Boozers By Blake Johnson

A Journeys End by Kerry Johnson

Copyright 2009 AnimiVirtus Productions

blakejohnson.vfx@gmail.com animivirtus.com

INT. - BAR - EVENING A TV on the wall shows a REPORTER talking next to the images of three young boys, their school jackets blowing out the color range of the TV set. REPORTER No new developments yet on the disappearances of three high school boys from Farsee High just two weeks ago. Locals are blaming myths of a witch in the Farsee cemetery, but no evidence has been discovered yet to support such a claim. Authorities are urging anyone with knowledge of the boys or their recent history to call this number and offer anything that might help the investigation. A phone number appears on the screen. The BARTENDER below, drying a glass, shakes his head and looks down at the door, which opens as a slew of HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS saunter in, laughing and cheering, jackets and jerseys flaunting their school colors. The bartender shakes his head again. BARTENDER You all got yer IDs? JOHN Yea, yea. BRUCE Hey man, its our graduation tomorrow, give us a break! The bartender shakes his head, puts the glass away. ALEX starts up the jukebox in the corner and dances over to a table where the students all inhale pitcher after pitcher of beer, cheering and high-fiving and laughing all the while. The clock winds its way from 8pm to 11pm. EXT. - BACK OF BAR - NIGHT JOHN, BRUCE, ALEX and TED whisper and giggle as they break open a loosely locked wooden door in the back of the bar, grab a six-pack and bolt off into the night.

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EXT. - DARK ROAD - NIGHT JOHN, BRUCE, ALEX and TED laugh and cheer and trot along down a dark road. TED Oh man, imagine that old man when he sees a pack gone! ALEX Yea thatd be awesome...wish I could see his face! They come upon-EXT. - GRAVEYARD - CONTINUOUS --and stop walking. BRUCE I dare one of you guys to stand on one of the graves with your eyes closed for five minutes. (pause, nobody volunteers) Ted, you do it! TED Aww man, I dont wannaALEX Yea, Ted, do it man! JOHN Ill tell Jessica youre a pansy if you dont! Ted grimaces, walks toward a tall grave in the middle of the graveyard. He climbs up the grave, the other guys following him and laughing, drinking their beers and stumbling across the other leaves and sticks and gravestones. Ted stans up on top of the grave, clutching the statue on top of it. BRUCE Dude, when I said stand on a grave I didnt mean the grave!

(CONTINUED)

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TED Wha-? ALEX Hah, oh man, you just climbed the Farsee grave! Youre gonna die now for sure! Oh shit! shit! TED Oh shit, oh shit, oh

JOHN Relax, pansy, its just an urban legend. Nobodys gonna eat you tonight. (pause) Or ever, for that matter. The guys laugh. ALEX Oh, BJ-snap! TED Haha, thats hilarious guys. Come on, let me do a different grave. BRUCE Sorry man, youre already on that one, the clocks ticking. Close your eyes and well get on with it. Ted slowly flutters his eyes closed. BRUCE Alright, now count from one to five hundred. TED One, two, three, fourBRUCE Slowly. TED Five ... six ... seven ...JOHN (smirking) Slower.

(CONTINUED)

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TED (sighs) Eight. Nine. Ten. Eleven. Twelve. Thirteen.

The guys quietly creep off into the night, far to the other side of the graveyard. They crash into other graves, sitting and laughing and chugging the last of the beers. Then its quiet. Completely quiet. John rustles a leaf and Alex jumps, startled. John shakes his head at him and looks around. The graveyard is empty. Slowly they each stand up, and turn back toward Ted and the tall grave stone, to be stopped by a haggard old woman, black cat in hand, stroking its fur. She looks up at them along a long, crooked, warted nose, and cackles into the night, her profile cutting out the moon. WITCH Youve trespassed. JOHN Uhh...what? WITCH This is my familys graveyard. (pause) Your friend is standing on my familys tombstone. The boys just stand there, motionless. Alexs pants darken as he wets them, lips tremble as he stares at the witch. JOHN Look, lady, we were just playing a prank on our buddy, but well get out of here if thats what you want. John takes a step to walk around the witch but her cat jumps out and envelops him in black, jumping off into the night as he lays on the ground, white and still, eyes wide, mist rising from his gaping mouth into the dark sky. The other boys stand motionless. WITCH Well, that was Rupert. Come and meet the rest of the family.

(CONTINUED)

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The boys legs begin to move against their wills. They just creep and step through the leaves, moving by themselves. The boys grab gravestones, but their feet are pulled forward nonetheless. Alex tries to scream but only mist comes out, floating up to the tree limbs above. Bruces face slowly turns white as they near the familys grave stone. Teds still counting. Otherwise the silence is deafening. TED Two hundred. Two hundred one. hundred two. Two hundred three. Two hundred four. Two

The witch mutters something to herself and the ground in front of the grave gives way to a tunnel entrance. Skeletons lay all around the floor, three wearing the school jackets from the newscast. Flies, startled, fly out of the tunnel entrance. Bruces face goes pure white, Alex tries to puke, but only blood dribbles down his chin. The witch reaches out with a claw and wipes it clean off, sticking it into her mouth and closing her eyes in ecstasy. The graves chipped letters begin to fix themselves. Alex whimpers and cries, mouths the word why? WITCH (whisper, angry) This is my familys graveyard. She grabs the two of them and throws them into the tunnel entrance, a glow bursts from the tunnel and she turns to the grave. The letters are fixed, the glossy stone shines, and the overgrowth falls dead to the ground. She looks up at Ted, eyes still closed, still counting. WITCH Oh look, dessert! TED (opens eyes) Wha-? The witch leaps up at him, engulfs him in black.

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THE END.