YOU HAVE

It is hard for Mrs. Lindner to let her husband go.  But she understands.

mrs. lindner

Go ahead.  I know you have to do this.

CUT TO:

110.     study – int. / day

Ellen dials the emergency number for the police and races to the window.  She looks down – it’s quite a ways down, and at the bottom, hard stone pavement.

The phone RINGS at the other end of the line.

Martin rumbles against the door to the study.  He is trying to get inside.

111.     hallway – int. / night

Martin is standing in front of the closed door to the study, shaking the door handle.  He listens.

martin

Come on...

112.     study – int. / night

Ellen still hasn’t gotten through to the police.

martin (o.s.)

... I know what you’re up to.  You don’t think that’s going to work, do you?

Ellen desperately looks around the room, searching for a way out.  She catches sight of the activated computer.  There is a text flickering on the slightly demolished monitor.

Finally, someone answers the phone at the police station.

telephone voice (o.s.)

Police headquarters, Webber...

Ellen excitedly speaks into the phone.

ellen

Ellen Straub here.  You have to help me...

113.     hallway / entrance area – int. / night

Martin runs down the stairs to the entrance area.  He heads straight for the distributor box next to the cellar door.

One well-aimed blow, and the gray telephone box is demolished.

114.     study – int. / night

ellen

... please come right away!  My address is...

CLICK!  The conversation is cut off.  The line is dead.

But Ellen hardly notices it anymore.  Her eyes are glued to the monitor.  Something about it has drawn her full attention.

Her name is written on the monitor screen!  Ellen begins to read in disbelief.

ellen

            (reads)

“Ellen woke up from the sound of the door.  She barely managed to raise her head in order to see who the visitor might be.  His back turned to Ellen, the man pulled a wheelchair into the hospital room.  When he turned around, she recognized him with horror: Martin!”

Ellen’s eyes grow wider with every word she reads.  The text abruptly stops here.

Martin must have known everything!  Her whole story, everything that happened to her, is described in his new novel.

ellen

What the hell...

From outside, we hear Martin’s voice loud and clear.  He finishes her sentence for her:

martin

...is going on here?

Before Ellen has a chance to give the situation a thought, the door breaks open.  The door frame splinters.  Martin simply kicked the door in.

martin

The final chapter will finish tonight.  I bet you can’t wait to find out how the story ends!

Ellen grabs the knife and backs away.

ellen

My God, Martin.  I don’t understand all this.  How is it possible?

Slowly and threateningly, Martin comes closer.  In his hands, the hammer.

martin

Do you like my new book?  A real page-turner, isn’t it?  I can just see the critics:  Martin Straub is back!  And better than ever.

Ellen is backed up against the wall.  She raises the knife against him.

ellen

Stay where you are!  Not one step closer!

Martin isn’t fazed that easily.

martin

You still don’t understand, do you?  Today is the last day.  Your day, Ellen.

With this, he jumps up to her, quick as lightning.  He grabs the knife by the blade and twists it out of Ellen’s hand – without the slightest feeling of pain.

He firmly pulls Ellen towards the door.  They pass by the desk with the computer.  Ellen sees the electric cord for the computer on the floor.

With a swift move of her foot, she tears at the cable, pulling the computer off of the desk.  It falls to the floor.

Martin screams in rage.  For a second, he is distracted.

Ellen takes the opportunity to tear herself loose.

115.     hallway / entrance area – int. / night

Terrified, Ellen races down the stairs.  She is looking for a way out.

Martin is close on her heels.  In the entrance hall, he gets hold of her.

But Ellen manages to break loose again.  But doing so, she slips.  Falls.

And trips through the open cellar door...

116.     cellar – int. / night

... down the stairs.

Ellen crash-lands in brackish, brown water.  The cellar is flooded ankle-deep with swamp water.  It is seeping in through the crevices in the walls.

ellen

The moor...

Martin walks up to her, threateningly.  Ellen scrambles to her feet.  She is hurt.  But Martin walks past her and steps into the center of the dark cellar.

Ellen glances back at the cellar door which is still open.  Suddenly, an invisible force slams it shut.

martin

I told you, there is no way out.  He won’t let you go.

ellen

‘HE’?  Whom do you mean-

Instead of answering, he gently puts his finger on her mouth.

martin

            (quietly)

Shh.  Don’t you hear that?

She looks around.

Then she hears it:  The room is filled with quiet WHISPERS, growing louder and louder – countless voices – the voices of children!

martin

It’s important – he knows the last chapter.

ellen

Your book – that’s why you were always in the cellar!

Just then, a figure steps out of the darkness.  It is their little son Thomas.  Although he does not move his lips, he seems to be the source of the whispers.

He stands next to Martin, who lays his arm around the boy’s shoulder.

martin

Now look at this young man:  He supports me in what I do – quite the opposite of you.

Terrified, Ellen stares at Thomas.  She watches a thin strand of mud flow out of the boy’s shoulder, and – against the laws of gravity – it crawls up over Martin’s hand.  Martin does not seem to notice it.

martin

You know, Tommi wants me to become the man I used to be.

ellen

            (laughs bitterly)

...So he’s dictating you a new bestseller?  Whatever that is, it’s not our son.

Martin leans down to the child’s figure and brings his ear close to Thomas’ mouth.  The boy seems to be whispering something in his ear.

ellen

            (sharply)

Martin, don’t you understand?  Tommi is dead!  This... it knows our weaknesses and it’s using them to bring us apart!

Martin stays leaned down to Thomas and listens.  He throws a stealthy glance at Ellen.

martin

I’m afraid he doesn’t like you very much.

Martin smiles triumphantly.  He reaches into the water and pulls out a metal pipe.

He threateningly moves closer to Ellen.  She backs away, until she finds herself backed up against the wall.

Ellen looks around – there is no where to run.  But she tries anyway.  She wants to make a run for it.

But Martin is faster.  He grabs hold of her.  Ellen slips and lands in the water.

martin

We’ve played this game long enough.

He mercilessly pushes Ellen’s head under water.  She tries to put up a fight, but she doesn’t stand a chance.

martin

How sad.  Drowned, like all the others.  But that’s the way it’s got to be in a real horror novel.  I know what you’re thinking:  No happy end – it’ll never sell.  But to hell with commerce!

Ellen manages to fight her way above the water’s surface.  She gasps for air.  Her eyes catch sight of the old shelf, crammed full with all sorts of junk, standing within reach of her feet.

ellen

It’s lying, don’t you see?  This is all an illusion.  It lied to us and to all of those who were here before us...

Martin’s eyes are beaming with hate.  He does not notice Ellen kicking for the shelf.  It slightly tips forward, then back against the wall again.

martin

I’ll tell you what really was an illusion:  Romantic family life, by the side of your successful author.  Sorry if I wasn’t able to live up to your high expectations, princess.

Ellen tries to get through to whatever is left of Martin.

ellen

It wasn’t your fault, you hear!