Storm clouds devour a waxing crescent moon above a modest home set amongst the edge of the woods.
A lone light glows. Jerry Marin has fallen asleep, perhaps passed out, reclined in his chair. Lex's mother is asleep on the sofa, balls of tissue on the floor. Lex enters the room and smiles at his parents. He picks up a glass and swigs the remainder of his father's scotch before moving off and climbing the stairs.
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The table fan swivels as it distributes its breeze.
Jackson sits at his desk, dark circles beneath his eyes. Swamping the desk are printouts of internet web pages and newspaper articles concerning the crash of Flight 180, forensic engineer textbooks, and NTSB reports on past airline disasters. Jackson studies his mountain of research, increasingly obsessed.
A newspaper on his desks flutters, being blown by the fan, drawing his attention. He reaches out and grabs it. Headlines and photos report on the memorial service. He sighs, troubled. In one photo, Melissa is handing him a rose.
He closes the paper, puzzled by his reaction. He shakes it off, and throws the paper on the desk.
Jackson considers a beat, then pulls open a lower drawer. Digging through the mess inside, he finds his stash…an issue of Penthouse.
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In Lex's bathroom, a toilet is beside the bathtub/shower, with just enough knee space to the counter cabinets when one lifts the toilet seat. Lex pulls his pants down and sit on the toilet.
A cold soft breeze causes the curtains to billow. It continues across the room, rippling across the shower curtain.
As the breeze passes Lex, he pauses, as if sensing, but not understanding. This is more than a wayward autumn breeze. He moves to close the window. However, the breeze makes its way to the door, softly pushing it closed.
Lex sits back down
As he flushes, the locking nut and water line pipe begins to slightly rattle. Drips of water stream from the tank onto the floor.
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Jackson flips the magazine open to a centerfold. Looking at the picture, the model's pose and expression tempt Jackson towards the momentary respite from his troubles.
He considers the reports on the Flight 180 crash, then returns his attention to the magazine. His eyes return hesitantly to the newspaper photo of Melissa.
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Lex picks up a razor blade from the counter. He looks at his face in the mirror. As if behind him, he sees a black indiscernible form, like a shadow. However, it's actually a presence incapable of reflecting light.
Lex whips around, but sees nothing.
A puddle forms from the dripping pipe line, creeping toward the heel of Lex's stocking feet.
Lex turns on the faucet, and grabs his toothbrush, squeezing the paste onto the bristles.
Beside the sink sit's the unplugged radio. He grabs the plug.
The puddle of water grows closer to his foot.
The radio plug is inserted into the electrical socket. He turns on the radio, hearing John Denver.
"And they say he got crazy once and he tried to touch the sun."
Spooked, Lex quickly turns it off, unplugs it, and pushes it aside.
The puddle on the floor continues to grow.
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Odd how one can appear so erotic at a funeral.
Jackson studies the photograph, the notices the rose she gave him. Succumbing the guilt, feeling like the freak all teenagers believe they are, Jackson sets the paper back on the desk. He grabs the Penthouse and turns, opening the desk drawer in order to return the magazine.
However, a loud bang turns Jackson's head to the window.
An owl has apparently smashed into the window, awkwardly flapping its large wings, then turns its head toward Jackson, large yellow eyes shining like an alien creature.
Startled, Jackson reflexively throws the Penthouse across the room, pages tearing as it hit's the sill. The giant bird flies off.
The table fan swivels, a page catching in the whirling blades. Bits and pieces of paper fly around the desk. One lands on his leg. He picks it up and turns it over.
The piece of paper is torn in such a manner that the only letters remaining from the centerfold's caption are "Lex"
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Lex pulls the shower curtain aside, revealing two pairs of Linda Marin's nylons drying on a retractable clothesline.
The puddle on the floor reaches his foot, causing him to slip and fall forward. The retractable clothesline retracts, whipping wildly.
