LITTLE MONSTERS
FADE IN:
on an old alarm clock, TICKING, the bells gone, the little hand
missing, the big hand indicating twenty-after-something. It is
bound with black electrical tape, time-bomb fashion, to a
plastic water-filled spray bottle.
The alarm RINGS; the bell hammer tugging the piece of kite
string tied to the trigger of the bottle; water is misted onto
the face of--
BRIAN STEVENSON, a dark-haired twelve-year-old with eyes that
don't miss much. Awake now, he shuts off the alarm and snaps on
the Tensor lamp next to his bed. We are
INT. STEVENSON HOME - ATTIC ROOM - NIGHT
A huge poster shows the history of train engines. A stairway is
cut into the floor. No curtains on the window. A just-past-
half moon shines in the night sky.
Brian pulls on a pair of thick wool socks. He skates past a
cluttered worktable, across the hardwood floor to the stairs.
INT. HALLWAY
Brian moves quietly past a closed door; on it, a plaque reads
'Eric's Room' above a picture of an antique car.
Farther down is another closed door. Brian pauses, listening to
the sounds of Mom and Dad arguing; no words can be made out,
only the tones, the rise, fall, sharpness of voices.
Brian looks away from the door. Prepares for his assault on the
stairs. He reaches his foot down--and the step CREAKS loudly.
Brian freezes. He moves his foot to the left, puts his weight
on it. Silence. He goes right for two more, skips the next
stair altogether, making his way to the bottom of the minefield
of possible creaks and groans.
INT. KITCHEN
Brian whips up a balogna-mustard-onion sandwich. He glances at
the clock--12:27--working under a deadline.
INT. LIVING ROOM
Brian--silently--pushes an armchair up to the television. He
turns the volume knob down, holds the remote control an inch
from the set, thumbs it. Brian adjusts the volume so it's
barely audible-- just in time for the opening of 'Late Night
With David Letterman.'
2.
He sits back. Unseen by Brian a quick, subtle movement-- just
a shadow, really--heads for the stairs.
Brian takes a bite of the sandwich--
--and then there is a SCREAM that could wake the dead.
Brian shoves the chair back, remotes the set off on the run,
tosses the control on the couch, and races for the stairs.
EXT. STEVENSON HOME - NIGHT
A rambling, two-story midwestern house with screened-in front
porch stands dark on a large wooded lot. The SCREAMING
continues, going hoarse. A second-story bedroom light comes on.
INT. STEVENSON HOME - STAIRWELL
Brian is only halfway up the stairs when his escape route is cut
off: light from his parents' room spills into the hall. Brian
melts back into the shadows. HOLLY and GLEN STEVENSON hurry to
the already open door of Eric's room.
INT. ERIC'S BEDROOM
No curtains in here, either. ERIC STEVENSON, nine years old
with light brown hair and fine features, sits huddled in bed,
breathing hard, blinking in the sudden glare of the overhead
light.
ERIC
Mom! There was a monster!
Holly relaxes, smiles. She is a dark-eyed woman on the other
side of thirty, pretty giving way to elegant. She gestures to
Eric.
HOLLY
Skootch over.
Holly sits down on the bed beside Eric. She hugs him.
HOLLY
It was just a bad dream.
ERIC
But I wasn't sleeping!
HOLLY
Sometimes you dream you're awake,
but you're not.
Glen, slightly older than Holly, bearded, stands slumped against
the door frame. He is a polished man but worn, the veteran of
too many such late night disturbances.
3.
GLEN
It was probably just the house
settling. You're not used to it,
yet.
ERIC
It wasn't the house--there was a
monster! It zoomed in from the
hall and went under my bed!
Holly and Glen exchange a look.
GLEN
Eric...when you dream, it's just
your brain's way of sorting out
things you learned during the day.
So if you found out something--
ERIC
I found out there's a monster
under my bed! It ran in from the
hall--it grabbed my ankle!
HOLLY
There's no monster under your bed.
Here.
She gets down on one knee and--
ERIC
No, Mom! Don't!
--sticks her arm into the under-the-bed. She sweeps it back and
forth, pulls it out. It is rather dusty.
HOLLY
See? No monsters.
(notices the dust,
brushes it off)
All the dust bunnies scare 'em
away.
ERIC
(a new threat)
...bunnies?
INT. HALLWAY
Brian rolls his eyes. He sneaks toward the attic stairs.
INT. ERIC'S BEDROOM
GLEN
There are no bunnies and no
monsters. There's nothing under
your bed.
4.
HOLLY
Maybe we should get the
flashlight.
Eric crosses his arms and gives Glen a grave nod.
GLEN
Holly, if we humor him--
(off her look)
All right.
INT. HALLWAY
Brian commando-rolls into the bathroom, disappearing just before
Glen steps into the hall.
INT. ERIC'S BEDROOM
Holly pulls the covers up to Eric's chin, tucking him in.
HOLLY
You want to know a secret? The
monsters are more afraid of you
than you are of them.
Eric looks very doubtful. He inches the covers down to free his
arms.
HOLLY
Once you realize they don't exist,
they're gone. That's a lot of
power. I wish I could do that to
the heating bill.
She pulls the covers back up to Eric's chin. Glen returns,
presents the flashlight to Eric.
GLEN
Easy on the batteries, kid.
Eric takes the flashlight, grips it tightly.
HOLLY
We'll leave the hall light on and
the door open.
HOLLY/GLEN
'night, Eric.
ERIC
G'night...
Glen turns off the room light.
5.
INT. HALLWAY
The pair move toward their bedroom door, speaking softly:
GLEN
Do you think he heard us?
HOLLY
Of course he heard. What do you
think scared him? He was--
The clicking shut of the bedroom door cuts her off.
INT. ERIC'S BEDROOM
Eric lies on his side, back to the door, eyes wide. He hears
something. He can't look. Then he jumps, arms flailing, a
scream on its way--cut off by a hand clamping over his mouth.
He trains the flashlight on his ankle--
--a hand is wrapped around it; the beam runs past the wrist, up
the arm, to Brian's face, grinning out of the darkness. His
attitude is that of a friendly co-conspirator, a helpful ally in
the kids vs. parents cold war.
BRIAN
They were lying.
Eric stares at him, his mouth still covered.
BRIAN
There is a monster.
Eric shakes his head 'no' emphatically.
BRIAN
It went for your ankle, right? It
got mine. Where do you think I
got this?
Brian takes his hands away. Sticks out one leg, pulls up his
pajamas cuff, revealing the old, ugly scar on his ankle. Eric
stares at it, a little panicked.
ERIC
You got that when your foot got
caught in the spokes. When you
were little!
Brian looks at him and smiles pityingly.
BRIAN
That's what
(jerks his head towards
their parents' room)
they want you to think.
6.
Eric, eyes widening, turns to look in the direction Brian jerked
his head. Brian's smile gets bigger as he backs toward the
door.
BRIAN
They're supposed to be comforting--
they're parents. I'm your
brother.
(reaches for the knob)
Here--I'll close this...you really
ought to keep the lights down.
ERIC
(a whisper)
Why?
BRIAN
(matter-of-fact)
Because monsters are just like
moths...they're attracted to
light.
Brian smiles helpfully, and pulls the door shut.
The flashlight beam cuts across the dark room. Eric turns it up
to look into it, his worried face now lit from below. He
glances quickly around the room. All is silent. Screwing up
his courage, he snaps off the light, and the room goes BLACK.
Eric's soft, worried back-of-the-throat whimper floats out of
the darkness.
INT. ATTIC ROOM - MORNING - CLOSE ON
a gold pocketwatch. The face is unique: a disc with a wedge cut
out is set into a numbered ring. The wedge turns, revealing an
old-fashioned drawing of a benign sun for daylight hours, a
malevolent man-in-the-moon in a starry sky for the nighttime.
Brian sits at a worktable covered with disassembled mechanical
items. He pores over the dismantled watch, cleaning the pieces
with Dust-off.
HOLLY (O.S.)
Brian! Breakfast.
(Brian doesn't respond)
Brian!
Brian reluctantly sets the watch onto its stand.
INT. KITCHEN - MORNING
Holly fits one last dish into the dishwasher; Glen finishes his
coffee and grapefruit.
7.
Eric, head down, intently eats his cereal. Brian breezes into
the room--then slows, sensing tension. Brian eases down next to
Eric.
GLEN
I hope whatever you watched last
night was worth your allowance.
BRIAN
...huh?
Holly turns on the dishwasher.
HOLLY
We found the sandwich.
BRIAN
(beat)
What sandwich?
Eric winces--he knows the shit has just hit the fan.
HOLLY
Brian, you are the only person in
this house who eats bologna and
onions. Every time you get
caught, you think you can lie your
way out of it.
GLEN
You want to end up a politician?
BRIAN
...no.
Water pipes, visible through a hole above the sink, start to
knock. Holly, expecting this, turns on and off the hot water.
The knocking subsides.
ERIC
Gotta catch the bus.
HOLLY
This conversation is not over.
ERIC
It's not fair you get mad at me
every time you get mad at Brian.
The pipes start knocking again. Holly takes a deep breath,
gestures that Eric can go. He grabs his lunch bag and leaves.
Holly repeats the hot water ploy; it doesn't work. She tries it
once more; again, nothing. She shuts down the dishwasher; the
knocking stops for good.
HOLLY
Damn! Damn, damn.
8.
Glen goes to her. Brian is torn between escape--and his lunch.
He edges toward it. Glen puts an arm around Holly's shoulder,
tries to cheer her.
GLEN
The plumber'll be out next week.
HOLLY
Great. Can I leave him the
dishes?
GLEN
Just keep saying to yourself:
'It's our dream house.'
HOLLY
I never dreamed of seventeen
hundred dollars in plumbing
problems.
Glen leans against the cupboard; a strange look crosses his
face. He turns: melted strawberry ice cream stains his shirt,
and drips out of the cupboard. He pulls open the door--a soupy
half gallon of Carnation sits on a stack of dishes.
Brian looks incredulously at the gooey mess, snags his lunch,
and beelines for the door--
GLEN
You're a deadman.
BRIAN
I didn't do it!
HOLLY
Just like the sandwich.
Glen, disgusted, plucks the carton out of the cupboard.
BRIAN
...okay, it was my sandwich-- but
I didn't have any ice cream! You
always blame me for everything--
HOLLY
Somebody puts scuff marks on the
doors kicking them open. And
somebody sticks gum under the
table--
BRIAN
Not me.
Glen throws an ice cream-bloated sponge into the sink.
9.
GLEN
We'll let this go as an accident.
But I'm laying down the law. No
more intentionally disobeying the
rules. You know the difference
between right and wrong. Start
acting like it.
BRIAN
(downcast)
...yes, sir.
INT. STAIRWELL
Brian sits on the stairs, bookpack between his knees. Glen, tie
over his shoulder, buttoning a fresh shirt, hurries past. He
kisses Holly goodbye and goes out the front door.
Holly turns, regards her glum son. Sits down beside him.
HOLLY
Brian, your Dad and I are worried.
You and Eric have been at the new
school the same amount of time.
Eric's already made some friends--
BRIAN
Grandpa was my friend.
HOLLY
Yes, I know. I know you miss
Grandpa. We all do.
(beat)
But you should get out more. Find
somebody to play with.
(remembering)
The lawyer who handled the estate--
Mr. Coleman? He had a son about
your age.
BRIAN
(stating a fact)
Ronnie Coleman is a toad.
HOLLY
He seemed like a nice kid.
BRIAN
We can have him over for milk and
dead flies.
Holly reacts with a small smile despite herself--then they hear
a LONG, SCRAPING, CRUMPLING METAL SOUND from outside.
10.
EXT. STEVENSON HOME - DRIVEWAY
Brian's Beachcruiser lays twisted in back of the idling Honda.
Glen sternly guides Brian out through the garage. Holly follows
as far as the garage door.
GLEN
Right there. What do you see?
Brian spots the bike, breaks away from Glen. He stares down at
the ruined bike.
BRIAN
You ran it over.
GLEN
Guess why?
Brian looks at him; a light dawns.
BRIAN
Oh no--no way.
(pointing to the side of
the garage)
It was there! I parked it right
there!
GLEN
It was behind the car. I didn't
see it this time because it was
lying flat.
BRIAN
My bike...all those stupid seeds
I had to sell.
GLEN
You're lucky--the car wasn't
damaged. As it stands you are
grounded for a month, no TV for a
month, and you can consider
yourself at poverty level until
the next century.
HOLLY
Isn't that a little rough?
GLEN
Don't make me the villain here,
Holly.
BRIAN
Wait...I'm out my bike. Your
car's fine. You ran over my bike
and I get punished.
GLEN
Don't get smart.
11.
Glen gets in the car as Brian drags the bike out of the way.
BRIAN
(muttering)
If you don't want me to get smart,
stop wasting your money on public
education.
EXT. NEIGHBORHOOD STREET - MORNING
Eric and his friend TODD walk toward the bus stop, notebooks and
lunchbags in hand. Todd's parents force him to wear dress
shoes; he compensates by scuffing them at every opportunity.
TODD
So you didn't really see
anything... All you felt was,
like, an eerie presence?
ERIC
Yeah. Eerie.
TODD
It didn't like, go in the closet,
or near it, or even look at it for
a second or anything?
ERIC
Nope.
TODD
--so this is an exclusively under-
the-bed phenomenon we're dealing
with here.
ERIC
Yeah. Under my bed.
They join other kids at the bus stop. Todd snaps his fingers.
TODD
Trolls! Trolls live under
bridges. This lives under a bed.
It could be some sort of...sub-
species, mutant troll.
(he punches his fist
into his palm)
That's it.
The bus pulls up; its doors hiss open.
ERIC
I just want to get rid of it.
12.
TODD
Maybe if you pound a stake through
its heart..?
(pause)
Nah...that only works on vampires.
They solemnly ponder this subject.
ERIC
I think that'd work on anything.
INT. BUS - DAY
half-filled with kids. Todd and Eric find seats as the bus
begins to move--but then it slows to a stop for a late-arrival:
Brian. He swings into his seat as the bus lurches forward.
ERIC
Why aren't you riding your bike?
BRIAN
Let's talk about that. You've got
two choices: you can lie, and die
slow and painful. Tell the truth,
and I'll be merciful.
(he smiles)
You'll die quick.
ERIC
What happened?
BRIAN
Dad ran over my bike because you
put it in the driveway.
ERIC
No way. Your bike?
The bus slows for its next stop.
BRIAN
Looks like it's gonna be slow and
painful. We'll start with
starvation and work our way up.
In an unstoppably quick motion, Brian grabs Eric's lunch and
tosses it out the window.
ERIC
My lunch! You stupid! I didn't
do anything...
(he sees Brian is
serious)
Your bike's really thrashed?
13.
BRIAN
I put it away. Mom and Dad sure
didn't move it. That leaves
(he points at Eric)
you. I'm tired of you getting me
in trouble.
ERIC
I don't touch your bike.
(Brian grabs Eric by the
shirt)
If I did, you'd beat me up!
Brian pulls back a little; Eric is sincere. Kids file on the
bus.
BRIAN
What about the ice cream? You
snuck some ice cream last night.
ERIC
(definite)
No.
Brian and Eric regard each other, both frowning, puzzled.
TODD
(confident)
The monster.
Brian and Eric look at Todd, who nods his head, all-knowing.
ERIC
That's it! That's what it was
doing!
Brian sighs, rubs his eyes in a long-suffering gesture.
BRIAN
He told you about the killer
attack bunnies under his bed?
ERIC
It was a monster.
BRIAN
There are no monsters.
RONNIE (O.S.)
(yelling)
Who's 'Eric?'
RONNIE COLEMAN, a sixth grade version of Pete Rose comes up the
aisle, carrying Eric's battered lunch Bag. Ronnie wears a
football jersey with COLEMAN on the back. A batting glove hangs
out of the back pocket of his jeans.
14.
RONNIE
Who's the 'Eric' that threw his
lunch at me?
Todd's horror-stricken look throws a spotlight on Eric. Ronnie,
grape juice staining his jersey, zeros in on him.
ERIC
It's my lunch, but I didn't throw
it.
RONNIE
Who did?
Eric points at Brian's back.
ERIC
My brother.
RONNIE
Stevenson? He's your brother?
(Eric nods)
Man, I was going to make you eat
this in one bite, but...
Ronnie proffers the bag to Eric.
RONNIE
(pointedly)
You got enough problems.
A few laughs at this; Eric throws in an 'oooooh, burned.' Eric
cautiously takes the lunch.. Ronnie grins victoriously at Brian,
who fumes. Ronnie raises an eyebrow, daring Brian to make
something of it.
Brian holds his temper, slumps down into his seat. Ronnie
shakes his head in disgust, swaggers down the aisle.
