The Far Corner

FADE IN:

INT. WILDER INSURANCE INVESTIGATIONS OFFICES - NIGHT

The plush outer offices are bathed in the glow of a computer

monitor that spills out into the quiet hallway from an office.

Suddenly the quiet is disturbed by rapid keyboard strokes.

INT. HALLWAY - NIGHT

A brass plaque on the wall beside an open door reads: JENNA

WILDER, Vice President.

INT. JENNA'S OFFICE - NIGHT

JENNA, 28, poised, with blonde hair in a French twist, is

absorbed by her work as her fingers fly over the keyboard.

She stops for a moment and flips through pages in a file on

her organized desk.

Every piece of furniture is perfectly situated, balanced, as

a page in a magazine.

JENNA

Don't you bastards think for one

minute you're going to stiff us for

twelve million. Bunch of thieves.

Jenna sips her Evian then continues to flip through pages.

The phone rings. She glances at Caller ID and answers.

JENNA

Hi dad. Just going over the Carlito

case so I don't miss a beat at the

inquiry tomorrow morning.

Jenna straightens a photo of her parents on her desk.

JENNA

I'm leaving in about an hour. Tell

mom I won't be late for dinner.

Need me to pick up anything? Okay.

Love you too.

Jenna hangs up and attacks the keyboard, her mood elevated.

INT. HI-RISE - NIGHT

The elegant flat shows a lifestyle of international travel.

BILL and KATHERINE, 50s, Jenna, and ERIC, 32, Ivy League to

the bone, sit in the living room. All sip wine.

2.

ERIC

A man could get quite dependent on

your kitchen, Mrs. Wilder.

BILL

Katherine and Bill. We're not stuffy.

KATHERINE

Anyone up for dessert? Bread pudding

with my famous custard sauce.

Jenna and Bill groan.

JENNA

Mom, are you trying to fatten me up?

ERIC

I do believe I can find room,

Katherine.

KATHERINE

Small portions. I promise.

Katherine heads to the kitchen. Jenna follows.

JENNA

Be right back.

INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT

Katherine places a tray on the counter, then grabs a bowl

from the refrigerator and hands it to Jenna.

KATHERINE

Heat this in the microwave for 20

seconds, dear.

Jenna puts the bowl in the microwave and sets the timer.

KATHERINE

Well, what do you think?

JENNA

He's nice. We'll see.

KATHERINE

Good.

Katherine returns to the task in front of her.

INT. LIVING ROOM - NIGHT

Empty dessert dishes on the coffee table.

3.

JENNA

I need to head home and get some

sleep.

BILL

We'll nail those bastards.

JENNA

It was very nice to meet you, Eric.

I hope you understand... I've got a

big case tomorrow.

ERIC

I'll walk out with you. Early surgery

in the morning.

(to Bill and Katherine)

Thanks for having me.

Bill and Eric shake hands. Eric and Jenna leave.

INT. ELEVATOR - NIGHT

Jenna and Eric ride the elevator in awkward silence.

JENNA

My Mom means well...

ERIC

Don't think you have to feel

obligated...

They both laugh. The elevator door opens.

INT. LOBBY - NIGHT

They step out of the elevator. Jenna sticks her hand out.

Eric takes her hand and pulls her forward to give her a light

kiss on the lips.

ERIC

I'm interested. I hope you'll go to

dinner with me very soon.

INT. JENNA'S BEDROOM - NIGHT

Jenna tosses and turns in the queen bed. She wakes and holds

her forehead and moans.

JENNA

Cannot be sick!

She rolls to her side and glances at the clock.

The alarm clock glows 2:10 on the bedside table.

4.

Jenna groans.

A blinding flash of light in the back of her eyes assails

her.

A human-like MAN (ASHRA) with shoulder-length shaggy black

hair, like a lion's mane, appraises her. His muscular chest

is bared, hairless. Shaggy hair covers the back of his arms

and body.

JENNA

Stop!

She rolls onto her back and presses her palms over her eyes.

Jenna stumbles to the bathroom, hovers over the toilet, but

doesn't heave. She straightens up, turns to the sink/mirror

and stares at her reflection.

JENNA

What the hell...

Jenna returns to her bed, climbs in and passes out.

INT. JENNA'S OFFICE - DAY

Jenna, in a business suit, drops her purse on the coat rack.

She sits, grabs the mouse, wakes the computer and logs in.

She finds a file and clicks print.

She glances at the desk clock as it chimes 5:00.

JENNA

Boy, that was some dream.

Jenna swivels her chair around and retrieves a page from the

printer and reads.

A SHADOW of a thin, spindly arm and three bony fingers with

rounded ends, slides across the edge of the desk, toward Jenna.

