Reflection Of A Shadow (Unfinished)

Reflection Of A Shadow (Unfinished)

A Screenplay by Synesthezia
"

A screenplay I wrote for my high school senior project, about 3 teenagers who find footage in their camera they don't remember recording. Unfortunately, they decide to investigate.

"
                                                         FADE IN:
          INT. CAR - DAY
          The hand-held camcorder is zoomed into the window, capturing
          the many trees in the forest passing by. Quiet hip hop music
          plays in the background, setting a neutral tone. There is no
          dialogue, the camera is just zooming and panning, recording
          the scenery.
          The video pauses. We follow a mouse cursor to a video time
          line, watching as the cursor makes some edits on an editing
          program.
          CUT TO
          INT. HOUSE - DAY
          Diego brings a hot pocket up to his mouth, biting into
          it nonchalantly, focused on the screen in front of him.   

          He's no more than 17 or 18 years old, his facial hair
          indicating that he hasn't shaved for a few days.                
          The old movie posters on his walls tell us he knows a thing
          or two about film making, the contents of his bookshelf
          reflect a preference for horror, mystery, and thriller
          novels, and the stacked travel cases that house keyboard
          synthesizers in the corner with guitar amplifiers next to
          them indicate that he knows the difference between an
          oscillator and an LFO envelope.
          
          
          His PHONE RINGS FROM ACROSS THE ROOM, so he gets up from 
          his chair, walks across the room, and picks up the phone.
                              DIEGO
                    Hey, what's up?
          BEAT
                              ANGEL
                    Hey, how far into the video are
                    you?
                              DIEGO
                    Yeah, no, it's going great. I'm...
                    pretty close to finishing it up. Is
                    this all of the camping footage?
                    Did you use any other cameras?
                              ANGEL
                    Yeah, the camera I gave you is the
                    only one we used. It's my dad's so
                    make sure you're careful with it. 
          While he is talking he walks back over to the computer and
          clicks FILE -> NEW in the editing program, typing in Angel's name.
                              DIEGO
                    Yeah. Yeah. Yes. Uh, n- yeah.
                         (checking his calendar, moving
                         his finger over a week from
                         now) ...that sounds like a plan.
                         Yup. Awesome.
                    BEAT
                              DIEGO
                    OK, see you later. Bye.
                         (the phone clicks, he then
                         puts the phone to his
                         forehead, closing his eyes.)
                    Crap.
          He walks back over to his computer, slumping down in his
          chair. He grabs an SD card on his desk and pops it into the
          computer, transerring the files to the editing program and
          starts playing the raw footage. Nothing too special, just
          Angel taping somewhere in the woods with the sun close to
          setting.
          EXT. FOREST - EVENING
          Angel is walking through the woods and it looks like she
          knows where she's going.
          INT. HOUSE - DAY
          Diego leans back in his chair, getting the impression that
          nothing of particular interest is going to happen, but
          doesn't skip forward since there obviously must be a reason
          Angel recorded this.
          There doesn't seem to be any dialogue, Angel is just
          walking through the woods, but Diego knows better than to
          just scrub through and risk overlooking something important.
          Just then, Angel walks into a clearing, and an old and worn
          down shack is revealed, dark and ominous in every way. She
          stops, points the camera toward the house for a good five
          seconds, then proceeds to walk towards the shack.
          Chillingly, it seems as though the shack gets darker and
          more ominous with Angel's every step. As Angel makes her way
          forward, Diego notices mild audiovisual distortion slowly
          materializing and getting worse and worse as Angel gets closer 
          and closer to the creepy and mysterious shack. 

  INT. HOUSE - DAY

          A visibly confused and disturbed look creases over Diego's face. 
          He reaches over and turns down the volume on his speakers just
          to be safe.
          
  EXT. FOREST - EVENING
          
          Angel still walks casually towards the house, seemingly
          without a care in the world. But then, she stops just twenty
          or so feet from the house, this time just admiring the
          closer view, but not for long.
          Without warning, Angel goes into a full on sprint towards
          the house, the volume on the video alarmingly increases and
          the audiovisual distortions get to the point that the frames
          per second on the video have slowed down from 30 to about 5.
          
