The Haunting of Heck House (3 page)

They step through the archway. Camera pans FULL-CIRCLE to show the INTERIOR OF THE TEMPLE. The STONE PASSAGE is a MAZE, festooned with VINES that criss-cross the open space like spiderwebs. IN THE SHADOWS, the treasure hunters can see DOZENS OF IDOLS, ALL IDENTICAL, GLARING AT THEM.

They are EXTREMELY MENACING.

HUNTER CEE points at one particular idol, set somewhat apart from the rest. It has a jewel set in its forehead that seems to be faintly GLOWING.

She takes a confident step forward, steps on a VINE and triggers a BOOBY TRAP! A JET OF DEADLY ACID sprays just in front of her as HUNTER TEE grabs her jacket and yanks her back.

MULTI-SHOT SEQUENCE of the HUNTERS acrobatically dodging and ducking the network of VINES.

As they approach the STONE ALTAR where the IDOL hangs from a hook on a carved post, HUNTER CEE accidentally snags her PICKAXE on a TRIP VINE ...

This TRIGGERS A VOLLEY OF POISON ARROWS!!

The HUNTERS make a RUN for it ...

Only to have a GAPING CHASM open in the stone floor between them and the ALTAR!

In desperation, THEY LEAP!! ...

GRASP the crumbling stone ledge ...

And SCRABBLE up the rock face to RELATIVE SAFETY ...

CAMERA ZOOMS IN on their wide-eyed reactions.

The HUNTERS clamber unsteadily to their feet and turn to face the IDOL. The little stone head of the SPEAKER GOD glares at them.

The HUNTERS circle around to opposite sides of the altar post.

HUNTER CEE pulls a PUTTER from a holster on her back and sights down its length. HUNTER TEE produces a CATCHER'S MITT and assumes a ready stance. HUNTER CEE squints, leans forward and lines up the golf club like a pool cue, aiming it at the IDOL ...

 

She knocks the IDOL from its perch ...

Right into HUNTER TEE's catcher's mitt! PERFECT SHOT!!

There is a FROZEN MOMENT OF SILENCE. The two HUNTERS grin at each other ... and then ALL HECK BREAKS LOOSE!!!

The temple VINES start to SNAP and WHIP AROUND! DARTS and ARROWS zip through the air!

The HUNTERS cover their heads, leap back over the chasm and run recklessly for the exit in a ZIGZAG pattern ...

SUDDENLY, the HUNTERS hear a THUNDEROUS RUMBLING coming from RIGHT BEHIND THEM! They look back to see ...

They are being CHASED BY AN ENORMOUS ROCK, CARVED IN THE SHAPE OF A SACRED AZTEC MINI-DONUT!!

The HUNTERS barrel through the ARCHWAY and land in a heap.

Suddenly, the IDOL's RUBY EYE GLOWS TO LIFE and a DISEMBODIED VOICE CRACKLES out of SPEAK-EL-SPEAK-QUEL!

“Cutting! Cutting!” Cheryl yelled frantically in answer to Tweed's equally frantic direction. The ACTION!! sequence came screeching to a halt as the girls froze. After a moment, Cheryl's pigtails— strawberry blonde and sprouting askew from both sides of her head—bounced furiously as she whipped her head around, searching for the source of the voice she and Tweed had just heard. Tweed on the other hand, didn't move. She just stood there, staring with wide grey eyes at the battered rectangular-shaped metal box, cradled in the catcher's mitt she held in both hands. Her arms were stretched so far out in front of her, she looked as if she was trying to back away from them. Or from the object that had just squawked at them in an outraged, slightly nasally English accent.

“What the …?” Cheryl stepped forward and peered closely at the Drive-In car speaker as if it were an alien life form. Intriguing, but not to be trusted. She glanced back up at Tweed. “Did that thing just say something?”

Tweed nodded silently, clearly more freaked out by that fact than she was comfortable with.

“Maybe Pops is testing the system,” Cheryl suggested. “Maybe—”

She snapped her jaw shut when the reason for Tweed's freaked-out-ishness became apparent as she juggled the catcher's mitt slightly so Cheryl could see the bottom of the speaker. The thing was—at least it
should
have been—totally defunct. Trailing from the metal housing
were two wires with frayed, frazzled ends. It happened occasionally—the local squirrel population wasn't that bright and were prone to chewing through things they had no business chewing through—but, because of that, there was no possible way that speaker was still hooked in to the Drive-In system. And that wasn't the only thing. It also sported what, at first, seemed to be a round red indicator light bulb on top—the “jewel of Speak-El-Speak-Quel.” In their ACTION!! game, that hadn't seemed so odd. Only, in real life … well … the Starlight Paradise Drive-In movie theatre in-car speakers
didn't
have indicator light bulbs on top.

“Um …” Cheryl leaned forward—just a bit—and stared at the thing.

“You heard that,” Tweed said. “Right? You heard it talk?”

Cheryl nodded vigorously and went back to staring.

“Take a photograph!” the speaker suddenly exclaimed in an annoyed tone, the red light pulsing in time to the words. “It'll last longer!”