Evil Things (2017) s01e07 Episode Script
The Wardrobe & The Interview
1 [ MUSIC BOX PLAYS LULLABY .]
[ CHILD GIGGLING .]
Well, what about that? MAN: Mr.
Kraus.
I didn't know I was bringing something so tragic into our home.
[ SCREAMS .]
I knew I was watching an exorcism.
CASEY: Mom?! JENNY: "They clawed at my eyes.
I skinned it alive.
" He was repeating it over and over.
He was chained to the wall.
JENNY: Do you think I'm crazy? [ CREAKING .]
[ LOCK CLICKS .]
[ MUSIC BOX PLAYS LULLABY .]
synced by dom.
smrc JENNY: I didn't know I was bringing something so tragic into our home.
And I'll never forget the horror it unleashed for the rest of my life.
I became a child psychologist mainly because I love children.
Okay.
All done.
All done? Can I see? But it was also a painful reminder that my husband and I were struggling to have kids of our own.
Who is this? Is that you? Yeah.
I'd had two miscarriages, and I didn't think it was going to happen.
Why is mom making me come here? Hmm.
Well, she's not making you come here.
We're just here to draw and talk and have a lot of fun.
That's all.
Okay? Okay.
Okay.
My husband was military and just started another 9-month tour.
Tim thought our new house would make me happy But I hated being alone in it.
He bought it completely furnished at an auction.
He thought he was doing me a favor saving me from setting up the whole place by myself But it never felt like my home at all.
I thought I knew what I was getting into marrying Tim when I was 19, but I never imagined it would be so lonely.
I wish I was over there with him.
No, you don't.
Swear to god I do.
Well, at least I know Tanya is happy that That a bullet shattered my leg? My husband's brother was a marine, too.
Well, what about that? That might be good.
That? He was injured on his last tour, and he helped me out a lot when Tim was away.
I kind of like it.
I thought you said you hated all the antique stuff in your house.
No.
I hate it 'cause it's not mine but can't exactly get something that clashes with everything, though.
Yeah.
Besides, I think at least my bedroom should, you know, be mine.
Yeah.
Hey, how much for this Thing? Haul it out of here and it's yours.
It was the end of the day, and I just figured she wanted us out of her driveway.
I didn't think much about it.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
Yeah.
I like it.
Looks good.
Thanks, guys.
No problem.
That wardrobe was the first step toward trying to make the house feel like my home.
You ready for that beer? Yes, please.
I didn't know I'd end up paying for it later.
I heard stuff rolling around in it when we moved it, but I figured it was just junk the last owner didn't want.
It ended up being a paperweight, paper clips, a tiny hand mirror, and something I hadn't seen in a really long time An old fountain pen.
I put it all in a box and, you know, figured I'd drop it at the local charity next time I was running errands.
[ DOOR CREAKS .]
[ DOOR CREAKING .]
The house was old with uneven floors, and the wardrobe was a little tilted.
At least, that's what I told myself.
So, why does this scare you? Well, he comes into my room at night, and he is very scary.
Does he have a name? And this is what he looks like with the big red eyes and the big sharp teeth? Let's draw it again, okay? Okay.
The next night, I was home alone again, eating leftovers.
[ QUIET BANG .]
[ LIGHT SWITCH CLICKS .]
The armoire door was open, and I had definitely closed it tight the night before.
I couldn't lie to myself anymore about a crooked floor.
[ SCREAMS .]
I know this sounds insane, but there was a little boy hiding inside.
I ran outside to call Hal, and when he went up to check, there was no one there.
Here.
Thanks.
I'm a psychologist, so I know what the mind can do when it's under stress, and I was under a lot of stress.
Do you think I'm crazy? No.
I see things sometimes That aren't there.
Hal, have you talked to your psychiatrist at the V.
A.
about that? Look, you can stay here as long as you want.
You can borrow some of Tanya's soaps or whatever you need.
I Hal, I know I ask you for a lot of favors, but can you please do me one more? Mm-hmm? Please just get that wardrobe out of my house.
[ SLAM .]
[ LOCK CLICKS .]
[ MUSIC BOX PLAYS LULLABY .]
[ LOCK CLICKS .]
[ MUSIC BOX PLAYS LULLABY .]
