BLAIR WITCH II


                               By

                           Dick Beebe


                        Original Story By

                    Joe Berlinger & Dick Beebe







                                        FIRST DRAFT (Revised)

                                        January 10, 2000













     BLACK SCREEN

     And in that darkness, white words silently FADE UP:

               The following is based on actual events. Some
               dramatic re-creation was necessary for reasons
               that will become obvious.

     Beat. And then slowly swelling up is the sound of panicked
     hyperventilation--spasms of words and weeping:

                              VOICE (HEATHER DONAHUE)
                    I'm...scared...to close my eyes--

     SMASH UP ON

     the teary and terrified EYES of HEATHER DONAHUE (the now ubiquitous
     scene from "Blair Witch Project" of her confessing to the camera):

                              HEATHER DONAHUE
                    --I'm scared to open them.
                         (beat)
                    We're going to die out here--

     --then, suddenly, this image of Heather FREEZE FRAMES. And we hear
     the incongruously perky Voice of ABC's DEBORAH ROBERTS:

                              DEBORAH ROBERTS (V.O.)
                    --she'd be a much happier camper
                    if she'd lived to see this weekend's
                    grosses--

     --abruptly, the freeze-framed image of Heather goes squeeze-boxing
     up into the upper left corner of the screen, revealing:

     That we're watching ABC WORLD NEWS SUNDAY--the date bannered at the
     bottom of the screen: August 1, 1999. Reporter Deborah Roberts sits
     behind the Anchor Desk reading TelePrompTer copy:

                              DEBORAH ROBERTS
                    In only its first week of wide
                    release, "The Blair Witch Project"
                    has taken in a whopping 36 million
                    at the nation's box office. Not too
                    bad for an independent film that was
                    reportedly made for less than the
                    cost of your average Buick--

     CUT TO:

     News Video - Day. The Angelika Theatre, New York City. Big and bold
     on the marquee: "Blair Witch Project." Tracking shot away from the
     theatre and down the street, to see:

                              NEWSCASTER (V.O.)
                    --lines to see the new film
                    stretching five blocks long down
                    Houston Street--and this was for a
                    10 a.m. show--

     CUT TO:

     Close On the long line - Two YOUNG MEN in their late teens being
     interviewed on camera:

                              YOUNG MAN #1
                    --to get the holy sh--
                         (BLEEP!)
                    --scared outta me, man, what do
                    you think?

                              YOUNG MAN #2
                    I heard last night they had people
                    runnin' screamin' out of the theatre--

     CUT TO:

     The last scene of BWP projected on a big screen--Heather Donahue
     running screaming down the stairs inside the house--and seeing Mike
     standing facing the wall--

     WHIP BACK

     to see that we're inside a theatre, and the audience watching this
     is collectively shrieking with surprise--

     --and then collectively shrieking even louder as Heather is hit
     from behind and goes down, camera with her.

     CUT TO:

     Another Theatre - Night - Video of an Audience exiting the film.

     One YOUNG WOMAN being interviewed is particularly shaken:

                              YOUNG WOMAN
                    ...the kid...Mike...he was turned
                    around towards the wall 'cause that's
                    what that guy in 1940 made all the
                    little kids do before he killed them--

     A gaggle of Male Teenagers pass by in b.g. of the shot. One of
     them shouts:

                              TEENAGER
                    Just a movie, baby!

     The Young Woman looks confused for a moment. Looks into the camera:

                              YOUNG WOMAN
                    ....no...it was real, what we saw
                    ....wasn't it?--

     CUT TO:

     Telecast of MARY HART on the set of "Entertainment Tonight."

                              MARY HART
                    --whatever you want to call it,
                    "Blair Watch" is definitely the
                    Cinderella story of the summer, if
                    not the century, with now an 80 million
                    dollar gross in just two weeks--

     CUT TO:

     News Video of a 30ish GUY railing at the People waiting to purchase
     tickets to BWP:

                              30ISH GUY
                    --save your money, it's all bullshit
                    hype! Blair Witch sucks!--

     CUT TO:

     Some STONER being interviewed on camera:

                              STONER
                    --all repeat business, dude--I know
                    morons who've seen the stupid thing
                    like three times in one day.

                              INTERVIEWER (O.S.)
                    How many times have you seen the
                    film?

                              STONER
                    Like maybe five. But not in one
                         (BLEEP)
                    -ing day--

     CUT TO:

     Critic LEONARD MALTIN holding forth on-air:

                              MALTIN
                    --it taps into our universal primal
                    fears: of the boogeyman, of the
                    things that go bump in the night--
                    there's something out there, you
                    can't see it, and it's coming for
                    you--

     CUT TO:

     Video of more audience exit interviews. Two YOUNG MEN in their 20s:

                              YOUNG MAN #1
                    --I'll tell you what was scary:
                    trying to keep my lunch down. If
                    that stupid camera jiggled one
                    more time--

                              YOUNG MAN #2
                    --some guy the row in front of me
                    actually did toss--

     CUT TO:

     WOMAN holding a baby.

                              WOMAN
                    --it was just so real--

     CUT TO:

     Solemn-looking GEEKY GUY:

                              GEEKY GUY
                    --it was real--

     CUT TO:

     Dubious-looking TEENAGE GIRL:

                              TEENAGE GIRL
                    --you gotta be kidding me--
                    there's people out there think
                    "Blair Witch" was real??--

     CUT TO:

     Bespectacled MAN IN SUIT:

                              MAN IN SUIT
                    --the story of the three students
                    was fiction. The legend of the
                    Blair Witch is, apparently, true,
                    however--

     CUT TO:

     DIANE SAWYER on "Good Morning America."

                              DIANE SAWYER
                    --the brass tacks of the matter
                    is, love it or hate it, "Blair
                    Witch" has escalated from being
                    merely another cinema success
                    story to a genuine nationwide
                    phenomenon--if not obsession.
                    Profits from merchandising tie-
                    ins going through the roof--

     CUT AWAY TO:

     Montage of Blair Witch paraphernalia:
     --t-shirts and other apparel
     --keychains
     --posters
     --the books-The Blair Witch Project: A Dossier; Heather's Journal
     --the CD "Josh's Blair Witch Mix"

                              DIANE SAWYER (V.O.)
                    --the official "Blair Witch" web-
                    site now having received 75
                    million "hits" to date--

     --shot of computer screen, on-line: The Blair Witch Store

                              DIANE SAWYER (V.O.)
                    --with that web-site, in just a
                    matter of a few weeks, begatting
                    dozens more web-sites, with chat
                    rooms so packed with fans and foes
                    you're lucky to get a cyber-word
                    in edge-wise--

     CUT TO:

     Computer Screen showing a Chat Room in progress--exchanges flying
     back and forth like lightning:

          GIRLGENIUS: if story true, then how come end credits
                      list "written by"???

          WARLOX: all docs are written by--somebody has to put
                  all the pieces together like a story

          K-RATIONAL: that's EDITING, idiot--they made whole
                      thing up--those were actors

          CHERUBIM-BO: then how come characters had same names
                       as "actors"

          AK-47: you call that acting

          C.I.A-LIST: Congrats   any U bought into big lie that
                      BWP phony have successfully been suckered
                      by dis-info campaign waged by U.S. govt
                      they don't want us TO KNOW TRUTH

     CUT TO:

     Video interview with RONALD CRAVENS, Sheriff of Burkittsville. He's
     standing at the corner where the Union Cemetery abuts Route 17.

                              SHERIFF
                    --the truth is, this movie's
                    probably been the best and worst
                    thing ever happen to this town. The
                    good thing--well, take a look down
                    East Main there--

     CAMERA PANS

     past him towards a stretch of two-lane blacktop with stores on
     either side.

                              SHERIF
                    --we've got people pouring in here
                    like it's Times Square, some of 'em
                    all the way from Europe, Japan. A
                    whole lot of money being spent. The
                    bad?

     He points to a white wooden post stuck in the shoulder of the road.

                              SHERIFF
                    There used to be a sign on it,
                    "Welcome to Burkittsville."  They
                    showed it in the movie. Somebody
                    wanna show me where it is now? I
                    swear to God, these people, they're
                    coming in and making off with every-
                    thing isn't nailed down. There's two
                    other signs I had to take down myself,
                    put away for safekeeping 'til this
                    whole damn thing's finally over.

                              INTERVIEWER (O.S.)
                    When did you think that'll be?

                              SHERIFF
                    Just pray we get to see it this
                    lifetime.

     CUT TO:

     Video footage - Burkittsville Union Cemetery. Two KIDS wearing Ohio
     State jackets. Wandering around, confused, with gravestone-rubbing
     kits under their arms.

                              KID #1
                    Can't seem to find 'em.

                              KID #2
                    Gotta be around here somewhere--
                    right here's where Heather stood
                    in the movie.

     Kid #1 looks into the camera.

                              KID #1
                    We're trying to find the graves of
                    those seven kids Rustin Parr killed.

                              KID #2
                    Lotta dead kids--just can't find
                    any died later than like 1867.

     Kid #1 stops, squints. The camera travels with his gaze: atop
     nearly every other grave marker is a black candle melted into the
     stone.

                              KID #1
                    What do you think all these candles
                    are for?

                              KID #2
                    I wouldn't touch 'em.

     CUT BACK TO:

     Sheriff Cravens on Video.

                              SHERIFF
                    Nothing much we can do--just enforce
                    the curfew. Which is dusk, for both
                    the cemetery and the Black Hills
                    Forest.

     CUT TO:

     Aerial shot of the Black Hills area: we see packs of people
     everywhere.

     CUT TO:

     The overgrown foundation of Rustin Parr's house in the middle of
     the woods. Manic-eyed Teenagers proudly display their souvenirs for
     the camera: rocks and cement slivers.

                              TEEN #1
                    This is what you call "striking
                    gold."

                              TEEN #2
                    Fifty bucks a pop minimum back in
                    Philly.

     CUT BACK TO:

     The Sheriff on tape.

                              INTERVIEWER (O.S.)
                    There seems to be some controversy
                    whether or not any of this actually
                    happened.

                              SHERIFF
                    That what actually happened.

                              INTERVIEWER (O.S.)
                    The three kids who disappeared,
                    everything that was in the movie,
                    the whole Blair Witch legend.

     The Sheriff just stares for a beat towards the Interviewer like
     he/she's completely insane. Then turns and walks away, rubbing his
     eyes with a thumb and forefinger like a headache the size of
     Manitoba just hit him.

                              SHERIFF
                    You'll excuse me--

     CUT TO:

     An office in L.A. Big "Artisan Entertainment" logo on the wall. A
     well-turned out Gentleman (or Woman) who exudes "EXECUTIVE" smiles
     gently for the camera.

                              ARTISAN EXECUTIVE
                    --the only statement we feel
                    comfortable making at this time
                    is: we're happy the film's been
                    such a success; we grieve with
                    the families of Heather, Josh
                    and Mike. Now, if you'll excuse
                    me--

     CUT TO:

     Dusk. Sheriff Cravens leaning on his car on a road at the edge of
     the forest.

                              SHERIFF
                    --this is the only reality I
                    know: we're averaging about four
                    lost rubberneckers a week up in
                    these woods.

     The Sheriff puts a bullhorn to his lips; bellows into the woods:

                              SHERIFF
                    Get outta these damn woods and go
                    home! There is nothing in there!

     SMASH TO BLACK

     And silence. White words again appear in the darkness:

                         NINE MONTHS LATER

     Music begins to be heard under it--uber Goth: Type O Negative's
     "Haunted." It suddenly swells--to ear-shatter proportions.

     SMASH UP ON

     EXT. A VAN - IN MOTION - HIGHWAY - DAY

     Zipping fast down U.S. Route 70--West. We see the mileage signs on
     both sides of the median indicating where they're coming from and
     where they're now going: from Baltimore, towards Frederick,
     Maryland. (NOTE: this is shot on 16 or 35mm film, which will be the
     medium of "reality" for the rest of the movie.)

     The music that's blaring isn't underscoring--it's coming from
     inside the Van. As is a WOMAN'S VOICE (ANNA) shouting over it:

                              ANNA (O.S.)
                    You want to turn that shit down
                    just a hair??

     INT. THE VAN - CONTINUOUS

     TIGHT ON the Driver of the Van, a grunged-out 25 year old with
     shoulder-length hair, a well-worn black "Blair Witch Project" t-
     shirt and cap: COTTER KALLER. He yells towards the backseat:

                              COTTER
                    Shit? This is from "Josh's Blair
                    Witch Mix," man!

                              ANNA (O.S.)
                    Down or off--you're giving me a
                    migraine.

                              COTTER
                         (mutters)
                    Christ.

     He turns the volume down.

                              COTTER
                         (petulant)
                    Just trying to set the mood for the
                    mission--get the "feeling."

                              ANNA (O.S.)
                    Only thing I'm feeling is homicidal.

     Cotter grumbles. Then a wicked grin hits his lips. Turns to the
     unseen Man sitting next to him in the passenger seat:

                              COTTER
                    Hold this.

                              NICK (O.S.)
                    What?

                              COTTER
                    The wheel.

     He clamps Nick's hand on the steering wheel, picks up the 8mm
     Camcorder beside him, turns around, and starts shooting into the
     back seat.

