Freddy’s dead – Final Nightmare
script used with courtesey of Daily Script
FADE 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.
