KILL LOOMIS: HALLOWEEN 3 CHAPTERS: 1. Sister 2. Like So Many Rats 3. The Blood-Splattered Shape 4. New Friends & Old Acquaintances 5. The Cruel Tutelage of Terrence Wynn 6. Old Maid Marion 7. Blind SUPERIMPOSE CAPTION OVER BLACK: "I met him, fifteen years ago. I was told there was nothing left. No reason, no conscience, no understanding; even the most rudimentary sense of life or death, good or evil, right or wrong. I met this six-year-old child, with this blind, pale, emotionless face, and the blackest eyes...THE DEVIL'S EYES." - Dr. Samuel Loomis CUT TO: XCU of the SHAPE - MICHAEL MYERS. Blood runs from the ruin of his eyes. The expression on his blank-slate of a Halloween mask is almost childlike, stubborn as a voice says softly: LOOMIS (O.C.) It's time, Michael. XCU of a cheap cigarette lighter birthing its tiny flame. The deafening roar of an EXPLOSION. Fire fills the screen. FADE TO BLACK. SUPERIMPOSE TITLE OVER BLACK: KILL LOOMIS HALLOWEEN 3 FADE TO: EXT. QUAINT SUBURBAN HOUSE - EVENING The sun is just beginning to dip below the rooftops of a picturesque sprawl of suburbia. We focus in on one unremarkable home in particular. As a Langdon police cruiser pulls into the driveway, SUPERIMPOSE TITLE: "1. Sister" LAURIE STRODE gets out of the cruiser, in uniform. She looks to be in her mid-20s and has developed into a beautiful and strong-willed woman. Laurie instinctively surveys the block before heading into the house. CUT TO: INT. LAURIE'S HOME - KITCHEN She tosses a fat keyring onto the counter with a CLANK! and opens the fridge, grabbing a bottled water. LAURIE Jimmy, you home? Receiving no response, she opens the bottle and chugs half of it down. Closing the fridge door causes Laurie to notice a list stuck to the door by a Daffy Duck magnet. She peruses the list. LAURIE (reading) "2 bottles Chateau Recougne from cellar." Oh, that's right, the Rosses are coming over tonight. Shit. She starts toward the cellar door on the other side of the kitchen. LAURIE I hope it has enough time to breathe- - She pulls open the door to find her husband JIMMY nailed to the other side with three oversized butcher knives. The bottle hits the floor. Laurie draws her sidearm and spins around. A half-second passes before grief strikes her, and she turns back to Jimmy, trying not to break down. LAURIE Oh, Jimmy...oh God, I'm so sorry. She knows who did this, and that he's still in the house - it almost seems that she's rehearsed this nightmare a million times in her mind. Laurie steps around the cellar door, toward the living room. CUT TO: INT. LIVING ROOM - CONTINUOUS Nothing out of place. That leaves Laurie with the choice of the front door, or the dark hallway leading deeper into the house. She chooses. CUT TO: INT. HALLWAY There are four doors to check. All closed. It's too dark, too cramped. Laurie is trembling as she eases open the first door in absolute silence. It's clear. (She breathes a heavy sigh of relief in this room.) The second, the third, in agonizing sequence, each one revealing nothing...leaving the fourth and final door. Laurie sucks in a deep breath and gets her nerve up. She prepares to blast her way into the room. Reaches for the doorknob... The front door CLATTERS, and we hear voices: MR. ROSS Jim? Laurie? MRS. ROSS The door was open, honey! Laurie spins. A butcher knife crosses her view, a hair away from her face, burying itself in the wall. The knife is in the hand of an unseen MAN whose arm now blocks her path. Laurie stifles a scream. LAURIE Um, Patty? Now isn't a good time. MR. ROSS (not intending for Laurie to hear) Uh-oh, I think we've interrupted something. MRS. ROSS Oh, Bill! (to Laurie) Everything all right? LAURIE Yes, j-just fine, please just go home and I'll give you a call! MRS. ROSS Did you want me to leave the casserole here? LAURIE Go the fuck away! Surprised mumbling. The front door slams. Laurie backpedals into the fourth door, aiming the gun, ready to squeeze off ten rounds. But she doesn't. She stares at the man in horrific shock, moreso than when she discovered her dead husband. The knife tears free of the wall. Laurie snaps out of it and fires. CUT TO: EXT. LIVING ROOM - CONTINUOUS A blurred Shape stumbles out of the hallway under the force of six shots. INT. HALLWAY Laurie advances as the man staggers out of sight. (We haven't gotten a clear look at him yet.) ANGLE ON LAURIE As she walks into the kitchen. LAURIE'S POV: The masked Shape stands before her in his ashen boiler suit. She hesitates to fire again, instead standing completely still. The Shape turns his head from side to side. He's trying to listen. He's BLIND. With new resolve, Laurie takes aim at his head. Then she puts a bullet in his kneecap. The Shape drops silently, clutching at his knee. His head shakes back and forth in a panic. Laurie makes a wiiiiiiiiide circle around him as she speaks. LAURIE I knew you'd make it here eventually, Michael. I didn't know you were blind - I guess that makes it all the more impressive. But trust me, I was already impressed. You made quite a fucking impression. I knew from the second they carted your smoking carcass off that the same burned-out husk of a man would stand before me again someday. She stops behind him, taking aim again, this time staying trained on his head. LAURIE (CONT'D) You're the poster child for overcoming adversity, Michael, you know it? You managed to trek across the entire state in that costume undetected, you managed to kill my husband - and he was a tough man, (voice struggling not to crack) and I know he put up one HELL of a fight against you. And now you've found me, and I have to say that I didn't think this moment would ever come as a surprise, but the fact that you don't have fucking eyes has just bowled me over. She cocks her head to one side and closes a tearful eye. LAURIE (CONT'D) Goodbye, brother. At the moment that Laurie fires, the Shape tilts his head in the same way, dodging the bullet and pivoting on his good knee to HURL the butcher knife through the air. It's driven to the hilt in Laurie's chest. She crashes against the wall, drops her piece. The Shape stands shakily. Laurie is sobbing freely now, now that she has failed - Jimmy will go unavenged. She slides down the wall into a sitting position and dies. GIRL (O.C.) Mommy? The Shape slowly turns, although he can't see tiny four-year old JAMIE, fresh from a nap, rubbing her eyes and looking at Laurie. JAMIE Is Mommy sleeping? She stares up at Laurie's killer nervously, hoping that he's supposed to be here, that he knows what's wrong with Mommy. The Shape hobbles past her and pushes through the front door. CUT TO: EXT. ALLEYWAY - NIGHT SLOW ZOOM on a Dumpster as it's spattered with rain. Move behind the Dumpster to reveal the Shape slumped there, his head resting against a brick wall. DOCTOR (V.O.) He won't wake up. MARION (V.O.) You can't guarantee that. DOCTOR (V.O.) No one can. CUT TO: INT. FEDERAL HOSPITAL - CORRIDOR The stern-faced doctor, name tag reading HOFFMAN, addresses a woman in her thirties, MARION CHAMBERS, who bears a file with "Smith's Grove Sanatarium" stamped on it. SUPERIMPOSE CAPTION: "5 ½ Years Earlier" Marion hefts the thick file in her hands and purses her lips. The doctor sighs. HOFFMAN There's no need for you to see him. MARION Yes there is. Closure. HOFFMAN Nurse Chambers, I'm a psychologist and I will tell you right now that looking at Myers on life support isn't going to erase the memory of that night. MARION Well, Doctor Hoffman, I'm a survivor and I will tell you right now that my sanity hinges on seeing for myself that he is lying in a coma behind an inch of reinforced steel. HOFFMAN (sighs) All right. Just give me his file. MARION After I've seen him. Hoffman snaps his fingers at a rotund security GUARD leaning against a windowsill. HOFFMAN You! Let's get this over with. CUT TO: INT. ELEVATOR The guard inserts a key into the control panel and presses the B1 button. He and Marion, alone in the elevator, exchange uneasy glances. GUARD I can't understand why the hell anybody would wanna go down there. MARION It's between me and Jesus, guard. GUARD Jesus ain't got nothing to do with this place. CUT TO: INT. BASEMENT CORRIDOR They step off the elevator. A grizzled old guard rises to admit them into the maximum-security ward. It's a damp concrete corridor culminating in what might be the thickest, most impenetrable-looking monstrosity of a door in recorded history. The guard slides a keycard into a card reader beside the door. A heavy clank, and he's able to open it. GUARD Lemme know when you're ready. MARION Sure. She heads past him and into MYERS'S ROOM Where a body swathed in bandages lies hooked up to a dozen life-support machines. Marion waits for the door to close, then sets the file on Myers's chest. She opens it, freeing a syringe of green fluid that's been Scotch-taped to the inside of the folder. The nurse disconnects one of Myers's IVs and prepares to insert the syringe into the tube. She pauses to glare at the bandaged face. MARION This is closure. XCU on Myers's exposed hand. It clenches into a fist, grabbing the edge of her coat. Marion lets out a small cry and drops the syringe. It SHATTERS under the bed. She wrenches her coat from Myers's grip. MARION Guard! Guard!! The heavy clank again, and he pulls the door open as fast as he can. GUARD Y-yeah? MARION I'm ready to go. Myers's hand relaxes. She stares at the "comatose" patient in horror, backs herself out of the room. CUT TO: EXT. FEDERAL HOSPITAL - NIGHT Marion hurries from the hospital. Both fear and shame are on her contorted face. FADE OUT. FADE IN: EXT. ALLEYWAY - MORNING CU on a rustling pile of garbage: McDonald's wrappers, newspaper, etc. SUPERIMPOSE TITLE: "2. Like So Many Rats" With that, one hell of a rodent crawls out of the refuse. He's an old veteran of the alley, a dragging belly and thick haunches telling us that this vermin eats well and often. A butcher knife pierces the rat cleanly through the back. It lets out a defiant squeak and expires. Moments later, the rat's remains splatter on a recent newspaper's front page, reading "October 