A KID grins at Brian from the seat in front of him.
BRIAN
What are you lookin' at?
The grin is wiped from the kid's face; he turns forward. Brian
stares out the window.
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT. LAFAYETTE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL - ESTABLISHING
The lunch bell RINGS; kids swarm out.
15.
INT. SCHOOL - SCIENCE CLASSROOM
Alone in the room, KIERSTEN DEVERAUX, a crush-inducing twelve
year old, raises a Polaroid camera to take a picture of a just-
beginning-to-bloom cereus. It is inside a homemade plywood box;
the hinged side stands open. A blackout curtain, lifted, lines
the box; a lamp is attached to the roof.
The Polaroid WHIRS, but doesn't spit out a photo.
Kiersten frowns, goes to a closed door marked TEACHERS ONLY.
She takes a key out of her pocket, unlocks the door.
INT. BOOK/SUPPLY ROOM
Kiersten takes a pack of film from a metal cabinet. She shuts
it, turns--
--Brian leans in the door frame, lunch bag in one hand, eating
a sandwich. Kiersten is startled. Brian grins.
BRIAN
How ya doin'--
(significantly)
--partner.
KIERSTEN
What?
BRIAN
I'm your new partner. From now
on, we're both going to get
straight 'A's.
Kiersten frowns at him, puzzled.
BRIAN
Don't worry, I won't tell anyone
you were stealing answers.
KIERSTEN
(pulling the door shut)
Did they forget to give you your
medication this morning, Brian?
INT. SCIENCE CLASSROOM
Brian doesn't hear the insult, intent on firming up this new
partnership. As she reloads the camera:
BRIAN
Oh, come on, Kiersten. I saw you.
You were scamming the teacher's
edition.
Kiersten doesn't give him a lot of attention.
16.
KIERSTEN
I was not. I'm allowed in there--
Mr. Finn gave me a key.
BRIAN
A key? You have a key?
(she nods)
And you weren't looking at the
teachers' edition?
KIERSTEN
(explaining flatly)
I'm working on my science project
See? It's blooming.
BRIAN
What a breakthrough.
Kiersten finishes reloading the camera, and takes a picture of
the cactus. On the counter are a dozen or so snapshots of the
cactus. Despite himself, Brian is interested. He glances at
the photos.
KIERSTEN
It's a cereus. They only bloom at
night.
BRIAN
Yeah? This one's broken.
KIERSTEN
That's the poINT. I'm training it
to bloom in the daytime.
BRIAN
Hey, y'know what...
He gathers up the photos into a stack, sorting them into proper
order as he does so.
BRIAN
If you mounted the camera in one
place...upside down--
Brian reverses the stack, holds them by the wide border.
BRIAN
You could take a bunch of pictures
and make it like a movie.
CLOSE ON: the flip-book of photos. Brian riffles through it.
The plant blooms.
KIERSTEN
(impressed)
Like time-lapse photography...
17.
BRIAN
Yeah.
(beat)
So, you'll get me the answers,
right?
Kiersten scowls, exasperated. Brian puts up his hands.
BRIAN
You can get back to me on that.
He is gone. Kiersten shakes her head, then picks up the photos,
flips through them. She looks up, in the direction Brian left.
EXT. ROAD - DAY
Brian shambles along, alone. Todd and Eric, having lain in
wait, suddenly appear, bursting with some new scheme.
ERIC
If you say there's no monster,
then switch rooms with me.
BRIAN
What?
ERIC
Switch rooms with me.
TODD
Yeah--you sleep in Eric's room and
he sleeps in your room.
BRIAN
You just want my room.
Eric and Todd pause--then Eric jumps back in step with Brian.
ERIC
Nuh-uh...I want you to prove me
wrong. I dare you to switch
rooms.
TODD
(advising Eric)
Double dare him.
ERIC
(certain that this is
the clincher)
I doubledare you to switch rooms.
BRIAN
Not interested.
18.
Eric and Todd stop walking, falling behind as they exchange a
disappointed look. Eric has an inspiration. He hurries back up
to Brian; Todd does, too.
ERIC
I'll pay you.
Brian cocks an eyebrow.
INT. ERIC'S BEDROOM - NIGHT
The door, propelled by a kick, slams open. The kick leaves a
large scuff mark. Brian plods in, sets down a large wicker
laundry basket. Eric holds his own covers in his arms.
ERIC
You have to stay the whole night.
And you gotta sleep with your leg
sticking out of the covers. And
with the door closed.
BRIAN
(deadpan)
Oh, stop. You're frightening me.
On top of the bedding in the basket is a shoe-box lid which
contains Brian's pocketwatch and paraphernalia. He lifts it out
and sets in on Eric's small desk, sits down--
Pebbles click-clatter off the window. Eric goes over and raises
the sash.
EXT. STEVENSON HOUSE - NIGHT
Todd, holding a sleeping bag, stands in a spill of moonlight.
TODD
Hey Eric!
ERIC
Hey Todd! Good thing you made it--
(louder, for Brian's
benefit)
I think he's gonna bail!
TODD
Yeah, we'll make sure he won't!
ERIC
So get up here! Use the trellis.
Todd regards the trellis. Ivy snaking in and out of it, the
trellis climbs the wall, stretching up past Eric's window, far
up the side of the house.
19.
TODD
...naw...it looks kinda high up.
I'll meetcha at the door.
He's gone, off around the house.
INT. ERIC'S BEDROOM
Eric turns from the window, dashes out, almost colliding with
Glen in the hallway.
ERIC
Gonna let Todd in.
GLEN
Hold on.
(addressing them both)
Do either of you have the good
scissors? They're missing again.
Eric's eyes widen. He looks at the bed, then back at Brian
significantly. Brian grimaces, shakes his head.
BRIAN
No.
GLEN
Well, if you run across them, put
them back where they belong.
Eric nods and takes off. Brian turns back to the watch. Glen
steps forward, watches over Brian's shoulder.
CLOSE ON THE WATCH as Brian, using a jeweler's screwdriver,
tightens a mechanism. He releases a tiny lever. Minute gears
spin; ticking can be heard, distinct from the soft whirring.
GLEN
You got it running!
Brian grins as Glen picks up the watch, examines it.
GLEN
Grandpa'd be happy. You have his
mechanical touch. It must skip a
generation.
Brian's smile turns a little sad. Glen hands the watch back.
Brian places it on the table, in the watch stand.
GLEN
I wanted to tell you, Brian...what
you're doing here is nice--
(more)
20.
GLEN (Cont'd)
switching rooms with your brother,
so he won't be scared.
(beat)
I'm counting on you to see this
through. No night frights. Okay?
Brian nods.
INT. ATTIC ROOM - NIGHT
Eric and Todd climb the stairs into Brian's room, intimidated
but pleased. Todd's shoes thunder on the stairs.
Eric surveys the disassembled stuff on Brian's worktable. He
reaches for an electric train--
BRIAN (O.S.)
Don't touch that!
Brian steps forward, takes the train, sets it back down.
BRIAN
You can use the bed, and you can
walk from the bed to the door and
back, and that's it.
Brian grabs the pillow off his stripped bed, turns to leave. He
stops at the stairs.
BRIAN
You can touch my light--but only
to turn it off.
(beat)
And no fart contests.
INT. ERIC'S BEDROOM - NIGHT
Brian stops in the doorway, stares at the bed. In a decisive
move he turns out the light, forces himself to walk calmly to
the bed and sit on the edge. He jerks his legs up, lies down.
Brian looks at it, then pulls it in a bit. He lies back, closes
his eyes.
BRIAN
(as derisively as he can
manage)
...monsters.
Slowly, smoothly, as if with a mind of its own, the foot slips
back into the safety of the covers.
21.
INT. ERIC'S BEDROOM - LATER
The waxing moon shines brightly. Brian comes awake with a
start. He tilts his head, listening--muffled, indistinct sounds
of laughter can be heard, fading quickly to silence.
Puzzled, frowning, Brian starts to swing a leg out of bed. He
stops--thinks--then pushes the covers away from him until they
touch the floor, covering the space beneath the bed.
A long step, and Brian is safely in the middle of the room. He
goes to the door, keeping an eye on the bed, unable to see
beneath it--the covers block his view.
INT. HALLWAY
Brian sidles out of the door, listens--he hears a muffled voice,
and moves silently toward it, to the vent in the wall by the
attic stairs. The voice becomes clearer as he nears:
TODD (O.S.)
(low and scary-like)
So she goes out, and five minutes
go by, then ten...
(Brian reaches the vent)
So the girl's waiting for her
roommate to get back, and she's
getting real scared...
INT. ATTIC ROOM
The vent is flush to the floor. Todd is in his mummy bag, only
his face visible, sitting across from Eric. The Tensor lamp is
the campfire between the two, the gooseneck bent down so that
the lip of the shade nearly touches the floor.
TODD
(low and scary-like)
--oh, yeah, the room's on the
second floor--so she's waiting,
and suddenly, from outside, she
hears 'thump-THUMP...thump-THUMP.'
So she gets real brave and she
sneaks over to the door and she
hears it again: 'thump-
THUMP...thump-THUMP!'
INT. HALLWAY
Brian raises one eyebrow, listening.
22.
INT. ATTIC ROOM
TODD
And so she opens the door and she
screams 'cause she sees her
roommate coming up the stairs--
only the ax-man cut off all her
arms and legs and she's draggin'
herself up by her chin 'thump-
THUMP...thump-THUMP!'
Todd, in his mummy bag, writhes on the floor, impressively
depicting the predicament of the limbless roommate.
ERIC
...wow...
INT. HALLWAY
Brian shakes his head, disbelieving.
TODD (O.S.)
It happened to a girl a friend of
my cousin knew.
Brian thinks. He hits the riser in front of him with the palm
of his hand: 'thump-THUMP...thump- THUMP.' All sound from
upstairs ceases. Brian grins darkly.
INT. ERIC'S BEDROOM
Brian comes through the door--and stops dead in his tracks.
The bedcovers have been thrown all the way back, away from the
floor, onto the mattress--they lie in a long pile against the
wall. Brian stares.
The black inkiness of the under-the-bed gapes at him.
Brian lowers himself into a half-stoop, half-crouch, peering
into the darkness. Is there something there?
Brian throws a look at the desk--the stand is empty; his
pocketwatch is gone. Brian's eyes go wide. He looks-- and sees
it under the bed, just on the edge of the shadow.
Brian reaches his hand up along the door frame to the light
switch. He flips the switch--
and A MONSTROUS, HORRIFIC, CHILLING HOWL comes from right behind
him. Brian spins in the still-dark room. A blue glow flickers
behind the door.
23.
INT. ATTIC ROOM
Todd jumps back from the stairs, bumping into Eric.
ERIC
(stepping back)
(panicked; a hiss)
What was that?
TODD
(another step back)
I dunno.
(futilely optimistic
that Eric will do it)
Go find out.
Eric considers this.
ERIC
No.
INT. ERIC'S BEDROOM
Brian forces himself toward the blue glow and noise. He reaches
for the knob, yanks the door back, stares into--
--the family's 25" diagonal television set, sitting on its side,
plugged into the switched socket, tuned to an SCTV rerun
featuring Count Floyd.
Brian snaps off the light switch (shutting off the set) and
whirls, ducking to look under-the-bed.
The watch chain becomes taut--the watch is pulled smoothly out
of view, into the deep shadows under the bed.
CLOSE ON Brian, a cold sweat on his forehead, all doubt drained
from his face: Eric was right.
INT. HALLWAY
Brian darts his head out; a light shines from beneath his
parents' door. Brian's eyes go wide with anticipatory dread--
and then the light goes out. Brian slumps, relieved, then snaps
a look back over his shoulder into the room--
INT. ERIC'S BEDROOM
Brian tilts the TV set down onto the throw rug.
INT. HALLWAY
The television set slides heavily down the hall atop the throw
rug pulled by Brian.
24.
INT. STAIRWELL
Brian grapples with the set, controlling its roll one step at a
time, top-to-side-to-bottom-to-side, down the stairs.
INT. LIVING ROOM
Brian pushes the set into place. He adjusts it slightly. His
gaze-- almost against his will--is drawn back up to the ceiling,
in the direction of Eric's room.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. LIVING ROOM - MORNING
CLOSE on Brian, asleep but not comfortably so. A hand reaches,
grabs Brian's shoulder, shakes him.
ERIC (O.S.)
Hey, Brian! You okay?
Brian starts awake--for a moment really scared. Then he places
himself. He has spent the night on the couch, using a dropcloth
as a blanket; also in the room are paint cans, rollers, and a
ladder.
Eric and Todd stand over Brian, gloating.
TODD
I guess this means we get our
money back.
ERIC
What happened? Did the monster
come?
Brian ignores the question--he examines the T.V.
TODD
Maybe it cut out his tongue.
ERIC
That's cats.
TODD
No, they just get it. Monsters
cut 'em out and wear 'em on a
necklace.
Brian remote controls the T.V.: the opening theme of the Bugs
Bunny/Roadrunner show plays ('No more rehearsing or cursing our
parts/We know every part by heart').
25.
TODD
Looks like you got two weird
things in your house, Eric. A
monster...and a giant chicken.
Brian stares at the screen. Wile. E. Coyote, supergenius, at
a drafting table, T-square flying, creates a blueprint for Bugs
Bunny's destruction: a Rube Goldbergian trap.
ERIC
It's a wash. He's not talking.
On screen, Wile E. feverishly builds that trap. Brian's mouth
curls into a smile. Without looking away, to Eric:
BRIAN
I'm sleeping in your room again
tonight.
Eric and Todd look at each other wide-eyed.
BRIAN BUILDS HIS TRAP - SERIES OF SHOTS
A. Brian measures the clearance under Eric's bed, jots it down.
B. At the side of the house, Brian braces his mangled bike
between his knees, straining to remove the sprocket-- it gives,
and Brian clunks himself in the forehead. He rubs the bump,
then starts on the handbrake.
C. A sign on a chain draped across a dirt-packed access road
reads 'MUNICIPAL DUMP - CLOSED.' Beyond it, Brian hikes toward
the dump, bookpack over his shoulder.
D. Heaps of refuse blot out the horizon. Brian spots
something, wrestles it out: the aluminum support frame of an old
rocking horse. He tests the tension of one of the four large
springs hanging from the uprights. They will do.
E. Holly, Glen, and Eric divide their attention between their
partially-emptied plates and Brian, who is wolfing down the
remainder of his dinner. Brian finishes his milk, and without
setting his glass down--
BRIAN
May I please be excused.
Before the response, he is gathering up his dishes.
F. Eric's bed is supported by a stacks of books. Brian loosens
a leg bolt with a crescent wrench.
G. By the last light of the day, Brian secures the pedal and
gear to the front of the bed. He cranks the pedal around (not
unlike starting a Model-T) pulling the legs out, expanding the
springs until the castors are against the ground.
26.
BRIAN
(singing softly)
'Roadrunner...the coyote's after
you...'
H. Brian's hand squeezes the brake handle. He snaps a rubber
band around it, and doubles it. The handle stays squeezed.
Brian pulls out the books. The bed stays up.
BRIAN
(spoken)
'Roadrunner...if he catches you--
you're through.'
INT. ERIC'S BEDROOM - NIGHT
Brian lies in bed in the dark room, awake, waiting. The door
opens. It is Holly. Her work shirt is speckled with paint--so
is her hair and her hands.
HOLLY
Brian? Are you awake?
BRIAN
Yeah.
HOLLY
Eric asked me to give this to you.
She holds out the flashlight. Brian takes it from her.
HOLLY
(slightly questioning)
He said that tonight, he wanted
you to have it.
Brian lets this go by. Holly smiles, goes to the door.
BRIAN
Mom?
She turns.
BRIAN
(like he's saying
goodbye)
I love you.
HOLLY
(puzzled, but pleased)
I love you, too.
She pulls the door shut. Her footfalls recede; the hall light
goes out. There is the sound of a door closing.
27.
PREPARING THE BEDROOM - SERIES OF SHOTS
A. The bedcovers are thrown back in a dramatic swoop by Brian.
Revealed beneath is his Monster-Hunting Gear: a pocketknife, the
alarm clock, a spool of 150 lb test fishing line, a hockey stick
and a big bag of Doritos (Nacho Cheese).
B. Brian strains to be quiet as he slides the dresser across
the floor, in front of the walk-in-closet door.
C. Brian crisscrosses the fishing line around the room. He
ties one end to the hammer-guard of the alarm clock.
D. At the door, he disassembles and removes the inside knob,
leaving the hall-facing knob and bolt in place.
E. He wedges a two-by-four against a piece of plywood that
covers the heating vent.