That might be good.
Haul it out of here and it's yours.
[ SCREAMS .]
Hal.
I know I ask you for a lot of favors, but can you please do me one more? Mm-hmm? Please just get that wardrobe out of my house.
Yep.
The next day, Hal went into the house and did what I asked.
I guess that made me feel comfortable enough to stay in the home by myself.
[ PHONE RINGING .]
[ PHONE BEEPS .]
Hey.
HAL: Hey.
The lady at the garage sale wouldn't take it back.
Really? Yeah.
I don't know.
I dropped it off at the city dump.
Okay.
Did she say why she didn't want it? She gave it to us in the first place, so I don't know.
I guess she didn't have room for it.
Anyways, out of your life now.
Thank you, Hal.
You are a good Hey, I got to go.
[ CLICK, DIAL TONE .]
[ PHONE BEEPS .]
And things went back to normal, I mean, no more noises, no more visions, and that was that.
I thought.
TIM: Here you go.
Hmm.
Home for six months and then you decide to wait until the very last night before you leave again to cook me dinner? I cooked for you two weeks ago.
Hmm.
Casey, get down here! Dinner is up.
Can we put Casey to bed early tonight? I was kind of hoping we could have a little alone time.
Mm, we'll see.
Hey.
Hey.
JENNY: We called Casey our miracle baby.
After years of trying, I'd given up hope, and then it just happened.
TIM: Going to have to be the big man around the house now that I'm gone.
Okay? Going to cook for your mom? Mm-hmm.
Yeah? What are you going to make her? Cereal.
[ LAUGHS .]
You can't have cereal for dinner.
Why not? Because that's breakfast food.
Mom makes pancakes for dinner.
Well, that's an exception.
Pancakes are anytime food.
How long are you going to be gone this time? You asked me that last night, bud.
The answer is still the same.
Six months, but it'll go by like that.
And this is the last time, buddy, because next time he comes home, he never has to leave again.
Okay? Okay.
JENNY: Tim's deployments weren't anything new, but they seemed to be getting harder and harder on Casey the older he got, and to be honest, they weren't getting any easier on me either.
CASEY: They clawed at my eyes.
I skinned it alive.
It's a tease.
Parents think it's innocent.
Casey? It clawed at my eyes.
You need something, honey? It's a tease.
Parents think it's innocent.
I remember it was a few nights after Tim had left for his final deployment.
Casey? I skinned it alive.
After this one, he was going to retire and stay home for good.
He clawed at my eyes.
Casey.
It's a tease.
Parents think it's innocent.
Honey, you okay? It's a tease.
Parents think it's innocent.
It's a tease.
Casey Parents think it's innocent.
it's late, baby.
What you doing? I skinned it alive.
It clawed out my eyes.
I skinned it alive.
Parents think it's innocent.
It clawed out my eyes.
Parents think it's innocent.
It clawed my eyes.
I skinned it alive.
It's a tease.
Casey! Mom? You okay? Oh, baby.
Honey, do you want to come sleep in the big bed with me? - Yes.
- Yeah? - Mm-hmm.
- Okay.
"It's a tease.
" People think it's innocent.
It clawed at my eyes.
"I skinned it alive.
" He was repeating it over and over while he was sleepwalking.
I have no idea where he would've even heard something like that.
[ DOOR CREAKS .]
I'll never forget that sound.
I heard it six years before.
[ DOOR CREAKS .]
Casey? [ PEN SCRATCHING .]
[ GASPS .]
[ SLAM .]
[ LOCK CLICKS .]
[ MUSIC BOX PLAYS LULLABY .]
[ LOCK CLICKS .]
[ MUSIC BOX PLAYS LULLABY .]
[ SCREAMS .]
Please just get that wardrobe out of my house.
It's late, baby.
What you doing? It clawed my eyes.
Casey! Mom? [ DOOR CREAKS .]
[ PEN SCRATCHING .]
Casey? [ GASPS .]
CASEY: Mom?! It was the same kid I had seen six years ago in the wardrobe, and he had written the same thing that Casey had been saying the other night.
And then Babe, when did you open that? They were the things I had found in the drawer.
I'd just thrown them in a box in the guest-room closet and forgot all about it.
