The Skull Ring (40 page)

CUT TO:

INT. DR. FORREST'S OFFICE.

DR. FORREST

You know what happened, don't you, Julia?

Julia nods, tormented by the act of remembering.

DR. FORREST (CONT'D)

Are you ready to tell me about it?

JULIA

No.

DR. FORREST

Julia. I thought we were making progress.

JULIA

I can't remember.

DR. FORREST

Listen to the whispers in your heart.

Dr. Forrest leans closer to Julia, until finally she is looming over her.

DR. FORREST (CONT'D)

They gave you to him.

JULIA

(resisting)

I don't remember.

DR. FORREST

They did it. Your father gave you away.

She grips Julia's shoulders, nearly losing control.

DR. FORREST (CONT'D)

(louder)

They gave you to him.

Tears squeeze from Julia's closed eyes, she is a mess. It all comes in a rush—

FADE IN:

INT. DARK BARN.

Four-year-old Julia's POV of the images that were hinted at before, torches, hooded people, smoking crucibles. Julia is lying on a stone altar with the hooded Wheatley above her.

DR. FORREST (V.O.)

You're back there, aren't you? You're bound on the altar.

Chanting voices grow louder and more sinister. A decapitated goat's head is skewered on the end of a wooden pole. Flies buzz around the wound, the black eyes are open.

JULIA'S POV as she fights the chains that bind her. Wheatley pulls a long dagger from his robe.

DR. FORREST (V.O.)

I'm here with you, Julia.

Wheatley raises the dagger, a wicked ceremonial blade, reflecting fire and gleaming like a nightmare.

CLOSE-UP of the hand holding the knife, a silver skull ring on one finger, red rubies for its eyes. The skull wears a grin and the rubies go crazy in the torchlight.

DR. FORREST (V.O.)

They can't hurt us.

The blade approaches Julia's belly, the chanting is frantic now, Julia strains impossibly against her bonds. Then, somehow, she breaks free and is sitting up and the blade is coming down and—

CUT TO:

INT. DR. FORREST'S OFFICE.

Julia sits up, gasping, Dr. Forrest looms over her in a position eerily similar to that of Wheatley’s. Julia blinks, looks around. Dr. Forrest sits beside her and takes Julia's hand.

DR. FORREST

You did it, Julia.

JULIA

(still disoriented)

I don't think so.

DR. FORREST

You went back. You can see it now. And what you can see, you can deal with.

Julia rubs her wrists, remembering the shackles.

DR. FORREST (CONT'D)

You're the victim, Julia. Don't forget that. You didn't ask to be abused.

JULIA

(drained, angry)

Except I do keep asking for it, don't I?

DR. FORREST

It's not your fault. You're a slave to the past. And the past has a long reach.

JULIA

If I didn't do anything wrong, then why do I feel so guilty?

DR. FORREST

Julia.

JULIA

Well, I do.

Dr. Forrest goes to the window and opens the curtains.

DR. FORREST

(quiet)

Don't you want to be better?

JULIA

More than anything. You know that. That's why I'm here. That's why Dr. Danner sent me.

DR. FORREST

We can do it. Together. But you have to remember everything. You have to want to remember.

JULIA

I want to forget.

DR. FORREST

You've been forgetting far too long. It's time to deal with the past.

JULIA

I'll try. I promise. I want to be better.

DR. FORREST

(puts arm around Julia)

We want to be better together.

CUT TO:

EXT. JULIA'S HOUSE- EARLY AFTERNOON.

Julia tries the doorknob. This time the door is locked. She unlocks and opens the door.

CUT TO:

INT. JULIA'S LIVING ROOM.

She enters, and it takes her a moment to register what she is seeing. THREE ROBED FIGURES are standing in the living room. Finally we see they're not people, but short, stumpy scarecrows stuffed with leaves.

JULIA

(whispers)

Just like Memphis.

Julia backs out the door.

CUT TO:

EXT. TO MABEL COVINGTON'S PORCH.

Julia runs up the road toward Mabel Covington's house. Shadows seem to move in the woods.

From apartment window POV, someone watches Julia bang on Mabel Covington's door. Mabel answers.

