The Skull Ring (39 page)

WALTER

Old news, but bad news. Don't you worry about him. You know your clock was messed up?

JULIA

Stuck on 4:06? That's the third time it's done that.

WALTER

They say idle hands are the tools of the devil, but I see it the opposite way. The clock is the devil's tool.

Julia isn't sure what to make of that bizarre logic.

JULIA

Well, my clock says I better get to the office.

She grabs her purse from the floor and opens it.

WALTER

Oh, no. The landlord pays for repairs.

Julia pulls a slip of paper from her purse. CLOSE-UP of a receipt from the Joyful Noises Toy Shoppe, $19.95 for a set of wooden blocks.

JULIA

(reading receipt)

"Thank you, please come again."

WALTER

You okay?

JULIA

New and improved.

CUT TO:

INT. NEWSPAPER OFFICE- THAT AFTERNOON.

The offices of the Elkwood Courier are small and crowded. Julia heads down the hall. RICK O'DELL, a trendy late 20's reporter, chases her.

RICK

Hey, Julia, what's up?

JULIA

Same old.

She keeps walking, not turning around, enters her office.

CUT TO:

INT. JULIA'S OFFICE.

Same organized clutter as her desk at home. The SCREENSAVER on her computer is a St. Louis Cardinals logo.

RICK

(following her in)

Did you read the opening of my series?

Julia sits at her desk and finally acknowledges him.

JULIA

Rick, I've yet to read the complete works of Shakespeare and you've got nothing on William Goldman.

RICK

It's a killer story. Literally.

JULIA

(hiding disinterest)

Okay, but don't keep me past deadline.

RICK

Remember the late Eighties, when there was all the buzz about Satanism, the huge underground network, all these children disappearing?

JULIA

(interested now)

Yeah. Satanic Panic and human sacrifice. Didn't everyone pretty much agree the whole business was overblown?

RICK

Sure. You just can't hide the fifty thousand bodies without a bone turning up here and there.

JULIA

Satan doesn't get a whole lot of press here in the Twenty-First Century

RICK

Maybe he's making a comeback. That body in the river? Caucasian male, in his twenties. Nude, hands bound, his abdominal cavity ripped open. Pretty ritualistic.

Julia touches her abdomen.

JULIA

If you've done your research, then you know that rituals fill a psychological need rather than a spiritual need. At least when it comes to murder.

RICK

Serial killers don't make necklaces of women's body parts just because they want to please some higher or lower power. They do it because they get off on it.

JULIA

So, you took 'Creep 101' in college, too?

RICK

No. Just watched a lot of 'CSI' re-runs.

JULIA

Then why do the police think this was a Satanic killing?

RICK

They don't. Not yet. But here's the kicker. The guy's pinkie was chopped off. Pinkie amputation is another ritual practiced by the you-know-whos.

JULIA

Our old buddies, the Satanists.

RICK

The Brotherhood, as they like to call themselves.

JULIA

So even Satanists are sexist. What's the world coming to?

RICK

Let me buy you and beer and I'll fill you in.

JULIA

Rick. You know I'm engaged.

RICK

To a man you haven't seen in how long now?

(waving his fingers)

And you don't even wear his ring.

JULIA

A ring is just a hunk of metal. It's how you feel that counts.

RICK

And how do you feel?

JULIA

If it even matters to you, I'll let you know. In the meantime, you have a conspiracy theory to keep you busy. You might get lucky and start dreaming about the guy with the pointy tail and pitchfork.

RICK

Beats sleeping alone.

He leaves. Julia stares at her ring finger.

CUT TO:

INT. JULIA'S BEDROOM- NIGHT.

Julia is in restless sleep, her bedroom dark.

FADE IN:

INT. DARK BARN.

Dream/memory: Julia's POV, confused images of figures in robes, darkness, torchlight, a little clearer than before, the MAN IN THE HOOD above Julia. He raises a knife. His hand has a SILVER SKULL RING, with twin red rubies for eyes. The eyes sparkle in the firelight.

For a beat, Dr. Forrest stands beside the man in the hood.

