EPISODE: 8

INT. FRONT DOOR, LORRAINE'S HOUSE - DAY

Possessed Josh opens the door, faced with a somber Carl. He

has a carry bag slung over his shoulder.

POSSESSED JOSH

Can I help you?

CARL

My name's Carl. I know that you

don't remember me, Josh. Elise and

I did our best to make sure of

that.

POSSESSED JOSH

You're right, I don't remember you.

CARL

I haven't spoken to you since you

were a young boy. Your mother

called me when you started

experiencing...some problems. I

worked as a psychic at the time.

And I came to your house, this

house, and what I saw scared me so

badly that I called Elise.

(beat)

Now Elise is gone. And I know that

you were there when she died. So I

was wondering if you could help

give me some closure? I need it.

A long beat...then Possessed Josh steps aside.

INT. LIVING ROOM, LORRAINE'S HOUSE - DAY

Possessed Josh leads Carl into the living room.

CARL

Why is it that places always seem

so much smaller than we remember

them?

POSSESSED JOSH

Have a seat.

Carl does. He studies Possessed Josh. The greying hair and

pale skin.

CARL

Are you feeling okay?Fast asleep.

INT. SPARE BEDROOM, LORRAINE'S HOUSE - MORNING

Possessed Josh opens his eyes. Sunlight streams through the

window. He turns over - Renai is gone.

INT. BATHROOM, LORRAINE'S HOUSE - MORNING

Possessed Josh hobbles into the bathroom, closing the door.

He is hunched over, as if his bones were shrinking.

With horror, he glares into the mirror at his aging

reflection. The grey hair has advanced, wrinkles cutting

deeper lines into his face. His skin is pale.

His fingers on his left hand are curled inwards. He struggles

to straighten them, gritting his teeth as the BONES CRACK.

With his other hand, he reaches up and claws a handful of his

hair out at his temple, leaving an exposed scalp. Tears come

to his eyes. Tears and terror. We PAN PAST HIM --

-- seeing the outline of a person, standing behind the

distorted glass of the shower door. The glass is too opaque

to make out any features.

WOMAN'S VOICE (O.S.)

When will you kill them?

Possessed Josh nods, hearing the voice.

POSSESSED JOSH

Soon.

He stares down at the clump of GREY HAIR in his hand.

POSSESSED JOSH (O.S.) (CONT'D)

I don't want to die again.

WOMAN'S VOICE (O.S.)

You will. And so will they.

INT. KITCHEN, LORRAINE'S HOUSE - DAY

Possessed Josh lurches inside the kitchen. There is a note on

the counter - JOSH, I'VE TAKEN RENAI AND THE KIDS OUT FOR THE

DAY. WE'LL SEE YOU LATER, MOM.

A knock at the door startles him.POSSESSED JOSH

No.

CARL

Okay.

(beat)

You also said when you were young

that you were a big football fan.

Are you still?

POSSESSED JOSH

Yes. Still a fan.

Carl nods. He gets up, moving to the wall of photos. As he

passes Possessed Josh, Carl grabs his arm.

CARL

Haven't lost that arm?

POSSESSED JOSH

Not one bit.

Carl looks into his eyes, then lets go and moves to the wall

of photographs. He zeroes in on the SAME PHOTO Elise studied

when she first visited this house. When he is out of

Possessed Josh's line of sight, his expression melts into one

of fear.

POSSESSED JOSH (CONT'D)

Would you like a coffee? I'm making

one for myself.

CARL

Sure, absolutely.

Possessed Josh leaves the room. When he does, Carl quietly

unzips the shoulder bag he is carrying and removes a CAMERA.

WHAP!!

With sudden, shocking violence, a black garbage bag is

wrapped around Carl's face. He flails, clawing at the bag,

sucking in air.

Possessed Josh wrenches Carl to the floor, tightening the bag

around his throat, twisting it. Madness in his eyes. Grinning.

