"My name is Ronald Coaltic, and I am not an actor, but I've owned my model H524..." "H52... uh, um..." "If you want me to remember all this shit, at least stop with all the goddamn distractions." "I mean, what's going on over there?" "Well, look through this microscope." "This is what's actually happening right under your toes." "Ads, this is Rachel." "Uh, I'd like to buy an ad." "Print, online, or both'?" "Both." "Business name?" "I don't have a business." "Oh, you want Classifieds." "Let me transfer you." "No, no, no, no, look." "how do I get the real thing?" "Like a quarter page in someplace prominent on your site, hmm?" "Your name?" "Miles Grissom, O-M." "And what's this an ad for?" "I'm, uh..." "I'd like to offer $30,000 to the first person that can show me definitive proof of life after death, like a ghost, or... or something I could never doubt." "30 grand to show you a ghost?" "You know how every year or two, there's a headline that pops up about an asteroid that's maybe on course to crash into Earth and kill us all, right?" "And then they say, "Oops, never mind." ""It'll miss us." "Death from space is canceled."" "Then we get that relief." "We go on about our lives like there's no asteroid." "But that's insane, because really there is still an asteroid, that we should be afraid, because we all have one coming, and it's on a 100% guaranteed collision course with you." "Your world will end." "We don't get to know when, all we know for sure is that it never misses." "And look, I know that most people are gonna be full of shit, but in this whole city, I mean... maybe I find one who can prove it to me." "Just to know for sure." "It would change everything." "Hey." "Mom?" "Okay." "Wait now, before you react, I know you hate surprises, and I know you want me to call before heading all the way here from..." "It's really good to see you, Mom." "I guess I thought or hoped you wouldn't see it." "Oh, come on, it went viral." "You know, like crazy things do." "So it's what, a work thing?" "Mom, I'm serious about this." "Okay, you're making a huge face at me right now." "Relax your face." "Aunt Lily left that money for you to help, and here you go spending half of it on..." "All of it." "Paid the other half for the ad." "You what?" "I can't..." "We agreed to find you, like, an actual professional." "Yeah, but wouldn't it be better if this one simple thing saved me, instead of, I don't know, 12 years of therapy?" "I mean, I'm in LA and I can't even drive a car." "Well, that's different." "Not everyone lost their father to these freeways." "Yeah?" "I was 3." "You'd think by now, I'd be able to ride more than a bike." "You actually think you're going to find something?" "Look at you." "You do, don't you?" "This is nothing." "Most of it's online." "Don't tell me you're not curious." "My tutorial will prove that the devil was worshiped on pages but proof here in the Bible." "sent from the Almighty God." "When I get flashed by a light," "I get possessed by this German Nazi soldier." "I don't know why." "I've never spoken German, I've never been to Germany..." "Okay, so I got my sister out of the hospital just for this." "She can... she can... h' she focuses, she can tell the..." "She has to focus, but she can tell you what's going to happen..." "Dirty cheaters." "Blah!" "She only comes in when everyone but me is asleep, because I'm the one she likes best." "Fake." "Definitely." "Look." "Because I can talk to dead people." "So you don't believe in ghosts, huh?" "Well, you should." "They're everywhere." "I can show you, I think." "Yeah, I'm with one right now, a dead lady, who says you've seen her already in the..." "in the grandfather clock." "She died in that place." "If you're intrigued, maybe we should meet, yeah?" "Don't have a..." "I say into the loony bin with him." "Grandfather clock?" "Actually, I say we throw him in the "Maybe" pile." "Why?" "Well, it's the only voicemail reply" "I got from an unknown caller." "Except I didn't give my number out." "Okay, let's see." "We've got 1,067 responses, all told." "Uh, 493 unconvincings or incompletes." "241 for Jesus Christ." "Amen." "97 definite fakes, 91 pranks, uh, 65 solicitors," "26 just crazy nonsense, and 12 people who want to be my personal psychedelic drug guide." "But there are three that are interesting." "You forgot the Masturbators." "No, I counted them as solicitors." "Of what?" "Okay, three candidates." "We've got the scholar, the medium, and the entrepreneur." "The first guy is Dr. Ben Ellison." "We create the world around us with our consciousness, and that is why adults rarely see ghosts." "They've closed that door, they've shut it up tight with skepticism and suspicious questioning." "But that door can be opened again." "Says he got a technique that will guarantee a supernatural encounter." "I just like the science angle." "Number