29, 1984". The headline: MYERS MANHUNT CONTINUES. CUT TO: INT. FEDERAL HOSPITAL - HOFFMAN'S OFFICE The doctor pulls a report from his typewriter, dated 10-15 84, and places it atop the stack of papers in the Myers file. SUPERIMPOSE CAPTION: "Two Weeks Earlier." Hoffman takes a sip from his coffee mug. It's too hot. He spills a bit on his tie and groans. CUT TO: INT. CORRIDOR Hoffman taps the shoulder of the same guard, a little rounder and nearly asleep as he leans against the wall. GUARD W-wha?...Oh, Doctor. HOFFMAN It's time. GUARD (not at all happy) You mean time to unplug the spook? HOFFMAN He's no more of a threat than you are. Soon he'll be even less. The guard scowls and leads Hoffman down the hall. GUARD You know, I had an invalid great aunt. Well, not invalid exactly. She was schizophrenic. HOFFMAN You don't say, schizophrenia in your genetic lineage. GUARD That ain't the point. She lived with us for the last seven years of her life. Well, not lived, exactly. Was always doped up on something-or other, I think my ma paid the doc extra to keep her that way. Anyway I had to go up there once in a while, to her room. That's where we kept the linens, you know? So most of the time she was all doped out of her mind and didn't even know I was alive. (beat) But once in a while...just outta nowhere...you'd think she was asleep and she'd grab your arm or something, start talking gibberish. I tell ya Doc, I was twelve years old and that scared the shit outta me. They reach the elevator. Hoffman jabs at the call button. GUARD (CONT'D) Point is, I woulda rather gone in there knowing that the old woman was wide awake and stark raving mad, rather than having to tip-toe past her, just waiting for that hand to grab me. That Myers...same thing, ya know? Hoffman honors the guard's attempt at profundity with a thin smile and boards the elevator. HOFFMAN Let's not keep him waiting. CUT TO: INT. MYERS'S ROOM Hoffman and the guard enter, sealing the thick door behind them and standing at the foot of Myers's bed. Little has changed in the past 5 ½ years, aside from miles of gauze. Checking Myers's chart, Hoffman nods in satisfaction. HOFFMAN Say goodbye to Ridgemont's favorite son. GUARD Can't believe we're just sending this guy out in his sleep. HOFFMAN Well, were you judge, jury and executioner, Louis, things might be a little different. But the state and I both believe that garbage deserves as swift and unceremonious an exit as possible. (beat) Besides, I want to get this done before Loomis shows up. Begin a SLOW ZOOM on the mummy-like face of the patient. HOFFMAN (CONT'D) (O.C.) He'd resuscitate Michael Myers just to watch him die again and again, poor old bastard. Apparently unnoticed by either man - Michael Myers's eyes OPEN. Or rather, his eye cavities, empty and black. We PLUNGE INTO THIS BLACKNESS. HOFFMAN (V.O.) Loomis...Loomis...Loomis... FADE IN: SHAPE'S POV Looking up through half-slits at four individuals standing under a cloudy sky. The entire scene is TINTED RED. One person is Laurie Strode. One is Marion Chambers. One is an older, weary-looking man in a sheriff's uniform. The last is a younger deputy with thick black hair. The sheriff apparent aims a pistol directly at our POV. GUNSHOT. CUT TO: INT. MYERS'S ROOM The gunshot rips across the soundtrack again as the Shape sits up, grabbing Hoffman's wrist just as the man was reaching to turn off the machinery. HOFFMAN My God! The guard freezes. Hoffman looks back, wincing in pain. HOFFMAN LOUIS!! He looks back, into the hollows of Myers's eyes. The Shape's other hand claims Hoffman's face - two fingers digging into his eye sockets, the other three tearing into his cheeks. The guard fumbles for his gun. It drops. He wails and falls to his knees, sweeping across the shadows. Under the bed. UNDER THE BED! The guard shoves his arm beneath it, screaming through his teeth. An IV pole SKEWERS him to the floor. Louis lets out a dying squeal. CUT TO BLACK We are now experiencing the Shape's BLIND POV. We hear a few tortured gasps as Louis gives up the ghost. The bed creaks as the Shape leans on it - then there's a shuffle of feet and a crash. He's tripped over the corpse. Hands pawing at the wall now. Finding a different surface. THUD. THUD. It's the steel door. RETURN TO OUTSIDE POV as the Shape feels across the door for some sort of handle. There's one. It doesn't do a damn thing. He turns as if searching the room for help. Crawling back to the guard's body, he grabs at the back of Louis's shirt, his pants. There's a belt. Keys. XCU of key after key striking the door. As if somehow a keyhole will open beneath one of them. It's utterly futile. The Shape drops the keyring and locates Louis again. Crawls over him and around the bed to where Hoffman lies, his face a pulpy mess. He runs his hands over the doctor's waist. Finding no keys, the Shape rises and grabs an EKG monitor for support. He throws it to the floor with a CRASH. Whirls around, collides with the bed. Overturns it. Flailing his arms in a rage, he strikes the IV pole that's currently embedded in Louis's back. He rips it free. A bloody keycard is pinned to the end of the pole. The Shape feels it curiously. CUT TO: INT. ELEVATOR Entering, the Shape finds the buttons and starts pressing them. Each press elicits a loud buzz. WRONG, TRY AGAIN. He starts stabbing the keycard into the panel. No dice. His fingertips identify the keyhole that allows access to and from the sub-basement. The Shape turns and heads back to his room. MOMENTS LATER He re-enters and starts trying Louis's keys. CUT TO: INT. CORRIDOR The Shape's shambling along the wall now. It's deathly quiet, low light creeping through the enormous windows all down the hall. CUT TO: INT. ANOTHER CORRIDOR A young guard is patrolling the hall (likely the administrative offices, from the looks of it) when he stops at a door marked GARAGE. The bloody keycard is stuck in the reader. CUT TO: INT. PARKING GARAGE - BOTTOM LEVEL The Shape is slumped against a Jetta, trying Louis's keys. Bringing the cars in the B.G. into focus reveals a red smear on each one's door. He's been trying every key in every lock. A garbled shout causes the Shape to freeze. Just as a key slides into the Jetta's lock. TWO GUARDS Enter the garage quietly, guns drawn. One is the young man, the other a middle-aged woman. MALE GUARD We oughta wait for the cops. FEMALE GUARD You think Myers is gonna wait? MALE GUARD He can't see. FEMALE GUARD Well, he sure as shit saw his way out of the hospital. They hear the KA-CHONK of a car door being closed. FEMALE GUARD All right, whoever's in here, step into view now! They advance between two aisles of vehicles. The silence is nerve-wracking. The red Jetta starts to the right of the male guard. Before he can think of how to react, it backs into him, SMASHING him up against the rear of a van. The female guard hits the floor on the driver's side of the Jetta and starts firing. It peels around her and tears down the aisle, glances off of a concrete pillar, crashes into the far wall. The Jetta reverses, swerves left and moves with trepidation up a ramp. CUT TO: EXT. FEDERAL HOSPITAL - EVENING State Troopers are assembled around the guard shack that sits in the garage entrance. They listen to the intermittent screeching brakes and light crashes. TROOPER SERGEANT Let's move in. CUT TO: INT. PARKING GARAGE - TOP LEVEL The Jetta is smoking with its front wedged between two parked cars. A trooper lackey sneaks up to get a better view. TROOPER He's gone! CUT TO: EXT. WOODS - EVENING The Shape is stumbling down a hillside dense with foliage. Gravity's pulling him faster than his atrophied legs will allow. He crashes dead-on into a tree and rolls the rest of the way down... EXT. LOST RIVER - EVENING ...emerging from the trees and going into the rushing water with a splash. FADE TO: EXT. LOST RIVER - NIGHT The Shape is floating on his back. With his eyes, we can't tell if he's still unconscious. Bandages have begun to peel away from his arms and head, trailing after him like streamers. He's stopped by an outcropping of mossy rock. A branch comes into frame, prodding at him. WIDE - it's being held by a wizened old HERMIT, dressed in filthy jeans, a weathered dress shirt and a cap. He starts tugging at the Shape with the stick. CUT TO: INT. HERMIT SHACK Huffing and puffing like his heart's about to give out, the hermit gets the Shape onto a big table. The ramshackle home is packed with old knick-knacks and junk. Shoveling piles of crap aside, the hermit pulls a rag from a sink full of brown water and mops at the Shape's forehead. HERMIT I ain't no doctor, friend, but somebody worked you over reeeeeeal good. He pulls up a rusty folding chair beside the table and sifts through a paper bag. Producing a couple of mismatched glass eyes, he waves them at the Shape. HERMIT Don't s'pose I could interest you in these?...Meh. He pockets the eyes and shakes the Shape. HERMIT You awake son? At least you're still breathing, thank God for that. A squawk from above announces the brightly-colored PARROT that lights on the hermit's shoulder. PARROT Dead man! SQUAWK! HERMIT Hush up now! He ain't dead. He finds a can of beer somewhere and cracks it open. HERMIT Hard to tell though, ain't it Billy? The parrot hops down to the hermit's leg and onto the table, looking quizzically at the Shape. HERMIT Them eyes...or where they was, I s'pose. Some song said eyes are the windows to the soul. Hell, I guess a lot of songs say that. Didn't believe it til now. (takes a long drink) You think his soul's still in there, Billy? The parrot climbs onto the Shape's chest as if to investigate. HERMIT (CONT'D) Maybe it got out, maybe them eyes were like two corks holding it in there. That's a thought, ain't it? (takes another drink) Or maybe you just can't see it no more, now that the windows are gone. It might could still see you, though. Billy the parrot dips his beak into one of the sockets. HERMIT Billy!! He hurls the can, causing the parrot to take off. HERMIT There goes a perfectly good beer, damned beast! The hermit leans forward to examine the