Carl kicks out, scratching at Possessed Josh's fingers - but

Josh is too strong.

Carl spasms, his resistance slowing...until he shudders with

a final breath and is still.POSSESSED JOSH

I'm fine.

CARL

I suppose I wanted to ask you if

you have any idea what happened to

her?

POSSESSED JOSH

No. I don't.

CARL

I'm sorry to ask something like

that so bluntly, but I want to

remind you that I'm not the person

who's going to look at you funny if

you tell me something...unusual.

Carl removes his glasses.

CARL (CONT'D)

I've seen things with my own eyes

that most people have to go to

sleep to imagine.

POSSESSED JOSH

Elise did a great thing. She helped

me get my son back. She sent me to

a place...I saw faces there that

won't leave my field of vision. It

was terrifying, but I got my son

back.

As he talks, Carl subtly glances down at Josh's hands.

POSSESSED JOSH (CONT'D)

Everything was good for about ten

minutes. I left the room, and when

I came back, Elise was gone. She

was strangled.

CARL

Horrific.

POSSESSED JOSH

Yes. It was.

CARL

When you were a boy, you said it

was an old woman who haunted you.

Did you see that old woman when you

were visiting that other world you

talked about?JOSH (CONT'D)

I'm trapped here. I don't know what

to do to help them.

A long beat passes as Carl takes in his surroundings, still

shocked.

CARL

Elise. You have to find Elise.

JOSH

How?

Carl moves to the door, opening it and unveiling an infinite

darkness.

CARL

Into the further we go.

They step through the door.

EXT. BLACK VOID - NIGHT (THE FURTHER)

Darkness closes in around Josh and Carl like a suffocating

blanket.

They stagger forward, not knowing which direction to head in.

There is nothing in front of them. Josh whirls and stares

back at the house, the lantern held out in front of him.

They lurch on through the unfolding nothingness.

The sounds of this world are a muffled aural cacophony.

Distant SCREAMS, distorted and tortured. The whinny's and

snorts of ANIMALS. The wheeze of asthmatic BREATHING - all of

it swirling together in the distance, as if coming through a

tinny, faraway speaker.

CARL

Elise?

The cry echoes back to them.

JOSH

Elise!

Then...a figure looms in the distance. A man, standing alone.

Staring at them. They approach.

The man is unmoving. His unblinking eyes pivot between the

two of them.Possessed Josh sits on his back, making sure Carl is dead. He

stands up, locking the front door, then fishes through Carl's

pockets for his car keys.

He finds them, leaves the room. He returns with blankets,

wrapping them around Carl's corpse.

He spies through the drapes, seeing Carl's car parked in the

driveway.

He hefts Carl's body up, his spine cracking with the effort,

opening the door and limping outside. The door closes.

The house is quiet.

We TRACK ACROSS IT...past the furniture...all the way to the

MIRROR mounted on the wall. We move INTO THE MIRROR -

emerging on the other side in --

INT. LIVING ROOM, BEYOND MIRROR (THE FURTHER)

-- The Further.

A cold, midnight version of Lorraine's house.

Carl is standing in the center of the room, dressed as he was

when he died. He is shell-shocked, frightened. A lost child.

He sees a dark FIGURE approaching from the kitchen. The

figure holds up a bright lantern, illuminating his face.

It is Josh. He steps close to Carl.

CARL

I've been here before...but I was

never afraid of this place until

now.

JOSH

Now there's no going back.

Understand?

Carl nods, shaken.

CARL

I'm one of them.

JOSH

She's in my body. The old woman.

She murdered you and she's going to

do the same to my family.

He places his hand on Carl's shoulder.ELISE

When I heard you scream, I followed

your voice and found you...but I

don't know that I can help you

anymore. Not from this side.

(beat)

But I may know who can.

JOSH

Who?

ELISE

You. When you were a boy.