     POV OF VIDEO CAMCORDER

     On a not-very-happy-at-the-moment-looking Blonde Woman.

     ANNA TASSIO - ON VIDEO

     age 20. She rolls her eyes as Cotter begins narrating:

                              COTTER (O.S.)
                    The bitched-out babe in back here
                    is one Anna Tassio--we met one
                    dark and stormy night in a Blair
                    Witch chat room, we all did--

                              ANNA
                    --Christ almighty--

                              COTTER (O.S.)
                    --but she was nicer then--sweeter--
                    she hadn't vomited twice already
                    like today--

                              ANNA
                    --it's called "morning sickness,"
                    asshole--

                              COTTER (O.S.)
                         (editorial aside)
                    --a six week bun in the oven--

                              NICK (O.S.)
                         (wearily)
                    --Cotter, just turn the camera
                    off?

     Cotter responds by panning the Camcorder towards the passenger
     seat. We see on video:

     NICK LEAVITT

     a lanky 21 year old wearing wire-rims.

                              COTTER (O.S.)
                    This is her equally on-the-rag boy-
                    friend, Nick Leavitt--

                              NICK
                    --turn the camera off--

                              COTTER (O.S.)
                    --they're from UMass, doing some
                    kind of fucking term paper--

                              NICK
                    --Graduate Thesis--

                              COTTER (O.S.)
                    --about the Witch--

                              VOICE FROM BACK SEAT
                    --she doesn't exist--

                              NICK
                    --you got that right--

     THE CAMERA pans again into the back seat, showing HEATHER ARENDT,
     19, with a huge mane of fire-engine red hair.

                              HEATHER
                    --and if she ever did--

                              ANNA (O.S.)
                    --which she may have--

                              NICK (O.S.)
                    --bullshit--

                              HEATHER
                    --she wasn't a witch--we embrace
                    nature, not evil--

                              COTTER (O.S.)
                    --thank you, Heather Arendt--and
                    arend't we glad you're here--a real
                    witch--

                              HEATHER
                    --fuckin' A right--

                              NICK
                    --Cotter--

                              COTTER
                    --a Wiccan--

                              NICK (O.S.)
                    --turn the goddamn camera off!

     The Camcorder swings back to Nick.

                              NICK
                    We're not making Blair Witch II
                    here.

                              COTTER (O.S.)
                    I am.

     One big blur of a pan--Cotter's turned the camcorder on himself. He
     issues his manifesto:

                              COTTER
                    And let it be known--before we even
                    get to Burkittsville--it's gonna be
                    an eighteen thousand times better
                    movie--for half the cost--

                              HEATHER (O.S.)
                    --which'd be about ten bucks--

                              COTTER
                    --and unlike the first one, every
                    second of it's gonna be true! "Blair
                    Witch: The Real Story!"

                              NICK (O.S.)
                    Cotter?

                              COTTER
                    I'm not finished.

                              NICK (O.S.)
                    We're all going to be if you don't
                    hit the brakes.

     The Camcorder WHIP=PANS towards the windshield:

     The Van is about to plow into the rear of a

     HUGE COCA-COLA TRUCK

                              COTTER (O.S.)
                    Jee-zuz!

     Visual pandemonium as the Camcorder goes flying from his hands and
     down next to the

     BRAKE PEDAL

     We see both of COTTER'S FEET smash down on the pedal. Hear O.S.:
     screeching of the passengers--screeching of the brake shoes--
     screaming of the tires as the Van swerves into the next lane--and
     then an angry symphony of CAR HORNS.

                              HEATHER (O.S.)
                    You're a complete fucking idiot,
                    aren't you?

                              COTTER (O.S.)
                    Hey, Mr. Graduate Fucking Thesis
                    here was s'posed to be driving!

                              NICK (O.S.)
                    You drive, I'll handle the video,
                    okay?

                              COTTER (O.S.)
                    Fine.

     We see the view from the Camcorder as it's scooped up from the Van
     floor and brought back up to eye-level again.

     ON NICK'S FACE

     As he waves two fingers at the lens.

                              NICK
                    Bye-bye--

     --and the Video zaps to black.

     SMASH BACK TO - FILM

     Where Nick can be seen tossing the camcorder into the backseat.
     Anna catches it, puts it in a back pack and zips it.

                              COTTER
                    What're you doing?

                              NICK
                    This isn't about us.

                              COTTER
                    Right. And the check's in the mail.

                                                       CUT TO:

     EXT/INT. THE VAN - TWO HOURS LATER - DAY

     Doing a relaxed 35 down the narrow ribbon of Route 17. Rural farm
     country. The weather's turned grey--making all the 19th Century-
     vintage houses and barns they pass look dismal, if not a little
     foreboding.

                              NICK
                    Cheery little place.

                              ANNA
                    It's like traveling back in time.

                              HEATHER
                    The good old days: toasting marsh-
                    mallows over a burning witch.

                              NICK
                    They never burned witches in this
                    country, they hanged them.

                              HEATHER
                    Whatever--all I know is the
                    persecution's going to start all
                    over again, they keep pumping
                    out inflammatory bullshit like
                    this fucking movie--

                              COTTER
                    --hey: check that out!

     Ahead of them, at a crossroads, is a sign:

                    Welcome to Burkittsville

                              COTTER
                    'Thought those all got stolen.

                              ANNA
                    Guess they thought it was safe
                    to put some up again.

                              COTTER
                    Think again.

     He starts to slow the Van alongside the sign.

                              COTTER
                    Somebody wanna hand me that
                    claw hammer in back--

     --Nick pushes Cotter's leg back down on the accelerator. The Van
     jerks past the sign and down the road.

                              NICK
                    Get busted on your own time.
                    We've got a schedule to keep.

     Cotter just glares at him.

                              COTTER
                    Was it every day or just semi-
                    weekly you got your ass kicked
                    as a kid?

                              NICK
                         (ignoring him)
                    Now you can bring the vehicle
                    to a stop: there on the left.

     EXT. BURKITTSVILLE UNION CEMETERY - JUST AFTER

     The four of them stand there by the sign to the graveyard. Anna
     searching the gray horizon.

                              COTTER
                    Why are we here?

                              ANNA
                    She e-mailed me yesterday this is
                    where we should meet her.

                              COTTER
                    Who?

                              NICK
                    Whatzername--the "psychic" Anna
                    hired.

                              ANNA
                    Domini. Domini Von Teer.

                              COTTER
                    What's she look like?

                              ANNA
                    No idea, just talked to her on
                    the 'Net--she's very good.

                              NICK
                    So says her website.

                              ANNA
                    She is--she's helped solve a
                    bunch of murders: Arizona, New
                    Mexico--

                              COTTER
                    --how old?

                              ANNA
                    I dunno, probably right up
                    there, based on her resume.

                              COTTER
                    Then there she blows.

     Cotter points to

     THE WOODS

     near the far edge of the cemetery. Standing there is an old, gaunt
     and particularly Unattractive Woman, staring at them.

                              COTTER
                    Terrific--and I was afraid I
                    wasn't going to get laid on this
                    trip.

     The four of them start tromping towards her.

                              NICK
                    Jesus.

                              ANNA
                    What?

                              NICK
                    That's not whatzername--it's
                    Mary Brown.

                              COTTER
                    From-the-movie-Mary-Brown,
                    Trailer Park Bible Psycho?

                              HEATHER
                    Oh, for chrissake, she was
                    an actor.

                              ANNA
                    No, the kids were actors, the
                    townspeople were real. Her, the
                    Sheriff, the Convenience Store
                    guy--

                              NICK
                    --whatever; that's her.

     FLASHBACK - B&W

     To the interview with Mary Brown from "Blair Witch Project." The
     years have apparently not been kind: she looks a good two decades
     younger.

     CUT BACK TO - THE PRESENT

     They're less than 20 feet now from MARY BROWN.

     She speaks without expression:

                              MARY BROWN
                    What do you want?

                              ANNA
                    Just came over to say hello.

                              MARY BROWN
                    It's five bucks for signin'
                    something; ten for signin' a Bible;
                    twenty, you want to take a picture
                    with me. Any kind've conversation,
                    that's subject to negotiation.

                              COTTER
                         (sotto)
                    I don't believe this.

                              HEATHER
                         (sotto)
                    I do.

                              NICK
                    Thanks just the same. I think
                    we're fine.

                              MARY BROWN
                    Heather's not.

     Heather double-takes.

                              HEATHER
                    Me?

                              MARY BROWN
                    Heather. I saw her. Elly Kedward's
                    hands were on her throat, and she
                    was sucking out the girl's insides
                    with her mouth.

                              COTTER
                         (to Heather)
                    Heather from the movie.

     Mary Brown shakes her head.

                              MARY BROWN
                    Heather.

                              NICK
                    Been a pleasure meeting you;
                    we need to go now.

     He hustles the other three back towards the cemetery.

                              HEATHER
                    I take it back--she wasn't an
                    actor. She's a nutjob.

                              COTTER
                    That's what Josh and Mike said.

                              HEATHER
                    Shut-up.

     TIME CUT TO:

     The cemetery. Everyone spread out looking for:

                              ANNA
                    Domino? Domini Von Teer...??

     Beat. And then, out of nowhere, seemingly just plunging right out
     of the earth

     AN ARM

     extends into the air not far from them. Paper-pale and stick-thin,
     almost skeletal.

                              DOMINI
                    Present.

     They walk over. See, lying atop a cracked granite marker, a
     Young Woman who can't be more than 18. Heroin-chic skinny. All in
     black, including her make-up--uber Goth: DOMINI VON TEER.

                              ANNA
                    Domini?

                              DOMINI
                    Yes.

                              ANNA
                    What're you doing there?

                              DOMINI
                    Trying to find the energy.

                              ANNA
                    Inside the grave?

                              DOMINI
                    To stand up--I'm exhausted. Been
                    on the road since yesterday.

                              COTTER
                    You want a hand?

                              DOMINI
                    I want amphetamines.

     Cotter helps her up.

                              COTTER
                    Beer and weed is what I've got.

                              DOMINI
                    Both. Now.

     Anna and Heather look at the faded marker Domini's been lying on.
     It says:
                              BOY KURTH
                              May 28 '00

                              HEATHER
                    Sweet place to take a nap.

                              ANNA
                    Strange girl.

                              HEATHER
                    You think so?

     As they walk away, Heather sees Mary Brown across the cemetery,
     staring at her.

     EXT/INT. THE VAN - LATER - AFTERNOON

     Snaking its way down the road that wends through the Black Forest
     Hills.

     INSIDE

     Domini and her second beer have commandeered the shotgun seat, Nick
     relegated to a tight squeeze in the back seat. Dead silence. She's
     slightly unnerving. Finally:

                              COTTER
                    So, I hear you're from New Mexico!

                              DOMINI
                    Sometimes.

                              ANNA
                    Her father's Sheriff of Taos
                    County.

                              DOMINI
                    Sometimes. Where are we going?

                              NICK
                    Ruins of the Rustin Parr house.

                              DOMINI
                    Guy who killed all the kids in the
                    '40s.

                              COTTER
                         ("Outer Limits" tremolo)
                    "The Voiiiiices made him do it."

                              ANNA
                    The Witch's voice.

                              HEATHER
                    She wasn't a witch.

                              NICK
                    Whatever.

                              DOMINI
                    I hear voices all the time.

     That pretty much kills the rest of the conversation.

     EXT. THE VAN - LATER - AFTERNOON

     Parked at the edge of the woods. Back-packs being hauled out of the
     rear, camping gear, video equipment.

                              DOMINI
                    What is all this shit?

                              NICK
                    We're doing dusk-till-dawn taping
                    of all the places where there've
                    been alleged Blair Witch "sightings"
                    --the Parr House, Coffin Rock,
                    Tappy Creek.

                              DOMINI
                    Why?

                              NICK
                    See what turns up--which I
                    guarantee will be nothing. Some
                    of the rest of the party are more
                    hopeful--

                              HEATHER
                    --or incredibly fucking naive.

                              ANNA
                    Hey, folklore--

                              NICK
                    --myth--

                              ANNA
                    --doesn't just pop out of thin
                    air. It spins off of real events.
                    At some point there was a Blair
                    Witch--

                              NICK
                    --or one huge attack of group
                    hysteria.

                              COTTER
                         (snide)
                    Either way, maybe there's a book
                    in it, and they both make a ton of
                    money.

                              NICK
                         (snapping)
                    It's a serious sociological study.

                              DOMINI
                    The four of you really have too
                    much spare fucking time on your
                    hands, don't you?

                              HEATHER
                    And what's your excuse for being
                    here?

                              NICK
                    She got paid.

                              DOMINI
                         (shrugs)
                    I thought the movie was bitchin'.

     EXT. THE WOODS - SOON AFTER

     Mammoth backpacks strapped on, the five begin walks into the
     forest.

                              COTTER
                    Wait a sec!

     He spins and runs back towards the Van.

                              NICK
                    What?

     Through the trees, they see Cotter place a pint of bottled water on
     the roof of the Van. Starts video-ing it as he walks away.

                              HEATHER
                    He really is a fucking idiot.

     EXT. DEEPER IN THE WOODS - LATER - AFTERNOON

     Slogging up a 45-degree angled hill. This is not exactly Sir Edmund
     Hillary and Co.--the five of them already look exhausted.

