DARKNESS FALLS "DARK WATERS" BY VIRGINIA DOZIER FIRST DRAFT MUSIC FADE IN: EXT. WOOLEN GYM - NIGHT GIRL is walking towards door carrying tote bag and towel. There is a closed sign on the door. Girl enters building. INT. WOOLEN GYM - GIRL'S LOCKER ROOM Girl walks into locker room and passes two girls who are leaving locker room. GIRL puts bag in locker, sits on bench and takes off shoes. INT. WOOLEN GYM - SWIMMING POOL Girl is now wearing bathing suit. Walks from door to far end of pool. Puts towel down on bench. Dives into pool. Swims off. (OVERHEAD SHOT FROM BALCONY) See pool. Zoom, see body floating face down in pool. INT. STUDENT STORES - DAY JESSICA PACE is looking at t-shirts on a rack. BRANDON SMITH walks up to her. BRANDON Hey Jessica! Jessica looks up. JESSICA Hey. BRANDON What are you doing? Wanna go grab a bite to eat? JESSICA No sorry, I can't. I have a one o'clock class. BRANDON Oh. Well, how about dinner then? I've heard that Wicked Burrito is pretty good. Jessica raises her eyebrows. JESSICA Oh... no... I can't do that either. I promised Lindsey that I'd ride with her to Harris Teeter tonight to get some groceries. We don't have a thing to eat. BRANDON Well when will you be free? JESSICA Well Brandon, I'm really busy this week. Maybe we could do it some other time, ok. Jessica selects a shirt off the rack and starts to walk toward the checkout. Brandon follows her. BRANDON No way you don't have some time free sometime! You know, some people would think you were trying to blow me off. Jessica stops and turns around. JESSICA (now paying attention) It's not that, Brandon. Really, I'm just really busy. I'll go out with you sometime. BRANDON Then why don't you? JESSICA I'm busy! BRANDON Nobody's THAT busy! JESSICA You just pick bad times! BRANDON I've given you plenty of opportunities. JESSICA Listen, Brandon. I SAID I'd go out with you sometime. BRANDON Then prove it. Go swimming with me tonight. JESSICA Swimming? I'm not going swimming. Going swimming's not a date. BRANDON Sure it is. Everybody loves to swim. And it can be very romantic. JESSICA Yeah. Right. Don't you think I get to do that enough practicing for meets? BRANDON No. Swimming's fun. You can never swim too much. JESSICA I'm not going. BRANDON Aw, come on. It'll be fun, I promise. JESSICA (resolutely) I'm NOT going swimming. INT. WOOLEN GYM - POOL Jessica and Brandon at edge of pool. Jessica laughing and protesting as Brandon pushes her into pool and jumps in after her. They begin splashing each other. Jessica holds her arms in front of her face to block Brandon's splashing. JESSICA (laughing) Stop... stop! I give! Stop! Brandon stops splashing. BRANDON Alright, alright, I'll quit. Jessica lowers her arms and looks at Brandon. Brandon splashes her again. JESSICA Hey! Jessica jumps at Brandon, tries to push him under the water. The wrestle for a moment. Brandon grabs her arms. They both stand still, looking at each other. Jessica turns her head away from Brandon and looks down. BRANDON What's wrong? JESSICA It's nothing... BRANDON No, tell me. JESSICA It's not you... This just isn't a good time for this. I just broke up with my boyfriend a couple of weeks ago. I need more time to get over that. She looks up at him. I'm sorry. BRANDON Oh. It's ok. Brandon doesn't look at Jessica. Jessica eases away from Brandon and backstrokes to the middle of the pool where she floats staring at the ceiling. Brandon follows her. BRANDON Wait... then why did you come out here with me then? I know I couldn't have convinced you to come if you didn't want to at all. CUT TO: Jessica's face. JESSICA Brandon... It doesn't matter. I've already told you... HEY! CUT TO: See both Brandon and Jessica. Brandon is several feet away from Jessica. Jessica quickly stops floating and stands up, treading water. She glares at Brandon. What do you think you're doing?! BRANDON (confused) What? What did I do? JESSICA You know perfectly well what you did! You're so pathetic! Get away from me! Jessica turns around and swims toward the edge of the pool. Brandon watches for a second, the frantically swims after her. BRANDON Jessica! Wait! What's wrong? Was it something I said? Jessica climbs out of the pool, picks up her towel and storms toward the locker room. Jessica! Jessica! Jessica turns around. JESSICA Leave me alone! Jessica turns and continues into locker room. Brandon stops at the edge of the pool and looks toward the locker room. Looking distressed, he turns his back to the wall and slides under the