two." "This is... the medium?" "Yes, Josefina, down in Inglewood." "Works in her family's restaurant." "I cannot show you a ghost that doesn't want to be seen." "No one can." "But one meditation with me, and I can show you your own death and you can know everything I know." "Okay, I believe she believes it, sure, but that isn't..." "Wait, wait, all of her references vouched." "I mean, would you prefer one of those reality television ghost hunter assholes?" "Okay." "Third guy's the entrepreneur." "Sexy phone voice." "Yeah, you'll like this one, I know." "Emmett Fromm." "I spent 30 years of my life in pursuit of the same treasure you're digging for." "I wanted to know for sure," "I wanted to live my life fearlessly." "I traveled the world, I talked to mystics, monks, and I finally found what I was looking for on the top of a mountain in Tibet." "I paid the bulk of my worth for it." "After I opened this box," "I knew it was worth every penny." "You will have to open yourself and see what comes out." "Hmm!" "Look at this beast." "I bet you run things over and don't even know it." "You really doing this?" "Yes." "I'm going to go see the first guy this afternoon." "The science guy?" "Mm-hmm." "I don't trust that guy." "You taking the bus?" "Yeah." "Get in." "It's sort of on my way." "Maybe I'll go inside with you, make sure you don't take any shit." "Well, I'm thrilled, actually, that you called me." "I mean, if nothing else, I get to see who the hell it was put up this ad." "Am I what you expected?" "No." "So what do you do, hmm?" "A video editor." "Nothing special." "Industrial shorts, paid programming, that sort of thing." "You know when you wake up at 3:00 in the morning and the TV's still on and there are these dead-eyed, plastic people talking excitedly about paring knives and you want to just quietly die?" "Thank my son." "Yeah, it is an old, old building." "I'm sorry, I didn't mean..." "You told me you were Amaxophobic, classic agoraphobic, but..." "Seplophobia, was that..." "Yeah, anything to do with decay or rot, or heights, planes, and trains," "Oh, and cars." "I really hate cars." "I guess it's all kind of the same fear, isn't it?" "Yes." "You would like not to die." "And I don't blame you, I quite agree." "You suffer from heart defects?" "Circulatory issues of any kind?" "Hey, what is this?" "Is he in line for a roller-coaster?" "Sort of, yes." "You see, I have a responsibility to make sure that he is fit and capable, and credible." "You've gotta understand, this ad is vague." "It's somewhat ambiguous." "I mean, I could..." "I could show you God himself and you could just... you could deny it and just walk away." "Okay, this isn't a check." "It won't bounce." "And believe me, I want to give this to you." "Let me see." "Plus expenses, travel, equipment rentals, all included." "Regardless of the result." "Okay." "Now, I know about your fears, but Phasmophobia, fear of ghosts, that's not one of them, right?" "Right." "But you did fear ghosts." "I mean, we all did." "You mean when we were little?" "Yes." "Like that, like a child feels." "That is the doorway and that's what you've gotta get back to." "That fear." "The borders between these worlds start to blur when you are paralyzed by fear." "When you're powerless because of it, like a child, then the door opens, and... a spirit... can appear." "You're going to try to scare the shit out me." "Yes." "When can we go?" "Tomorrow night." "Where are we going?" "You do that homework that I asked you to do?" "Homework?" "He asked me to think of the scariest place I knew from childhood." "To come in with something in mind." "Mrs. Grissom, where are we going?" "St. Timothy Middle School, goddamn Temecula." "Well, what is it about this school?" "What happened there?" "Kieran Saville was in the sixth grade when I was in seventh." "Smaller than he should have been, and real quiet." "He always kept to himself." "He died." "Tell me about his death." "He died inside locker 530." "He went missing in July." "Rode his bike from his house and didn't come back." "They had search parties, town meetings." "They dragged the river, remember?" "When they pried open the locker," "Kieran was inside." "It's a small place." "No summer school, no guards." "And someone shut him in his locker, way up by the woodshop on the second floor, where no one would come till Fall." "Whoever did it never admitted it and never got caught." "I wonder if they still call it "The Coffin Locker."" "I done night shifts two dozen years, and this is the weirdest shit ever." "You got one hour." "All right, Mr. Grissom, would you lift your shirt for me, please?" "It's all right, this is not going to hurt one bit." "There you are." "Okay, shirt down, thank you." "Give me your hand, please." "All right, now lick that, like you do before you take a shot of tequila." "He's not