back a the remnants of his home.
Then something starts to happen.
Something his growing from the crater - spreading out. It's not a cloud, it's not smoke - it's a DARKNESS. Even though it's night, this darkness is darker. It creeps out from the hole - fingers of blackness reaching out. What it covers doesn't disappear. It becomes GLOOMY. The shroud is getting bigger.
And it's getting faster. Jacob runs.
WITH JACOB - RUNNING
He bolts down the streets of the small town in a blind panic. He looks behind him and sees the darkness getting bigger, its gloominess covering houses. Then whole blocks.
Everything it touches seems to fall deeper into SHADOW.
AT THE STREET CORNER
Jacob comes across a WOMAN walking her dog. He stops and yells at her.
JACOB Get the hell out of here! It's coming!
WOMAN What's coming?
Jacob points down the street. The shroud is swooping down the road - browning out street lights in its wake. And the woman doesn't find anything threatening about this. Jacob screams at her.
JACOB Don't you see it?
WOMAN See what?
And it's obvious now: she doesn't see anything. The Woman is totally oblivious to the danger. Jacob shakes his head -- stumbles away.
The woman watches him go as the darkness PASSES OVER HER. She sighs.
And begins to MUTATE. Her hair gets scraggly, her skin bursts out in sores, her back grows a hump -- all of which she DOESN'T seem to notice.
She just shrugs her twisted shoulders.
WOMAN (cont'd) Kids...watcha gonna do?
She hobbles away with her dog - which now has six legs and two heads.
BACK WITH JACOB - RUNNING
Like a bat running from hell, he tears through the streets passing buildings that turn creepy and people that become passively accepting monsters.
A VOICE booms out from nowhere.
FREDDY (O.S.) Jacob! You're too old to run away from home!
Jacob covers his ears and races out of town.
EXT. HIGHWAY - NIGHT
Jacob falls onto the deserted road just outside of town. He rolls on the asphalt and looks behind him. most of the town is covered in an opaque gloom.
Suddenly a CACKLING sound is heard and Jacob turns to its source:
HIS POV: THE SPRINGWOOD SIGN
The town can still be seen behind it -- the darkness over almost all of it now. The sign reads: WELCOME TO SPRINGWOOD. POPULATION...
And the numbers after the word "population" are changing. They're counting BACKWARDS, clattering away like an old-time gas pump in reverse - faster and faster - blurring as the "thousands" digit disappears, then the "hundreds", then "tens", then...
CLINK - the count stops at "1". Springwood is entirely engulfed in the shroud. There is a pause.
CRASH - the sign is violently YANKED into the ground. It vanishes into the earth and a CRACK APPEARS at the edge of the road. The crack grows - moving out to the center of the highway.
BACK ON THE STREET
Jacob watches the crack as it splits wider in the middle of the street and a GURGLING sound starts to build. The tar in front of Jacob becomes molten. It bubbles and pops.
Jacob scrambles backwards as something begins to rise from boiling asphalt.
It's a hat.
The hat, a fedora to be precise, pushes itself up. A left hand - burned and scarred - pokes out next to it. Four sharp blades jut out of the muck on the other side. A head is up now - a curtain of tar dripping from the rim of the hat - hiding the face. The body beneath the head ascends. The veil of asphalt parts:
It's FREDDY KRUEGER. Jacob SCREAMS.
Freddy LAUGHS. He shakes off his layer of tar and looks towards the clouded town of Springwood. A look of pure hatred appears on his ragged face.
FREDDY Payback time...
Freddy opens his mouth - lets out a large breath - and then INHALES an even larger one.
A WINDSTORM starts, the source being Krueger's own lungs. The gale force begins to yank at the shroud surrounding Springwood. Fingers of darkness pull up from the town and towards Freddy's mouth -- and houses begin to DISSOLVE. Freddy continues to inhale like he's never going to stop.
Krueger is sucking the black gloom into his body - and the entire town of Springwood is going with it. Trees, buildings, cars, picket fences. It's all crumbling and fusing, becoming a part of t cloud that itself is caught in the nightmarish wind tunnel, all piling into Freddy's mouth.
The vortex swirls into Krueger. Then it's gone. Nothing but a vacant lot the size of a town remains. Freddy turns to Jacob and BURPS, it sounds like a THUNDERCLAP.
JACOB No!
FREDDY Don't worry, I have a strong stomach.
Freddy reaches down and yanks up his red and green sweater. He pulls apart his putrid abdomen to reveal his guts - and a transparent stomach.
Inside the stomach: a black swirling mass. Flashes of houses, people, homes, couples, all trapped in horrible anguish. Freddy drops down his sweater.
FREDDY (cont'd) Springwood is mine, boy!
JACOB I dreamed you away before I was born! Mom said you couldn't come back!
FREDDY Is that true? Then she told you all about me, huh? Let's see what else she has to say.
Freddy reaches his left hand into the bubbling tar at his feet, digs around a bit, then pulls out:
ALICE. Jacob's mother. Tar dripping down her body. Krueger has her by the neck, waves his blades in front of her. Jacob gets up and runs toward him.
Freddy pulls a foot up from the asphalt pit and KICKS Jacob back a good fifteen feet.
ALICE Run, Jacob!
The boy rolls painful on the hard road. He sits up and screams:
JACOB Leave her alone!
FREDDY You're such a momma's boy!
Freddy swings his knives out, pauses for a terrifying beat, then swoops the daggers towards Alice.
CLOSE ON JACOB
as OFF SCREEN we hear a horrible multiple GLITCH! Jacob shrieks in gut-wrenching anguish.
WIDE ON SCENE
We're far enough away so that we don't barf at the sight but close enough to see that Freddy has impaled Alice's body on his blades. He lifts her up effortlessly and raises her limp figure RIGHT OVER HIS HEAD.
Krueger swings his arm out, shaking off Alice, sending her flying over Jacob's head. The body lands behind him.
ON JACOB
as he runs to his mother. She VANISHES just as he reaches out to touch her bloody body. He turns to Krueger and raises his fists. A look of sheer rage is growing in him, blind, insane anger. He bellows:
JACOB You fucker!
FREDDY Springwood is only the beginning. All I need from you is a ride!
Suddenly, between Jacob and Freddy, three SHAFTS OF LIGHT burst up from the road. Three FIGURES appear as the light dissipates.
They're dressed in metallic black, heavy boots, helmets with dark visors covering their faces. One is large and muscular. The one in the center has an obviously feminine figure under her skin-tight outfit. The third is a little smaller than the other two with a slightly different face that allows us to see his mouth.
They're the DREAM POLICE. Jacob doesn't know this yet, but Freddy seems to. The bastard son of a hundred maniacs frowns at the sight of these new apparitions.
Then he looks past them and smiles at Jacob.
FREDDY (cont'd) See ya later!
Freddy violently DROPS down into the bubbling asphalt pit. Two of the black figures start after him. The third one turns to Jacob as his partners leap into the hole after Freddy. The sound from his exposed mouth is DEAFENING!
SOUND COP WAKE UP!
Jacob grabs his ears in pain as we suddenly:
CUT TO:
EXT. HIGHWAY - DAY
Jacob's eyes snap open so fast his sockets suffer whiplash. He's lying smack in the middle of the road tucked in a fetal position. Jacob slowly uncurls his body and sits up. He shivers and wipes his sweaty forehead - and that's when he notices something in his hand.
INSERT: JACOB'S HAND
it's a bracelet, a simple band of gold with a larger plate in the middle, like an ID band. Jacob's fingers turn the plate over. Printed on the other side is the name of the bracelet's former owner: ALICE. Jacob has a souvenir.
BACK TO JACOB
He raises his face and looks at the road in front of him. It goes off into the distance surrounded on both sides by empty fields.
This is where Springwood used to be. A look of anguish crosses Jacob's face as he stares at the desolation.
JACOB Mom...
HONK! SCREECH!
Jacob whips his head around in time to see a huge moving van blasting right at him. He rolls off to the side of the road. The truck barely misses him, kicking up a cloud of dust in its wake.
Jacob chokes on the dust. He slowly recovers and looks back down at the bracelet in his hand. He clenches his fist around it as a wild-eyed angry look starts to grow on him. He takes a few deep breaths, then stands up and walks OUT OF FRAME.
ANGLE DOWN THE HIGHWAY
We can see a pickup truck in the distance. Jacob's HAND ENTERS FRAME, thumb sticking out, his mother's bracelet dangling from his wrist.
The pickup truck starts to slow down.