F. Brian lays down, the hockey stick, knife, and flashlight
beside him, on the wall side. He adjusts their positions. He
makes a few practice grabs, quick. He is ready.
INT. THE BEDROOM - LATER
Moonlight filters through the window. Brian waits, munching
Doritos as quietly as possible. He has an inspiration. He
scatters Doritos around the perimeter of the bed.
Experimentally, he leans down and makes a 'little man' with his
hand and walks it toward the chips. His finger steps on a chip,
results in a crunching sound. Brian smiles.
INT. THE BEDROOM - MUCH LATER
Brian isn't going to make it. The alarm clock ticks away,
hypnotically. Brian is right on the edge of sleep.
Crunch. Brian pulls the blankets tighter. CRUNCH Crunch.
Brian's eyes open, but he does not move.
More crunches. Brian turns his head s-l-o-w-l-y, looking as far
out of the corners of his eyes as possible. The crunching
pauses, then turns into the unmistakable sound of chomping.
Whatever is out there, it sure likes Doritos (Nacho Cheese).
Brian stealthily reaches one hand down to his knife. He
positions the handbrake, waiting. He doesn't breath.
The alarm clock is triggered; it RINGS. Brian cuts the rubber
band. The brake pads open. The rope releases. Sprockets spin.
Springs snap. The trap works; the bed collapses, slamming to
the floor; Brian spins, the flashlight in his hand and on--
28.
The beam catches something rushing straight towards Brian,
straight for the under-the-bed; a brief impression of yellow
eyes--then it is gone, back into the dark.
Brian snaps the light across the room, almost catching something
in the peripheral of the beam.
The alarm, ringing shrilly throughout, begins to whir down.
Brian makes long sweeping arcs with the flashlight,
systematically covering the room. Nothing.
The alarm is spent. Silence.
Brian peers into the dark. A shape rises up behind him. Brian
becomes aware of it just as an arm slaps across his chest--
Brian shouts, and an instinctive jerk becomes a passable judo
throw, propelling the shape over his shoulder to the floor.
Snapping the flashlight around in a two-handed pistol-grip,
Brian pins the shape in the beam--
And the room light goes on. Brian looks over; Glen is standing
in the doorway.
BRIAN
Dad! The monst--
The word stops as Brian looks back at what is in his beam: an
innocuous pile of clothes: T-shirts, jeans, and sweaters, all
slightly yellowish in tint--and one ratty red bathrobe...and a
Washington Senators baseball cap.
Brian's eyes go wide.
BRIAN
--er...
CLOSE ON Glen as his eyes track from one corner of the room to
another, his expression going from tired annoyance to shock to
disbelief to wide-awake anger. He focuses on
Brian, on the collapsed bed, flashlight out in front of him, one
foot on the floor. Brian shifts his weight slightly; a chip
crunches.
GLEN
Christ, Brian--I was counting on
you...
(beat)
I give up.
Brian, intimidated by Glen's forcefulness, starts to feel bad,
but then remembers:
BRIAN
Wait a minute! I...there is--
29.
GLEN
A monster? It's a pile of
clothes, for Chrissakes.
He kicks the clothes. Unseen by Glen, two folds in the clothes
open like eyelids and stare up hatefully. Brian's eyes widen.
GLEN
The next time you leave your room
will be the first time you vote.
Brian is speechless. He rubs his eyes, looks at the clothes.
They look normal.
BRIAN
But--
Glen snaps off the light and reaches for the door knob; it comes
off in his hand. He gives Brian one more glare, then pulls the
door shut.
Brian swallows, keeps the light unsteadily on the clothes. He
stretches for the hockey stick. Cautiously, he jabs the stick
into the clothes, barely. Nothing happens.
He gives the clothes a good poke. That does it. The sleeve
snaps the hockey stick out of his hands, across the room.
Brian half-leaps, half-sprawls back; he loses the flashlight.
The clothes gather in on themselves, start to change--
Brian slams the laundry basket over the clothes pile, throws his
body on top of it. The basket forces itself up off the floor.
Brian is pitched hard, heels-over-head, to the ground.
The basket continues to rise. Brian gapes as the thing becomes
visible: long, flat feet with extraordinarily long toes. A
yellowish hand curls out from under the lip of the basket and
throws it off.
The Monster From Under the Bed glowers at Brian, eyes aglow with
malevolent intelligence. The ratty old red bathrobe still
exists; the monster wears it with a certain panache. He grins,
face splitting in half, revealing jagged rows of teeth. His
name is MAURICE.
MAURICE
Boo.
Brian stifles a scream. He grabs the rug and pulls hard. The
monster's feet go out from under him; he lands on his back.
Brian scrambles away, onto the bed, pulls in his ankles as a
claw-like hand slashes down, making four ragged tears in the
mattress. Brian leaps over the monster, runs for the door.
30.
The knob has been removed; the door won't open. Brian looks
despairingly at his own handiwork, lunges for the window.
Halfway across the room, fishing line wraps around Brian's
ankle, the still-attached alarm clock acting as weight for the
makeshift bolo. The monster, grinning, reels Brian in.
Brian reaches, desperately trying to extricate his leg. Working
frantically, inches out of reach, Brian gets loose from the
line. He rolls away, grabbing up the hockey stick.
The monster looks down at the clock dangling at the end of the
line. The minute hand is nearly straight up. Brian sees the
monster throw a look at the window. Dawn washes the sky.
The monster drops the clock and rushes for the bed. Brian,
thinking fast, leaps between the monster and the bed,
brandishing the stick. The monster pulls up short. The two
gauge each other. For all its ugliness, the monster is not much
taller than Brian. It raises its claws.
BRIAN
I'll scream.
MAURICE
That's good--let's both scream.
Let's get your dad back in here.
The monster takes a deep breath--then lets it out in a gasp as
Brian slugs him in the stomach.
BRIAN
(a hiss)
Shaddup.
The monster raises a hand, takes some time to recover.
MAURICE
(gasping)
Whoa, time out...
Brian pauses...then sees that the monster is furtively edging
toward the bed. Brian glances out the window. He sees the
lighting sky, smiles. He steps in front of the bed.
BRIAN
Yeah. Why don't we just wait?
The monster recovers amazingly fast, growls and feints, ramming
Brian out of the way with a shoulder. He makes it to the bed--
just as the sun edges over the horizon.
The monster slips his fingers in under the bed frame and pulls
up. His fingers pass through the box-spring and mattress--his
hands have become two-dimensional, intangible.
31.
Brian jumps onto the mattress. The monster panics. Brian
levers the stick between the bed and the monster, pries him
away. The monster tries to move, but his now-intangible feet
have no purchase. He falls, hands inches from the bed.
A gradient effect, beginning at the monster's fingertips, turns
him from yellow to gray to black, transforming him into his own
shadow. Brian stares as the arms and legs flatten.
BRIAN
What's happening?
MAURICE
What d'you think?
BRIAN
You're dying. The sunlight--
you're a vampire!
MAURICE
(gasping)
Puh-leez. No such thing...as
vampires...Gotta get back under
the bed...
BRIAN
No way. You wrecked my bike. You
stole my watch. You been pulling
stuff, trying to get me in
trouble.
MAURICE
(hurt; defensive)
That's my job.
Brian sucks on his lower lip, thinking. He looks toward the
window. The sun has almost cleared the horizon.
MAURICE
What, you never did anything just
for a laugh?
Maurice's eyes, wide and pleading, lock with Brian's. The two
gaze at each other, until finally the monster's eyelids drop
closed.
BRIAN
Damn.
Brian sighs at his victory turned hollow. With both hands, he
raises a corner of the bed, watching the monster, not at all
sure if it will do any good.
Maurice's eyes open slightly. His gaze flickers to the bed; he
tries to move but can't. Straining to hold the bed up, Brian
puts his arm around Maurice's still-solid torso and pushes him
into the shadow.
32.
Brian lets the bed drop. He collapses to the floor.
Suddenly, the bed lifts, raising away from the floor like a
trapdoor. Brian jumps back. The monster, fully recovered and
quite pleased, holds the bed easily above his head with one arm.
He looks like he is standing waist deep in an inky pool.
His gaze flickers to the window--just as the sun clears the
horizon, he grins a yellow grin at Brian.
MAURICE
(confidentially)
Brian--
(beat)
'Catch ya later.
He disappears, the bed dropping to the floor.
INT. STEVENSON HOME - HALLWAY - DAY
In the master bedroom, Glen sits at a desk covered with bills,
a printing calculator and the check book. Holly holds an
invoice. The tone of the argument is not harsh-- just hard.
GLEN
It's certainly the liberal
solution to a problem. Throw
money at it.
HOLLY
Well, since I seem to be
responsible for getting this place
fixed up--
GLEN
When we made the decision to live
here, we knew it meant a lot of
work.
HOLLY
For both of us.
GLEN
I'm commuting four hours a day.
Do you think I enjoy that?
HOLLY
You don't seem to enjoy much of
anything nowadays.
GLEN
(moving to shut the
door)
Maybe there's not that much to
enjoy.
33.
Down the hall, Brian steps out of Eric's room with the laundry
basket. Glen spots him.
GLEN
Where do you think you're going?
BRIAN
I finished cleaning. I was going
back up to my room.
GLEN
Well, get there and stay there.
Glen shuts the door. A beat; Brian turns to the stairs.
INT. ATTIC ROOM - NIGHT
Brian lies on his back, wide awake, staring up into the
darkness. Suddenly, another one of Eric's screams pierces the
silence. Brian starts, then frowns, a little scared. A pause.
MAURICE (O.S.)
(from under the bed)
Brian...hey, Brian.
Brian's eyes go a little wider. He doesn't move.
MAURICE (O.S.)
Yo! Brian! I'm back! Why'd you
switch rooms again with that
whiffleball? You know he sucks
his thumb?
(beat)
C'mon, I know you're up there. I
can hear you holding your breath.
Brian begins breathing again.
MAURICE (O.S.)
Okay, fine. Here--I brought you
something.
A thing lands on Brian's chest. He squirms out from under it.
MAURICE (O.S.)
Catch ya' later!
A clatter from below, and then silence. Brian gingerly picks up
Maurice's gift, holds it up into a spill of moonlight: his
grandfather's pocketwatch. Surprised, he looks down over the
side of the bed. Nothing.
EXT. SCHOOL - PLAYGROUND - KICKBALL DIAMOND - DAY
A kickball game in progress. Ronnie is on second base; Brian is
the catcher.
34.
A lanky red-headed girl kicks a grounder. Ronnie rounds third
and heads for home. Brian, in the baseline, waits for the
throw. Ronnie accelerates, lowers his shoulder and slams into
Brian, sending him sprawling in the dirt.
Ronnie stands up, grins at Brian, turns toward his dugout.
The throw from first rolls in. Brian picks it up. With deadly
aim, he hurls the ball as hard as he can, nailing Ronnie in the
back of the head. Ronnie stumbles, recovers, spins.
BRIAN
You didn't hit the plate. You're
outta--
Ronnie has already launched himself at Brian, and the two go
down into the dust amid shouts of 'Fight! Fight!'
EXT. STEVENSON HOME - DRIVEWAY - DAY
Brian gets out of the car, walks toward the house, the condemned
man escorted to the chair--by Glen and Holly.
GLEN
I want to know why you threw the
ball at him in the first place.
BRIAN
To get him out.
HOLLY
No mouth, Brian. The principal
said the game was over, and then
you threw it.
GLEN
Christ. A new school, and more
fighting. Do you have any idea
how disappointed we are in you?
(he opens the front
door)
You're never going to get out of
your room.
A look of pure anger crosses Brian's face as he goes inside.
INT. ATTIC ROOM - DAY
Brian trudges up the stairs, to his desk. He digs into his
pocket, pulls out the pocketwatch, flips it open--
--pieces of shattered crystal rain down. Brian is shocked: the
crystal is gone, the casing dented...the hands still. The
benign Sun is frozen, peeking out of the wedge.
35.
Brian grips the watch, fists going white-knuckled--he spins to
throw it against the wall, stops. A deep breath. He sits down,
starts to take the watch apart, blinking back tears.
INT. ATTIC ROOM - LATER
Brian is asleep, his head on the desk. Just the desk lamp is
on. Suddenly the bulb SHATTERS, throwing the room into
darkness, snapping Brian awake. He whirls--
Maurice stands silhouetted in moonlight, twirling a slingshot by
the elastic. He hitches his Senators cap back on his head.
MAURICE
The name's Maurice, but back home
they call me 'Dead-eye.'
Brian scrabbles for the light switch he has rigged to a bunch of
extension cords--he flips it--
LIGHT FLOODS THE ROOM: two shadeless floor lamps, super-8 movie
lamp, mechanic's light, the overhead light; extension cords
criss-cross the floor; a string of miniature Christmas lights
circle the room, blinking, casting colored shadows.
Maurice disappears. The slingshot clatters onto the floor
beside the same pile of clothes from before.
BRIAN
It's like when your eyeballs get
bigger when it gets darker. If
the lights go on, you turn into
clothes. Right?
MAURICE
(like his mouth is
filled with cotton)
Oh, c'mon--we did the man-versus-
monster thing to death all ready.
BRIAN
Go away. Don't bother me anymore,
or Eric. I got enough problems
without you sneaking around.
(beat; it registers)
Maurice?
MAURICE
That's my name, don't wear it out.
C'mon, Brian. I gave back the
watch.
Brian considers. He flips the switch; the lights go off.
Maurice re-forms into his bipedal self. He pockets his
slingshot, spies the watch.
36.
MAURICE
Hey--I did not return it in that
condition. What happened?
BRIAN
Ronnie Coleman broke it.
MAURICE
Tsk. What kind of person has no
respect for other people's
property?
BRIAN
You stole it!
MAURICE
So call your lawyer. How'd it
happen?
BRIAN
What's it to you? Ronnie smashed
it, and then I got in trouble.
(beat)
I always get in trouble, and I
don't do anything!
MAURICE
(amazed)
You get in trouble, and you don't
do anything?
BRIAN
No.
MAURICE
You let them get away with it?
BRIAN
Huh?
Maurice pulls a pack of Lucky Strikes out of his pocket, shakes
one out, lights it one-handed from a matchbook.
MAURICE
Brian, you've come to the right
place. I can help you. I can get
you what you want.
He blows smoke across the match, extinguishing it.
BRIAN
(a little greedy)
What? You mean--like wishes?
MAURICE
Wishes are strictly bush-league
leprechaun, pal. I'm a monster.
Monsters don't do wishes.
37.
BRIAN
What do...monsters do?
MAURICE
(imparting a great
secret)
Revenge.
He waits, smiling smugly. Brian is less than enthused.
MAURICE
Oh, come on--Revenge! You know,
get back, even-up, tit-for-tat,
retribution in the best Old
Testament sense! Vengeance.
(beat)
Revenge!
Brian raises an eyebrow, one corner of his mouth twitching into
a grin. Maurice seizes on this.
MAURICE
Okay. This Ronnie guy. Big kid,
slack jaw, hair like a whisk
broom?
BRIAN
(sullen agreement)
Serious chromosome damage.
MAURICE
Right! I know him! He's in my
district. I can get him for you.
Brian is starting to get into this.
BRIAN
Yeah? How?
Maurice holds up one finger ('allow me to demonstrate'), and
slides beneath the bed with a flourish.
BRIAN
Ronnie Coleman's under my bed?
MAURICE
No...but under your bed is the way
to under Ronnie Coleman's bed.
BRIAN
Aah--you won't do it.
MAURICE
Brian--you gotta learn to trust
people. Besides, it's not like
you could come with me...
38.
Brian's eyes light up. He looks toward the bed. The forbidden
beckons.
MAURICE
...noooo, oh, no. Forget it.
Wrong. Totally unprecedented.
Brian is grinning, now.
MAURICE
I was joking. It was a joke.
You're not allowed down there.
You could get hurt.
(beat; sinister)
I could strand you.
Brian frowns, then leans toward Maurice.
BRIAN
You won't do that, 'cause I'm
taking this.
He brandishes the flashlight.
MAURICE
Whoa, there, Thunder--no lights.
Definitely not allowed.
Brian flicks on the light, angles it toward him menacingly.
MAURICE
Hey. Bring that along, why
dontcha?
BRIAN
Let's go.
MAURICE
You're sure now...
Brian hesitates, then grins tightly, every late-night Charles
Bronson film of the last five years replaying in his mind.
BRIAN
Let's nail that toad to the wall.
MAURICE
Y'know...you're my kinda guy.
Maurice lifts the bed.
MAURICE
After you.
Brian kneels. Looks at Maurice, dubious. He extends his hand
into the darkness. It does not go through the solid floor.
39.
MAURICE
Oh, yeah, that's right. We gotta
go together. Dull people can't do
it.
