Crampton

by Thomas Ligotti

  HELEN

  (shouting)

  What?

  BRADY

  On stage! I think that's Ricky!

  Helen looks. Indeed, the figure in the skeleton suit could be Ricky. Whoever he is, he's struggling against the bonds that hold him to the wheel ... but that could all be part of the act.

  HELEN

  I can't tell!

  BRADY

  Closer! Get closer!

  Brady and Helen try to move toward the stage but it's slow going--the crowd seems to get thicker the closer they get to the stage.

  ON STAGE - a tuxedoed MAGICIAN with blond hair and handsome yet forgettable features steps through the curtain. A white-tipped cane materializes in his hand. The magician uses the end of his cane to start the wheel spinning.

  After a few spins the magician grabs the wheel, bringing it to a dead stop. With a flourish he tears the X off the skeleton's mouth. The bound man emits a TORMENTED SCREAM.

  IN THE CROWD - Brady and Helen react, shoving people aside in an attempt to reach the stage. But for every person they push aside two fill in the gap.

  HELEN

  FBI!

  BRADY

  Federal agents! Get out of the way!

  Their shouts have no effect--they don't even get the audience's attention. The agents can see the action on stage in glimpses from between shifting bodies...

  ON STAGE - the magician starts the wheel spinning again. The pitch of the skeleton's SCREAMING seems to rise and fall as the wheel goes around.

  With one swift movement the magician reaches toward the spinning figure, grasps the skeleton suit near the right shoulder, and peels the right sleeve away. There is nothing but empty air beneath. The SCREAM RISES. The crowd OOHS.

  The magician repeats the maneuver three more times, peeling away the skeleton's left arm and legs. The SCREAMING turns into a HYSTERICAL SOBBING.

  The magician stops the wheel. All that is left of the skeleton is a limbless torso and a head. With a final flourish the magician peels away the remaining costume. The figure disappears except for a NAKED SKULL, white and gleaming, which drops out of the space where the mask had been, landing in the magician's waiting hand.

  The SCREAMING continues for a few moments before fading away. SILENCE ... then the ROAR of the jubilant crowd.

  The music goes TA-DA! The crowd begins to break up, allowing Brady and Helen to finally move forward. Through the bodies they see the magician take his bows. A curtain rushes in from either side of the stage, closing in front of the magician.

  INT. MASONIC HALL - ON THE STAGE

  The HOUSE LIGHTS GO DIM as the agents climb onto the stage. They look at the stained and tattered curtain--the same curtain from their shared dreams. Using the barrel of his gun, Brady parts the curtain slightly. A ROARING SOUND, like an approaching tornado, emanates from behind it.

  HELEN

  What is it?

  BRADY

  End of the line. Whatever is behind all this is in there.

  HELEN

  I'm not sure I can do this.

  BRADY

  Do you want to keep having that dream the rest of your life? (Beat) I know I don't.

  Helen closes her eyes. She's silent for a moment. Then she opens them, a look of grim determination on her face.

  HELEN

  Right.

  She steps into the roaring darkness. Brady is only a half-step behind. In a second they're gone--swallowed up.

  CUT TO:

  SWIRLING DARKNESS

  Vague impressions of whirling currents. Subtle layers of darkness, like a storm of chaos. The ROARING is amazing--like a combination of a hurricane and some wild animal.

  Just as the ROARING reaches its apex, the blackness splits down the middle--

  CUT TO:

  INT. FBI HEADQUARTERS - HALLWAY

  Elevator doors slide open. Brady steps out, gun in hand. We hear a SINGLE GUNSHOT from OFFSCREEN.

  INT. FBI HEADQUARTERS - OFFICES

  Brady rushes in through the door, gun drawn. The room is in utter chaos--FBI agents surround Larry Johnson's desk. One of them is kneeling over a figure on the floor.

  BRADY

  What happened?

  FBI AGENT #1

  He's dead.

  The circle of agents breaks up. Larry Johnson is lying on the floor, his gun in his right hand. Half his head is blown off.

  HELEN

  Jesus Christ.

  FBI AGENT #2

  He just started freaking out--screaming like a wounded animal. Before I could do anything he had drawn his gun.