EXT. ROSEDALE - DAY
A sprawling little community with pleasant streets and cheerful houses. It looks a lot like Springwood, the only real difference being that it actually exists. It also has a sign: WELCOME TO ROSEDALE. POPULATION: 8,786
A Volkswagon bus drives past the sign and stops a couple of blocks down the road from us. Jacob steps out of the passenger side and wearily waves his ride goodbye. He shuffles into town.
CLOSE ON YET ANOTHER SIGN
It reads: DRUG ADDICTS NOT WELCOME TO ROSEDALE!
The sign pulls away to reveal a middle-aged man with an angry expression: MR. HOPKINS
MR. HOPKINS Clean up your act somewhere else!
He walks along as we PULL BACK TO SEE
EXT. ROSEDALE FOSTER HOME - DAY
It's a nice-looking two-story house in the middle of a usually quiet neighborhood. Today the home is surrounded by about a dozen townsfolk carrying picket signs: NO HALFWAY HOUSES IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD!, DON'T LOWER OUR PROPERTY VALUES!, and GO BACK TO JUVENILE HALL! The crowd mumbles amongst itself, occasionally bursting out with a chant in protest.
ON JACOB
We catch him walking down the sidewalk. He tramps along with his hands stuffed in his pockets and his eyes on the pavement. He looks like he hasn't slept in days. The sound of the crowd ahead of him finally grabs his attention.
Jacob approaches the disturbance and comes across a young girl standing behind a bush holding a BAG OF GROCERIES. She is KAREN MILLER, dark hair, sixteen, very pretty, but with a faraway look in her eyes.
Jacob stands next to her and stares at the crowd like a zombie. She doesn't turn to look at him as he speaks:
JACOB What's going on?
KAREN Free speech. The right of assembly.
JACOB What is this place?
KAREN It's a home. A foster home. For teenagers. It's where you go when things get bad. It's the place to figure out what to do next. It's a home for kids that no one else wants. (beat) It's MY home.
Karen hasn't looked at Jacob once. She suddenly seems to steel herself and walks away from the bush, towards the house. Jacob is befuddled.
JACOB Oh...
He stands there and watches.
IN FRONT OF THE HOUSE
Karen quickly makes her way into the crowd of people, head up, eyes staring forward. The crowd parts ever so slightly as the irked townsfolk start to heat up. They have an actual human to vent their anger on now. Mr. Hopkins lays in on her as she passes him.
MR. HOPKINS Why can't you find somewhere else to shack up?
Karen turns to him, still walking, flustered and hurt.
KAREN What have we ever done to you?
MR. HOPKINS Nothing...YET.
Karen turns quickly away from him and trips over a sprinkler head. Her groceries tumble onto the grass. A hand reaches down to help her. It's Jacob's.
He quietly helps her re-bag her groceries as Mr. Hopkins looms above them. Both angry and embarrassed now.
MR. HOPKINS (cont'd) Look, we've been here for years. This is a quiet street. We'd just like to keep it that way.
Jacob can't take this guy anymore. He stands up and faces the older man with a scowl.
JACOB Lighten up, mister.
MR. HOPKINS (smirks) And what gutter did you crawl out from, kid? (frowns) We don't want your kind here.
JACOB My kind? What kind is that?
MR. HOPKINS Drug addicts. Dope pushers. We have stand up and take charge.
JACOB Swell. I've just got a couple of questions for you...Do you love your parents?
MR. HOPKINS Of course I do...
JACOB Are they alive?
MR. HOPKINS My mother is.
JACOB What's it like?
Jacob stares at Hopkins. He doesn't answer. He just huffs and puffs as Karen grabs Jacob and pulls him up to the front porch of the home, then into the floor.
INT. FOSTER HOME - FRONT HALLWAY - DAY
Karen slams the door and takes a deep breath.
KAREN Assholes.
JACOB I can think of a stronger word. Are you okay?
KAREN Yeah. Thanks. I'm Karen.
JACOB Jacob.
Jacob suddenly gets a little light-headed and has to use a wall to hold himself up. Karen looks concerned.
KAREN Are YOU okay?
JACOB Yeah. I just haven't had much to eat lately.
KAREN Then come help me unpack.
She smiles and leads him further into the house.
INT. FOSTER HOME - KITCHEN - DAY
Jacob is feverishly eating a sandwich at the table while Karen finishes putting the rest of the food away.
KAREN I guess the sandwich is alright, huh?
JACOB It's incredible. Best I've ever had.
KAREN You're not from around here, are you?
JACOB No. I've been on the road for a couple of days.
KAREN Do you need a place to stay?
FOOTSTEPS are heard from below and a couple in their mid- thirties enter from the basement door. They're DAVID and MARY ROSS, both greasy and frustrated.
MARY So, we have to get it fixed.
DAVID We don't have the money to get it fixed.
They both start washing up at the sink, not really noticing the teenagers in the room. Karen speaks up.
KAREN What's wrong?
DAVID Our plumbing has a bad case of hardening of the arteries. Who's your friend?
David gives Jacob a wary glance as the boy stands shakily.
KAREN This is Jacob.
JACOB Jacob Johnson.
DAVID David Ross. My wife, Mary.
KAREN They run this house. They're helping me and three other ids get a footing in reality before they kick us out of the nest to make room for the next batch.
David is looking out the window at the now dissipating crowd. He lets out a weary sigh.
DAVID If there is a next batch. I see the welcome wagon is back. Was there any trouble?
KAREN A little. Jacob came to my rescue.
MARY (pleasant) Where you from, Jacob?
JACOB Springwood.
MARY Springwood? Where's that?
JACOB Upstate about a hundred miles.
DAVID (suspicious) I know this state like the back of my hand. I've never heard of Springwood.
There is an uncomfortable pause. Then Karen suddenly breaks in.
KAREN Jacob's a little down on his luck. I told him he could stay here a few days.
Jacob gives here a surprised look.
MARY Are your parents in Springwood?
JACOB My father died before I was born. My mother, she's dead, too.
DAVID You have a legal guardian?
JACOB No.
DAVID Been in any state or federal program?
JACOB No.
KAREN Just for a little while. So he can get his bearings.
DAVID Got any ID?
Jacob reaches for his back pocket - it's empty. He shakes his head "no".
MARY (to David) I think we can help him out, honey. The budget's tight, but we can't turn down someone in need.
David doesn't acknowledge his wife, he just stares at Jacob sternly. Karen bites her nails. Then David sits down and starts to lecture.
DAVID Okay. You got three, maybe four days to rest up while we try and find a more permanent arrangement for you. But his isn't going to be a free ride. We're part of a community summer work project and eighty percent of the money you make goes to the house. Everybody works - and that includes you. Are you on drugs?
JACOB No.
DAVID Good. If I catch anything stronger then an aspirin on you, you're outta here. No arguments. You got that straight?
JACOB Yes, sir.
DAVID Okay. Dinner in two hours. Why don't you go meet the rest of the gang.
KAREN Thanks, David.
MARY I'll go fix up the spare bed in Wesley's room.
David gets up. He gives Jacob a final once-over.
DAVID And take a shower, for chrissakes.
David leaves the room. Karen gives Jacob a huge grin.
INT. FOSTER HOME - THE TV ROOM - DAY
Karen leads Jacob into the room. There are two teenagers on the couch: WESLEY is a fifteen-year old, curly hair, kind of small. GINA is also fifteen, brunette hair, seems pretty happy.
KAREN Hey, guys, I got someone for you to meet. This is Jacob. Jacob, this is Wesley and Gina.
JACOB Hi.
WESLEY Welcome to fun central.
KAREN He's going to be staying with us for a while.
GINA Oh yeah? How'd you get through the blockade?
Another kid, SCOTT, pops into the room. He's sixteen, dark hair, with a tough-guy I could give a shit attitude. He doesn't seem to care about anybody in the room, except for Karen.
SCOTT Hey, beautiful. How's it going?
KAREN Hi, Scott.
Scott notices Jacob and frowns. Karen is a little annoyed.
SCOTT Who's Barney Rubble?
KAREN This is Jacob Johnson. He's a new resident. At least temporarily.
SCOTT He better not be rooming with me. I value my privacy.
KAREN No, I believe that honor goes to Wesley.
WESLEY Good. I could use the company.
SCOTT So what's your story? Divorce? Custody battle? Your parents just plain assholes?
JACOB They're dead.
KAREN Mellow out, Scott. Give him a chance to settle in.
SCOTT Just curious.
Scott reaches into his shirt pocket and pulls out a pack of cigarettes. As he lights one up, Wesley's cheerful attitude suddenly turns grim. He gets up from the couch and quickly leaves the room. Karen gives Scott an angry look.
JACOB Is he alright?