Using one hand to support the bed, Maurice grabs Brian's arm,
helps him in. Brian, tentative, expecting to contact floor, is
startled to find none. He loses his balance, plunges straight
through the shadow; from below comes a THUD.
MAURICE
(calling to Brian)
Good.
(a sinister smile)
Real good.
He disappears into the shadow. The bed THWOMPS to the floor.
INT. UNDER-THE-BED - ATTIC STAIRS
Brian picks himself up off the ground. He is next to a closed
door, at the bottom of a narrow, steep staircase that leads up
to the rectangle shadow of the bed. Maurice skitters down the
staircase to him.
Brian panics, searches the floor beside him.
MAURICE
Lose something?
Maurice dangles the flashlight from one finger. Brian grabs it.
Maurice pulls open the door, steps out into
INT. UNDER-THE-BED - HALLWAY
Brian peers down the hall--the ends, if any, are lost in the
distance. Doors are scattered along the walls; some reach high
with low-set knobs; others are short; there are Dutch doors and
French doors and doors that hang crooked, but still shut tight.
The walls loom, seemingly on the verge of collapsing in on
themselves. The dark mahogany wainscotting and dark red
wallpaper swallow the light from the tiny flickering gas lamps
near the ceiling.
Brian steps into this. His jaw is slack. A frayed red runner
cuts a swath down the polished black floor.
Maurice is already moving down the stairway. He realizes Brian
isn't with him, stops.
MAURICE
Yo! Brian! Let's move 'em out!
We're burning nightlight, pard!
Brian starts slowly, then hurries to catch up to Maurice.
40.
INT. UNDER-THE-BED - STAIRWELL
Brian gasps. The hallway has ended; they are at the bottom of
a huge well. Archways lead to other hallways; above, there are
tiers of landings running around the circumference, and more
hallways. Further up, the landings droop and twist, whole
sections torn away, until there is just black.
In the center of the well is a massive staircase, spiralling up,
offshoots connecting the landings. It continues far up, finally
standing alone, dilapidated, too impossibly high to support its
own weight--but it does. And there, at a dizzying height, it
ends at a small landing, at a pair of tall doors, seemingly
suspended in the darkness.
Brian grabs Maurice's robe.
BRIAN
(a croak)
Where are we?
MAURICE
Hm? Oh...we go one flight up, and
it's the third door on the left.
He heads up the stairs. Brian hangs onto the robe, eyes wide,
letting Maurice lead him on.
INT. STAIRWELL - RONNIE'S STAIRS
A wrought-iron circular stairway disappears into the bed-shaped
black area.
MAURICE
Here we are.
BRIAN
But--but Ronnie lives clear over
by Lake Skopski. How..?
MAURICE
(a little smug)
Magic.
Maurice climbs the stairs into the shadow, disappearing from the
shoulders up; Brian follows, bumps his head, unable to go
through. Maurice reaches down and pulls him up by the collar.
INT. RONNIE'S ROOM - NIGHT
Maurice and Brian look for all the world like two decapitated
heads sitting on the floor under a bed. They whisper:
BRIAN
This is somebody else's house!
41.
MAURICE
No duh--where'd ya park the squad
car, Dick Tracy? It's Ronnie
Coleman's bedroom.
BRIAN
...bitchin'...
Movement from above startles Brian; an ankle flops down, hangs
in front of his face. A beat, and he reaches for it--but
Maurice grabs his wrist.
MAURICE
Wait--too primitive. Good
instinct, though. Hmm, now...what
deviltry to perpetrate tonight?
A banshee wail, perhaps?
(he runs a scale,
coughs)
...mm, maybe not...lessee...We
gotta watch our step here. Every
night like clockwork this dingus
gets up to go to the bathroom. I
almost got caught once planting
cigarettes in his bookbag.
BRIAN
(thoughtful)
What time does he usually get up?
Maurice shoves his cap back, cocks an eyebrow...then grins.
INT. RONNIE'S ROOM - LATER
Ronnie snurfles awake. Groggily, he stretches and sits up--
--and the sheet yanks tight, slamming Ronnie back onto the
mattress, pinning his arms. He struggles mightily, trying to
get up--the sheet snaps taut and he is pinned again.
Maurice and Brian grin like madmen at each other across the
bedshadow as they strain to keep Ronnie pinned.
RONNIE
Mom! Dad! Help!
Brian almost lets go of his side--but Maurice puts a hand out in
a 'not yet' gesture.
MAURICE
(his most horrible
voice)
Screaming will only make it
worse...
Ronnie squirms half-heartedly. The fear is numbing.
42.
RONNIE
I gotta get up...
Maurice nudges Brian, indicating it's his turn. Brian shakes
his head 'no'; Maurice eggs him on.
BRIAN
(screechy old-type
voice)
If he gets up, I get his toes.
You can eat the rest.
Maurice looks at Brian: 'That's disgusting.' Brian shrugs; it
was just a first attempt.
Above, Ronnie gives up the struggle; he grimaces in humiliation.
A tear squeezes out of one eye, rolls down his cheek--
--the door opens; the light goes on. Ronnie's dad, a solid man
with an iron-grey brush cut, steps into the empty room.
MR. COLEMAN
I gotta be to work early, this
better be good--
Mr. Coleman sees the wet stain on the bed sheet.
MR. COLEMAN
(quiet)
Dammit. Dammit, Ron, I thought
you'd whipped this bedwetting
thing. You're almost a man, and--
RONNIE
I couldn't move, Dad...I couldn't
move my arms, I couldn't get up...
INT. UNDER-THE-BED - RONNIE'S STAIRS
Where Brian and Maurice crouch. Brian's eyes are bright as he
listens: so this is power. Maurice watches Brian listening.
MR. COLEMAN (O.S.)
(sounding more defeated
than Ronnie)
Get up and change your sheets.
Clean yourself up. We'll talk
about this later.
RONNIE (O.S.)
...yes, sir...
INT. UNDER-THE-BED - HALLWAY
The hall stretches long and deep. Far off, Brian and Maurice
cavort away. They high-five, laugh, and continue on.
43.
INT. ATTIC ROOM - NEAR DAWN
With Maurice's help, Brian pulls himself out from under the bed.
He looks back in at Maurice, exhilarated.
BRIAN
Man, that was great!
MAURICE
Yeah--you're a natural, kid.
BRIAN
Thanks--
MAURICE
So whaddaya say, Bri? Tomorrow
night. Same bed-time? Same bed-
channel?
Brian's immediate impulse is to say 'yes,'but he stifles himself
to give it some thought.
MAURICE
You. Me. Moonlight. Magic.
C'mon, Brian--take a walk on the
wild side.
That's it. Brian grins--and Maurice grabs his hand, shakes it
jive-style: normal, thumb clasp, wrist clasp, slap five, fist-
tap, thumb clasp variation leading to ascending birdies.
MAURICE
'Catch ya later.
And he is gone.
EXT. SCHOOL - PLAYGROUND - DRINKING FOUNTAINS - DAY
Ronnie, sweating and dusty, bends to take a drink.
BRIAN
Careful there, Ronnie. You
wouldn't want to splash any.
People might think you had
an...accident.
Ronnie straightens, murder in his eyes. Brian leans against the
wall. Other kids, including CRAIG, wait in line.
RONNIE
If I wanted any of your lip,
Stevenson, I'd take it off my
zipper.
44.
BRIAN
(aside, to Craig)
It's in his permanent record. I
saw it. Blew me away.
Imagine...Ronnie Coleman--a
bedwetter. Whoa, reality check.
RONNIE
Shut up, Stevenson. That's a lie.
More kids gather like sharks smelling blood.
CRAIG
He wets the bed?
BRIAN
(nodding)
His dad's very upset about it.
RONNIE
SHUT UP!
Too late; in the eyes of his peers, Ronnie is already guilty.
Brian pushes away from the wall and strolls out through the
crowd, saying to Craig as he goes by:
BRIAN
Ask him about the rubber sheets.
The kids sense the kill. Faces beam with grim pleasure,
crowding in, obscuring Brian as he saunters off.
CRAIG
Rubber sheets!
Brian smiles and does not look back.
INT. STEVENSON HOME - ATTIC ROOM - NIGHT
Brian waits, impatient. He jiggles his foot out over the edge
of the bed, bait for Maurice. Finally, Maurice appears.
BRIAN
Maurice! It was great! He was
dying out there!
MAURICE
Cool your jets, okay? Let's go.
INT. UNDER-THE-BED - MAIN CHAMBER
Brian rushes out ahead of Maurice--
--and collides with BILLY, a monster wearing crossed toy
gunbelts. Billy drops a box, and dozens of doll heads, arms and
legs--Barbies, G.I.Joes, Baby Tears--spill out.
45.
A Barbie-head comes to rest near Maurice's foot. He picks it
up.
BILLY
Hey! You stupid..! That's mine!
Billy grabs the head from Maurice, and scurries around the hall,
picking up the parts. Maurice ushers Brian away.
MAURICE
Doll dismemberment is so small
time. No finesse, y'know?
BRIAN
(agog)
There's more than one of you?
MAURICE
Sure--hey, I'm good, but get real.
We divvy things up by school
districts. Lucky you--you were in
mine.
They pass a monster, MARY JANE; Brian swivels his head, staring
at her: she wears a flannel nightgown, Mary Janes, and is
cutting up a very elegant evening gown. She drops the scissors
and holds up a string of very elegant paper dolls.
INT. UNDER-THE-BED - STOREROOM
High wooden shelves line narrow aisles. There is one whole
shelf of stuffed animals lying on their backs wearing toe-tags,
a purloined plush-toy morgue.
Maurice moves along expertly, putting things into a canvas bag:
a roller skate, a stale taco guacamoled to a paper plate, a
Tupperware container of mud.
Brian steps into the room tentatively, intrigued by the contents
of the various bins. He peers into one, blinks. He reaches in,
pulls out a dead goldfish, holds it gingerly between his
fingers. He looks to Maurice for an explanation.
MAURICE
Dead goldfish. Take the live ones
out of the tank, float these
suckers in belly-up, and there's
one kid who feels really bad and
gets a lecture on pet
responsibility to boot. Nice
little double-whammy item.
Brian tosses the fish back into the bin. A large chest is on
the floor. He opens it. It is filled with ballpoint pens,
keys, sunglasses, claim stubs, earrings (singles), lighters.
46.
Brian paws through it, puzzled--then the light dawns, and he
laughs. Maurice grins, picks out a pair of dark glasses.
MAURICE
(giving Brian the
glasses)
Here. At least pretend you're
cool.
Brian puts them on. He peers around the room.
BRIAN
It's kind of dark...
He takes a few steps--and bumps into the wall. He takes the
glasses off sheepishly, stows them in his shirt pocket, and
something else catches his eye: a stack of dirty magazines.
Brian takes the top one off the stack, pages through it.
BRIAN
Wow...you get to look at all
these?
MAURICE
Yeah. No big deal.
BRIAN
I found a copy of Playboy when I
was trash-digging once--it was
great. Boy, my mom--
An idea hits him. He closes the magazine, rolls it up and
sticks it in his back pocket.
BRIAN
There's a stop I wanna make.
INT. TODD'S ROOM - NIGHT
Maurice watches from under the bed as Brian slides the magazine
into the top dresser drawer, shuts it. On the way into the
shadow, he grins down at Todd's sleeping form.
BRIAN
Explain that to your mom.
INT. HOUSE #1 - SERVICE PORCH - NIGHT
Brian pays close attention as Maurice, using a sneaker on his
hand, tracks mud across the floor, dipping into the Tupperware
container, examining his handiwork like an artist.
47.
INT. HOUSE #2 - LIVING ROOM - NIGHT
Methodically, Brian switches records into the wrong sleeves--
then returns them to the rack, out of order. Maurice appears in
the doorway to the kitchen, and he holds up:
MAURICE
Ta-da! The good scissors! First
we make 'em dull...
(cuts at a table leg)
Then, we hide the evidence.
(hides them under a
couch cushion)
Not bad, huh? Perfected this
little technique myself.
He turns to head out, but remembers something.
MAURICE
Oh, yeah--you'd better check your
couch when you get home.
INT. DONLEAVY TWIN'S ROOM - NIGHT
Maurice scrambles out from under an infant bed; Brian comes out
from an identical one across the room. One headboard reads
KYLE, the other NATHAN. Maurice hurries to his work.
MAURICE
Here. Hold this.
He puts Kyle into Brian's arms, lifts Nathan out and puts him
over in Kyle's bed. Brian looks worriedly down at Kyle.
Maurice takes Kyle and sets him into Nathan's bed.
Maurice looks from one bed to the other. He wrings his hands
and laughs a fiendish mad-scientist 'Mu-u-uwahhahah' laugh.
INT. HOUSE #3 - TOP OF STAIRS - NIGHT
Maurice carefully positions the roller skate on a step, angling
it just so, sighting along it.
POV - MAURICE, along the skate, through the toe strap. It
centers on a barrel cactus in a tub...then moves across to a
china cabinet. It wavers back toward the cactus--then
decisively fixes on the china cabinet. Target sighted.
Maurice smiles. Brian comes out of the bathroom.
BRIAN
(sinisterly pleased)
I didn't flush it--and left the
seat up.
48.
MAURICE
(claps him on the back)
I like it.
Brian grins at the praise.
EXT. SCHOOL - PLAYGROUND - DAY
Hectic recess activity: running, shouting, ball-dodging. Brian
sits in the shade of the building, away from it all. He pulls
out the sunglasses from Maurice, puts them on.
INT. ALAINE'S HOUSE - KITCHEN - NIGHT
Maurice and Brian pig out. Brian eats the middle of the Oreo
cookie and dumps the chocolate cookie outside back into the jar.
Maurice chows down chocolate cake.
BRIAN
(through cookie)
...want some milk?
--and he opens the refrigerator door. Light spills out and
Maurice drops out of frame with a 'FWUMP.' Brian looks over at
where Maurice last stood--then looks down.
On the floor is the pile of clothes, a cake slice on top.
BRIAN
...sorry.
Brian reaches in and unscrews the fridge light bulb. Maurice is
once again standing there, wiping cake off himself.
MAURICE
(a bit miffed)
Next time wait for me to unplug
it.
He grabs the jug of milk and takes a swig, then passes it to
Brian, who does the same. Maurice upturns the cookie jar,
shakes crumbs onto a paper towel. Brian takes another swig,
emptying the milk jug. He starts throw it away--but Maurice
takes it, recaps it...and puts it back into the refrigerator.
MAURICE
Always, always put the empties
back.
Maurice folds the crumb towel into a little knapsack, leaves.
Brian follows, losing an Oreo from his handful, not noticing.
49.
INT. ALAINE'S ROOM - NIGHT
Brian slips back under the bed. Maurice follows, snapping the
paper towel, raining cookie crumbs onto the girl's sheets.
INT. STEVENSON HOME - KITCHEN - MORNING
Brian, dark rings under his eyes, not real alert, holding his
bookpack, stands just inside the swinging-shut kitchen door.
BRIAN
I missed the bus.
HOLLY
Because you overslept again. I'll
get my car keys.
Brian leans against the doorframe, covers a yawn.
KIDS ON TRIAL - SERIES OF SHOTS
The parents' lines run together like a single lecture, anger
building.
A. An OVAL-FACED KID, seven, an expression of total innocence.
MOM #1 (O.S.)
--And if you thought more about
the consequences before you did
things--
B. A LANKY FIFTH GRADER glowers out from under long greasy
hair.
MOM #2 (O.S.)
--things like this wouldn't
happen. But no--I have a kid
who's an idiot--
C. A RED-HAIRED GIRL, eight, absolutely expressionless, save
for her quick bird-like blinks, regular as a metronome.
DAD #1 (O.S.)
--If I've told you once, I told
you a thousand times: don't leave
your toys where people can break
their necks on 'em--stop that
BLINKING!
D. A DEFENSIVE NINE-YEAR-OLD BOY.
DAD #2 (O.S)
Now just sit there, shut up and
listen. Are you trying to
disappoint us?
The boy starts to answer 'no,' but thinks better of it.
50.
MOM #3 (O.S.)
You don't want people to like you,
do you?
It's a loaded question; the boy starts to say 'yes,' stops; he
frowns, concentrates, trying to dope out the right answer.
DAD #2 (O.S.)
Answer your mother!
E. A GUILTY GIRL, six, sinks down in a straight-back chair.
MOM #4 (O.S.)
Fine. Be that way. But I'm the
parent and you're the kid and
you're going to sit here until
you've decided you're ready to
come out and join the rest of us
and be a decent human being.
Off screen, a door slams with a BANG!
