WHAT LIES IN THE WOODS?

written by

Ben Finkelstein

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WHAT LIES IN THE WOODS?

EXT. BLARING POLICE SIRENS AND RADIO CHATTER AS A HORRIBLY

MUTILATED CORPSE IS FOUND IN A OAKVILLE, ONTARIO HOME. NIGHT.
ENTER CSI DANNY TAYLOR AS THE CAMERA MOVES TO THE LIVING ROOM
OF THE HOUSE.
Danny is taking pictures of the crime scene, while his
colleagues collect what little evidence is left.

DANNY:
Nothing appears to have been
stolen, however forced entry is
evident.
Danny points at the broken window in the living room.
DANNY: (CONT'D)
(sarcastic) Isn't it kind
of ironic how the body is
in the "living" room?

OFFICER 1:
Danny, what the fuck man? This is a
fresh murder scene, and you're
making jokes about it? That's
fucked up man.

DANNY:
What? I just think it's ironic how
the vic died in the LIVING room...

OFFICER 1:
Dude that's still fucked up. I'm
just gonna change the subject. We
got a positive ID on the victim, 27
year old Jessica Mullens. Lived
alone, worked as a bank teller.
Coworkers, friends and family
describe her as outgoing and
friendly, but shy. No enemies.
 2.

DANNY:
So who would do this to her?
The brutality either shows we're
dealing with a complete psychopath
or this crime was personal. Like
really personal. And just like the
last one the only evidence we have
is a broken window, the body itself
and a little bit of blood left on
the broken glass.

OFFICER 1:
Dispatch said the call came from
the next door neighbors, most just
said they heard glass shattering
and screaming. We've got more
officers interviewing the occupants
of the surrounding homes right now.

DANNY:
I'm gonna get all the evidence back
to my lab, see if I can find
anything, and I'll compare it to
the last one. I hope we find
something or we're gonna be dealing
with more bodies and more panic.

INT. OAKVILLE PD CRIME LAB. THE NEXT DAY.

After hours of searching through what little evidence was
present, Danny receives the results of the database check
with the blood from the window, the DNA appears to not be
human, but an unidentified species.

ENTER POLICE CAPTAIN MATT DAVIS

DAVIS
Dan, what's the status on the
evidence from the Mullens case?
DANNY:
Shit... Just like the last murder,
almost no evidence left behind,
blood found at point of entry keeps
coming back as non-human. Have the
neighbors provided any other
information?
 3.

DAVIS:
Yeah, we've got a woman in the
interview room right now, real wild
story she's given us. Something
about a wendigo... you ever heard
of that?
DANNY:
A wendigo eh? Just a legend, she's
probably either crazy or on drugs.

DAVIS:
I've never heard of such a thing.
But what's weird is her psych
records indicate no mental illness,
and her drug test came back
negative for pretty much
everything. I'm gonna need you to
go listen in on her interview just
in case.
DANNY:
Well alright, I'll go see what she
says and follow up on any info. Not
that there will be anything.
DANNY MOVES TO THE INTERVIEW ROOM
OFFICER 2:
Ma'am could you please run through
what you saw again?
WOMAN:
Yes. I was woken up by my back
yard's motion camera sending me a
notification that something was in
my yard. When I checked it, I saw a
wendigo... I didn't think it was
real but I saw it! I swear I'm not
pulling your leg, I saw this damn
creature myself!
OFFICER 2:
Ok. Could you describe the
creature?
WOMAN:
Extremely tall. Probably around 7
feet, it's skin was pale. No fur or
anything, looks like a human that's
starving, you could see it's ribs
and spine through it's skin too. It
had long claws, but only 4 fingers.
 4.

OFFICER 2:
Anything else? Did you see it's
face?
WOMAN:
It looked directly into the camera.
Tiny eyes, but they looked like
they were glowing somehow. No nose,
and a massive mouth with more teeth
than I've ever seen. It's jaw
looked like it was stuck hanging
open.
OFFICER 2:
And what happened next?
WOMAN:
It continued through my yard, just
jumped the fence like it was
nothing. After that I called 911.
But the dispatch didn't believe me.
While I was on the phone I heard
glass breaking and screaming coming
from my neighbor, Jessica's house.
OFFICER 2:
And did you see the creature leave
the area?
WOMAN:
No. I never saw it after it hopped
my fence.
OFFICER 2:
Ok, thank you for your time, you
are free to go, I'll show you to
the exit.
SUDDENLY, DISPATCH RADIOS ALL OFFICERS.
DISPATCH:
We have multiple reports of
deceased animals, as well as one
human corpse in Bronte Creek Park.
Witnesses say the scene is
currently active. Any available
officers please respond.
DANNY:
Shit. This could be our "wendigo" I
should head over there.
DANNY, ALONG WITH SEVERAL OTHER OFFICERS HEAD OVER TO THE
PARK.
 5.