Lex tries to grasp anything to keep from falling. His hand reaches for the soap dish, only to slide the soap off and onto the bottom of the tub, along with a bottle of shampoo.
The thin clothesline coils around his neck. The plastic anchor wraps beneath the cord, essentially creating a noose.
He slips again, and falls against the back wall of the shower stall, pulled by the retracting wire. He kicks with his feet, desperately trying to gain a footing.
Quickly, reflected in the chrome, the dark shadow approaches.
Lex's feet slip in the slick shampoo and water. His eyes flare, blood vessels burst. He groans, attempting to call out. The bathroom door is closed.
Lex's parents remain asleep. From the living room, a faint muffle can be heard.
Lex's hands tear at his flesh, desperately trying to pull the cord from his neck.
His eyes dart toward the counter, where a pair of nose-hair scissors lay. Choking, gasping, face turning purple, he reaches for them. The scissors are sadistically out of reach.
Suspended by the cord, propped against the back wall of the shower stall, his bluish purple tongue grotesquely juts from his mouth.
Lex's feet kicked upon the slippery basin. After a beat…they stop. And his body relaxes.
The puddle of water eerily retreats from the floor, slipping back toward the toilet, and, like a murderer, slips out of the night.
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Siren lights whirl and flash. In front of the Marin house sit's a paramedic's vehicle, a Sullivan County, N.Y. sheriff's patrol car, and an unmarked sedan.
Cody Jackson races down the sidewalk, sweating, out of breath, a horrified expression on his face as he takes in the scene before him.
Agents Fujimoto and Marin stand in the front yard. Fujimoto subtly directs Marin's attention toward Jackson.
Jackson frantically moves to a paramedic. "What happened? Is Lex alright?"
Hearing this, Fujimoto and Marin turn to one another, with an expression suggestion a deepening suspicion.
Jackson sees the officers. Assuming they are sympathetic to his concern, he starts toward them.
"Jackson!" He hears his name being called. He stops, and looks around. Behind the tree, and in the shadows of the adjacent house, stands Melissa Wu. "Get outta here!" she warned.
Jackson is stunned. But before he can ask a question, a metallic clacking draws his attention back toward the house.
A conveyed gurney is rolled out of the front door by paramedics and an official with a jacket marked "Coroner." Behind the body follows Lex's father. He pauses in the doorway as he spots Jackson in the front yard.
Jackson is pale, nauseous. His eyes follow his friend's dead body as it rolled toward the paramedic's vehicle.
Lex's father approaches Jackson. The agents stand nearby.
"What…what happened?" Jackson asked.
Mr. Waggner glares at Jackson, accusingly. "Didn't you…'see' it?"
Jackson is stunned, guilty. He averts his eyes. Fujimoto and Marin note this reaction.
Mr. Waggner continues. "Couldn't you 'predict' it? Couldn't you read his mind?"
Jackson remains silent for a beat, hurt. "Mr. Waggner-"
"You caused Lex so much guilt over George staying on the plane that…" He breaks down. "He took his own life."
Jackson is stunned, defensive. "He wouldn't do it.!"
Mr. Waggner turns toward the paramedic's van, as if saying "There's the proof."
"He…he told me we would be friends again after you got better. After you got over George. Why would he make plans for the future if he were planning on killing himself?"
"All my wife and I will ever know is we wouldn't have lost our youngest son…if you'd told our oldest to get off the plane."
Jackson is rocked as if having taken a punch to the face. Mr. Waggner begins to walk toward the paramedic's vehicle. Jackson eyes the F.B.I. agents, who, after studying for a beat, turn and move toward their vehicle.
The gathered spectators begin whispering to one another, clearly about Jackson, causing him to search for, what appears to be, his only ally, Melissa Wu.
He looks back toward the tree that Melissa once stood behind, but she wasn't there.
Everyone has moved away from Jackson, leaving him very alone. His eyes remained locked on the paramedic's vehicle. The ambulance doors close on the body of his best friend.