INT. UNDER-THE-BED - HALLWAY - NEAR THE ATTIC STAIRS
A door swings all the way open, flat against the wall. Maurice
comes through, holding a TV remote-control. The door swings
back-- revealing an entry way that wasn't there previously.
Brian comes through with an arm load of socks.
Maurice tosses the remote-control onto a heaping pile of remote-
controls. He pulls another from a pocket, tosses it, pulls
another, tosses, etc., about a dozen in all. Over this:
MAURICE
Did you get 'em?
BRIAN
Yeah.
MAURICE
They don't match?
BRIAN
Of course not.
(rubs the mismatched
socks on his cheek)
Still dryer-soft, too.
To one side is a pulley-system clothesline with socks hanging
from it. Brian pins a sock, pulls the line, pins another; the
sock line goes off into infinity...and comes back from same.
Two monsters pass by, each lugging one end of a grandfather
clock. Maurice grabs Brian by the shirt and hauls him away,
scattering the arm load of socks.
51.
MAURICE
A ballgame! C'mon!
INT. UNDER-THE-BED - MAIN CHAMBER
As Maurice hauls Brian past the clock-carrying monsters (who
wrestle it up upright). There is the unmistakable CRACK of a
bat; Brian dives away from Maurice--
--as a baseball smashes into the grandfather clock, starts it
BONGING.
MAURICE
Yo, Brian! Little help!
Brian stares at the ball in front of his face. He picks up the
ball, rises, and sees:
ANOTHER ANGLE - MAIN STAIRWELL
currently in-use as the playing field for a game of indoor
Monster Baseball. There are monster 'fielders': Mary Jane
crouches on an endtable, punches her glove, chatters ('C'mon
batter c'mon batter SWING!'); a fat one is in right, PORSCHE
sunglasses on, a boom-box blaring rave-up rock'n'roll.
All over the playing field are various breakable objects--
lamps, vases, aquariums, television sets, Baccarat crystal,
objects d'art, etc. Home plate is a china serving dish.
Maurice swings two bats--smashing a lamp behind him in the
process. He tosses one bat away--another crash off screen.
Striding toward Brian is SPIKE, a stocky monster in a black
chest protector and protective mask. He flips the mask up.
SPIKE
Give me that, and git. No
spectators on the field.
Spike jerks his thumb toward the stairs, where a raucous group
of fans throw beer cans and popcorn boxes at him.
SPIKE
All right. Imaginary runners on
second and third. Still two out,
no score, top of the third.
Brian watches the game as he wanders around past the fans.
Spike passes the mound, tosses the ball to the pitcher, a
monster wearing OVERALLS, who winds up. Spike, still on his way
to the plate, drops to the ground--the ball whizzes past where
his head was. Maurice line-drives it into a stack stereo
system, toppling it. From his prone position:
52.
SPIKE
That's a triple. Two runs score.
The BLEACHER BUMS think its a homer, and let him know. Maurice
taps his bat lightly on home plate, shattering it. Spike steps
up, brushes the fragments away with a whisk broom, puts down
another plate.
Out on the field, two groundskeeper monsters hurriedly drag away
the stereo, replacing it with a place glass window.
Brian smiles, but shakes his head, not that interested. He
looks up the stairs, up to the door far above. He puts a hand
on the bannister.
INT. UNDER-THE-BED - MAIN STAIRWAY
High above the baseball game. Brian looks down, then up at the
door, keeps climbing.
INT. UNDER-THE-BED - MAIN STAIRWELL
A line drive rips toward Maurice. He raises a sterling silver
tray into its path. The ball PWHANGS into the tray, denting it;
the ball drops; Maurice catches it with his cap.
MAURICE
Sen-say-tion-al play! Oh, my!
He bows with a flourish. Turns proudly toward the stands,
searches, but can't find Brian.
SPIKE (O.S.)
Okay, batter up! C'mon, we gotta
get this stuff upside in an hour!
Maurice finally spots Brian's figure, climbing up near the
ruined section of landings.
MAURICE
Oh, shit!
He dashes for the stairs, ignoring the protests behind him.
INT. UNDER-THE-BED - MAIN STAIRCASE - LANDING
Brian picks his way up the ruined steps. The shadows here are
deeper, more enveloping. He pulls the flashlight out of his
back pocket, turns it on. He puts a foot on the next step--
A huge yellowish arm, muscles bunching on top of muscles, snaps
down over his shoulder, tears the flashlight out of Brian's
hand. The light clicks off.
>From the shadows comes a voice like razor-sharp icicles.
53.
VOICE
Bye-bye, Sunshine.
A shape looms; a huge hand grabs Brian by the head, and lifts
him out over the banister, the endless drop below him.
Brian grabs the thick wrist with both hands. His feet scramble
for purchase but find none.
MAURICE (O.S.)
He's with me, Snik!
And Maurice is there, defiant and wary. SNIK, one menacing
yellow eye much larger than the other, light glinting crazily
off them both, glares down at the smaller monster.
Snik holds Brian without strain--or a whole lot of concern for
Brian's life. He has the teeth of a shark; he is hunched over
from the weight of his muscled back and shoulders.
MAURICE
He's the new guy.
Snik looks at Brian. His brow furrows. He looks at Maurice.
SNIK
(indicates the stairs)
Rules broken.
(indicates Brian)
Neck broken.
Maurice hops onto the banister, keeps his voice low so Brian
(trying to swing a leg over Snik's arm) won't hear.
MAURICE
Headless people have limited
potential, Snik. He's with me.
(Snik no comprende)
The boss okayed it. Remember?
Bri-an Ste-ven-son?
Snik's eyes widen a little; his gaze flickers towards the upper
doors. Understanding floods his face.
SNIK
Ah...this is the one?
Maurice gives Snik a dirty look, snaps a finger to his lips.
Snik lifts Brian back over the banister--but doesn't set him
down. Snik's thumb and forefinger cover Brian's ears.
SNIK
Too much for you, Maurice? Need
some help, I think.
MAURICE
No, Snik. I'll take care of him.
54.
SNIK
You'd better.
Snik drops Brian to the floor. Maurice helps him to his feet,
then practically pushes him down the stairs. Snik clears his
throat for attention. Maurice and Brian give it to him.
Snik holds up the flashlight. He unscrews the end, drops the
batteries into his hand. He grins, not straining as he crushes
the batteries, the acid dripping down his arm. He throws the
flashlight and endcap at Brian, who picks them up.
SNIK
Don't bring it again. Brian.
(displays the batteries)
Or head be next--Brian.
Maurice shoves Brian around, downstairs, watching Snik. Snik is
pleased with himself.
ANGLE - UPPERMOST DOORS,
high above this tableau. The doors are split; a dark shape,
backlit by flickering light, hunches within, watching.
INT. UNDER-THE-BED - MAIN STAIRCASE
Maurice trundles Brian back toward the archway. Brian jerks out
of his grasp. He is a little angry, mostly terrified.
BRIAN
Who was that guy? He was going to
kill me!
MAURICE
(shaking out a
cigarette, finding
matches)
Who? Snik? Naaww! He's all talk--
and big hands. He's just grumpy--
and dopey... and Sneezy, too, when
the pollen count is high.
Actually...he just got up on the
wrong side of the bed.
(lights cigarette,
looking toward the bed-
shadows)
'Course, down here, we all do.
Brian gives a small, pained smile. Maurice seizes on this: With
a hearty laugh, he claps Brian on the back-- throws a quick,
worried/relieved and unseen-by-Brian look back up the stairs--
and guides Brian away.
ANGLE - UPPERMOST DOORS
The shape draws back into the shadows. The doors BOOM shut--
55.
INT. THE BEDROOM - NIGHT
--and as the BOOM trails away, Eric's eyes open. He looks to
his window: the wind has picked up--thunder BOOMS again. Tree
branches rattle against the pane.
Eric's eyes take in the room warily.
INT. ATTIC ROOM - NIGHT
Eric slowly emerges from the stairwell, pauses at the top.
ERIC
...Brian..?
No answer. He takes a few tentative steps into the room.
ERIC
...Brian? Can I have the
flashlight?
He moves to the bed, reaches a hand toward the lump under the
covers. He jabs the covers. He shakes the covers. He pulls
them, revealing Brian's pillows, shaped into a sleeping form.
Eric looks very worried.
EXT. SCHOOL - LUNCH TABLES - DAY
Kiersten is eating lunch with ALAINE, a dark-haired girl with
big eyes. Brian, pale and worried, wearing sunglasses, steps
forward from out of the shadows.
BRIAN
Kiersten! I gotta have the
answers to the homework.
KIERSTEN
No way, Jose.
She gives the sunglasses a perplexed, unimpressed look. Brian
pulls them off. He squints at the sunlight.
BRIAN
Mr. Finn said if I get another
'F,' he's going to call my folks.
C'mon-- just let me borrow the
key.
Kiersten shakes her head.
BRIAN
Mr. Finn'll never find out you
were stealing answers.
56.
KIERSTEN
I wasn't stealing answers.
BRIAN
I'll tell Mr. Finn I saw you
stealing answers.
ALAINE
(sarcastic)
Oh, like Mr. Finn'll believe you
over Kiersten.
Brian looks at the two of them. He puts on the shades.
BRIAN
Forget it.
He walks back into the shadows. Kiersten catches up to him.
KIERSTEN
Brian--are you feeling okay? You
look like you need some sleep.
BRIAN
Don't need sleep. I need answers.
KIERSTEN
Listen, Brian--I'm not going to
cheat for you...but if you want
to, I'll help you study.
Brian turns away.
BRIAN
I don't need anyone's help.
INT. STEVENSON HOME - ATTIC ROOM - DAY
The window. Eric's face appears in it; he scans the room.
Brian lays on the bed, asleep. Eric's eyes widen.
EXT. STEVENSON HOME - DAY
Eric drops the last few feet from the tree beside the house.
Todd kicks the tree trunk with his shoes, alternating feet.
TODD
What's he doing?
ERIC
Sleeping.
TODD
Oh. Boring.
57.
ERIC
It was your idea to run a
surveillance.
TODD
How else do we find out what he's
up to?
ERIC
Well, we could ask him.
TODD
(not hearing him)
Maybe he's sleeping off a bad
bottle of rotgut.
(nodding)
Drunks do that.
Eric starts around the house to the back door. Todd follows.
ERIC
He's not a drunk. He's been at
school all day. When would he
drink?
TODD
Haven't you seen the commercials?
Where the kid pours the stuff into
a thermos?
ERIC
Brian doesn't have a thermos.
Eric heads inside. Todd gets an idea.
TODD
Eric!
(Eric stops at the door)
I know what it is!
ERIC
What?
TODD
(he checks for
listeners)
Drugs.
ERIC
(beat)
Get real.
He turns, lets the door swing shut behind him. Todd comes out
of his musing in time to catch it and follow Eric inside.
TODD
Facts, Eric--look at the facts...
58.
INT. STEVENSON HOME - ATTIC ROOM - NIGHT
Brian works alone at his desk. He twists on the gold back of
his pocketwatch, turns the watch over. The crystal is gone, and
the sweep second hand is bent, but the watch runs. The glaring
Man-in-the-Moon face fills the wedge.
Brian makes an 'Oh, yeah!' gesture, hops up, grinning.
INT. HALLWAY
Brian heads for his parents room, puts his hand on the knob--
halts in his tracks.
GLEN (O.S.)
--so we should have just sold the
house. Is that it? Use the money
to buy something half the size in
a worse area.
HOLLY (O.S.)
At least it would have been our
house! But you wanted to live in
your boyhood home--
GLEN (O.S.)
We decided to move here-- you were
pretty thrilled when dad died and
left us the house--
Brian spins away from the door.
INT. ATTIC ROOM - NIGHT
Brian shuts off the overhead light. He shuts off the light on
the night table. A match scratches to life. Brian lights a
candle. He sits on the bed in the soft glow, turning the watch
over and over in his hands, waiting for Maurice.
INT. KIERSTEN'S ROOM - NIGHT
Kiersten looks angelic as she sleeps. Brian and Maurice slip
out from under the bed like mechanics on crawlers.
BRIAN
Hey! That's Kiersten--
From outside comes the sudden sound of a small dog YAPPING. The
two jump. They relax when nothing else happens.
MAURICE
I don't think everyone heard--why
don't you just call 911?
Brian ignores him; he cannot take his eyes off Kiersten.
59.
MAURICE
So what's this Kiersten chick
like?
(Brian doesn't answer)
Hey!
(Brian tears his eyes
away)
So what's she like?
BRIAN
(offhandedly)
She's a girl. She's real smart.
She always knows the answer,
always raises her hand--
MAURICE
--always has her homework done?
BRIAN
Yeah...always. Thinks she's so
much smarter than everybody else.
Maurice grins, rummages through the desk top. He finds a
peechee, finished homework inside.
MAURICE
Check out this action.
Maurice pulls at his jaws with both hands, hard, straining-- and
his face elongates. Brian stares, shocked. Gradually,
painfully, he molds the lower half of his face into the muzzle
of a dog.
Growling and yapping, Maurice chews up the homework. He finds
Kiersten's Polaroid flip-book, flips through it, dunks it into
a fish tank on her bookshelf. Maurice grins, then notices the
plywood box in one corner.
MAURICE
What the hell is that?
BRIAN
Her science project.
MAURICE
Yeah?
Maurice swings open the door, draws back the curtain-- light
pours out--he leaps away with a shriek, dropping the curtain.
Maurice looks down at his hand. It is shadow-like, slowly
reverting to normal. Brian has seen all of this.
BRIAN
Are you okay?
Maurice, royally pissed off, strides to the box, fumbles around
behind it, yanks out the plug. He leans into the box.
60.
Brian looks away from him, back at Kiersten. A beat, and an off-
screen maleficent chuckle from Maurice, and then Maurice is back
at Brian's side. He grabs his arm.
MAURICE
C'mon, c'mon, let's go, we've all
seen a girl before. Let's move
it.
BRIAN
What'd you do?
MAURICE
You'll find out, you'll love it,
c'mon, let's go.
He hustles Brian under the bed. Maurice pauses to look at
Kiersten himself. He makes a 'not bad' expression, then goes.
INT. SCIENCE CLASSROOM - DAY
Brian breezes through the door...then slows. At one of the lab
tables are MR. FINN, Kiersten, several other students.
Brian looks closer. On the table is Kiersten's plant-box and
the night-blooming cereus--now planted upside down, the roots
sticking out. Kiersten holds the flip-book.
KIERSTEN
But I have this--you can see how
it used to look--
She tries to riffle it, but it is now a solid brick. It flips
out of her hand. Kids giggle.
MR. FINN
Do you at least have your report?
KIERSTEN
(very sad)
...no.
(beat)
I did it, but my dog chewed it up.
Mr. Finn frowns at her.
RONNIE
Oh, right!
Some of the students laugh.
MR. FINN
Kiersten, you know no report means
a zero.
Brian hangs his head, turns away slowly; there is no joy in his
expression at all.
61.
RONNIE (O.S.)
Ooooooh...busted!
INT. STEVENSON HOUSE - ATTIC ROOM - DAY
Todd is under the worktable. Eric crouches, trying to see.
ERIC
What is it? What're you doing?
Todd backs out from under the worktable holding a dinosaur book
and a calculator.
TODD
The monster from under the bed!
It's dragging Brian away at night.
Look.
Eric inspects Todd's discovery. It is a fourteen inch-long dust-
ball smear that could be anything from a fish to--
TODD
It's a footprINT. It stepped in
all that dust under there and left
a track.
(beat)
I'm figuring out how big it is.
By measuring the length of the
footprint and the impression
depth, then using the...
(checks book)
...'cube square' law--
ERIC
How big is it?
TODD
(calculating the final
number)
It's a seven-foot-eight, three
hundred-and-seventeen pound Troll.
Eric stares at him.
ERIC
...and it fits under the bed?
Todd looks at the display. New calculations may be in order.
INT. STEVENSON HOME - DINING ROOM - EVENING
Brian is the last to the table, and late--the others have
started to dig in. As he sits, Holly gets a good look at him.
62.
HOLLY,
Honey, you look...
(the word escapes her)
Are you okay?
She reaches over, feels his forehead. Brian shies away, starts
to pile food onto his plate.
BRIAN
I'm fine.
HOLLY
(she examines him
critically)
You're thin as a rail. You need
to eat more.
Eric frowns at Brian's overflowing plate.
HOLLY
You look...peaked.
GLEN
'Peaked.' What is 'peaked'?
HOLLY
My mother used to say it-- and he
looks it.
BRIAN
Need a plate for my salad.
He scoots his chair back from the table, heads for the kitchen.
GLEN
Is that a new shirt?
Brian looks down at it.
BRIAN
No.
GLEN
It looks big on you.