water. JESSICA What a jerk! I always knew he was a jerk. INT. JESSICA AND LINDSEY'S APARTMENT LINDSEY JENKINS is sitting in a chair and Jessica is sitting Indian style on the floor across from her, leaning against a couch. LINDSEY I can't believe he would actually try something like that. I mean, how stupid can somebody be? And even though he can be persistent, he never seemed like the kind of guy who would do that. JESSICA (to herself) I can't believe I ever agreed to go out with him. LINDSEY (loudly) I would have smacked him. Pommeled him or something. I mean when you'd JUST told him that you weren't ready for another relationship, and then trying to be feeling all up your leg like that? That boy has serious mental deficiencies. Jessica looks down and doesn't say anything. Lindsey stares at her. Jessica doesn't look up. The doorbell rings. LINDSEY (quietly) I'll get that. Jessica looks up, now alert. She jumps to her feet. JESSICA Nah, I'll do it. Jessica opens the door to find MIKE MATTHEWS standing outside. MIKE Hey, Jessica. Is Lindsey here? JESSICA Yeah, she's here. Come on in. Mike walks in. Jessica walks over to a table and picks her purse and a couple of books. (to Lindsey) I'm gonna run down to the Blue & White office and finish up editing those articles. I might stop and pick up some chow while I'm out. You want anything? LINDSEY Oh, that's ok, I already ate. JESSICA Alright, I'll be back in a little bit then. Jessica walks toward doorway. LINDSEY Ok, be careful. Don't get mugged. JESSICA Oh yeah, that makes me feel safe. (to Mike) See you later, Mike. MIKE Sure. Jessica leaves. INT. BRANDON'S DORM ROOM Brandon is laying on the bed, talking on the phone. BRANDON I don't have a clue! She just flipped! He sits up. One minute things were fine, and then she just started yelling at me. She wouldn't even tell me what it was I did. Pause. What do you mean what did I do?! I just told you I didn't do anything! Pause. Well... Pause. Yeah but... Pause. Ok, ok, I realize all that! But I'm telling you that I didn't do anything. Pause. No duh. So what do you think I should do? Long pause. Man, you're no help. Just forget it. I'm just gonna call her. Pause. Yeah. I guess I'll do it tomorrow. Pause. Because I'm gonna do some research for that paper we have to do. Man, I thought you were supposed to be helping with that. Pause. That'll be fine. We'll meet at 9 tomorrow night then. Looks at clock. Hey listen, I've gotta run. It's getting late, and I need to get to the library before it closes. Pause. Ok... Yeah. Later. Hangs up phone. INT. BLUE & WHITE OFFICE Jessica is sitting in front of a computer. The lights in the office are off. The light from the computer screen illuminates her face. She takes a disk out of the computer, places it on top of a pile of papers. Cuts off the computer and leaves the office, taking the pictures with her. INT. DAVIS LIBRARY Brandon is sitting at a table looking through some books. He gets up and takes one of the books to a shelf. Places the book on the shelf. As he begins to walk off, he stops and removes a book from the shelf. Looks at his watch. Looks at the book. Returns to the table with the book. Places it on a stack of books, puts them in his book bag, and leaves. EXT. STUDENT UNION - NIGHT Jessica walks out of Student Union towards steps to bus stop. EXT. DAVIS LIBRARY - NIGHT Brandon is leaving Davis Library, walking towards Student Union. Sees Jessica. Begins walking faster. BRANDON Jessica! Jessica stops and looks around. Brandon hurries up to her. Hey. JESSICA (disgusted) Brandon? Turns and resumes walking. BRANDON Jessica, wait. Jessica continues walking. Jessica! Brandon follows her and grabs her arm, causing her to drop her papers. Jessica swings around, jerks her arm away from Brandon and glares at him. JESSICA Get your hands off me! Can't you take a hint? I don't want to see you anymore! I realize that you have trouble understanding what going to far is, but stalking?! BRANDON I... JESSICA I suppose you just happened to be in the area. BRANDON (innocently) I was working on a report over in the library. JESSICA Oh you were, were you? BRANDON Of course I was! Digs through his book bag and produces several sheets of paper. I was working on an English paper. See, (he holds up a sheet of paper) it's about preserving the history of Chapel Hill before UNC was built. Jessica steps forward and looks at the sheet Brandon is holding up. JESSICA Oh... BRANDON I might be pathetic, but I don't stalk people. JESSICA