                              HEATHER
                    Didn't we already do this hill?

     Nick is staring at three different maps at once as he walks.

                              NICK
                    No.

                              ANNA
                    You sure?

                              NICK
                    Yes.

                              COTTER
                    Terrific: an hour, we're already
                    lost--

     --and then a look of trepidation crosses Cotter's face--

     FLASH TO:

     Footage from "Blair Witch Project"--panic, as Heather, Josh and
     Mike realize they've spent all day walking in a circle.

                              NICK (V.O.)
                    Cotter?

     CUT BACK TO - PRESENT

     Nick's glaring at him.

                              COTTER
                    What?

                              NICK
                    Look over there.

     Cotter looks up: less than 500 yards ahead can be seen the ruins of
     an Old House.

                              COTTER
                    Okay, but--

                              NICK
                    --now there.

     --Nick is pointing behind him. Cotter looks. From the atop the hill
     he can see down to the road--and his Van with the water bottle on
     the roof.

                              COTTER
                    Oh. Cool.

     EXT. THE PARR RUINS - SHORTLY AFTER

     All the backpacks and miscellaneous tonnage is already dumped on
     the ground. The five of them stretch their legs, massage sore
     shoulders and lower backs, while sightseeing the remnants of the
     old house and its environs.

     Cotter, not surprisingly, is taping everything.

     POV CAMCORDER

     a huge bite taken out of one of the walls of the foundation, stone,
     brick and soil strewn everywhere around it.

                              COTTER (O.S.)
                    Where they found the backpacks and
                    all the film a year later.

                              ANNA (O.S.)
                    Buried deep under 200 years worth
                    of soil, ash, and compost layers.

                              DOMINI (O.S.)
                    Yeah, that was a cluster-fuck for
                    the mind.

                              NICK/HEATHER (O.S.)
                    If it happened at all.

     Suddenly, the camcorder image starts shaking wildly.

     CUT BACK TO - FILM

     Cotter seen running full-tilt towards Heather, who's facing one of
     the interior foundation walls. He's jiggling the camera like he's
     got St. Vitus dance.

     CUT BACK TO - VIDEO

     We hear Cotter doing a passable Heather Donahue impression--
     screeching as the shaking video image PUSHES IN right towards
     Heather Arendt's face.

                              COTTER (O.S.)
                    Mike! Miiiiiiike! Noooooo!

     Heather turns, scowling, and puts her hand over the lens.

     CUT BACK TO - FILM

     Heather pushing the camcorder out of her face.

                              HEATHER
                    You're not only an idiot, you're
                    a goddamn child.

                              COTTER
                    Why does everyone here but me have
                    have a gigantic stick up their ass?

                              DOMINI
                    Hey! Check this out!

     CUT TO - CAMCORDER POV:

     On one of the foundation's interior walls: a gobbledygook of tiny
     handprints and strange, angular glyphs.

                              DOMINI (O.S.)
                    Look at those marks--just like
                    in the movie.

                              NICK (O.S.)
                    Ancient runes--

                              COTTER (O.S.)
                    --what the fuck's a "rune"?--

     CUT BACK TO - FILM

     Nick erasing half the marks with one sweep of his palm.

                              NICK
                    --chalked just hours ago by ancient
                    adolescents. It's called vandalism.

                              ANNA
                    What is this?

     All turn. She's pointing to the large, leafy tree with branches
     stretching everywhere above them.

                              COTTER
                    Oak?

                              ANNA
                    No. What's it doing here in the
                    middle of the foundation?

                              HEATHER
                    Growing. This place burnt down 50
                    years ago. Trees happen.

     Nick flips through a voluminous loose-leaf notebook--points out a
     page to Anna.

                              NICK
                    Look it's right here--from the Blair
                    Witch "Dossier"--the sketch the
                    anthropology students made of their
                    dig when they found the backpack.

     The sketch shows a spindly growth in the middle of the foundation,
     no more than six feet high.

                              ANNA
                    That's a sapling--this mother's
                    got to be three hundred years old,
                    minimum.

                              NICK
                    It's a sketch, Anna--it's not to-
                    scale cartography; the tree was not
                    the kids' focus--

                              ANNA
                    --do you agree it's that old, Nick?

                              NICK
                    Okay, fine, whatever, yes--it's an
                    old tree.

                              HEATHER
                    Why don't you just cut it down and
                    count the goddamn rings--who cares?

                              ANNA
                    Because it means the tree is older
                    than the house.

                              COTTER
                    Yeah, so?

                              ANNA
                    So whoever built this--

     --Nick rustles through the loose-leaf--

                              NICK
                    --brother of Rustin Parr's maternal
                    grandfather, somewhere after 1858--

                              ANNA
                    --whoever--they built an entire
                    house around a tree. Sticking
                    up right through the living room.
                    Somebody like to explain that to
                    me?

                              NICK
                    The rest of the family was
                    crazy as Rusty Parr.

                              ANNA
                    Oh, c'mon--even you have to admit
                    this is weird.

                              NICK
                    No--this is weird.

     He reaches down and picks one of the now infamous wooden "stick
     men" off the ground.

     POV - COTTER'S CAMCORDER - CLOSE UP

     Sudden, stunned silence as the camera examines it fore and aft.

     And then Nick's hands are seen removing the material that secures
     the Stick Man's "arms" to his "torso." Torso and legs fall to the
     ground, leaving Nick holding a piece of--

     CUT BACK TO - FILM

                              NICK
                    --sacred and occult Scotch Tape.

                              DOMINI
                    Rusty Parr had the right idea on
                    child care.

     EXT. THE PARR RUINS - DUSK

     By flashlight, Cotter's fiddling with five vid-cams on tripods that
     have already been set up.

     Domini lies within the foundation walls staring up at the sky.
     Finishes the last of Cotter's beer and discards the empty.

     Not far from there, Heather's already got her simple one-person
     tent erected.

     Adjacent, Nick and Anna are wrestling with the nightmare of trying
     to put up some Barnum & Bailey-size number.

                              NICK
                    Your parents didn't have a bigger
                    one?

                              ANNA
                    It was free--I recall that was
                    the chief selling point for you.

                              NICK
                    No offense, sweetheart: fuck you.

                              ANNA
                    You know, Nick, you've been
                    something of a total asshole
                    the past few days.

                              NICK
                    Pardon me, I've had a few things
                    on my mind--like putting this
                    safari together.

                              ANNA
                    Like how weirded-out you are
                    with this pregnancy thing.

                              NICK
                    Let's just leave it at: it was
                    one hell of a surprise.

                              ANNA
                    You don't want it though.

                              NICK
                    Your body, your call.

                              ANNA
                    Why is there no "our" here?

                              NICK
                    Could we take this up later--like
                    indoors, without half the world
                    listening?

                              ANNA
                    You feel no need to get married or
                    anything.

                              NICK
                    Anna--

                              ANNA
                    --fine, later, fine.

                              COTTER (O.S.)
                    Sonovabitch!!

     All eyes turn: Cotter's standing 20 feet away with rotted wooden
     tentpoles and a piece of grommeted canvas that's literally mildew-
     disintegrating in his hands.

                              HEATHER
                    Nice tent.

                              COTTER
                    Hadn't even opened the thing
                    since Cub scouts.

                              HEATHER
                    Never would've guessed.

                              COTTER
                    So where the hell am I going to
                    sleep?

                              HEATHER
                    If you're looking at me, look
                    elsewhere.

                              COTTER
                    I've got the Panasonic Portable
                    DVD player.

     Beat. She stares at him.

                              HEATHER
                    What movies?

                              COTTER
                    Ask me what I don't have.

     INT. HEATHER'S TENT - NIGHT

     Heather and Cotter jammed in there like Spam, sharing a joint, and
     watching "Curse of the Blair Witch" on DVD:

     The Interview Sequence with folklorist CHARLES MOOREHOUSE,
     explaining the "origins" of the Blair Witch story--Elly Kedward's
     banishment, etc.

                              HEATHER
                    What I never could figure about
                    the movie?

                              COTTER
                    What?

                              HEATHER
                    Three people: two guys, a girl--
                    sleeping in the same motel room,
                    the same tent night after night.

                              COTTER
                    Yeah?

                              HEATHER
                    No fucking.

                              COTTER
                    No.

                              HEATHER
                    Made no sense. Scared out of their
                    minds, and the greatest stress
                    reliever in creation right at
                    their fingertips. Nada.

                              COTTER
                    No sense at all.
                         (beat)
                    I'm a little stressed.

                              HEATHER
                    Try a long walk.

     INT. NICK AND ANNA'S TENT - SIMULTANEOUS

     It ain't the Ritz, but they did come prepared: air mattresses, big
     Coleman lanterns, a kerosene heater--and heaps of books and
     brimming file folders.

     They're sitting up in their respective mummy-style sleeping bags,
     studying documents, making notes--

     --when this high-pitched MOANING can be heard outside the tent.

     Nick and Anna looks at each other. Nick grabs one of the lanterns
     and dashes for the tent door.

     EXT. THE TENT - CONTINUOUS

     He shines the light slowly out into the foundation ruins--

     --and there's Domini, still lying on her back, staring up, cooing:

                              DOMINI
                    Oooh. Oooh.

                              NICK
                    Ah, Domini?

                              DOMINI
                    What?

                              NICK
                    You planning on sleeping out there?

                              DOMINI
                    Not planning on sleeping at all.

     She points up into the big oak in the middle of the foundation.

                              DOMINI
                    Oooh. Oooh.

     The call comes back to her from the tree: "oooh-oooh."

     Nick sees perched high up on one of the branches: A GREAT HORNED
     OWL. It's staring down at them.

                              DOMINI
                    I figure I lie here long enough,
                    maybe he'll swoop down and carry
                    me off in his talons.

     Nick rolls his eyes and goes back into his tent.

     COTTER AND HEATHER

     are also watching this from their tent.

                              HEATHER
                    We should be so lucky.

                              COTTER
                    Butt-ugly owl.

     They duck back into the tent.

     The Owl keeps watching.

     FADE TO BLACK.

     Several beats. And then in the darkness, a rustling sound is heard.
     A whisper that sounds like:

                              VOICE
                    ...see if it's alive--

     CLICK! Then Anna's hand seen--she's just turned on one of the
     lanterns. Sits up in her sleeping bag. Listens. The sounds have
     stopped.

     Beat. She gets out of her bag, grabs the lantern, and goes to the
     tent flap--

     EXT. TENT - CONTINUOUS

     --and just as she steps outside--

     --something strikes her hand--

                              ANNA
                    --shit--

     --the lantern goes flying into the dirt--

     --and suddenly out of the darkness come flying--

     LITTLE HANDS

     wielding small sharpened sticks--or are they tent pegs?--

     --and they stab into Anna's belly again and again, accompanied by
     shrieks of delight.

     Anna screams--

                              NICK (V.O.)
                    Who's James?

     ANNA TURNS

     and finds she's inside the tent, wrapped tight in her sleeping bag.
     Staring at Nick, who's propped up on his air mattress with a book
     and a lantern, staring quizzically back at her.

                              ANNA
                         (disoriented)
                    What?

                              NICK
                    You said the name "James."

                              ANNA
                    I don't know.

     She pulls her sleeping bag down, looks at her belly--unmarked,
     unharmed, bloodless.

                              NICK
                    Baby names?

                              ANNA
                    I don't know. Nightmare.

                              NICK
                    You want me to scooch over next
                    to you?

                              ANNA
                    Yes.

     EXT. THE RUINS - NIGHT

     Domini is still supine, staring upwards.

                              DOMINI
                    This place is like a regular
                    K-mart of bad vibes, ain't it,
                    pal?

     The Owl doesn't respond.

                              MAN'S VOICE
                         (distant)
                    Please, someone, help me--

     SMASH TO

     a static shot of dark, dark woods. The Voice continues to be heard
     from somewhere deep in there:

                              MAN'S VOICE
                    --somebody, please!

     PULL BACK

     It's coming from the DVD of "Blair Witch Project."

                              HEATHER DONAHUE'S VOICE
                    Josh?!?

     PULL BACK FURTHER

     Cotter and Heather Arendt are fast asleep. Must have drifted off
     during the umpteenth viewing.

                              MAN'S VOICE
                         (much louder)
                    Heather???

     Heather Arendt is up like a shot.

                              MAN'S VOICE
                    Heather?? Josh???

     Mild snort of amusement when she sees the movie's still playing on
     the DVD. She buttons it off. Starts to lay back down--

                              MAN'S VOICE
                         (loud)
                    Heather????

     --bolts right back up on the verge of a coronary.

     The Man's Voice screams:

                              MAN'S VOICE
                    They're pulling my teeth out!!

     Heather literally punches Cotter awake.

                              COTTER
                    Wha' the--

     She clamps her hand over his mouth. Beat. They listen--

     --suddenly, SCURRYING FOOTSTEPS heard; giggling--

                              COTTER
                         (through her hand)
                    --o-fug-me--

                              MAN'S VOICE
                    Heaaaaather???

     Cotter wrenches himself away, grabs his little 8mm camcorder--

                              HEATHER
                         (scared)
                    What're you, crazy??

                              COTTER
                         (exhilarated)
                    What're you, nuts?