Six years later, Casey finds it and starts messing with the stuff inside.
I was constantly worried about my husband coming home in a box, so I can understand, you know, being under stress, you may see something that isn't there.
[ BELL RINGING .]
But how could my son see the same thing? The only other explanation is that my 5-year-old son wrote the ramblings on those pages, and there's no way.
He could barely write his own name.
I'm the one that called you about the wardrobe that you sold me.
Gave you? Right.
Did you I remember.
I'm not that old.
Um I shouldn't have given you that.
I should've burned all his stuff.
Whose stuff? My father's brother.
Why would you burn your uncle's things? The state of Texas gave him the chair.
Oh, he didn't do what they said.
They was after him.
Can't let an innocent man live in peace.
They forced him to confess.
What'd he confess to? I don't know.
He wrote some gibberish.
What did it say? Oh, some foolishness about something clawing at him.
And so He skinned it alive.
The wardrobe she gave me belonged to a man who abducted and killed a little boy.
I don't have any proof, but I believe the pen in the drawer, the pen that Casey found, was the pen that the uncle used to write his confession.
I burned every last piece of paper along with everything in that wardrobe, including the pen.
[ ALARM CLOCK RINGING .]
MILES: I left home when I was 17.
I don't want to get into what happened with my parents, but I was on the street for a bit until I broke into that abandoned church.
I felt bad about being there, but it'd been empty since I was, like, 7 years old, so I didn't think I was hurting anyone.
I wasn't going to let being on my own throw me off my plans.
I was going to graduate high school and figure out a way to pay for college.
PRODUCER: What kind of church was it? I would really rather not say, but I can say I remember from when I was little the people who went there were always standing on the corner yelling at people about god and Satan and eternal damnation.
And one day, they just shuttered the doors and never came back.
There was all sorts of stories on the streets about what happened, but I didn't listen to any of that crap.
I pretty much kept to myself and doing everything I could to get out of that place and try to have a better life.
I studied.
I did my homework, and I'd pretty much wander around looking for stuff that I could use.
I swear I was a good kid just trying to survive.
I didn't like doing it, but there were abandoned buildings like that church all over the city with all kinds of stuff that would never get used anyway.
I thought I might find something in the basement I could sell for food.
It was pretty much a complete bust Just some film reels and an old projector.
It was completely worthless, but I didn't have anything else to do, so I ran a cord to the building next door to borrow some power.
The movie reels didn't have titles, but I was hoping that there was something more than just some Sunday school videos.
MAN: Mr.
Kraus? Mr.
Kraus.
I assume I can still call you that.
How are you feeling? How did this state of being come to be? You won't speak to me.
Is that it? Mr.
Kraus? Mr.
Kraus, do you still believe in god? [KRAUS'S BREATHING QUICKENS.]
Mr.
Kraus, you know what happens when you start breathing like that.
Mr.
Kraus? [ SLAM .]
[ LOCK CLICKS .]
[ MUSIC BOX PLAYS LULLABY .]
[ LOCK CLICKS .]
[ MUSIC BOX PLAYS LULLABY .]
MILES: I left home when I was 17.
I was on the street for a bit.
MAN: How did this state of being come to be? You won't speak to me.
Is that it? Mr.
Kraus? Mr.
Kraus, do you still believe in god? [KRAUS'S BREATHING QUICKENS.]
Mr.
Kraus, you know what happens when you start breathing like that.
Mr.
Kraus.
Mr.
Kraus.
I didn't know much about old projectors, but I was pretty sure they didn't just turn off once the film ran out.
But I was just a kid, so I brushed it off.
No big deal.
The next day, I rushed home from class and started watching the second reel.
Your time is up.
I still thought I was watching some old, weird student art film or something.
What did you say? Your time is up.
We tell you when this interview is over.
I'm not talking about the interview.
What are you talking about then? Mr.
Kraus? On earth.
Are you threatening me? [LAUGHS.]
Are you trying to What can I tell you? I was hooked.
Every night, this Mr.
Kraus guy just kept getting weirder and weirder.
[ ALARM CLOCK RINGING .]
[ EXHALES .]
Ah! I had no idea where it came from.
It wasn't just a piece of chain on the floor.