SCOTT He'll be fine. He just has a problem with cigarettes.
GINA His parents used to use them as a sick kind of discipline. That's why he's here.
JACOB If you know that, then why do you smoke in front of him?
SCOTT It's not my problem.
This really pisses Jacob off. These two are not going to get along very well.
JACOB Just what is YOUR problem, then?
SCOTT I took care of my problem. That's why I'M here.
Scott lets out an aloof puff of smoke and leaves. Jacob gives Karen a confused glance.
KAREN His dad used to beat him. One day he couldn't take it any more.
JACOB What happened?
KAREN He killed him with his father's gun. Self-defense.
Jacob sits down on the couch and lets that sink in. Gina scootches away from him on the couch, then gives him a glum look.
GINA Everyone here has a fun tale to tell. Isn't that right, Karen?
Karen is staring out the window. She has that spaced-out expression we saw before when she was hiding behind the bush.
KAREN Yeah. Right.
No one has anything left to say. Gina turns the sound on the TV back up as the three sad kids start to watch cartoons.
INT. FOSTER HOME - THE TV ROOM - NIGHT
Jacob is alone in the dark watching some kind of NICK AT NIGHT b&w sit-com re-run. A cheerful family lovingly banters away on the flickering tube. Jacob just stares blankly.
Karen sleepily shows up at the doorway in a long tee-shirt with a glass of milk.
KAREN Why don't you go to bed?
JACOB I can't sleep.
KAREN You need to talk?
JACOB No. I'm fine. Thanks.
Karen gives him a worried look and heads off to bed. Jacob continues watching TV with a creepy glean in his tired eyes.
INT. OLD WAREHOUSE - DAY
The kids are here cleaning up the building. The guys throw rotted lumber into trash bins while the girls sweep up. We catch Jacob and Scott tossing some debris into a wheelbarrow. Jacob looks pretty ragged.
SCOTT Come on. Let's hop to it. Gotta make
way for those new indoor tennis courts. The fate of the world lies in the balance. Okay, this load's full.
Jacob grabs the handles of the wheelbarrow and shakily picks it up. Scott sneers.
SCOTT (cont'd) You got that?
JACOB Yeah, no problem.
SCOTT I don't know. Maybe you should think about switching to de-caf or something.
Jacob ignores him and pushes the wheelbarrow along. Scott takes some time off to smoke a cigarette. He spots Karen across the room bending over with a dustbin. Scott lingers on this view for a long time.
AT A DUMPSTER
Jacob pulls up with the wheelbarrow and starts to unload the junk. Gina is next to the dumpster sweeping. She tries to push a large crate aside by herself, but slips and falls.
Jacob jumps over to her, reaches out, and grabs her arm to help her up.
JACOB You okay?
Gina SCREAMS.
GINA No! Yes! Let go of me!
She shakes off his grip and he jumps back. She runs away with a wild look in her eyes as Karen steps up to a confused Jacob.
KAREN She doesn't like to be touched.
JACOB No shit!
KAREN Don't take it personally. It's not her fault.
JACOB What happened to her?
KAREN Her mother was a hooker. She forced Gina to carry on the tradition. When she was thirteen...
JACOB Jesus.
Jacob looks off at Gina with genuine concern. Karen gives him the same expression.
KAREN You look terrible.
JACOB (smiling) Thanks.
KAREN I'm sorry...I just wish you'd tell me what happened to you, that's all.
JACOB I can't talk about it right now. I'll tell you later. I promise.
KAREN Okay. Why don't you sit and rest for a bit. The supervisor's not around. You look like you could use it.
JACOB I think I will.
He gives her a gentle squeeze on the forearm, and Karen likes it. Jacob spots a pile of wood next to a wall and heads off for it.
ON SCOTT
He's watched the entire interchange between Jacob and Karen, and he DOESN'T like it.
WITH JACOB
as he goes around the stack of lumber and sits down facing the brick wall. He lets out a heavy sigh and stares at the inside of the building.
JACOB'S POV - THE BRICK WALL
sits there quietly for a few beats until:
IT EXPLODES
Bricks fly out at us as a gaping hole blows into the wall revealing nothing but BLACKNESS and our shot MOVES through:
DREAM FLASHES - NIGHTMARE SPRINGWOOD
Horrifying apparitions and images ZOOM by us. Gloomy buildings under a pitch black sky. MUTANTS and twisted MONSTERS. Shadowy streets and dark alleyways. And FIVE RAZOR-BLADE FINGERS suddenly ripping right through the sky and down upon us as a VOICE rings out.
VOICE Hey, you!
INT. WAREHOUSE - DAY - ON JACOB
Jacob's eyes are closed as a SUPERVISOR looms above him.
SUPERVISOR No slacking off. Back to work.
The boy's eyes snap open and he jumps to his feet like a babbling crazy man.
JACOB What! Jesus fucking...Oh, shit!
SUPERVISOR Whoa! Get a grip, boy.
The supervisor backs off from Jacob as he slowly gets used to reality again.
JACOB Huh? What's going on?
SUPERVISOR Nothing. That's the problem. Now that you've gotten your beauty rest, let's see if you can change it, okay?
Jacob calms down and nods. He walks away, snatching a nervous glance at the perfectly normal brick wall.
EXT. FOSTER HOME - NIGHT
We watch as various lit windows go dark and the residents of the house go to bed.
INT. WESLEY & JACOB'S BEDROOM - NIGHT
Wesley is getting in bed. Jacob is sitting in a chair staring out the window. Wes switches off the lights and turns to Jacob.
WESLEY Aren't you going to bed?
JACOB I'm not tired.
WESLEY Bullshit. If you looked any more tired, you'd be dead.
Jacob cracks a weary smile in the darkness.
JACOB That's right.
WESLEY You gotta sleep, man.
JACOB Why? Who says? You know, people don't even really know why we sleep. They haven't found any physical reason for it.
WESLEY But they do know that you go nuts if you don't.
JACOB Sharks don't sleep. They can't pump water through their gills on their own. They have to always keep moving. If they stop, they can't breath. If they go to sleep, they die.
WESLEY You're not a shark.
JACOB I know. I'm just a kid. Don't worry about me, Wes. Go to sleep.
Wesley shakes his head and gets under the covers. Jacob continues to stare out the window, desperately trying to keep his eyes open.
JACOB'S POV - THROUGH WINDOW
the trees sway quietly in the breeze outside. There is a pause. Then we are suddenly PULLED THROUGH THE WINDOW, SMASHING glass, careening back into:
DREAM FLASH - NIGHTMARE SPRINGWOOD
We SAIL through the gloomy air, over the creepy buildings. And suddenly DIP DOWN, right for the street, and end up CRUISING three inches off the asphalt, really ripping down the road until we grind to a SUDDEN HALT. Right in front of:
FREDDY'S FEET. Our shot TILTS UP. Freddy looms above us and grins.
FREDDY You can't stay awake forever, boy!
He LAUGHS, his mouth gaping wide, and then splitting open impossibly wider. Something starts pouring out of his mouth, right at us.
Hundreds of GIANT BUGS spew down upon us, covering us completely as everything goes to BLACK and we:
INT. WESLEY & JACOB'S BEDROOM - NIGHT
ON JACOB
his eyes are open, his mouth is hanging in a SILENT SCREAM. It looks like his head is about to explode. He lifts his hand up to his face. He's holding an eight-inch long MONSTER BUG.
Jacob SCREAMS out loud this time, tosses the mutant insect away. It lands on a windowsill and escapes out the opening.
Jacob jumps to his feet, sending his chair tumbling backwards with a CRASH. He shakes and moans, a little drool dripping down his chin.
Wesley sits up with a start and stares at Jacob.
WESLEY I told you you'd go nuts!
Jacob catches his breath, gives Wes a dead serious look.
JACOB Get everybody else. I have to tell them something.
WESLEY In the middle of the night?
JACOB I MEAN it!
Wesley is shocked by Jacob's manic state and jumps out of bed.
INT. FOSTER HOME - TV ROOM - NIGHT
Five kids are gathered around the room in various stages of sleepy grumpiness and annoyed disbelief. Jacob paces back and forth.
SCOTT I don't get it. Is this guy alive or dead?
JACOB He's neither. He haunts your dreams and if he kills you, you die for real.
Wesley, the most gullible of the group, looks pretty scared.
WESLEY I haven't dreamed of him. I have nightmares like you wouldn't believe, but never of this guy.
SCOTT That's because this all rates an eleven on the bullshit meter! I don't know why we have to listen to this crap. You're scaring the hell out of Wes here.
GINA Keep your voice down.