     He lunges out of the tent, camera already whirring--

     EXT. TENT - CONTINUOUS

     --and right into a blinding, light-up-the-night battery of halogen
     lamps.

                              COTTER
                    Jesus!

     Halo-ed in the glare of those lights stand

     FOUR LARGE TEENAGERS

     in various states of grunge. They all but scream of STONERS. One of
     them's got a huge running Beta-Cam on shoulder, another's hefting
     a DAT recorder and shotgun mic.

     We see Cotter from the POV of these guys camera:

     POV BETA-CAM - VIDEO

     Cotter shooting back at them with his puny-by-comparison camcorder,
     his thermal long-johns halfway down his legs.

                              STONER #1
                    Check this out: Burkittsville's
                    Funniest Home Videos.

     Cotter's still shaking.

                              COTTER
                    Jesus-Jesus-Jesus--

     A furious Heather can be seen scrambling out of the tent. Gets
     right in the lens:

                              HEATHER (O.S.)
                    What the fuck?!?

     CUT BACK TO - FILM

     The Stoner Cameraman snaps the Beta away from her.

                              STONER CAMERAMAN
                    Hey, that's 50K worth of hi-tech,
                    chickee.

                              HEATHER
                    You gave me a fucking heart attack!

                              STONER #2
                    Oh, and you boogied all the way up
                    here to get a good night's sleep.

                              STONER #3
                    We just made your every dream come
                    true, darlin'.

                              HEATHER
                    Get out of here!

                              COTTER
                    What're you doing with all this
                    shit?

                              STONER #4
                    Shootin' "Blair Witch II," man--
                    what's your excuse?

                              COTTER
                    Shooting "Blair Witch II."

                              STONER #2
                    Oh, dude, I don't think so--that
                    is just not happening.

                              STONER CAMERAMAN
                    This is our gig.

                              STONER #3
                    We got jurisdiction, man--we got
                    fuckin' permits to be here.

                              HEATHER
                    Oh, yeah? Let's see 'em.

                              STONER #4
                    They're, uh, like, in the car.

                              HEATHER
                    Bullshit.

                              STONER #2
                    Let's put it this way: one of us
                    is going, and it's you.

                              NICK (O.S.)
                    What's the hassle here?

     Nick and Anna appear from their tent.

                              STONER #2
                    You and the Brady Bunch, Mr.
                    Scorsese.

                              STONER CAMERAMAN
                    You're interfering with the commerce
                    of independent film!

     Cotter asides to Nick.

                              COTTER
                    They're making "Blair Witch II," too.

                              NICK
                    No problem, just give us 'til dawn
                    and we're gone.

                              COTTER
                    What?

                              NICK
                    Look, guys, we're cold, we're tired
                    we're shook--we just want to get out
                    of here as soon as there's light.
                    We saw something up at Coffin Rock
                    today--

                              ANNA
                         (catching on)
                    --or someone--

                              NICK
                    --scared the living shit out of
                    us.

                              STONER #3
                    What?

                              NICK
                    I don't know, I don't know--

                              HEATHER
                    --yeah, a hand or something--

                              COTTER
                    --coming out of the water--

     Now even Domini joins the prevarication party, popping up from
     inside the foundation:

                              DOMINI
                    --stop it! Stop talking about it!
                    I'm gonna freak!

                              ANNA
                         (tearing up)
                    I just wanna go home.

                              STONER #3
                         (impressed)
                    Whoa.

                              STONER CAMERAMAN
                    You didn't get it on tape, didja?

                              NICK
                    Tried, but--

     Stoner #2 starts barking orders to his crew:

                              STONER #2
                    Strip it down and ship it out!
                    Coffin Rock!

     They're packed up and ready to move in a flash. Stoner #4 turns as
     they trot off:

                              STONER #4
                    Any other voices or noises you hear
                    tonight--it ain't us.

     The Stoners make Josh Leonard-like cries as they disappear back
     into the darkness;

                              STONERS (O.S.)
                    Heather??? Mike???? Somebody???
                    Please????

                              NICK
                    They were never seen again. Their
                    footage was found a year later--
                    underexposed and useless.

     Tired laughter.

                              NICK
                    How're the cameras doing?

                              COTTER
                    Due for a re-load and battery
                    check. I'll get on it.

                              HEATHER
                    'Give you a hand. I think my
                    sleep for the night just ended.

                              ANNA
                    Join the club.

                              NICK
                    Well, everybody grab a coat, and
                    pull up a rock for a night of
                    witch-watch.

     The four campers proceed to their respective tasks.

     Domini stays perched on the foundation, watching where the Stoners
     disappeared. To herself:

                              DOMINI
                    Something....really twisted...is
                    going to happen.

     She looks up. The Owl's gone.

     FADE TO BLACK.

     Birds heard in the darkness. And snoring.

     FADE UP ON:

     INT. NICK AND ANNA'S TENT - DAWN

     Cuddled together, fast asleep.

     EXT. THE PARR FOUNDATION - SIMULTANEOUS - DAWN

     Domini conked out on the grass, curled in a fetal position.

     INT. HEATHER'S TENT - SIMULTANEOUS - DAWN

     Ditto Heather, sprawled half-in/half-out of her sleeping bag.

     Only Cotter is awake--well, making an attempt at it, anyway.
     Squints at his digital watch: 5:45am.

                              COTTER
                    Jesus...wha' happened...

     He groggily gets to his knees and dog-walks out of the tent.
     Several beats.

     And then we hear outside the tent:

                              COTTER (O.S.)
                    Oh, fuck me! Oh, Jesus!

     The cries wake Heather--

     INT. NICK AND ANNA'S TENT - SIMULTANEOUS

     --as well as Nick and Anna--

     EXT. THE PARR FOUNDATION - SIMULTANEOUS

     --even Domini, who pops her head up and starts to ask:

                              DOMINI
                    What happ--

     --and then she sees; they all see--

                              COTTER
                    --they're all gone!--

     --five tripods, all minus the Video cameras they used to support--

                              COTTER
                    --and none of 'em were mine!
                    I-am-so-fucked, I-am-so-fucked--
                    where the hell was everybody???

                              NICK
                    Asleep--

                              COTTER
                    --what happened to the goddamn
                    "Witch-watch??"

                              NICK
                    --I dunno, I just woke up--

                              DOMINI
                    --last thing I remember were those
                    four clowns shooting the movie--

                              COTTER
                    --yeah, the goddamn stoners! Who
                    you think stole the stuff!?

                              NICK
                    Yeah. Got to Coffin Rock, found
                    zip, and came back, ripped off
                    the cameras.

     Domini looks at one of the mangled tripods.

                              DOMINI
                    Ripped? They look like they were
                    bit off.

                              NICK
                    Smells Like Teenage Spirit.

                              COTTER
                    This is funny?? This is tens of
                    thousands of fucking dollars!
                         (shouts into the woods)
                    You pricks! I'll see you in
                    fucking court!!

                              ANNA (O.S.)
                    Not the only things missing, Nick.

     Nick turns. Anna's at the tent door holding a pile of empty file
     folders and two looseleaf notebooks that have somehow been torn
     clean in half. Now Nick's incensed:

                              NICK
                    That's almost a year's worth of
                    work!
                         (into the woods)
                    Scumbags! Oh, Jesus, Jesus....

                              DOMINI
                    At least you still have the tapes.

                              COTTER
                    One set. Everything from midnight
                    on--

                              DOMINI
                    --no, I think they're all in there.

     She's pointing to the collapsed section of the basement foundation
     where the original "Blair Witch Project" Tapes were found.

     The other four stop and stare at her.

     And then Cotter goes diving in the hole. Beat.

                              COTTER (O.S.)
                    Sonovabitch!

     And emerges with two grimy handfuls of VHS, Beta, and 8mm video
     tapes.

                              HEATHER
                    Those ours?

     Cotter brushes dirt from them; holds them up for inspection.

                              COTTER
                    My handwriting on the face
                    labels.

     And then his excitement switches to confusion. Turns to Domini:

                              COTTER
                    How'd you know they were--

                              DOMINI
                         (shrugs)
                    --hunch. Just sort've saw 'em
                    there.

                              COTTER
                    My ass--you saw those four
                    fucking baboons put 'em there!

                              DOMINI
                    No.

                              NICK
                    Cotter, I think she's right. Why
                    would those guys go to all the
                    trouble of stealing the camera
                    and all this other stuff and leave
                    the tapes?

                              COTTER
                    Spite.

                              NICK
                    They were making a movie--if they
                    were going to steal anything it'd
                    be just the tapes, to see if we
                    had anything they didn't.

                              DOMINI
                    I don't think it was them.

                              COTTER
                    Oh, who did then? Blair Witch?
                    Snatching equipment to make her
                    own sequel?

                              DOMINI
                    I don't know yet.

                              COTTER
                    Well, please keep me fucking
                    informed!

                              HEATHER
                    Those four guys--it's the only
                    thing that makes sense.

     She looks over at Domini, who says nothing--just stares into the
     woods.

                              NICK
                    This is a goddamn disaster. Let's
                    just pack it up and go.

                              ANNA
                    I want to see the tapes.

                              NICK
                    And what do you possibly think
                    you're going to fucking see there?

                              ANNA
                    No idea. But if that's all we've
                    got left--

                              COTTER
                    --nothing left to play 'em on,
                    honey.

                              ANNA
                    Oh, sorry, right.

                              COTTER
                    You can be goddamn sure, though,
                    I'm going to be looking at every
                    second of 'em when I get back
                    to Baltimore--I get proof who
                    stole my shit and I call the cops!

                              ANNA
                    We're ticketed to fly back from
                    Baltimore, anyway.

                              HEATHER
                    Me, too.

                              COTTER
                    Hey, I got a whole editing suite
                    in my loft--more the fucking
                    merrier.

                              NICK
                    Pointless.

                              DOMINI
                    No. I don't think so.

     EXT. STREET IN N. BALTIMORE - SEVERAL HOURS LATER - AFTERNOON

     The Van pulls up to the curb in a savagely decrepit and extremely
     desolate old industrial section of North Baltimore.

                              COTTER
                    403 41st Street, kids: home.

                              NICK
                    I dunno it's safe to even get out
                    of the car.

                              COTTER
                    By day? No sweat.

                              HEATHER
                    What about night?

                              COTTER
                    Not a great idea. Especially
                    'cross the street.

     All four look: a thickly wooded area that looks like mostly sumac.

                              COTTER
                    Druid Hill Park.

                              ANNA
                    That's a joke?

                              COTTER
                    That's its name. A pastoral
                    glade gamboling with crackheads
                    and homeless and averaging at
                    least one homicide a week.

                              NICK
                    Let's get inside.

                              COTTER
                    First enormous brick warehouse
                    on your right.

     INT. COTTER'S BUILDING - JUST AFTER

     Four of the five of them ride nervously in a huge, ancient elevator
     that ascends in a series of jerks. Cotter's oblivious.

                              COTTER
                    Used to be a meat-packing plant.
                    Slaughter on the ground floor--
                    carcasses schlepped up on this
                    thing for dissection and grinding
                    and--

                              HEATHER
                    --Cotter: shut up.

                              COTTER
                    What?

     INT. DOOR TO COTTER'S LOFT - JUST AFTER

     Cotter opens the elevator grates, revealing a metal door with a
     single lock. He fits a key into it

                              NICK
                    Just one lock in this neighbor-
                    hood?

                              COTTER
                    All I need--

     --throws the door wide--

     --the LOUD BARKING of what sounds like a pack of pit-bulls greets
     them.

                              COTTER
                    Get inside quick, they'll stop.

                              HEATHER
                    Too busy eating us?

                              COTTER
                    Just go.

     INT. COTTER'S LOFT - CONTINUOUS

     He shuts the door; the BARKING stops. Everyone's eyes zapping all
     360 degrees around them: no dogs.

     Cotter taps a small speaker above the door;

                              COTTER
                    Baltimore's cheapest burglar alarm.

     He re-opens the door a crack--the BARKING starts anew. Closes it.
     Nothing.

                              COTTER
                    Had the door jimmied a few times.
                    Nobody's yet made it inside.

     He ushers them into a huge

     DOUBLE-STORIED SPACE

     easily 30 feet high. Exposed brick walls--massive iron roof beams.

     And crammed to bursting with bizarre esoterica everywhere:

     --carousel horses, huge airplane propellers, a bowsp'rit from an
     old clipper ship, lawn jockeys, a set of bunkbeds made entirely of
     wagon wheel parts, bowling balls, cannonballs, pinball machines.

                              COTTER
                    Mi casa y su casa!

                              HEATHER
                    Su casa y shit-o hole-o.

                              COTTER
                    Hey, hon'--this is what pays the
                    rent and tuition.

                              NICK
                    Running a junk yard.

                              COTTER
                    A Cyber Entrepreneurialship.

                              HEATHER
                    English.

                              COTTER
                    I spend a lot of time on e-Bay.
                    Buying, selling--sometimes buying
                    then re-selling at substantial
                    mark-up, sometimes just selling
                    crap I find in the street.

                              ANNA
                    Looks like business is booming.

                              COTTER
                    There's some stuff that's hard to
                    part with. Editing's stuff's up
                    there--

     --he points to a loft overhanging the big room--a thin wooden
     railing separating the work space from a sheer 20 foot drop.

