"FREDDY VS. JASON" Written by Mark Protosevich (c) 2000 New Line Cinema NOTE: New Line passed on this draft. Minor typographical errors have been corrected. This script provided for educational purposes only. /Our dreams are a second life. I have never been able to penetrate without a shudder those ivory or horned gates which separate us from the invisible world./ Gerard de Nerval, Aurelia, pt. 1, ch. 1, 1855 EXT. FOREST - NIGHT Trees rise from the earth like the gnarled limbs of a petrified corpse. LIGHTNING scorches the sky and peels of THUNDER crash against mountains on the horizon. Owls screech warnings to all below... IN THE THICK OF THE WOODS, a YOUNG WOMAN, ruby-lipped and raven-haired, clutches a bundle to her breast. As she hurries down a stone path, hard-pounding rain pelts her face and she can barely see three feet ahead. Her gown and cape are soaked with water, but nothing can keep her from pressing on... A CACKLE OF DARK LAUGHTER echoes through the tree. The woman glances over her shoulder and accelerates her pace. She nearly stumbles and the sound of a BABY CRYING emanates from her bundle. As the laughter continues, now clearly coming from _behind_ her, the woman's eyes scan the trees on either side of the path and find GHOSTLY APPARITIONS - all young children wearing featureless white MASKS - observing her with dispassion. The frightening image disturbs her so she becomes disoriented... A magnificent CRASH bombards her senses as a large-oak is split in half by a lightning bolt. Appearing from within the now-burning tree is an ELFIN DEMON. He is tall, sinewy, and, dressed in grim, black armor. He wields a lethal-looking sword and a bizarre crown sits between his pointed ears. He HISSES when he sees the woman and slinks low to the ground, like a cat stalking its prey... All she can do is _run_. She desperately holds tight to the bundle as she pushes through thorny bramble. She runs and runs and runs, the SOUND of the demon's pursuit filling her ears... A COTTAGE. Sanctuary. Just ahead... Talon-like thorns scratch her hands and cheek as she breaks through the thick brush and hurries to the door. She reaches for the handle, but it is locked. She pounds her fist against the thick wood, but no one comes to her aid. She again tries the handle, but this time her fingers find a slithering SERPENT in its stead. She SCREAMS and the thing drops into the mud. Something whistles past her... And the demon's SWORD imbeds itself into the door, just inches from her head. She panics and the bundle falls from her arm... She reaches for it, but it's too late... A PORCELAIN DOLL falls onto the stone path. Not a human child, after all. Merely the painted glass figure of a baby boy... But when it SHATTERS, its insides are the blood and organs of a real child... The young woman screams with torment and tears fill her eyes... The demon laughs, berating and mimicking her. As he moves closer, he reaches into his cloak and withdraws another weapon... A chain-mail GLOVE to which are attached long glistening BLADES... When the girl looks up, she appears different, dressed in more contemporary clothes and hairstyle... The demon smiles, sticks his nose in her face and speaks to her in German... DEMON /Vas iss los, mein fraulein?/ His elfin visage mutates into something more recognizable - the burned-flesh face of FREDDY KRUEGER. FREDDY Everything falling to pieces? Freddy raises his razor-gauntlet and prepares to swoop down... The young woman SCREAMS... INT. BEDROOM - RACHEL'S APARTMENT - MORNING Waking from this nightmare is RACHEL DANIELS. She does not scream, just bolts upright and hyperventilates. Her boyfriend, JIM TURNER, opens his eyes and tries to solace her, but Rachel flails her arms and he backs off. She pulls the covers to her naked body, rocks back and forth, and catches her breath. JIM You okay? Unconvincingly, she nods, puts on a robe, and rises from her futon to the BATHROOM, where she splashes cold water on her face. RACHEL (at herself in the mirror) I'm fine. (convincing herself) /I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine.../ INT. KITCHEN - RACHEL'S APARTMENT - MORNING Rachel's apartment is decorated in grad student chic - hip thrift store furniture, cheap South American artifacts, hundreds of books on handmade shelves, posters for Portishead and Death In Vegas, and prints featuring artwork by Mark Rothko and Lucian Freud. As Jim sits at a small table drinking coffee, Rachel stands at the kitchen counter proofreading a thick paper for the thousandth time. Although she's only 20, Rachel possesses a wisdom older than her years (evidenced by her inclusion in a Ph.D. Program at such a young age). She's a keenly intelligent, emotionally sensitive woman who possesses a unique, flattering sense of style. Much to her chagrin, she's hauntingly beautiful, too (she often thinks her looks affect people's perception of her intelligence). JIM For god's sake, Rachel, it's perfect. It's brilliant and it's perfect. Rachel "shushes" him with her finger and deeply concentrates. With a red pen, she circles a comma and tells herself... RACHEL This should be a semicolon... JIM You are such a Virgo. RACHEL Thank heaven for that... She moves to her power book, makes a correction, and prints out a corrected page. RACHEL ...There is nothing wrong with perfectionism. JIM Unless it gives you an ulcer at age 20. Rachel doesn't respond - or doesn't want to. She just anxiously waits for the page to print and checks the clock... RACHEL (later than she thought) Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck. JIM You have _two hours_. Instantly filled with anger, Rachel snaps at him... RACHEL I STILL HAVE TO GO THROUGH THE SLIDES. Jim finishes his coffee and notices the answering machine is blinking with a new message. He presses the PLAY button and Rachel angrily scolds him... RACHEL Is that _yours_? Jim doesn't appreciate her anger and kids around... JIM Hiding calls from your other boyfriend? WOMAN'S VOICE ON MACHINE Rachel... Pick up, pick up, pick up... PICK THE FUCK UP... JIM Jesus, who the hell is that? Rachel pushes past him, but the message plays on... WOMAN'S VOICE ON MACHINE Rachel, it's ME for fuck's sake... JIM (concerned, curious) Who _is_ that? Rachel pulls the answering machine plug from the wall. RACHEL (oddly out-of-control) None of your business. That's it for Jim. He puts on a jacket and heads for the door. RACHEL (calming down) I'm sorry... Jim... She takes his arm and kisses him. He briefly smiles, but breaks away and tells her... JIM I have to meet with "The Killer" at nine. RACHEL Stay. JIM To fuck? Or help you with slides? She doesn't want to tell him. But he knows the answer. And slams the door behind him as he exits. Rachel wishes she could have said something, but... She looks at the answering machine and wishes it would disappear. Mentally obliterating everything but her work, she moves back to her paper and continues proofreading... RACHEL (reading aloud to herself) Every culture creates Monsters... EXT. STREET - DAY Juggling her slides, books, and papers, Rachel makes her way to her beat-to-shit Ford Escort. RACHEL V. 0. They manifest themselves as vampires, werewolves, goblins, devils, ghosts, and psycho killers. INT. FORD ESCORT - DAY Rachel sits behind the wheel, trembles, takes a deep breath, and turns the key. It takes a good four tries before the engine finally turns over. RACHEL V.O. They appear in fairy tales, folk songs, ancient myths, and urban legends... EXT. LUCADE COLLEGE - DAY As we drift pass a sign reading THE MICHEL LUCADE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF PSYCHOLOGY, the small car searches for a spot in the student PARKING FACILITY. RACHEL V.O. But which came first? The monster or the myth? The killer or the legend? The chicken or the egg? Once parked, Rachel exits her Escort and rushes toward a specific building. She's much too preoccupied with a tray of slides to see the STRANGE MAN, about fifty years old, sitting on a corner wall, waiting for her, watching her... RACHEL V.O. Does fear create the fiend? Or the fiend, fear? As Rachel makes her way up the steps of the Psych Department structure, the Stranger calmly, silently follows. He wears a sheepskin jacket, a rough leather hat, jeans and cowboy boots. As he lights a pipe, we see his face has the physiognomy of the Australian Aborigine. INT. PSYCH BUILDING - HALLWAY - DAY Every member of the graduate school student body exhibits hyper-intelligence, quirkiness, dedication, and a bit of intellectual elitism. Rachel stands out not only because of her good looks, but also for the fact that she's at least five years younger than the next youngest person here. Competition is fierce at this institution and her brains, beauty, and youth engender resentment from her peers. RACHEL V.0. For example, throughout history, society has had to confront the reality and power of infant mortality. Eyes follow her and whispers are whispered. They know and she knows that a lot rides on the delivery of this paper. Tucked into a corner is a young couple feverishly making out. One of them - AMELIA - sees Rachel pass and she breaks the embrace, calling out... AMELIA Rache! Despite her preoccupation, Rachel stops and smiles at her friend. RACHEL Hey Meelie. Amelia's lover turns and we see she is a woman, her lesbian lover, GRETA. RACHEL Hi Greta. GRETA (German-accented) We came to wish you luck... AMELIA ...And whistle at your cute little ass. RACHEL /Thanks./ As Rachel moves on, Amelia wolf-whistles. Letting us know she's not uptight, Rachel gives her derriere a sexy shimmy... RACHEL V. 0. From the fiefdoms of the Middle Ages to rural Appalachia, from the remote villages of the African bush to any American suburb, the unexpected death - through natural causes, accident, or murder - of a healthy, happy child is unfortunately common and emotionally devastating for the families involved Blending in with the crowd, looking like an eccentric visiting professor, is the Stranger... INT. PSYCH BUILDING - LECTURE HALL - DAY About thirty people - grad students, Amelia and Greta, professors, teaching assistants - sit in the "audience" as Rachel stands at a podium, reading from a lectern, and with a remote device, controlling the projection of SLIDES on the large screen behind her. RACHEL In 1789, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote the poem, "Der Erlkonig," or "The Erl King." King of the Elves. Rachel presses the remote arid a slide of Goethe appears onscreen. RACHEL In the poem, Goethe describes the panicked ride of a man desperate to get his young son safely home. The slide changes to a Durer-like etching of a devilish elf not dissimilar to the demon of Rachel's dream... RACHEL The child fears that they are being pursued by the Erl King, a demon who thrives on taking children's souls. The demon tries to tempt the boy, then threatens him, but the child stays at his father's side. In the corner, silently wishing her encouragement, is Jim. He is seated next to the potentate of Lucade's Psych program, HENRY "THE KILLER" KILLIAN. Mix Sigmund Freud, Ernest Hemingway, and Mike Wallace - you get Killian. He is utterly unreadable, viewing every student's work with a calculated detachment. RACHEL In the climax, just as the relieved father reaches the sanctuary of his house, he looks into his arms and sees that his son is already dead. The Erl King has won. The slide changes to the face of an Irishman... RACHEL In the poem, "The Stolen Child," by William Butler Yeats, /faeries/ lure a child away from the world of mortals because it is a "world more full of weeping than he can understand." From the perspective of the faerie, "life," with all its persecutions, hardships, and torment is not worth living at all. Rachel sneaks glances around the room, checking her audience. /Forget Killian, he's stone./ Jim is smiling, Greta and Amelia give her the thumbs-up. Her fellow students actually appear respectfully intrigued... /This is going good, Rachel, don't fuck up.../ Her eyes then settle on the Stranger, whose intense gaze is unsettling to say the least. RACHEL (momentarily