JULIA

(breathless)

Come, look, they—just like Memphis.

MABEL

Hold on here, get yourself together, honey.

JULIA

They're in my house. Three of them.

MABEL

Somebody in your house?

JULIA

No. Not real people. But they're wearing robes and—

MABEL

Robes? And they ain't real?

JULIA

Scarecrow people.

MABEL

(suspicious)

Maybe you need a touch of brandy. Else you had too much already.

JULIA

No. Just come with me. I want a witness, so I'll know I'm not going crazy.

MABEL

Let me get my walking stick.

Mabel goes inside, leaving Julia to peer into woods. Mabel returns carrying a gnarled branch, its head carved like a skull.

MABEL (CONT'D)

You lead the way. Don't reckon them college boys is playing games, do you?

JULIA

I don't know what I think anymore.

MABEL

You shouldn'ta moved into Wheatley's house. No good never came from anything Wheatley touched.

CUT TO:

INT. JULIA'S LIVING ROOM.

The front door opens. Julia and Mabel peer in, Mabel with her cane lifted like a club. But no need. The scarecrow people are gone.

MABEL

Is this just like Memphis, too? Making up stories?

JULIA

They were here. I swear.

MABEL

I don't see nary a robe. No straw on the floor, neither.

(points cane at Julia)

You sure you're okay?

JULIA

Never better.

MABEL

Bet it's them college boys. Maybe you better call the cops.

JULIA

No cops.

MABEL

Is that because of Memphis, too?

Julia nods.

CUT TO:

INT. JULIA'S BEDROOM—LATER THAT EVENING.

Julia sits on bed in a nightgown, holding a phone. She punches some numbers, looking at the dark window.

JULIA

(into phone)

Mitchell?

CUT TO:

INT. MITCHELL'S LAW OFFICE.

MITCHELL AUSTIN, 30ish, clean-shaven hunk, sits at a large desk, reading. Answers phone.

A high-rise view of MEMPHIS AT NIGHT shows through the window behind him, leather-bound books line the walls.

MITCHELL

Julia! It's about time.

Mitchell glances at his wristwatch, then resumes reading while "listening" to Julia.

JULIA (V.O.)

I figured you'd be working late. I'm not interrupting anything?

MITCHELL

The usual. Zoning for strip malls, finding loopholes for polluting industries, foreclosing on elderly widows. Is something wrong? Must be, if you actually bothered to call me.

JULIA (V.O.)

I've just been busy. Absent-minded.

(beat)

I've been thinking about my father.

MITCHELL

(sighs, puts aside papers)

That was over twenty years ago. Don't tell me this new shrink is making you remember, too?

JULIA (V.O.)

I have to deal with it, Mitchell. That's the only way I'm going to get better.

MITCHELL

Julia, we've been through this a hundred times. The case is dead. Your father just walked off the face of the earth. Why can't you let it go and get on with your life? You wouldn't be so crazy if you left the past alone.

CUT TO:

INT. JULIA'S BEDROOM.

POV of someone looking in Julia's window.

JULIA

(rubbing her stomach)

Something happened that night. You know.

MITCHELL (V.O.)

Honey, I don't mind the scars. I think they're sexy.

JULIA

I know you love my body. But what about my soul?

MITCHELL (V.O.)

I don't see how any of this is going to make you any better. First Lance Danner and now this new wacko. You shouldn't have moved away.

The POV peeper is getting his money's worth as he checks Julia out. A jewelry box is on her dresser

.

JULIA

I need to learn to breathe. If you'll just give me time

.

MITCHELL (V.O.)

Time. Like we have forever? We're engaged, remember. Or are you forgetting things again?

Julia looks at the jewelry box.

JULIA

How could I forget, the way you keep reminding me every five minutes?

MITCHELL

Okay, okay. It's just that, well, damn it, I miss you.

JULIA

I'm coming to Memphis.

CUT TO:

INT. MITCHELL'S OFFICE.

Mitchell's cool demeanor slips a bit, panic on his face, but it's the blink of an eye and then his lawyer mask is back.

MITCHELL

Here? When?

JULIA (V.O.)