Brian looks down at it, shrugs, heads into
INT. STEVENSON HOME - KITCHEN - EVENING
Brian opens a cupboard, reaches for a plate--and can't reach the
shelf. He is puzzled. He reaches up, slower-- his fingers are
an inch short of the plates. He goes up on tip-toe and touches
them. He lowers himself off tip-toe, looking worried.
63.
INT. ATTIC ROOM
Brian rummages through his dresser. He pulls out a ruler.
INT. ENTRY WAY - CLOSET
Brian runs his finger up the family growth chart, finds the mark
for his twelfth birthday. He turns, stands with his back
against the door. He levels the ruler on top of his head.
Holding it steady, he slips out from beneath it to look.
The ruler is a full inch below where it was on his last
birthday. Brian stares unbelieving at the chart.
INT. ATTIC ROOM - NIGHT
Brian paces the room, waiting. He crouches beside the bed,
leans forward and extends a hand toward the shadow-- and the
hand goes through. He yanks it back like its been scalded.
Brian examines his hand wonderingly. He regards the shadow,
then again extends his hand toward it. The hand passes through,
and Brian keeps putting his arm in, up to the elbow. Suddenly,
his arm is jerked and his face hits the mattress.
Brian wrenches his arm out, dragging Maurice, who is gripping
Brian's wrist, part-way out through the shadow. Maurice pulls
again, and this time Brian goes into the shadow.
INT. UNDER-THE-BED - ATTIC STAIRS
--as Brian and Maurice catch themselves halfway down the stairs.
Brian is a little amazed, but Maurice is ebullient.
MAURICE
A natural! A one-hundred percent,
no holds-barred, died-in-the-wool,
no-assembly-required natural! I
knew you had it in you.
Brian looks at him, realization coming slowly to him.
BRIAN
...what?
MAURICE
What do you think? Geez, I
thought I caught on quick-- but
you! You're already moving
through shadows!
BRIAN
No, I'm not--you pulled me
through.
64.
MAURICE
What's this false modesty? You
put your hand through all on your
own.
(he salutes)
Brian...It is an honor to have you
on our side. Now-- let's go.
He scampers down to the bottom of the stairs.
BRIAN
Hold it!
Maurice looks back up at Brian, halfway down the stairs, the
shadow exit visible above him.
MAURICE
What?
BRIAN
(accusingly)
You used to be normal? I'm going
to end up like you?
MAURICE
Well, normal's a relative term,
but...Yeah. Where do you think
monsters come from? Ugly storks?
No-- they were all kids once, just
like you--and me.
The full weight of this hits Brian.
BRIAN
I'm turning into a monster.
MAURICE
Bitchin', huh?
Brian springs toward the top of the stairs.
MAURICE
Hey! Where you going?
Brian stops. He looks angrily down at Maurice.
BRIAN
You should've told me, Maurice!
I thought you were my friend.
MAURICE
...slipped my mind. Okay--
listen. You're upset. That's
understandable. I remember when
I found out.
(more)
65.
MAURICE (Cont'd)
I went totally batshit. But--look
where I am today.
(beat)
Take some time, Bri. Think about
it.
Brian turns away from his words--looks up at the shadow. He
swallows, extends his hand. It goes through.
MAURICE
If you want to talk it over,
well...
(significantly)
--just drop in anytime.
Brian glares down at him, then spins--and is gone.
MAURICE
(calling after him)
After all, what are friends for?
Maurice folds his arms, slumps back against the wall. Smiles.
INT. ATTIC ROOM
Brian lies in bed fuming, his arms crossed. He stares angrily
up at the ceiling. With a decisive jerk, he rolls over, away
from the under-the-bed, toward the wall.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. STEVENSON HOME - ATTIC ROOM - NIGHT
Brian has fallen asleep. He is shaken by the shoulder. He
pulls his covers around him. The gentle shaking continues.
GLEN
C'mon, Brian. Wake up.
Brian sits up sleepily. Glen leans over him. Eric, in his
pajamas, stands in the stairwell, leaning on a railing.
INT. DINING ROOM
Holly sits at the table. Brian warily takes his seat. Glen and
Eric are already sitting, Eric still yawning.
Holly reaches across the table and squeezes Eric's hand.
HOLLY
We wanted to talk to you two
because...your father and I have
come to a decision, and it affects
all of us.
66.
GLEN
We feel you're grown up enough to
understand it.
Brian is immediately suspicious. Eric looks suddenly worried.
HOLLY
Your father and I have decided to
separate for a while.
Brian's face is frozen--but his eyes show understanding.
ERIC
(a little foggy)
A business trip?
HOLLY
Not exactly--
BRIAN
No. Can't you see? They're
getting a divorce.
Eric looks away from him quickly, to his mother.
HOLLY
No, we're not getting a divorce.
We're going to try to work things
out, but we have to be apart for
a while. It's just a trial
separation.
BRIAN
It's what you do before you get a
divorce.
GLEN
Enough of that, Brian.
HOLLY
We're not getting a divorce.
ERIC
(relieved)
So Dad's not leaving. Good.
GLEN
Eric, listen to me. I'm going to
live in the city for a while. It
might--I hope--we hope it won't be
for long.
ERIC
You don't have to go.
67.
GLEN
Yes, Eric. I do. And it would be
a big help if I knew I could count
on the two of you to understand--
ERIC
I'll be good! I promise I'll be
better-- you won't have to go live
in the city. I swear to God, I'll
be better. Brian too-- he'll stop
being bad, he promises. Right?
Promise, Brian!
Brian looks away, ignoring Eric.
ERIC
Brian--promise.
HOLLY
Eric, it's not your fault, or
Brian's fault--or anybody's fault.
Sometimes two people--
ERIC
(to Brian)
This is your fault!
Brian pushes his chair back, stands, heads for the stairs.
HOLLY
Brian--it's not your fault--
GLEN
Are you all right, Brian?
Brian turns back, no emotion in his eyes for his crying brother,
his mother, his father.
BRIAN
Sure, dad. Don't worry about me.
I'll be fine.
Glen gives Brian a hard look, nods. Brian turns away.
INT. ATTIC ROOM - NIGHT
Brian puts his watch-care paraphernalia into his bookbag,
including the watchstand. He crouches by the bed, puts one hand
into the shadow--still amazed he can do it.
He takes a last look around--and the mask cracks. For a moment,
he looks as if he is going to cry. The look becomes one of
determination; he slips under the bed, and is gone.
68.
INT. UNDER-THE-BED - HALLWAY
Seven monsters play what looks like a street craps game.
Cigarette smoke fills the air; Maurice kneels for his turn;
monsters chatter for or against him, depending on their bets.
Maurice fires into the chalk circle, nailing the aimed-at cat's
eye. The monsters groan and cheer; money changes hands. Brian
appears in the doorway, spreads his arms wide.
BRIAN
You got me!
Maurice leaps up and lets out a WHOOP--
INT. UNDER-THE-BED - HALLWAY
Maurice and Brian make slow progress as a drunken two person
conga line. Maurice wears a beerhelmet, sucking from the
plastic straw that hangs near his head.
Brian carries a teddybear and a plastic bag filled with water
and two live goldfish. In the other hand he carries a beer.
BRIAN
Hey! Let's go scare Ronnie some
more!
MAURICE
Yeah! Let's steal all his clothes
so he'll have to go to school
naked!
BRIAN
Yeah! Let's nail all his
furniture to the ceiling! So
he'll wake up upside-down!
MAURICE
Yeah!
INT. RONNIE'S ROOM - NIGHT
The pair appear beneath Ronnie's bed. Maurice scrambles out--
and a baseball bat slams down dangerously close to his head.
MAURICE
Wow!
Ronnie, crouched on his bed, takes another cut at Maurice--
--who squirms, barely avoids the blow, grabs Brian--
69.
INT. UNDER-THE-BED - RONNIE'S STAIRS
The two tumble down, THUDDING to the floor in a tangle.
MAURICE
We...we gotta go get him!
BRIAN
(inspired)
No. Let's--not.
Maurice considers this, then grins. The two sit in the hall,
snickers turning to belly laughs.
INT. RONNIE'S ROOM - NIGHT
Ronnie crouches on the bed, tense, a baseball bat held at ready
in each hand, prepared to wait all night. He cocks his head.
From far away, is that the sound of laughter?
INT. UNDER-THE-BED - HALLWAY
Brian and Maurice, still chuckling, use each other for support
as they struggle to their feet. Spike barrels around the
corner, red-faced--he stops right in their faces.
SPIKE
(winded)
Night light...at
Guberman's...burned out...party!
He rockets off. Maurice grabs Brian by the shoulders.
MAURICE
The nightlight at the Guberman's
is burned out! PARTY!
INT. UNDER-THE-BED - STAIRS TO NURSERY
A queue of monsters, fidgeting, anticipating, goes up the stairs
to the shadow. Maurice escorts Brian through.
MAURICE
Coming through! New guy! Excuse
me, pardon me, coming through!
(aside, to Brian)
Stick with me kid--I know the
doorman.
(back to business)
Get out of the way! Yeah, you!
70.
INT. NURSERY - NIGHT
A baby in Dr. Dentons sleeps. Six monsters stand around the
crib-- a macabre variation on adults cooing over a newborn.
Maurice rises up from beneath the crib. Brian appears over
Maurice's shoulder, grinning--until he sees the baby. Maurice
gestures magnanimously.
MAURICE
After you, Brian.
BRIAN
Uh...it's just a baby.
Maurice looks uncomfortably at the other monsters, who exchange
looks. A murmur of 'who's the wimp?' is heard.
MAURICE
Yeah. So? Look, Bri--we can't
have this new generation growing
up not believing in monsters.
Fear is an important character
builder. It's our duty: break 'em
when they're young.
BRIAN
Hey! Let's go watch Kiersten
sleep!
MAURICE
(out of the corner of
his mouth)
Brian, you're embarrassing me.
(louder)
G'head, Bri--just give it a good
scare.
He glowers at Brian, then gestures sharply, prompting him.
Brian leans forward hesitantly. The monsters lean forward,
anticipating. Brian wiggles his fingers at the baby.
BRIAN
Boo. Boo.
The monsters are disappointed. Some 'tsk.'
MAURICE
What are you--the toothfairy?
Like this.
Maurice makes a horrible face, climbs halfway into the crib,
waking the baby with really gross slurping sounds.
The baby's eyes go wide; he cries. The other monsters join in.
The kid really bawls. Brian doesn't like it.
71.
BRIAN
Stop it!
(yanks Maurice back)
Cut it out!
The monsters stare at him, their disgust and anger becoming
palpable. Brian spins, runs to the door--
MAURICE
Brian--
--and yanks it open. LIGHT spills into the room from the
hallway-- the monsters transform--
And so does Brian's arm--it transforms into a sleeve.
Brian stares in horror at his arm. He hurls himself at the hall
light switch, shuts it off, runs.
EXT. RESIDENTIAL STREET - NEAR DAWN
Brian rushes out the door of the house, to the sidewalk-- then
slows. Stops. He has no idea where he is. He looks around,
spots a street sign. He gets his bearings, turns, and walks
away, a tiny lone figure on a long empty street.
EXT. STREET - NEAR STEVENSON HOME - DAWN
The sun breaks the horizon. Brian, terrified, looks at his arms--
but they do not change. He lets out a deep breath. He squints
at the sun, pulls out his sunglasses...looks at them. He tosses
them into the gutter, where one lens shatters.
INT. STEVENSON HOME - ERIC'S ROOM - DAY
Eric, dressed, lies across the bed, head hanging off, eyes
closed. Todd bursts in, rushes over to him.
TODD
(excited; low)
I figured it out. I know what the
monster is doing with Brian.
Eric gives no response; Todd plows on.
TODD
It's a body snatcher. See, it's
taking over Brian and using his
body to prepare the way for the
invasion force!
72.
ERIC
(beat)
I don't feel like playing, Todd.
I don't feel good. I'll see you
tomorrow.
TODD
But--
ERIC
Tomorrow, okay?
Eric turns his head away. Todd looks at him, crestfallen. He
leaves slowly, watching Eric the whole way.
INT. ATTIC ROOM - NIGHT
Brian sits on his bed, light switch in hand. He checks over the
side of the bed; nothing. He pulls his knees up, waits.
Wraith-like, Maurice slips into the room. He stands with his
fists on his hips, staring at Brian--who starts, looks up.
BRIAN
I'm not going. I don't want to
live down there. I don't want to
be--
(beat)
I'm not going.
MAURICE
You don't want to be what? Go
ahead, say it. You don't want to
be like me.
BRIAN
I am not going.
(he looks away)
You didn't want me to be your
friend. You just wanted me to
turn into a monster.
MAURICE
(not liking the
accusation, 'cause it's
pretty accurate)
Can't make somebody do something
they really don't wanna do. Now,
c'mon--
Maurice grabs Brian by the arm; Brian pulls away. He grabs the
light switch. Maurice leaps for his arm--Brian snaps on the
lights, and Maurice transforms into clothes.
Brian catches his breath. He reaches into the clothes, ignoring
the slapping sleeves. Brian's hand emerges from the pocket of
the robe with Maurice's matches. The sleeves freeze, drop.
73.
Brian tears a match from the packet. He holds it to the
striking surface.
BRIAN
Leave me alone. Don't come back
here. Do you understand?
(no answer)
Do you understand?
Silence. Brian strikes the match. The clothes shrink back.
BRIAN
Don't make me do this. Just
promise to leave me alone.
MAURICE
(a long pause) (muffled)
I promise.
BRIAN
...okay.
He shuts off the lights. The match illumines his face; Maurice
re-forms, and moves toward Brian.
MAURICE
(with a sneer)
You trusted me?
BRIAN
Yes.
Maurice, about to mock him, pulls up short.
MAURICE
(shakes his head sadly)
It's not that easy.
Ducking his head, he dives past Brian into the under-the-bed.
The match burns down; Brian drops it; the room goes black.
INT. ERIC'S ROOM - NIGHT
A hand covers Eric's mouth gently. He snaps awake, cries out.
BRIAN
(removing his hand)
Shh--quiet.
ERIC
Geez--I thought you were the
monster.
Brian swallows this without comment. He holds the flashlight.
74.
BRIAN
Here, take this. If you hear
anything, turn it on-- and yell--
even if it's only a pile of
clothes. Especially if it's a
pile of clothes. Okay?
ERIC
No. I'm not going to. You're
trying to scare me again.
BRIAN
No--I'm not--
ERIC
I promised to be good. I'm not
going to have any more nightmares.
Eric won't take the flashlight. Brian sets it on the bed. He
pauses in the doorway, turns on the lights, and then he goes.
Eric gets out of bed, and shuts off the lights. He climbs back
under the covers. He picks up the flashlight. He clicks it on,
off, on again. Dead batteries. No light.
ERIC
Thanks a lot, Brian.
He drops the flashlight beside the bed, rolls over angrily.
INT. UNDER-THE-BED - HALLWAY
Maurice backs away from Snik, who looms over him.
SNIK
You did bad, Maurice. Bad for
morale. If he rabbits, others
will, too.
(beat)
Time to take your medicine.
MAURICE
I told the Boss how to get him--
SNIK
Boss'll get him; yes, always gets
'em. But you shouldn't have lost
him.
Snik steps forward, light dancing off his eyes.
INT. ATTIC ROOM - NIGHT - LATER
HOLD ON: Brian sleeping--and then Holly is shaking him awake.
75.
HOLLY
Eric's gone--
Brian, startled awake, snaps on the lights. Holly pauses, takes
it in, puzzled--but dismisses it for larger concerns.
HOLLY
Your brother's gone. I went to
check on him--Do you have any idea
where he is?
Brian shakes his head slowly. She looks down, worried,
thinking. She stands up suddenly, heads out of the room.
HOLLY
Todd's house. Maybe he's there.
(halts at the stairs)
My God--Glen. You don't think
he'd try to go there, do you?
Brian shakes his head again. Holly hurries down the stairs,
leaving Brian alone in the room. He leaps from the bed.
INT. ERIC'S ROOM - NIGHT
Brian surveys the room. The dresser has been pulled away from
the wall, two of its drawers almost all the way out. The
mattress is askew on the box spring, the sheets strewn on the
floor. The overall effect is one of fast packing--or a fight.
Brian picks up the blanket--it is ripped in several places.
BRIAN
Maurice.
Something catches his eye. He kneels--
ANGLE - BENEATH THE BED, where the crushed flashlight lies on
the edge of the shadow.
BRIAN
Snik.
EXT. STEVENSON HOME - NIGHT
Brian drops from the tree near his window, bookpack on one
shoulder. He races down the sideyard, disappears.
EXT. TODD'S HOUSE - REAR - NIGHT
CLOSE ON: Brian, as he crouches beneath a window. He reaches
up, taps on the glass, waits. Nothing. He taps again, harder.