Sorry. I thought... Pauses. BRANDON It's ok. Looks down. I just wish you'd tell me what I did wrong so I can beg you for another chance. JESSICA I don't think it's too hard to figure out that girl's don't like guys trying to feel them up. Especially after what I told you in the pool. BRANDON What? I didn't... Pauses. Well will you give me another chance? Jessica doesn't respond. Glances over her shoulder towards the bus stop. Please? JESSICA (sighs) Alright. Give me a call later. I've got to run to catch my bus. Jessica starts to pick up her papers from the ground. Brandon helps her, absentmindedly mixes one of the sheets up with his own. They walk down the stairs to the bus stop. A bus pulls up. BRANDON I'll talk to you later, then. JESSICA (smiles) Ok. Jessica boards the bus. The bus drives away. Brandon unzips his bag and begins to put the papers he is holding in it. He pauses and looks at the sheet on top. CUT TO: Paper is a printout of an article. Headline reads "Third Drowning Victim Identified as UNC Junior, Death Ruled Accidental." INT. BRANDON'S DORM ROOM Brandon picks up phone. BRANDON Hey Lindsey, is Jessica there. INT. LINDSEY AND JESSICA'S APARTMENT LINDSEY No, she's not. Is this Brandon? Pause. Yeah, she's gone down to the pool to get ready for that meet tomorrow. Want me to take a message? INT. BRANDON'S DORM ROOM BRANDON Nah, I'll get back to her later. But thanks anyway. Pause. MIKE BRANTLEY walks into Brandon's room, lounges on his bed. Brandon gestures acknowledgement of Mike. Ok. Thanks... Bye. Hangs up phone. BRANDON Hey man, what's up? Did you bring those notes? MIKE Yep. Got 'em right here. You find much stuff last night at the library? **[Note: For this section, I'm actually going to have to do a little bit of research... to be accurate. But basically, there will be a few random facts about Chapel Hill before the university was built. In this info, Brandon will have found some stuff about the cemetery (burial ground... whatever it is) that's near the gym. Which is what I'm skipping to now. So this is a little time-lapsed right now.] Brandon is sitting with open books and papers strewed around him. He's holding one of the books in his lap. BRANDON Check this out... there's a cemetery somewhere around here... where they buried one of the most notorious murderers of the 18th century. MIKE Really? What did he do? Kill people in gunfights or something? BRANDON (reading) One of the most monstrous serial murderers in North Carolina's history, Howard Stoark killed nearly 40 victims, all women between the ages of 18 and 24. Stoark, who resided in Chapel Hill, NC, usually attacked his victims at night, dragging them from their homes to a nearby lake where he drowned them. In (some year), he was caught and convicted on over 30 counts of murder and sentenced to death. Stoark's body is buried in (Something) Cemetery in Chapel Hill in an unmarked grave... MIKE Hey, we should find out where that is! Maybe we can get extra credit if we get some pictures. BRANDON Yeah... but that's not all... listen to this: According to a local legend, Stoark's ghost haunts the area surrounding the cemetery where his body rests. It is rumored that every fifty years, ten people experience mysterious deaths in Chapel Hill, most of which have been recorded as drownings. MIKE Fifty years... so if he was hanged in (whatever year)... then he would strike again... THIS YEAR! That's awesome. Maybe we can go see his ghost or something. BRANDON And if not, at least we can get pictures of his grave. MIKE Do you know where the cemetery is? BRANDON No, but I can find out. Brandon goes to computer and types in a few things and waits a minute. Ok, here it is. It's on the corner of (street) and (street). Pull my map out of that drawer. Mike opens a desk drawer and produces a map. Looks at it. MIKE Hmm... oh, here it is. It's right across from the gym. Hey, I wonder if he haunts the girl's locker room. Mike laughs and Brandon joins in, but stops. Mike continues laughing as Brandon sits staring blankly. Suddenly Brandon gets up and starts fumbling through papers on the bed. Mike stops laughing. Brandon grabs a paper and starts to read it. BRANDON Daaaaaaaaamnit...! MIKE What? BRANDON The- the girls. In Jessica's article. MIKE What are you talking... BRANDON They drowned... people have drowned! It's true! MIKE Huh? BRANDON It's in the pool!. Mike still looks confused. The ghost... it's killing people in the pool. There were three drownings in the last few months. But