flustered) But are... But... are these tales merely a play to wacate... (corrects herself) _Way_ to _pla_cate... There's LAUGHTER in the auditorium, but one look from Killian to those gathered stops it cold. Rachel regains her composure and continues, actually fortifying her intensity because of the blunder... RACHEL Are tales such as these merely a way to placate those affected by grievous loss? Does "pinning the blame" on a /monster/ elf, faerie, whatever - give the family of the victim, or society as a whole, a simple solution to a complex problem? _Killian leans forward and rests his chin on his hand_. To the students who know his behavior well, this is amazing. It means he's really interested in what she's saying... Good or bad, he's _interested_. New faces appear on the screen. The faces of SERIAL KILLERS. RACHEL (energized) Is the "goblin who eats babies" really any different from Wayne Williams, John Gacy, or Fred Krueger? The latter examples committed actual crimes and possess human faces, but hasn't, the current culture turned /them/ into "monsters"? The embodiment of evil? Slides show countless newspaper headlines, magazine covers, and press photos regarding stories about child abduction and child murder. RACHEL Media attention to such crimes and killers reaches such hysterical proportions that one has to wonder if such overexposure feeds the fire of such fears. Every parent is afraid that their child could be kidnapped, tortured, molested, raped, killed... Statistical figures appear on the slide screen. RACHEL But statistics show that the chances of such a crime occurring to a family are slim. Yet the _fear_ of parents in every household, on every block, in every neighborhood in this country is palpable. Perhaps we need to ask if this fear is creating more harm than good. How does it damage the psyche of a child raised in a household in which such fears are manifest? TWO FACES appear side-by-side on the slide screen - FRED KRUEGER and JASON VOORHEES. RACHEL In recent memory, perhaps no two serial killers better exemplify mass social fear than Fred Krueger and Jason Voorhees. Although their actual crimes were committed over fifteen years ago, each has achieved the status of "evil legend." The Stranger's face becomes grim and worried as Rachel ventures into this territory. RACHEL The iconization of the two has generated awareness of them as "villains" that is significantly greater today than it was at the time of their first appearance. Police archival shots of the killers and their "tools" fill the screen... RACHEL Children wear Jason's hockey mask and carry plastic machetes as Halloween costumes. As well-known as "Twinkle, twinkle little star," is the sing song chant, /"One, two, Freddy's coming for you. Three, four, better lock your door. Five, six, grab a crucifix. Seven, eight, gonna stay up late. Nine, ten, never sleep again."/ The Stranger is silently boiling in his chair. His thick, stubby fingers dig into the wood of the desk top... Slides showing tabloid newspaper stories of unsolved crimes fill the screen... RACHEL The power of these "legends" is so great that unsolved murders are often attributed to them by the tabloid press. Even though each has been dead for years, whispered rumors suggest that Freddy and Jason are still at work, still hunting... The Stranger stares at Rachel with violent intensity. Oblivious to him, Rachel begins to feel rather disoriented... Her vision blurs as she tries to read what's on her paper... The slides return to the faces of Jason and Freddy. RACHEL In doing this... Aren't we... Aren't we cooperating in the construction of new, powerful monsters? Monsters whose feeding ground is the Collective Unconscious? The Stranger cannot take it any longer. Causing quite a commotion, he abruptly stands and storms down the center aisle to the exit door. All eyes turn to him and Killian reprimands him... KILLIAN You, sir, have no right to disrupt this class. I... The Stranger glances at Killian and the big man just _stops_ talking. He looks at the slide projector and exits. As Killian shakes off whatever just hit him, he addresses Rachel... KILLIAN Please continue, Miss Daniels.... But as we turn to Rachel, we see she is frozen, trembling, and glassy-eyed. Losing control of her body, she collapses. Killian, Jim, Amelia, and Greta rush to her aid, no one really noticing the small electrical fire in the slide projector, nor the effect it has upon the visages' of Jason and Freddy - twisting and bubbling until they are /monstrous/ in appearance... DISSOLVE TO: INT. KILLIAN'S OFFICE - DAY Rachel's unconscious face is before us... JIM'S VOICE Rachel? Her eyes flutter open. A PEN LIGHT is shone into them... KILLIAN'S VOICE Rachel? Rachel can see Jim and Killian standing over shining a light into her eyes. KILLIAN What is your full name? RACHEL Rachel Tabitha Daniels. KILLIAN Do you know who I am? RACHEL The Killer... Doctor Killian... He nods. KILLIAN Do you know where you are? She shakes her head no. KILLIAN This is my office. Where would that be? RACHEL School... Lucade... KILLIAN Good. Jim squeezes her hand as Killian shuts off the light. JIM Hi. Rachel smiles and Jim sneaks a kiss to her forehead. As she sits up and takes in her surroundings (very sparse, the only books those authored by Killian himself), Rachel sees Killian open a file and jot down notes... KILLIAN Are you taking medication? She nods. That's news to Jim. And very slowly, his hand pulls away from hers. KILLIAN Do you mind telling me what it is? Rachel shakes her head no... RACHEL Hytonexoft. Forty milligrams... Killian raises his eyebrows. Impressed? Disturbed? KILLIAN That's quite new. Who's your doctor? RACHEL Donna Villa-Lobos. KILLIAN (admiringly, respectfully, with recognition) /Senora Donna.../ (matter-of-fact) You should see her. Soon. I'll call her if you'd like... RACHEL (shakes her head no) I'll do it. KILLIAN Promise? Rachel nods. KILLIAN Good. (more professorial) It will take me a few days to prepare my response to your paper, but I will tell you this much right now... (critically) Your grammar and sentence structure is atrocious. Buy "The Elements of Style," dear girl. The authors are Strunk and White. (continuing) Your opinions are entirely too personal, the research sorely lacking, the arguments poorly presented... (smiling) But... (proud of her) It is a thoughtful, passionate, and intriguing presentation of ideas. Thank you for alleviating a small degree of my perpetual boredom. Tellingly, Jim appears jealous of Killian's kind words. KILLIAN But how far are you willing to go with your premise? Are you ready to be challenged? To challenge yourself? Do you /believe/ what you say? He can see that she's still rather disoriented and eases up. KILLIAN Later tonight, I shall telephone Dr. Donna Villa-Lobos. If my gifted colleague informs me that she has not spoken to you... I will be severely disappointed. RACHEL I'll call. There's a KNOCK at the door and Amelia and Greta appear as they push it open... KILLIAN (familiar with them) Ah... Visitors from the Isle of Lesbos. Amelia sticks out her tongue at him and asks... AMELIA (to Rachel) You doin' okay? Rachel nods and Amelia hugs her tightly, annoying Jim. Rachel stands and Amelia lends her support as they escort her out of Killian's office. RACHEL Professor? Thank you. He waves them off. And as the door closes, his face shows honest, deep concern for Rachel's well-being... INT. PSYCH BUILDING - HALLWAY - DAY Much to Amelia's annoyance, Jim "takes over" as Rachel's support, and places his arm around her. Rachel wants no part of his territoriality and gently breaks off for the women's rest room. RACHEL I have to pee... AMELIA I'll come with... RACHEL I'm fine, Meelie... GRETA (to Amelia) We have class... RACHEL Really, I'm okay. Reassured, Amelia gives her a hug and she and Greta take off. Jim waits near a water fountain as Rachel enters the women's room... INT. WOMEN'S REST ROOM - DAY Rachel sits in a stall, looking at her hands. There are slight uncontrollable tremors in her fingers and the sight of the affliction is both familiar and unsettling to her. RACHEL /Get it together, Rachel.../ She rises from the stall, washes her, face in the sink, and looks at herself in the mirror... RACHEL /Get it to--/ The face of the _Stranger_ appears in the glass. Rachel spins and finds him standing in a corner, calm, cool. Watching and waiting. There are no other women in the room and it fills with an eerie silence. Rachel pulls a WHISTLE from a cord around her neck and blows, but no sound is emitted. THE STRANGER You don't realize what you've done, do you? He speaks with a rich, articulate, haunting cadence. Not moving toward her, he instead fills his pipe with tobacco and lights up. THE STRANGER Silly girl. You write about the power of ideas and yet you fail to comprehend the horrible power of your own. Rachel forgets about the whistle, grabs her keys, and clenches her fist around them, each key tip forming a sharp point between each knuckle. The Stranger reaches into a worn leather pouch and produces a sheaf of papers. THE STRANGER When you put something like this into the world, so hundreds, thousands, millions have access to it... RACHEL (recognizes her paper) Where did you get that? THE STRANGER My printer. One button gives me a copy of anything I find of value on the Internet... RACHEL That can't be right... It's not... THE STRANGER Your ideas are not original, just dangerous. (significantly) They'll come for you. Are you ready for that? (threateningly?) /What will you do when they come?/ He moves around her, blocking her path the door. He steps toward her, raising his hand as if to strike! Rachel SHOUTS at the door... RACHEL HELP ME! INT. PSYCH BUILDING - HALLWAY - DAY Jim is at the fountain, drinking. The machine makes an ungodly noise as it pumps water to the spigot. /Is this noise real or somehow distorted specifically for Jim?/ Unfortunately for Rachel, the halls are otherwise deserted... INT. WOMEN'S REST ROOM - DAY The Stranger smiles and steps back, regarding her shaking hands and pale face... THE STRANGER Look at you. Terrified. Poor thing... You know nothing of terror. RACHEL HELP ME! INT. PSYCH BUILDING - HALLWAY - DAY This time Jim hears her and rushes for the rest room door... INT. WOMEN'S REST ROOM - DAY The Stranger sets the copy of her paper on the edge of the sink and dons his hat. THE STRANGER You are forewarned. Be /en guarde/. They'll be looking for you. Your /monsters/... He exits. Rachel becomes dizzy and eases herself to her knees, using the sink as support. As she does, the sheaf of papers spills to the tile floor. Fighting the feelings of disorientation, she focuses on the pages... And can see the words she just presented in Killian's class... Jim pushes into the women's room and hurries to Rachel's aid. JIM What happened?! RACHEL Did you see him?! JIM See who? RACHEL He just left...! JIM _Who_? Rachel-clutches her knees and starts rocking back and forth. RACHEL The one... The one from before... The man from class... JIM There was nobody... RACHEL IT WAS HIM! She gathers together the fallen pages and presents them to Jim as "evidence." RACHEL See?! He had this! He had my paper! How did he get my paper? Jim tries to comfort her... JIM Baby, anybody could have gotten that... She shoots him a look - "/How?/" JIM I posted it on the school website a couple days ago... RACHEL You /what/? JIM I do it all the time with the papers from Killian's class... RACHEL This was ME. Did I say it was all right...? JIM Babe... RACHEL Don't fucking "babe" me. He touches her, but she violently pushes his hand away, stands, and storms out of the room... RACHEL You go to hell. INT. CAMPUS POLICE STATION - DAY A FEMALE CAMPUS COP takes down information given to her by Rachel, who proves an excellent witness... RACHEL ...about forty years old, black hair, dark brown skin, broad face, bright blue eyes... He's Australian, an Aborigine, but he may have been educated here or in England. The accent was strange... About five-five, a hundred and forty pounds, jeans, sheepskin jacket, smoked a pipe... FEMALE CAMPUS COP Okay, okay. I think that's enough. RACHEL Sorry. It's just very vivid for me right now... FEMALE CAMPUS COP You did great, Rachel. We're really trying to crack down on these dicks who hang around the ladies' rooms... Friggin' pervs. RACHEL I don't think he's like that... FEMALE CAMPUS COP 'Scuse me? RACHEL It was _me_. He was trying to scare _me_. FEMALE CAMPUS COP (not getting it) Tellin' you you were special, that kind of thing? RACHEL This wasn't sexual, it... FEMALE CAMPUS COP It's _always_ sexual with these creeps. (doubting her?) You didn't do nothin' to lead him on, did you? RACHEL /Excuse me?