  INT. HOUSE - DAY
  Diego slams his fingers on the CTRL, ALT, and DELETE keys in
          an effort to force stop the video and it pauses. Or at
          least, the footage does. The audio, however, seems to get
          stuck in a loud loop of Angel's sneakers pounding the dirt
          and leaves.
          Having enough, Diego reaches for the power button on his
          speaker, stopping dead in his tracks when he notices a
          blurry and dark figure inside the cabin in the frozen video
          image. He gets closer to examine, only to be greeted by a
          deafeningly loud and distorted static-type noise immediately
          followed by the footage skipping ahead many frames rapidly
          as the dark figure takes up the entire screen. Diego cries
          out and jumps back in response, knocking over his lamp and
          breaking the bulb in the process, effectively blanketing the
          entire room in almost complete darkness.
          INT. HOUSE - DAY
          The room is now lit and tidied up. Diego is standing with
          one armed crossed pacing the room holding a cell phone.
                              DIEGO
                    Hey, I was just reviewing the
                    footage. Did you guys rent a cabin?
                              ANGEL
                    Uh, no, why?
                              DIEGO
                    Was there a cabin near your
                    campsite?
                              ANGEL
                    Yeah, there was some cabin nearby.
                    My cousin said some crazy redneck
                    lived there but I didn't see it.
                              DIEGO
                    You didn't see it? Uh, could I
                    come by for a minute?
                              ANGEL
                    Why, did we get the crazy redneck
                    on film?
                              DIEGO
                    ...No, not exactly.
          EXT. ANGEL'S HOUSE - NIGHT
          MR. JOHNSON, Angel's father, opens the door for Diego.
                              MR. JOHNSON
                    Hey, Diego. What's up? Did you
                    bring back the camera?
                              DIEGO
                    Yeah, I did, but I'm not exactly
                    finished yet. I just wanted to
                    confirm something.
                              MR. JOHNSON
                    Oh, she told me about that. Did you
                    get that crazy redneck?
                              DIEGO
                    Sure.
          INT. ANGEL'S ROOM - NIGHT
          ANGEL opens the door and DIEGO walks in.
                              ANGEL
                    My cousin said that redneck had
                    dead bodies hanging in the
                    basement.
    ANGEL sits down on her computer chair.
                              DIEGO
                    Did you see the cabin?
                              ANGEL
                    No, I already told you.
                              DIEGO
                    I need to show you something.
          Diego walks over to her computer and hands her the camera.
                              DIEGO
                    Plug this in.
          Angel plugs the camera into her computer. A dialog pops up
          and DIEGO opens the folder and finds the file. He double-
          clicks on it and an error message pops up: "Error: Codec not
          found."
                              DIEGO
                    Oh, maybe that wasn't the right
                    file.
          He tries to click on the file again, and the same thing
          happens. He right-clicks on the file attempting to open it
          another way but again, it fails.
                              DIEGO
                    That's weird. Let me try importing
                    it directly from the SD card.
                              ANGEL
                    What is it? What's so impotant?
          Diego ignores her and pulls the SD card out of the camera.
          He inserts it into her computer and attemtps to open the
          file again. As soon as he inserts it, the screen goes dark,
          replaced by a blue error screen.
                              DIEGO
                    What the hell?
                              ANGEL
                    Did you just break my dad's camera?
                              DIEGO
                    No, there's a video I wanted to
                    show you, it was barely working
                    at my house but I can't get it to
                    work here.
                              ANGEL
                    It's just the redneck, right?
                              DIEGO
                    Okay.
          Diego sets the camera down and turns to give Angel his full
          attention.
                              DIEGO
                    I guess I didn't really tell you
                    what was on the video yet.
                              ANGEL
                    Oh, crap, I thought I deleted that
                    video. Did you see us smoking?
                              DIEGO
                    No, it wasn't anything like that. I
                    asked you if you ever went over to
                    the cabin...
                              ANGEL
                    And I said no. Why is it so
                    important?
                              DIEGO
                    I saw your reflection in the
                    window.
                              ANGEL
                    What window?
                              
     (DIEGO'S words quicken)
      
                      DIEGO
                    The window of the cabin. You were
                    walking in the woods holding the
                    camera, and you walked over to the
                    cabin, and... you...
                              ANGEL
                    Slow down and tell me what you
                    really want to say.
    DIEGO takes a deep breath.
                              DIEGO
                    In the video you walk to the cabin.
                    The video started to get distorted.
                    You stopped in front of the cabin,
                    and you ran inside.
                              ANGEL
                    What are you talking about? I never
                    did anything like that.
                              DIEGO
                    Let me finish. You ran inside the
                    cabin and I saw a man.
                              ANGEL
                    The redneck?
                              DIEGO
                    It didn't look like a redneck. In fact,
    I'm not exactly sure what he looked like.
    It was just the figure of a man. It could
    have been a woman for all I know.
            
                              ANGEL
                    You're not joking.
                              DIEGO
                    No, I'm not. I'm dead serious.
          Angel sighs. She walks over to her bed and sits down.
          BEAT
                              ANGEL
                    So I was walking in the woods,
                    there was a cabin, I ran inside,
                    and there was a man there. Then
                    what?
                              DIEGO
                    I don't know. The video corrupted
                    before I finished.
          Angel has a puzzled look on her face.
                              ANGEL
                    Show me the SD card again.
          Diego pulls the SD card out of the computer and hands it to
          Angel. She forms another puzzled look as she examines it.
  