scar tissue covering the Shape's hand and wrist. HERMIT Maybe I ought to take a look under there, make sure everything's in its place. He gingerly begins removing the bandages from the Shape's throat and face. It remains unseen but the old man's reaction says it all. HERMIT Worked you over worse'n I thought. He picks up the wet rag again and starts cleaning the face. FADE OUT. FADE IN: EXT. HERMIT SHACK - DAY We can now see that the hermit has several tables outside piled high with junk; it looks as if he sells it to make a living. The front of a police cruiser pulls into the F.G. CUT TO: INT. HERMIT SHACK Some days have passed. We see that the Shape is now wearing the boiler suit. His face is hidden by the hermit, who glances worriedly out the window. HERMIT Like I didn't have enough shit in my yard already. CUT TO: EXT. HERMIT SHACK - DAY He walks outside to speak to the unseen policeman. HERMIT Why, Sheriff Meeker! CUT TO: INT. HERMIT SHACK XCU on the Shape's hand. It closes into a tight FIST. CUT TO: EXT. HERMIT SHACK - DAY HERMIT (CONT'D) What have I done to deserve the pleasure of your company? PAN AROUND to reveal the black-haired deputy who was standing over the Shape in his flashback. This is BEN MEEKER, the current sheriff. MEEKER Nothing, yet. He looks with disdain over the hermit's wares. MEEKER You ever manage to pawn any of this trash off on anyone? HERMIT Everything has value to someone, I reckon. MEEKER Well, I "reckon" that when I look at this pile of scrap metal you call a home, I see a few thousand dollars in fines. HERMIT Now, Sheriff, I don't hurt nobody way out here. MEEKER An eyesore's an eyesore, old timer. Take a piece of shit and put it in a shit lineup, don't look no better compared to the rest. Meeker picks up a broken alarm clock and shakes it. MEEKER (CONT'D) State police are looking for an escaped mental patient. HERMIT I think I've heard this joke before. The sheriff tosses the clock to the ground. MEEKER This isn't a joke. Ever heard of Michael Myers? HERMIT Can't say that I have. But he's already starting to put the pieces together in his mind. MEEKER He killed thirteen people on Halloween night six years ago, right here in Haddonfield. They locked him up, and now he's out. Thing about it is, he couldn't have gotten too far because he doesn't have any damn eyes. The hermit swallows a breath and nods. MEEKER (CONT'D) Helpless old man living in squalor out here would be the perfect target for this maniac. CUT TO: INT. HERMIT SHACK The Shape is UP. He plays his hands over a shelf, stopping on a pile of old knives. CUT TO: EXT. HERMIT SHACK - DAY HERMIT I can take care of myself just fine, Sheriff. MEEKER This isn't the place to be right now. Considering that you don't even have the right to be out here... The hermit sighs. HERMIT I'll be back. He goes into the shack. CUT TO: INT. HERMIT SHACK The first thing he notices is that the Shape is gone. Biting his lip nervously, the hermit pulls an old jar out from under some debris and fishes out several twenty-dollar bills. CUT TO: EXT. HERMIT SHACK - DAY The money passes into Meeker's hand. He smiles and pockets it. MEEKER Pleasure doing business with you, old timer. HERMIT I wish I could say the same. MEEKER Watch yourself. He stabs a finger in the hermit's face, then walks back to his car. MEEKER By the way, have you got a phone? HERMIT Course not. Why? MEEKER If you see Myers, then, you'd better get on the hotline to God, because we won't be able to help you. He shrugs and gets into the Haddonfield cruiser. The hermit watches him drive off down the dirt road. HERMIT Little twat. He turns. The Shape is RIGHT THERE, knife in hand, face out of view. HERMIT Wha- -! You scared the bejeezus out of me, son! (looks at knife) Why, I'm fine, don't you worry about that gentleman. He just enforces the law in this bang-up community of ours. The Shape is nonresponsive. The hermit frowns. HERMIT So your name's Michael, is it? Well listen, I don't really know what you did - I'll see damned if I take Ben Meeker's word for it - all I know is that there's no way you could hurt anyone now. He sidesteps the Shape and goes inside. Michael Myers turns to face the road in the direction that Meeker's car went. CUT TO: EXT. RED'S SALOON - NIGHT A small establishment off of Highway 31. A cantankerous old truck rumbles into the parking lot, and the hermit gets out. CUT TO: INT. RED'S He takes a seat at the corner of the bar, dropping a twenty, and the woman tending places a shot of J.D. in front of him. He's a regular. A burly old redneck, EARL, takes the stool next to the hermit. EARL Haven't seen ya out here in a while. HERMIT Been steering clear of Meeker. EARL Eh, he's got plenty on his hands right now. HERMIT He was out at my place today. EARL No shit? HERMIT Looking for some guy named Myers. EARL Sure, that's what his hands are so full with. I'm surprised he made the drive out to talk with you though, Pete. HERMIT (bitterly) I'm always worth it. He downs the shot and it's refilled immediately. This is an old routine. EARL I guess he's got reason to be extra nervous. HERMIT This Myers, he really killed thirteen people? EARL Sure. He was after his sister. Wait, you never heard this story? HERMIT I don't follow the news, Earl. EARL Well, Myers killed his first sister back in sixty-three. He was six years old. Then he escaped from the loony bin, a lot like he did last week, and went after his other sister. They had to set him on fire to stop him. HERMIT ...Did he have a good reason for it? EARL (laughs) Aw, hell no Pete, the guy was just crackers. Anyway, speaking of reasons, I was saying Meeker's got reason to be extra-nervous. You know why? HERMIT Why? EARL Well, they say... CUT TO: EXT. HADDONFIELD MEMORIAL HOSPITAL (1978) Earl's voice plays over the scene of a smoky exterior. We're behind the hospital, away from the crowds, and police are accompanying a gurney as EMTs wheel it from the fire-gutted building. EARL (V.O.) ...that on the morning after Halloween, when they took Myers's body out of the fire, they never planned to put him up in no nuthouse ever again. The 1978 sheriff, LEIGH BRACKETT, looks on grief-stricken as Michael Myers is carted out. EARL (V.O.) Myers's doctor, the guy who blew him up, almost got killed too. But he was still alive and kickin', and he had some words with ol' Sheriff Brackett. The slightly-younger (Deputy) Meeker touches Brackett's arm and leads him away from the gurney. CUT TO Brackett and Meeker standing at the back of an ambulance, listening to someone inside. EARL (V.O.) See, the night before, Myers killed Brackett's daughter Annie. Like he was practicing 'fore he went after his sister or something. Anyway, this doctor, Loomis, he tells Brackett and Meeker to kill Myers right then and there. Now the sheriff and his deputy are standing alone in the smoky parking lot, over the gurney holding Myers. The Shape is under a blanket. Meeker starts to reach for it and Brackett stops him. They both look up, and we PAN ACROSS the body to reveal Laurie Strode on the other side, a blanket over his shoulder, her visage tortured, tear-streaked. Angry. EARL (V.O.) So Michael's sister, and Brackett and Meeker, and some nurse from the loony bin- - Marion Chambers approaches the gurney. Brackett unholsters his gun. EARL (V.O.) - -They each put a bullet in Myers. CUT TO: INT. RED'S With the sound of GUNSHOTS we return to Earl and the hermit. HERMIT And he didn't die? Horseshit. EARL Well, that's what they say. I dunno, but Meeker's been on edge ever since Myers escaped. The hermit nods thoughtfully and swallows another shot. HERMIT So this character's been a real thorn in Meeker's side. EARL Oooooh yeah. He turns his attention to his beer. The hermit is hatching a plan in his slightly-intoxicated mind. CUT TO: INT. HERMIT SHACK The Shape is sitting on the table. Billy the parrot screeches at him from atop a nearby shelf. PARROT Dead man! Dead man! The Shape has been holding onto the butcher knife all day. He slowly rises and swipes upward. Not even close. PARROT SQUAWK! Dead man! He swipes again. The parrot is more than safe, but it flies to another shelf. PARROT Dead man! The Shape turns toward the sound and throws the knife. The hermit walks in with an armload of newspapers. HERMIT Hope you kept yerself entertained while I was out. Didn't mean to be gone quite so long. He drops the newspapers on a table and sits down. HERMIT Hi Billy! There's no answer. The hermit shrugs and picks up the first paper. The Shape walks forward. We see Billy nailed to the ceiling overhead. The newspaper is an old edition reporting on the Halloween murders. The hermit taps an artist's conception of the Shape. HERMIT Snatched these from the library. They say you wore this mask. Oh hell, excuse my manners, you can't even see this. With some pride, the hermit unfolds the other papers. A new SHAPE MASK lies between them. HERMIT I think this is the one. He nudges the Shape's hand with the mask. Taking it, the Shape feels its surface, the hair, the eyeholes, the face without contours or expression. He PULLS IT ON. The hermit adjusts the mask slightly and steps back. HERMIT That's creepy. Walking over to the shelf with the assortment of knives, the hermit pulls out the longest, biggest ones, a dozen in all, and lays them out on the newspaper. HERMIT You knew it was Ben Meeker the other day, didn't ya? You knew that voice of his. (beat) He's the only one still in Haddonfield. The others, I don't have the foggiest clue where they are. But he might. CUT TO: A MONTAGE of scenes from the activities of the Haddonfield Police Department. HERMIT (V.O.) Meeker's cops are dirty, every single one of 'em. We see a deputy harassing a couple of teens on a street corner. He takes a baggie of marijuana from one and a wad of bills from the other. HERMIT (V.O.) (CONT'D) That town is theirs. I can get you in, son, but after that, you're on your own. Outside a house, one deputy pins a black man to the hood of his car. Inside the house, a few deputies file out of a bedroom. A sobbing black woman curls into a ball on the bed. HERMIT (V.O.) (CONT'D) Just promise me that you'll kill that son of a bitch Meeker. Promise me you'll cut his fucking head off. BLACK AND WHITE Shot of the hermit cowering under Meeker. A nightstick comes down again, and again, and again. MEEKER You're a dead man! A dead man! CUT TO: INT. HERMIT SHACK HERMIT It was back before he was sheriff. Back before he plugged you. Every time I close my eyes I see it, though. Can't imagine what it must be like to have your eyes closed all the time. A BEAT passes and he steps back, helping the Shape over to the table with the bounty of killing tools. HERMIT I'll warm up the truck. He leaves the Shape with the knives. Grimy fingers trace the edge of each blade. Then he starts gathering them up. All of them. CUT TO: EXT. HADDONFIELD POLICE STATION - NIGHT The truck pulls up to a large two-story building. A lot of money has gone into this department, money that probably should've been going someplace else. INT. TRUCK - CONTINUOUS The hermit turns to the Shape. HERMIT Somehow I know you can do this. Beats me as to how, I've been spoon feeding you for a week. The hermit shrugs. The Shape opens his door and gets out. CUT TO: INT. POLICE STATION - BOOKING ROOM A few deputies are laughing loudly over a half-eaten pizza. Sheriff Meeker walks in, hitching up his belt. MEEKER What's the joke, fellas? DEPUTY 1 I pulled over Steve Mackie's girl for speeding, what's her name? DEPUTY 2 Darcy. DEPUTY 1 Right. I swear she must've wet herself when she saw who it was getting outta that squad car. DEPUTY 2 How wet was she? DEPUTY 1 She has got to be the hottest little piece of ass I've- - MEEKER Hey. DEPUTY 1 No Ben, this was out on Old Reservoir. No one was around. MEEKER I said HEY. Does this sound like a smart goddamned topic of conversation to you? DEPUTY 1 I'm sorry, do you know someone who HASN'T fucked...um... DEPUTY 2 Darcy. DEPUTY 1 ...Darcy? MEEKER Doesn't matter. Lemme ask you something. You think you can do whatever you want in this town and talk about it? DEPUTY 1 I-I don't know. MEEKER You step outside and walk 15 miles that way (POINTS). You're not in Haddonfield anymore. You're nothing. DEPUTY 1 Sooooorry Ben. What's with you lately? MEEKER We're still cops, Ziggy! And that maniac Michael Myers is out there somewhere! DEPUTY 2 Hell Ziggy, Ben's right. DEPUTY 1 Oh, of COURSE he's right. You think I didn't write the bitch a ticket afterwards? MEEKER This is serious. You can't write Michael Myers a fucking ticket. DEPUTY 1 Look, this guy is decomposing in the woods somewhere. I can still ticket him for loitering. The third deputy stifles a laugh. Meeker scowls and walks out. The other deputies giggle. CUT TO: INT. LOBBY The lobby is an enormous, well-lit room with rows of desks in the back, all overlooked by a balcony running around the second floor (accessed by a spiral staircase). Meeker shuts off a computer monitor and scans the rest of the desks for any running equipment. He looks toward the front doors. The Shape stands just inside the doors, looking right back at him. Meeker's hand flies to his gun. He stops, relaxes and yells: MEEKER Ziggy! Parker! Metcalf! The three deputies walk out from the back. DEPUTY 1 Holy Christ. MEEKER Run down to dispatch and radio every car. Call 'em in. DEPUTY 1 Huh? MEEKER DO IT. Ziggy nudges the deputy beside him, who runs off. Meeker draws his pistol and trains it on the Shape. MEEKER Same mask and everything. You've been a busy boy, haven't you? He slowly navigates between the desks. The Shape follows his footsteps. MEEKER (CONT'D) You're not taking down two sheriffs in this town, Myers. You're my golden goose. Ziggy and the other deputy exchange glances. MEEKER (CONT'D) Leigh surrendered himself to the memory of you. Can you believe he actually felt guilty over what we did? After you slit his daughter's throat? Some would call that moral character, I call it baggage. Well, I've unloaded the baggage and things have been running smoothly ever since. (beat) Your death may do more good for me than every single cent I've squeezed from Haddonfield. Because despite everything I've done, every ounce of fear I've put in those streets - they still talk about you in whispers down at Al's. They still fear YOU more. You're legend. Doors begin opening upstairs. Cops who came in through the back are filing out across the balcony, flanking the Shape. At least twenty. The Shape cocks his head at the sound. Meeker smiles and takes precise aim. MEEKER This is where your legend ends and mine begins. Sayonara. He FIRES. The single shot echoes through the lobby as the Shape pitches back, crashing against the front doors. They hold firm, securely locked and the glass bulletproof. MEEKER Take 'im!! Every deputy opens fire. The Shape bounces off the doors like a ragdoll. Each time the impact against the door throws him forward, the impact of a bullet or two sends him reeling back. His feet nearly lift off the ground as he's pounded mercilessly. The deputy who called the cars in shows up next to Meeker with a pump shotgun. The sheriff takes it with relish. Not one shot has struck Myers's head, but his body is being liberally filled with hot lead, and he's starting to buckle. He falls to his knees. Meeker lets loose with a blast from the shotgun. Despite the barrage of bullets, the impact from the blast is distinct, the Shape's arm folding back in a shower of red. He slumps against the glass. Meeker raises a hand, and the firing squad ceases. The Shape is broken in a thousand places. Meeker grins and hefts the shotgun over his shoulder. He wants to take a moment and appreciate the picture of Michael Myers lying in a bloody pile on the floor. MEEKER Reload. Clips begin emerging from guns. A series of clicks. The Shape lifts his head and marks each one. MEEKER (impressed at the Shape's resilience) Son of a bitch. He pumps the shotgun. The Shape jerks his head toward Meeker and hurls a butcher knife. It sinks into Meeker's collarbone. He flies back, discharging the gun skyward. PANIC. The deputies each struggle to load a new magazine. The Shape gets back on his knees and looks upward, throws. The first deputy on the balcony is struck between the eyes. He folds over the railing and drops. The other deputies begin shouting madly. A few manage to reload and open fire. They're too shaken to land a hit. The Shape stands up as deputies start down the staircase, others retreating into the upstairs rooms. He produces a blade in each hand. A deputy attacks from the right. The Shape dodges the butt of the man's pistol and slams a knife into his stomach. He hurls the deputy into the glass in order to slash the throat of the one behind him. Blood sprays everyone within range. Another attacks the Shape, and another. He crosses his arms to deliver death to both simultaneously, tossing them out into the lobby. A bullet tears away a chunk of Myers's shoulder. He hurls a knife. It flies through the smoke of the bullet's discharge and into the eyeball of the shooter. Meeker claws his way into a standing position, trying to aim the shotgun with one good arm. Ziggy leaps onto a desk and aims. Another deputy steps into the shot at the wrong time. His brains spatter the glass. As the Shape drives two knives into one man's chest, others descend on him from the rear, battering his head and back with their guns. The Shape hurls them all off, sending several sliding across the tile. A gun clicks. Empty. The Shape throws toward the sound and is rewarded with a high-pitched scream. He starts forward. In Meeker's direction. Meeker drops the shotgun and runs. Ziggy scoops it up and blows the Shape back ten feet into the doors. Myers gets back on his feet by burying a knife in the cheek of an unfortunate deputy. He pulls another knife from the boiler suit and swings wide, passing one deputy and striking the heart of another. PAN BACK to the first deputy. His head slides from his shoulders. The dozen remaining deputies fall back and fire again. The Shape tries to swat away the bullets but finds himself staggering back. He starts pulling knives and throwing them after each impact. One, two, three, four cops go down. The rest scatter among the desks. Ziggy presses a finger to his lips. They watch as the Shape shuffles forward, turning from side to side. He's heading for Ziggy now, for the yawning maw of the shotgun. He's mere feet away. The deputy prepares to take Myers's head off. The Shape's shoe strikes a bullet casing, and it rolls across the floor. Stops against Ziggy's boot. Ziggy looks down for a split second. Back up just in time for a blade to carve a cruel diagonal across his face. The other cops leap up. The Shape throws two knives at once, both find purchase. The remaining four deputies don't move one fucking eyelash. WIDE - The Shape continues into the back unhindered. CUT TO: INT. BOOKING ROOM The Shape steps through the door into a room that appears empty. Meeker ERUPTS from behind the door, throwing a pair of irons around the Shape's throat, throttling him. They stumble in tandem across the room, knocking everything from every surface, Meeker being slammed against the wall, the bloodied Shape swaying as his windpipe is crushed. The Shape is trying to get his fingers under the chains around his neck. He can barely pry his fingertips beneath them. Meeker grins sadistically. Suddenly, he's thrown over Myers and into the wall. The sheriff crashes to the floor. He grasps his stab wound and moans. The Shape steps around the fingerprinting station. Meeker goes for his gun; it's gone. MEEKER Fuck you Myers!! He gets up, pointing at the Shape as if trying to threaten him. The killer has the chains in his hands. MEEKER What do you want? WHAT? I'll give you Laurie Strode! I'll give her to you!! The Shape continues forward at his terrifyingly slow pace. Meeker wracks his brain for information. MEEKER (CONT'D) Uh...uh...she lives in Langdon! Langdon, you can get there by the highway! Hell, follow the river...She's a cop! Address, I know her address! 