Warface Segment 1

This will have to do for now.

Standard horror ghost story begins. Old worn out farmhouse in the middle of a cornfield, in the middle of Indiana, which is in the middle of a mobile dead zone. Yuppies from west coast bought farm, sight unseen. Wanted to live "off grid" and get "closer to nature" Nature is exactly what they get, not that nature can be friendly.

Father: Chris Wellington, retired military, suffers from severe anxiety and PTSD. His goal is to focus on family. He wants to restore and build an off grid farm setting to help recover from military service.

Mother: Mary Wellington, non-profit volunteer worker. She found work in town as a pet groomer.  She is a strong, loving woman, who now has the pressure of making money for the family.

Daughter, Oldest child: Sunshine "Sunny" Wellington, geek girl, gamer, can tell you everything about D&D, comics, pop culture, movie lover, all around geek chick.

Son, Second Child: Orion Wellington, reads about the occult, ghost stories, Wicca, and other spiritualist subjects, he is an anti-goth which means he wears all white, bleaches his hair, and listens to electronica and trance.

Daughter, Youngest child: Birdsong "Birdy" Wellington, "tom boy" climbs trees, scrapes knees, collects rocks and frogs

Act 1, Scene one
As the newbies drive through "town" they get multiple looks from the long time inhabitants that the newbs can't identify.

Birdy:
"What's wrong with those people? Why are they giving us funny looks?"

Mary:
"It's a small town, Birdy. And we are new. "

Chris:
"Yeah, Birdy. Don't you know?"

Birdy:
"Know what?"

Chris:
Sings terribly. "People are strange when you're a stranger"

Orion rolls his eyes and groans. Sunny giggles.

Mary:
Joins Chris singing. "When you're strange, Faces come out in the rain, when you're Strange!"

Orion:
Sarcastically. "Maybe we'll get lucky and they are all vampires."

Sunny
Laughing. "Looking for a new boyfriend already, Orion?"

Orion
Irritated. "Sunny stop stereotyping me!"

Sunny:
Shrugs. "I could be gender typing you instead."

Orion:
"Mom!"

Mary:
"Stop yelling, Orion. Sunny stop it, don't tease him about his lifestyle choices."

Birdy:
"Hey! I demand equality"

Everyone:
"Shut up, Birdy!"

Birdy:
"Thank you!"

 The car drives onto the property. It's an old, run down farmhouse. Cornfield.

Orion:
"What the deuce, Dad? Is that our house?"

Birdy:
"We are going to live in that?"

Sunny:
"It looks like the set from Children of the Corn!"

Birdy:
"How can kids live in corn? That's stupid."

Orion:
"No, it's not. The corn mother lives in corn."

Birdy
"The corn mother is a spirit."

Mary
"And mothers usually have children. So why couldn't there be children in the corn."

Sunny:
"Becuase they come out of the corn to kill you."

Chris
Parks the car and turns to face the backseat. "That's it. I do not want to hear any more about typing, corn children, or vampires. This house was an amazing find. It isn't often you can 15 acres of land with a house for 65 thousand dollars, even on Ebay. We are going off the grid. And that is it. So stop trying to cast me into an episode of PTSD and you, season 3." Orion tries to say something, but Chris holds up his finger. "No! You will deal."

The family quiets down and gets out of the car. Birdy gets out and starts to explore the yard around the car. She picks up a rock and inspects it carefully. She looks pleased with it.

Chris:
Sees Birdy not helping with luggage, enters Dad mode. "Birdy, stop collecting rocks and get your bags from the car." He begins to unpack the car.

Birdy rolls her eyes and stuffs the rock in her pocket. She walks around the car to her mother.

Sunny pulls out her phone and tries to find a signal. When she can't, she walks over to Orion. She shows him her phone.

Sunny:
"Are you getting anything, because I got nothing."

Orion pulls out his phone and tries to get a signal. He looks at Sunny and shakes his head no.
Mary has walked around the back of the car to empty the trunk of their luggage. Sunny and Orion, with phones out approach Mary. She sees them coming.