It was individual links.
But they didn't look cut, like, with a bolt cutter.
They looked broken, and they were everywhere, scattered around my bed.
I was on edge.
Someone was right next to me while I was sleeping, and now my hideout wasn't secret anymore.
I wasn't sure what to do if they came back.
But what could I do? I wasn't going to go live on the street.
Pastor Kraus? What did he just say? Pastor Kraus? He's a pastor? Pastor Kraus? Pastor Kraus is gone.
Who am I speaking with then? Who are you? Renounce Satan.
In this house of god, you will renounce Satan.
[KRAUS'S BREATHING QUICKENS.]
Renounce Satan and all of his evil.
[ SLAM .]
[ LOCK CLICKS .]
[ MUSIC BOX PLAYS LULLABY .]
[ LOCK CLICKS .]
[ MUSIC BOX PLAYS LULLABY .]
MAN: Mr.
Kraus, are you threatening me? [LAUGHS.]
Pastor Kraus? What did he just say? Pastor Kraus? He's a pastor? Pastor Kraus? Who am I speaking with then? Who are you? Renounce Satan.
In this house of god, you will renounce Satan.
[KRAUS'S BREATHING QUICKENS.]
Renounce Satan and all of his evil.
[ DISTORTED .]
He is my master.
[ CLICKS PROJECTOR OFF .]
I swear the sound came out of that man, like, this crazy animal growl.
It was a sound I didn't even think a human could make.
I was pretty freaked out, so I told myself I was just watching a scary movie, but I knew what I was watching was real.
I knew I was watching an exorcism.
The next morning, I was hurrying through my homework before I left for school, but I couldn't shake this creepy feeling, like, a heaviness.
[ GROANS .]
I swear I was wide awake And I saw Kraus as clear as day in the mirror But I chalked it up to staying up too late watching too many of those film reels.
Trust me.
Part of me knew I should never go back into that church, but the other part of me needed to finish watching those last two reels.
[KRAUS MUTTERING GIBBERISH.]
It's like I didn't have a choice.
[CONTINUES MUTTERING GIBBERISH.]
[ SLAMS .]
[ LOCK CLICKS .]
[ MUSIC BOX PLAYS LULLABY .]
[ LOCK CLICKS .]
[ MUSIC BOX PLAYS LULLABY .]
Ah! KRAUS: You'll be dead soon.
[ DISTORTED .]
He is my master.
[MUTTERING GIBBERISH.]
[ BREATHING HEAVILY .]
I remember I was literally trembling, but there was only one reel left, and I had to find out what happened.
[ KRAUS WHIMPERING .]
MAN: The lord is your savior.
You are a man of god.
The demon that dwells within you is not welcome in your body.
[ GROANING .]
You are a vessel of god.
Satan, denounce Satan.
And it was the first time I noticed he was chained to the wall.
I am going to give you one last chance.
Denounce Satan and all of his evils.
That's it.
MAN 2: We can't just leave him.
Let's leave.
Go.
He rot down here until he dies.
[ YELLS .]
[ PROJECTOR DIES .]
[ DOOR TREMBLES .]
[ CHAINS JINGLING .]
MILES: I had no idea who or what was on the other side of that door, but I wasn't going to stick around to find out.
I don't know about you, but I believe in god, and I believe in heaven and hell, always have.
Denounce Satan.
And I couldn't find any other reason for what I was experiencing other than someone, and yeah, maybe a dead someone, was trying to tell me something.
He can rot down here until he dies.
What if he'd been left to die in that basement? 'Cause he was either possessed or crazy, or I don't know what, but I couldn't just walk away and live with myself.
I needed to know if his body might still be down there somewhere So I went back to a part of the basement that I had never seen.
It was the same room Kraus was in.
Even though I didn't see any remains or anything, I just knew he died right there in the basement.
I ran back to the projector and started collecting all the reels to give them to the cops.
[ PROJECTOR STARTS UP .]
PRODUCER: What do you think you saw? I can tell you what I know I saw.
I saw that guy, Kraus, or I don't know, the ghost of him as plain as day in the light of that projector, not on the wall either, standing there right in front of me.
That's what I saw, and no one is ever going to change my mind.
What happened to the films? I never went back for the reels.
