You Can Never Leave

8/13/2019 You Can Never Leave

1/8


2/8

EXT. CHEAP MOTEL - DAY1 1

A sun-bleached MOTEL rotting away somewhere in middleamerica. The PARKING LOT is vacant and the SHRUBBERY isdivided cleanly between DEAD and OVERGROWN.

Three urban explorers stand across the street, leaningagainst a beat-up old SEDAN. JANICE (24) appraises thebuilding like a chef staring down a bag of frozen peas.

JANICESeriously?

LISA (20s) scrolls diligently through a SMARTPHONE while LIZ(20s) concentrates on her bubblegum.

LISA Endless House. It says right here.Five-stars, the challenge is to get

to the tenth room. Legend has itthat whoever enters never leaves.

LIZThis is LAME.

JANICEWe drove three hours out here forthe haunted house at Motel 8?

LIZLets GO.

LISA Hey, you guys wanted to do this.

Janice sighs and grabs the smartphone out of Lisas hand.

JANICEFine, Ill get the pictures, butyoure buying.

LISA Of course I am.

INT. MOTEL LOBBY - DAY2 2

Janice enters a motel lobby wouldnt look out of place in anursing home. A fat old RECEPTIONIST (50s) files her nailsbehind a faux marble counter.

A lame ass paper SIGN stands weakly atop the counter. WeREAD:

THIS way to the ENDLESS ROOM >


3/8

Janice scoffs, lazily snapping a photo.

FOLLOWING the signs arrow, we see a DOOR in the back adorned with a simple number 1.

Our brave adventurer pushes her way in.

INT. ROOM NUMBER 1 - DAY3 3

Like a one-room haunted mansion for second-graders. Dollarstore SPIDERS dangle from the ceiling panels and a flashingPLASTIC SKELETON maintains an irritating GROWL.

JANICEWow

She prods the skeleton, causing it to promptly fall over.

JANICE (CONTD)

WOW


A post-disaster hospital lobby, complete with swinging,flickering fluorescent lights and blood smears across thefloor. Somewhere, a radio broadcasts STATIC.

Janice picks her way through, avoiding the swinging lights.She snaps a few pictures, seemingly a little more impressed.

She finds the door at the end of the hall marked with 3 andpushes through

EXT. ROOM NUMBER 3 - DAY5 5

The DOOR swings open into a thick underbrush and Janice stepsout into a FOREST. She freezes, stunned.

POV JANICE

Trees rise up into an open sky. Trees to the left. Trees tothe right. No way this is an illusion.

Janice spins around, hands raised to find air. The doorsdisappeared.

JANICEWhat the

She plods forward.

JANICE (CONTD)Hello?


4/8

Her voice ECHOS. No reply.

She yanks the smartphone from her pocket and holds it up.CLOSE ON the screen: no signal bars.

JANICE (CONTD)

Okay. I take back what I said.Something CRUNCHES under a heavy footfall and Janice spinsabout again. Nothings there.

No time to waste. Janice begins pushing through theunderbrush, eyes sweeping for the door that must be there.

Another CRUNCH from behind. She turns.

POV JANICE

Trees. Dirt. MOVEMENT. Trees begin to SHAKE and RATTLE in the

path of something big thats heading RIGHT FOR US.

Janice books it. Tearing through the woods. Branches SNAP.Dirt FLIES. Leaves STRIP from their branches.

SOMETHING closes in right on her heels.

Panic builds, her breath comes in quicker and quicker,shorter and shorter.

Wheres that door? Wheres that door? THERE! Standing in theMIDDLE OF NOWHERE. A DOOR attached to nothing. Labeled simply

with the number 4.

Janice leaps for it.


In she stumbles. Behind her, the door slams shut. TOTALDARKNESS envelopes everything. We hear Janice GASPING forbreath

Slowly, the RUSTLING sound of someone feeling their pockets.

CLICK. A small puddle of light spills from the smartphonescreen, illuminating the side of Janices face. Slowly, eyes

wide, she pans it across the room until the light spillsonto

A FACE. Eyes black. Smile impossibly wide. Inches away.

She SCREAMS.

The phone drops. DARKNESS again.


5/8


She stumbles backwards into the next room, scooting on allfours. SLAM! She kicks the door shut, sprawling back inrelief. Only then does she notice the-

CHAIR in the middle of the concrete floor. A THINKING MANSTATUE sits upon it. Motionless.