                              ANGEL
                    This isn't the SD card that I gave
                    you.
                              DIEGO
                    That's the one that was in the
                    camera.
                              ANGEL
                    The one I gave you was a 32 gig.
                    This is a 16 gig.
          Diego walks over and looks at the SD card.
                              ANGEL
                    Are you sure you grabbed the right
                    one? Maybe you grabbed a different
                    SD card off of your desk.
                              DIEGO
                    Well, that could be... no, I
                    distinctly remember taking the card
                    out of my computer and putting it
                    back in the camera. Well, I have
                    the files on my computer. Why don't
                    you come over and check them out?
                              ANGEL
                    Okay.
          INT. DIEGO'S ROOM - NIGHT
          Diego and Angel are sitting at the computer. Diego has the
          mouse and is opening the files. He clicks on the file from
          before.
          The same video from before apperas. Angel is walking,
          holding the camera. Her reflection is seen in the window of
          the cabin. She runs inside, and the aforementioned figure  
          appears again.
                              ANGEL
                    Was that the figure you were
                    talking about?
                              DIEGO
                    Yeah, it's really weird.
                              ANGEL
                    Is there any more footage like
                    this?
          BEAT
                              DIEGO
                    Well, I didn't think of that. I
                    haven't checked.
          Diego clicks open another file in the same folder. In it, Diego,
          Angel, and their friend KEVIN are sitting around a campfire
          at night.
          EXT. CAMPFIRE - NIGHT
          handheld camera
          Angel, Kevin, and Diego have concerned looks on their faces.
                              DIEGO
                    So, what now?
                              ANGEL
                    We need to get ready.
                              KEVIN
                    ???????????????????????
          The audio distorts, obscuring Kevin's
          sentence. The video ends.
          INT. DIEGO'S ROOM - NIGHT
                              DIEGO
                    That was Kevin.
                              ANGEL
                    Have we ever been camping with
                    Kevin before?
                              DIEGO
                    No, not that I remember.
                              ANGEL
                    What the hell is going on then?
                              DIEGO
                    Maybe Kevin knows.
          EXT. KEVIN'S HOUSE - DAY
          Diego and Angel are standing outside of Kevin's door. Kevin
          opens the door.
                              KEVIN
                    Hey, what's up, guys?
                              ANGEL
                    What's up? Are your parents home?
                              KEVIN
                         (laughs)
                    Are they ever home?
                              DIEGO
                    I guess not.
          Kevin starts to walk inside.
          INT. KEVIN'S HOUSE - DAY
                              KEVIN
                    Do you guys want anything? Pizza,
                    soda?
          Diego and Angel walk inside.
                              ANGEL
                    Yeah, pizza sounds good.
                              KEVIN
                    Ok. Diego?
                              DIEGO
                    Uh, yeah, I'll have some too.
                              KEVIN
                    Alrighty, then. Meet me at the
                    kitchen table.
          Kevin walks over to the kitchen, followed by Diego and
          Angel, who sit down at the table.
                              KEVIN
                         (while grabbing the pizza and
                         soda from the fridge)
                    You two missed out on the party
                    last Saturday, Selena had just
                    grabbed her food and started
                    walking outside, but she didn't see
                    Rufus standing there so she tripped
                    over him and and fell into the
                    pool, it was hilarious. She still
                    had her normal clothes on! She
                    ruined her phone and mp3 player
                    that her parents had gotten her for
                    her birthday, so that was pretty
                    much the icing on the cake, haha.
          Angel and Diego laugh nervously as Kevin serves them their
          microwaved pizza.
          BEAT
                              KEVIN
                    Hey, what's up? You guys seem
                    really quiet today. Did I say
                    something wrong?
                              DIEGO
                    Oh, no, it's nothing. Hey, um, have
                    we ever gone camping?
          A confused look crosses Kevin's face.
          BEAT
                              DIEGO
                    Uh, as in, have all three of us
                    gone camping together at any point
                    in time?
                              KEVIN
                         (thinking as he speaks)
                    Mm... no, I don't think so. Why?
          BEAT
          INT. KEVIN'S LIVING ROOM - DAY
          The same video of them sitting around a campfire plays on
          the family computer as the three of them sit together,
          watching.
                              KEVIN
                    Wow, I'm impressed. How'd you do
                    that?
                              DIEGO
                    Do what?
                              KEVIN
                    The video. How did you insert me in
                    there? It looks so real. The
                    distortion and stuff is for effect,
                    right?
                              DIEGO
                    I didn't.
                              KEVIN
                    Huh?
                              DIEGO
                    I didn't put you in the video. It's
                    real.
          BEAT
                              KEVIN