76.
TODD (O.S.)
(muffled)
Go away, Eric. I'm already in
trouble.
Brian taps again. The window slides open.
TODD (O.S)
If my mom catches me sneaking out--
HEY!
Brian springs, lifts Todd bodily out through the window.
EXT. TRAIN TRACKS - NIGHT
Todd sits on a tie, very suspicious of Brian.
TODD
There really are monsters under
the bed.
BRIAN
Yes.
TODD
And they've got Eric.
BRIAN
Yes.
TODD
(looks closely at Brian)
Have you been doing drugs?
BRIAN
No. Christ, Todd--you gotta
believe me. I mean...you always
believe everything!
Brian is exasperated. Reluctantly, he tries one last gambit:
BRIAN
I know why you're in trouble.
Your mom found a Playboy in your
underwear drawer. The Christmas
issue--there was a girl on the
cover painted like a candy cane.
TODD
How'd you know that?
BRIAN
(ashamed)
Because I put it there.
Brian turns away. Todd stares at him, shocked.
77.
TODD
You're telling the truth.
Brian spins, spreads his arms for emphasis:
BRIAN
Yes!
TODD
At least I didn't lie to my mom.
I told her I got the magazine from
you.
Brian smiles, a sad smile. He holds the bookpack out to Todd.
BRIAN
Here. You're going to need these.
Todd takes the bookpack warily. He looks inside. He near-
reverently takes out a pair of old sneakers.
BRIAN
They're an old pair of mine. They
should fit okay.
Todd looks up at him. A slow smile spreads across his face.
TODD
What's our plan?
INT. KIERSTEN'S ROOM - NIGHT
The blankets are tented, lit from inside. A pebble ricochets
off the window. Kiersten pops out of the blankets, startled,
holding a penlight and a paperback copy of SALEM'S LOT.
Another pebble hits. Cautiously, she moves to the window.
EXT. KIERSTEN'S HOUSE - NIGHT
As Kiersten's head darts into view through the window, darts
back. A beat. She looks back out. She raises the window.
Brian stands there, looking up at her.
BRIAN
Hi, Kiersten.
KIERSTEN
What are you doing here?
BRIAN
Uh...I need some help.
KIERSTEN
Now?
78.
Todd appears out of the shadows, drops a large, heavy rucksack
onto the ground.
TODD
It's crucial. The monsters from
under the bed have captured Eric.
We have to save him!
Brian flinches at the sound of the window slamming shut.He looks
over, angry and exasperated, at Todd.
INT. KIERSTEN'S ROOM - NIGHT
Kiersten goes back to her bed. A pebble hits the glass. She
ignores it. Another hits. A beat. Pebbles hit the glass in a
staccato series. Kiersten jumps to the window, raises it.
KIERSTEN
Go away!
EXT. KIERSTEN'S HOUSE - NIGHT
Brian tosses away the pebble in his hand, drops the huge
collection of pebbles he had pouched in his shirt. Todd sits
far off to one side, on the rucksack, dejected.
BRIAN
Todd told you the truth.
KIERSTEN
You expect me to believe that?
TODD
I believed it.
KIERSTEN
That I believe.
She moves to close the window.
BRIAN
Wait! What if I prove it's true?
KIERSTEN
Monsters under the bed? Fat
chance.
BRIAN
If I prove it--then will you help?
Kiersten wavers, considering. That is all Brian needs.
79.
BRIAN
I'll prove it.
(to Todd)
We'll have to split up. You know
what to do?
TODD
No problem.
Brian nods, spins, races from the yard. Todd lifts the
rucksack, slinging it over one shoulder--the rucksack
overbalances him, pulling him over.
Kiersten shakes her head, slides the window shut.
EXT. RESIDENTIAL STREET - NIGHT
Todd, the rucksack heavy on his back, peers out from behind a
parked car. He breaks cover, sprints across the street to a
tree, spins to put his back to the trunk--the momentum of the
sack slams it into the tree; jarred, he sinks to the ground.
INT. KIERSTEN'S ROOM - NIGHT
Kiersten, moving sneakily, comes in from the hall, penlight on,
eating an apple.
BRIAN (O.S.)
(a cautious whisper)
Kiersten!
Kiersten freezes, apple in her mouth. Her eyes go wide, her jaw
goes slack--Brian's head is now sitting beneath her bed. The
penlight, then the apple, thump to the ground.
Brian scrambles out, bookpack over his shoulder.
BRIAN
Well? Do you believe me?
Kiersten stares...feels around for her desk chair...sits down
slowly, still staring.
KIERSTEN
Holy shit.
EXT. SCHOOL - FENCE - NIGHT
Todd drags the heavy canvas bag, all attempt at subterfuge
abandoned. He reaches the high fence and groans. He lifts the
bag...jerks it up onto his shoulder...it tilts away from the
fence. Todd leaps out from under it as it falls.
80.
INT. KIERSTEN'S ROOM - NIGHT
Kiersten sips shakily from a glass of water, eyes still wide.
Brian sits on her bed, checking his equipment from his bookbag:
six different flashlights, including a 4-cell.
BRIAN
You okay now?
A pause, then Kiersten gives a single quick bird-like nod.
BRIAN
Good. Okay--what I need is that
light you were using for your
science project.
KIERSTEN
The fifty-six hundred K?
BRIAN
Huh?
KIERSTEN
Fifty-six hundred K. It's the
same color temperature as sunlight--
BRIAN
Yes. Perfect.
(he checks his
pocketwatch)
So can I have the key? Sunrise is
at six. I gotta get going.
Kiersten picks up her bookpack, dumps the contents out.
KIERSTEN
I'm going with you.
(Brian is shocked)
Give me some of those flashlights.
BRIAN
No! Forget it.
KIERSTEN
(holding up the
penlight)
You're not going to make me go
down there with just this?
BRIAN
But--It's dangerous down there!
There are monsters down there.
KIERSTEN
...and you're going to take them
all on by yourself? Get real,
Brian.
81.
BRIAN
(suspicious)
You'll really help me?
KIERSTEN
I believe you.
A beat. Solemnly, Brian trades the 4-cell for the penlight.
KIERSTEN
Now, turn around so I can get
dressed.
Brian blinks, then turns. CLOSE ON his face as he listens,
nervous and curious, to the rustling O.S.
EXT. SCHOOL - FENCE - NIGHT
The rucksack is hung up at the top of the fence. Todd, on the
other side, his feet braced on the chainlink, hangs on the
strap, straining to pull the rucksack over. It goes suddenly,
and Todd and the rucksack hit the ground--again.
INT. KIERSTEN'S ROOM - NIGHT
Brian checks his pocketwatch. The Man-in-the-Moon glares out.
BRIAN
Todd should be ready. Let's go.
He hands Kiersten her bookpack, shoulders into his own with an
audible grunt of effort. He climbs into the shadow.
KIERSTEN
This is where I start getting...
(she shudders)
BRIAN
Look--you don't have to go. It's
okay. Just give me the key.
Kiersten examines this escape clause.
KIERSTEN
No...I promised.
(beat)
Besides--I gotta make sure you
don't steal answers.
Her shaky smile lets Brian in on the joke. He smiles back
reassuringly, reaches a hand out to her. She crawls into the
under-the-bed, halts when both arms go through the shadow.
KIERSTEN
Omigod...
82.
BRIAN
It's okay...be careful here...
They disappear into the under-the-bed.
INT. UNDER-THE-BED - KIERSTEN'S STAIRWAY
--more alien and sinister than ever. But free of monsters.
Kiersten steps cautiously down the stairs, followed by Brian.
KIERSTEN
(in awe)
Like down the rabbit hole...
They reach level ground. Kiersten examines her surroundings.
KIERSTEN
These stairs all go to different
rooms? So we grab Eric and get
out.
BRIAN
That's the plan.
But his expression says it may be more difficult than that.
EXT. SCHOOL - NIGHT
Todd moves past the classroom windows in a stoop, rucksack on
his back. He straightens, dumps the rucksack to the ground.
INT. UNDER-THE-BED - HALLWAY
Mary Jane goes by, dragging a mud-filled Barbie Dream House. A
beat; Brian emerges from a hiding place. He checks; the coast
is clear. He signals; Kiersten emerges wide-eyed.
EXT. SCHOOL - NIGHT
Todd wrestles with two hinged wooden poles from the rucksack.
They should fit together, but he can't quite get it.
INT. UNDER-THE-BED - HALLWAY
Brian, Kiersten following, stops along a series of doorways.
BRIAN
Okay. It should be somewhere
right around here.
83.
EXT. SCHOOL - NIGHT
Todd pushes a wooden rod into a tight canvas sleeve. Suddenly
it goes, and the rod shoots all the way through the sleeve.
INT. UNDER-THE-BED - HALLWAY
Brian and Kiersten wait, alert, jumpy. All is quiet.
BRIAN
C'mon, Todd.
Behind Brian, one part of the hallway starts to change. Brian
turns as the wall twists in on itself...creaking and groaning,
it flattens into a stairway rising up. With a SNAP a door
springs into place in front of the stairwell.
BRIAN
Yeah! It worked!
Brian pulls open the door, escorts Kiersten through.
EXT. SCHOOL - NIGHT - CLOSE ON
Brian and Kiersten as they crawl out from the shadow under--
--an old army cot, Todd lying on top of it. It looks extremely
out of place in the empty schoolyard.
BRIAN
Good job, Todd.
TODD
It actually worked?
KIERSTEN
I think I am definitely going to
go crazy.
BRIAN
(leading her to the
door)
Not yet.
TODD
Hey! What's she doing here? She
got to go? You wouldn't let me!
(he catches up to
Kiersten)
What's it like down there? Is it
neat?
KIERSTEN
Oh, yeah. Neat.
84.
INT. SCIENCE CLASSROOM - SUPPLY ROOM - NIGHT
as flashlight beams hit a cabinet. Kiersten unlocks it, opens
it. She finds the 5600K bulb, gives it to Brian.
Brian opens his bookpack, pulls out a mechanic's clamp light
with cigarette-lighter attachment and a motorcycle battery. As
Todd and Kiersten look on, Brian assembles his Sun-Gun:
With wire cutters, he strips the plug off the floodlight. He
attaches the wires to the battery, tightens the wing-nuts. He
screws the 5600-K bulb in. He flips it on.
BRILLIANT WHITE LIGHT floods the room. Brian staggers-- flips
the light off quickly. A cold sweat stands on his forehead-- he
looks ill, but shakes it off.
TODD
(blinking, eyes re-
adjusting)
Oh, man--that'll get 'em. That's
like a howitzer or something.
KIERSTEN
You must know a lot about
electricity to do that...
(Brian grins)
...how come you get 'F's in
science?
(Brian's grin fades)
TODD
Hey, guys, what about this?
>From deep in the now-empty rucksack, Todd extracts a battered
plastic miner's helmet with revolving bubble light on top, puts
it on proudly. Kiersten smiles at him; Brian does not.
BRIAN
What are you gonna do with that?
Todd stops grinning. He's not fucking around here.
TODD
I'm going. Eric's my best friend.
Brian tries to stare him down, but the kid's not giving in.
Brian starts to say something--
GUARD (O.S.)
What're you kids doing here?
He stands in the hallway doorway. Brian moves first, grabbing
the other two. They race out the exterior door, slam it shut.
85.
EXT. SCHOOL - NIGHT
The trio beeline for the cot. Brian scrambles under, then
Kiersten. Todd hesitates--Brian grabs his arm--
BRIAN
You wanna go--then c'mon!
--and yanks him down. The classroom door bangs open, and the
guard hurries out, flashlight on. He sweeps the yard, spots the
cot. He approaches it warily. He grabs a corner and yanks it
off the ground. The kids--and the cot's shadow--are gone.
INT. UNDER-THE-BED - HALLWAY
The three drop from the shadow as it violently disappears. Only
Brian lands smoothly. Brian helps Kiersten up. Todd is awed,
body slack. He smiles, spins excitedly to the others.
TODD
(too loud)
It's a parallel dimension!
Brian shushes him. Kiersten hisses 'Quiet!' Todd gulps
abashedly, then looks around some more.
TODD
(a knowing whisper)
It's a parallel dimension.
Brian gestures 'quiet,' then 'follow me.'
INT. UNDER-THE-BED - HALLWAY
They walk three abreast; with each step, they become more
scared. Todd starts to whistle; random scratchy notes, slowly
becoming recognizable: the theme from 'Bridge Over the River
Kwai.' Brian joins in, then Kiersten. Brian sings softly:
BRIAN
Comet--It makes your teeth turn
green...
(Todd joins in)
Comet--It's worse than
Listerine...
NEW ANGLE - MAURICE,
sitting on a stairway, back against the railing. His eye is
puffy, his robe torn--he's been beat up. Junk food packages
surround him: a Chips Ahoy bag rests on his bloated stomach.
Maurice cocks an ear, hearing the group, then turns to watch
them through the balusters.
86.
BRIAN/TODD/KIERSTEN
Comet--It makes you vomit-- So get
some Comet--and vomit--today!
The group laughs as they disappear around a corner. Maurice
smiles, too--then his face falls. A beat. He rises suddenly,
tossing away the cookie bag, and starts up the stairs.
INT. UNDER-THE-BED - HALLWAY
The trio move quickly. A monster crosses their path-- Kiersten
and Todd are scared; Brian snaps on his flashlight-- the monster
transforms into clothes. Todd and Kiersten stare.
KIERSTEN
It's like chameleons-- protective
camouflage.
BRIAN
Yeah--hand me another flashlight,
huh?
Brian pins the transformed monster in the beam of the second
flashlight, sets it on the floor. The monster is pinned.
Todd stares at the clothes. He reaches up to turn on his
helmet. It doesn't go on. A tad panicked, he slaps the side of
the helmet. The bubble light and the miner's lamp go on--
--and Brian is caught in the beam. Something catches Kiersten's
eye--she leans closer to Brian, staring at his arm. The skin
looks like cloth. She shines her own flashlight on it--the
transformation quickens. Brian yanks his arm out of the lights.
Kiersten fixes him with a stare.
KIERSTEN
You're one of them.
BRIAN
No...I was supposed to be...but
I'm not.
He steps toward her. She gestures threateningly with her
flashlight. Todd is still staring, frozen in place.
BRIAN
Kiersten...please--we gotta save
Eric.
She looks into his eyes. She decides. She turns off the light.
Todd still stares. She nudges Todd; he starts, then turns off
the helmet. The three stand there for a moment--
KIERSTEN
Well? Let's go save Eric.
87.
INT. UNDER-THE-BED - HALLWAY
Brian peeks around a corner, then steps out. Kiersten and Todd
follow--then stop, staring. Todd's jaw drops.
ANGLE - THE MAIN STAIRWAY,
more imposing and sinister than ever.
TODD
(a squeak)
Up there?
BRIAN
That's where the Boss is-- that's
where Eric is. We'll take side
stairs and stuff as far as we can.
He points toward a hallway, starts for it--
--and Billy rounds a corner, pushing a wheelbarrow full of
buttons. He stops when he sees them; they stare back. Billy
spins, lets go of the wheelbarrow--buttons scatter-- he runs--
BILLY
(his yells echoing)
Red Alert! Everybody, lookout,
Red Alert--
--and suddenly a beam of light cuts across the hall. The Billy-
clothes continue their momentum, sailing through the air,
landing, rolling into a ball in the corner.
Kiersten holds the monster in the beam of her flashlight. Brian
pins it with another.
BRIAN
Good shooting.
TODD
Bogies at two o'clock!
Spike and Mary Jane race toward them, shouting--
BRIAN
Let's go!
He leads them at full tilt in the nearest safe direction-- up
the main staircase.
INT. UNDER-THE-BED - LOWER LANDING
Our heroes race through an archway, and come to a dead halt--
They are at the main stairwell, higher up, near a dilapidated
section of the stairs, on a balcony--which is a dead-end, the
main stairway hanging in space, tantalizingly close.
88.
The threesome exchange glances--then turn: this is where they
will make their stand. They snap out flashlights. From down
the hall come the sounds of their pursuers.
BRIAN
Kiersten...um...about your science
project--
KIERSTEN
I figured it out. It's okay.
Brian, surprised, gives her a sideways look, smiles--
TODD
There's one!
He snaps on his light--Brian grabs his wrist, knocking the
flashlight down.
It is Maurice.
MAURICE
(gestures to an alcove)
Quick, in here!
Brian appraises him, surprised, suspicious.
MAURICE
C'mon! No time!
TODD
You're gonna trust him? He's a
monster!
Brian gazes at Maurice; Maurice, too, waits for the answer.
BRIAN
He's my friend.