  BRADY

  This isn't right. There's supposed to be--

  HELEN

  --another man.

  Brady turns around. Helen's eyes are fixed on his. They stars at each other like they're each trying to remember something ... something elusive.

  The CAMERA PANS toward Larry's left hand. On the floor, spread out like a fan of playing cards, is a sheaf of identical black-and-white photographs. Each one depicts a tattered and stained curtain, CLOSING ... CLOSING.

  JOHNSON'S FOV - looking up through a FISH EYE LENS we see one of the agents reach over to gently close Larry Johnson's eyes. The SCREEN GOES BLACK.

  EXT. FBI HEADQUARTERS - EVENING

  Brady comes out of the main entrance, looking exhausted. He descends the stairs to the sidewalk.

  HELEN (O.S.)

  Excuse me.

  Brady looks over. Helen is standing nearby, leaning against a light pole. She still looks a little confused.

  HELEN

  That agent, the one who ... did you know him?

  BRADY

  A little. (Beat) Not really, no.

  HELEN

  Oh. You just looked a little shaken up.

  BRADY

  Yeah, I guess I am.

  They are quiet for a few seconds, alone with their thoughts.

  HELEN

  Listen, I'm not sure what that was all about ... what we said in there, about another man--

  BRADY

  Forget it. I already have.

  HELEN

  Okay, then.

  She starts to walk away. Brady watches her silently, a decision forming in his head.

  BRADY

  Wait a second.

  She stops, turns around, waiting.

  BRADY

  What was your name again?

  HELEN

  Sweeten.

  (she points to the stick-on nametag on her jacket)

  Helen Sweeten.

  BRADY

  Helen ... have you ever seen Titanic?

  Brady catches up with Helen, and they walk down the street together.

  RICKY (V.O.)

  They can do anything They want. They can change the entire landscape of things--make things happen that couldn't possibly happen.

  The CAMERA PANS to show the backside of the light pole that Helen had been leaning against. Someone has taped a colored flyer to it: a magician's grinning face; printed above it, "SPECTACULAR DISPLAY OF ILLUSION AND VENTRILOQUISM".

  RICKY (V.O.)

  Nothing is real--nothing but Them.

  FADE TO BLACK.

  Crampton - Original X-Files Script

  Thomas Ligotti and Brandon Trenz

  This version was published online in 1998, and was later reworked as the 2003 Durtro publication.

  FADE IN:

  SUPER: J. EDGAR HOOVER BLDG., WASHINGTON, DC

  INT. FBI HEADQUARTERS

  A MAN exits an elevator and walks through the halls of FBI headquarters. We never see his face, only glimpses of slicked-back blond hair and his clothes: a black suit, stiff white cuffs, white gloves, shiny black shoes--classic stage magician attire.

  Though he walks without pretence of stealth, his passage seems completely undetected. The FBI agents that mill about the halls and offices do not notice him as he goes by, or their attention is drawn elsewhere just as he comes into view. Those in his path appear to step out of his way without even knowin
g it.

  CUT TO:

  INT. ELEVATOR

  AGENT FOX MULDER and AGENT DANA SCULLY enter the elevator on another floor. They are in the middle of a conversation. Judging by the look on Scully's face, she's wishing it was over already.

  MULDER

  So, seriously, you never saw Star Wars?

  SCULLY

  Nope.

  MULDER

  Never?

  SCULLY

  What did I just say?

  MULDER

  How could you not see Star Wars?

  SCULLY

  I was a little more into Grease at the time.

  MULDER

  Jeez, Scully, it's only like the most popular movie ever.

  SCULLY

  No, that's Titanic--which you never saw.

  MULDER

  Yeah, well, I know how it ends.

  CUT TO:

  INT. FBI HEADQUARTERS

  The blond man enters a door marked "Criminal Division." At one of the half-dozen or so cubicles inside sits AGENT LARRY JOHNSON, studying a sheaf of black-and-white photographs. The man strides to Agent Johnson's desk and reaches into his jacket.

  BLOND MAN

  (in a dead voice)

  Larry Johnson?

  AGENT JOHNSON

  (looking up)

  Yes?