                    But how? We've never been camping
                    before.
                              DIEGO
                    Well, according to the video, we
                    have. We were hoping you would be
                    able to shed some light.
                              KEVIN
                    You're serious?
                              ANGEL
                    Dead serious. There's also a video
                    of me going inside some cabin, and
                    I don't remember ever doing that.
                              KEVIN
                    It's just a video of you going
                    inside a cabin? That's pretty
                    random. Was there a reason?
                              ANGEL
                    I have no idea.
          BEAT
                              KEVIN
                    So... are there more videos besides
                    this one and the cabin one?
                              DIEGO
                    We haven't checked. We only saw the
                    two videos before we decided to
                    come over.
                              KEVIN
                    Ok, then let's check them. Maybe
                    they have some clues.
                              DIEGO
                    Clues?
                              KEVIN
                    Yeah. Maybe the other videos have
                    something in them that will help us
                    figure out when and where these
                    videos where taken.
                              DIEGO
                    Oh, yeah. That's a good idea.
          Diego scoots over to the computer and navigates to the SD
          card folder. the video files appear, and Diego clicks the
          first one they haven't watched yet. The media player opens.
          INT. CAR - DAY
          handheld camera
          Angel is driving, Kevin's in the passenger seat, and hip hop
          music plays from the car speakers as Diego records.
                              KEVIN
                    It's not really working.
                              ANGEL
                    Oh, come on, it barely started. You
                    didn't even give it a shot.
                              KEVIN
                    Yeah but I'm telling you, it's not
                    gonna work.
                              DIEGO
                    You're not even trying! I was the
                    same way at first. You just need to
                    let it sink in.
                              ANGEL
                    Oh, um, Diego, are you still
                    recording?
                              DIEGO
                    Yep.
                              ANGEL
                    Then you should probably explain to
                    the people who are watching what's
                    going on.
                              DIEGO
                    Oh, yeah yeah. Um, well, we started
                    driving at around 7:45 and now
                    it's...
                         (zooms into the dashboard
                         clock)
                              11:17.
                              ANGEL
                    Tell 'em where we're headed, too!
                              DIEGO
          I was getting to that. So, yeah anyways, we're driving over
          to-
          Audio distortion cuts Diego off mid-sentence.
          BEAT
                              KEVIN
                    Yep. We've been driving for about 3
                    plus hours without breakfast,
                    because this girl over here thinks
                    that it won't take long to get
                    there.
                              ANGEL
                         (laughing)
                    It won't take long.
                              KEVIN
                    And how do you know that?
                              ANGEL
                    Because we're already here!
                              KEVIN
                    Really, if you're kidding, I
                    swear... Oh, God, finally!
          Diego pans the camera to the right, but before anything is
          really seen, the video corrupts and ends.
          INT. KEVIN'S LIVING ROOM - DAY
          The teenagers share the same look of confusion over their faces.
                              DIEGO
                    Really? Why  does that always
                    happen?
                              KEVIN
                    You mean the distorted stuff?
                              DIEGO
                    Yeah, I have yet to see a clean,
                    continuous video on this card.
                              ANGEL
                    Maybe the card is broken?
                              DIEGO
                    No, I think if there was anything
                    wrong with the card at all, the
                    computer probably wouldn't
                    recognize it. Also, have you
                    noticed the distortions always act
                    up whenever something important is
                    going to happen?
                              KEVIN
                    How so?
                              DIEGO
                    As in, in the first video with
                    Angel in the woods, the distortions
                    ate up the last part of it, so we
                    didn't get a clear view of whoever
                    was inside the cabin. Then with the
                    video of us in the campfire,
                    whatever you said was blocked out
                    by the audio feedback. And now,
                    when I was going to say where we
                    were headed in the video, there was
                    feedback there.Same thing at the
                    end, whenever the said place was
                    getting into view, there was more
                    distortion. I don't get it.
                              ANGEL
                    Maybe my dad's camera really is
                    broken.
                              DIEGO
                    No, the points at where the
                    feedback happens seem too
                    coincidental to me.
                              KEVIN
                    So... what do you mean by that?
                              DIEGO
                    I feel as if someone tampered with
                    the footage on purpose.
                              ANGEL
                    But why would anyone wanna do that?