they thought they were just accidents... I've gotta tell Jessica about this! Brandon picks up the phone and dials a number. In the pool... I wonder if it was... Com'on answer... MIKE If what was what? BRANDON The... Brandon slams down the phone. Sh---... ah, damnit! She went to the pool! Brandon starts to head out the door. MIKE Yo... wait! Chill. What are you talking about?! BRANDON Com'on if you're coming. We don't have time! I'll tell you later. Brandon goes out the door. Mike follows behind. INT. WOOLEN GYM - POOL Jessica and two other girls are in the pool. They are swimming from one end to the other. SWIMMER ONE reaches the far wall first. SWIMMER ONE (out of breath) Keep practicing and maybe one day you'll be able to keep up with me. JESSICA (also out of breath) Yeah, yeah, yeah. WHAT-ever. SWIMMER TWO It was a fluke. They all laugh. SWIMMER ONE Come on guys, let's go. It's getting late. Swimmer one and two climb out of the pool. SWIMMER TWO Aren't you coming, Jess? JESSICA Yeah, I'll be there in a little bit. I'm gonna cool stretch out some first and cool down. SWIMMER ONE Alright. Well, we'll see you tomorrow ok. SWIMMER TWO Bye Jess. JESSICA Bye. Jessica slowly swims off towards the middle of the pool. EXT. WOOLEN GYM - NIGHT Brandon rushes in the door. Mike is behind him. INT. WOOLEN GYM - BALCONY, POOL On balcony: Brandon runs to edge of balcony and looks over. Jessica is swimming in the pool below. BRANDON (shouting) Jessica! CUT TO: From pool: See Brandon standing on balcony. Jessica! JESSICA Brandon...? BRANDON Get out of the pool! JESSICA What? BRANDON Get out of the pool!!! JESSICA What... why? BRANDON Just do it!! Get out of the pool! JESSICA Ok... ok. Jessica starts to swim toward the edge of the pool. In a sudden violent movement, her head disappears under water. BRANDON Jessica! Brandon runs down a floor and into the pool room. He frantically surveys the water. He dives into the pool. Surfaces several times. Finally, comes up dragging Jessica. BRANDON Mike! Mike!!! Mike runs down the length of the pool from the entrance. Help me get her out. Hurry! Mike grabs Jessica and pulls her up out of the pool. Brandon grabs the edge of the pool to climb out, but is jerked under water. He surfaces again, grabbing the side of the pool. Struggles to get out of the pool. Is pulled under once more before successfully dragging himself out of the pool with Mike's help. MIKE What the hell was that?! BRANDON Is she ok? Jessica? Jessica?! Brandon leans down over Jessica. Listens for breath. JESSICA (groans) Brandon? BRANDON Are you ok? Jessica slowly sits up. JESSICA Yeah... I think so. What happened? BRANDON Come on and dry off. I'll explain it all later. Brandon helps her up and walks her toward the locker room. Mike turns and stares at the water's surface. JESSICA (voice-over) You're saying that what drug me under water was a ghost? INT. JESSICA'S APARTMENT Jessica and Mike are sitting on her sofa, and Brandon is sitting across from them in a chair. Brandon nods. BRANDON Yeah. Apparently it drowns ten victims every fifty years. JESSICA And only... BRANDON Three. JESSICA ...have been killed so far. Then the pool's not safe. We have to do something... tell someone. MIKE Like anyone's gonna believe us. I don't even believe us. BRANDON He has a point. This is a little... bizarre. JESSICA Well then what are we going to do? We can't just let it kill people. And there's a swim meet tomorrow! BRANDON I don't know. What can we do? MIKE Couldn't we do some ritual or something? Like in The Exorcist. BRANDON That's not real. Stupid. JESSICA No, but maybe he's on the right track. Surely there's something someone could do. Do you know about any of that stuff Mike? MIKE Well... BRANDON Ah please... you can't be serious. An exorcism? No way! Jessica and Mike look at Brandon. Silence. Well what did you have in mind? **[This is as far as I am... which is close to the end. Anyway, here's the wrap on what's going to happen after this: on Mike's urging, the trio consults a Wiccan pagan who believes that he can perform magic. He advises them that to rid the pool of the ghost, they should cleanse the pool with blessed water (holy water in any non-pagan sense). So they do as he says, and (yippee) it seems to work. Smoke rises from the pool, etc. Skip to the next day- after the meet. Jessica has won a race, Brandon congratulates her, etc. As they walk away from the pool, the audience sees what I classify as a "blub blub blub" arising from the pool. Fade.] 1