Freddy’s dead – Final Nightmare
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.