/ FEMALE CAMPUS COP Nothin'. Rachel feels another wave of dizziness and sees her fingers tremble. RACHEL Can I have some water? The Female Cop procures her a glass as Rachel empties a couple of pills from a prescription bottle. As she drinks them down, the Female Cop inquires... FEMALE CAMPUS COP What's that you're taking? RACHEL What difference does it make? FEMALE CAMPUS COP Well, if... RACHEL I'm going now. Rachel stands, steadies herself, and makes her way out structure, and from her point-of-view, its fluorescent ceiling lights abnormally glow and buzz... FEMALE CAMPUS COP (skeptical) We'll keep an eye out for your Aborigine... EXT. CAMPUS POLICE STATION - DUSK Rachel fumbles with the keys to her car and tries to stay focused... RACHEL (like a mantra) Keep it together, keep it together... She looks up and sees swirling clouds turn crimson from the last rays of the setting sun... EXT. WOODS NEAR CAMPUS - NIGHT Deep in a heavily wooded area, hidden from roads or trails, is the Stranger. He sits at a campfire, eating a simple, healthy meal. He is surrounded by Aboriginal totems, charms, and artifacts. They hang from branches, rest on stones, and rise from the earth. A small tent has been pitched and a sleeping bag unrolled. Incongruously(?) present are a satellite phone, power book, and modem. The Stranger stokes the fire and begins to sprinkle the contents of a pouch around the perimeter of his campground. He too notices the blood-colored sky and begins to CHANT in his native tongue... EXT. APARTMENT~BUILDING - NIGHT Rachel exits her parked car and heads up the stairs to her apartment. She slows down when she hears LOUD MUSIC and VOICES coming from behind _her_ door... She shuts her eyes and exhales, _knowinq_ what - or who - she's going to find inside... INT. RACHEL'S APARTMENT - NIGHT Rachel is first met by the sound of feedback-drenched Sonic Youth pumping through her overburdened speakers, followed by the strong scent of marijuana smoke... IN THE LIVING ROOM... She finds Jim partying with a skinny junkie punk - MORRIS - and his scary/intense girlfriend, PEGGY, who just happens to be Rachel's sister. Peggy rises and opens her arms for a big hug... PEGGY Hey little sister! Peggy stumbles across the room and forces Rachel into a too close embrace. PEGGY (stoned, drunk) Little Rachel, Little Rachel, Lit-Uhl Ray- Chul... Rachel pulls away and drastically turns down the volume on the stereo. MORRIS (complaining) Heeeeyyy! RACHEL If you don't like it, Morris, you can leave. MORRIS (to Peggy) Cunt. RACHEL (sarcastic, to Peggy) I'm so glad he's still in your life, Peggy. You must be so happy. MORRIS Cunt-cunt-cunt. PEGGY (to Morris) Shut the fuck up, dickhead. MORRIS She treats us like shit. Every time. RACHEL And why would that be, Morris? Maybe 'cause the last time you were here you stole five hundred dollars from my purse, then trashed my car and left it in a ditch? Morris takes a deep bong hit and blows the smoke at Rachel. PEGGY (tries to make nice) That was a year ago... `Lots happened in a year... RACHEL (to Jim, angry) Can I talk to you? _Privately_? Pretty stoned, Jim moves to the kitchen. As Rachel join him, Peggy whispers to her... PEGGY (re Jim) He is _fine_. Fuckin' _fine_. Bet he's got a goddamn donkey dick... Does he? RACHEL Give me a minute, Peggy. Peggy nods, smiles, and falls into the lap of Morris, who blows pot smoke into her mouth and french-kisses her. IN THE KITCHEN, in hushed tones, Rachel lets Jim have it... RACHEL Who said you could come in here?! And I don't even want to talk about letting them in... JIM She's your _sister_. RACHEL It's my decision, not yours. JIM (explaining himself) I came here to see you, to apologize, okay? When I got here, they were ready to break.. your door down, so I used my key. I thought it was best. RACHEL Okay, okay... Coming from her bedroom, Rachel hears what can only be a BABY CRYING and her face goes pale... RACHEL No. Please. No... Rachel pushes past Jim... And IN HER BEDROOM she finds Peggy nursing a two-month-old INFANT from her breast. Rachel is stunned. Honest-to-goodness shocked and saddened. Oblivious to her sister's reaction, Peggy bouncily makes introductions... PEGGY Jake, this is your Aunt Rachel. Aunt Rachel, this is little Jake... (explains) He is two months, two days old. I had him in Texas, when we were in Austin... Don't tell Morris, but it's not even his. Peggy laughs and lights a cigarette. Rachel looks like deer caught in headlights. RACHEL You think you should be doing that? PEGGY What? RACHEL Breast-feed him. PEGGY (defensively, drunk) Oh, Rachel, I'm pretty fuckin' clean now. I only had a couple beers and a quick hit... I don't do the hard shit no more. `Sides, he seems t'be okay... Don'tcha little fucker? My cute little fucker... RACHEL Don't call him that. PEGGY He don't know what I'm sayin'... RACHEL What do you want Peggy? Why are you here? Peggy returns Jake to his makeshift crib and covers her breast. PEGGY We need a place to crash for a few days. Morris's got some special shit to sell a guy comin' in from Toronto... RACHEL I can't have that kind of thing here. No way. You know that. PEGGY (calculatingly) We got no place to go, little sister. /Your nephew/'s got no place... Rachel knows her sister is manipulating her, but doesn't care. She moves to a specific book on a shelf, pulls out three hundred dollar bills, and hands them to Peggy. RACHEL Go to a motel. PEGGY Thanks, baby. You're a doll. I'll pay you back... Rachel shoots her a look - "/Yeah, right./" PEGGY No, really... This stuff Morris scored, it's the next fuckin' wave. Acid, Ex, Crystal - it's all bullshit. From this moment on... RACHEL I don't care. She starts to walkout, but Peggy asks... PEGGY Hey Rachel? You wouldn't want to watch Jake for a few days, would you? Rachel startles us with her cool response... RACHEL He's your baby, Peggy. Not mine. Your responsibility. (checks the time) I have to go somewhere, but I'll be back by nine. When I come back, I want you and Morris gone. PEGGY Okay, okay, I get it... RACHEL Good. And with that, Rachel exits. PEGGY Rachel? Love you... But Rachel's already gone. EXT. WOODS NEAR CAMPUS - NIGHT The Stranger sits in a circle-within-a-circle he's mapped out on the earth. He has stripped down to a loin cloth and has painted himself white with a lizard on his chest. Outside the circle, the woods are a engulfed in FOG, tree limbs barely recognizable... But what strikes us as truly spooky, however, are the SOUNDS. Distorted, disjointed sounds. Like hellish beasts out for blood, the earth ripping open, human cries of anguish... /But there is nothing to be seen./ Trying to stay calm, but clearly concerned, the Stranger fills his pipe with a weird mixture of herbs, inhales the smoke and continues his CHANT. As his eyes roll back into his head, we see within the circle, in a place of prominence, his leather satchel. As his eyes come back to front, they are crimson with bright white centers. FREDDY O.S. Are we ready for my entrance? The fog swirls around the circle and becomes blood red in hue. The SOUNDS intensify and, trembling with terror, _tears_ fall from the Stranger's eyes. FREDDY O.S. Ladies and gentlemen, without further ado... The maestro of malevolence, the dean of demonhood, the captain of creepology... The fog swirls into a funnel cloud. It splits trees, tears up earth, and howls with rage... Instantly, it settles. And standing right outside the Stranger's circle is none other than... FREDDY KRUEGER. FREDDY Me. Widdle old me. He grins, hisses, and extends his arm, revealing the gleaming razor-sharp talons of his leather glove. FREDDY (to the Stranger) You look scared Tommy. Do I scare you? Hmm? Freddy SLASHES with his glove, but when the razors approach the Stranger, it's as though they strike an invisible wall rising from the circle. SPARKS FLY and Freddy steps back. FREDDY Oh, you're good. You're really good. Brah- Vo. Freddy tips his hat and _seethes_. As if his life depended upon it, the Stranger desperately continues his chant. FREDDY (mimicking him) Blah-blah-blah-blah-bluh-bluh-bluh... (improvising his own chant) I'm so scared, gonna wet my pants, I'm so scared, gonna wet my pants... Freddy starts to dance a ring-around-the-rosie, holding hands with _himself_ as he circles the Stranger... FREDDY (malevolently) Ring-around-the rosie, a pocketful of posies... chants... The Stranger is terrified. He chants and chants and chants... FREDDY ...Ashes, ashes... Freddy's movements form a cyclone of blood-red fire around the Stranger's circle. He's so scared, the Stranger stops chanting. Freddy stands still, becoming a single entity, storms the invisible "wall" and breaks through! Vein-like flashes of energy try to ensnare his neck, but Freddy_ pushes forward, until he's nose to-nose with the Stranger... FREDDY We all fall down. The poor Stranger SCREAMS as Freddy grins and raises the razor glove... EXT. OFFICE BUILDING - NIGHT Rachel's car is parked outside a small, trendy, upscale office complex. Only a few lights are burning at this hour. INT. PSYCHIATRIST'S OFFICE - NIGHT Rachel sits on a sofa across from her doctor and therapist, DR. DONNA VILLA-LOBOS. Donna is a wise, brilliant, handsome woman in her mid-fifties. Candles burn and incense glows. Donna favors natural fabrics, folk art, and never lets you escape her probing eyes... Which is what Rachel's trying to do right now. DONNA ... Do you remember your last thought before you passed out? Rachel shakes her head "no." Donna doesn't relent. DONNA Hank Killian told me it was something about Jason Voorhees and Fred Krueger... RACHEL (amused) /Hank?/ DONNA Students still calling him "The Killer?" Rachel nods. DONNA (CONT'D) Well I remember when he was "Little Hanky Panky." Rachel laughs. A welcome relief from her current stressed-out state. DONNA Don't tell him I told you that, okay? He's liable to tell you about me. RACHEL (answering her question) I was talking about Monsters. Before I blacked out... DONNA Your thesis. Rachel nods. DONNA (familiar with her premise) The harm imaginary monsters can do to the psyche... Especially a child's... Rachel's eyes drift away, her focus and attention span seemingly disjointed... DONNA Rachel, where are you right now? What are you thinking of? RACHEL Peggy... Peggy's baby... DONNA You worried about him? Rachel kind of shrugs. Unwilling to commit to a response. DONNA Isn't what you told Peggy right? The child is _her_ responsibility? That's what you believe, isn't it? Rachel's eyes lose focus, her hands shake, and she starts to shiver... For a moment, it looks like she's going to pass ` out again, but Donna cracks open a capsule under her nose and Rachel regains clarity. Donna eases Rachel back onto the couch, rests her head on a pillow, and fetches a glass of water. As Rachel drinks, Donna asks... DONNA On a scale of one to ten, how bad was that? RACHEL Five... Six. DONNA Still thinking about Peggy's baby? Rachel shakes her head and explains... RACHEL The man... From the seminar... DONNA The man who accosted you? RACHEL He was here... He... DONNA It's a borderline hallucination, Rachel... It's part of you... RACHEL (inaudible to Donna) He's dead. He's dead. He's dead... Rachel begins rocking back and forth. Worried, Donna readies a syringe and injects Rachel with the contents. Within moments, Rachel is clear, level-headed, and calm. RACHEL (greatly relieved) God. What`is that??? DONNA It's what I want to try next. I don't think the Hytenexoft is working... RACHEL Neither