                              DIEGO
                    That's what I'm trying to figure
                    out, it just doesn't make sense.
                              KEVIN
                    So... Ok. We have some videos of us
                    that we don't remember filming.
                    ...And? Big deal.
                              ANGEL
                    But don't you think that's really
                    weird?
                              KEVIN
                    Well, yeah, but I don't see why it
                    needs to be investigated so
                    thoroughly. I mean, sure, it's
                    weird, but it's summer vacation,
                    you guys. I don't wanna spend it
                    wondering about these videos...
                              ANGEL
                    Diego, what do you think? Isn't
                    this worth investigating?
                              DIEGO
                    I agree with you that it is
                    definitely weird. But, I don't
                    know... Kevin's got a point. We
                    don't need to use up our summer
                    over this.
                              ANGEL
                    Really guys? Come on! It's not like
                    we're going to do anything uber-
                    amazing over summer anyways.
                              KEVIN
                    You have a point, but still. I
                    don't think it's worth it. What are
                    we going to find out? We don't even
                    have any idea where and when these
                    were shot.
                              ANGEL
                    Yeah, but we could try. It sounds
                    like it could be really fun.
                              DIEGO
                    Fun? As in how?
                              ANGEL
                    I was thinking we could search
                    through the videos and find clues
                    as to where and when this happened,
                    then, maybe we could go to that
                    place for a few days and see what
                    we find. It'll be like those
                    forensic investigation shows on TV
                    where the forensic teams and the
                    P.I find little clues here and
                    there to solve the mystery!
                              DIEGO
                    Wow. You sound really serious about
                    this.
                              ANGEL
                    I am! You know how I'm always up
                    for adventure.
                              DIEGO
                    I don't know. We know very little
                    as of now, it could possibly be
                    dangerous.
                              KEVIN
                    Yeah. I'm not really up for going 
                    and camping out somewhere. I'd much
                    rather spend my summer here and do
                    other stuff.
                              ANGEL
                    Really? Like what?
                              KEVIN
                    Well, we could go and just do
                    stuff. Movies, theme parks,
                    beaches, you name it. It's summer.
                    There's lots of stuff to do. We
                    just got out of school like 10 days
                    ago.
                              ANGEL
                    Yeah, that's why I said, we'd only
                    be there for a couple of days. Like
                    a weekend or so.
          BEAT
                              ANGEL
                    So? What do you say? Diego, come
                    on. You know it sounds cool.
                              DIEGO
                    It definitely does. But at the same
                    time, you have to consider other
                    factors. If we find out where it
                    is, how far would it be? Maybe it's
                    not just a 4-6 hour drive. It could
                    take days to get there. Also, what
                    if it's really deep into the woods
                    or something? If something were to
                    happen, maybe it wouldn't be easy
                    to get help. Last time I checked,
                    the forest is not the best place to
                    get cell phone reception.
                              ANGEL
                    So what? You're saying you're not
                    down?
                              DIEGO
                    Uh, well, not exactly. I'm down as
                    long as we know where this place is
                    and that you can guarantee that we
                    will have a means to get there and
                    leave there safely.
                              KEVIN
                    Yeah, see? You can't guarantee
                    that.
                              ANGEL
                    Well, still, we-
          BEAT
                              KEVIN
                    ...What?
                              ANGEL
                    Diego, you said there was a video
                    of me going inside that cabin,
                    right?
                              DIEGO
                    Yeah. So? what does- Ohh. I see.
                              KEVIN
                    What? What about the video?
                              DIEGO
                    Angel identified the cabin as one
                    that was about a 5 minute walk from
                    the campsite she was at last
                    weekend. So in fact, we do know
                    where this took place. I completely
                    forgot all about that.
                              KEVIN
                    Jesus, how the hell do you forget
                    something like that?
                              DIEGO
                    I forgot she mentioned it, so I
                    started assuming that it was just
                    as unidentifiable as everything
                    else.
                              KEVIN
                    Wha- that makes absolutely no sense
                    whatsoever.
                              ANGEL
                    Dude, admit it. We have a guarantee
                    now. It makes sense.
                              KEVIN
                    Ok, then how is it that you
                    remembered the cabin, but didn't
                    remember any of the other