I went straight to the police.
And? They threatened to arrest me for trespassing.
[ CHILD GIGGLING .]
Well, what about that? MAN: Mr.
Kraus.
I didn't know I was bringing something so tragic into our home.
[ SCREAMS .]
I knew I was watching an exorcism.
CASEY: Mom?! JENNY: "They clawed at my eyes.
I skinned it alive.
" He was repeating it over and over.
He was chained to the wall.
JENNY: Do you think I'm crazy? [ CREAKING .]
[ LOCK CLICKS .]
[ MUSIC BOX PLAYS LULLABY .]
synced by dom.
smrc JENNY: I didn't know I was bringing something so tragic into our home.
And I'll never forget the horror it unleashed for the rest of my life.
I became a child psychologist mainly because I love children.
Okay.
All done.
All done? Can I see? But it was also a painful reminder that my husband and I were struggling to have kids of our own.
Who is this? Is that you? Yeah.
I'd had two miscarriages, and I didn't think it was going to happen.
Why is mom making me come here? Hmm.
Well, she's not making you come here.
We're just here to draw and talk and have a lot of fun.
That's all.
Okay? Okay.
Okay.
My husband was military and just started another 9-month tour.
Tim thought our new house would make me happy But I hated being alone in it.
He bought it completely furnished at an auction.
He thought he was doing me a favor saving me from setting up the whole place by myself But it never felt like my home at all.
I thought I knew what I was getting into marrying Tim when I was 19, but I never imagined it would be so lonely.
I wish I was over there with him.
No, you don't.
Swear to god I do.
Well, at least I know Tanya is happy that That a bullet shattered my leg? My husband's brother was a marine, too.
Well, what about that? That might be good.
That? He was injured on his last tour, and he helped me out a lot when Tim was away.
I kind of like it.
I thought you said you hated all the antique stuff in your house.
No.
I hate it 'cause it's not mine but can't exactly get something that clashes with everything, though.
Yeah.
Besides, I think at least my bedroom should, you know, be mine.
Yeah.
Hey, how much for this Thing? Haul it out of here and it's yours.
It was the end of the day, and I just figured she wanted us out of her driveway.
I didn't think much about it.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
Yeah.
I like it.
Looks good.
Thanks, guys.
No problem.
That wardrobe was the first step toward trying to make the house feel like my home.
You ready for that beer? Yes, please.
I didn't know I'd end up paying for it later.
I heard stuff rolling around in it when we moved it, but I figured it was just junk the last owner didn't want.
It ended up being a paperweight, paper clips, a tiny hand mirror, and something I hadn't seen in a really long time An old fountain pen.
I put it all in a box and, you know, figured I'd drop it at the local charity next time I was running errands.
[ DOOR CREAKS .]
[ DOOR CREAKING .]
The house was old with uneven floors, and the wardrobe was a little tilted.
At least, that's what I told myself.
So, why does this scare you? Well, he comes into my room at night, and he is very scary.
Does he have a name? And this is what he looks like with the big red eyes and the big sharp teeth? Let's draw it again, okay? Okay.
The next night, I was home alone again, eating leftovers.
[ QUIET BANG .]
[ LIGHT SWITCH CLICKS .]
The armoire door was open, and I had definitely closed it tight the night before.
I couldn't lie to myself anymore about a crooked floor.
[ SCREAMS .]
I know this sounds insane, but there was a little boy hiding inside.
I ran outside to call Hal, and when he went up to check, there was no one there.
Here.
Thanks.
I'm a psychologist, so I know what the mind can do when it's under stress, and I was under a lot of stress.
Do you think I'm crazy? No.
I see things sometimes That aren't there.
Hal, have you talked to your psychiatrist at the V.
A.
about that? Look, you can stay here as long as you want.
You can borrow some of Tanya's soaps or whatever you need.
I Hal, I know I ask you for a lot of favors, but can you please do me one more? Mm-hmm? Please just get that wardrobe out of my house.
[ SLAM .]
[ LOCK CLICKS .]
[ MUSIC BOX PLAYS LULLABY .]
[ LOCK CLICKS .]
[ MUSIC BOX PLAYS LULLABY .]
That might be good.
Haul it out of here and it's yours.
