Scene 1
Exterior shot of an old house. Interior shot with MISS PARKER looking through the empty rooms on the 2nd floor. She holds her gun warily in front of her and stands still in the doorway of one room, half in it, half in the hallway which leads to the staircase. There is the sound of a multitude of voices (in her head) and she swiftly turns, stalks down the hall, and comes upon JAROD, who is about to step up into the hall. MISS PARKER seems both pleased she has discovered him (as JAROD normally creeps up on her unexpectedly) and highly agitated.
MISS
PARKER
Creeping around as usual?
JAROD
This
time, you ran and I followed.
MISS
PARKER
(stepping closer, so that her gun is inches away from
him)
I personally dislike stalkers.
JAROD
(looking
level into her eyes, as he is on the stair below her)
You won't
shot me.
MISS
PARKER
(puts her gun to his head)
There are real bullets
in this gun. You haven't taken them out.
JAROD
(smiles)
Not
this time.
MISS
PARKER
Glib in the face of death. How quaint.
(Their faces are inches away from each other.)
JAROD
I
know you won't shot me.
MISS
PARKER
(sneers)
Yes, you keep saying that.
They have not broken eye contact this whole time. Slowly, Jarod reaches up, and touches her hand holding the gun to his temple. Miss Parker immediately sees a flashback of every encounter she has had with Jarod, melded into a flurry of images and sounds. It nearly consumes her. She shudders, and in doing so, lowers her eyes.
JAROD
(calling
softly, as if from a long way away)
Miss Parker…
Her eyes snap back to his, and he just stands there, looking at her. She looks puzzled he has not disappeared, or grabbed her gun, or tied her up, or something of the sort. Jarod slowly touches her hair where it meets her chin with his other hand. He comes closer, and their lips are nearly touching.
Miss Parker sits up in her bed, grasping the sheets as if to mentally steady herself. There is profound relief etched in her face as she realizes it was only a dream. Her phone rings. She picks it up.
MISS
PARKER
(angrily)
What?
JAROD
(a
bit surprised she is fully awake)
No sweet dreams tonight Miss
Parker?
MISS
PARKER
(laying back on her pillows, but still stiff and the
annoyance shows in her voice)
Not dreams. Nightmares.
Jarod is walking down a dimly lit street, carrying a cell phone.
JAROD
(teasing
her)
Dreams are said to mirror your subconscious desires and
fears. I would say the same thing about nightmares.
Miss Parker listens, and is visibly more agitated with the mention of her 'desires'.
MISS
PARKER
(sarcastically)
Thank you, Dr. Freud. Can we cut to the
part where you tell me why the hell you're calling me in the
middle of the night?
JAROD
(somewhat
amused that what he has said agitated her so much)
I found
something out about what my—our—mothers were planning before
Catherine died.
MISS
PARKER
(sits up excitedly)
What?
JAROD
(dramatic
pause)
Ruin.
MISS
PARKER
Ruin…sounds ominous…another Centre project?
JAROD
Possibly.
(imitating
Miss Parker)
Get Broots 'on it'. Hopefully for you he figures
it out quickly.
MISS
PARKER
I swear Jarod, some day…
JAROD
(interrupting)
You'll
have me all figured out.
(cheerful)
Until then, rest and
get some beauty sleep!
The line goes dead.
MISS
PARKER
(still talking into the phone and finishing her
sentence)
Some day, I damn well will kill you.
CUT SCENE
-----
LYLE is in RAINES'S office.
LYLE
Is
everything ready?
RAINES
How
do I know you won't double-cross me again?
LYLE
Mr.
Parker is dead now.
RAINES
So
we think.
LYLE
Getting
Jarod to co-operate, now that's the real challenge.
RAINES
It's
easier than you think.
Lyle just looks at Raines, waiting for an answer.
RAINES
We
threaten to kill someone he cares about.
(Raines pauses.)
Someone
he cares about—at the Centre.
Lyle looks intrigued.
CUT SCENE