SCOTT It doesn't matter. The Ross's sleep like rocks, which is what we all should be doing.
JACOB I know this sounds crazy, but I swear it's true. I went to bed one night and woke up in the middle of the road. Freddy Krueger killed my mother, blasted my whole town into his nightmare, and, worst of all, I think he wants to use me to kill more kids and bring more towns into his world.
KAREN How?
JACOB I'm not sure. I think I'm some kind of carrier. He's somehow inside me and as soon as I fall deep enough into sleep he'll be let loose. You guys were great to take me in. I just don't want to thank you by getting you all killed.
Scott gets up and goes to a desk. He pulls out a map and shows it to Jacob.
SCOTT Okay. Show me Springwood.
Jacob looks at the map and points.
SCOTT (cont'd) There's nothing there.
JACOB That's what I've been trying to tell you.
SCOTT There's NEVER been a town there.
JACOB That's how YOU see it. I was part of the nightmare, so I'm the only one who notices the difference.
Scott stares at Jacob. He actually grows sympathetic.
SCOTT Look, Jacob. You don't have to convince us that nightmares are real. Everybody in this room has been through one. And some of us are still living it. But the thing is, we know it's just in our heads now. It can be just as bad as the real thing was, but it's still only a memory. It can't hurt us physically, unless we do the hurting ourselves.
GINA And we don't want to see you get hurt.
WESLEY We know it gets crazy. And we'll help out the best we can.
SCOTT But this is just too hard to believe.
Jacob plops down on the couch, defeated. He hangs his head while the kids start to get up. Wesley gives him a pat on the back as he, Scott, and Gina leave. But Karen is still here.
She sits next to a window with a faraway look in her eyes. Jacob looks up at her.
JACOB You don't believe me, either, do you?
KAREN I don't know.
JACOB Why are you still here?
KAREN I'm not sure. I guess, I guess I see a lot of me in you.
JACOB Feels good to see someone more fucked up than yourself, huh?
Karen smiles and sits down next to him.
KAREN Yeah. That must be it.
JACOB But you haven't told me why you're here at this place.
KAREN I can't talk about it right now. Maybe later. Do you want me to stay with you?
JACOB Yeah, that'd be great. Don't let me sleep, okay?
KAREN I'll do my best.
She reaches for the remote control and flicks on the TV, moving a little closer to Jacob when she sits back into the couch. The two of them watch the screen with glassy eyes.
KAREN (cont'd) Thank God for cable TV.
JACOB Yeah. Thank God.
They continue to watch in silence as Karen takes hold of Jacob's hand.
INT. FOSTER HOME - THE TV ROOM - MORNING
We are ON KAREN as she sleeps curled up on the couch. Jacob is in the background putting on his shoes. He has a brown paper bag with him.
Jacob gets up, grabs his bag, and steps over to Karen. He gently pulls a lock of hair away from her face. Then he heads for the front door.
EXT. FOSTER HOME - FRONT PORCH - DAY
Jacob walks out the door and closes it behind him. He crosses to the porch steps and stops. He has to hold onto a porch column just to keep standing.
Karen appears behind him. Jacob jumps a bit.
KAREN Where are you going?
JACOB I'm leaving.
KAREN Why?
JACOB He can't hurt you if I'm gone. Maybe I'll go to the desert or something. I'll lie down in the middle of nowhere and finally get some sleep. Krueger can feed of the dreams of snakes and vultures.
KAREN Fine. You're just going to take off then...
Karen has an angry expression on his face. Jacob gives her a pained look.
JACOB Don't do this to me. I'm just trying to protect you and the others.
KAREN Right. You blow into town and then blow right out. Terrific.
JACOB I don't understand why you're so mad at me.
KAREN You just don't get it, do you?
JACOB Get what?
Karen, though still very angry, looks like she's about to cry. Jacob, confused, sits down on the porch steps.
JACOB (cont'd) Maybe I'm crazy.
KAREN Running away doesn't help.
He sighs and smiles a bit.
JACOB And you're going to convince me, huh?
KAREN Maybe.
This time Karen smiles. Jacob looks at her and sighs. Then he yawns.
KAREN (cont'd) I'm going to make some coffee. You promise not to move?
JACOB Yeah. Sure.
Karen jumps and heads back into the house. Jacob stares at the grass in front of him, his eyes heavy.
JACOB'S POV - THE LAWN
A bush sits there doing nothing. Until it suddenly comes TO LIFE. Its leaves start to shrivel, the lawn turns brown, the sky turns dark. Everything changes and turns into
DREAM FLASH - NIGHTMARE SPRINGWOOD
We're in a different front yard in a different town, in a different dimension.
The mutant bush starts to change, sprout legs, grow arms, become human.
ALICE
Her body takes shape as she reaches out a pleading arm to us.
ALICE Jacob! Help me!
She's fully formed now. And Freddy bursts out from the ground behind her. He grabs Alice, reaches his knife arm around
ALICE (cont'd) No-o-o-o-o!
Her words are cut off as Krueger jams his blades in her gut and we re-live her death once more. But it's even worse this time.
Blood POURS from Alice like a burst fire hydrant, spraying and showering the entire nightmare lawn like a human sprinkler. Freddy LAUGHS.
FREDDY Say it, don't spray it, huh, Jacob? Come and join the fun!
JACOB (O.S.) NOOOOOOO!
Jacob's voice rips through the scene as everything starts to BLUR RED.
EXT. FOSTER HOME - FRONT LAWN - DAY
Jacob is lying in the grass, violently shaking. Karen drops down next to him.
KAREN Jacob!
JACOB Nooooo!
His body jerks around as if caught in the throes of an epileptic seizure. He SHRIEKS, ignoring Karen completely, and continues to shriek and scream and yell and shake. Like he's never going to stop.
EXT. MR. HOPKINS' FRONT DOOR - DAY
We're directly across the street from the Foster Home as Jacob's cries echo through the neighborhood. Mr. Hopkins opens the front door. He sees what's going on, scowls, and yells into his house.
MR. HOPKINS I told you! It's an overdose! Jesus Christ, I saw this coming. Call 9-1-1!
He watches the commotion growing across the street, and never once moves to help.
EXT. FOSTER HOME - MOMENTS LATER
Jacob is being strapped into a stretcher, babbling incoherently. The residents of the Foster Home stand off to the side while neighbors gawk from the street. Karen is next to the AMBULANCE GUYS looking frantic.
JACOB No! Don't let them take me!
KAREN Jacob, it'll be alright.
AMBULANCE GUY #1 Calm down, kid. We'll take care of you.
Jacob grabs the Ambulance Guy.
JACOB You don't understand! Let me go!
The ambulance guy straps Jacob's arm down. Mr. Ross grabs Karen and pulls her away as they start loading the crazed teenager into the ambulance. Scott shakes his head. Wesley looks terrified. Gina keeps her distance from any human. Karen can't take it and runs into the house. Mr. Ross frowns.
DAVID This is just what we need.
The ambulance drives away as the gathered crowd stares at the kids angrily.
INT. AMBULANCE - DAY
Jacob yells and struggles as an Ambulance Guy prepares a syringe for injection.
JACOB Don't fucking put me under! You'll set him free!
The ambulance guy holds Jacob down and slams the needle home. Jacob screams and his eyes start to glass over.
JACOB (cont'd) He'll kill them all...
Jacob's head starts to go limp. A VOICE rings out in the van, a voice only Jacob hears:
FREDDY (O.S.) Every town as an Elm Street!
LAUGHTER echoes as Jacob turns his head towards a window.
EXT. A STREET CORNER - DAY
The ambulance zooms by. All is quiet for a second until CRASH! A twisted rusty sign post erupts out of the sidewalk and settles at an ugly angle.
It's an ELM ST. sign.
INT. AMBULANCE - DAY
We PULL BACK from a wide awake Jacob, who is now suddenly alone in the van. Outside the window there is only darkness. Jacob twists and struggles on the stretcher as
CLANG! the ambulance doors crash open revealing BLACKNESS and KA-BOOM! the stretcher is shot out of the van like a cannonball.
INT. WAREHOUSE - DAY
The stretcher with Jacob BLASTS through a wall and starts to race across the floor of the building that Jacob had been sweeping up the day before.
It careens along, actually taking a few turns, like it has a mind of its own, heading for a shallow pit in the middle of the warehouse.
The stretcher hits the pit, drops a bit, swings up violently, and stops in a vertical position like a rake that has been stepped on AND A BLACK HUMAN SHAPE shoots out of Jacob's body from intertial force, staying upright as it slides across the floor, spins, stops, then changes into:
FREDDY KRUEGER
Freddy has his hands on his hips and a grin on his face.