[ SCREAMS .]
Hal.
I know I ask you for a lot of favors, but can you please do me one more? Mm-hmm? Please just get that wardrobe out of my house.
Yep.
The next day, Hal went into the house and did what I asked.
I guess that made me feel comfortable enough to stay in the home by myself.
[ PHONE RINGING .]
[ PHONE BEEPS .]
Hey.
HAL: Hey.
The lady at the garage sale wouldn't take it back.
Really? Yeah.
I don't know.
I dropped it off at the city dump.
Okay.
Did she say why she didn't want it? She gave it to us in the first place, so I don't know.
I guess she didn't have room for it.
Anyways, out of your life now.
Thank you, Hal.
You are a good Hey, I got to go.
[ CLICK, DIAL TONE .]
[ PHONE BEEPS .]
And things went back to normal, I mean, no more noises, no more visions, and that was that.
I thought.
TIM: Here you go.
Hmm.
Home for six months and then you decide to wait until the very last night before you leave again to cook me dinner? I cooked for you two weeks ago.
Hmm.
Casey, get down here! Dinner is up.
Can we put Casey to bed early tonight? I was kind of hoping we could have a little alone time.
Mm, we'll see.
Hey.
Hey.
JENNY: We called Casey our miracle baby.
After years of trying, I'd given up hope, and then it just happened.
TIM: Going to have to be the big man around the house now that I'm gone.
Okay? Going to cook for your mom? Mm-hmm.
Yeah? What are you going to make her? Cereal.
[ LAUGHS .]
You can't have cereal for dinner.
Why not? Because that's breakfast food.
Mom makes pancakes for dinner.
Well, that's an exception.
Pancakes are anytime food.
How long are you going to be gone this time? You asked me that last night, bud.
The answer is still the same.
Six months, but it'll go by like that.
And this is the last time, buddy, because next time he comes home, he never has to leave again.
Okay? Okay.
JENNY: Tim's deployments weren't anything new, but they seemed to be getting harder and harder on Casey the older he got, and to be honest, they weren't getting any easier on me either.
CASEY: They clawed at my eyes.
I skinned it alive.
It's a tease.
Parents think it's innocent.
Casey? It clawed at my eyes.
You need something, honey? It's a tease.
Parents think it's innocent.
I remember it was a few nights after Tim had left for his final deployment.
Casey? I skinned it alive.
After this one, he was going to retire and stay home for good.
He clawed at my eyes.
Casey.
It's a tease.
Parents think it's innocent.
Honey, you okay? It's a tease.
Parents think it's innocent.
It's a tease.
Casey Parents think it's innocent.
it's late, baby.
What you doing? I skinned it alive.
It clawed out my eyes.
I skinned it alive.
Parents think it's innocent.
It clawed out my eyes.
Parents think it's innocent.
It clawed my eyes.
I skinned it alive.
It's a tease.
Casey! Mom? You okay? Oh, baby.
Honey, do you want to come sleep in the big bed with me? - Yes.
- Yeah? - Mm-hmm.
- Okay.
"It's a tease.
" People think it's innocent.
It clawed at my eyes.
"I skinned it alive.
" He was repeating it over and over while he was sleepwalking.
I have no idea where he would've even heard something like that.
[ DOOR CREAKS .]
I'll never forget that sound.
I heard it six years before.
[ DOOR CREAKS .]
Casey? [ PEN SCRATCHING .]
[ GASPS .]
[ SLAM .]
[ LOCK CLICKS .]
[ MUSIC BOX PLAYS LULLABY .]
[ LOCK CLICKS .]
[ MUSIC BOX PLAYS LULLABY .]
[ SCREAMS .]
Please just get that wardrobe out of my house.
It's late, baby.
What you doing? It clawed my eyes.
Casey! Mom? [ DOOR CREAKS .]
[ PEN SCRATCHING .]
Casey? [ GASPS .]
CASEY: Mom?! It was the same kid I had seen six years ago in the wardrobe, and he had written the same thing that Casey had been saying the other night.
And then Babe, when did you open that? They were the things I had found in the drawer.
I'd just thrown them in a box in the guest-room closet and forgot all about it.
Six years later, Casey finds it and starts messing with the stuff inside.