318 Sycamore! Do you HEAR ME, Myers?! The chains snap out, punching a BIG hole in his forehead. MEEKER Oh. He goes down. The chain clatters on the floor. FADE OUT. SUPERIMPOSE TITLE OVER BLACK: "3. The Blood-Splattered Shape" FADE IN: EXT. HADDONFIELD MEMORIAL HOSPITAL (1978) A gray and bleak afternoon in Haddonfield. Sheriff Leigh Brackett watches smoke rise from the husk of the hospital to join the clouds. BRACKETT Annie. He's startled by a hand on his shoulder - Ben Meeker. MEEKER He's alive. BRACKETT Dear God. The gurney comes through the haze: Michael Myers. As it passes by the sheriff, he speaks up. BRACKETT Hold it a second. Despite Myers's condition, the EMTs and other deputies back off respectfully. MEEKER What do you want to do? BRACKETT What do you mean? Marion Chambers carefully approaches Brackett. MARION Sheriff Brackett? Is this...him? BRACKETT Yes. MARION Doctor Loomis is conscious. He'd like to speak with you. BRACKETT Conscious? How in the hell... MARION They're shooting him full of painkillers, he'll be out again any minute. Sheriff? CUT TO: INT. AMBULANCE The doors open, and Brackett & Meeker look inside with twin grimaces. All that we see of Loomis is a bandaged hand gesturing toward them. LOOMIS (O.C.) Sheriff...Myers is still alive. BRACKETT He is. LOOMIS (O.C.) Please. Meeker looks knowingly at Brackett, who shakes his head emphatically. BRACKETT No. NO. LOOMIS (O.C.) Sheriff, your daughter- - BRACKETT Don't you mention Annie. Don't you EVER mention her ever again. How DARE you use her to try and make me... (he can't bring himself to say it) You've done enough here, Doctor. LOOMIS (O.C.) He waited. He'll wait again. BRACKETT He's got third-degree burns over his entire body! Been shot at least a dozen times! LOOMIS (O.C.) He sat in a chair in the corner of a room at Smith's Grove for fifteen years- - BRACKETT I've heard your spiel, Loomis. He says the doctor's name with utter contempt. Loomis goes on, his voice raising over the sheriff's. LOOMIS (O.C.) He sat there and waited, conserved his strength, developed his senses...I believe that Michael Myers only needs to be breathing in order to kill again. And he will kill again, Sheriff. BRACKETT What do you suggest that I do, go put a bullet in his head right now? LOOMIS (O.C.) Not one. BRACKETT I won't. I WON'T, do you hear me?! Meeker catches Brackett's arm to stop him before he goes into the ambulance. MEEKER Let's go, Leigh. EXT. HADDONFIELD MEMORIAL HOSPITAL - CONTINUOUS He leads the sheriff away, speaking softly. MEEKER Look, I know that he let the guy out, but he must know what he's talking about. He was right about everything else. BRACKETT Well, Ben, he's not right about this. You have to see that. MEEKER All I see is that sheet rising and falling. He's ALIVE, Leigh. He burned in there for God knows how long and he's alive. They've reached the gurney. Brackett can't believe what he's starting to think. MEEKER Look. He reaches for the sheet. Brackett stops him. BRACKETT I won't do this for Annie. MEEKER Then do it for yourself. They look up to see Laurie Strode on the other side of Myers. BRACKETT Laurie, honey, there's an ambulance for you, they're going to take you to County. LAURIE Is this...? BRACKETT Yes, it is. You need to go. LAURIE Can I see? BRACKETT Laurie, he's not dead. LAURIE Nurse Chambers told me he's my brother. My brother wanted to kill me? She's beginning to tear up. Brackett can't turn her away with a clear conscience. LAURIE (CONT'D) Is he going to try and kill me again? BRACKETT I-I don't know. MEEKER Leigh. Marion Chambers is behind the cops now. Brackett draws his revolver and sighs heavily. MEEKER I'll do it. BRACKETT No. No, we all do it. (to Laurie) Please go. LAURIE I need to know. He nods sadly, reaches off-camera and pulls the sheet back. MEEKER Jeeezus. Brackett aims downward and closes his eyes. They all jolt as the gun goes off. And we CUT TO BLACK Hearing a second shot. A third, and finally a fourth. CUT TO: EXT. TRAILER - DAY SUPERIMPOSE TITLE: "4. New Friends & Old Acquaintances" Sheriff Leigh Brackett (Ret.) is a wreck. Sitting on the steps of his trailer home atop a wooded hill, he pours half a can of Bud Light into a dirty glass, then tops it off with vodka. He tilts the nauseating drink toward his lips and chugs it all down. Brackett picks up the morning paper to re-read the headline. LAURIE STRODE SLAIN. An old station wagon pulls into the excuse for a yard, and someone gets out. TRACK the two feet and one cane advancing toward Brackett. BRACKETT Well, all our hard work paid off, didn't it? He laughs bitterly and pours another drink. LOOMIS (O.C.) He isn't finished. BRACKETT The fuck he isn't finished. He got Laurie. He went through Ben and got Laurie. It's over. LOOMIS (O.C.) There's still the matter of you and I. And Marion. BRACKETT Well, fuck the both of you. He finishes his drink, tosses the glass aside and stands up. A gloved hand stops him from opening the door. We now see SAM LOOMIS for the first time - the engineer of this nightmare is a completely-bald, frail old man pockmarked with scar tissue, wearing an overcoat and wielding only his cane. His eyes are narrowed with concern. Maybe Brackett sees it too. He sits back down and shrugs. BRACKETT So? LOOMIS I still don't know why Michael murdered his sisters. I don't know why or how he devoted his life and mind to the task. But I am certain that when you each pulled that trigger, you changed something in him. Now he is devoted to all of us. BRACKETT You pulled that trigger, Loomis, every goddamned time. LOOMIS And I let him out? (immediately regrets saying it) Brackett, he's coming. Meeker and Laurie knew that they would face him eventually but they didn't want to accept it. They tried to construct new lives and you see what happened to them! Be ready and willing. BRACKETT I don't have half a life to lose, Doc. LOOMIS Then die trying. He gives Brackett a twisted smile, and hobbles back to the station wagon. BRACKETT Thanks. CUT TO: INT. TRAILER - NIGHT Brackett glances out the window over the kitchen sink (adjacent to the folding seat that makes up the living room/bedroom). His digs aren't much better than the hermit's. Dropping the blinds, he fishes through a stack of Bud cans for a half-empty and settles with it on the seat. Sitting in silence, he suddenly stops mid-sip. Did he hear something that we didn't? Brackett fishes his service revolver from his jacket and sets the can down. Picks up the phone. CUT TO: EXT. TRAILER - NIGHT CRANE OVER the trailer, over to Brackett's beat-up pickup - the Shape lying flat on his back in the truck bed, butcher knife lying across his chest. PAN BACK to the trailer now, up to the roof, where Brackett has emerged through a opening over the bathroom. He has a clear view of the Shape lying in wait. Brackett carefully climbs down the back of the trailer, trying to keep his huffing & puffing to a minimum. Some odds and ends are lying in the bushes back here - a few cinder blocks, some rotting 2x4s, a garden hose. CUT TO: EXT. PICKUP TRUCK - NIGHT The Shape listens intently to every sound around him. It's difficult to tell what's what in the bed of the truck. Brackett appears at the side of the truck and SLAMS A CINDER BLOCK down on the Shape's head. The killer's tensed limbs go limp. The former sheriff heaves the block aside and laughs. Opening the tailgate, he grabs Myers's ankles and drags him out onto the dirt. At that moment, a Haddonfield police cruiser pulls up the hill. Deputy Parker and one of the other survivors of the HPD Massacre get out. PARKER I'll be damned. BRACKETT I don't know how he found me, boys, but he did it. The deputies obviously have a reverence for Brackett that runs deeper than their respect for Meeker. Parker kneels beside the Shape and tugs at his mask. BRACKETT Leave it. That's who he is. PARKER And what do you propose we do with our new friend? BRACKETT Pop your trunk. I'll get some rope. He heads off around the back. Parker nudges the body with his boot and grins at his partner. CUT TO: INT. POLICE CRUISER - NIGHT Brackett sits up front beside Parker as they ride. Parker breaks the silence. PARKER I've got gas, I've got steel, hell I've got pliers if you want to take his teeth out. BRACKETT Just fire. PARKER Well sir, we've got fire. BRACKETT Last time I did this for myself. This time I need to do it for Annie. No other right way. PARKER Yes sir. BRACKETT Take this right up here. PARKER We found out where he got his new threads. BRACKETT Where was that? PARKER Printed the knives and traced them to this old hermit living off of 31. CUT TO: EXT. HERMIT SHACK (BLACK AND WHITE) Parker matter-of-factly narrates the scene as two cruisers pull up to the shack. Four deputies get out. PARKER (V.O.) He was waiting for us, too, that's how we knew that the knives hadn't just been stolen. I guess the old shit found some balls after he had Myers rake through us. CUT TO: INT. HERMIT SHACK (BLACK AND WHITE) They open up. The hermit is sitting five feet from the door with a pistol in each hand. HERMIT TWATS!! He drops two of the deputies immediately. The other two - Parker and his partner - empty their guns into him. He grimaces and dies. CUT TO: INT. POLICE CRUISER - NIGHT PARKER We spent the rest of the day down there. I found a '54 Hank Aaron rookie card, thing was all bent out of shape and faded though. He had it stuck under a goddamned filthy coffee can. BRACKETT Why would this hermit have helped Myers? PARKER He had a feud going with Ben. BRACKETT Over what? Parker glances back at the other deputy. It would break Brackett's heart to know how Meeker had been running the town. PARKER ...Just some property dispute. He was squatting on the land. BRACKETT Ah. He points O.C. BRACKETT There. CUT TO: EXT. CONSTRUCTION SITE - NIGHT A large house has been framed, two stories with plywood panels crisscrossing to form crude floors. The cruiser pulls up, stops, and the three men get out. DEPUTY This your place, Leigh? BRACKETT No, I'm gonna be out here on Saturday pouring concrete. DEPUTY Oh. CUT TO: INT. TRUNK We see it open from the inside. Parker and his partner reach inside and grab the Shape's arms. EXT. CONSTRUCTION SITE - CONTINUOUS They haul the