Ramble On

07. Hook Man

INT. COLLEGE DORM ROOM

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do," Taylor said.

"There's nothing you wouldn't do," Lori replied before she left.

Taylor smiled to herself. "That's true."

9 MILE ROAD

Lori's boyfriend's car pulled up. Standing behind the trees, there was a tall figure with a hook.

"I thought we were going to the party," Lori said.

"Well, we can't arrive on time," Rich told her.

INT. RICH'S CAR

Lori said, "You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you brought me here on purpose."

Rich feigned shock. "What? I'm offended."

Lori's tone turned sarcastic. "Yeah, I'm sure." They smiled and began to kiss. Lori's cell phone rang and they reluctantly broke away. The caller ID said "Dad Calling".

"You wanna get that?"

"Definitely not." She shut the ringer off. They resumed kissing, and Rich put his hand under Lori's halter strap. She pulled away and moved his hand. "No."

"It's okay." Lori looked uncomfortable. Outside, the figure with the hook was moving slowly out from the trees. Back inside the car, Rich began kissing Lori's neck and put his hand back under her strap. She looked even more uncomfortable and pulled away.

"Hey, I mean it." They heard a loud screeching noise. Outside, the man was dragging his hook along a Dead End sign.

Lori looked around and asked, "What was that?"

"I don't know," Rich replied as they heard the same sound. The man was dragging his hook along a sign that said 9 Mile Road.

"What is that?" Rich wondered as he opened the car door.

"No! Rich, no!"

"No, just wait here." He got out of the car and shut the door. Lori looked terrified. Outside, Rich was looking around when he heard more screeching. He turned to see a long scratch being made on the side of his car, but the Hook Man was invisible. "What the hell?"

"Rich, let's go!" The back tire got punctured. She screamed. "Rich?" She looked around, but Rick wasn't outside. "Rich!" She rolled up the windows and locked them. "Rich, where are you?" She suddenly heard scratching and banging on the roof. She screamed and jumped into the backseat on the floor. The noise stopped. Lori was breathing heavily. "Okay, okay." She got out of the car and started to run away when she turned around and saw Rich. He was suspended from a tree, upside down, above the car. Lori screamed.

EXT. OUTDOOR CAFÉ

Sam was on a payphone and said "All right, thank you for your time." He hung up and walked back to the table. Deanna was working at the laptop and Kaden was sitting next to her.

"Your, uh, half-caf, double vanilla latte is gettin' cold over here, Francis," Deanna said.

"Bite me," Sam retorted as he sat down.

"So, anything?" Deanna and Kaden asked and Sam shook his head.

"I had 'em check the FBI's Missing Persons Data Bank. No John Doe's fitting Dad's description. I even ran his plates for traffic violations."

"Sam, I'm tellin' ya, I don't think Dad wants to be found," Deanna told her brother and Sam looked disappointed. "Check this out." She showed Sam an article on the computer about Rich's death. "It's a news item out of Planes Courier. Ankeny, Iowa. It's only about a hundred miles from here."