Episode Twenty-two: A Cruel World

By LazyCalm

Act One

FADE IN:

EXT. WESTERN STATE PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL-NIGHT

Steilacoom, Washington

Open to an Establishing Shot of the hospital. The rain is pouring down heavily and thunder can be heard rumbling in the sky.

INT. HOSPITAL CORRIDOR

We move through the corridor, the elevator door to the left opens; a MAN walks out, we track his shoes as he walk up to the main desk. The young nurse on duty (KARA CLAYBOURNE, 23 years old, blonde, slight attitude) sits at her desk, bored, reading a “gossip” magazine. Behind her we can see a series of monitors showing various patient's rooms. The man stops at the desk. Kara looks up.

KARA
Can I help you?

We see the man; he is old, thin, and graying. He is carrying a bouquet of flowers.

MAN
I'm visiting a relative, my niece. I called ahead. MR. HINGLE
(beat)
PATRICK.

KARA
(looks at the computer screen)
You're cutting it pretty fine. Visiting hours are almost over, Mr. Hingle.

Patrick nods.

PATRICK
I apologize, I won't be long.
(beat)
Promise.

Kara sighs, looks down at the patient list.

KARA
Who are you visiting?

PATRICK
Charlotte St. James.

Kara looks up, surprised.

KARA
Charlotte?!

PATRICK
Yes. Is that a problem?

KARA
No, it's just that...she's catatonic, hasn't spoken a word or moved from her bed since she was admitted over a year ago.

PATRICK
(smiles)
I know. Such a shame.

KARA
She's in room 12, just down the corridor to your left.
(gets up)
Follow me.

She leaves her station, Patrick smiles and follows her.

We close up on one of the monitor screens behind the desk. In it we see a young woman laying still on a bed, her arms and legs in restraints. The screen flickers violently as we see Patrick enter the room.

INT. ROOM 12

Patrick is standing over the girl on the bed, CHARLOTTE ST. JAMES a young woman, 18 years old with long jet black hair and a pale complexion. Her eyes are vacant, she doesn't react to Patrick or Kara's presence. She is strangely beautiful. Under her covers she is dressed in a white patient's nightgown. Patrick notices the restraints.

PATRICK
Is she dangerous?

Kara is stood in the doorway.

KARA
It's more of a safety measure. When she was brought in she was violent and delusional, screaming for everyone to shut up. Attacked one of the Orderlies before we could restrain her, gave him a bad concussion. Since then...we just don't want to take any chances, you know?

He nods, smiles.

PATRICK
Poor girl.
(to Kara)
Could I have a moment alone?

KARA
(nods)
Sure. If you need me just hit the door comm.

Patrick smiles.

PATRICK
Thank you .

Kara nods and exits the room, closes the door behind her.

Patrick looks down at Charlotte, a thin smile stretches across his lips.

INT. HOSPITAL CORRIDER

Kara walks back to her desk. We track her as she goes, sits back at her station and goes back to her magazine.

Close up on the monitor to Charlotte's room, the screen is normal then-silent static! Kara doesn't even notice.

A young Orderly (RICHY DONALDSON, 24, brash, confident) walks over to the desk, smiles and winks at Kara.

RICHY
Hey Sexy.

Kara looks up and smiles.

KARA
Hey You.

RICHY
So, I've got to go and grab some blankets from the supply closet...
(suggestive)
Fancy giving me a hand? Those blankets are pretty heavy.

KARA
(leans in closer)
I thought you were a “big strong man”?

RICHY
(leans in closer)
I thought you could read “between the lines”?

KARA
Oh I can, I'm just playing “hard to get.”
(whispers)
I'm not very good at it.

They laugh, are about to kiss then-

SMASH! The sound of broken glass!

RICHY
(startled)
What was that?

Close up on Kara's face, shocked.

KARA
...Room 12!

She turns to the monitor-static!

KARA
What the..?

The two of them run down the corridor-

CUT TO:

INT. ROOM 12

They open the door to Charlotte's room.

KARA
(hands over her mouth in shock)
Oh my God!

POV. KARA

The flowers have been thrown and scattered on the floor, the window has been smashed through completely. She looks down at Charlotte-the same as before, no movement-nothing, save for the slight ghost of a smile-then it's gone.

Richy walks over to the window, looks down.

RICHY
(Shocked)
Oh...man!

POV. RICHY

We see Patrick lay out on the concrete floor, face down, blood slowly seeping from his cracked skull-dead.

EXT. HOSPITAL GROUNDS

We Pan down through the pouring rain to a close up of Patrick's face. His eyes are red and glazed, as though he's been crying!

RICHY (O.S.)
Call an Ambulance! Hurry!

Hold on a close up of Patrick's face then-

FADE TO: BLACK

“A CRUEL WORLD”

FADE IN:

INT. HOSPITAL HALLWAY

POV. UNKNOWN

We open to a blurry image of the hospital hallway, but this time it's different: The lights are flickering overhead, the walls are smeared with streaks of red blood, and a young woman dressed in a white, ragged hospital gown is crawling along the floor towards us. Behind her we can make out two dark silhouettes slowly walking closer.
We look down to the ground to see the girl looking right at us-It's Charlotte!