                              COTTER
                    --stairs are back through the
                    kitchen--and a ton of bedrooms,
                    you wanna dump your stuff or
                    catch a nap--

     INT. COTTER'S LOFT WORK SPACE - A WHILE LATER - DUSK

     Cotter's running tape through his new video iMac. The rest of them
     are gathered around the screen in various degrees of discomfort.

     They look like they've been there for some time. A lot of yawns.
     Nick's rubbing his temples like somebody's pounding a marimba
     inside his head.

     ON SCREEN: they're all watching minute after minute of nothing.
     Darkness. The outlines of the Parr Foundation. Trees in the back-
     ground. Silence.

     Several beats as they continue to watch this stasis. Then:

                              NICK
                    I think we get the gist.

                              ANNA
                    We've looked at half of one
                    tape.

                              COTTER
                    There's four other angles, man,
                    we haven't even--

                              NICK
                    --great: we can watch Domini
                    sleep for hours--or, shit,
                    maybe if we stay at it for
                    a couple of days, maybe a deer'll
                    dash by!

                              ANNA
                    For once could you just sit down,
                    shut up, and give something a
                    chance?

                              NICK
                    We're leaving--case dismissed for
                    lack of evidence. Maybe on the
                    ride home we can figure how the
                    fuck we're going to graduate
                    with no thesis.

                              ANNA
                    I'm not going anywhere, 'til--

                              NICK
                    --bullshit!

                              COTTER
                    Hey, chill, man--

                              DOMINI
                    --there's something here, Nick--

                              NICK
                    --fuck you--all off you--

     --he grabs Anna by the wrist and yanks her up--

                              NICK
                    --now c'mon!

                              ANNA
                    Get your goddamn--

     --and suddenly Anna stops. Doubles over, clutching her abdomen.

                              NICK
                    What--

                              COTTER
                    --oh, Jesus--

     --blood can be seen soaking through her jeans.

                              ANNA
                    I need to go to a hospital.

     INT. EMERGENCY ROOM - UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL, BALTIMORE - NIGHT

     Domini, Heather and Cotter standing grimly in the Waiting Area.
     Finally, they see Nick exiting a Trauma Room, looking even grimmer.

                              DOMINI
                    She lost it.

     Nick nods.

     INT. TRAUMA ROOM - JUST AFTER

     Anna's lying on a OB/Gyn table in a johnnie, clearly sedated, but
     with a face and eyes still soaked with tears. An E.R. INTERN
     (Female) is cleaning her up.

                              ANNA
                    Why?

                              INTERN
                    Any number of reasons--pick one,
                    it's as good as the other.

                              ANNA
                    I was out hiking, camping the past
                    two days--that's what did it--I
                    killed it--

                              INTERN
                    --doubtful, Mrs. Leavitt. The main
                    thing to remember is, whatever the
                    reason, it was for the best--
                    it meant something was wrong.

                              ANNA
                    Something was wrong.

                              INTERN
                    Look, this is not my field of
                    expertise. You seem stabilized,
                    but why take any chances? Let's
                    keep you overnight and have the
                    Staff obstetrician do a follow-up
                    tomorrow.

                              ANNA
                    I guess--

     --and then Anna sees what the Intern is writing on her chart:

                         To see    Boyd Kurth
                                    5/26/00

     Anna's eyes go wide.

     INSIDE HER HEAD

     she flashes on the grave marker that Domini laid on in the
     Burkittsville Cemetery: same name, same date.

     BACK IN THE TRAUMA ROOM

     Anna yells:

                              ANNA
                    No!

                              INTERN
                    Mrs. Leavitt--

                              ANNA
                    --I'm not staying here!

                              INTERN
                    Let's talk to your husband--

                              ANNA
                    --he's not my husband!

     She's flails at the Intern, trying to get up, tearing pages from her
     chart.

                              ANNA
                    Where are my clothes??

     EXT/INT. COTTER'S VAN - LATER - NIGHT

     They all sit silently as Cotter drives. The now-fully clothed Anna
     just sits in back like a zombie.

                              NICK
                         (softly)
                    We'll stay overnight, get a hotel--

                              ANNA
                    --Cotter's--

                              COTTER
                    --whatever you want, no problem--

                              NICK
                    --still go see the OB in the morning--

                              ANNA
                    --no.

     Anna tosses a crumpled ball of paper into Domini's lap. She opens
     it. It's the top page of Anna's chart. Domini looks at the Intern's
     jotting "see Boyd Kurth--"

     --her head snaps up. Beat.

                              DOMINI
                    Nick. Do what she says.

     INT. COTTER'S LOFT - BEDROOM - LATER - NIGHT

     Nick tucks her into an elderly four-poster bed. Colonial in style.
     Another one of Cotter's "finds."

                              NICK
                    What can I get you?

                              ANNA
                    Sleep.

     She closes her eyes.

     INT. COTTER'S WORK SPACE LOFT - SIMULTANEOUS

     Domini, Heather and Cotter gathered around his iMac, drinking beer.

                              DOMINI
                    Something happened to Anna in
                    Burkittsville, in the woods,
                    I don't know.

                              COTTER
                    What? That made her lose the baby?

                              DOMINI
                    Something. Someone.

                              HEATHER
                    Who? What?

     Domini just shakes her head.

                              HEATHER
                    Women miscarry all the--

                              DOMINI
                    --no.

                              COTTER
                    This is a little nuts.

                              DOMINI
                    Turn the tapes back on.

                              COTTER
                    Fine.

     He goes to it. Without even looking, Domini pulls the shoulder of
     her shirt down, rubs something on her upper arm. Heather sees it:
     a good-sized burgundy-colored mark, oblong, vaguely spidery in
     shape.

                              HEATHER
                    What's that?

                              DOMINI
                    Hmm? I dunno. Chafing from the
                    backpack, something.

                              HEATHER
                    That'd be up on your shoulder,
                    maybe your lower back.

                              DOMINI
                    Then I have no idea.

     And now Cotter's staring at it.

                              COTTER
                    Does it hurt?

                              DOMINI
                    Like hell. Play the goddamn
                    tape.

     The first image that pops up is Domini sprawled out on the grass of
     the Parr Foundation. Deep in REM sleep, her leg jerking like a
     dog's. Domini sees it--a snort of embarrassed laughter.

     INT. NICK AND ANNA'S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS

     Nick bolts awake to the sound of laughter. Looks next to him,
     Anna's fast asleep. He looks relieved--then clucks to himself when
     he sees that he's fallen asleep next to her on the big old four-
     poster with his clothes on.

     Starts to take off his shirt--

     --and then hears the laughter again. Louder. It seems to piss
     him off.

     He gets out of bed, opens the door. Hisses:

                              NICK
                    Hey, knock it off, willya?

     But there's nobody there. He walks down the hallway towards the
     kitchen.

     INT. COTTER'S WORK SPACE - JUST AFTER

     Nick appears on the stairs leading into the work-loft. Sees the
     three of them huddled over the iMac.

                              NICK
                    You wanna keep it down, she's
                    trying to sleep.

                              COTTER
                    Sorry, I didn't think we were
                    making that much noise.

                              NICK
                    It's not a real "funny" time for
                    us, okay?

                              HEATHER
                         (confused)
                    No....it's not.

     Nick just shakes his head, snorts with disgust. Goes back down the
     stairs--

     INT. KITCHEN - JUST AFTER

     --when he hears the laughter again.

                              NICK
                    Christ almighty--

     --he starts to storm back up the stairs to the loft--

     --when he realizes he's walking away from the sound of the
     laughter. He stops. It's coming from the hallway--

     INT. HALLWAY - CONTINUOUS

     --further down the hallway. Louder. He walks faster towards it.

     It's coming from the open door of his and Anna's bedroom. Starts to
     trot. Louder. Takes the corner into--

     INT. THE BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS

     --the laughter stops--

     --as does Anna, who appeared for a moment to be twirling round and
     around in the middle of the room.

                              NICK
                    What's going on?

     Anna looks down at herself and lets loose a giggle of astonishment.

                              ANNA
                    Nothing. I dunno--

                              NICK
                    --you should get back into bed.

                              ANNA
                    I guess, yeah.

     She does so. Nick once again tucks her in.

                              NICK
                    Was that you laughing?

                              ANNA
                    What?

                              NICK
                    Just now?

                              ANNA
                    No.

                              NICK
                    Just...try and go back to sleep.

                              ANNA
                    I get dreams. I don't like 'em.

                              NICK
                    What'd you dream?

                              ANNA
                    Little boys. Looking up my skirt
                    as I danced. Giggling.

                              NICK
                    Here.

     He pops out two Xanax from a hospital sample bubble pack. Hands
     them to Anna.

                              NICK
                    This'll help.

     She swallows them dry.

                              ANNA
                    Good.

     She closes her eyes.

                              DOMINI (V.O.)
                    There--

     INT. COTTER'S WORK LOFT - LATER - NIGHT

     Domini's pointing to the iMac screen.

                              COTTER
                    There, what? I didn't see anything.

                              DOMINI
                    Back it up, rewind, whatever you
                    call it.

                              COTTER
                    Fine.

     He does so.

                              HEATHER
                    What'd you see?

                              DOMINI
                    Motion. Stop there. Play it again.

     Cotter hits PLAY. They're watching tape from a camera that was
     placed almost to the ground, aimed upwards--

                              DOMINI
                    --there! In the tree.

     Cotter freezes the image. The tree is so dark and so far in the
     distance of the shot, he and Heather have to put their eyes right
     up to the screen to even see it.

                              COTTER
                    Whatta you got, telescopic vision?

                              HEATHER
                    Still don't see it--

                              DOMINI
                    --that blur, right by that branch.

     She puts her finger right on the screen. Cotter quickly removes it
     --squints.

                              COTTER
                    Okay, a blur.

                              DOMINI
                    Can you zoom it or something,
                    make it real close, real big?

                              COTTER
                    I'm the ebay Boy, remember? I can't
                    exactly afford that kind of equipment.

                              DOMINI
                    Who do you know who can? Where do we
                    go?

                              HEATHER
                    For a blur?

                              DOMINI
                    There is something there--don't ask,
                    just trust me.

                              COTTER
                    Can't you like just divine it?

                              DOMINI
                    If I could do that, I'd be at the
                    goddamn racetrack, not here.

                              COTTER
                         (sighing)
                    I got a friend at a Lab. I could
                    get the whole thing blown-up,
                    enhanced--

                              DOMINI
                    --go!

                              COTTER
                    Four in the morning?

     EXT. 41ST STREET - NIGHT

     Cotter wearily unlocks the door to his Van.

     He looks all around him--finally up:

     There's an Owl staring down at him from a tree in Druid Hill Park
     across the street.

     INT. COTTER'S WORK LOFT - LATER - NIGHT

     Heather is bringing a cup of hot tea and 40 ounce bottle of Malt
     Liquor up the stairs. Sees Domini still in front of the iMac,
     trying to figure out how to work the thing.

                              HEATHER
                    Cotter'll kill you.

                              DOMINI
                    He'll never know.

                              HEATHER
                    Two-to-one he dusts the keyboard for
                    fingerprints the second he gets back.

     She hands Domini the beer. Keeps the tea for herself.

                              HEATHER
                    At least go drink it somewhere
                    spilling it won't drive him
                    to suicide.

                              DOMINI
                    Okay.

     Domini gets up and slumps down on the broken-backed couch in the
     work-loft.

                              HEATHER
                    What is it you thought you saw
                    on that tape?

                              DOMINI
                    Still working on it.

                              HEATHER
                    Elly Kedward?

                              DOMINI
                    No. Elly Kedward's not the problem
                    here, I don't think. She was just a
                    good old-fashioned white witch--










          PAGE 62 IS MISSING FROM THE HARD COPY OF THIS SCRIPT!








                              SID
                    You're gonna owe me the rest
                    of your life, bud.

                              COTTER
                    I know, I know.

                              SID
                    Beta Cam's still coming back
                    tomorrow, right?

     Beat. Cotter flushes for a moment.

                              COTTER
                    Absolutely.

                              SID
                    Before 5:00--

                              COTTER
                    --hours before--

                              SID
                    --Christ, they find out I let you
                    have it for the weekend--

                              COTTER
                    --no one'll ever know.

     Sid pauses the tape.

                              SID
                    This is what you wanted enhanced?

                              COTTER
                    Yeah.

                              SID
                    You mind me asking: why the fuck?

                              COTTER
                    The, uh, blur there.

                              SID
                    Looks like a rope.

     INT. COTTER'S WORK-LOFT - NIGHT

     Heather has apparently gained a tad enough mastery to run tape
     through the iMac.

     She's playing and replaying a short section of Cotter's camcorder
     tape where the bunch of them were interacting with the Stoner Film
     Crew.

     She keeps seeing a FLASH on the tape. Between two trees far in the
     background. But she can't seem to freeze the image inside the
     flash. It looks vaguely like a MIDDLE-AGED MAN.

                              HEATHER
                    Does this look like a person
                    stand there to you?
                         (no response)
                    Domini...?

     She turns. Sitting on the couch where Domini was is now the very
     clear presence of

     A MIDDLE-AGED MAN

     in a topcoat. He says nothing, just stares straight ahead. There's
     a horrible wound in his forehead.

     Heather is mindboggled--and petrified. She manages to stammer out
     the word:

                              HEATHER
                    Dad...?