Shape out and drag him into the house. Brackett is tossing a length of rope over a beam. BRACKETT Right over here. Let's get this around his wrists. They tie the Shape up, his toes dangling a few inches off the ground. The rope is pulling his arms up behind him at an excruciating angle. Parker walks up with a bucket of water. PARKER Mornin' Michael. He douses the mask. The Shape is roused to life. DEPUTY So are we torching this place? BRACKETT Yes we are. Brackett hefts and gas can and begins pooling gasoline beneath the Shape's feet. BRACKETT (CONT'D) Yes, we are going to burn this place to ash, and I am going to stay until morning and collect this man's bones. He smiles up at the Shape and splashes a little gasoline in his face. BRACKETT You hear that? For the first time the Shape turns the hollows of his eye sockets toward Brackett. And for the first time, Brackett is taken aback by the horror that the Shape embodies. PARKER Leigh? Brackett regains his composure and discards the empty gas can. BRACKETT Anybody got a light? The other deputy holds out a Zippo. Brackett takes it, and they all take a few generous steps away from the Shape. BRACKETT After we shot him - we cooked up a story about how he'd revived on the gurney and attacked Laurie Strode - I went home and got drunk. Stayed drunk til Annie's funeral. It wasn't til then that I learned Myers was still alive. (beat) That's when I started thinking about this, Michael. Six long goddamned years ago. (to Parker) What day is it? PARKER The 30th. BRACKETT What time is it? PARKER (checks watch) 11:43. Bracket slips the lighter into his pocket and sits down on a work table. BRACKETT Thanks for your help, fellas. I can take it from here. Parker nods in understanding and motions for his partner to follow him to the car. Brackett turns and stares at the Shape until the cruiser is a tiny red pinpoint in the distance. Then, checking his watch again, he stands up and walks back over to the captive. He retrieves the Zippo and holds it out. BRACKETT I want you to know that this is for my daughter. Her name was Annie. She died for no reason. No purpose. There's nothing in that sick head of yours that can make heads nor tails of what you did to my little girl. (beat) She's the reason that you're gonna die now. SLOW MOTION He strikes the lighter and hurls it in the same motion. The flickering flame sails directly INTO THE CAMERA... WHITE FRAME FADE IN: INT. WHITE ROOM Walls and ceiling slowly gain definition, and we are in a room. SUPERIMPOSE TITLE: "5. The Cruel Tutelage of Terrence Wynn" PAN OVER to YOUNG MICHAEL MYERS, 13, sitting in a chair beside a window through which streams an almost-blinding light. We have a second to realize that this is not a freeze-frame, but a child who appears wholly catatonic...in reality there's no way that such a child could be so rigid and blank, and yet have such INTENSITY in his dead eyes. SUPERIMPOSE CAPTION: "1970" CUT TO: INT. SMITH'S GROVE SANITARIUM - LOOMIS'S OFFICE A younger Sam Loomis, with a bit more gray on his head, closes the Myers file and looks across the desk to a guest. TERRENCE WYNN is another professorial type, well-dressed with a handsome, thick head of light brown hair. LOOMIS Terrence, I'm sorry. Out of the question. WYNN Sam, your science hasn't broken this child. LOOMIS He can't be broken, he won't allow it. Wynn throws his hands up in an "exactly!" sort of manner. WYNN Someone with such strength of will, at that age...I have to see him. LOOMIS We're colleagues, we're dear friends, but he's my patient and you know that I don't subscribe to this nonsense. WYNN "Nonsense"? Just three hours ago you stood in front of a panel and said that Michael Myers was evil. LOOMIS I wasn't arguing evil as a function of the spirit, Terrence. It's in his mind. WYNN Then what is it? Open up one of your textbooks, Sam, and show me evil. Loomis knows he's fighting a losing battle. There must be some other way to explain what Michael is. But he can't find it. LOOMIS It's nothing. WYNN Don't be so dismissive- - LOOMIS No, I mean it's nothing. That's what evil is. There is nothing inside of him and as such I'm not going to pull Michael Myers out of a textbook! WYNN Now, I'm not trying to make you angry. LOOMIS He doesn't have a... (reluctant to even mention the word) Spirit. He doesn't have a soul. These things that you think are tainted within him, they simply don't exist! WYNN Halloween. The Celtic festival of Samhain. (beat) Do you know what certain Druid tribes did on the eve of Samhain? LOOMIS I have an appointment, Doctor Wynn. WYNN (continuing undeterred) They burned men in baskets. Criminals, prisoners of war - madmen. Burned them alive. The priests believed that observing the way in which these men died foretold the future. For the first time the HALLOWEEN THEME fades in. WYNN (CONT'D) Knowledge through the study of madness, Sam. It's our profession too, isn't it? LOOMIS What we do is quite different from burning men to death. And my goals here fall short of prophecy. WYNN But it's all the same principle. Somewhere inside Michael Myers lies the answer to why he butchered his sister at the age of six. There IS an answer. (beat) Perhaps it's nothing that you can comprehend - yet. Nothing that can be spelled out in any language you know. (leaning forward) What I'm saying is, perhaps in these modern times, we can divine the mysteries of the abstract without burning baskets. LOOMIS And you think your spiritual methods will make sense of Myers where science has failed? WYNN There's always a chance...C'mon, Sam, eight more years and he'll be sealed in a federal penitentiary. You've all but given up here. LOOMIS Oh, I haven't given up. I'll fight until the day I die to see that Myers is contained. WYNN There's enormous potential here. All I ask is some time with the boy. Loomis drums his fingers on the desktop. LOOMIS I want to see all your notes. WYNN Give me yours? Loomis slides the file across the desk. WYNN I think we'll both benefit greatly from this. LOOMIS I'll take your word for it, Terrence. Now, my appointment... Wynn nods "of course" and leaves with the file. Loomis doesn't look terribly happy. CUT TO: INT. MYERS'S ROOM Wynn is sitting in a chair across from the boy. Michael is staring out the window as always. WYNN What are you looking at? He seems to wait for an answer, although knowing he won't receive one. WYNN If I had to guess I'd say the only reason you're keeping your eyes open is so that they stay sharp. This little routine of sitting, listening, watching - you're just keeping the lights on. Wynn gets up and stands between Michael and the window. He leans frighteningly close to the boy. WYNN To have killed once, and only once, at such a young age - it shows wisdom and restraint beyond your years. (beat) Do you wait to kill again, Michael? The doctor turns and looks out the window for a few moments. Then he whirls and sends a closed fist FLYING at Michael's face - stopping mere millimeters from the child's unblinking eyes. Wynn breathes in sharply and pulls his chair over to sit face to-face with Michael. WYNN Why on Halloween? Why behind a mask? He waits longer for no answer, then gets up and walks to the door. He stops. WYNN I've waited a long time for you, Michael. Wynn exits. CUT TO: EXT. SMITH'S GROVE SANITARIUM - DAY Michael is standing out on the expansive lawn. He's been brought out by Dr. Wynn and a nurse. WYNN (to nurse) You can go now, we'll be fine. Alone now, Wynn takes Michael by the hand. The boy allows it. He slowly brings Michael to the gates of the sanitarium, and takes a key from his pocket. WYNN Watching now? He unlocks the padlock securing a series of chains around the gate, pulls them aside. The gate OPENS. Wynn steps back. Young Michael doesn't move. Doesn't budge a muscle. WYNN Michael, go. Nothing. Wynn smiles thinly. CUT TO: INT. EXAM ROOM The room has only a table with one chair, and a two-way mirror. Wynn has Michael seated, and we PULL BACK THROUGH THE MIRROR into the OBSERVATION ROOM Where Wynn enters shortly. He watches Michael sit alone for a moment. Then, he goes back into the exam room. CUT TO: INT. EXAM ROOM - CONTINUOUS Wynn pulls a long butcher knife out of his jacket and sets it on the table. He gives Michael a knowing look (although it's hardly reciprocated) and returns to the observation room. CUT TO: INT. OBSERVATION ROOM - LATER Wynn checks his watch. Neither Michael nor the knife have moved in some time. In fact, the boy is staring straight ahead, right past the blade. WYNN (barely audible) Goddammit. XCU on Michael's eyes. They move ever-so-slightly to address the knife on the table. WYNN SEES. He clasps his hands together excitedly. Michael's eyes snap right back to their original position. CUT TO: INT. EXAM ROOM The doctor comes in with a mask, just a red foam nose on a silver faceplate which fits over the eyes courtesy of an elastic string. Michael's killing mask. WYNN This is THE mask, Michael. The one you wore on Halloween. He puts it over Michael's head, then starts to exit. The sound of metal over wood causes Wynn to freeze in place, still facing away from Michael, staring at the door. From IN FRONT OF WYNN, we can see that Myers, still seated, is holding the butcher knife menacingly in his grasp. Wynn slowly turns and nods. CUT TO: EXT. ATRIUM - DAY Wynn and Loomis are sitting in an enclosed staff-only courtyard, enjoying the sun as they eat lunch at a table. LOOMIS I've yet to see your notes, Terrence. WYNN I've yet to write any. However I do think I'm making some headway. (takes a bite of salad) You're right about one thing...he's empty. Or, he needs to be in order to kill. I think he's trying to purge any sense of self. LOOMIS A servant to the rage? Wynn clearly loves the term. He nods. LOOMIS To what end? WYNN That I don't know. Perhaps he just needs guidance. LOOMIS And have you given him "guidance"? WYNN Up to this point I've stayed away from the spiritual "nonsense". But I think that may lead to our breakthrough. LOOMIS Are you certain that you're not trying to somehow fill the void he has created within