  Johnson's face goes ashen.

  AGENT JOHNSON

  How did you get in here?

  JOHNSON'S POV: We get a very brief glimpse of the invading figure's face--handsome but bland, forgettable--before it is blocked by the BARREL OF A .44. The .44 EXPLODES--bang! bang!

  The ROAR of gunfire breaks the spell. FBI agents turn toward the gunshots to see Agent Johnson slammed backwards, thrown out of his chair, knocking down the wall of his cubicle.

  The AGENT nearest Agent Johnson leaps at the assassin, tackling him around the waist. The two men hit the ground with an alarming CLATTER.

  The agent rises on his elbows.

  AGENT

  What the hell?

  What previously was a man dressed in stage magician's clothes is now a BROKEN-UP PLASTER MANNIKIN. The head has become detached from the body and is still SPINNING a few feet away.

  CUT TO:

  INT. FBI HEADQUARTERS, MINUTES LATER

  Agents Mulder and Scully step off the elevator into chaos: FBI agents and EMS personnel are swarming around the fallen Larry Johnson.

  MULDER

  (to the nearest agents)

  What's going on?

  AGENT

  You don't want to know.

  ANOTHER AGENT

  It was Johnson.

  MULDER

  Larry Johnson?

  EMS personnel wheel a gurney past them--on it, the body of Larry Johnson.

  SCULLY (O.S.)

  Did you know him, Mulder?

  Mulder looks at the mannikin parts strewn across the floor, and for a moment he hesitates, as if trying to remember something.

  SCULLY (O.S.)

  Mulder?

  CLOSE UP on the mannikin's face.

  CREDITS

  INT. AUTOPSY ROOM, NEXT DAY

  Mulder enters the swinging doors, holding a folded newspaper. Scully stands next to an operating table in scrubs. On the table is the body of Larry Johnson.

  MULDER

  Well, the Bureau's collective underwear is really up in a bunch on this one. The word from Skinner is that the Director wants hourly reports until this thing is cleaned up. You should see it, it's like a Fed convention around here. They've already come up with the "official" story.

  He unfolds the newspaper, showing Scully the front page.

  SCULLY

  (reading)

  "Assassin guns down FBI agent. Terrorism not ruled out." What terrorism?

  MULDER

  My sentiments exactly.

  SCULLY

  Actually, at this point it's probably as good an explanation as anything else.

  MULDER

  I take that to mean the autopsy has proved less than illuminating.

  SCULLY

  Agent Lawrence Johnson died at two-nineteen p.m. yesterday of a massive heart attack.

  MULDER

  Heart attack? Well, that explains it.

  SCULLY

  Explains what, exactly?

  MULDER

  How this could kill him.

  Mulder holds up an evidence bag containing what appears to be the .44 used to shoot Agent Larry Johnson. He pulls the gun out, points it in the air, and pulls the trigger. Out of the barrel POPS a little flag with the word "Bang!" on it.

  SCULLY

  But weren't there gunshots?

  MULDER

  The agents on the scene seem to be having trouble remembering little details like that. What's more, the security cameras on that floor apparently began malfunctioning about the time the, uh, terrorist entered the building. Started picking up television signals.

  SCULLY

  All of them?

  Mulder shrugs.

  MULDER

  (pointing to Johnson)'s body)

  So, what do we tell Skinner about this?

  SCULLY

  I'm not sure yet, but I think Larry Johnson saw the gun and believed he had been shot, and the shock killed him. He was, for lack of a better expression, tricked to death. It's not exactly common, but it has happened before.

  She lifts the sheet off Johnson to show Mulder the body.

  SCULLY

  And then there's this...

  Scully takes a penlight and, opening Johnson's eyelids with her fingers, shines it into Johnson's dead eyes. THE PUPILS SHRINK as the light hits them. Scully points the light away. The PUPILS EXPAND.

  JOHNSON'S POV: Looking up from the table, we see Scully shine the light down again, then move it away.

  MULDER

  Ah. That.

  SCULLY

  Mulder, when we got to the scene of the shooting, or whatever it was, you clearly recognized Larry Johnson. Do you have some idea what this is all about?

  MULDER

  Meet me back in my office.