CHARLOTTE
(pleading, terrified)
Help me!

FLASH CUT:

INT. MOTEL ROOM-NIGHT

The image shifts away to reveal the view of the motel's dank ceiling and the sound of a few cars passing by bleeds in from the outside,

Pull back to reveal: SAM WINCHESTER, laying in bed, looking panicked-it was a vision!

SAM
(startled)
Dean...DEAN!

Pan over to the next bed where we see DEAN WINCHESTER buried under the covers slowly stirring.

DEAN
(sleepy)
...Ugh?

SAM
Dean, I had a nightmare!

Dean, groggy, sits up in bed and looks over at Sam.

DEAN
What do you want me to do about it? Fix you some coco and tell you scary monster aren't real?
(rolls over and lies back down)
You're too old for that, Sammy, and you already know it's crap.

SAM
No, Dean. I had a vision!

DEAN
(turns back to Sam)
Now why the hell didn't you just say that in the first place?

SAM
Dean, you should by know how serious these...nightmares are.

DEAN
Yeah, okay. Like last week, hm? Remember? You dreamt you were being chased by the Banana Splits, now-I'd gladly hunt down Drooper and pop him full of lead given half a reason-but that was just that, Sam…
(beat)
a nightmare.
(beat)
You need to be more specific in future.

SAM
(shakes his head)
Okay then. I had a vision, where I saw a young girl in a hospital desperately trying to get away from something chasing her.

DEAN
(unimpressed)
That's it?
(rolls over)
We'll pick it up in the morning.

SAM
(beat)
She was pretty hot.

Dean jumps out of bed and heads over to the bathroom, wearing his boxers and an old Led Zeppelin t-shirt.

DEAN
Okay, I'll grab a shower while you hit the research.

Dean walks out of frame, close up on Sam, a sly grin crosses his face.

EXT. “5 ACES MOTEL”-NIGHT

An establishing shot of the motel as it's neon sign flickers with the humming sound of electrity.

CUT TO:

INT. MOTEL ROOM

Dean is now sitting over the side of the bed, putting on his boots.

DEAN
Find anything?

Move over to Sam, who is sitting at the table by his laptop, as the light from the screen illuminates against his face.

SAM
Not yet.

Close up on the laptop screen as Sam clicks on one of the Google news links the screen displays an article with the headline “Murder or suicide? Man falls to his death from a third floor window at Steilacoom Psychiatric Hospital.”

SAM
That's interesting.

DEAN
Let me guess, Lindsey Lohan stumbled out of another nightclub again while going “commando”?

SAM
(smiles)
No, this article. Apparently some guy jumped from a window at a Mental Hospital in Washington State and died on impact.

DEAN
What do you expect, Sam? It's a nut house, guy was probably missing a few screws and thought he was Superman or something.

SAM
(scrolls down the article)
No, he wasn't a patient, he was visiting someone.

POV. SAM

Looking at the laptop screen, scrolls down to a photo of Charlotte.

SAM
Oh my God!
(to Dean)
That's her! That's the girl of my dreams...nightmares-visions-whatever.

Dean moves over to the table.

POV. DEAN

Close up on Charlotte's photo.

DEAN (O.S.)
That's her?

SAM
Definitely.

DEAN
(tilts his head slightly)
Well...she's kinda cute I guess…

Sam has gotten up and walked over to the bed. Begins packing his bag.

SAM
How far to Steilacoom?

DEAN
Wha-wait a sec, hold up.

SAM
We don't have time, Dean. Whatever killed that man, there's a chance it could go after her next!
(beat)
We've got to get to her first.

Dean just stares at Sam for beat.

SAM
(puts down the bag)
What?

DEAN
Nothing you just…
(beat)
You seem pretty sure.

SAM
(picks up his bag)
I am,
(slings his bag over his shoulder)
and if I saw her in a vision, then she must be in danger.

Dean just nods

Music cue - “White Room” by Cream

CUT TO:

EXT. ROAD-DAWN

The Impala drives down along the road, as the Sun begins to slowly rise in the sky.

CUT TO:

EXT. STEILACOOM PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL-DAY

The Impala drives in and out of frame towards the parking lot at the main entrance.

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. MAIN RECEPTION

Sam and Dean enter through the main doors into the reception area. Both the boys are smartly dressed in suits. They approach the main desk where a middle-aged NURSE is on duty.

SAM
Hi there.

NURSE
Can I help you gentlemen?

SAM
Uh..yeah.
(pulls ID badge from pocket)
I'm Agent Bruce, this is Agent Clapton. We're FBI.

Dean smiles.

DEAN
Hey.

The nurse smiles at them.

NURSE
(to Dean)
Clapton huh? Wow, just like the guitarist?

Dean laughs.

DEAN
Yeah, that's right. Sure made High School that little bit less bearable.

NURSE
Aww. Kids can be so cruel.

DEAN
Well, hey, it's a cruel world.