himself? WYNN It couldn't make things any worse, Sam. He gathers his things and leaves the atrium. CUT TO: INT. CORRIDOR - NIGHT It's near-dark in the hallway and utterly still. Dr. Wynn quietly exits his office, locking up and heading down the hall. CUT TO: INT. MYERS'S ROOM Michael is sitting in his chair (the bed is disheveled; the staff obviously thinks they have put him to sleep for the night). His door creaks open. Michael doesn't react for several seconds. Then, against character, he turns. The clown mask and the butcher knife are lying on the floor in the hallway. CUT TO: INT. CORRIDOR - MOMENTS LATER Having donned the mask and taken up the blade, Michael walks mechanically down the hall. VOICE (V.O.) Michael. It's deep, guttural and it stops Michael in his tracks. He doesn't look around, but he seems to be waiting for the Voice to speak again. VOICE (V.O.) Kill for me. CU - A black-gloved hand settles on Michael's shoulder. The guiding hand urges him forward. JUDITH'S THEME begins. WIDE - Michael and a man dressed wholly in black, his face unseen beneath the brim of a slouch hat, pass a calendar on the wall. It's October 31st, 1970. Samhain. MICHAEL'S POV: A door slowly and silently opens. A security guard sits within, facing away from us and watching a b&w TV mounted beside the closed-circuit monitors. (The one screen he's paying any attention to is displaying the shower scene from PSYCHO on mute.) ANGLE DOWN CORRIDOR: We can see the Stranger behind Michael, hands on his shoulders. The THEME builds - We hear the startlingly-loud SLASH of the knife. CUT TO: INT. SECURITY ROOM The guard whirls. No one is there. CUT TO: INT. CORRIDOR Michael walks back to his room. INT. MYERS'S ROOM - CONTINUOUS He pulls off the mask and, along with the knife, puts it under his mattress. Then he sits down in the chair. CUT TO: INT. WYNN'S OFFICE Wynn pulls off the slouch hat as he stumbles in. He's perspiring heavily, face twisted in agony. Collapsing in a corner behind his desk, he reaches up to switch on the desk lamp. He's been stabbed in the abdomen. It doesn't look too serious, but Wynn obviously isn't pleased. He pulls a small velvet bag from his pocket and empties its contents into his hand - black, powdery rocks. Wynn crushes them in his gloved fist, whispering in a Celtic tongue. He's fucking crazy. He presses the crushed rocks into his wound and the already indiscernible speech becomes a violent growl. FADE TO: INT. CORRIDOR - DAY Dr. Loomis walks to Myers's room. CUT TO: INT. MYERS'S ROOM - CONTINUOUS Loomis lets himself in to find Michael in his usual spot. LOOMIS Hello Michael. He walks over to the window and lowers the blinds. He immediately casts a suspicious eye upon Michael's wrist. Without hesitation he snatches it up to expose a TATTOO of a triangular symbol. CUT TO: INT. WYNN'S OFFICE Loomis is fuming over his colleague's desk. WYNN Why would I know anything about this, Sam- - LOOMIS It's a Celtic rune, Terrence! Its name is Thorn! I did some reading up on your bloody Samhain! Wynn is taken aback. He raises his hands in defeat. WYNN Well, I can't tell you how he got the mark on his arm. Because I don't know. LOOMIS (exasperated) I warned you about this. WYNN Here. He shoves a sheaf of papers across the desk. LOOMIS What's this? WYNN My notes. Loomis has had enough. He storms out. CUT TO: EXT. CORRIDOR - EVENING It's quite again in Smith's Grove, save for the ticking of a clock. CU on the clock. 7:30. CUT TO: INT. MYERS'S ROOM Wynn enters quietly and walks over to Michael. WYNN Where are they? He grabs Michael and violently shakes him, to no avail. WYNN WHERE ARE THEY?! Wynn turns and scans the room. Easy answer. He throws the mattress from the bedframe and grabs the clown mask. WYNN I overestimated you, Michael. The mask is crumpled in his fist. He reaches down for the knife. The hammer of a revolver clicks back behind his ear. Loomis's face is unreadable. He nudges Wynn's head, causing him to step away from the bed. LOOMIS Let's leave the room, Terrence. WYNN I wouldn't expect you to understand, so I won't explain. But suffice to say, you are meddling with things well beyond the borders of your science. LOOMIS You're trying to fill his mind with the macabre traditions of a dying religion. You are a madman. WYNN Let me show you... He whirls, knocking the gun loose in Loomis's half-second hesitation to fire. Wynn's other hand locks around Sam's throat. Wynn sweeps the bedframe for the knife. WYNN Wha...? He looks down. No knife. Michael slams the blade DEEP into Wynn's side. He releases Loomis, who staggers back, watching in abject horror as the 13-year-old overwhelms Wynn, burying the steel deep in his torso again, and again, and again. Blood SPLATTERS every surface. Wynn's screams die rather quickly. Michael keeps slashing. Loomis suddenly leaps forward with a cry, grabbing Michael about the waist, encircling his thin wrist and trying to shake the knife away. LOOMIS MICHAEL! MICHAEL! MICHAEL!... FADE OUT. FADE IN: EXT. CONSTRUCTION SITE - NIGHT WIDE - The Shape bursts into flames as the Zippo hits the gas. He struggles violently within the blaze, limbs thrashing about, agitating the fire and splashing burning fuel across the floor. The flames crawl up the rope which dangles him from the beam. He heaves - and the rope BREAKS. BRACKETT NOOOOOOOOOO!!! The burning Shape stumbles out of the unfinished house. Leigh Brackett grabs a long 2x4 off the ground and sends it CRASHING upside the Shape's head. Myers is able to tear his bound wrists apart, and he swats the 2x4 aside, grabbing Brackett around the throat with both burning hands. Brackett struggles to breathe but only sucks in the intense heat coming off of the Shape. He writhes in a mad panic. Dies. The Shape stumbles over the worktable and plows into the dirt. He rolls down a shallow embankment, extinguishing most of the flames. CRANE OVER the Shape. He moves around a bit, suffering in his subtle way. Then he's still. CUT TO: EXT. RABBIT IN RED LOUNGE - NIGHT SUPERIMPOSE TITLE: "6. Old Maid Marion" The downtown lounge looks busy. Soft, sultry singing emanates from within. CUT TO: INT. RABBIT IN RED LOUNGE The digs are mostly hidden in shadow and cigarette smoke...but past the silhouettes and intimate tables topped with candles, a spotlight prominently displays an elegant young woman on the stage, in a clinging red dress... Marion Chambers. A jazz quintet plays softly behind her as she sings, in her delicate voice, Smokey Robinson & the Miracles' "The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game" (I'm hearing the Massive Attack w/Tracey Thorn cover from the BATMAN FOREVER soundtrack). This is probably what Marion would've been doing her entire life if it was a decent-paying gig. She's totally lost in the moment...and oblivious to the OMINOUS SHADOW that passes directly IN FRONT OF CAMERA. As the creeping music winds down, Marion takes a long drag off a cigarette and nods to the scattered applause. ORDERLY (V.O.) Oh my God! Oh Jesus! CUT TO: INT. COUNTY MORGUE - CORRIDOR A blood-spattered ORDERLY sits on the floor, head in his hands. A city COP is knelt beside him. COP Okay. Listen to me. Look at me buddy, okay? The orderly looks up with tear-streaked eyes. COP Now just tell me what you know. What did you see? ORDERLY I just saw - her- - CUT TO: INT. AUTOPSY ROOM - ONE HOUR EARLIER The orderly slips in a pool of blood and SMACKS his head on the tiled floor. PAN BEYOND the unconscious orderly to the body of a female CORONER, facing away from us, with several ragged, bloody tears across the coat on her back. The blood around her body suddenly WITHDRAWS back into her, and we see that she is dying in REVERSE, rolling towards us and flying into the air - IN REVERSE TIME We TRACK her as she sails over a slab and into the hands of THE CHARRED SHAPE The hair of his mask completely burned away and rivulets of melted plastic dotting his smoke-stained face. He is slashing across her back with a scalpel, also in reverse, each wound closing and the fabric over them sewing itself up. The Shape sets the scalpel down and lies on a gurney, settling inside a body bag. The coroner zips the bag up. She turns away and the gurney zips into the hands of the orderly, who backs it out of the room as they converse in a BACKWARDS language: ORDERLY .sreyM leahciM CORONER ?ti si ohW ORDERLY .tseug ytirbelec ruoy s'ereH CUT TO: INT. CORRIDOR - REVERSE TIME - CONTINUOUS TRACK the body bag as it reverses down the corridor and through another set of doors, past a black nurse who watches the gurney as she talks on a phone. Return to FORWARD TIME and the nurse says: NURSE Yeah, he's dead. I'm looking at him. CUT TO: INT. RABBIT IN RED LOUNGE Marion leans against the bar and releases a sigh of relief into the phone. MARION Thank God, I'm on in fifteen minutes. Thanks Suze. She hangs up and lights a cigarette with a book of matches. FADE TO: INT. DRESSING ROOM - THE PRESENT It's an unkempt all-purpose room littered with boxes, boas, wigs and other stage artifacts. Marion sits in front of a large vanity with half of the bulbs around the mirror burned-out. Her set is over and she's removing her makeup with a tissue. A lanky older man, BUCKY the manager, leans in. BUCKY We're gonna need the room in five minutes. MARION You'll have it, Bucky. After he leaves she sets the tissue down, breathing another relieved sigh. Her singing was never as confident and strong as it was tonight. Now that Michael Myers is dead. Bucky bursts back in, scaring the hell out of her. BUCKY Marion- - MARION WHAT, Bucky?! BUCKY Phone call. MARION All right, hold on. He exits and she pulls off her earrings. Pulling a rumpled cigarette pack from her purse, she shakes the last smoke out and lights it. XCU of her first exhalation trailing past the rubber nostrils of the Shape's mask. WIDE - He's behind her, wrapping his arms around Marion's neck and yanking her out of her seat. Marion twists in his arms, only allowing him to throw her INTO THE MIRROR, shattering it. No time to recover - the Shape heaves her across the room into a stack of hatboxes. Marion is