  JOHNSON'S POV: Still looking up, we see Mulder walk out of view. Scully looks down at Johnson's body, then pulls the sheet back over him, covering the CAMERA.

  INT. MULDER'S OFFICE

  Mulder and Scully are watching a series of videotapes on a small television.

  MULDER

  About seven years ago, Johnson and his partner, Ricky Smith, were following a fraud case--late-night infomercials for a psychic hotline.

  On the TELEVISION SCREEN, gaudy red letters announce "The Mystery Line," along with an 800 number. The words dissolve into the image of a blandly handsome BLOND MAN, sitting at a desk next to a heavy black telephone.

  BLOND MAN

  (on the video)

  What lottery numbers will make you rich? How can you make that someone special notice you? What is your purpose in life? When will you die? The Mystery Line has the answers to all your questions.

  The man holds up the receiver and looks at the camera, appearing to almost stare through the screen.

  BLOND MAN

  (on the video)

  Call now, if you really want to know.

  Mulder hits eject and fishes for another tape, popping it into the VCR.

  MULDER

  I was with Violent Crimes at the time. Johnson and Smith called us in when they visited the homes of some of the Mystery Line's clients.

  On the TELEVISION SCREEN, a hand-held camera documents the interior of an apartment. Several FBI agents stand over the body of a middle-aged woman, her dead eyes open and staring. Near her open hand is a telephone receiver. In the background we can hear television STATIC.

  MULDER

  Eleven people, mostly in the Midwest, were found like this. No apparent cause of death. Television on. Phone off the hook--still connected to the Mystery Line. And check this out.

  Mulder points to the television screen. An agent takes a penlight and inspects the dead woman's
eyes. The PUPILS CONTRACT as the light hits them.

  MULDER

  Look familiar?

  SCULLY

  Larry Johnson. So, what was the deal with the Mystery Line?

  MULDER

  Johnson and Smith never made any headway. The phone number was traced back to an answering machine in an abandoned warehouse in Arizona. None of the victims were actually charged for the hotline's services, so there was no way to follow the money.

  Mulder points to the television screen again.

  MULDER

  There. That's Ricky Smith.

  On the SCREEN, a rotundish man with a neatly trimmed beard is giving orders. At one point he turns angrily toward the camera.

  RICKY SMITH (ON THE VIDEOTAPE)

  Get that thing out of my face!

  MULDER

  He had a reputation as an arrogant s.o.b., but he was actually a hell of an agent. Tenacious.

  He stops the tape.

  SCULLY

  So where is Ricky Smith now?

  MULDER

  Nobody knows. We were taken off the case when it was clear it was going nowhere. I heard Smith and Johnson had some kind of blow-up. Smith resigned not long after, and nobody has heard from him since.

  Mulder takes a slip of paper out of an evidence bag and hands it to Scully.

  MULDER

  The man who shot Larry Johnson? This was found in his pocket.

  It is a receipt slip, the old kind that requires a sheet of carbon paper underneath to make a merchant's copy. On it is stenciled the name of the merchant, which Scully reads out loud.

  SCULLY

  Illusions of Empire Magic Shop. Mulder, there isn't anything else on this.

  MULDER

  Check out the back.

  Scully turns the receipt over. On the back in a neat but somehow antiquated hand is a map showing a few roads, but there are no names or compass directions. At one crossroads is a box labeled "Yellow House."

  SCULLY

  This doesn't tell us a whole lot, Mulder.

  MULDER

  Well, it's all we've got to work with right now. Skinner wants this wrapped up a-sap--an FBI agent getting gunned down at his desk doesn't look too good on recruiting day.

  SUPER: ILLUSIONS OF EMPIRE, EMPIRE, MICHIGAN

  INT. MAGIC SHOP

  Illusions of Empire is a dank little shop that looks and smells like an old basement. Shelves bow under the weight of boxes with labels like "Glass Box Penetration," "Smashed Watch Gimmick," "Nest o' Balls," and "Bloody Needle Gag."

  One wall of the shop is devoted entirely to ventriloquist dummies. Mulder takes one down--the label reads "My name is Laffo!"--and clumsily manipulates the mouth.