Maurice's face relaxes--the boy he once was can almost be seen.
Out of the dark comes the sound of approaching monsters.
MAURICE
So hide already!
The three duck into an alcove.
MAURICE
HEY! DOWN HERE! HERE THEY ARE!
Kiersten frowns, looks at Brian. Brian keeps watching. The
monsters run up to Maurice--who starts running from them.
MAURICE
C'mon! This way! Let's get 'em!
Monsters race after him, shouting their bloodlust.
89.
Brian smiles, relieved--and happy that he was right.
INT. UNDER-THE-BED - HALLWAY
Maurice shouts encouraging lynch-mob sentiments as he leads the
monsters.
INT. UNDER-THE-BED - LOWER LANDING
As Brian leaps from the landing to the stairs. Todd tosses him
his pack. Kiersten steps onto the banister to follow.
INT. UNDER-THE-BED - HALLWAY
Maurice skids to a halt, points frantically at a stairway.
MAURICE
Up there! There they go!
The monsters rush up the stairs, leaving Maurice in the hall.
MAURICE
(calling up the stairs)
Give 'em one for me!
INT. RONNIE'S BEDROOM - NIGHT
as Spike scrambles out from under the bed, looks up--
--into Ronnie Coleman's grin, his bat already coming down--
--and Spike is nailed. Mary Jane stumbles over him as she
rushes in, and CRACK! she's down, too. The rest of the posse
surge out-- easy targets for Ronnie's deadly-accurate swings.
INT. UNDER-THE-BED - RONNIE'S STAIRS
The monsters come flooding back down the stairs, yelping,
running scattershot from the Avenging Wraith of Baseball.
INT. UNDER-THE-BED - MAIN STAIRCASE
near the top. Brian peeks out quickly over the top step.
In front of the tall doors are two SENTINEL MONSTERS.
Todd and Kiersten lean close. Brian rubs his jaw. Todd's
helmet bumps against Kiersten's head. She gives it a look--then
looks at it again. Smiles.
90.
INT. UNDER-THE-BED - UPPERMOST LANDING.
The sentinel monsters, bored at their posts. Unseen by them, a
hand sets Todd's helmet on the floor. Gives it a push. It
slides across the landing, to in front of the monsters. The
monsters look at it. Exchange a puzzled glance. One takes a
tentative step closer to the helmet--
--one of Todd's sneaker's, thrown hard, hits the side of the
helmet. The revolving light goes on; the monsters are caught,
changing back and forth between monster and clothes.
The trio spring onto the landing. Todd and Kiersten go about
pinning the monsters; Brian steps past them, eyes fixed on the
doors. Immensely tall and impossibly narrow, polished black
wood, covered with intricate runes. Nightmare doors.
Brian readies the Sun-Gun. Kiersten and Todd look on as Brian
forces himself to touch the knob. He turns it. He pushes.
INT. UNDER-THE-BED - MASTER BEDROOM
The doors part. Brian peers through. He steps in, Todd and
Kiersten close behind; they gape at the room--
Toys of all eras fill the room, on tall standing shelves. Train
tracks and race-car tracks criss-cross the floor. All is
covered with dust and cobwebs--an attic filled with forgotten,
worn-out treasures, now rotting, and hiding rats.
Hanging from the ceiling are model airplanes of all sizes and
types.
At the far end of the room is a fireplace, a chair to one side.
A silhouetted figure rises from the chair.
BRIAN
(over his shoulder)
Watch the stairs.
Brian steps forward, peering through shadow-mottled room at the
shape. He brings the light up, thumb on the ON switch.
Backlit by the flames, the figure seems bent over with age, a
twisted shape. Then it steps into the light--it is a young boy,
Brian's age, possibly younger. A boy who has stopped
growing...but hasn't stopped aging.
In one hand he holds a marionette, its strings hopelessly
tangled. He wears a Victorian nightshirt and velvet dressing
gown. When he speaks, it is the voice of a boy-- but with the
rhythms and control of an adult. He gazes directly at Brian.
BOY
Brian. Such a pleasure to meet
you.
91.
BRIAN
I want my brother.
BOY
And you brought friends. How
nice!
Brian brandishes the Sun-Gun, no fooling around.
BRIAN
I want Eric.
A heavy arm shoves Brian to the ground--Brian hits hard, bounces
up, snapping on the Sun-Gun--
--Snik's foot slams down on the cord; it is torn away from the
battery in a shower of sparks. Snik reaches menacingly for
Brian, but a sharp gesture and a dark look from the boy cows
him. Kiersten has been searching her pack; she is out of
flashlights. She looks resignedly at Brian.
BOY
Now, Brian--what sort of greeting
is that? After all, we are so
much alike.
BRIAN
No, we're not.
BOY
Yes, we are, Brian. You're like
all of us down here. You're
already one of us-- under the
skin.
He nonchalantly tries to untangle the marionette's strings.
BOY
When Maurice told me how you
scared Eric--'Monsters are like
moths.' Sheer genius. You belong
here. You know you do.
BRIAN
I do not!
The boy's efforts at the strings get more frantic, less
effective.
BOY
Stay here with us, Brian. You
have friends here.
BRIAN
Maurice only pretended to be my
friend-- to lure me down here--
(beat; grim)
Where's my brother?
92.
Suddenly, the boy smashes the marionette onto a table top.
Splintered pieces scatter. The boy looks at the crushed puppet
briefly, then drops it.
BOY
Snik. Show him Eric.
Grinning, Snik creaks open a toychest. He pulls Eric up by the
hair. He is a poor Jack-in-the-box, one eye blackened, mouth
bloody.
TODD
Eric!
Eric's eyes track, finally focus in on Todd. Todd starts toward
him--but Snik pulls Eric out of the chest, a huge forearm across
Eric's throat. Kiersten grabs Todd's arm.
SNIK
C'mon. This puny neck-- break
easy.
BOY
(to Brian)
If you stay, you'll be the one in
charge of yourself. You'll be the
one with power. Not your parents.
Not your teachers. You.
(beat)
Isn't that what you want?
Sounds from outside the doors; Kiersten looks that way.
KIERSTEN
Brian! More monsters--
TODD
(looking out)
--lots more monsters.
Brian looks at Todd, Kiersten. They watch him, waiting for his
decision. Brian focuses on the boy.
BRIAN
I want Eric.
Dramatically, Brian pulls a flashlight out of his pocket,
brandishes it--looks down at it.
It is the penlight. Snik looks at the puny light, chuckles.
Brian grits his teeth, aims it at the boy, flips it on--
--the boy flinches away, blocking his face with his arms.
Brian whirls, closes on Snik, aims the light at Snik's head.
Snik's head--just his head--transforms into an army boot and a
pair of sweat socks. His arm is still at Eric's throat.
93.
Brian lowers the light--Snik bellows as his head re-forms and
his arm becomes a pant leg; Eric struggles out of Snik's grip;
Todd and Kiersten grab Eric and they scramble away.
Snik grabs Brian with his untransformed arm; Brian aims the
light below Snik's waist, turning the monster's legs into a
shirt and jacket. Snik bellows again as his still-formed torso
collapses on top of the clothes.
Brian heads for his friends by the door.
Snik recovers, struggles to his feet, ready to give chase. The
boy lays a restraining hand on his arm.
BOY
Don't worry, Snik. They've lost.
EXT. UNDER-THE-BED - UPPERMOST LANDING
Brian, Kiersten, Todd and Eric look down. Monsters crowd up the
stairway.
KIERSTEN
We're cut off!
BRIAN
We can make it!
Brian leads the others straight toward the oncoming monsters--
just before they meet, he turns down a side landing.
It dead-ends short of the uppermost level of the stairwell.
Brian leaps across; his friends follow. Monsters scatter,
taking alternate routes to get at them.
Brian opens a door at random, climbs a stairway to beneath a bed-
shadow. He is all set to move smoothly through the shadow--but
slams full-tilt into it, his head hitting hard.
Brian holds his skull, stares unbelievingly at the shadow.
TODD
What's wrong?
BRIAN
I don't know.
Brian tries to push his hand through; it stops at the shadow.
KIERSTEN
(an idea hits her)
Ohmigod--What time is it?
Brian pulls out his pocketwatch. The watch reads 5:23; the
benign sun-face peeks out through the wedge, the malevolent man-
in-the moon almost gone.
94.
BRIAN
We've still got almost half an
hour...
KIERSTEN
(gestures to the watch)
Are you sure it's right?
Brian looks from the shadowway to the watch. His face falls.
BRIAN
I didn't fix it. It's still
broken.
TODD
You mean we're trapped?
A laugh sounds from below. The four look down at the Boss, who
grins triumphantly.
BOY
Brian. I'm so glad you decided to
stay.
Brian turns back to the shadow, pushes--then slams his fists at
the shadow, in frustration, in anger.
BOY (O.S.)
Truthfully, I'm surprised you even
came down. Imagine, a selfish
little bugger who cares for no one
trying to do a good deed--
(his taunts lash at
Brian)
Of course, it did only serve to
deliver your friends unto me. So
I guess that ultimately all this
misfortune is your fault. But,
then, you already knew that,
didn't you?
Brian can take no more. With a roar, he rushes down the stairs,
past the others, at the boy--who steps back. Brian sprawls.
INT. UNDER-THE-BED - HALLWAY
Snik comes at Brian. Brian lashes out with his foot, nailing
Snik in the shin. Snik howls. Brian kicks viciously at Snik's
other leg. Snik howls again, and Brian scrambles to his feet.
He brings his leg up with all his might, as hard as he can--
--and Snik catches it inches from his crotch. He wags one
finger of his free hand at Brian. Brian' eyes widen in dread.
Snik tumbles him backwards to the floor.
Brian tries to struggle up--a huge fist smashes into the side of
his head, stunning him.
95.
INT. UNDER-THE-BED - STAIRWELL
where the others watch the fight--Kiersten winces as another
haymaker pounds Brian--who stops moving. Snik stands over him,
bellows triumphantly. The boy looks up at them.
BOY
Allie-Allie-otsen-free.
(beat; harsher)
We're waiting.
Kiersten, Todd and Eric exchange glances, all hope gone.
Kiersten drops her head--then starts down. Todd follows.
INT. UNDER-THE-BED - HALLWAY
Monsters grab Kiersten, Todd and Eric. Spike strips off Brian's
pack--the movement causes Brian to revive. He groans, sitting
up.
BOY
You see, Brian? You cannot
challenge my power down here. If
I say you stay, then you stay. If
I say the shadows are closed, then
the shadows are closed.
MAURICE (O.S.)
Aa, put a sock in it.
He steps out of the shadows. Looks at Brian. 'Tsk's once at
his condition.
MAURICE
There's still time to get out.
BOY
The shadow is closed.
MAURICE
To Brian it's closed. He came
down here to rescue his brother.
Not your typical monster behavior,
is it?
Kiersten's eyes widen. She struggles out of the grasp of the
monster holding her, grabs up the penlight off the floor. She
shines it--on Brian's arm.
Brian does not change. A monster wrestles the light from
Kiersten. Brian snaps his gaze to the Boss.
BRIAN
You tricked me.
96.
BOY
All part of the game, Brian. Oh,
don't look so surprised. Only
monsters can move in shadows. You
gave up any claim to that
privilege when you chose to rescue
your brother.
This surprises some of the monsters.
SPIKE
You told me once you start to
change, there's no going back.
BOY
Did you really want to go back?
Spike looks down; maybe he did at one time, but not any more.
BOY
(to Maurice)
As for you--I've put up with your
behavior long enough.
MAURICE
I'm just a natural-born rebel.
Shoot me.
The boy stares at him.
BOY
Snik.
(indicating Brian)
Break his neck.
MAURICE
(steps toward Snik)
NO!
Snik drops Brian unceremoniously, and gestures to Maurice.
SNIK
More medicine, eh? Cure you--of
life.
Maurice hesitates.
BOY
Your move, Maurice.
Maurice looks at the towering Snik--then spins, and runs.
Brian, from the floor, stares after Maurice, drops his head.
INT. UNDER-THE-BED - HALLWAY
Maurice, a bat out of hell, zooms toward a particular door--
97.
INT. UNDER-THE-BED - ALAINE'S STAIRWAY
--though the door, up a flight of stairs--
INT. ALAINE'S BEDROOM - MORNING
as Maurice zooms from under the bed, waking Alaine, who screams;
he races across the room and jumps out the window, crashing
through the screen to--
EXT. ROOF
--where he leaps across to the next house--he dashes along the
eaves, silhouetted against the pre-dawn sky; he dives in through
a window--
INT. DEFENSIVE NINE-YEAR-OLD'S BEDROOM - MORNING
The kid comes awake as Maurice crashes in, hits the floor in a
shower of glass, rolls, shoots down under the bed--
INT. UNDER-THE-BED - STAIRWAY
--Maurice drops out of a shadowway, dives down the stairs--
INT. UNDER-THE-BED - HALLWAY
--Maurice bursts out of the doorway directly behind Snik,
catching him by surprise. He slams him face forward into the
floor-- Maurice rolls clear--
Brian commando-rolls to his backpack, grabbing it from Spike,
and dives for the Sun-Gun on the floor--
--with his teeth, he strips one of the wires--
--Maurice helps Kiersten, Eric and Todd free themselves--
--Brian twists down the wing nuts on the battery--
BOY
Stop them!
MAURICE
Don't listen to him! What's he
ever done for you?
Monsters, starting forward, pause to think.
--Brian brings the lamp up--
--the boy's eyes widen--
98.
--Maurice's eyes widen--
--Brian thumbs the switch--
BRILLIANT WHITE LIGHT cuts across the room, slams into the Boss,
slams him up into the lattice--he flattens into a silhouette--
the light slices through him--the lattice gives way--the Boss is
blasted up and away, into oblivion.
The bulb EXPLODES--
P.O.V. BRIAN--
--as his eyes re-adjust to the darkness, revealing:
The hallway: Some of the monsters have been turned into
Hiroshima shadows on the walls. Some are partial shadows. Snik
is a mess: part monster, part clothes, part wavering between
solid and shadow.
Brian drops the lamp. He looks around wildly.
BRIAN
Maurice? Maurice!
A doorway opens; Maurice peers out warily. He surveys the room.
MAURICE
(shaky)
Now, that's what I call rock 'n
roll.
Brian sighs. Maurice steps out.
MAURICE
Shouldn't you folks be toddling
along?
INT. UNDER-THE-BED - ATTIC STAIRS
Eric and Todd are on the stairs.
TODD
Well, we were right, huh?
Eric smiles, slaps him five, as Maurice, followed by Brian,
hurries past them to the top of the stairs.
KIERSTEN
(as Maurice goes by)
You might not be able to get
through now--now that you helped
us--
BRIAN
Yeah--monsters don't help friends--
99.
Maurice slides his hand through, with no problem. He looks at
it, half-through, and then looks down sadly at Brian.
MAURICE
Face it, Bri--some of us got it,
some of us don't.
He grabs Kiersten's shoulder, hustles her out--then Eric, and
Todd. Maurice looks at Brian, who doesn't move.
MAURICE
Get out of here, you toothfairy.
Brian gives him a long look, climbs through the hole.
INT. STEVENSON HOME - ATTIC ROOM - MORNING
Brian slides out from under the bed. He glances at the window--
the sun is up, but it hasn't cleared the horizon yet. He turns
and looks at Maurice, still in the shadow.
MAURICE
Well, I promised you excitement.
BRIAN
Those other monsters are going to
kill you.
MAURICE
Thank you, Mr. Sunshine.
Brian spots the penlight, in Kiersten's hand. He takes it. He
cocks an eyebrow at Maurice. Maurice arches both eyebrows, a
smile spreading on his face. Brian hands the penlight to him.
BRIAN
It's not very big...
MAURICE
(sagely)
In the land of the blind, the one-
eyed man is king.
He loses his wise composure, and grins.
BRIAN
Catch ya later, Maurice.
MAURICE
Not if I catch you first.
He slips back into the shadow, and is gone. Brian pulls out his
watch: the sweep second hand ticks to the twelve-- Brian looks
up, and the sun clears the horizon. Brian puts his hand to the
shadow, trying to reach through it, trying to reach Maurice. It
is only a shadow.
100.
Brian turns away from the bed, away from the others. Todd
knocks on the shadowed floor. Kiersten steps over to Brian.
Brian looks up at her.
BRIAN
Thanks for the help.
KIERSTEN
All you had to do was ask.
Eric puts his hand on Brian's shoulder. Holly and Glen come up
the stairs, spot Eric, hurry into the room, relieved and happy.
Glen and Holly hug Eric, Brian a little to the side. Eric looks
over at him; they smile at each other. Glen reaches out, pulls
Brian into the hug.
CUT TO BLACK
THE END