eyeing her purse on the vanity. As the Shape advances, she dodges around him and grabs it, tears it open. He's got her by the arm. Flings her against the wall. CRASH!! The room rattles. Blood streams from Marion's temple. She brings one of her high heels up into The Shape's groin. He staggers momentarily, giving her enough time to retrieve the purse and shake its contents onto the floor. The Shape throws out a fist, tearing a hole in the wall where her head was. Marion is ducked down and getting a small syringe (it looks like an insulin pen). The needle drives into the Shape's knee. He reacts by grabbing her hair, yanking her off her feet. Bucky starts to open the door. BUCKY Marion- - The Shape slams it hard enough that we can hear Bucky flying across the hall into the opposite door. Myers is suddenly woozy. Marion rips free (losing a chunk of hair in the process) and goes for the door. It's jammed now. The Shape is sagging against the wall. Unable to take flight, Marion yanks off her shoe and starts hammering him with it. He CATCHES the heel in one fist, punches her HARD in the breast with the other. Marion cries out and backpedals across the room. The Shape throws the heel. We hear a THOCK! off-camera. CUT TO Marion, impaled in the eye and sliding down to a resting position. CUT TO: INT. HALLWAY The Shape crawls out on his hands and knees. A half-conscious Bucky slides fearfully away from him. CUT TO BLACK SUPERIMPOSE TITLE: "7. Blind" FADE IN: INT. SMITH'S GROVE SANITARIUM - HEARING ROOM A lecture hall with several empty rows is occupied only by Sam Loomis, circa 1970. Before him sits a panel of Smith's Grove administrators. SUPERIMPOSE CAPTION: "Smith's Grove Sanitarium, December 29, 1970". The HEAD DOCTOR looks up at Loomis. HEAD DOCTOR Doctor Loomis, we have already been through the appropriate legal channels regarding the incident of November first, but the for the benefit of the third party involved we are holding this hearing. Loomis nods. HEAD DOCTOR (CONT'D) Three times in the past seven years you have come before me and told me that Michael Myers presented an emptiness, a lack of conscience, which you could only characterize as "evil". LOOMIS Yes. HEAD DOCTOR On November first of this year, Doctor Wynn was found with multiple stab wounds in Michael Myers's room. He is currently eating through a tube in California, after which he will be arraigned for attempted murder. (consults notes) Now, police have confirmed that the knife was Doctor Wynn's. And, if I may be frank for a moment, Terrence was a gifted and compassionate colleague and although I don't think any of us understood his most recent line of research, we certainly did not expect anything like this. Loomis nods solemnly. HEAD DOCTOR (CONT'D) You say that Myers stabbed Doctor Wynn in self-defense? LOOMIS Yes. HEAD DOCTOR Michael Myers has never responded to external stimuli in the seven years he has been here. You recall that he refused to eat while under observation. We installed a surveillance camera in his room, and even then he would not move a muscle until it was taken out. I honestly don't know how he was aware of the camera's presence. But that aside, if Michael Myers is in a catatonic state and utterly empty, as you put it - why did he suddenly attack Wynn? Where did the strength come from, Doctor Loomis? LOOMIS As you know, there is evidence to suggest that Doctor Wynn had committed ritual abuse against Myers. Aside from the tattoo there were also bruises found on the boy's arms and shoulders. HEAD DOCTOR You're referring to him as a child now? The doctor raises an eyebrow, drawing a bit of laughter from his fellow panelists. LOOMIS I realize that my diagnosis of Michael Myers is extreme. But what I saw in that room - what I saw in Wynn - was only the latest in a pattern of abuses. Wynn was trying to break Michael, to change his programming. He may have nearly succeeded and I believe that's why the boy stabbed him! HEAD DOCTOR Was Myers in imminent danger when he picked up the knife and attacked Doctor Wynn? Loomis looks over to the side. Young Michael is sitting in the room, bound in a straitjacket with a male nurse at his side. His head is twisted to stare out the window at the sun. Loomis returns his attention to the panel. LOOMIS Yes, he was. HEAD DOCTOR You realize that his fate is hinging on your testimony. Sam, you've wanted him in maximum security for seven years. Loomis is tormented. He looks at the child - NOT a child, but an empty, evil thing, damn it - and he replays the stabbing in his mind. LOOMIS Doctor Foster... (several beats) Michael Myers acted in self defense. The head doctor nods grimly and consults with his colleagues. Loomis looks back at the unblinking child. He then stares at the floor. CUT TO: EXT. LOOMIS'S HOME - NIGHT It's the present again. Loomis lives in a beautiful Victorian restoration nestled within a gnarled forest. Beyond the cobbled driveway, in the ornate entrance, sits a jack-o' lantern. CU: A gloved hand reaches into the pumpkin with a lighter to set the lantern ablaze. Dr. Loomis stands up on his cane, dressed in a nice suit. Beside him is an Aryan-type, a real tough customer in black. He's a BODYGUARD. LOOMIS You remember everything? BODYGUARD I've got my men stationed at every corner around the estate. No one's getting in or out without my knowledge. LOOMIS Thank you. Loomis has a bullshit smile of confidence on his face. He hobbles into the house. CUT TO: INT. STUDY PAN past a bookshelf of standard psychology texts, and a glossy hardcover entitled THE DEVIL'S EYES: THE HALLOWEEN MURDERS by Dr. Sam Loomis. He reclines behind his desk and turns on a stereo, playing a soft sonata by one of the masters. CUT TO: INT. FOYER - LATER Loomis makes his way down the grand staircase, checking his watch. As he gets to the bottom he glances toward the entrance. LOOMIS'S POV: The door is open and the lead bodyguard hangs from a crude noose. LOOMIS I knew it would be just you and I, Michael. They were only here to wear you down. He glances in all directions. Doesn't see anything. He starts off to the right. LOOMIS I wanted to believe there was a child inside you - someone who had been hurt and was hurting back. It cost me what little credibility I had left. CUT TO: INT. SITTING ROOM - CONTINUOUS Loomis enters the dark room. LOOMIS Of course I was dismissed from Smith's Grove, after the fire. But you brought me all of this- - (gesturing around room) Enabled me to wait in comfort. We realize that a sound system is piping the sonata through the entire house. Loomis rests against a chair. LOOMIS I knew you wouldn't die until you faced me again. He pulls out a nickel-plated automatic. LOOMIS We changed the programming, didn't we? Wynn called it "burning baskets". I didn't give him enough credit, Michael. (beat) I should have let him kill you. His eyes have finally adjusted to the dark, and with him we can now see the Shape on the other end of the room. He wears the shadows like velvet. His eyeless sockets are fixated on Loomis's voice. The doctor walks out of the room without any apparent fear. The Shape begins to move after him. CUT TO: INT. FOYER The Shape is alone. He brushes against the stair railing and shifts slightly. Stops. Listens. A creak from somewhere in the house...a creak he is able to follow. CUT TO: INT. STUDY He breaches the doorway and pulls out the biggest goddamn butcher knife in the world. JAMIE (O.C.) Michael? WIDE - She's sitting in the middle of the room, playing with dolls on the Oriental rug. Michael tilts his head to one side. JAMIE Sam said you were coming. She turns to Loomis, who standing behind his desk. JAMIE I saw him when Mommy fell asleep. LOOMIS Yes, I remember when you told me. The doctor's eyes don't waver from Michael. LOOMIS (CONT'D) Why did you think he was there, Jamie? She fidgets shyly with her dolls. LOOMIS Why, Jamie? JAMIE He's an angel who took Mommy and Daddy to Heaven. Michael's head has been tilted forty-five degrees this entire time. He returns it to an upright position. LOOMIS She's about eight feet in front of you, Michael. Jamie looks pleasantly up at her uncle. The knife seems to be moving uncertainly, up and down in his grip. Loomis's eyes are alive with fascination. HE'S TRYING TO CHANGE THE PROGRAMMING BACK. LOOMIS CHOOSE her. Michael lowers the knife to his side and steps onto the rug. He takes another step, and another. CLOSE IN on Jamie's cherubic smile. Michael extends his charred hand. She takes it. Loomis's face goes pale with horror, horror at what Michael will now do, at what the good doctor himself has done to spare his own life. LOOMIS'S POV: Michael leads Jamie from the room. Urging her into the hall, he shuts the door, leaving himself alone with Loomis. LOOMIS You never were the ideal patient. Michael HURLS the knife with all his strength. It cuts a straight path across the study and lands dead center in Loomis's heart. He slumps into his chair. Michael approaches him and wraps his fingers around the knife handle. LOOMIS She's yours no- - The blade is WRENCHED free, loosing a geyser of blood from the doctor's chest and sending him from this life. The door creaks open. Michael turns his blind eyes to his niece. JAMIE D-did Sam go to Heaven? He "stares" at her for a long, uncomfortable moment. He nods. She gathers up her dolls and waits for him to accompany her from the room. FADE TO: EXT. LOOMIS'S HOME - NIGHT Two police cars pull up to the entryway. Jamie is sitting beside the jack-o'-lantern with her dolls. COP Are you okay? He scoops her up, directing the others into the house. COP (CONT'D) What happened? JAMIE It's okay. She's more interested in her dolls than the evening's events. He takes her to his cruiser and opens the back door. CUT TO: EXT. WOODS - NIGHT The Shape is listening. A hand is reached out toward the girl's soft laugh. He closes it into a fist and turns away. CUT TO: INT. SMITH'S GROVE SANITARIUM - MAXIMUM SECURITY The window is barred and covered with a grate now, but the sun still shines through - and the bandaged Myers stares intently at it, unblinking. FADE TO BLACK.