do I... (sits up, eager) I want this. Donna shows her a container of pills. DONNA It's called Somnazac. We just received approval for trial and I want you to be part of the study. RACHEL Sign me up. DONNA Look, I just gave you a very potent dose... It doesn't work this quickly every time. RACHEL I don't care. DONNA Okay. But it works differently than what you're used to... Hytenexoft suppresses the disturbing dreams... RACHEL Ineffectively. DONNA For _you_, yes. (significantly, re the drug) Somnazac encourages them... RACHEL (frightened) What? Donna, you know what they do to me... Donna takes Rachel's hand and calmly explains... DONNA It's okay. You're a hyper-vivid dreamer, right? If this were 2000 B.C., you'd be looked at as a visionary. Prophesying the future. But this is 2000 A.D. and all it means is that you've got a lot of repressed shit in there. The problem is it's not happy staying in dreamland. It keeps reminding you it's there even when. you're awake. RACHEL Then why add fuel to the fire? DONNA Good analogy, really... You know how in a forest fire, they'll start backfires to control the one they're trying to stop? Rachel nods. DONNA That's what Somnazac allows you to do. You can intentionally generate dreams to help stop the demons. (re the vial of pills) It creates and magnifies a state of intense lucid dreaming. When you're asleep, you'll _know_ when you go into dream state. And you'll have at your disposal the entire breadth and width of your imagination. An arsenal of thought. (reassuring her) And if the seizures come when you're awake... it switches you into a lucid "control mode." You can literally think _think away_ the attack. Rachel accepts the vial of Somnazac from Donna. RACHEL (curious, intrigued) What about side effects? DONNA Weight loss... RACHEL Aw, too bad... DONNA ...Dehydration - you have to drink a lot of water - extra sensitivity to taste, touch, smells... And complete loss of hair from the body. Rachel looks at her with dread. DONNA Just kidding. (shares a smile with Rachel) There's only one thing you have to be extremely careful of... (makes sure Rachel's listening) You have to stop _all other_ medication. The hytenexoft, the birth control pills, the allergy capsules.... All of it. No over-the-counter stuff, either. And if you're taking vitamins or herbal supplements, I want a list. RACHEL Jee-sus. DONNA This is serious stuff, Rachel. Treat it with respect. I want you to call me twice a day, every day. Morning and evening. _And_ we'll see each other three times a week. RACHEL Whatever you say. DONNA Good girl. RACHEL Can I start tonight? Donna hands her a sheet with the drug protocols on it. DONNA We should wait for the Hytenexoft to be out of your system, but... Let's get you started. It'll just take longer for you to gain full control of the lucid state. Tomorrow morning take the first ten milligrams. RACHEL Nothing tonight? DONNA No, sweetie, I'm sorry. Just... try too get a good night's sleep. Simple words. But they fill Rachel with dread... EXT. MOTEL - NIGHT A filthy van sits outside a small room in the rear of the motel compound. INT. MOTEL ROOM - NIGHT A simple, functional, clean place with two twin beds, cable TV, and a bathroom. Beer bottles and butt-filled ashtrays litter the floor. As Peggy sings to baby Jake, Morris and Jim sit on the edge of one of the beds, sharing a joint. Laid out in front of them are a selection of pills, tablets, powders, rocks, and capsules. MORRIS (hawking his wares) ... Good old-fashioned blotter acid, crystal meth, some excellent uppers - just-like the old Black Beauties - real honest-to-goodness `ludes... (saving the best for last) ...And the shit they'll all be talking out next year - _Meskie-Mex_. You heard it here first, Jim. Ted Koppel, Mike Wallace, Jane Pauley... They'll all be on the fuckin' TV askin', "Where did this new drug scourge come from?" _Me_. Morris Oliver Wilson, that's who. Importer extraordinaire. (proudly) /Mescahedraline Anthropophylax./ A hallucinogenic so strong you're fucking one-hundred percent convinced the shit you see is /real/. I'm not talkin', "Wow! Look at the colors!," I'm talking /Alice In Wonderland/ time. And you swear to god, you _are_ Tweedle-Dee. JIM (apprehensive) Sounds scary... PEGGY (an advocate, helping the sale) Oh no, dude. It's like living in a fuckin' _dream_. MORRIS No after-effects, no hangover... And they don't even know what to look for in a urine test! I met this ex-con down in Oaxaca, aid he turned me onto this crazy old doctor livin' in the jungle. Swear to god, _livin' in the uncle_. This is his baby. I'm just the ambassador. JIM What're you asking? MORRIS Well, Jim, my man, tomorrow I meet with this dude who's gonna take over all northern and eastern distribution. You buy from him, it's at least five hundred a gram. JIM Shit. MORRIS For you, though, buddy? Two bills. PEGGY And you only need, like, an eighth to get really fucked-up. The baby starts crying and Morris looks at Peggy with annoyance. Unperturbed, Jim pulls out a money clip. JIM Give me two grams. MORRIS You want to make it three for five hundred? JIM Done. MORRIS Fuckin' A. You're gonna see things you've never even imagined, dude. This shit is monster. Like an expert pharmacist, Morris counts out twelve small tablets. MORRIS (a serious warning) Whatever you do, don't break these down to shoot it or snort it. Just swallow the fuckin' pill. The body needs time to absorb this sucker. Otherwise... JIM What? MORRIS Reeeeaaaaalllllly bad trip, dude, take it from me. And Jim hands over five crisp hundred dollar bills... EXT. MOTEL - NIGHT As Jim drives off, we realize we are watching the motel from the nearby WOODS, our perspective that of something specific... _Someone_ specific. Watching, waiting... INT. MOTEL ROOM - NIGHT - LATER As the television set broadcasts in-room porn and a boom box blasts Nine Inch Nails, a stoned Morris stares glassy-eyed at the emotionally devoid sex acts on the tiny video screen. He's in briefs and a "Just Say No" t-shirt. On the other twin bed, baby Jake sleeps as a barely alert Peggy swallows another Quaalude and chases it with a beer. POUND-POUND-POUND! An angry neighbor pounding on the wall? Morris pays it no heed. POUND-POUND-POUND! PEGGY (speech garbled) ...'s gonna wake th' baby... Morris POUNDS right back... MORRIS (screaming at the wall) IT'S TWENTY BUCKS A NIGHT, ASSHOLE. WHAT DID YOU EXPECT? Baby Jake immediately starts crying, but Peggy's barely able to keep her eyes open, let alone comfort him. PEGGY Ssshhh... Sssshhh... But Jake cries and cries... MORRIS Shut that maggot up, y'hear me, Peggy?! PEGGY Ssssshhhh... Y'make Morris mad... POUND-POUND-POUND! It comes from the _opposite_ wall. POUND POUND-POUND! This time from the ceiling! Morris looks every which way as the SOUND of the pounding emanates from everywhere and nowhere. It stops, but is soon followed by a TAP-TAP-TAP at the door. Morris stumbles to the peep-hole and bellows... MORRIS Go th'fuck away! But when he peers through the peep-hole, no one is there. Morris pulls back the curtain and checks the window... The parking lot is empty. He moves to a suitcase, pulls out a HANDGUN, hides it behind his back and opens the door. He looks left, looks right... Nothing. He shuts the door, bolts, and locks it. He rests the gun on the television set and covers his ears to drown out the sound of Jake's cries. When he notices Peggy has passed out, he regards her with disgust and the baby with extreme annoyance. He retreats to the BATHROOM where he takes a piss, washes his face, and stares at himself in the mirror... JAKE'S CRIES go on and on... MORRIS This is a nightmare. My life is a fucking nightmare... (an outburst to the other room) PEGGY, SHUT THAT KID UP! (sinister, to himself) /Or I'll do it myself./ When he returns to the SLEEPING AREA, Peggy is utterly unconscious and the baby still desperate for attention. Morris sneers at little Jake, then glances at the gun... MORRIS /Hey, Jakey, let's play a little game.../ He steps toward the weapon... SOMETHING FLASHES IN FRONT OF HIS FACE! It takes us - and Morris +. a moment to realize what it is... The gleaming blade of a MACHETE. It's a millimeter from Morris's nose, the tip imbedded in the wall. Morris looks left, and sees A BIG, POWERFUL MAN, face and body in shadow, holding the handle. MORRIS Jesus Fuckin' Christ! The Man pulls the machete from the wall, steps into the light, and gently shakes his head "no." Not Jesus Fuckin' Christ... JASON VOORHEES. Wearing dark coveralls, boots, and signature HOCKEY MASK. /Interestingly, Baby Jake has stopped crying.../ Morris lunges for the gun! Boy, that machete is sharp. It chops off Morris's right hand like a hot knife through butter. He barely has a moment to register the sight of his bloody stump or the severed hand on the floor before JASON SWINGS, like a golfer teeing off, and SLICES Morris's left leg at mid-calf. Morris instantly drops to the carpet. SWISH! His right foot comes clean off. MORRIS SCREAMS AND SCREAMS! /Just like a baby.../ In shock, rapidly losing blood, Morris makes a desperate attempt to grab the fallen gun. /That was stupid./ THWACK! Off comes the other hand. Morris's shivering, pale form lies on the floor like a doll who's lost most of its parts. Standing over him, Jason takes the machete and cuts open the BAG OF DRUGS. Using the tip of the blade to force open Morris's mouth, Jason begins to insert the contents of the bag down Morris's throat. PEGGY O.S. Baby... Wha'sss wrong? On the other bed, Peggy's drug-altered eyes come into focus... _And find Jason_. If it's at all possible to convey, his hockey-masked face regards her with contempt. The machete is raised... And Peggy doesn't even have time to scream. As we listen to the horrific sounds of Jason's machete at work, we linger on the helpless form of baby Jake... DISSOLVE TO: INT. RACHEL'S BEDROOM - NIGHT Sleeping alone, Rachel is clearly in the throes of a troubled, nightmare-filled sleep... IN A SERIES OF DISSOLVES, we watch her toss and turn, A SERIES OF SUPERIMPOSED IMAGES PASSING BY... Jim, Killian, Peggy, Morris, Donna, the Stranger, baby Jake... And finally the slide projector images of Jason and Freddy.... DISSOLVE TO: INT. RACHEL'S BEDROOM - DAY Rachel bolts upright in bed, sweating, shivering. She hurries out of bed, searches for her PURSE, finds the vial of SOMNAZAC PILLS, and eagerly swallows her first dose. There is a KNOCK at the door and Rachel wearily, shakily asks without opening... RACHEL Who is it? MAN'S VOICE Rachel Daniels? RACHEL Yes...? MAN'S VOICE Miss Daniels, it's the police. Would you open the door, please? Rachel unlocks the door, but not the chain latch. She looks out and sees a kind-faced, middle-aged DETECTIVE standing outside her door. Behind him is a UNIFORM COP. The detective, JOHN NEWELL, smiles and shows her his i.d. NEWELL Miss Daniels, I'm Detective Newell, this is Officer Rice. Rachel is beginning to sense that something awful has happened... NEWELL Do you have a sister named Margaret? A FLASH IMAGE OF GRISLY BUTCHERY invades Rachel's consciousness. She steps back, loses all sense of balance, and passes out, hitting the floor hard. NEWELL Miss Daniels?! Rachel...? (turns to Rice, hands him keys) I got a pair of bolt cutters in my trunk. Grab `em. As Rice runs to the car, Newell watches Rachel's body spasm on the floor... NEWELL (worried reassurance) You hang in there, Rachel... You're gonna be okay... And just as quickly as it came, the seizure ends. Rachel regains consciousness and sits up. Just as Rice returns, she rises and undoes the chain... NEWELL (not sure what to make of that) Thank you... Rachel leans against the wall and stares blankly ahead... RACHEL /She's dead./ Newell freezes. He sure as hell doesn't know what to make of Rachel at all... INT. LIZZIE'S KITCHEN - DAY Officer Rice waits at the door as Newell and Rachel have coffee. Newell takes meticulous notes and often asks himself silent questions before speaking them aloud (a character tic)... NEWELL Did you know your sister was a drug dealer? Rachel's eyes are red from crying. RACHEL Morris was the dealer. Peggy