Globs of an unknown, clear, substance plop on the polished,

hardwood floor from the outstretched appendage.

Plop. Plop.

Jenna's brow creases in thought. She cocks an ear toward the

barely audible sound.

Plop. Plop. Plop.

One of the fingers reaches out and taps Jenna on the shoulder.

Jenna's hands grab at the intruder. Her hands do not connect

with anything solid.

5.

She stares at her hands, dumbfounded. Thick goo drips from

her fingers. Jenna swirls around in her chair to confront

the infiltrator.

She screams in terror.

A mustard-colored, pear-shaped CREATURE with sagging leathery

skin, greets her in short, deliberate sentences of an almost

unintelligible language trying for English.

CREATURE

>Trbletrbletrbletrbletruble<

Jenna screams and bolts back in the chair, away from the

horrifying thing in front of her.

The creature wags a finger as if scolding. Gooey gel-like

stuff flicks everywhere.

Jenna looks past the creature at the open door.

Her purse dangles from the coat tree by the door. Car keys

are slightly visible.

Her eyes return to the creature. She gauges. Calculates.

ANOTHER CREATURE pops into view, on the other side of the

desk. This one is gnome-like with a squashed face.

Jenna stares crazily at the new horror.

JENNA

My God! What's going on!

Jenna erupts out of the chair and rushes past the first

creature.

She grabs her purse from the coat tree. The coat tree crashes

to the floor.

She screams non-stop as she flees down the hall and out the

front door.

The glow of the monitor illuminates the empty office.

INT. PARKING GARAGE - DAY

Jenna bursts into the parking garage and runs to her lone

car.

She snatches her keys and jabs the unlock button on the remote.

She grabs the door handle and yanks. It's locked. She tries

the remote once again.

6.

Rattled, she grabs the door key and attempts to insert it in

the lock.

She drops the keys and stoops to retrieve them. Her hands

shake as she fumbles with keys.

A clear drop splatters on her hand as her fingers clutch her

keys.

Jenna stares in silent terror at the slime on her hand.

She explodes upwards, rams the keys into the lock, opens the

car door and jumps inside.

INT. CAR - DAY

Separated by metal and glass, Jenna and the creature stare at

each other.

She rummages through things in her console and grabs a can of

pepper spray. She holds it up at the window, finger on the

trigger.

JENNA

Don't come any closer!

Jenna manages to get the key into the ignition and starts the

car.

She slams it into drive and the car screeches toward the ramp.

The creature pops up directly in her path.

Jenna screams and yanks the steering wheel. The car sideswipes

a column, screeches down the ramp, bounces off the

concrete walls.

EXT. STREET - DAY

Jenna's car shoots through the garage onto the street, in

between traffic. Car horns sound.

In direct aim with the opposite sidewalk, the car suddenly

jerks to the left, gets into a traffic lane.

Car horns blast as Jenna's car careens down the street, weaves

in and out of crowded early morning traffic.

INT. CAR - DAY

Jenna, hunched over the wheel, drives like a maniac.

Another CREATURE pops up near her car. She screams and

broadsides the car in the next lane.

Police sirens in the distance, approaching fast.

7.

Jenna looks in the rear-view mirror, and to her horror sees

four eyes staring back at her from the back seat.

She screams in stark terror and slams on the brakes. The car

screeches, skids sideways in the lanes and comes to a stop.

Cars brake hard to avoid hitting her car. A mini pile-up

concludes with Jenna's car wedged and battered.

Jenna frantically attempts to open the drivers door, but it

is pinned by a bumper of another car. She opens the window.

EXT. STREET - DAY

Jenna climbs out of the car and takes flight. She dodges

cars as she runs.

A police car skids to a stop by Jenna's pile-up. Two POLICEMEN

get out of the car.

Jenna marathon-runs down the street with the cops in hot

pursuit.

OFFICER #1

Stop!

Jenna trips and falls.

The Policemen catch up to her and nab her. They haul her to

her feet.

Jenna's French twist is all askew, her clothing haphazard.

JENNA

Help me, help me, help me!

OFFICER #2

Is someone chasing you?

She cries as she claws at officer #2s shirt.

JENNA

Don't let them get me!

The officer disentangles himself from her grasp and holds her

by the arm.

Jenna looks to the side and gasps loudly, a look of terror on

her face.

She flings her hands out in front of her as if to prevent

something or someone to come any closer.

She squeezes her eyes shut.

8.

OFFICER #2

Want to bring her in?

Officer #1 nods as he puts a handcuff on one of Jenna's wrists.

He discovers that she has become unmovable.

OFFICER #1

Great. We've got a stiffy.

Officer #2 grabs Jenna's arm to secure the other handcuff but

she's frozen in place.

OFFICER #2

Call for an ambulance. They'll have

to take her to County.