EXT. BRONTE CREEK PARK. LATE EVENING, THE SUN HAS SET.

UPON ARRIVAL THEY ARE SEEING HORRIFICALLY MUTILATED MOOSE,

SQUIRRELS AND OTHER WILDLIFE. APPEARING TO HAVE BEEN EATEN.
IN THE PARKING LOT OF THE PARK, A HUMAN BODY, IN A SIMILAR
STATE TO THE ANIMALS LIES IN FRONT OF A CAR WHICH IS COVERED
IN CLAW MARKS. A TRAIL OF BLOOD LEADS OFF INTO THE WOODS.
OFFICER 3:
Jesus fuck... what did this?
Wolves?
OFFICER 4:
Doubt it. Wolves almost never come
this close to the city.
DANNY:
I don't know, but whatever it is,
it's hungry... start interviewing
any witnesses and see what they
say.
OFFICERS BEGIN TO CLOSE OFF THE SCENE. AS THEY LAY OUT CRIME
SCENE TAPE AND MOVE ALL CIVILIANS OFF SITE, A HORRIFYING
SCREECH PERMEATES THE AIR, SEEMINGLY FROM IN THE WOODS.
DANNY: (CONT'D)
Holy shit! Fan out into the woods,
find whatever made that sound.
DANNY AND THE OTHER OFFICERS HEAD INTO THE WOODS TO FIND THE
SOURCE.
DANNY: (CONT'D)
(ALONE WITH FLASHLIGHT AND GUN IN
HAND) Fuck fuck fuck fuck
MORE SCREECHES FROM THE WENDIGO, QUICKLY GETTING CLOSER TO
DANNY.
DANNY FINDS MORE DEAD WILDLIFE. GUNSHOTS RING OUT FROM
SEVERAL YARDS AWAY, DANNY HEARS ONE OF THE OFFICERS
SCREAMING, FOLLOWED BY SILENCE. HE RUNS OFF TOWARDS THE
SCREAMS.
DANNY: (CONT'D)
(out of breath) hey!
(no response) Are you
there? Answer me!
ANOTHER SHRIEK FROM THE WENDIGO, JUST FEET AWAY.
 6.

WENDIGO:
(Heavy wheezing,
accompanied by growling)
DANNY:
(speechless) I.. d- wha-
WENDIGO:
(Shrieks at Danny)
THE WENDIGO BEGINS CIRCLING DANNY, WHO HAS HIS GUN DRAWN AND
FOCUSED ON THE CREATURE.
WENDIGO: (CONT'D)
(begins to approach Danny,
growling and visibly
salivating.)
DANNY:
No! Fuck off!
(Fires at wendigo)
WENDIGO:
(Bleeding, but not showing
any signs of stopping. The
wendigo pounces.)
DANNY:
(Screaming) GET OFF ME!
SOMEONE HELP ME! (his
vision begins to go dark)
dammit... (coughing, and
continuing to scream as
his flesh is ripped from
his body.)
WENDIGO CONTINUES TO SHOVEL BITS OF FLESH AND MUSCLE INTO
IT'S MOUTH, AS DANNY DIES OF SHOCK.

WENDIGO:
(shrieks)

CAMERA ZOOMS OUT OF THE FOREST AS THE WENDIGO'S SHRIEK ECHOS

THROUGH THE NIGHT.

EXT. PARKING LOT OF BRONTE CREEK PARK. DAY.

 7.

CREDITS ROLL AS 3 BODY BAGS ARE LOADED INTO AMBULANCES,

CAMERA ZOOMS IN ON DANNY'S BODY BAG AS IT IS ZIPPED UP,
SHOWING THE FULL EXTENT OF THE GRUESOME ATTACK.
THE END.