was just along for the ride. NEWELL Do you take drugs? RACHEL I never have and I never will. I don't even drink. There is something so matter-of-fact about what she's said, Newell knows she's telling the truth. NEWELL Good for you. Instinctively, Newell likes Rachel, but he's concerned for her and suspects there's more to her than meets the eye... NEWELL We found another man's fingerprints on a beer bottle inside the room... RACHEL They were expecting a dealer... From Toronto... But that wasn't for a ,couple of days... NEWELL I doubt it was him... Rachel looks at Newell - "Why?" NEWELL This was murder, plain and simple. Probably a revenge killing. They may have pissed off the wrong person. Pardon my language. (explains) The killer didn't take the drugs. They were force fed down the boyfriend's throat. He was still alive for that... RACHEL What did he do to Peggy? NEWELL This was a really brutal attack. Cruel. Like a... /punishment/. RACHEL Tell me. NEWELL (hesitant, but feels she has the right to know) The killer cut your sister open... Newell gestures at his own body, miming a cut from his sternum to his crotch. NEWELL Deep. Then he... (this is difficult for him) He... took the baby and put him inside your sister's body. Like he wanted to put it back. We're lucky somebody heard the screams and called the cops. Jake could have drowned in his own mother's blood. Rachel trembles at the thought... But doesn't move into seizure-mode. The new medication is already working. A CELL PHONE RINGS and Newell answers... NEWELL This is Newell. (listens) Where? (listens) You confirmed that with campus security? (listens, instructs) Contain the scene. I'll be there in fifteen minutes. Newell hangs up and chooses his words carefully... NEWELL Rachel? Is it all right if I call you Rachel? She nods. NEWELL I'd like you to come with me. She looks at him curiously. NEWELL Another body was found. RACHEL /Who?/ Newell wants to get moving... NEWELL We'll talk about that on the way... EXT. WOODS NEAR CAMPUS - DAY A HANDFUL OF COPS and the COUNTY CORONER have cordoned off the remote section of forest where the Stranger was killed by Freddy. Newell's car parks on a nearby service road. He and Rachel exit and they have to trek through thick brush to reach the site. They're greeted by OFFICER MICKLIN, who fills in Newell... OFFICER MICKLIN Forest ranger saw smoke from a campfire and went to check it out... Micklin steps under the CRIME SCENE tape and leads Newell toward a tarp-covered BODY. Newell instructs Rachel to wait outside the taped area... NEWELL You wait here for me, okay? Rachel nods and surveys the scene, something about it chilling her to the marrow... Inside the cordoned-off area, we see what gives this crime scene a distinctly peculiar feel - a twenty-foot wide circle of SCORCHED EARTH surrounds the corpse, the burned area beginning and ending with razor-sharp precision. OFFICER MICKLIN You ever see anything like this? Newell shakes his head "no," kneels, puts on gloves, and pulls back the tarp, revealing the corpse of the Stranger. FIVE DEEP WOUNDS have eviscerated him from his gut to his neck, nearly decapitating him in the final stroke. NEWELL Holy God... The female coroner, JACQUI DUPREE, shakes her head and confers with Newell... JACQUI Three murders in one night, John. I left this kind of shit back in New Orleans. NEWELL Hi Jacqui. JACQUI Hi yourself. (re the corpse) His name is Thomas Ezekiel Smith. (motions toward a pile of evidence bags) They found his passport. Australian. Arrived in New York three days ago. Don't ask me nothin' more, `cause I don't know nothin' more. Newell has plenty to ask... NEWELL What kind of weapon does that? JACQUI Knives. Long, thin, razor-sharp. NEWELL (emphasizing the plural) Knive_s_? JACQUI If I were a betting woman - and Vegas knows I am - I'd say the cuts occurred simultaneously... Like five knives moving at once... NEWELL (thinking out loud) /Maybe some kind of ritual thing...?/ JACQUI (nods at Rachel) Who's she? NEWELL. A link. Newell covers the Stranger's body with the tarp, but leaves the head exposed. He stands, escorts Rachel past the tape, and shows her the man's dead face. Rachel instantly turns away, but her recognition is apparent. NEWELL This is the man who approached you on campus? Rachel nods. NEWELL And you had never seen him before? Didn't know him? She shakes her head "no." RACHEL He... He read my paper. On the Internet... NEWELL What paper is that? RACHEL My Psychology thesis... Prep for my dissertation... Newell covers the face of the Stranger. RACHEL Can I see him now? My nephew? Please? He nods and signals Jacqui she can take away the body. JACQUI You catch the son-of-a-bitch, John. I don't like these things happenin' in my backyard. NEWELL /Who does?/ He rises and takes Rachel back to his car... EXT. HOSPITAL - DAY A college-affiliated medical center near campus. INT. HOSPITAL - PEDIATRIC WING - DAY Baby Jake rests in a bassinet receiving much attention from the nursing staff. Apparently, he is happy and healthy. Rachel and Newell observe from the HALLWAY through a thick window... RACHEL (guiltily) /I could've let them stay.../ NEWELL Don't do that to yourself. They were playing a dangerous game. Just be glad you're alive... (nods at Jake) And that he's all right. The nurses told me there wasn't a scratch on him... Rachel looks at Newell as he regards Jake's happy little form. Newell has deep, sensitive eyes and a soulful face. He's a comforting presence for her... MAN O.S. Detective Newell? He and Rachel turn to see a harried, overworked young social worker, PAUL GODFRIED, carrying a bursting briefcase... GODFRIED Paul Godfried from Social Services. He and Newell shake hands and Godfried turns to Rachel... GODFRIED You're the child's aunt? (checks a note pad) Rachel Daniels? RACHEL (nods) Yes. GODFRIED Will you be taking temporary custody? A question Rachel never saw coming... EXT. ROAD - DAY Newell's police-issue sedan cruises through town. INT. SEDAN - DAY Newell's at the wheel and he keeps glancing in the rear-view mirror... That's because Rachel is in the back seat, cradling the sleeping Jake in her arms. Next to her is a "care package" from the hospital filled with diapers, formula, clothes, etc. Rachel is tired and shaken, but is doing her damned best to provide comfort to the infant. NEWELL You sure you're going to be okay? RACHEL I'm only taking him to my parents in Westchester... How hard can that be? NEWELL It's a long drive. RACHEL I've got friends coming with... Newell nods, mildly reassured. NEWELL I spoke to your father today... /I hate making those calls.../ I guess he can't come down right now... RACHEL They've got some big dinner... It's really important for my dad's business... NEWELL You think they'd want to come down... RACHEL Yeah, you would, wouldn't you? It's clear Rachel doesn't approve of her parents' decision, then feels guilty and wants to explain... RACHEL Peggy gave them a lot of trouble... They pretty much disowned her a long time ago... NEWELL (sensitively) Look, you don't have to explain... (wants to change the subject) So you'll be back when? RACHEL Thursday or Friday. NEWELL I'll need to talk to you more... Rachel understands. Newell reaches into his suit pocket and hands her a card... NEWELL That has every number on it. Pager, cell phone, office, home. If you think of anything, see anyone makes you uncomfortable, or if you just want to talk, call me. Any time. Day or night. RACHEL Thank you. Newell smiles and they make eye contact in the rear view mirror. Each looks away, both uncomfortable with whatever might be "connecting" them... RACHEL Do you have children? NEWELL (shakes his head) No. It's easy to feel the regret and disappointment in his voice. NEWELL My wife had a number of health problems that, um, prevented us from having kids... RACHEL You're married. NEWELL No. Not anymore. She passed away... RACHEL I'm sorry. Thankfully for Newell, they've arrived at Rachel's apartment building. He does not like talking about this... INT. RACHEL'S APARTMENT - DAY Carrying the baby supplies, Newell follows Rachel inside. She rests the sleeping Jake on the couch, turns on every light in the living room and dining room, switches on the TV, and plays music - all to give the place "life." NEWELL When do you leave? RACHEL As soon as my friends get here. NEWELL Okay, then... Something in his gut tells him not to leave her alone, but... He has to go. NEWELL You've got my card, right? RACHEL Yeah... NEWELL Any time, Rachel. (extends his hand) My name is John, by the way. You call me John. RACHEL Thank you. John. They shake hands and Detective Newell exits. INT. APARTMENT BUILDING - HALLWAY - DAY Newell carries on a barely audible conversation with himself as he heads out of the building... NEWELL /Jesus Christ, John, she's twenty-two years old.../ INT. RACHEL'S APARTMENT - DAY Rachel too has some choice words for herself... RACHEL /God, he's as old as daddy.../ She checks on baby Jake, sees he's sleeping soundly, then plays back her ANSWERING MACHINE messages... JIM ON MACHINE Rache, it's me.. You there? Pick up. Pick up... FUCK. He clicks off. Rachel moves to the door and locks and chains the thing. DONNA ON MACHINE (worried) Rachel, it's Dr. Villa-Lobos. I just found out what happened... Not wanting to leave him out of her sight, Rachel gently lifts the sleeping Jake and carries him to her BEDROOM. DONNA ON MACHINE _Are you all right_? Rachel, listen to me. You _will_ phone me when you get this message. She switches on a light and takes a quick trip to the BATHROOM - always keeping a watchful eye on the baby. DONNA ON MACHINE You may not fully realize how this can effect you. You think you can deal with it, but you can't. Not without help. _You were closer to Peggv then you imagine_... As Rachel uses the toilet, we LINGER on her BED... _Something_ is underneath the sheets. Two lumps, one still, one /moving/... DONNA ON MACHINE I'm not sure this is the best time to start new medication... IN THE BATHROOM, standing at the sink, Rachel swallows her next dose of Somnazac and regards her pale, deadened reflection in the mirror... DONNA ON MACHINE I care about you, Rachel. _Call me_. The MOVING LUMP heads straight for the sleeping infant... Donna hangs up and Rachel exits the bathroom. As she puts on a fresh shirt, she fails to notice SOMETHING creeping out from under the covers... KILLIAN ON MACHINE Miss Daniels, this is Professor Killian. Rachel moves toward the doorway in order to better hear this seemingly important message... Missing the fact that a MENACING SHADOW creeps across the wall, created by the light cast by the bedroom lamp... KILLIAN ON MACHINE I'm very sorry about your sister... But... (strange concern in his voice) The man they found in the woods... His name was just released... And... I knew him. Not personally... Only by reputation... (explains) Thirty years ago in London, his wife and daughter were butchered. He was to be brought in for questioning, but Thomas Smith vanished off-the face of the earth. (gravely) He came out of hiding to talk to /you/... The machine clicks to the next call... AMELIA Rache, it's Meelie, It's five-thirty. Greta and I are leaving and we should be there by six... Hang in there, baby. Love you. The machine clicks off. No more messages. Rachel checks the clock - 5:58. /Good, she'll soon have help with.../ When she turns to check on Jake, she sees something about the size and shape of a croissant, curled up next, to him, underneath the blanket, /breathing/... Rachel carefully, calmly, lifts Jake and holds him tight to her breast. She pulls=a can of PEPPER SPRAY from her purse, then swiftly pulls the blanket off the bed... Sitting in the center of the mattress is a LIZARD. Rachel moves to hit it with the spray, but stops. This creature is _beautiful_. A luminescent blue in color, with a soft yellow underbelly, it's only six inches long (with an equally long tail), and absolutely mesmerizing eyes that seem to be "communicating" with Rachel. She pockets the pepper spray and moves _toward_ the thing. The lizard flicks its tongue and crawls onto /something else/ in the bed... It is the LEATHER SATCHEL belonging to the Stranger. /Was it there just a minute ago...?