Mary:
Shakes her head no."Sorry, kids. This is a mobile dead zone. We are stuck with landlines until the satellite company gets out here to install the internet." Sunny and Orion are crushed. Mary Shrugs. "Welcome to 1993." She smiles, picks up luggage and goes into the house.

Four weeks later.
The family has settled into the house. Chris has begun to renovate. Mary is working in town.

Night. Girls are sleeping in their room.

Inaudible whispers heard in the hallway. The sound of flapping bat wings. Soft drumming in the background. The handle of the door to the room turns slowly. The door squeaks open slowly.  A gust of wind and the sound of flapping bat wings towards Birdy's bed. The blanket rustles softly and then gets pulled down to the foot of the bed.

Birdy moves. She gives a little groan. Sits up, opens her eyes a little, and pulls the blanket back up over her. She lays back down.

There is a growl at the foot of the bed. Inaudible whispers get louder. Drumming keeps up. Native American War cries and sounds of battle faintly. The blanket gets pulled down again. The sound of chattering teeth.

Birdy wakes up. She hears another growl and chattering teeth from under the bed. 

Birdy:

Loud Whisper. "You got the wrong chick, monster." Birdy slowly pulls out a baseball bat that reads 'MosterTamer' on it in large black sharpie.

A chuckle comes from under the bed. Rush of wind and flapping bat wings towards the door making it slam shut.

Sunny:

Bolts upright in bed. "What was that?"

Birdy:

"Nothing I couldn't handle. Go to sleep." She lays back down in bed and hugs her baseball bat.

Sunny:

Lays back down. "Millenials rule" goes back to sleep.

Important: Camera needs to move in on a close up of Birdy's baseball bat. Inset in the bottom of the handle is a St. Michael the Archangel medallion.

The next day Sunny, Birdy, and Orion are sitting at breakfast discussing Birdy's encounter. Chris has already excused himself to go outside to do some construction on whatever.

Orion:

"It always happens a couple weeks later."

Birdy:

 Curious. "Why?"

Sunny:

"Don't scare her, Orion."

Birdy:

"I'm not scared."

Orion:

Raises his brow. "Sunny, do you want me to talk to her like she's five years old?"

Birdy:

"No. You better not." Sunny huffs and rolls her eyes. 

Orion:

"Look there are things in this world that no one can explain. Stuff like footsteps, banging, and whispers. It always happens around two to four weeks because that's how long it takes new residents to settle in, and most begin renovations on an old house. Cleaning up and tearing out walls can kick up paranormal activity. It always happens like that. Like a pattern."

  Sunny:

"Knowing that stuff and capturing two EVP's doesn't make you an expert, Orion. I can tell you all the stats of a beholder, doesn't mean my character can."

The other two look at Sunny in an awkward silence.

Birdy:

 Frustrated. "How many times is it going to take before you get it in your head that I don't speak geek!"

Orion:

Gives Sunny a look of exasperation. Sunny shrugs. Orion huffs. "What she means is that I can say anything that comes out of a book, what I lack is experience. And she is right, but" He turns to face Sunny directly. "The ranger would be stupid not to listen to the wizard before entering the Mines of Moria."

Sunny:

Pauses. "Was that a ..." Looks impressed. "Touche, padawan. Plus five to diplomacy. Level up Achieved" She tries to give Orion a high five.

Orion:

Doesn't respond to the high five. 

Birdy:

"Okay, so you want us to...what? Be careful? Watch out? Since this is an old house and Dad is doing a major renovation? A bit late on your warning, don't you think?"

Orion

" Yes but since it has already started I was thinking we could record and document any more activity. What else are we going to use our phones for? They don't get a signal but the camera still works. I still have my laptop and other equipment. School doesn't start for another couple of weeks. And we don't have any neighbors. What else is there to do?" Orion smiles. "Plus there are a few experimental things I would like to try. Test some theories."