I was constantly worried about my husband coming home in a box, so I can understand, you know, being under stress, you may see something that isn't there.
[ BELL RINGING .]
But how could my son see the same thing? The only other explanation is that my 5-year-old son wrote the ramblings on those pages, and there's no way.
He could barely write his own name.
I'm the one that called you about the wardrobe that you sold me.
Gave you? Right.
Did you I remember.
I'm not that old.
Um I shouldn't have given you that.
I should've burned all his stuff.
Whose stuff? My father's brother.
Why would you burn your uncle's things? The state of Texas gave him the chair.
Oh, he didn't do what they said.
They was after him.
Can't let an innocent man live in peace.
They forced him to confess.
What'd he confess to? I don't know.
He wrote some gibberish.
What did it say? Oh, some foolishness about something clawing at him.
And so He skinned it alive.
The wardrobe she gave me belonged to a man who abducted and killed a little boy.
I don't have any proof, but I believe the pen in the drawer, the pen that Casey found, was the pen that the uncle used to write his confession.
I burned every last piece of paper along with everything in that wardrobe, including the pen.
[ ALARM CLOCK RINGING .]
MILES: I left home when I was 17.
I don't want to get into what happened with my parents, but I was on the street for a bit until I broke into that abandoned church.
I felt bad about being there, but it'd been empty since I was, like, 7 years old, so I didn't think I was hurting anyone.
I wasn't going to let being on my own throw me off my plans.
I was going to graduate high school and figure out a way to pay for college.
PRODUCER: What kind of church was it? I would really rather not say, but I can say I remember from when I was little the people who went there were always standing on the corner yelling at people about god and Satan and eternal damnation.
And one day, they just shuttered the doors and never came back.
There was all sorts of stories on the streets about what happened, but I didn't listen to any of that crap.
I pretty much kept to myself and doing everything I could to get out of that place and try to have a better life.
I studied.
I did my homework, and I'd pretty much wander around looking for stuff that I could use.
I swear I was a good kid just trying to survive.
I didn't like doing it, but there were abandoned buildings like that church all over the city with all kinds of stuff that would never get used anyway.
I thought I might find something in the basement I could sell for food.
It was pretty much a complete bust Just some film reels and an old projector.
It was completely worthless, but I didn't have anything else to do, so I ran a cord to the building next door to borrow some power.
The movie reels didn't have titles, but I was hoping that there was something more than just some Sunday school videos.
MAN: Mr.
Kraus? Mr.
Kraus.
I assume I can still call you that.
How are you feeling? How did this state of being come to be? You won't speak to me.
Is that it? Mr.
Kraus? Mr.
Kraus, do you still believe in god? [KRAUS'S BREATHING QUICKENS.]
Mr.
Kraus, you know what happens when you start breathing like that.
Mr.
Kraus? [ SLAM .]
[ LOCK CLICKS .]
[ MUSIC BOX PLAYS LULLABY .]
[ LOCK CLICKS .]
[ MUSIC BOX PLAYS LULLABY .]
MILES: I left home when I was 17.
I was on the street for a bit.
MAN: How did this state of being come to be? You won't speak to me.
Is that it? Mr.
Kraus? Mr.
Kraus, do you still believe in god? [KRAUS'S BREATHING QUICKENS.]
Mr.
Kraus, you know what happens when you start breathing like that.
Mr.
Kraus.
Mr.
Kraus.
I didn't know much about old projectors, but I was pretty sure they didn't just turn off once the film ran out.
But I was just a kid, so I brushed it off.
No big deal.
The next day, I rushed home from class and started watching the second reel.
Your time is up.
I still thought I was watching some old, weird student art film or something.
What did you say? Your time is up.
We tell you when this interview is over.
I'm not talking about the interview.
What are you talking about then? Mr.
Kraus? On earth.
Are you threatening me? [LAUGHS.]
Are you trying to What can I tell you? I was hooked.
Every night, this Mr.
Kraus guy just kept getting weirder and weirder.
[ ALARM CLOCK RINGING .]
[ EXHALES .]
Ah! I had no idea where it came from.
It wasn't just a piece of chain on the floor.
It was individual links.
But they didn't look cut, like, with a bolt cutter.