                              DOMINI (O.S.)
                    What'd you say?

     Heather's neck snaps to her right. She's sitting on that same couch
     with Domini.

     Her eyes scan the entire loft. There's no one there but the two
     women.

                              DOMINI
                    Are you alright?

                              HEATHER
                    ....I don't know.

     FADE TO BLACK.

     Beat. And then in the darkness, a pack of dogs heard BARKING.

     FADE UP ON

     INT. COTTER'S ELEVATOR - DAWN

     He's having trouble getting the key out of the lock. The door is
     wide open. The recorded pit-bulls bark and bark and bark.

     INT. COTTER'S WORK - LOFT - SIMULTANEOUS

     The barking bolts Heather and Domini up like a shot.

     INT. NICK AND ANNA'S BEDROOM

     Likewise Nick.

     Anna doesn't seem to hear it--fast asleep.

     As soon as Nick makes it to the door, the barking stops.

     INT. COTTER'S WORK LOFT - JUST AFTER

     Nick, Domini and Heather are gathered around him like kids on
     Christmas.

                              DOMINI
                    So lemme see it.

                              COTTER
                    Just let me get my coat off--I had
                    eight cups of coffee, I'm wired for
                    sound here.

                              HEATHER
                    Where is it?

                              COTTER
                    I got the tape enhanced--and I
                    managed to sleaze a photo blow-up.
                    Jesus, he's gonna kill me when he
                    finds out about the camera.

                              HEATHER
                    Gimme it!

     Cotter throws her the 8"x10" blow-up of the frame.

     Heather looks at it, her face falls.

                              HEATHER
                    Still looks like a blur, only
                    bigger.

     Domini grabs it. Stares at it, puzzled.

                              COTTER
                    My friend Sid said it looked
                    like a rope.

     And now Domini's eyes go wide.

                              DOMINI
                    Jesus.

                              HEATHER
                    What?

                              DOMINI
                    That's the reason.

                              NICK
                    What?

                              DOMINI
                    Why she kills children.

                              COTTER
                    The witch?

                              DOMINI
                    It's not about witches, goddamnit!

                              NICK
                    Someone want to tell me what's
                    going on--

                              DOMINI
                    --and we brought it back with us!

                              HEATHER
                    What?

                              DOMINI
                    It touched me, don't you see
                    it now?

     She yanks down the shoulder of her shirt: the burgundy-colored mark
     on her arm has grown larger and more distinct. It seems to have
     finger-like tendrils spreading out from it.

                              DOMINI
                    Its fingers! Here. And here--

     --she yanks down the front of her shirt: there's another burgundy
     mark there--

                              DOMINI
                    --and here and here and here!

     She pulls back her hair: there are two more growing on the back of
     her neck.

                              DOMINI
                    I don't know how to stop it!
                    I don't know how to kill it!
                    But it's here right now!

     Domini's head is in her hands. She's hyperventilating. Heather puts
     her arms around her.

                              HEATHER
                    Slow it down, slow it down,
                    whatever it is, we'll figure
                    it out.

                              DOMINI
                    That's why she kills children.

                              HEATHER
                    I know, I know--

                              ANNA (O.S.)
                    --you don't.

     They all look up. Anna's standing in the doorway looking at Domini.

                              ANNA
                    They put their palms in the blood.
                    And then they press them on your
                    skin.

     And Anna walks out of the room.

     INT. COTTER'S BEDROOM - JUST AFTER - DAY

     Domini's lying down, Heather beside her. She's drinking a beer,
     seems much calmer--though she's got an afghan cinched around her
     entire body, toes to chin.

                              HEATHER
                    You gonna be alright?

                              DOMINI
                    Sure. I'm sorry.

                              HEATHER
                    No big deal. I'm just trying
                    to understand.

                              DOMINI
                    Get some more beer.

                              HEATHER
                         (laughs)
                    I think you closed the bar again.
                    I'll have to go out.

                              DOMINI
                    Go to the store. When you get
                    back, I'll try to make sense
                    of it for you.

     Heather gets up, starts for the door. Stops.

                              HEATHER
                    What're you afraid's going to
                    happen?

                              DOMINI
                    That they'll start touching
                    us inside our heads.

     INT. DELI - N. BALTIMORE - DAY

     Heather sticks two six packs inside a car. Double thinks. Goes
     back and grabs two more.

     AT THE REGISTER

     Heather waits in line. She sees that across the street is Druid
     Hill Park. Stares aimlessly into the woods, chewing on a thumb
     nail. She looks seriously worried.

                              CHECK-OUT CLERK (O.S.)
                    Sweetheart?

     Heather shifts her gaze to the Check-Out Clerk--and she shrieks:

     Standing behind the Clerk is

     THE MIDDLE-AGED MAN

     she saw in the loft, with the wound in his head.

                              CLERK (O.S.)
                    Miss?

     Heather's eyes dart back to the Clerk.

                              CLERK
                    Are you alright?

     Heather's eyes dance around the deli. The Man is gone.

                              HEATHER
                    You have a phone?

                              CLERK
                    Just outside--

     EXT. 41ST STREET - JUST AFTER - DAY

     Heather stands at a payphone by the curb. We hear ringing on the
     other end. Finally a pick-up. But an OPERATOR'S VOICE is heard
     first:

                              OPERATOR'S VOICE
                    You have a collect call from
                    Heather. Will you accept the
                    charges?

     Long beat on the other end. Finally:

                              WOMAN'S VOICE (MOM)
                    ...yes.

     The Operator clicks off.

                              HEATHER
                    Mom...?

                              MOM'S VOICE
                    Yes.

                              HEATHER
                    I was just calling, I know it's
                    been a long time--

                              MOM'S VOICE
                    --what do you need this time,
                    Heather?

                              HEATHER
                    Nothing. It's nothing like that.
                    I just wanted to know if Dad--

     --a sound on the other line of the phone dropping, banging on the
     floor or against a wall--

                              HEATHER
                    --Mom...? Mom??

     --a Voice comes back on the line. But it's MALE now:

                              MAN'S VOICE
                    She wants me to talk to you, Heather.

                              HEATHER
                    Who is this??

                              MAN'S VOICE
                    Your mother's pastor.

                              HEATHER
                    What happened to my Dad??

                              MAN'S VOICE
                    There was an accident early this
                    morning. Another car. Your father's
                    injuries were fatal.

                              HEATHER
                    Yes.

                              MAN'S VOICE
                    I'll tell your mother not to
                    expect you at the funeral.

                              HEATHER
                    No.

     The phone clicks dead on the other end. Heather lets the receiver
     just drop and begins walking, leaving her two bags of beer on the
     sidewalk, in a daze.

     And then she starts running.

     INT. COTTER'S ELEVATOR - JUST AFTER - DAY

     Heather's banging like crazy on the door to the loft.

     Finally, she hears the sound of Cotter snapping open the deadbolt.
     He opens the door. The recorded dogs bark. Heather slams the door
     behind her.

                              HEATHER
                    Where's Domini?

                              COTTER
                    My room, asleep, last I checked.

     Heather barges past him and towards Cotter's bedroom.

     INT. COTTER'S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS

     Heather walks in. The bed's empty. The afghan's lying in a pile on
     the floor--

     --along with all of the clothing Domini last had on.

                              HEATHER
                    Domini...?

     She doesn't bother calling her name again, there's nobody in the
     room.

     INT. KITCHEN - JUST AFTER

     Nick and Cotter look up at Heather, confused.

                              NICK
                    Well, she's got to be somewhere
                    here.

                              COTTER
                    No one's been in or out since you
                    left. Would've heard the dogs.

     CUT TO:

     Heather dashing up the stairs into the work-loft.

                              HEATHER
                    Domini??

     Empty.

     CUT TO:

     Cotter poking through the two hallway closets. Nothing.

     CUT TO:

     Nick looking in the closet and under the bed of his and Anna's
     bedroom. Nobody.

     Anna sleeps through it all.

     CUT TO:

     Heather really starting to lose it. Rampaging through the big main
     room, pushing aside all of Cotter's huge carousel animals, looking
     behind those things she can't move, dumping things willy-nilly on
     the floor.

                              HEATHER
                    Domini!!!!

     CUT TO:

     Cotter helping Heather open one of the windows in the big room.
     Looking out on the ledge. Looking down to the sidewalk, five
     stories below. Nothing.

                              HEATHER
                    Fire escape??

                              COTTER
                    Don't have one.

     Heather screams out the window:

                              HEATHER
                    Dominiiiiiiii!!!

     INT. KITCHEN - SOON AFTER - DAY

     Heather, Anna and Cotter sit at the table nervously. Heather is
     literally shaking.

                              COTTER
                    She would've had to have a key,
                    anyway, to lock the deadbolt
                    behind her.

                              HEATHER
                    Well, she got out of here some-
                    how because she's not here!!

                              NICK
                    Parents. She might've called--

     SMASH TO:

     Heather on the phone.

                              HEATHER
                    Taos, New Mexico. The Sheriff's
                    Office, please....thank you.

     She hangs up. Picks back up. Punches in a number in a blur. Beat.
     Someone picks up on the other end:

                              WOMAN'S VOICE
                    Good morning, Sheriff's Office.

                              HEATHER
                    Yes! I need to speak to Sheriff Von
                    Teer.

                              WOMAN'S VOICE
                    He's in a meeting. Could I have him--

                              HEATHER
                    --it's urgent!

                              WOMAN'S VOICE
                    Could I tell him what it's
                    regarding?

                              HEATHER
                    His daughter, for God's sake--
                    I need to know if he's heard from
                    her this morning.

     Beat on the other line.

                              WOMAN'S VOICE
                    ...the Sheriff is a widower. They
                    never had any children.

     Heather is struck dumb.

                              WOMAN'S VOICE
                    ....Ma'am?

                              HEATHER
                    I'm talking to Taos, New Mexico--

                              WOMAN'S VOICE
                    --yes--

                              HEATHER
                    --the Sheriff's Office--

                              WOMAN'S VOICE
                    --yes, Ma'am, can I help you with
                    anything else?--

                              HEATHER
                    --his name's Von Teer! His daughter's
                    named Domini!--

                              WOMAN'S VOICE
                    --thank you for calling--

     The line goes dead.

     The three of them just stand there, staring at each other,
     petrified.

     And then Anna walks in the room.

                              ANNA
                    I'm glad she's dead. She brought
                    the thing that killed my child.

     INT. KITCHEN - LATER - AFTERNOON

     Heather sits at the table alone, staring at the 8x10 that Cotter
     made for Domini.

                              HEATHER
                    What did you see here that I
                    can't see, damnit!

     She runs a finger down the length of the blur in the branches.

                              HEATHER
                    What is it that scared you
                    so much?

     Nick enters, heads for the blotched, '60s vintage Mr. Coffee maker.

                              NICK
                    Finally got her back to sleep.

                              HEATHER
                    Nick, what you should do is get
                    her back up and get her to a
                    goddamn doctor.

                              NICK
                    Jesus, you don't think I know
                    that? You don't think I've
                    tried? She won't fucking go--
                    she won't leave this place.

                              HEATHER
                    She's off her fucking rocker--

                              NICK
                    --I know!

                              HEATHER
                    I'm sorry.

                              NICK
                    Yeah, I know. It's...alright. We're
                    all a little--

                              HEATHER
                    --a lot.

                              NICK
                    Heather.

                              HEATHER
                    Yeah.

                              NICK
                    Okay. Hypothetically.

                              HEATHER
                    Shoot.

                              NICK
                    You think....there could've been
                    something up in those woods that
                    Anna--

                              HEATHER
                    --it's not a could've--there was,
                    Nick. And it fucked up Anna, and
                    did something to Domini, and it
                    caused my father to die, and it's
                    here with us in this place now.
                    And I don't have one single idea
                    in hell what's going to happen
                    next, just that it's going to
                    happen to one of us. And then
                    the other. And then the other.
                    It's going to get into our brains.

     And Heather finally loses it and starts weeping--great wracking
     sobs. Nick's a little awkward at first how to comfort her. Finally
     just starts lightly massaging her neck.

                              NICK
                    There's explanations. Rational
                    explanations for everything that's
                    happened. We'll drive ourselves
                    crazy if we keep obsessing on
                    supernatural what-ifs.

                              HEATHER
                    That feels good. Lower--down
                    into my neck.

     Nick moves his hands down--

     --and somehow the two of them are then guiding his hands down into
     her blouse, onto her breasts--

     --and she's moaning, and grabbing hard onto his hair--

     --and pulling his whole head down to hers. And their lips and
     tongues meet, and they're biting each other like animals--

     --and his hands are yanking and twisting hard on her breasts,
     between her legs--

     --and she's literally clawing him with her fingernails, drawing
     blood down the length of his chest--

     --until she reaches a burgundy-colored mark right at his belt line
     with tendrils like fingers--

     --SNAP!--it's like someone woke them from a dream. They both look
     at each other, baffled--what the hell just happened? But it wasn't
     a dream. Nick's chest is streaming blood; there's blood on
     Heather's lips--

     --matching the color of the mark on Nick's waist, and the one
     Heather now sees inside her elbow.

     They both move away from each other, uncomprehending--and scared.