Birdy:

"But we still haven't explored the property. Dad said there was fifteen acres. I am done unpacking. I don't even want to look at another box."

Sunny

face brightens. "Hey, let's make a map!"

Orion:

shakes his head. "I do not want to play one your lame LARP adventures. Life is not a game."

Sunny

"That is where you are wrong, brother. Life is an adventure."

Orion:

rolls his eyes. "Sunny, I hope you roll a one."

Sunny:
for a gamer, this is a bad thing. Rolling a one means epic fail. Sunny gets upset about this. Becuase Orion said in such a way that she couldn't tell if he was teasing or cursing her. She doesn't say anything but the look on her face should clearly indicate that this was a bad thing to say.

Birdy

"Bad form!" She grabs the cereal box, reaches in and takes a handful of fruity pebbles. Then, she throws them all over Orion. "Think Happy thoughts, bitch!" Then, she runs out of the kitchen through the back door. Laughing as she goes.

Sunny nearly dies of laughter, while Orion brushes the cereal off his body and hair. But he ends up laughing too. 

Chris is in the house getting a bottle of water from the fridge. He is grubby, sweaty, covered in sawdust and dirt from renovations. He is exhausted. Chris has been overworking himself. He has been using the renovations as an excuse to keep his mind off of his trauma from Afghanistan. 

But in this moment, he relaxes, lets his guard down, and his exhaustion takes advantage of him. He has a flashback of his unit under fire. Chris watches three of his soldiers die in front of him. The PTSD episode begins to switch back and forth from the past and the present.

In the present, Mary has come home from an early day. She is kneeling in front of Chris, not close. About four feet away from him. He is freaking out. And she is repeating trigger words to help bring him out of his episode. 

Mary:

"Chris Wellington, I am your wife, Mary Wellington. The year is 2017. You are safe. You are home." She repeats, using a calm and steady voice. She is careful not to touch him.

Chris flashes back and forth until he calms down and returns to reality.

Chris:

"I'm so sorry." He reaches out to take Mary's  hand. He is tearing up.

Mary:

She takes his hand and kisses it. "You have nothing to be sorry for. You fought for them. You gave your all for them.  But don't let them take everything. Live for them.  We will do it together. Together, Chris." They hug. Mary gets up to get him a new water bottle. She hands him the bottle. "Where are the kids?" 

Meanwhile, outside, the kids are exploring what they think is their property. They are running along the border of the farmhouse lawn and the adjacent cornfield. They are running in and out of the cornfield trying to scare each other. The running sequence ends with them out of breath and standing together just inside the cornfield.

The corn rustles not too far from them. They hear a cracking of a stick. More rustling. The kids look around at each other, realizing they are standing together. The moment is tense. The wind rushes over them, chattering teeth, Flapping bats wings, they are distracted by the rush of breeze. They hear rustling in the opposite direction, They look over and see a guy in overalls and a baseball cap. He grins. The kids scream, turn and run.

Mary and Chris coming running out of the house and calling for the kids. The kids coming running towards the parents. And the guy comes walking out the cornfield, laughing. The parents and kids hug each other.

Farmer Joe:

"Howdy, ya must be the new neighbors. Meh name's Joe. I live next door. Sorry teh scare ya like that." Joe is an older guy, looks in his late 50's or early 60's. He walks with a slight limp.

Chris:

Approaches Joe and hold out his hand to shake Joe's hand. "Hello, Joe. I'm Chris Wellington. This is my wife, Mary. My daughters Sunshine, and Birdsong. And my son, Orion. Mary nods at Joe. The kids are recovering from the scare.

Farmer Joe:

"came over teh introduce mehself an' say hello, butta found yur kids in meh corn." He gives a chuckle. "Kids dun know it's not polite teh play in some'un else's cornfield."

Mary:

"I am so sorry Joe. We didn't.." she looks at Chris, Chris shakes his head and shrugs. Mary facepalms. "We didn't tell them about the funny property layout."