She shrinks back, holding her breath. Eyes affixed in terror.

The statue remains motionless.

Carefully, she climbs to her feet and inches around thecuriosity, making her way toward


The same room. Statue and all. Janice pauses halfway through

the door and blinks in confusion. She looks back-


The door back to the dark room has vanished.


With a swallow, she steps in. DRIP. DRIP. DRIP.

She inches closer to the statue and sees-

Beads of water forming on the statues surface. They stream,nay, pour down its skin, pooling on the floor.

Nothing else seems to be happening. Reluctantly, she walksacross the room, giving the statue a wide berth.


Same room again. She steps in more boldly this time. Thechair now stands unoccupied, a puddle of water around itslegs.

SPLAT. A wet foot print appears. Pointed toward Janice.

She GASPS and steps back.

SPLAT. Another one. Splat. Splatsplatsplat

Janice YELPS, rapidly skirting around the room, glued to the wall. Her eyes darting between the trail of footprints materializing on the floor and-

POV JANICE


6/8

The smooth concrete wall runs uninterrupted.

Shes HYPERVENTILATING now, her nails biting into the wall.

Splat-splat-splat-splat

Tears stream down her eyes. Her fingers dig against the wall.Tapping along until it reaches a number: 8


Janice tumbles into a long hallway, doors all along eitherside. She scrambles to her feet and sprints for the far end.

Behind her: Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat

She CRASHES into the far door. It holds fast. She wrestles with the door knob, ramming her shoulder into it over and

over. It holds fast.

She SCREAMS in rage and fear. Then, eyes wide, she looks overher shoulder.

All the way back in the middle of the hall, an unremarkableDOOR marked with the number: 9.

Below, the footsteps inch ever closer.

Janice shuts her eyes, sucks in a deep breathe, and goes forit.

She sprints full-tilt, headlong toward the footsteps. At thelast minute, she banks hard right, SLAMMING into the door.


Another hallway. This one funnels inward, becoming narrowerand lower. The door at the end is no bigger than adumbwaiter.

She bends, then crouches, and finally she crawls. Behind her,the rhythmic sound of footfalls never stop.


Its a tunnel, pure and simple. Janice squeezes in throughthe door. She barely fits. Her shoulders scrape against thesides, her back presses against the ceiling.

She can only squirm/shimmy forward with all her might.

The hallway seems impossibly long. In fact, the more shecrawls the LONGER it seems to get.


7/8

Shes WEEPING openly now. Droplets of tears trail behind her,soon absorbed the wet foot prints.

By the time she reaches the end, the tunnels so tight herarms are pinned beneath her chest. She pushes herself forward

with her toes, head pressing against the final door.

It holds.

She pushes harder. It holds.

The footprints end at her feet. An invisible hand closesaround her ankle, crumpling her pants.

She SCREAMS. The door CRACKS open.

INT. MOTEL LOBBY - DAY15 15

Janice TUMBLES head-first out of a LOCKER. By the time it

swings shut, shes already on her feet and running.

She bolts past the bored Receptionist and out into

EXT. CHEAP MOTEL - DAY16 16

Across the empty parking lot she goes, heading straight forthe SEDAN. Lisa and Liz are nowhere in sight. This does notcompute to Janice.

She wrenches the door open and throws herself into theDRIVERS SEAT.

INSIDE THE CAR

She fumbles inside the glove box for the KEYS and jams theminto ignition.

OUTSIDE THE CAR

The tail lights flash on and the sedan PEELS away.

EXT. SUBURBS - DAY17 17

The car SCREECHES to a halt outside an unremarkable suburbanhome with slightly unkempt lawn. Theres no one around.

Janice charges out of her vehicle and makes a beeline for thedoor.

INT. JANICES LIVING ROOM - DAY18 18

She crashes in through door and SLAMS it shut behind her.Finally, she collapses into a heap by her couch, clutching acushion to her chest and CRIES.


8/8

Her breathe comes in great big gasping sobs. Finally, shelooks up and wipes away her tears. Shakily, she gets to herfeet and heads for her BATHROOM, whereupon her eyes fall on:

The BATHROOM DOOR. On which is smeared-

11

Documents

You Can Never Leave