FREDDY Thanks for the lift, kid!
He saunters up to Jacob who is still strapped to the vertical stretcher. Krueger waves his knives and wiggles his tongue.
JACOB What do you want from me?
FREDDY I already got it! The rest I'm going to get from your new little friends.
JACOB Leave them alone!
FREDDY It's my duty to clean up the neighborhood!
JACOB What have you done with my town?
FREDDY Aw, poor baby's homesick, isn't he? Don't worry. We'll all be one happy family soon. Wanna be the first recruit?
Freddy raises his blades and SWINGS. The straps around Jacob drop away as his body falls to the floor. He scrambles to his feet and starts to RUN.
Freddy laughs
WITH JACOB - RUNNING
as he heads for a door. Before he gets there, the door swings open and Freddy leans casually in his way.
FREDDY (cont'd) What's the matter? Don't want to be part of my expansion project?
Jacob turns right around and races back across the warehouse.
AT THE DUMPSTER
Jacob races around to the other side and there's Krueger again.
FREDDY (cont'd) Today, Rosedale. Tomorrow, the world!
JACOB Over my dead body!
FREDDY As you wish.
Freddy cranks up his knives and looms over Jacob. And three FLASHES OF LIGHT blast out behind the boy. Jacob rolls away as Freddy holds up an arm to block the blinding glare. The light fades. The DREAM POLICE have arrived.
We'll call the small one SOUND COP. He stands there motionless as a loud and horrible GROWING noise emanates from his clenched teeth. This guy's bark is worse than his bite.
The female in black is BLADE COP. From nowhere she produces two nasty-looking knives, one in each hand. She spins the blades in the air like an expert Samurai.
The large one we'll call POWER COP. He reaches out for the dumpster, and with one hand sends it tumbling away with a CRASH. Freddy frowns.
FREDDY (cont'd) Uh oh. Too many parking tickets.
The Dream Police fan out around Krueger, surrounding him. Power Cop leaps at Freddy, grabs him and TOSSES him in the air. Freddy tumbles, rolls and bounces right back up on his feet. Right next to BLADE.
She swings her knives. Freddy dodges. Swings hi own blades at her. She ducks. Freddy spins again. Right towards:
SOUND COP. The short man in black opens his mouth and a sound like a foghorn at a rock concert BLARES OUT. The force of it hitting Freddy like a fist.
Freddy bounces back. And once again he nimbly pops up. He glares at the Dream Police.
FREDDY (cont'd) Don't interfere!
BLADE COP We have to.
SOUND COP It's our job.
FREDDY Get a new one.
And Freddy starts to SPIN. Slowly at first, then faster and faster, until his image starts to BLUR.
The Police circle the whirling image, holding back to see what will happen next. Krueger stops spinning. And his clothes are different. His red and green stripes have been replaced by black and white ones. There is a number printed across his chest. He's dressed like a CONVICT. Freddy grins.
FREDDY (cont'd) Time to blow this joint.
BOOM! A hole is suddenly blown in the high ceiling above Krueger. The building is suddenly filled with the beams of moving SPOTLIGHTS and the sound of blasting SIRENS.
A rope falls down through the hole. Freddy grabs it and WHOOSH! he's yanked up.
FREDDY (cont'd) You'll never get me, coppers!
and away he's gone. After a few seconds the spotlights fade away and the sirens die. The Dream Police look up seemingly unsure of their next action. Then Power Cop kicks a pile of lumber, sending wood flying dozens of yards away.
POWER COP Goddamnit!
Sound Cop shakes his head. Blade looks frustrated. Jacob steps up behind them.
JACOB Alright...just who the hell are you guys?
The black-clad trio turn around in unison and look at Jacob. There is a pause. Then:
BLADE COP We're the Dream Police.
Jacob almost laughs.
JACOB The what?
POWER COP The Dream Police. Didn't you hear her, man?
Power Cop turns to Sound Cop and flips up his visor revealing his face. He's a sixteen-year old black boy. Heavyset features, sweat dripping down his cheeks. He's KINCAID from NIGHTMARE 3. And he's pissed.
POWER COP (cont'd) We try and save this guy's ass and then he goes off and cops an attitude.
Sound Cop flips up his helmet. He's JOEY, the former mute boy.
SOUND COP I think you're the wrong guy to talk about attitudes.
BLADE COP Guys, guys. This is getting us nowhere.
She takes her helmet completely off, long dark hair tumbling over her shoulders. It's TARYN, the ex-junkie. These three, they're the Dream Warriors. Or at least they used to be.
JACOB Hello? May I butt in here and ask some more stupid questions?
The three of them stop bickering and turn to Jacob. Blade walks up to Jacob. Her two partners assume position behind her.
BLADE COP We don't know much more than you do. What we do know is that we've been recruited...
JACOB By who?
SOUND COP We don't know.
JACOB Why?
BLADE COP I think that's obvious.
POWER COP The shit's about to hit the fan.
SOUND COP Krueger's discovered new powers.
BLADE COP He's ripped a hole between dreams and reality.
POWER COP Our own powers have been amplified.
SOUND COP We only hope it will be enough.
BLADE COP But we're going to need your help.
JACOB Me? What can I do? Just who are you guys...really?
Blade puts her helmet back on. Her face turns grim.
BLADE COP We were like you. We fought Freddy Krueger many years ago. Our souls were released from his grip. No we're back to try again.
All three of them drop their visors down at the same time.
JACOB I still don't understand what...
Jacob's voice starts to GARBLE. He keeps trying to talk but the words come out twisted and clipped. He raises a hand to his throat. The hand is transparent. Jacob looks at his body as it slowly starts to disappear and now he's completely mute.
SOUND COP Freddy Krueger can't hurt us anymore.
POWER COP Because we're already dead.
Jacob vanishes completely.
INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - NIGHT
Jacob opens his eyes. He's in bed, dressed in a white smock. A DOCTOR stands next to him with a clipboard in hand.
JACOB What's going on?
DOCTOR Just relax, everything's fine.
JACOB That's what you say...
DOCTOR You're lucky you're here instead of juvenile hall. You put up quite a fight. But you're clean. No traces of drugs or alcohol in your blood.
JACOB I could've told you that.
Jacob starts getting out of bed.
DOCTOR Hold on there.
JACOB You said I was fine. I have to get back. My friends are in trouble.
DOCTOR I said you weren't on drugs, but I never said you were fine. You're suffering from extreme fatigue and stress that manifested itself into one hell of an anxiety attack. At least that's what we hope it is. You had a major seizure, Jacob.
JACOB You don't understand. This whole town is in danger.
DOCTOR We're keeping you here for observation. You're not going anywhere tonight.
JACOB You can't do that. You don't have the right!
DOCTOR Yes we do. Your temporary guardian, Mr. Ross, signed all the papers. If you're okay in the morning we might let you go home. Until then, you're bed bound.
JACOB But...
DOCTOR We took off the restraints. Do you want us to put them back on?
Jacob drops back in bed. The doctor goes to the door and turns out the lights.
DAVID Sleep.
He closes the door behind him...
JACOB Shit...
and we hear it LOCK
CUT TO:
A CRAZED LUNATIC
suddenly SCREAMING into the lens with desperation. Dark circles under bloodshot eyes, hair matted with sweat. A guy not having a good day. WE PULL BACK TO REVEAL:
The man is tightly bound in a regulation straight-jacket in a tiny, claustrophobic holding cell. We can now tell that the image is in BLACK AND WHITE. We continue PULLING BACK
INT. FOSTER HOME - TV ROOM - NIGHT
Gina sits on the couch with a stark white blanket on her lap, watching a b&w 1940's potboiler with something less than enthusiasm. Wesley appears in the doorway, checking out the source of the screaming. He looks at Gina, who tosses the blanket aside and rises, frowning. The lunatic on television continues his blood-curdling SHRIEKS.
GINA Nice movie, huh? And I came in here to mellow out.
She smiles at Wes as she exits.
GINA (cont'd) It's all yours.
Wesley murmurs a goodnight, then looks back at the screen:
ON THE TV
Some orderlies enter the lunatic's cell and attempt to sedate him as he thrashes violently, SCREAMING bloody murder. It is gritty and awful but somehow riveting.
WESLEY
moves to the couch, clearly mesmerized by the scene. He curls up, absently pulling the white blanket around him as he watches:
ON THE TV
The orderlies in the movie manage to get the needle into their patient, who MOANS and SOBS pathetically.
ORDERLY ON TV Relax, will ya, buddy? Everything's gonna be just swell.