Sunny:

"Mom? Don't you think that was a little important?"

Mary:

Nods. "Yes. I don't know what I was thinking..."

Chris:

"The move has been very stressful. I didn't think of it either."

Farmer Joe:

"Hey, not teh worry an' no harm dun. It's a big move from military teh civilain life. I can certainly understan' that."

Sunny:

"How do you know that?"

Farmer Joe:

"That yur a military family?" He grins. "Ran inteh David. David sold ya the property, right?"  Chris and Mary nod at Joe. "Well, David came teh pick up some stuff an' clear it out. He said a retired vet and his family were movin' in. An' round here, that's big news. Yur gonna find that this community respects those who serve. Yu'll fit right in."

Chris:

"Did you serve?"

Farmer Joe

"Nah, not me. Got a gimpy leg. Meh brother. Went teh Korea, then Veitnam. Didn't come home the same. But war has a way of makin' injuries not seen by the naked eye. But no less scarrin'." Chris goes quite. "Here, lemme show ya. I knew the owner an' the family from way back.." He starts to walk towards the house. "Yur house and shed are on four acres, on this side of the road. But the rest of yur 11 acres are on the other side." He points past the house, down the drive, and towards the road. "It used teh be all one property back in the day."

Orion:

"You said you knew the owner's family? How long have you lived here?" He and the rest of the family follow Joe to the road.

Farmer Joe:

"All meh life, and four generations back. I did know David and his family. A bit sad that. David's mother,  knew her too.  Oh, you betch'cha! Known'er all meh life. Nicest lady ya ever did met, sweet as candy...til 'er kids moved out an' 'er husband died." Joe stopped and turned to face them. "That woman went bonafide..." He spins his finger around the temple of his head, making a whistling sound, then he makes a popping sound, and points his finger to the sky. "The poor woman couldn't handle the quiet." He sighs and puts his hands in his pockets. "Everybody has their breakin' point. An' I suppose Ol' Mrs. Steiner' s point was when 'er husband passed."

Mary:

"That's so sad. Empty nest is hard enough. But the loss of her children and her husband...I can't imagine."

Farmer Joe:

"She slowly sold off parts of the farm til 15 acres and the farmhouse was left. Our family bought everythin' surrounin'. But boy howdy, she would not part with the wooded lot 'cross the road. She said, "Engines wouldn't be too happy if'n she did."

Orion:

"Engines? Is there a railroad here?"

Joe chuckles. Chris and Mary look surprised and offended.

Farmer Joe:

"Ya must be city kids, if'n ya ain't never heard that word. Engines is an old word for Indians. Whatcha call it...not politically correct?" Joe pauses. "That was a different time, kids. Most people don't use that word no more. I usually don't. Ol' Mrs. Steiner, she didn't mean no offense by it either. But she used to talk about the Engines and soldiers in the woods and drumming all night long. Flappin' wings, chatterin' teeth, blazin' fires, yup, that lady went all bag'o'hammers. "

Orion:

fascinated. "Really?"

Farmer Joe:

Mistakes Orions fascination with being frightened. "Well, now don'cha worry 'bout that. Been here all meh life. I ain't never heard no flappin', seen no fire, and the Natives 'round here are the ones identified by genealogy reports. Hasn't been a full blood in these parts since 1932. I remember Pappy tellin' me 'bout 'er. "

Birdy:

"What about an Indian Burial ground?"

Sunny:

Rolls her eyes. "Don't be ridiculous, Birdy. The entire United States of America is an Indian Burial ground. If that was the problem, everyone would have paranormal activity."

Mary:

"Sunny, don't be so macabre."

Chris:

"Historically speaking, and as a blanket statement, Sunny is correct. And yes, it is a dark piece of history. Can we not talk about it?"

Farmer Joe:

"Well, best be headin' back. If ya'll need anythin', well, me and the missus are the closest neighbors." 

Warface part 2