/ Rachel is drawn to it... Still cradling Jake, she sits on the edge of the bed and pours out the contents... A half dozen handwritten JOURNALS, another copy of Rachel's paper, a handmade Aboriginal NECKLACE with carved wooden CHARM, and a yellowed copy of a BOOK published in the 1960's /DREAMTIME "A Jungian Analysis of Native Australian Myth and Legend."/ On the back of the dust jacket is a photograph of the Stranger, about thirty-five years younger, and his "bio" - /Thomas Ezekiel Smith, Ph.D., Professor of Humanities at Oxford University. He is the recipient of numerous academic honors including the Campbell Prize awarded by the Jung Center in Vienna./ KNOCK! KNOCK! Rachel jumps at the sound and the lizard runs off the bed, hops onto the floor, and promptly disappears under a piece of furniture. KNOCK! KNOCK! Carrying Jake, Rachel moves to the door... AMELIA'S VOICE (from the hall) Rache, it's us... Rachel unlocks the door and lets in Amelia and Greta. Watchful of Jake, Amelia hugs Rachel and asks... AMELIA You doing okay? Rachel nods and shuts the door. Greta is immediately drawn to the baby... GRETA He's so beautiful... (respectfully) Can I hold him? Amelia smiles as Rachel places baby Jake in Greta's arms, but seeks more assurance... AMELIA You sure you're all right? RACHEL I think so. The PHONE RINGS and Rachel picks up... RACHEL Hello? MRS. DANIELS Rachel, it's mom. INT. SUBURBAN HOUSE - NIGHT Rachel's MOTHER and FATHER are relatively affluent and prepare for their dinner party. Mrs. Daniels appears cold and hard - so different from Rachel - but MR. DANIELS seems compassionate and kind. MRS. DANIELS Your father talked with the police and they're going to release Margaret... (drinks wine) They need to keep your sister's body until the end of the inquest... But your father will take care of all that... Getting her back here for the funeral... (doubting) Are you sure you can handle this? The baby...? (INTERCUT WITH RACHEL IN HER APARTMENT) RACHEL Yes, mom. I can. MRS. DANIELS All right. Your father wants to talk to you... MR. DANIELS Rachie? Make sure you bring the cell phone, okay? Just in case... RACHEL Okay dad. MR. DANIELS You want me to come down? I will. RACHEL No, dad, it's okay. I can do it. MR. DANIELS I know you can. You take care, sweetheart. I love you. We both do. INT. RACHEL'S APARTMENT - NIGHT They exchange goodbyes and hang up. Sitting on top of the television set is the blue lizard. It hisses and flicks its tongue. Rachel shuts her eyes, opens them... And the lizard is gone. Fast and furiously, Rachel throws together a suitcase full of clothes, toiletries, and pills. She stuffs Thomas Smith's belongings into the satchel and carries it and her suitcase into the KITCHEN. RACHEL I have to get out of here. Please, Meelie, _now_. EXT. APARTMENT BUILDING - NIGHT Rachel, Amelia, and Greta load their stuff into the trunk of Rachel's car. Rachel hands Greta the keys and she opts for the back seat with Jake. Amelia takes the passenger seat and after a few tries, Greta gets the car to start. Hidden in an alley, ANOTHER CAR switches on its lights and follows... EXT. COUNTY MORGUE - NIGHT We notice Newell's sedan in the parking lot... INT. COUNTY MORGUE - NIGHT Drinking a cup of coffee, Newell observes as the local medical examiner, DR. PRAAVER, moves between three tables. They contain the corpses of Peggy, Morris, and Thomas Ezekiel Smith. Also in attendance is Jacqui Dupree, trying to learn as much from Praaver as possible. As Praaver finishes his notes and thoughts, Newell reads a copy of Rachel's paper he's taken from the Internet. He's just reading about Freddy and Jason when... PRAAVER O.S. John? NEWELL Doctor? An intense, precise man, Praaver "instructs" Newell as to what he's discovered so far... PRAAVER Bear in mind, this is all premature... NEWELL Granted. PRAAVER (re Morris and Peggy, matter-of fact) They were killed by the same weapon. A big, thick blade - bayonet, or a hand scythe... Could be a machete, something like that... The killer's tall - the cuts come in sweeping arcs - and he's _verv_ strong. They're deep wounds. Newell interjects, pointing at Thomas Smith... NEWELL What about him ? PRAAVER Not the same weapon, if that's what you're thinking... NEWELL /I don't know what I'm thinking.../ PRAAVER (re Smith's injuries) The weapon that did this is something handcrafted. Each of the five blades is like a talon... Razor-sharp. Almost /surgical/ in construction... _and_ execution. I've never seen anything like it... Newell has to ask the question... NEWELL (to Praaver and Jacqui) You ever hear of Fred Krueger? Praaver shakes his head "no," but Jacqui instantly recognizes the name... JACQUI Of course. /Nobody forgets Freddy.../ NEWELL (informs Praaver) He was responsible for a series of child murders about thirty years ago... Got off because of some kind of legal screwup and... Disappeared after that. JACQUI There were rumors, John... NEWELL (he knows) What did you hear? JACQUI Oh... A little story about some parents who took it upon themselves to see Freddy got some justice. NEWELL Yeah, I heard that one too. PRAAVER What does that have to do with anything? NEWELL Well... I know someone who worked at a psychiatric hospital where they treat troubled teenagers. A lot of the kids were convinced Freddy was still alive. And out to get them. PRAAVER That's called /delusional/, John... NEWELL Yeah, well, more than half those kids died. Suicides, unnatural deaths. (trying to piece it together) Every year, we get a stack of bulletins from the FBI. Unsolved murders. And some of them have these weird m.o.'s. (re the corpses) Like these. JACQUI What're you saying? NEWELL I'm saying we're going to get a bunch of calls from the nuts of the world telling us this is the work of Freddy Krueger. And Jason Voorhees. PRAAVER (recognition) Him I know. He killed those people at that summer camp, that... JACQUI (spooky voice) /Camp Crystal Lake.../ PRAAVER Chopped them up with a... NEWELL Machete. JACQUI (jaded) You're not scaring me, John. NEWELL I'm not trying to. I just think it's pretty damn strange that the day a student delivers a paper where she cites Krueger and Voorhees, three people are killed. Three people who die like /this/. Three people who have some kind of connection to the student... PRAAVER So... Perhaps someone who knows this girl is a little /touched in the head/. And this "someone" pretends to be a dead lunatic... _Two_ dead lunatics. JACQUI /Why?/ NEWELL That's what I need to find out. Officer Rice pops into the morgue and excitedly hands Newell a memo. Near the top is the word INTERPOL. OFFICER RICE Detective Newell, sir, get ready to be on TV... Rice explains to Praaver and Jacqui... OFFICER RICE The Australian guy? He's famous. Killed his wife and kid thirty years ago... (to Newell) The Captain wants you to talk to reporters. They're comin' in from all over... As Newell reads about Thomas Ezekiel Smith, Praaver comments to him... PRAAVER /Curiouser and curiouser.../ EXT. HIGHWAY - NIGHT Rachel's car heads north. INT. RACHEL'S CAR - NIGHT Greta drives the Escort safely and cautiously. Amelia supervises the playing of soothing CLASSICAL MUSIC. IN THE THE BACK SEAT, as Jake sleeps, Rachel uses a PEN LIGHT to read from Thomas Smith's book, DREAMTIME, and we follow along a particular passage: Late in his life, Jung came to believe that we are dreaming all the time and that the waking world is merely a distraction. The Aborigines take a more extreme approach: the "dream" world /is/ the real world and the physical realm we consider "real" is but a dream... Rachel shuts the book and switches to one of the JOURNALS. In it she focuses on passages citing the terms "/demon/," "/invocation/," and "/manifestation/." RACHEL (to Amelia) Hey, when you guys were into that whole witchcraft thing... AMELIA Don't use the past tense. Greta's still active... RACHEL Well Grett, explain an "invocation" to me. GRETA It's the recitation of a specific spell to conjure a spirit. RACHEL And a "manifestation?" GRETA That's when the spirit takes physical form. Human, animal, tree... RACHEL You can see it, touch it... GRETA Yes. AMELIA It's _all_ a bunch of crap. Just like water into wine, virgin births, and reincarnation... GRETA How can I love someone so cynical? AMELIA Because I do this... Amelia leans over and starts to tongue Greta's ear. RACHEL (mock-outraged) Please, not in front of the child... AMELIA Come on, Rachel, guys dig girl-on-girl action. Just wait 'til you're fourteen, Jake, this shit'll give you a boner. Amelia moves from Greta's ear to her neck and lips... GRETA I can't see... RACHEL (nervous) Amelia... Greta pushes her away, but Amelia keeps playing... RACHEL Stop it... Rachel watches Greta's hands on the wheel... The lights of the oncoming traffic... RACHEL STOP IT! There's so much intensity in Rachel's voice, Amelia stops and poutily falls back in her seat. AMELIA For fuck's sake... Jesus... (to Rachel) You have to lighten up, Rache. Talk to your shrink about /that/... RACHEL (remembering something) Oh god... GRETA What? Rachel searches her bag for something, can't find it, then asks Amelia... RACHEL Is my cell phone up there? Amelia checks the floor and glove box... AMELIA Nope. RACHEL /Shit.../ Greta, can you stop at the next gas station, anything...? I have to make a call... GRETA No problem. AMELIA Good. `Cause I've got to pee. (to Rachel, sniffing the air) And you have to change his diaper. As Greta searches the roadside for signs to the nearest exit, she glances in the REARVIEW MIRROR and spots something that's been nagging her for awhile... EXT. HIGHWAY - NIGHT The same car we saw earlier is still following them... EXT. OFFICE BUILDING - NIGHT A very tired Donna Villa-Lobos is still hard at work. Before her are patient files, a computer, etc. and she's reading notes into a MINI-CASSETTE RECORDER... DONNA ...despite otherwise clear instructions from me to do so. This is perhaps excusable due to recent murder of patient's sister, but irresponsibility regarding her own treatment is atypical behavior. I have grave concerns that... (yawns, sips tea) ...That recent events will provoke repressed memories regarding childhood trauma. Patient once revealed under hypnosis that... Donna notices the recorder is making a strange sound. She stops it, reaches into her desk, and finds fresh batteries. After replacing them, she rewinds the tape and listens... DONNA'S VOICE ...childhood trauma. Patient once revealed under hypnosis that... (VOICE DISTORTS AND CONTINUES) /...she thinks her doctor is an overprotective, meddling BITCH./ Donna regards the tape player with confusion. She shuts it off, but the DISTORTED VOICE continues... DISTORTED VOICE /What this little girl needs is somebody to tell her who's boss... To put her in her place.../ The voice is coming from BEHIND! Donna turns and finds _Freddv Krueger_ in her office. He's dressed up like a hellish caricature of Sigmund Freud - tailored suit, /pince-nez/, cigar - and lounges on a leather sofa. Freud's "couch." FREDDY What's up, doc? /Donna Villa-Lobos has never been more frightened in her life./ Freddy sits up and puffs on his cigar... FREDDY Tell me about your childhood... Did daddy sniff your panties? Mommy spank your tushie if you didn't get good grades? Come on, everybody needs, therapy... Especially shrinks. DONNA Who are you? FREDDY Me? A colleague. I just wrote a book.... He hands her a copy and we're able to read the cover... /MEN ARE FROM MARS, WOMEN ARE FROM VENUS, AND I'M FROM HELL by Dr. Frederick Krueger./ He raises a single finger of his razor glove. FREDDY I like to probe the mind. With a quick JAB, he pokes Donna in the temple. She recoils and touches hand to scalp, horrified to find a trickle of BLOOD... FREDDY Come now, don't be afraid. We've barely scratched the surface... As Freddy moves toward her, she hurries for the door, but the knob is continually out of reach. Freddy leans back on the couch and takes delight in her futile attempt to flee... FREDDY