NURSE
Sure is. Anyway, how can I help you boys?

SAM
We're here helping on the investigation into the death that occurred three nights ago.

The nurse frowns.

NURSE
I see.
(beat)
Terrible thing.

DEAN
Of course.
(beat)
We've been sent down to check out the crime scene, if you could…

NURSE
..Oh sure
(gestures down the hall)
Take the elevator up to the third floor, turn left and follow the corridor down to room 12, opposite the fire escape.
(beat)
You can't miss it.

SAM
Thank you.

Dean and Sam get into the elevator.

CUT TO:

INT. HOSPITAL CORRIDOR, THIRD FLOOR

Dean and Sam step out of the elevator and turn out onto the main corridor.

POV. DEAN

At the far end of the corridor we see a few scattered reams of yellow 'crime scene' tape.

DEAN
Guess it's just down here then.

SAM
Yeah, guess so

They begin to walk down the corridor.

POV. SAM

Looking at the corridor's grey wall.

FLASH CUT:

The wall is now smeared with streaks of blood from the vision.

FLASH CUT:

The blood is gone. Everything looks normal.

Sam winces slightly.

DEAN
You okay?

SAM
Yeah, I think so.

They approach Kara's station. Kara looks different: tired, scared, she is transfixed to the monitors and doesn't even notice Sam and Dean.

DEAN
Excuse me, Miss?

KARA
(turns to the boys)
Yes?

DEAN
We're Federal Agents, ma'am. We're investigating the death that occurred the other day.

SAM
Were you working here when it happened?

Kara nods.

KARA
Yeah. The guy-Mr. Hingle, I think that was his name-came to visit Charlotte, said she was his niece.

DEAN
What happened?

KARA
I-I led him to her room and he asked to be alone for a moment. I went back to my desk and talked with Richy-my boyfriend-for a few minutes.
(eyes welling slightly)
The next thing we hear this...huge smash...and I look at the monitor and it's just static.

SAM
If this is too painful we can come back later-

KARA
(shakes head no)
No-no. I'm okay. We went to the room and opened the door, and the window was smashed through! Richy went over to the window and saw Mr. Hingle on the ground below. I just looked at Charlotte and she...
(tearful, scared)
…she looked completely unfazed but...I thought I saw her smile-just for a second!

DEAN
Do you think Charlotte killed him?

KARA
No, she couldn't have. She was in her restraints, and since she's been here she's been catatonic the whole time, just lies in her bed not moving, not reacting to anything.

DEAN
I see.
(beat)
Well, you've been more than helpful Miss...

KARA
Claiborne.

DEAN
(smiles)
Miss Claiborne.
(to Sam)
I'm going to give the crime scene the once over.
(to Kara)
Miss Claiborne, my partner here is going to need all the information you have on Charlotte St. James; Doctor's reports, medical files, everything.

Kara nods.

KARA
I'll take you to the Chief of Staff, he'll have to authorize this first.

SAM
Sure thing.

Kara leads Sam down the left junction out of frame, while Dean heads to room 12.

INT. SECOND CORRIDOR

Kara is leading Sam down the corridor, passing various patient's rooms with locked doors.

SAM
At some point I'd like to meet with Charlotte if that's okay?

KARA
(nods)
Sure. Her room's just down here.
(beat)
Is she a suspect?

SAM
It's too early to say yet, technically she was the last person to see Mr. Hingle alive so..procedure, you know.

KARA
(nods)
Of course, sure.

SAM
(looking at the various locked doors)
So how long has Charlotte been a patient here?

KARA
About a year and half now. Her father admitted her.

SAM
(interested)
Really?

KARA
Yeah
(beat)
kind of sad really.

SAM
Why?

KARA
(wipes her eyes)
Well, let's just say Charlotte didn't exactly have the happiest life.

They stop in the corridor.

KARA
When she was brought in, her body was covered in bruises and needle marks, she'd been living rough for some time.

SAM
Poor girl.

Kara nods.

KARA
So when she was found on the streets and brought here we could only hold her for a certain amount of time, so when she settled down and her father showed up, we assumed he'd take her back home.
(beat)
Do you know what he did?

Sam shakes his head no.

KARA
(disgusted)
He told us to keep her here! He didn't want her back, didn't want anything to do with her and since she was by that time an invalid, who couldn't look after herself, we had no choice.

Kara opens a door and moves to let Sam through.

KARA
She's been here ever since.

POV. SAM

Looking in the room he sees Charlotte lay on her bed, still in her restraints, still with that same vacant stare.

CUT TO:

INT. THIRD FLOOR MAIN CORRIDOR

Dean flashes his credentials to the cop on duty, who nods and lets him through.

INT. ROOM 12

Dean closes the door behind him and takes an EMF reader out of his inner pocket.

DEAN
Okay, lets see what's makin' the crazy house so crazy.

He moves the EMF to different parts of the room, getting no readings. As he moves out of frame we see Charlotte!

She is standing right behind him! She is dressed in her hospital gown, face pale, eyes dark and sunken watching Dean. Her look is somewhere between curious and murderous!

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