The second orderly leans on a wall and pulls out a pack of cigarettes from the pocket of his scrubs. (He bears a suspicious resemblance to ROBERT ENGLUND.)
WESLEY
vaguely tenses at this and absently pulls the blanket more tightly around him to compensate, like a cocoon.
ON THE TV
The second orderly smiles.
SECOND ORDERLY Yeah, mac. You've just had a hard day, that's all.
The orderly produces a pack of matches. He goes to the lunatic on the cot, and LIGHTS the match off the guy's forehead. As the match FLARES, the lunatic SCREAMS.
CLOSE ON WESLEY
he shuts his eyes tensely as the SOUND is magnified, becoming a sudden ROAR that fills the room.
Wesley blinks his eyes open, looks around from his blanket cocoon. Whatever that last sound was, it did NOT come from the TV.
Beads of sweat line his upper lip as he nervously glances about the room. It remains quiet, serene. Deciding it was his imagination reacting to the scene on TV, Wesley nestles back on the couch, laying down now as the CAMERA MOVES TO REVEAL
The carpet at the edge of the room is bunched up as though the walls of the room itself have budged a few inches inward.
BACK ON THE TV the second orderly lights his cigarette as he hands the pack to the first. They both look down at the madman as they savor their cigarettes.
ORDERLY ON TV You heard the man, Wesley. Just relax. Have a smoke with us.
Wesley's brow furrows, reacting to the coincidence. Then he stiffens as the two orderlies in the movie begin to hold the lit cigarettes over the lunatic's face
SECOND ORDERLY Yeah, Wesley. Have a smoke.
OUR Wesley has seen about enough of this movie. He starts to get up
WESLEY Fuck this.
but finds that he can't move. The white blanket around him restraining him tightly like the straight-jacket on TV. He squirms and struggles.
WESLEY (cont'd) Hey.
He struggles harder now, but to no avail. He's wrapped tight, like a cigarette.
ON THE TV the two orderlies torment the straight-jacketed lunatic, poking his face with their lit cigarettes. As the lunatic SCREAMS, the screams become magnified, again becoming that loud, deafening ROAR we heard before. Wesley squirms in his blanket/ straight-jacket, he jerks his head around, SEEING with each of the man's SCREAMS, the walls of the room SHUDDER INWARD and
Wesley's EYES WIDEN with horror as he realizes not only is he TRAPPED like a sardine in his stark white blanket, but the walls of the room are starting to CLOSE IN on him. He SPINS back to the TV set, where:
The first orderly is now looking AT US. Wesley REACTS as he notices something familiar about the man's face.
FIRST ORDERLY Relax, Wesley.
WESLEY Dad?
The second orderly BOLTS into view. He has become Freddy Krueger.
FREDDY Yeah, Wesley. Everything's gonna be great! Just have a smoke on us!
As they hold their smokes out TOWARD US, their arms PROTRUDE FROM THE TV SET with their lit cigarettes.
Wesley SCREAMS and jerks his head away from TV and he HITS the floor with an ugly THUMP. The wind knocked out of him. He rolls. The couch is GONE.
As he squirms and struggles to escape his white cocoon, the frightened boy looks around and sees that everything in the room - furniture, carpet, TV, even the door - are all gone, leaving just the white walls SLOWLY CLOSING IN ON HIM.
Then we see that on the floor all around Wesley are long, cylindrical white objects. Clearly, they resemble GIANT CIGARETTES, and Wesley - wrapped neck-to-toe in his white blanket cocoon - looks just like one of them.
He continues to squirm and SCREAM as the walls CLOSE IN from all sides -- closer -- CLOSER -- pushing the long white things toward him, around him, bunching them together until they are in a tight cluster, as the room CRUNCHES IN TIGHTLY, blocking whatever light source there is, until all Wesley can do is SCREAM one last time, and
The screen goes BLACK.
After a few beats, we hear a huge, deafening RIPPING SOUND, and a new LIGHT SOURCE appears as Wesley looks up, eyes wide with unspeakable horror as the giant, scarred face of FREDDY looms over him, grinning, and we:
INT. FOSTER HOME - TV ROOM
The room is back to normal, but not the occupant. Freddy Krueger now stands here alone. He has just peeled the wrapper off a pack of cigarettes of which Wesley has become one.
FREDDY Didn't Daddy ever tell you what the Surgeon General says...?
Krueger reaches in and pulls the tiny Wesley out of the pack. As before, Wesley is immobile, helpless. Freddy holds him between two fingers.
FREDDY (cont'd) Smoking's bad for your health!
Freddy looks around, as if searching for something, then beams as he reaches into the air and...
FREDDY (cont'd) Ah! A match made in heaven!
He produces a puny version of WESLEY'S FATHER In one hand. His body is straight and rigid, like a match stick.
Freddy places his thumb on the stiff man's head, and flicks his thumbnail, causing the man's skull to BURST INTO FLAME, an evil grin spanning Wesley's Father's face.
He brings the Father-Match to what would be Wesley's tiny feet, and lights the end.
VERY CLOSE ON FREDDY'S HAND
Wesley SCREAMS as Freddy tosses the FATHER-MATCH and brings the teenager's little head up to his fire-scarred lips.
The boy is enveloped by the massive cracked opening as Freddy takes a huge drag off of Wesley's head. Where his feet should be, the tip of the Wesley-Cig GLOWS RED, causing Wesley to SCREAM with supernatural pain. Smoke billows from Freddy's nose and mouth. He savors it.
FREDDY (cont'd) Ahhhh! Now we're smokin'!
He CACKLES horribly as he continues to suck on the Wesley- Cig. With each puff, Wesley's white-wrapped body becomes slat-black ash.
FREDDY (cont'd) What's your sign, Wesley? It wouldn't be Cancer, would it?
In between his demonic CACKLES, Freddy DRAGS on the Wesley- Cig, each puff turning more of Wesley into ash until all but his head is black and charred. Freddy holds the Wesley-Cig out, poised to tap the ashes loose.
FREDDY (cont'd) Now say the secret word and you know what you'll win...
WESLEY Go to hell!
Freddy grins.
FREDDY Right...
And he taps the Wesley-cig with his finger. The ashes immediately fall, sifting in the air as Wesley's head - charred and black at the neck where it's been separated - falls loose. Wesley SCREAMS.
WESLEY Noooooooo!
and his severed head falls and falls and falls.
INT. FOSTER HOME - TV ROOM - THE NEXT DAY
WE START on WESLEY'S BODY. Eyes closed, head normal and everything from the neck down charred mass of burnt torso, shriveled limbs, all wrapped in the scorched blanket. ZIP. A body bag hides this ghastly image from us as we PULL BACK.
A FIRE MARSHALL and a COP are talking at the doorway in the background. The CORONER is here, a world weary seen-it-all older guy, with his nervous ASSISTANT who's never seen anything like this. They whisper their conversation as they lift the body bag onto a stretcher.
ASSISTANT I don't get it. The couch is barely scorched. And how can he burn from just the neck down?
CORONER It happens.
ASSISTANT It happens? That's your explanation?
CORONER I've seen worse.
We FOLLOW them as they push the stretcher towards the doorway.
ASSISTANT What? What worse?
CORONER Never mind.
Our shot STOPS at the doorway with the fire Marshall and cop while the wigged-out assistant's voice trails off outside.
ASSISTANT No. I wanna know. Really. What could be worse than...
FIRE MARSHALL You know what the gossip rags are going to say? Spontaneous human combustion.
COP What's that?
FIRE MARSHALL That's where bodies are supposed to go up in smoke for no reason. It's all psychic bullshit. What really happened is called the candle effect. A tiny fire gets started, usually from a cigarette. It slowly smolders through the blanket and clothes until the skin starts to actually bake. The body fat begins to melt and liquefy, fueling the fire like a slow burning candle. It takes hours, but it's real.
The cop makes some notes. Behind them we see Scott, Karen and Gina. The girls have been crying, and even tough-guy Scott looks pretty screwed up by all this. The cop nods.
COP He fell asleep while smoking. What a waste.
The kids shoot unbelieving looks at each other as the two men walk off.
SCOTT That's impossible.
Scott and Karen head for the front door.
EXT. FOSTER HOME - DAY
A coroner's van, a fire chief's car and the now familiar mob of suspicious neighbors are gathered around the front of the house as the stretcher with Wesley's body is put away. A small van marked ROSEDALE GENERAL HOSPITAL pulls up and Jacob jumps out of it.
Jacob's face turns grim as a tearful Karen runs up to him, Scott following.
JACOB Who?
KAREN Wes...
JACOB Oh my God. It's started.
SCOTT He fucking burned alive.
KAREN They said he fell asleep smoking.