Let's analyze this dream, shall we? You run and you run, but you just can't get away. Simple insecurity dream. Rather pedestrian, don'tcha think? Let's ratchet things up, shall we? Just remember, doc... (quoting Freud) Sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar... He stands, takes the cigar, and presses it deep into the top of Donna's hand. It SIZZLES until it burns all the way through... Freddy laughs, chomps the cigar in the corner of his mouth, and cackles... FREDDY Much better... Donna sees what he means... She looks through the hole in her hand and sees... A WHOLE OTHER WORLD. While still looking at it, /Donna walks through her own hand.../ She turns and sees herself in the office, holding an outstretched arm...She reaches for that self, but the image of the office recedes into nothingness And she finds herself standing in... A NIGHTMARE VERSION OF A MENTAL HOSPITAL. Everything - walls, floor, furniture - is squeaky-clean WHITE. Even the overhead light fixtures burn with white hot intensity. Donna is dressed in a white doctor's coat and the other members of the staff - nurses, orderlies, doctors - are also white-attired, but each of them possesses FREDDY'S FACE. FREDDY O.S. The patients are ready for us, doc. Donna turns and finds Freud-Freddy, now white-coat attired, standing next to her with a clipboard. She pulls away, but cannot move of her own accord. FREDDY Walk this way... As Freddy walks, she follows in perfect synch with his movements... They stop at a doorway and peer into the window of a LOCKED ROOM... INSIDE is a DERANGED MAN mumbling to himself. FREDDY O.S. Bernard Owen. Remember him? One of your first patients... Owen raises a PISTOL to his temple... FREDDY O.S. Blew his brains out in the middle of his kid's hockey game. OWEN SHOOTS. Blood and grey matter SPLATTERS his cell... IN THE STARK WHITE CORRIDORS of the "hospital," out of nowhere, BLOOD sprays walls, uniforms, and floors. Freddy leads Donna to the next chamber and window... INSIDE is a SULLEN WOMAN in the corner, on the floor... FREDDY Sheila Jenner. You treated her for six years... Then she cut her wrists on Valentine's Day... Sheila uses a RAZOR to slice into her veins. The floor to her cell becomes a river of crimson... AS DO THE FLOORS in the "hospital." FREDDY O.S. A broken heart... Pumps a lotta the red stuff. Freddy forces Donna to follow him to THREE MORE CELLS, where we catch glimpses of the following... FREDDY Tom Villiers - shotgun in the mouth. Sally Monteith - walked into a helicopter... Yecch! Margie DeWitt - overdose. Puked up blood all over the place... As Donna pulls away from these horrific visions, she realizes that she and Freddy are standing knee-deep in a river of blood flowing through the corridor... FREDDY Jeez Louise, doc, glad I'm not one of your patients... Your track record /sucks/. EXT. GAS STATION - NIGHT As Greta pump gas and Amelia rushes to the rest room, Rachel (carrying Jake) calls from a PAY PHONE, but only gets a VOICE MAIL MESSAGE... VOICE MAIL MESSAGE Hi. You've reached the office of Dr. Donna Villa-Lobos. I am currently with a patient or unable to take your call... Leave a message, but if this is an _emergencv only_, press "pound" and I will be paged. Thank you. For a moment, Rachel's finger hovers above the "#" key, but doesn't press it. Once the BEEP sounds, she leaves a message instead... RACHEL Donna, it's Rachel Daniels... I am so sorry I didn't call... It's not fair to you, I know... But... Well, I've got a million excuses... Um, I'll try calling again soon. _Don't worry_. I'm doing fine. I hope you are too... INT..PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL - DONNA'S NIGHTMARE In the horror of her own mind, Donna is _not_ doing fine. Not at all. Freddy checks a clock on the wall - its arms spinning madly - and announces... FREDDY Time for group therapy! He throws open a door and escorts Donna inside... IN THE GROUP THERAPY ROOM, which is pristine - not a drop of blood here - Donna and Freddy find themselves seated opposite a semicircle of PATIENTS, STRAIGHTJACKETS, ANKLE-CHAINED to the floor. They writhe and squirm, desperate to escape their bonds. Each is pale, hairless, and virtually faceless. No eyes, ears, or nose - just a mouth. Which is open in a sharp toothed silent cry... FREDDY So? Are we ready to begin? (looks around) Oh! No. Not quite. LIKE A ZEPHYR, a STRAIGHTJACKET swoops down from above and wraps itself around Donna. A CHAIN snakes around her ankle and joins her with the rest. FREDDY (taps Donna's head) You've got all sorts of stuff in there, doc. Interesting little tidbits I need to know... So I can squish a pesky little bug named /Rachel/... DONNA /Rachel...?/ FREDDY Let's see what we can find... Freddy addresses the faceless creatures... FREDDY Gentlemen. What shall we try first? Pharmaceuticals? A METAL BRACE EMERGES from the back of Donna's chair. It pulls her head back, locks it in place, then CLAMPS OPEN her mouth... Freddy dips his hand into a cartoonishly large VIAL OF PILLS and scoops them into Donna's mouth... FREDDY That's a good girl. Take your medicine... (disappointed, to the creatures) Huh. That's not working. Howzabout shock therapy? The metal brace SIZZLES WITH ELECTRICITY and Donna's body tenses and spasms. FREDDY Nope. Just a wicked new hairdo. Hmm... (gets an idea) I've got it! A fresh, squishy, good old fashioned... _lobotomy_. The razor glove is raised high. Donna's eyes, nose, and ears are absorbed into her flesh. Her mouth opens and emits a gut wrenching cry... Just before Freddy SLICES off the top of her head. FREDDY Now that's what I call /primal scream/. EXT. GAS STATION - NIGHT Greta fills the car with gas... INT. GAS STATION - REST ROOM - NIGHT Amelia is in a stall, finishing her pee, Rachel is at the sink, putting the finishing touches on Jake's new diaper. Amelia flushes, pulls up her pants, and assesses Rachel's work... AMELIA Watch out girlie, you just might be good at this kind of thing. RACHEL (more to herself than Amelia) Would that be so bad? AMELIA Oh, come on, Rachel... Don't get all Republican on me. You're gonna have a major career, babe - "Super Ultra Mega Shrink." Don't fall for that "white picket fence" bullshit. Dump the /nino/ off with your folks, high-tail it out of there, and get on with your life. Maybe you can adopt when you're, like, /fifty/ or something... And with that, Amelia is out the door. Rachel heard her, but not much of it registered. She was too busy making "goo-goo eyes" at Jake. As she gathers together her belongings, she fails to notice the DOOR OPEN and a FIGURE step inside... EXT. GAS STATION - NIGHT Greta finishes pumping and smiles at Amelia as she approaches... AMELIA Lookin' pretty butch, there, G. They hug, kiss, and as they part, Greta notices a CAR parked behind the station. She pushes away from Amelia and RUNS to the rest room... INT. GAS STATION - REST ROOM - NIGHT As Rachel reaches for Jake, A MAN'S HAND covers her mouth. HIS OTHER ARM clamps across her chest and _holds_ her. Rachel looks up in the mirror and sees the face of... Her boyfriend _Jim_. JIM Don't be scared, Rachel, please. Don't be... THE DOOR BURSTS OPEN! And all Greta sees is a guy attacking her friend... As Jim turns to try to explain, he releases Rachel. She pulls away with Jake, but before Jim can get a word out... _Greta kicks his ass_. A serious, potent, awe inspiring display. This woman is strong and skilled. Although Jim is fit, Greta makes mincemeat of him. Once he's reduced to a puddle of Jello on the floor, Greta finally hears Rachel telling her to stop... RACHEL Greta! Stop! It's Jimmy! Greta steps back and the three women regard Jim's barely conscious form... AMELIA Oops. INT. OFFICE BUILDING - NIGHT The POLICE are here, for DONNA'S OFFICE is now a crime scene. We notice the familiar face of Jacqui Dupree, as well as that of Officer Rice, who's filling in the recently-arrived John Newell... OFFICER RICE Her husband came to pick, her up for dinner... And this is what he found... Donna's body is laid askew on the couch, her head hanging over the side. As Newell turns, he sees that the top half of her skull is on the floor, surrounded by a pool of crimson. NEWELL /Jesus.../ JACQUI (chiming in) John? It's going to be the same weapon as the one used on the Australian gentleman. I would bet a paycheck on that. NEWELL (to Rice) Where's the husband? OFFICER RICE Downstairs in a squad. He's pretty shaken up. I think he really loved her... NEWELL (considerately) /I should talk to him.../ OFFICER RICE Detective? You need to see this... Rice stands at Donna's desk and Newell moves to see what he means... ON THE DESK are the contents of Rachel's file. Medical reports, case history, comments, etc. Written on one of the sheets, in blood, are the letters n-e-x-t. EXT. GAS STATION - NIGHT At the car, Greta and Amelia - both stone-faced - watch as Rachel and Jim carry on a heated conversation outside the rest room... GRETA He's such a prick. AMELIA I'm glad you kicked his ass. They execute a personalized "high-five" and we move our attention to... RACHEL AND JIM, she feeding Jake a bottle, he rubbing a cold can of soda on a bruised jaw. We catch them in mid conversation... RACHEL ...What was she supposed to think? You acted like a goddamned stalker... JIM Why hang around with /them/? RACHEL What do you mean, "them?" JIM I mean, what would you think if my best friends were a couple of fags? RACHEL I can't believe you said that. JIM All right, a couple of /gay guys/... RACHEL (cuts to the chase) Why are you here? JIM I wanted to be with you... RACHEL I know when you're lying Jimmy... He knows she knows. And opts for the truth... JIM I was with them, Rache. Morris and Peggy. I went to buy some weed... RACHEL /You were _there_?/ JIM Rachel, if the cops find out, do you what that would do to my career? To my future? RACHEL Gee. Something _you_ should've thought about? (sick of him) What does any of this have to do with me? JIM I thought maybe you could tell the police that, maybe, like I went there as a favor to you, to talk to them... RACHEL (wants him out of her hair) Fine. That's what I'll say. Whatever you want... She walks back to the car and tells Greta and Amelia. RACHEL Let's go. JIM I think I should come too... AMELIA Like hell... JIM Rache, it might look better if... RACHEL This has nothing to do with you. Greta climbs behind the wheel and turns the key... The engine is _dead_. She tries again and again, but no luck. And all Jim can do is smile... INT. NEWELL'S CAR - NIGHT Newell is driving like crazy as he talks on his cell phone to Rachel's mother... (INTERCUT WITH MRS. DANIELS AT HOME) NEWELL ...She's not answering the cell phone, ma'am, so if she calls you, tell her to page me _immediately_. She then needs to call the state police so someone can come get her... MRS. DANIELS You really think this is necessary? Newell can't believe that she's taking this so casually and becomes insistent... NEWELL Absolutely. I believe Rachel's life is in danger. MRS. DANIELS All right, all right... if she calls, I'll tell her... NEWELL Thank you. There's a click and Mrs. Daniels is gone. Newell shakes his head with disbelief... His phone buzzes with an incoming call... NEWELL This is Newell. (listens) Where? (listens) I'm on my way... EXT. HIGHWAY - NIGHT Newell's sedan SPEEDS north, and we realize he's been following the same route as Rachel... INT. JIM'S CAR - NIGHT Jim is at the wheel, but no one is in the passenger seat next to him... Greta, Amelia, _and_ Rachel are in the back, no one saying a word. Rachel sees a ROAD SIGN and tells Jim... RACHEL Turn here... Jim signals, but asks... JIM Don't we want to stay on the highway? RACHEL Secret shortcut. Nobody uses it except the locals... EXT. RURAL ROAD - NIGHT Jim's car turns onto the desolate-looking ROBINWOOD ROAD... EXT. GAS STATION - NIGHT Newell and a STATE TROOPER stand in front of Rachel's car. The station CASHIER tells them... CASHIER ...mechanic doesn't get here 'til morning. She left this number so he could call her... Newell checks the slip of paper... NEWELL (disappointed) Her parents. (to the cashier) So she knew the guy she and the others drove off with? CASHIER Definitely. Like they were boyfriend and girlfriend, but fighting... NEWELL (doesn't like the word) /Boyfriend.../ (hoping) You remember what kind of car he had? CASHIER An Explorer or a Blazer, something like that... NEWELL (really hoping) You catch a license plate? The cashier looks at him - /"You gotta be kidding..."