INT. DAVID'S BASEMENT OFFICE - DAY

DAVID DANIELS, 35, tall, tailored, and confident, sits in the

dimly lit office. He focuses on two of his three large

monitors.

Seismic data fills one screen. A scrolling mass of data fills

the second screen.

The third screen scrolls a screensaver with pictures of

deformed animals, such as a two-headed dog, a goat with five

legs and other oddities.

The third monitor wakens. A picture of the earth covered

with a grid of many different colored lines appears.

David leans in and stares at a tiny blinking dot.

DAVID

Another dimensional hole.

INT. GEORGI'S BASEMENT OFFICE - DAY

A large, dark basement office, maybe cinderblocks, old heating

ducts.

GEORGINA (GEORGI) SAMS, 32, intelligent, curvy, and sexy with

sky blue eyes and red hair, hangs up the office phone and

rolls her chair to the wall.

She pounds the wall.

INT. DAVID'S BASEMENT OFFICE - DAY

David rolls his chair to Georgi's doorway.

DAVID

What's up?

9.

GEORGI

We've been summoned.

INT. CORE SECURITY BUILDING - DAY

Georgi and David exit the basement elevator at the ground

floor of Core Security.

Turnstiles with card readers line the lobby. Cameras are

pointed at every entry. Armed SOLDIERS monitor the turnstiles.

Georgi and David slide their cards through the card readers

at the turnstiles and follow the CROWD to a bank of elevators.

INT. PHILLS OFFICE - DAY

PHILLS, mid 50s, wire-rimmed glasses, wears a poker face, his

hands folded in front of him as he faces Georgi and David. A

black folder sits to the side of his desk.

Twenty years in government service and he has a room with a

view. He likes it.

PHILLS

We're interested in a young woman

recently transferred to a private

psychiatric hospital.

Georgi opens her mouth to speak.

Phills holds up one finger.

Georgi clamps her mouth shut.

PHILLS

I want you two to find out what

happened and to determine whether

there is any threat to national

security.

David frowns.

DAVID

Is she a political figure, or does

she work for a company with government

contracts?

PHILLS

No and no. Something much more

extraordinary. Find Jacob Two Birds.

Georgi and David share a questioning glance.

Phills slides the black folder to the edge of the desk.

10.

PHILLS

Get to the bottom of this and report

back when you have something solid.

David retrieves the folder. He and Georgi stand and take

their leave.

INT. SECURED HOSPITAL ROOM - NIGHT

Jenna, in a hospital gown, her hair limp and disarrayed, is

restrained on the hospital bed in the stark room.

She stares at a beam of moonlight as it seeps through the

heavily reinforced high window.

Her gaze comes down to bed level and she tries to scoot back

toward the head of the bed.

The restraints only allow her to move about an inch.

The big mustard colored creature stands at the edge of the

bed. He leans toward Jenna.

CREATURE

Gryndgryndgryndgrynd. Brog. Brog.

Trbletrbletrbletrbletruble.

Another creature beckons to Jenna. It waves five skinny gray

arms wildly.

Jenna screams violently as a tiny creature with green bumpy

skin leaps onto the foot of the bed.

It pats her foot with a wet, sticky appendage, then it darts

up the bed and places one of its long fingers across her lips.

Crazy with fear, Jenna twists her head away and clamps her

lips shut.

A drizzle of slime is left behind on her lips. Jenna twists

her face into the pillow and rubs violently.

JENNA

Oh God! What do you want? WHAT DO

YOU WANT FROM ME?

A crowd of bizarre CREATURES chatters loudly in many different

languages. They are packed into the room, up to the edge of

the bed.

INT. SECURED HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY

GRADY, 44, with a kindly face, carries a breakfast tray into

the room, followed by LYNN, a big burly male orderly.

11.

GRADY

Ready to eat? You must be starving.

Jenna takes in the food and plastic utensils on the tray.

JENNA

Is this good food?

GRADY

Of course it is.

LYNN

We're going to remove the restraints.

Are you going to cooperate, or are

we going to spoon feed you?

JENNA

I'll feed myself.

Lynn and Grady remove the bed restraints, then the straight

jacket.

JENNA

They don't hide medication in the

food, do they?

LYNN

Christ, you've been watching too

much TV.

JENNA

I don't want to be drugged.

GRADY

No one's going to drug you unless

Doctor Seymour prescribes something

for you, and they don't hide it in

your food.

LYNN

Comes in a little white cup along

with a cup of water.

JENNA

Oh.

GRADY

Eat up. I'll get the tray later.

Lynn and Grady leave the room. They lock the door.

Jenna observes the bowl of oatmeal, carton of milk, packet of

sugar, and plastic glass of orange juice.