EXT. PLAYGROUND - DAY

Lorraine and Renai sit on a bench, observing a playground.

Renai rocks a blanket covered stroller. Forced smiles.

LORRAINE

I'm so happy to spend time with

Dalton again.

RENAI

Me too. It's a miracle.

LORRAINE

It'd be nice to have everything

back to normal again.

(beat)

But it isn't. Is it?

RENAI

No. Have you seen them too?

LORRAINE

Yes.

A long beat passes. The forced smiles are gone.

LORRAINE (CONT'D)

Have you noticed anything...strange

about Josh?

RENAI

Why?

LORRAINE

Anything that he's done or said?

RENAI

Just say what you're thinking.CARL

We're looking for Elise. Where is

she?

The man doesn't answer. His fingers shake. Finally, he points

over their shoulders, behind them.

They turn - AND JOLT.

A huge horde of pale figures is crowded behind Josh and Carl.

The figures reach out with gnarled fingers.

Josh and Carl stagger back - hitting another wall of figures.

THEY ARE SURROUNDED.

The figures rip and tear at Josh.

JOSH

Get away from me. Get away!

And then - the entities suddenly SCREAM.

A BLINDING LIGHT casts over them. They react to the light as

if it were fire.

The sea of dead parts, retreating into the darkness. The

light flickers and dies down...a FIGURE EMERGING FROM IT.

IT IS ELISE. She is glowing with an inner light of her own.

Her and Josh embrace, lingering long on the hug.

ELISE

I wish I could say it's good to see

you.

JOSH

I'm sorry.

ELISE

Everybody's time comes. I knew that

more than most. I chose to make my

living by dabbling in a dangerous

world. I knew the risks.

Elise turns to Carl and they share a hug.

JOSH

I need your help, Elise.JOSH

I need your help...I need to know

how to destroy the Old Woman.

YOUNG JOSH

This door stays locked until I come

out of my shell.

And with that, Young Josh disappears, leaving the room empty.

Josh whispers the words to himself.

JOSH

This doors stays locked until I

come out of my shell...

EXT. LORRAINE'S HOUSE (THE FURTHER)

Josh shuffles through the door, back to Elise and Carl.

JOSH

He said that this door stays locked

until I come out of my shell.

ELISE

Can you remember what that means?

Try, Josh. Try to remember.

FLASHCUT TO:

INT. PATIENT ROOM 2 - DAY (FLASHBACK)

We are in an earlier scene. Young Josh is perched next to

Philip's hospital bed.

As before, we see Josh turn to face Philip - greeted by him

sitting up in bed.

Philip screams and locks his fingers around Josh's neck.

MAN

Her name is Michelle! I'm going to

see her and you are too!

FLASHCUT TO:

EXT. LORRAINE'S HOUSE (THE FURTHER)

Josh repeats the words to himself.LORRAINE

I'm thinking Josh may have gone

into that other world and come back

a different person.

RENAI

How could you...prove something

like that?

LORRAINE

Right now, a friend of mine is at

your house. He's a psychic, like

Elise was. I'm hoping he can tell

us something.

(beat)

And you know Josh better than

anyone. I'm not saying something is

definitely wrong...we just need to

know for sure.

RENAI

What do you want me to do?

LORRAINE

Talk to him. Take his picture. Ask

him a question only he would know.

(beat)

Do it as soon as you can.

INT. BLACK VOID (THE FURTHER)

Elise, Carl and Josh press through the dark, until a

structure takes shape in front of them.

It is Lorraine's house.

CANDLELIGHT flickers in the window, but otherwise the house

is dark.

ELISE

Go. Go now. You must hurry.

Josh moves towards the house.

INT. LIVING ROOM, LORRAINE'S HOUSE (THE FURTHER)

The house is DEATHLY QUIET.

Josh pushes inside, seeing Young Josh sitting on the couch in

the center of the darkened living room.

Young Josh turns slowly, facing his older self.....