                    locations? Wouldn't they also be
                    familiar to you if you went to camp
                    there last weekend?
                              ANGEL
                    I- Damn. I guess you have a point.
                    I actually don't recognize the
                    other locations. Unless...
                              DIEGO
                    Unless what?
                              ANGEL
                    You said the video doesn't work
                    anymore?
                              DIEGO
                    The cabin one? Nope. Won't even
                    open. Why?
                              ANGEL
                    Leave the camera plugged in, but
                    take the SD card out.
                              DIEGO
                    Uh, alright...
          Diego reaches over and pulls the SD from the slot in the
          camera. As he does this, all of the files in the folder
          disappear, except for one.
                              DIEGO
                    What the? The cabin video stayed in
                    the folder.
                              ANGEL
                    Yep. I remember now that not all of
                    my camping footage was on the 32
                    gig SD. We filmed some on the hard
                    drive in the camera before deciding
                    to have all of the footage on the
                    SD instead. You said you saw me in
                    a reflection even though I never
                    got near the cabin. You guys
                    remember my cousin Jasmine?
                              DIEGO  KEVIN
                    Yeah.
                              ANGEL
                    She got a haircut before the
                    camping trip and everyone was
                    talking about how she looked a lot
                    like me. So the person you saw was
                    probably her. My cousins were over
                    there fooling around, the person
                    inside the cabin was probably one
                    of them too.
          BEAT
                              DIEGO
                    Ok... so if that video's unrelated,
                    then where did the other ones take
                    place?
                              ANGEL
                    I think I got that too. The family
                    that owns the camping grounds that
                    we camped at own a sister set of
                    grounds not much farther away. That
                    would be the only other place we
                    would go if we were to go camping.
                              DIEGO
                    Well, I guess that pretty much
                    sells it for me, but we still need
                    to be really careful. We don't know
                    exactly what we're going to find.
                              ANGEL
                    Alright! Awesome. Kev, come on.
                    It's all good.
                              KEVIN
                         (sigh)
                    Looks like it.
          BEAT
                    It better not be boring.
                              ANGEL
                    Haha! Don't worry. I'm pretty sure
                    you won't be disappointed.
          EXT. DIEGO'S HOUSE - DAY
          Diego packs the last few camping bags into the SUV as Kevin
          gets into the passenger seat with Angel taking the wheel.
                              MS. MARTINEZ
                    Ok, bye you guys! Have a nice trip!
                    Drive safely! Diego, mijo, I love
                    you and be safe. Dejame darte mi
                    bendicion.
                              DIEGO
                    Ok, mom.
          Diego walks over to his mom to recieve her blessing.
                              MS. MARTINEZ
                         (signing the extended sign of
                         the cross)
                    Por la Señal de la Santa Cruz de
                    nuestros enemigos, líbranos Señor,
                    Dios Nuestro. En el nombre del
                    Padre, del Hijo y del Espíritu
                    Santo. Amen.
                              DIEGO
                         (kissing her cheek)
                    Bye, mom. Love you.
                              ANGEL
                    Come on dude, let's go!
                              DIEGO
                    Alright, alright.
                              MS. MARTINEZ
                    Be safe, call me when you're almost
                    there. If you get reception at any
                    time, call me for updates.
                              DIEGO
                    Alright, I'll do that. Adios.
                              MS. MARTINEZ
                    Adios mijito, te quiero 'burro
                    macho'.
                              DIEGO
                         (Already in the car)
                    Haha, ok. Bye! See you later!
                              KEVIN  ANGEL
                    Bye, Mrs. Martinez!
          Angel drives away as Ms. Martinez waves goodbye.
                              ANGEL
                    Haha, alright... A nice weekend of
                    relaxing and investigating. This
                    should be interesting. What did you
                    guys bring along?
                              KEVIN
                    I didn't pack a whole lot. Clothes
                    and toiletries I packed in a duffel
                    bag, along with some other
                    necessities.
                              ANGEL
                    Necessities like what?
                              KEVIN
                    First Aid and survival kits, bug
                    spray, hand sanitizer, protein
                    bars, trail mix, bottled water,
                    sleeping bag, poncho, cell phone,
                    mp3 player, digital camera, PSP.
                              ANGEL
                    Sounds good. Diego?
                              DIEGO
                    Um, I also did the backpack slash
                    duffel bag combo.
                              KEVIN
                    And what'd you pack?
                              DIEGO
                    Basically the same stuff as you,
                    sans survival kit, avec MacBook Pro
                    and camcorder.
                              KEVIN
                    Ok, I can understand all of that