     INT. NICK AND ANNA'S BEDROOM - DUSK

     Nick pacing the floor as Anna lies in bed.

                              NICK
                    I don't know what it is, but there
                    is something happening here, and
                    it's starting to scare the living
                    shit out me, and look, I'm just
                    not going to argue the point
                    anymore--you want to stay here,
                    stay, but I've got to get the
                    fuck out of here, and I'm begging
                    you to come with me.

                              ANNA
                    I can't.

                              NICK
                    Then I'm going--

                              ANNA
                    --no, you're not. You love me too
                    much. You don't want to see them
                    kill me.

     INT. COTTER'S WORK LOFT - NIGHT

     Cotter's behind the iMac, screening tape millimeter by millimeter,
     downing one Coke after another. He's so caffed-out, both his body
     and his voice is shaking.

                              COTTER
                    This could be something right
                    here, do you think it's some-
                    thing, Heather--?

     Heather doesn't even look up. She's just sitting on the broken-
     backed couch staring at Domini's 8"x10".

                              COTTER
                    --but that could be just a shadow,
                    I think it's a shadow, it's nothing,
                    Heather, do you think it's nothing--

     --and he just keeps prattling on oblivious, eyes fixed on the tape
     moving at a snail's pace in front of him.

                              HEATHER
                    It's about the tree, it's
                    something about the tree.

     She puts it down on a cushion and snatches up the dog-eared copy of
     the "Blair Witch Dossier." Easily flips to the page Domini showed
     her: Elly Kedward trussed in the wagon in the woods.

     Flips backwards in the book, looking for something--

                              HEATHER
                    --the goddamn tree, Domini,
                    for chrissake, what?

     --and then she stops on the page that shows the anthropology
     students' sketch of the Parr foundation; the skinny little sapling
     in the middle--

     --then back to the woodcut of Elly Kedward in the woods--

     --then back to Domini's photo of the foundation--the huge tree--

                              HEATHER
                    Same trees. They took Elly Kedward
                    out to the same kind of trees.

                              COTTER
                         (still oblivious)
                    --I look and look in the tree, all
                    I ever see, he's always there watching,
                    that stupid owl, over and over--

                              HEATHER
                    --Cotter, where can I get on-line?

                              COTTER
                    --anywhere, anywhere, all up and live,
                    all the time--fucking owl--

     Heather slips in front of one of Cotter's PC's.

     TIME CUT TO

     Heather on-line, in the middle of Blair Witch Chat Room, typing:

               WICCA GIRL: anybody know where tree is they
                           tied Elly Kedward?

     Beat. And then a response.

               COFFIN ROX: Black Hills

     Heather responds, types:

               WICCA GIRL: thanx--anybody know where??? in Hills

     Beat. Response:

      TREACLE-TREACLE-LITTLE-EILEEN: My two cts? By Rusty Parr's
                      house hadda be that close how else could
                      she whisper into his ear?

     Heather stops typing; absorbs this.

                              HEATHER
                    Cotter?

                              COTTER
                    Fucking owl!

                              HEATHER
                    You think it's possible the tree
                    in the Parr foundation is the same
                    one they tied Elly Kedward to?

                              COTTER
                    No idea--goddamitt!

     And then suddenly another response appears in the Chat Room:

               COFFIN ROX: Check BW Cult book, 1809--they have
                           full account

     Heather grunts. Types back:

               WICCA GIRL: 1 copy in exist. you got it?

               COFFIN ROX: no just seen it

               WICCA GIRL: where

               COFFIN ROX: one of us

               WICCA GIRL: if you're out there and got it anybody,
                           contact me this mailbx urgent

               COFFIN ROX: location described pretty good in
                           section bout first boys disappeared
                           afer Elly dies - James Kurth &
                           another kid

     Heather stops typing. To herself:

                              HEATHER
                    Boy Kurth.

                              COTTER
                    Heather, does that look like Domini
                    there?

     Heather doesn't look up from her screen. Impatient, trying to put
     pieces that don't fit together.

                              HEATHER
                    Where?

                              COTTER
                    Down there in the Park.

     Heather looks up. Cotter is looking down through the big room's
     huge windows; he's waving to someone.

     Heather gets up. Slowly peers over the loft railing. Squints.

     HEATHER'S POV

     A stark-naked Domini is standing in Druid Hill Park. Looking up at
     them.

     EXT. DRUID HILL PARK - JUST AFTER - NIGHT

     Heather and Cotter's pace slows drastically as they try and
     navigate the overgrown pathways inside the Park. The flora is dense
     below and above--moonlight barely penetrates where they're walking.

                              HEATHER
                    Domini...?

     Cotter puts a finger to her lip. Whispers:

                              COTTER
                    Not the place you want to
                    announce your arrival.

                              HEATHER
                    How's she going to know where
                    to--

                              COTTER
                    --things got a way of finding
                    you here.

     They walk.

                              HEATHER
                    It's freezing.

                              COTTER
                    Next time try putting on shoes--

     --the two of them stop dead in their tracks. Through the thicket
     ahead of them they can see a clearing. Illuminated by the moon is
     what appears to be an old

     WOODEN OX CART

     with SNOW drifted up nearly to the hubs of its wheels.

     HEATHER AND COTTER

     are suddenly so cold they can see their breath in the air.

                              HEATHER
                    What the fuck--??

                              COTTER
                    --I don't know.

     He grabs her hand and pulls her through the thicket. They enter

     THE CLEARING

     the snow is now gone. Where the cart was is now just a stack of
     rotting cut brush. A clean-up effort someone must have started,
     then abandoned. Heather and Cotter stare at each other, baffled--
     and not a little afraid.

                              COTTER
                    The moon trying to shoot down
                    through all these trees--can make
                    things funky--

                              HEATHER
                    --I saw what I saw.

                              COTTER
                    Yeah. Me too.

                              HEATHER
                    The cart they brought Elly Kedward
                    into the woods with--

                              COTTER
                    --into the Black Hills with--200-
                    something miles from here--

                              HEATHER
                    --Domini!

     They both see it at the same time:

     A NAKED WHITE BODY

     face down at the base of a tree. Heather races over, kneels down
     next to it.

                              HEATHER
                    Oh, Jesus, what happened, are
                    you--

     --and Heather lets out a screech. The face of the body reveals an
     ELDERLY MALE. Filthy, tongue lolling black out of its mouth. He's
     been dead for some time.

                              COTTER (O.S.)
                    Be it still alive, James?

                              HEATHER
                    What--

     Heather turns--

     A PACK OF LITTLE BOYS

     wild-eyed and wielding sticks, RUSH AT HEATHER--

                              BOY #1
                    --then finish the job, lads!

     --Heather screeches again, throws up her arms to protect herself--

                              COTTER (O.S.)
                    Jesus!

     Heather looks up: Cotter's lying on the ground, holding his
     bleeding forehead.

                              COTTER
                    What the fuck you do that for??

     Heather looks at her hand. She's clenching a sharp stick in it.
     The Little Boys are gone. The body of the Dead Man is not.

                              HEATHER
                    I didn't.

     She grabs his hand, pulls him up. They start running.

     INT. COTTER'S KITCHEN - LATER THAT NIGHT

     Heather and Cotter at the table, still out of breath and shaking,
     as they tell Nick what happened.

                              HEATHER
                    --and one of the little boys,
                    his name was James. As in the
                    boy James Kurth--the first child
                    to disappear from the town of
                    Blair after they banished Elly
                    Kedward.

     A look of alarm comes to Nick's face. But he says nothing.

                              HEATHER
                    What?

                              NICK
                    I dunno it's anything. It's a
                    name Anna's mentioned--from her
                    dreams.

                              COTTER
                    I can't handle this anymore.

     He produces a large, thick spliff and torches it up. Big hit, and
     passes it to Heather, who takes an even bigger one.

                              NICK
                    How much of that stuff you guys
                    been smoking?

                              COTTER
                    Enough to keep sane.

                              NICK
                    Enough to make shapes and shadows
                    in the dark into something else.

                              HEATHER
                    Spare me.

                              NICK
                    Hey, chemicals, fear, sleep-
                    deprivation--and a round-the-clock
                    obsession with the occult--hell've
                    a recipe for a mind-fuck.

                              COTTER
                    Except we seem about 18 times
                    more together than you.

     Heather spit-takes a lung-full of smoke.

                              COTTER
                    I'd strongly advise you to join
                    us--

                              HEATHER
                    --before you lose your emotional
                    lunch.

                              NICK
                         (shrugging)
                    Yeah, what the hell.

     He takes the joint, sucks in mightily--

                              HEATHER
                    Atta boy--

     --and then the whole kitchen seems to explode--

     --GLASS and MULLIONS from the big window in the room come hurtling
     in shards at them--

     --and then when the noise finally stops, and the flying debris has
     all hit the floor, they all look down and see:

     ON THE PEELING LINOLEUM

     A HORNED OWL

     broken and bleeding from its header through the window. Spasming,
     and then dying. Eyes wide, staring up at them.

     No one says a word. They just look at it.

     INT. COTTER'S WORK-LOFT - LATER - NIGHT

     A lot of chairs, but nobody's sitting down. Cotter, Heather and
     Nick all look like their nerves are fraying down to bare wire.

                              HEATHER
                    We are being fucked with here,
                    someone or something.

                              NICK
                    Domini.

                              HEATHER
                    Why in the world would she--

                              NICK
                    --why in the world would she just fly
                    the coop in the first place?

                              COTTER
                    Chrissake: why any of this?

                              NICK
                    I think it's time to get out
                    of here.

                              HEATHER
                    Nobody's going anywhere--

                              COTTER
                    --hell, I don't think I'm ever
                    leaving this place again--

                              HEATHER
                    --one of us, all of us--I have
                    no idea--brought whatever this
                    thing is back here. We're not
                    going to go out there and spread
                    it around like Typhoid Mary. We're
                    gonna figure it out, we're gonna
                    bring a goddamn end to it.

                              NICK
                    Domini's the only logical
                    explanation.

                              HEATHER
                    We're not dealing with fucking
                    logic here!

                              COTTER
                    It's Domini, it's not Domini, I
                    don't care--all I know is I'm not
                    dealing with something--anything--
                    snuffing me in my sleep. I want to
                    do what we did in the woods--
                    surveillance of this whole place
                    24/7, with somebody monitoring
                    those cameras every second. There's
                    something, somebody here, I want to
                    see 'em coming.

                              NICK
                    I thought all your equipment got
                    stolen.

                              COTTER
                    All the shit that was worth anything,
                    yes. You'd be amazed, though, what you
                    can get free on the 'net.

     He opens a desk drawer--there must be a dozen little palm
     corders in there.

     INT. THE LOFT - VARIOUS LOCATIONS - NIGHT

     What Cotter lacks in other equipment, he makes up for with cable:
     huge SPOOLS of it--and he's running it from the various tiny vid-
     cams to a motley bank of monitors he's set up on the kitchen table.

     HEATHER

     duct-tapes one of the little units on the top of a closet door-
     frame in the hallway.

     COTTER

     sees he has an excellent angle on the front door/elevator.

     ANNA

     watches half asleep and befuddled in their bedroom as Nick aims a
     camera on a jerry-rigged broom-handle tripod.

     COTTER

     connects the cables in the kitchen--sees Anna and a clear view of
     the bedroom door.

     NICK & HEATHER

     collaborate on installing a camera from Cotter's work-loft that
     provides a view of the dark area under the work-loft. Nick lowers
     the camera on a rope, while Heather guides and supports the cables
     attached.

     COTTER

     watches the camera descend on one of the monitors. Satisfied by the
     view it's giving him, he yells:

                              COTTER
                    That's good! Tie it off!

     BACK IN THE WORK-LOFT

     Nick does so. Ties the rope securely around the loft railing. Ties
     a slip knot in the loose end and lassoes it over one of the iron
     beams above to keep it from being a hazard. He has to jump to catch
     the rope as it comes down again from the beam--

     --stumbles backwards slightly as he catches it--

     --hitting the spindly loft railing--

     --which suddenly SNAPS!

     And Nick goes tumbling out into mid-air, the slip-knot in the rope
     in his hand the only thing keeping him from plummeting 20 feet to
     the floor below--

                              NICK
                    --Jee-zus!!!--

     COTTER

     sees it happen on the monitor.

                              COTTER
                    --Christ!!

     He dashes out of the kitchen.

     BACK IN THE WORK-LOFT

     Heather is trying to lift Nick back up by the rope by sheer
     physical strength she doesn't have--

                              HEATHER
                    I can't do it!

                              NICK
                    Don't! You're making me lose my
                    grip.

                              COTTER (O.S.)
                    I'm coming! I'm coming!

     And Cotter comes dashing in with a tall metal step ladder.

                              COTTER
                    Just hold on!

                              NICK
                    I can't!

     Cotter splays the ladder open, starts clambering up it.

                              COTTER
                    Just let it go, I've got you!

                              NICK
                    What're you nuts--

                              COTTER
                    --it's less than four feet,
                    just--

                              NICK
                    --shit!!!

     Nick loses his grip--starts falling--

     --Cotter snatches hold of him as he falls, pinning Nick between the
     ladder and his torso.

     The ladder wobbles precariously--

                              COTTER
                    --don't move, don't even breathe--

     --and then the ladder finally comes to a stable rest.