They looked broken, and they were everywhere, scattered around my bed.
I was on edge.
Someone was right next to me while I was sleeping, and now my hideout wasn't secret anymore.
I wasn't sure what to do if they came back.
But what could I do? I wasn't going to go live on the street.
Pastor Kraus? What did he just say? Pastor Kraus? He's a pastor? Pastor Kraus? Pastor Kraus is gone.
Who am I speaking with then? Who are you? Renounce Satan.
In this house of god, you will renounce Satan.
[KRAUS'S BREATHING QUICKENS.]
Renounce Satan and all of his evil.
[ SLAM .]
[ LOCK CLICKS .]
[ MUSIC BOX PLAYS LULLABY .]
[ LOCK CLICKS .]
[ MUSIC BOX PLAYS LULLABY .]
MAN: Mr.
Kraus, are you threatening me? [LAUGHS.]
Pastor Kraus? What did he just say? Pastor Kraus? He's a pastor? Pastor Kraus? Who am I speaking with then? Who are you? Renounce Satan.
In this house of god, you will renounce Satan.
[KRAUS'S BREATHING QUICKENS.]
Renounce Satan and all of his evil.
[ DISTORTED .]
He is my master.
[ CLICKS PROJECTOR OFF .]
I swear the sound came out of that man, like, this crazy animal growl.
It was a sound I didn't even think a human could make.
I was pretty freaked out, so I told myself I was just watching a scary movie, but I knew what I was watching was real.
I knew I was watching an exorcism.
The next morning, I was hurrying through my homework before I left for school, but I couldn't shake this creepy feeling, like, a heaviness.
[ GROANS .]
I swear I was wide awake And I saw Kraus as clear as day in the mirror But I chalked it up to staying up too late watching too many of those film reels.
Trust me.
Part of me knew I should never go back into that church, but the other part of me needed to finish watching those last two reels.
[KRAUS MUTTERING GIBBERISH.]
It's like I didn't have a choice.
[CONTINUES MUTTERING GIBBERISH.]
[ SLAMS .]
[ LOCK CLICKS .]
[ MUSIC BOX PLAYS LULLABY .]
[ LOCK CLICKS .]
[ MUSIC BOX PLAYS LULLABY .]
Ah! KRAUS: You'll be dead soon.
[ DISTORTED .]
He is my master.
[MUTTERING GIBBERISH.]
[ BREATHING HEAVILY .]
I remember I was literally trembling, but there was only one reel left, and I had to find out what happened.
[ KRAUS WHIMPERING .]
MAN: The lord is your savior.
You are a man of god.
The demon that dwells within you is not welcome in your body.
[ GROANING .]
You are a vessel of god.
Satan, denounce Satan.
And it was the first time I noticed he was chained to the wall.
I am going to give you one last chance.
Denounce Satan and all of his evils.
That's it.
MAN 2: We can't just leave him.
Let's leave.
Go.
He rot down here until he dies.
[ YELLS .]
[ PROJECTOR DIES .]
[ DOOR TREMBLES .]
[ CHAINS JINGLING .]
MILES: I had no idea who or what was on the other side of that door, but I wasn't going to stick around to find out.
I don't know about you, but I believe in god, and I believe in heaven and hell, always have.
Denounce Satan.
And I couldn't find any other reason for what I was experiencing other than someone, and yeah, maybe a dead someone, was trying to tell me something.
He can rot down here until he dies.
What if he'd been left to die in that basement? 'Cause he was either possessed or crazy, or I don't know what, but I couldn't just walk away and live with myself.
I needed to know if his body might still be down there somewhere So I went back to a part of the basement that I had never seen.
It was the same room Kraus was in.
Even though I didn't see any remains or anything, I just knew he died right there in the basement.
I ran back to the projector and started collecting all the reels to give them to the cops.
[ PROJECTOR STARTS UP .]
PRODUCER: What do you think you saw? I can tell you what I know I saw.
I saw that guy, Kraus, or I don't know, the ghost of him as plain as day in the light of that projector, not on the wall either, standing there right in front of me.
That's what I saw, and no one is ever going to change my mind.
What happened to the films? I never went back for the reels.
I went straight to the police.
And? They threatened to arrest me for trespassing.