                    except the MacBook. Why'd you have
                    to bring that? Don't you wanna be
                    generally 'disconnected' from the
                    world?
                              DIEGO
                    Well yeah, but I brought it mostly
                    so I can edit footage and stuff. I
                    don't plan on connecting it to the
                    internet.
                              KEVIN
                    Oh I see.
                              ANGEL
                    Cool. I packed lighter. Just
                    clothes and basic necessities. No
                    electronics. A little food.
                              KEVIN
                    Speaking of a little food, you plan
                    on stopping at a restaurant?
                              ANGEL
                    Nah, It's only about a three-and-a
                    half hour drive. I hope you guys
                    ate breakfast.
                              KEVIN
                    Crap! I didn't because I thought we
                    would stop somewhere...
                              DIEGO
                    I did just in case.
                              ANGEL
                    Yeah me too. Sorry Kev, you
                    should've eaten something.
          Kevin lets out a disapproving grunt, reaches into the
          backpack at his feet, and pulls out a protein bar, eating it
          slowly. Angel and Diego giggle uncontrollably.
                              KEVIN
                         (mouth full)
                    Shut up.
          Their giggles become guffaws.
                                                         FADE IN:
          INT. CAR - DAY
          Diego stares out the window as hip hop music plays in the
          background. Many trees pass idly by as he wonders how
          long it took them to grow and populate the forest.
                              KEVIN
                    Man, I'm so hungry...
                              ANGEL
                    I would be too if all I had to eat
                    all day was a few protein bars.
                              DIEGO
                    Haha. I think I'll record
                    something. I'm pretty bored.
                              KEVIN
                    Fine by me.
                              ANGEL
                    Go ahead.
          Diego takes the camcorder out of his bag and starts
          recording through the window. The lack of any conversation
          emphasizes the scenery and quiet hip hop music, setting a
          neutral tone. The feeling of deja-vu slowly materializes,
          though no one seems to notice.
                              KEVIN
                    Hey Diego, were we supposed to be
                    quiet while you were recording?
                              DIEGO
                    Oh, no. Sorry I didn't make that
                    clear. Go ahead.
                              KEVIN
                    Alright. Angel, you mind changing
                    the channel?
                              ANGEL
                    Why? Dr. Dre is so legit!
                              KEVIN
                    I'm sure, but I'm not really into
                    hip hop.
                              ANGEL
                    What??
                              KEVIN
                    Well, I'm more of a rock slash
                    metal type of guy.
                              ANGEL
                    As if that wasn't too obvious. Have
                    you ever given hip hop a chance?
                              KEVIN
                    Well, I've never critically
                    listened to it.
                              ANGEL
                    You really should. Diego, what are
                    your thoughts?
                              DIEGO
                    On hip hop?
                              ANGEL
                    Well, music in general. What do you
                    listen to?
                              DIEGO
                    I started off listening to mostly
                    electronic stuff like techno,
                    progressive, and house music, but
                    now I've grown to like pretty much
                    anything.
                              KEVIN
                    I doubt that.
                              DIEGO
                    Yeah?
                              KEVIN
                    Yeah, you don't look like the type
                    that listens to anything I listen
                    to.
                              DIEGO
                    Try me.
                              KEVIN
                    Metallica.
                              DIEGO
                    Yep.
                              KEVIN
                    AC/DC.
                              DIEGO
                    Yep.
                              KEVIN
                    Megadeth.
                              DIEGO
                    Yep.
                              KEVIN
                    Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Guns
                    and Roses, Aerosmith, Sex Pistols,
                    Led Zeppelin, Blotted Science?
                              DIEGO
                    I have all of those on my iPod
                    except for Sex Pistols.
                              KEVIN
                    Bull. Blotted Science is pretty
                    indie. And they're an instrumental-only band.
                              DIEGO
                    Take a look.
          Diego hands over his mp3 player to Kevin.
                              KEVIN
                    Well, crap.
                              DIEGO
                    Told you.
                              KEVIN
                    I take what I said back.
                              DIEGO
                    Thanks.
                              ANGEL
                    Haha. What about hip hop?
                              DIEGO
                    I listen to a lot of that too. You
                    might as well assume I listen to
                    the same stuff you do. I meant it
                    when I said I listen to everything.
                    Too much to list, in fact.
                              ANGEL
                    That's cool. Very few people have
                    that type of mindset. It's nice to
                    be open.
                              