/ Newell nods and his eyes move to the highway ahead... INT. JIM'S CAR - NIGHT For the moment, Amelia is caring for Jake, and Rachel finds herself dozing off... AS WE MOVE IN ON HER FACE... WE ENTER HER DREAM... EXT. FOREST - NIGHT A curious-yet-frightened Rachel moves through a thicket as RAIN falls from the sky. A THORN scratches Rachel's skin, drawing blood... LIGHTNING illuminates something up ahead... It's Peggy. She's hiding behind a tree, watching something near a LAKEFRONT... Peggy hears Rachel coming and when she turns to face her sister, Rachel is a seven-year old girl. YOUNG RACHEL stops as YOUNG PEGGY - twelve years old - chastises her in a harsh whisper... YOUNG PEGGY /Go away! You're too little!/ Young Rachel takes that as a challenge and pushes past Young Peggy to get a better look... /As Young Rachel peeks through the branches of a thorn bush, we catch a brief glimpse of a man and woman fucking on the beach of a small wooded lake.../ THUNDER AND LIGHTNING! And suddenly Young Rachel is RUNNING! Her outfit is torn, tears fill her eyes, and her face is' white with terror! She runs as fast as she can, tearing through bush and bramble... Someone is chasing her! /The MAN from the beach?/ In her arms, Rachel holds something - /is it a baby?/ The man in pursuit calls to her in a DISTORTED VOICE... DISTORTED VOICE /Come out, come out, wherever you are.../ LIGHTNING FLASHES! And Rachel is now an adult, dressed in large versions of her tattered clothes, and carrying the bundle... DISTORTED VOICE (sing-song) /I can see you.../ She sees a clear patch of ground up ahead, but as her feet touch it, FIVE BLADES sprout from the muddy earth and come toward her...! IN THE REAL WORLD... EXT. JIM'S CAR - NIGHT FIVE GLEAMING BLADES EMERGE FROM THE SURFACE OF THE ROAD! As the car wheels hit them, the tires are shredded! INT. JIM'S CAR - NIGHT As the vehicle spins out of control, Rachel startles' awake! And immediately covers Jake with her body, holding him tight, protectively sandwiching him between herself and Amelia. Jim manages to keep the vehicle somewhat steady, but the inevitable occurs and they slide onto the side of the road and CRASH into a tree! EXT. RURAL ROAD - NIGHT Jim pulls a FLASHLIGHT from the glove box, climbs out of the wrecked car and throws open one of the rear doors. One by one, Greta, Amelia, and Rachel climb out of the vehicle, the latter immediately kneeling and checking every inch of the now-screaming baby to make sure he's unharmed. GRETA Is he all right...? RACHEL Yeah... He's fine... Greta, though, sees that Rachel has a bad bruise and cut on the side of her head and tends to it. AMELIA (angry to Jim) What the fuck happened?! Jim looks at the shredded tires then walks into the road to check the surface, but there is no sign of the blades... RACHEL It doesn't matter... Nobody's hurt. JIM Well, I'd like to know what we're going to do... I mean we're in the middle of nowhere... It takes Rachel a moment, but she _recognizes_ the terrain... RACHEL /God, we're so close.../ AMELIA What did you say? Rachel? If we were observant, we'd recognize it too - _this is the forest of her dreams_. This is difficult for Rachel, and she's not sure how she feels about it but she tells them... RACHEL We have a cabin near here... My family... We used to come here when we were kids... AMELIA /_Weird_./ GRETA How far is, it? RACHEL (dizzy, dreamily) /I bet it's only a mile.../ JIM Well, let's go, right? I mean, I'll walk to the highway in the morning, but... I sure as hell don't want to do it now... Nobody does. The road is pitch-black. AMELIA Rachel? What do you think? She doesn't respond, but is already on the path leading to the cabin. Quickly, Jim, Greta, and Amelia gather together their stuff and run after her... AMELIA Whoa, wait up baby... INT. SEDAN - NIGHT A worried Newell is at the wheel... EXT. HIGHWAY - NIGHT And we watch his car drive right past the exit for Robinwood Road. EXT. FOREST - CABIN - NIGHT As Jim, Rachel, Greta, and Amelia emerge from the woods, the flashlight beam illuminates the facade of a quaint rustic CABIN. AMELIA Sweet. RACHEL My great-grandfather built it... Carrying the sleeping Jake, Rachel moves to the door, searches a hidden nook, and finds a cobweb-covered KEY. She turns the lock and enters... INT. CABIN - NIGHT As the group moves inside, Rachel takes the flashlight from Jim and locates a cupboard in the kitchen area. Inside are a couple dozen CANDLES and a book of matches. She starts to light them and soon the interior of the place is aglow with fiery light. RACHEL There's indoor plumbing... Just no hot water. JIM What about a phone? Rachel shakes her head "no." Amelia takes a whiff of stale, musty air... AMELIA Kind of stinks... RACHEL I don't think anybody's been here in, I don't know, fifteen years... AMELIA You're kidding me! Rache, we should come here all the time! This would be great for, like, a weekend bash or something... RACHEL I never liked it here... It's... /spooky/. AMELIA Spooky?! I think it's /sexy/... She sidles up to Greta and lustfully embraces/kisses her. AMELIA God, I could fuck for days in a place like this... Jim notices an OLD SHOTGUN mounted above the mantel and comments... JIM Well, if we run into any lions, tigers, or bears... Jim opens the flue in the fireplace and announces. JIM I'll make a fire... He grabs the flashlight and heads outside to gather wood. RACHEL (instinctively) Be careful. Jim smiles and exits. As soon as he's gone, Amelia confronts Rachel... AMELIA Rachel, I hope he is, like, amazing in the sack, because I see no other reason to tolerate him... GRETA I'm afraid I agree. RACHEL He helped me a lot... AMELIA When you first started the program, yeah, but baby, you have /so/ _surpassed_ him... I know he's Killian's "golden boy," but you don't need him anymore... RACHEL (defensively, angry) _I know that_. Okay? AMELIA (backs off) Okay. RACHEL (changing the subject) There's a loft bedroom upstairs... She pulls a rope from the ceiling and a staircase/ladder drops down... RACHEL (points at an adjacent room) And one down here... AMELIA Can we have the loft? RACHEL I don't care. I'm going to sleep on the couch with Jake... Amelia is already halfway up the ladder... AMELIA (to Greta) Come on, G, check it out.... EXT. CABIN - NIGHT Jim finds an old woodpile, gathers together logs, and searches for kindling... OUR POV SHIFTS, and we now observe him FROM THE WOODS. Our perspective is clearly that of a man, a living thing... He/we keep our eyes fixed on Jim, watching, /waiting/... AT THE WOODPILE, Jim suddenly stops. If we could see it, we'd know the hair on the back of his neck just tingled and stood up... He spins around and shines the flashlight into the trees... /Nothing. No one./ He collects the logs, but stops when he sees the entrance to an UNDERGROUND CHAMBER beneath the cabin. He easily undoes the rusted latch and shines the flashlight into the darkness below... INT. CABIN - NIGHT As she feeds Jake a bottle of formula, Rachel reads deeper into the JOURNALS of Thomas Ezekiel Smith, and we focus on a handwritten passage as Rachel reads it aloud to herself... RACHEL ...Worse, the posting of the paper on the Internet gives the incantation increased power and magnitude, as if the spell had been cast and repeated by a thousand million voices in cyberspace... She moves forward... But as she reads, she stops speaking. Instead, she begins to hear the VOICE OF THE STRANGER in her mind... THE STRANGER'S VOICE ... I believe there is a bond between the two demons, but its source is unknown to me. One, whom they call "Krueger," is an ancient spirit who once took human form. A malevolent thing of pure evil who works his magick in the subconscious. The other, "Voorhees," is a supernatural purveyor of vengeance. A wronged human who returns to punish those he deems guilty... Although the rest of the page is empty, WORDS APPEAR, as if an invisible hand is now writing... The Stranger's Voice continues and Rachel is hypnotically drawn to the fresh passages... THE STRANGER'S VOICE /...They're coming for you, Rachel... You hold the key... Protect the child.../ Her hands tremble and her eyes are fixed in a glassy stare as the BLUE LIZARD crawls across the journal, stares at her, and flicks its tongue... A TRAP DOOR SPRINGS OPEN! Rachel SCREAMS! Jake starts to cry! In the center of the floor, we find Jim emerging from a hidden door to the underground chamber... RACHEL GOD DAMN YOU! Greta and Amelia descend from the loft and Rachel assures them she's all right. JIM Sorry... (he holds up dusty bottles of wine) Great grandad had a kick-ass cellar. AMELIA Now you're talkin'... Rachel rocks Jake in her arms and looks for the lizard, or the new words on the journal pages, but neither can be seen... INT. CABIN - MOMENTS LATER - NIGHT IN THE KITCHEN AREA, where he is alone, Jim opens a bottle and pours four glasses of wine. From his pocket, he pulls the vial of DRUGS given to him by Morris. He takes two tablets, grinds them to a powder, then pours the stuff into _one_ of the glasses... JIM (softly to himself, re Greta) Goddamn dyke. Teach you to fuck with me... He moves to the MAIN ROOM, where there is now a raging fire in the fireplace. Jake has settled back to sleep, and Greta and Amelia are feeling quite "amorous." Rachel, however, appears withdrawn, worried, and somewhat disoriented. All are seated on the floor and this is where Jim joins them, carefully handling the four glasses... RACHEL You know I can't drink... JIM One glass won't kill you, Rachel... AMELIA (taking hers) Might help you calm down, sweetie... Much to Jim's dismay, Greta refuses her glass... GRETA I don't feel like it... AMELIA Jeez, party-poops. JIM If you change your mind... He rests her glass on the floor in front of Greta and places his and Rachel's near the fireplace. Rachel finds herself mesmerized by the crackling fire... For a moment, we see WITHIN THE FLAMES the horrific, twisted visage of Freddy Krueger... Writhing in agony, silently screaming... RACHEL STANDS, spilling her glass, and moving for the door... RACHEL I have to get out of here... get some air.. (manic, to Greta and Amelia) Can you... watch the baby...? AMELIA Sure... GRETA Rachel, you feeling all right...? Unconvincingly, she nods and heads for the door. She's already outside when Jim rises to follow... EXT. CABIN - NIGHT Rachel runs away from the cabin and drops to her knees. She reaches into her pocket, pulls out the vial of her new medication and dry-swallows _two_ additional capsules. Jim exits the cabin and runs to her... JIM Rachel? RACHEL Leave me alone... JIM Baby... RACHEL LEAVE ME ALONE! She gets to her feet and races into the woods, Jim in concerned pursuit... INT. CABIN - NIGHT Amelia is at the window, watching... AMELIA God, she is pretty fucked up right now... GRETA Wouldn't you be? AMELIA Man, I wish somebody /would/ kill _my_ sister... GRETA Do you love her? AMELIA Love who? GRETA Rachel. (corrects herself) Are you _in_ love with her? AMELIA G... Baby... (moves to her, touches her) I love _you_. Big time. Amelia gives her a deep, soulful kiss, and Greta responds. Soon, the two women are passionately using tongues and hands.. GRETA /What about Jake...?/ AMELIA /He's asleep.../ Amelia leads Greta upstairs to the loft.,.. Moments later, a DARK FIGURE EMERGES from the still-open trap door to the underground chamber... EXT. WOODS - NIGHT Jim tries to follow Rachel, but it's very dark and it's difficult to see... JIM Rachel... He moves through a thick bramble and comes upon a clearing just before the beach of the LAKE. He looks everywhere... And finally spots Rachel kneeling at water's edge, staring straight ahead... Mumbling to herself... RACHEL /I'm a big girl, Peggy. I'm a big