SCOTT And we all know that can't be.
JACOB I already told you how it would happen.
Mr. Ross appears behind the three teenagers, a wasted look on his face.
SCOTT Don't start with that shit.
JACOB It's not shit.
DAVID C'mon, kids. Everyone inside. Now.
David leads them back to the house as the coroner's van pulls away.
INT. KITCHEN - DAY
Jacob, Scott, Karen and Gina stand around in various states of utter shock as David tries to console them.
DAVID We have to be strong.
He puts an arm around Karen and reaches out to put the other one around Gina, but pulls away at the last minute when she starts to flinch.
DAVID (cont'd) We need to pull together and help each other. Mrs. Ross is upstairs in bed. She's pretty messed up. We need to help her deal with this.
SCOTT He would never touch a cigarette. You know that.
DAVID We don't know anything until the authorities are finished with their investigation. In the mean time, no work for tomorrow - three day weekend. But Monday, it's back on the job. Jacob wasn't covered in our health plan and his little stint at the hospital cost us a bundle. We have to work together or we might lose this place. Okay?
The kids all nod, but not convincingly. They care more about Wesley than the house.
INT. WESLEY & JACOB'S BEDROOM - DAY
Jacob closes the door. All the kids are here. Gina absentmindedly plays with some of Wesley's things.
JACOB When I was put under, Freddy was released. I know this because I dreamed it.
SCOTT And that dream was real?
JACOB Yes. Wesley was his first victim.
SCOTT Aw, man...
JACOB You said it yourself. How could it have been a cigarette?
KAREN And how could he...dire that way and not wake up?
GINA (mockingly) Maybe the "authorities" will figure it out.
SCOTT I'm sorry. I just can't buy into this.
JACOB Call me crazy...but I think he's after Rosedale. The whole place. In my dream he said something about needing a few souls to get the job done. I think he has to kill in order to get the power to suck in a new town.
SCOTT You are crazy.
JACOB Thank you. There's more. There are... other people in there. In the nightmares.
KAREN Like him?
JACOB No. Different. There are three of them. They're dressed in black. They have powers like Freddy, but they seem to be on our side.
KAREN Who are they?
JACOB Well, you gotta hang in there with me on this one. They call themselves... the Dream Police.
Scott actually laughs.
SCOTT This is too much.
GINA You mean...like cops?
JACOB I guess.
KAREN Where are they from?
JACOB They're kids that Freddy killed years ago. THEY don't even know how they got there. But they're somehow patrolling dreamworld to put a stop to Krueger.
SCOTT Then why haven't these guys done the job already?
JACOB They say they need help. I don't know what or why...yet.
SCOTT I can tell you who needs help.
JACOB Hey, I'm trying to save all of us.
SCOTT I won't believe it until I see it.
Jacob is crushed that he's not getting through to them.
JACOB By then it'll be too late. It was too late for Wesley.
The kids stare emptily at Wesley's earthly possessions.
EXT. FOSTER HOME - FRONT PORCH - NIGHT
Jacob and Karen sit on the steps. Across the street we can see window curtains part as Mr. Hopkins sneaks a wary peek.
KAREN They're going to use all this to shut us down.
JACOB I know. It's my fault.
KAREN You going to try to run away again?
JACOB It's too late for that. I have to stay and try and put a stop to it.
KAREN I'm sorry. It's all so hard to accept.
JACOB I wish I could convince you of the danger you and the others are in.
KAREN I've been in danger before. THAT I can handle.
JACOB This is worse than anything you can imagine.
KAREN I wouldn't be so sure about that. Come on. Let's go inside.
She stands up.
INT. KAREN'S ROOM - NIGHT
Jacob and Karen lie in bed, clothes on, cozy. Not sexual. She stares at the ceiling while he listens.
KAREN She was great. Loving. Supportive, caring - everything a mom should be. Except she had one fatal flow: my father. You see, she was raised at a time when they still had the "obey" part in the wedding vows. He was always jealous. She couldn't talk to another man without him thinking she wanted to go to bed with him. He never hit me. But the things he did to her...and she would always just take it. She never fought back. He'd get drunk and...she'd tell people she just fell down or something. Then one night...I was thirteen. Something happened. My mom suddenly wouldn't take it anymore. Something made her say enough is enough. She hit back. Tat only made it worse. I watched as he hit her over and over. Then he knocked her down the stairs. She broke her neck. And when y father saw what he'd done - he finally became human. He cried over her body for a while, then went into the garage and blew his brains out with a shotgun. To this day I don't remember what that final straw was. The shrinks say I've blocked it out of my memory. There's no one else alive who knows what really happened. I have dreams about it sometimes, but there's always that blank spot. A missing piece.
She stops and closes her eyes. Jacob closes his eyes for a second also - feeling her pain.
DIFFERENT ANGLE
Jacob opens his eyes and touches Karen's arm. She finally turns to him.
JACOB I'm sorry.
KAREN I know nightmares are real, Jacob. I know.
JACOB So did my mom. She taught me a lot about dreams.
KAREN Like what?
JACOB She told me that a lot of people have special dream powers. I inherited some from her - and some I have all to myself. She showed me how I could link up with other people's dreams - to actually be inside with them.
KAREN That sounds wonderful. But...I don't know...
JACOB A little hard to imagine, huh?
KAREN Yeah. I'm sorry.
JACOB I can convince you.
KAREN How?
JACOB Easy. We're doing it now.
Jacob smiles, gets up and walks over to the bedroom door. Karen is confused.
KAREN What do you mean?
JACOB I mean we're dreaming. You and me. Together.
He opens the bedroom door. And there's a FOREST OUTSIDE. Karen is a little scared at first, totally blown away by what's happening. But then she stands up and smiles.
JACOB (cont'd) Want to go for a walk?
Karen steps up next to him and they walk through the doorway into daylight.
EXT. FOREST - DAY
Shafts of sunlight filter through as leaves flutter down from the towering trees and Jacob and Karen step out of the bedroom door.
KAREN I don't believe it.
JACOB It's true. We're really doing it.
KAREN But what if I'm just dreaming of you
telling me that?
JACOB We'll compare notes when we wake up. Then you'll know.
Karen looks around. Then she giggles. She likes this a lot. Karen suddenly runs away into the trees like an excited little girl. Jacob frowns.
JACOB (cont'd) Karen. Wait.
He heads off after her.
AMONGST THE TREES
Jacob runs. Karen jumps out from behind a tree and laughs.
JACOB (cont'd) You have to be careful.
KAREN Did you bring us here on purpose? Can you go anywhere you want?
JACOB Sometimes. It's not as easy as linking up, though.
KAREN Wow, I never knew...
She starts wandering off again. Jacob follows her.
KAREN (cont'd) You know what I like to do in my dreams?
She ducks behind a tree. And comes out suddenly dressed as a sharp BUSINESSWOMAN. Jacob is slightly taken aback.
KAREN (cont'd) I like to be other people!
Jacob grins as she steps behind another tree - and a FIREMAN walks out in her place. Jacob is really taken aback this time.
KAREN (cont'd) (as fireman) I can be anybody I want.
JACOB Show off.
Karen slips past another trunk and comes out as a tall VOLUPTUOUS REDHEAD.
KAREN (AS REDHEAD) When things get bad it helps to be someone else. I use it to protect myself.
The redhead walks seductively towards Jacob. He raises his eyebrows as she slinks right up next to him - her ample cleavage inches away from his nose.
KAREN (cont'd) (as redhead) What do you think?
JACOB I think I like you the way you always are.
He smiles.
DIFFERENT ANGLE
And now Karen is herself again. They're still very close.
JACOB (cont'd) Much better.
They look like they're about to kiss... but Karen suddenly sees something that grabs her attention.
KAREN Look!
Jacob turns as Karen runs over to ANOTHER DOOR. It's not the one to the bedroom. It just hangs there in space between two trees.
KAREN (cont'd) I wonder where it goes?
She reaches for the knob and opens it.
JACOB Karen, no!
But she's already stepped through. Jacob runs up to the doorway and it SLAMS in his face. Jacob tries to open the door. It doesn't budge. He keeps twisting the knob to no effect.
JACOB (cont'd) Karen!
Jacob starts to pound on the door as we:
CUT TO:
INT. KAREN'S HOME - KITCHEN
Sixties style decore, appliances that look about twenty-five years old -- not the Foster Home kitchen at all. Karen is standing in the middle of the room, completely disoriented. She walks across to a counter top where she finds a framed picture.
It's a picture of HER, Karen, age thirteen. Karen sets the picture down and quickly walks back to the door she came in.