                              DIEGO
                    Thank you.
                              ANGEL
                    So anyways, Kev, you should give
                    hip hop a try. Just listen.
          Kevin listens to the music for about five seconds.
          (repeated scene)
                              KEVIN
                    It's not really working.
                              ANGEL
                    Oh, come on, it barely started. You
                    didn't even give it a shot.
                              KEVIN
                    Yeah but I'm telling you, it's not
                    gonna work.
                              DIEGO
                    You're not even trying! I was the
                    same way at first. You just need to
                    let it sink in.
                              ANGEL
                    Oh, um, Diego, are you still
                    recording?
                              DIEGO
                    Yep.
                              ANGEL
                    Then you should probably explain to
                    the people who are watching what's
                    going on.
                              DIEGO
                    Oh, yeah yeah. Um, well, we started
                    driving at around 7:45 and now
                    it's...
                         (zooms into the dashboard
                         clock)
                              11:17.
                              ANGEL
                    Tell 'em where we're headed, too!
                              DIEGO
          I was getting to that. So, yeah anyways, we're going camping
          for the weekend at the Jacob Meyers campgrounds.
          
          BEAT
                              KEVIN
                    Yep. We've been driving for about 3
                    plus hours without breakfast,
                    because this girl over here said
                    that it wasn't going to take long
                    to get there.
                              ANGEL
                         (laughing)
                    It won't take long.
                              KEVIN
                    And how do you know that?
                              ANGEL
                    Because we're already here!
                              KEVIN
                    Really, if you're kidding, I
                    swear... Oh, God, finally!
          EXT. CAMPGROUNDS ENTRANCE - DAY
          Angel pulls the SUV into the grounds, pays the woman at the
          toll booth, and gets their cabin number and keys. She drives
          up to their cabin and parks nearby. Everyone gets out and
          grabs their bags, taking them to the cabin.
                              KEVIN
                    Dude, this is awesome. It comes
                    with a small kitchen!
                              ANGEL
                    Yeah, I know the family that owns
                    these and the other campgrounds
                    about an hour away. Sick, huh?
                              DIEGO
                    Hell yes. Three beds, a bathroom
                    and shower, small kitchen, decent
                    size fridge, how much did this all
                    cost you?
                              ANGEL
                    I would have to pay close to three
                    times the normal cabin price. But
                    since I know the owners, I get to
                    rent the high-end ones at the
                    normal cabin price.
                              KEVIN
                    Awesome! Works for me. Diego,
                    please tell me you brought a decent
                    supply of pizza pockets...
          Diego reaches into his bag and tosses Kevin a large
          microwavable pizza pocket.
          (In medieval accents)
                              KEVIN
                    You, sir, have made my day.
                              DIEGO
                    It beith not a problem, good sir.
                              KEVIN
                    Didst thou happen to bring flavored
                    carbonated beverages?
                              DIEGO
                    Aye, indeed I did. They reside in
                    the large wagon of invisible
                    horses.
                              KEVIN
                    Many thanks to you, sir.
                              DIEGO
                    'Tis not a problem.
                              ANGEL
                    You two fine gentlemen are living
                    proof that modern knights have yet
                    to sway from their chivalric
                    traditions.
          BEAT
          Everyone laughs.
          EXT. cabin - day
                                                         FADE OUT
          INT. CABIN - MORNING
          Diego sits at a table next to the window, drinking coffee. A
          note sitting inside a nearby napkin holder tells him Angel
          and Kevin left to go hiking and get firewood. As he drinks
          his coffee he starts to edit footage from his laptop. It's
          the footage from inside the car. He scrubs through it a
          little bit, and gets a feeling of deja vu. He plays through
          it and realizes that it's exactly like the video he saw at
          Kevin's house, only it's complete and devoid of any glitches
          or distortions.
          As he plays it, he notices something as he was recording
          through the window. He rewinds, and watches it
          frame-by-frame. He stops as he notices a blurry image of
          what seems to be a tall, completely black shadow on the side
          of the road. He zooms in as the two beady white dots on the
          figure's black face stare back at him. A blurry, white
          circular shape underneath the eyes suggests a mouth open
          agape. It's the same figure from the other video. Unnerved,
          he puts his laptop on screensaver mode.
          The screen fades to black as the figure's reflection stares
          back at him from the nearby window, uttering a horrible
          shriek and pulling its mouth agape, mimicking the face Diego
          just tried to forget.
          Diego cries out and leaps away from the horrible thing,
          running to the kitchen and putting his back to the wall,
          catching his breath as a large gust of wind throws dead
          leaves around the room, effectively shutting the cabin door
          with a loud bang.
          BEAT
          He dares a slow peek around the corner and is greeted by the
          figure, only inches from his face. The figure inhales deeply
          as its mouth opens even wider, trying to pull Diego in.
          The cabin door opens as Kevin and Angel walk inside, arms
          full with firewood. They drop the firewood and run to his
          aid as they notice Diego laying on the ground, making
          desperate attempts to breathe.
                              KEVIN
                    S**t! What happened?!?
          Diego only wheezes in reply.
                              ANGEL
                    Get some water!
                              KEVIN
                    Uh, Alright!
          Kevin runs to the kitchen and comes back with a bottle of
          water. He and Angel pour water into Diego's mouth and splash
          some on his face. Diego swallows and inhales deeply, letting
          out congested coughs as he returns to normal.
                              KEVIN
                    Hey, there you are, buddy.
                              ANGEL
                    Everything's Ok now, just let it
                    all out. Kev, let's get him to his
                    bed.
                              KEVIN
                    Yeah.
          They grab Diego by the arms and legs as they set them down
          on his bed and cover him up. Diego falls fast asleep.
                              KEVIN
                    Jesus, what do you think happened?
                              ANGEL
                    I don't know. He looks pale and
                    sick. Did you hear those coughs?
                    Sounded like he had bronchitis or
                    something.
                              KEVIN
                    Yeah, definitely. You think maybe
                    he had an asthma attack?
                              ANGEL
                    No, I don't think he has asthma.
                    I've had bronchitis before, and I
                    showed the symptoms for over a week
                    before the coughs sounded that bad.
                    He was fine up until know.
                              
                              
                              
          
          
          
                              
                              
          
          
          
          
          
          
          
          
          
                              
                              
          
                              
                              
                              
                              
                              
                              
          
                              
                              
                              
                              
             

© 2013 Synesthezia


Author's Note

Synesthezia
Like the title says, I'm not finished with it yet, but would like to get some comments before I go any further.

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Added on July 27, 2013
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Tags: screenplay, script, horror, video, shadow

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