CUT TO:

INT. JULIA'S BEDROOM—NIGHT.

Julia's eyes open. In darkness, O.S. sound of scratching at window. The twin red eyes appear at the window. Julia closes eyes, snuggles teddy bear.

JULIA

You're imagining things again, Julia.

CUT TO:

INT. DR. FORREST'S OFFICE—NEXT MORNING.

Julia and Dr. Forrest are seated in their customary positions.

DR. FORREST

You're imagining things again, Julia.

JULIA

I know. I'm sorry to disappoint you.

DR. FORREST

You told me how your father used to spell out "Jooolia" with the blocks when you were young. Then you relived the experience.

JULIA

But I didn't buy those blocks.

DR. FORREST

You're forgetting things, too.

(professional pause)

We need to go back. We need to bring it all to the surface so you can begin to heal.

JULIA

I don't want to go back anymore.

DR. FORREST

I'll be with you. We'll go back together, just like the other times.

(persuasive)

Lean back and look up.

Dr. Forrest draws the curtains.

DR. FORREST (CONT'D)

(hypnotizing)

Now look beyond the ceiling, Julia. Into the darkness. Into the past. And while you're looking, let your arms and legs relax. Your limbs are large balloons and you're floating away.

CLOSE-UP of Julia. She looks younger now.

DR. FORREST (O.S., CONT'D)

Very peaceful, very light. You trust me, don't you, Julia?

JULIA

I trust you.

DR. FORREST (O.S.)

Go all the way, just like before. I won't let anything hurt you. Tell me what you see.

FADE IN:

INT. JULIA'S CHILDHOOD HOME/MEMORY- NIGHT.

Julia is four and from her POV approaches door to her dark bedroom. Light spills through crack below the door.

DR. FORREST (V.O.)

You're going to the door. What do you see?

JULIA (V.O.)

(childlike voice)

Light.

People arguing O.S. Young Julia moves closer to door.

DR. FORREST (V.O.)

What's happening?

JULIA (V.O.)

I hear voices in the other room. Loud. Like somebody's mad. I'm scared.

DR. FORREST (V.O.)

I'm with you this time. Go on.

JULIA (V.O.)

The bad people are mad at Daddy.

She is nearly to the door. The voices grow louder.

DR. FORREST (V.O.)

What does your father say, Julia?

JULIA (V.O.)

I don't know. I can't hear him.

DR. FORREST (V.O.)

Try harder, Julia. Do it for me.

Through the crack in the door, a man in a robe. The door closes. Darkness, then—

CUT TO:

INT. DR. FORREST'S OFFICE

CLOSE-UP of Julia's face.

JULIA

(whispers)

No good.

DR. FORREST

Let's pretend for a little bit. Can you do that?

Julia nods.

DR. FORREST (CONT'D)

Let's pretend that the people have come to take your father away.

Julia doesn't like this and tries to sit up. Dr. Forrest holds her against the chair.

DR. FORREST

(almost menacing)

You're at your bedroom door, Julia. You're four years old, and the bad people are in the living room.

JULIA

Bad people.

DR. FORREST

Open the door.

JULIA

No. Please don't make me.

DR. FORREST

Open the door, Julia.

FADE IN:

INT. JULIA'S CHILDHOOD BEDROOM.

Julia's POV: DOUGLAS STONE, 30's, pale and sweating, in the living room. Three people in hooded robes surround him, faces hidden. They haven't seen Julia yet.

The tallest of the robed men, WHEATLEY, THE HIGH PRIEST, leans menacingly close to Douglas.

WHEATLEY

You're either all the way in, or all the way out.

DOUGLAS STONE

I can't do that.

WHEATLEY

You drank from the cup. You made a pledge.

DOUGLAS STONE

That wasn't part of the deal.

WHEATLEY

You wear his ring.

DOUGLAS STONE

Money's one thing, my soul is another, but my little girl—

WHEATLEY

—belongs to the master.

Douglas turns to Julia, an awful smile on his face.

DOUGLAS STONE

Honey.

(moves toward her, smile growing more terrible)

It's time for you to become the whore Judas Stone.

Julia cries out—