INT. KAREN'S HOME - LOWER HALLWAY
Karen steps out of her old kitchen expecting, hoping to be back in the forest again. Nope. She blinks. Then she starts to walk down the corridor.
More pictures on the wall this time. One of a WOMAN and another of a MAN (Karen's MOM and DAD).
Karen's sure of it now. She's home. The center of her worst nightmares. She creeps along to the main stairs. And that's when the NOISES begin. A thumping from upstairs. A CRASH, like something hit the floor above. More thumping, repeatedly and then human MOANING, the sound of pain.
Somebody is getting beaten.
KAREN Oh no...
Something is twisting deep inside the girl. Her face goes shallow as she slowly shuffles around to the foot of the stairs...and starts to climb them.
ON THE STAIRS
Karen goes up, step by painful step, as the sounds of the BEATING increase in their intensity. Every hit seems to touch Karen as she flinches. She's afraid to go on - but can't seem to stop.
INT. KAREN'S HOME - UPSTAIRS HALLWAY
Karen slowly heads for a door at the end, nervously reaches out for the knob.
INT. KAREN'S PARENT'S BEDROOM
Karen opens the door. What she thought she was going to see was bad enough - but this is worse:
Freddy Krueger is in the middle of the room. In front of him is a giant human-sized version of an inflatable punching
doll, the kind little kids hit that keep bouncing back. But the doll doesn't have the image of a clown on it.
It's a flattened wrapped-around version of KAREN'S MOTHER, a pitiful beat-up look on her plastic face.
Freddy SMACKS the doll - it falls to the floor - and just bounces back up. And now the face on it has a NEW BRUISE.
THWACK! He hits it again, CACKLING with glee. Swoop, bounce. More bruises develop. Krueger looks at Karen.
FREDDY Welcome to Romper Room!
BAP! BOOOOING! The face on the punching doll changes again, it's even sadder now. And it's looking at Karen.
KAREN Why are you doing this?
FREDDY Don't you remember?
ZING! Krueger whips up his finger knives. SWOOP! he RIPS them through the plastic doll. SISSSSSssss. The doll starts to deflate. SKREEEEeeeee. The escaping air sounding like a human SCREAM. Freddy turns to Karen.
And a HAND reaches out from behind her and pulls her out of the room.
INT. KAREN'S HOME - UPSTAIRS HALLWAY
Jacob pulls Karen away from the door and slams it shut. He grabs her hand.
JACOB Come on!
They turn to run down the hallway, and it's CHANGED. There are now NO DOORS and NO STAIRWAY. The only way out is the bedroom door they just closed. They stop and Jacob turns to Karen.
JACOB (cont'd) Wake up!
KAREN What?
JACOB You heard me. I said wake up!
KAREN How? This is my old house. How did I get here?
He begins to shake her. She is confused and disoriented. A CRASH is heard at the bedroom door. FREDDY'S COMING.
And Jacob HITS Karen. Nothing major. It's a good slap, nonetheless. She stares at him unbelievingly. He WHACKS her again.
KAREN (cont'd) Why are you doing this to me?
JACOB This is a dream! You have to get out of here. I'm not hurting you, only he can really do that! Wake up now!
SLAP! Karen's getting angry. She doesn't know what she's supposed to do. KA-BLAM! Freddy blasts through the door in a shower of splinters. He sees them and grins.
FREDDY Gettin' kinky, huh?
Jacob turns to Karen, raises his hand. KA-BLAM! Something blasts through the wall across from them. It's POWER COP.
CRASH! The other wall explodes. BLADE appears in the rubble.
BOOM! A piece of wall falls down at the end of the corridor. SOUND COP steps through.
Karen looks at all this nonsense, then at Jacob.
KAREN I think I get it now.
She closes her eyes and DISAPPEARS out of Jacob's hands. The DREAM POLICE stand in the hallway. Freddy just puts his hands on his hips and LAUGHS at them.
Then Krueger lays his arms flat on his sides, takes a deep breath and begins to INFLATE. His body expands, his clothes and skin stretch and flatten. The bottom half of him getting fatter.
He turns into a giant FREDDY PUNCHING DOLL.
Power Cop jumps in front of the plastic horror and lets loose a devastating swing. POW! The Freddy Doll swings back and BOUNCES right up again.
POW POW POW POW POW! The big Dream Cop pummels away at the Krueger toy as it slaps back and forth between the floor and his fist until SHINK! Two knives appear in Blade's hands and SWOOP. She swings them out.
RIP! The Freddy Doll tears, air blasting out in a grating SHRIEK which screeches and hisses until it becomes:
Freddy's LAUGH. The red and green plastic flutters to the ground as the evil guffaws fade away and we:
CUT TO:
INT. KAREN'S BEDROOM - NIGHT
Karen shakes Jacob awake. His eyes open. They stare at each other for a few beats, then Karen frowns.
KAREN You hit me.
JACOB Are you hurt?
KAREN Um...no.
JACOB If he had done it, you'd be dead.
Karen is confused. She doesn't know what to make of all this. She looks at a clock. It's late.
KAREN You better get back to your room. We don't want anybody to get the wrong idea.
JACOB (smirks) Or the right one?
Karen finally relaxes. She smiles and playfully pushes him.
KAREN Get out of here.
Jacob reaches under a pillow and pulls something out. It's the framed photo of Karen, age thirteen - from her dream. He hands it to her and she looks at it in astonishment.
JACOB That's something else my mom taught me.
He gets up and goes to the door, turning back to her.
JACOB (cont'd) Don't sleep.
KAREN No. Not tonight.
She holds the picture tightly- staring at it with those faraway eyes.
INT. FOSTER HOME - UPPER HALLWAY - NIGHT
Scott comes out of the bathroom in his night clothes, the toilet flushing in the B.G. He goes into his room, but stops at the doorway when he hears Karen's door open.
Scott ducks behind his door as he watches Jacob leave Karen's room and head for his own. Scott frowns. His is not pleased.
INT. FOSTER HOME - DOWNSTAIRS HALLWAY - DAY
David Ross is sifting through some mail when a heated conversation in the kitchen catches his interest. He stops to listen.
IN THE KITCHEN
Karen is finally convinced, Jacob and Scott are looking like they're ready to punch each other, and Gina looks scared.
KAREN I'm telling you, this Freddy guy is for real.
SCOTT And I'm telling you a dream is a dream.
KAREN Jacob was in there with me.
SCOTT And where else was he with you last night?
JACOB What the hell is that supposed to mean?
KAREN I have the picture in my room if you want to see it. He brought it out from the nightmare.
SCOTT Or from your hope chest. I bet your bed isn't the only thing he's been into.
KAREN That picture was destroyed years ago.
JACOB You better watch your mouth, pal.
SCOTT I'm the last person you want to start fucking with.
JACOB Go ahead and be a tough guy, Scott. Krueger will cut you to pieces before you can even flex a muscle.
GINA Will you two stop it! You're scaring the shit out of me.
KAREN You should be scared.
Mr. Ross enters the room, none too pleased.
DAVID Alright. What's going on here?
SCOTT Join the fun. Jacob and Karen were just telling us about their new excuse to sleep together.
JACOB Nothing happened between us last night.
SCOTT You mean in plain old reality, right?
DAVID Okay, everybody. Out. Jacob and I are going to have a little talk. Now.
Scott, Gina and Karen grudgingly leave the room. David turns to Jacob.
DAVID (cont'd) Your days are numbered here, buster.
JACOB I'm sorry, but...
DAVID Hey, I don't know what kind of shit you're shoveling to these kids, but it's going to stop. My Good Samaritan instincts have their limits. We've had enough tragedy around this place. We don't need you making things worse with fantasies.
JACOB You don't understand
DAVID And I want you to stay away from Karen.
Jacob starts to get defiant.
JACOB It's a free country.
DAVID This isn't America, it's my house. I've been checking up on you. You have no record with the police or the state or any of the runaway groups. You're the invisible kid. And if I sense even a little bit more trouble-making from you, you're going to vanish from here. Got it?
JACOB Yes, sir.
David catches his breath. He looks like he wants to say more, but doesn't have the energy left. He just walks out of the room leaving a frustrated Jacob.
EXT. FOSTER HOME - NIGHT
Mr. and Mrs. Ross are getting into their car. The engine starts and they drive away.
INT. JACOB'S ROOM - NIGHT
Jacob sits in bed, staring into space. Karen quietly enters the room, carefully shutting the door behind her.
She sits down next to him. Jacob looks at her with weary eyes.
JACOB You're supposed to be off-limits to me.
KAREN It's okay. The Ross's have gone to a council meeting and Scott's in his room.