     Nick is savagely shaken as he slowly climbs down.

                              NICK
                    Jesusjesusjesus....

     Ditto Cotter:

                              COTTER
                    Yeah--please don't do that
                    again.

     A giggle is heard from the doorway to the big room. They all look:

     ANNA

     is standing there, laughing with her hand against her mouth like a
     little child. She sing-songs:

                              ANNA
                    I could see up your dress.

     INT. KITCHEN - LATER - NIGHT

     Cotter, Heather and Nick watch the monitors on the table in
     silence. Drinking coffee. They all look majorly exhausted--but none
     of them look in any immediate danger of falling asleep. Their eyes
     dart from monitor to monitor, relievedly seeing nothing--except
     Anna tossing restlessly in bed.

     Heather sees that Nick is massaging something on his forearm that's
     making him wince. Without a word, she rolls his sleeve up:

     A wine-colored mark that looks vaguely like a jagged J.

                              HEATHER
                    Gothic rune--the letter "S."

                              NICK
                    Or a blood blister--or a bruise.

                              COTTER
                    Must be that blue collar life we
                    all lead.

     Cotter pulls up his pant leg: two blurry burgundy marks--crescent
     shapes overlapping each other.

                              HEATHER
                    That's a "j."

                              COTTER
                    For "James?"

                              HEATHER
                    Goes right along with these two.

     She pulls back her hair--where jaw meets neck: two smudgey marks
     that together look like badly-drawn lowercase "n"s.

                              HEATHER
                    Put 'em together that's a "k."
                    James Kurth--

                              NICK
                    --or Lyme Disease or poison sumac,
                    or God knows what-else we could have
                    picked up in the woods.

                              HEATHER
                    You know what we picked up in the
                    woods--

     --and then there's a sharp knock at the door.

     All three sets of eyes zoom towards the sound, but no one moves.

     The knocking grows louder, more insistent. Still, they remain
     frozen. Frightened.

     They look at the monitor giving an angle of the door/elevator.

     Nothing can be seen--just a dark blur in the door's peephole
     indicating someone's standing in the elevator.

                              HEATHER
                    Who?

                              COTTER
                    No one ever comes here.

                              NICK
                    Have to open the door to find
                    out.

     The knocking increases, along with muffled shouts of:

                              VOICE BEHIND THE DOOR
                    Cotter...? Cotter...?

                              COTTER
                    ....I'll....go.

     Cotter gets up and slowly walks to the door. The rapping and
     shouting increasing in volume with each step.

     Finally, a deep breath. And then Cotter looks through the peep
     hole. He sees:

     SID

     his Techie friend from the Film Lab glowering back at him.

                              SID
                    I know you're in there, you
                    piece of shit!

                              COTTER
                         (quietly)
                    You have to go.

                              SID
                    Not until I get that Beta Cam
                    back! We're both in a world of
                    shit here!!

                              COTTER
                         (quietly)
                    I can't.

                              SID
                    It's my fucking job, man!!

                              COTTER
                    I can't let you in.

     Sid starts knocking again.

     Cotter walks back to the kitchen. Sits down in front of the
     monitors. Watches as the knocking continues. Finally stops. The
     expression on Cotter's face never changes.

     TIME CUT TO - THE SAME - SEVERAL HOURS LATER

     So quiet, so tense, they can hear the clocks ticking all over the
     loft: 4:10a.m.

                              NICK
                    I should check on Anna.

                              HEATHER
                    Check the monitor, she's fine.

                              NICK
                    She's far from "fine."

                              HEATHER
                    You're needed here--keep watching--

                              COTTER
                    --f'chrissake, Heather, it's not
                    like the two of us are gonna doze
                    off he leaves for two seconds--

                              HEATHER
                    --I don't trust anybody, not even
                    me, anymore--

                              COTTER
                    --shhhh! #5, there's something up
                    there!

     Their eyes all go to the Monitor with the view of Cotter's work
     loft. Beat. They freeze.

     A slight WHIRRING--then slow WHOOSHING heard. Movement seen in the
     darkness.

                              NICK
                    What?

                              COTTER
                    One of the printers.

     Cotter gets up.

                              HEATHER
                    No. We all go.

                              NICK
                    Anna--

                              HEATHER
                    --fuck Anna!

                              COTTER (V.O.)
                    No, you--

     INT. THE WORK LOFT - JUST AFTER

     Cotter handing a sheaf of print-outs to Heather.

                              COTTER
                    --it's for you. Came through email.
                    How it started printing without a
                    command, though--

     Heather looks up at them in astonishment; dithered:

                              HEATHER
                    --it's the "Blair Witch Cult"--a copy--
                    some pages from--one of them on the site
                    must've gotten my message--

                              COTTER
                    --who?

                              HEATHER
                    Doesn't say--it's just these pages.

     She tries to make out the ancient, smeared scrawls of this nearly
     200 year old book.

                              HEATHER
                         (reading)
                    "taken by the witch as they were
                    marked by her--first Jamie Kurth
                    when the stain appeared on his
                    brow that next summer--

     --the next page is illegible, Heather flips forward:

                              HEATHER
                    "for t'was said he and Jon Edmunds
                    and other boys who found Elly Kedward
                    still on her tree in the snow. Poking
                    her with sticks finding her still
                    living. Taking her bonds and noosing
                    them to her neck, hanging her from
                    her tree until she perished."

     Heather looks up at the others in wide-eyed.

                              HEATHER
                    That's the little boys. Elly Kedward
                    didn't die from "exposure" out there:
                    she was executed.
                         (resumes reading)
                    "Killing Elly Kedward, but not the
                    witch herself, who floated from the
                    mortal husk--"

     Heather looks up; she echoes Domini's words:

                              HEATHER
                    "It's why the witch kills children."

                              NICK
                    I thought all witches were benign and
                    good.

                              HEATHER
                    Not this one.

     INT. NICK AND ANNA'S BEDROOM - LATER THAT NIGHT

     Heather tries to rouse Anna in bed.

                              HEATHER
                    I need you to talk to me, talk
                    to me about the dreams--about
                    James, the other boys.

                              ANNA
                    I don't...I don't understand them
                    myself.

                              HEATHER
                    Try, please, Anna--

                              ANNA
                    --bad boys, mean boys, cowardly
                    boys--just like Domini.

                              HEATHER
                    What do you mean?

                              ANNA
                    A coward too. That's why she had
                    to go.

                              HEATHER
                    What happened to her, where did she
                    go?

                              ANNA
                    Don't know--just that she was afraid--

                              HEATHER
                    --Anna--

     Anna winces.

                              HEATHER
                    What, are you alright?

                              ANNA
                    My eye, is there something in my
                    eye?

     Heather looks.

                              HEATHER
                    Not that I can see.

                              ANNA
                    Closer. Lift the lid and look--
                    it hurts.

     Heather lifts Anna's eyelid, gets close to her face and looks.

                              HEATHER
                    No.

                              ANNA
                    Closer.

     And Anna gently guides Heather's face down. Begins stroking it. And
     the next thing Heather knows, her body is gravitating towards
     Anna's. She's kissing her, stroking and fondling her as Anna guides
     her fingers. Pulling down the covers, guiding Heather down the
     length of her body to--

     --a spot on the mattress between Anna's legs that's soaked solid
     with fresh, gleaming blood.

     Heather yanks herself away, now seeing that the entire mattress is
     blood-covered. Runs from the room.

     INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT

     Heather stares at her face in the mirrored surface of a toaster.
     Blood blots on her cheek--vaguely in the shape of little palm
     prints. She's hyperventilating as she tells Cotter.

                              HEATHER
                    Remember....what Mary Brown said--
                    she could see the witch's hands on
                    my face, her mouth sucking on mine.

                              COTTER
                    Anna's the witch.

     Nick enters.

                              NICK
                    What the fuck's going on here?

                              HEATHER
                    Does she have marks, Nick--like the
                    ones we have, that Domini had?

                              NICK
                    Why?

                              HEATHER
                    Does she, goddamnit??

                              NICK
                    Not that I've seen--but that has
                    no meaning--that means nothing.

                              COTTER
                    Why was she exempted, Nick?

                              NICK
                    Maybe whatever they are, they
                    just haven't appeared yet on
                    her?

                              HEATHER
                    You really believe that?

     Beat.

                              NICK
                    It's possible for chrissake--

                              HEATHER
                    --the marks appear, then you
                    disappear. Like the little
                    Kurth boy, like Domini, as
                    soon as they come to full
                    bloom--and mine are!

     She pulls down her blouse--the marks on her neck have grown--they
     are the size of--and very clear image of--the palm-prints of a
     child, ringing around Heather's neck as if strangling her.

                              COTTER
                    Mine, too. And so are yours,
                    pal.

     He points to Nick's exposed midriff--the stains have spread up from
     his waist into his abdomen--

                              HEATHER
                    Like a blueprint for disembowelment.

                              NICK
                    There are other explanations! She is
                    not the goddamn witch, that's insane!

                              HEATHER
                    Then just give me one of your
                    explanations that all three of
                    us'll buy.

                              NICK
                    I don't....

     --and then Nick hears giggling. His eyes and everyone's eyes go to
     one of the video monitors:

     THE BIG ROOM

     of the loft. Where they see Anna twirling round and round on her
     tip-toes, laughing, as though she were simultaneously being hanged
     and looking up the dress and giggling at the person being hanged.

     Now even Nick looks petrified.

     INT. THE LOFT - VARIOUS LOCATIONS - JUST AFTER

     The Big Room. Nick enters on the run.

                              NICK
                    I want to see something!

                              ANNA
                    Whatever you want.

                              NICK
                    The clothes--take 'em off--
                    I want to see every square
                    inch--

                              ANNA
                    --no, what's wrong with you?

     HEATHER & NICK

     Watch on the monitor: Nick showing the huge mark on his torso.

                              NICK
                    Are you marked like this??

                              ANNA
                    Why?

                              NICK
                    I see for proof positive you're
                    the goddamn witch--

     Anna dashes from the room.

     AT THE ELEVATOR

     Heather grabs her, as Anna's trying to open the door to escape. The
     recorded dogs start barking madly.

                              HEATHER
                    You killed Domini, didn't you,
                    witch??

                              ANNA
                    I'm not a witch, you're all crazy!

     Anna runs panicked into the kitchen--and right into Cotter. He
     grabs her by the arms.

                              COTTER
                    Just say you are--we won't hurt
                    you--

     --Heather runs in behind her--

                              HEATHER
                    --we'll just make you go away,
                    so you can't hurt anyone else--

     --Nick enters the kitchen--

                              NICK
                    --like you hurt the baby--

                              ANNA
                    --what're you saying?? I didn't
                    have anything to do with--

                              COTTER
                    --the witch kills children--

                              ANNA
                    I haven't killed any--

                              HEATHER
                    --Jamie Kurth, Jonathan Edmunds--

                              ANNA
                         (in terror)
                    --my God, Nick???

                              NICK
                    Just say the words, Anna.

     She tries to dodge Nick and get back to the elevator, he cuts her
     off.

     Ditto, the other direction and Heather--

     --Anna sprints up the stairs--

     INT. COTTER'S WORK-LOFT - JUST AFTER

     --and finds she's got nowhere to go but down--20 feet worth of
     down. And Nick, Heather and Cotter are closing in on her from the
     stairs.

                              ANNA
                    Please! Please...? I haven't
                    done anything.

                              HEATHER
                    Bullshit! Talk!

                              ANNA
                    Nick!!

                              NICK
                    Out of my hands.

     Cotter barges past them all, grabs the tope that Nick dangled from
     the loft space with--

                              ANNA
                    What're you doing??

     --Cotter throws the slip-knot loop around her neck.

                              COTTER
                    Hang you like the witch you
                    are, unless--

                              ANNA
                    --Nick!!

                              HEATHER
                    Confess!

     Cotter tightens the rope.

                              ANNA
                    Alright! Fuck you, fuck all of you!
                    I'm her.

     Heather grabs the vid-cam from the railing and starts recording
     her:

                              NICK
                    Oh, Jesus, no--

                              ANNA
                    --fuck your bullshit pieties! You
                    were the next to die, asshole!











          PAGE 102 IS MISSING FROM THE HARD COPY OF THIS SCRIPT











     INT/EXT. VARIOUS LOCATIONS - DAYS FOLLOWING

     A dizzying montage of video "real" footage much like the opening of
     the film.

     TV Reporters telling us that "once again, like Columbine and
     "Basketball Diaries," life has imitated violent art. In this case,
     the Blair Witch Project," where, yesterday obsessed fans of the
     film performed ritualistic murder--"

     Nick, Heather and Cotter seen: in cuffs, being led into the
     Baltimore Police Station.

     Seen: grainy static-cam of them being interrogated.

     Seen: news-film of the inside of the Loft--where Anna was found
     "murdered." And then a closet where an unidentified nude woman was
     found similarly "executed." The News camera zooms in on the nude
     body of Domini crumpled in that closet, visible rope burns on her
     neck.

     Seen: Nick's confession. That Anna admitted to being The Evil.

     Seen: the footage Heather shot of Anna "confessing."

     But all the police and we see is Anna with a rope around her neck,
     pleading to Nick, Heather and Cotter not to kill her: "I haven't
     done anything!!! Why are you doing this??? Please, God--"




                              END