licking anything!" "No, no, no, it's Monosodium Glutamate, it's a salt, an amino acid crystallize." "It'll heighten your fear receptors." "Look, we've all three been together the whole time." "I haven't gone into the building," "I'm not going into the building." "I don't know what the hell is gonna happen." "My job, all this stuff, it is to give you your best chance to see what you came here to see." "It's safe." "Now... you put these on, please." "Do not take these off." "You promise me." "I promise." "All right." "Thank you." "Mr. Grissom, can you hear me?" "All right." "Now, I want you to walk to your starting point," "Close your eyes, and breathe." "Just watch it, please." "You know what?" "You watch it." "I carry a gun in here, okay?" "I got a license and everything, so-..." "Jesus Christ." "All I'm saying is don't fuck with my son." "Are you there, Mr. Grissom?" "Yes." "Your eyes still closed?" "Yes." "All right." "Open them." "Start walking." "Who are we here for, Mr. Grissom?" "Tell me his name." "Kieran." "What's that?" "Sounds, Mr. Grissom," "I'm sending you sounds." "What are you thinking about, Mr. Grissom?" "I'm thinking about him." "Kieran Saville." "Dying in a small metal box, alone." "Call him." "Kieran?" "I can't hear you, Mr. Grissom." "Kieran!" "Go to the stairs." "Can I take the headphones off, please?" "No." "I don't think I can..." "Yes, you can." "You're not gonna stop now." "Go to the locker." "I'm here." "Now again, call him." "Kieran?" "Open the locker." "No, I can't It's locked." "Is it?" "Try." "I can't move." "I can't move anything." "I can barely..." "Open it!" "It's incredible." "Look at you." "You're still shaking." "I just..." "It'll take some time." "No." "You just have to..." "You just have to let it settle in, all right?" "No, no, no it was him." "It was him." "I mean, that's gotta be..." "No, no, that is proof." "But of what, exactly?" "I can't wrap my mind around this." "Hey!" "I caught the ghost." "I'm a ghost catcher, or whatever you call it." "Let's just go." "We'll just get in the car." "Mr. Grissom?" "The boy was a failsafe." "He was a what?" "A failsafe." "I told him to come out of the wood shop if, and only if, nothing happened at the locker." "Those were his instructions, I swear to you." "You thought it would work." "It did work, or it did with me." "It just..." "It's..." "It's just not foolproof." "Not yet." "Drive slower." "Mom, careful, please." "Are the child locks on?" "It's stuck." "It's been stuck like that for Christ knows how long." "I really like the back seat." "It makes me feel like when I was really little." "Mmm." "I used to sit back here and look between you two." "Jesus, this car is old as hell." "I was right here looking between you and Dad." "You really remember that?" "He'd drop me off at the cleaners on his way to the factory." "The whole drive, we'd have these elaborate fake arguments over which one of us got to take you to work with them." "You both wanted me." "Yes." "Always." "You were the greatest baby." "And whoever came up with the best lie for why they needed you more, they'd win you for the day." "I'll go see the medium tomorrow, but don't worry, there's a bus that goes right..." "I'm not going anywhere." "It's not what you think," "I'm not staying because I think it'll work." "It won't work." "It won't." "Somewhere in you, you know that already." "What do I know?" "That we go out like lights." "What else would we do?" "What if you're wrong?" "If I'm wrong?" "Actually, the idea of more doesn't exactly give me relief." "Really?" "Really." "You don't hope for anything else?" "No." "So you wouldn't want to see Dad again?" "I think everything should end, no matter how good." "Enough is enough." "It's ugly to beg for more." "Josefina?" "Uh, you answered my ad." "We tried to call ahead, but your line was dead." "We didn't mean to scare you." "Honestly." "We thought the address you gave us was your home address." "It is." "Upstairs." "This way." "Should we..." "Si." "Please, sit." "Sit, please, sit." "Can I ask, why were you so surprised to see us?" "I know there are many like me." "Spirit talkers, however you say." "There are." "And the good ones in Brentwood charge 195 an hour." "Not that they wouldn't take 30 grand, don't get me wrong." "Why do you come to me instead?" "Well, the others do it for a living." "They always seem very much about career." "Um, I..." "I never saw my ability as something with... with money value, but then..." "I did see your advertisement..." "Oh!" "Whoa." "Forgive me, please, I'm sorry, I..." "It's okay." "Look, I like that you're not from a hipster office in Venice Beach." "Everyone else is selling the dead relative thing, and I don't want messages." "They don't feel like proof." "Maybe just intuition, but you're-..." "Silencio!" "Before, when she whispered to you, what did she say?" "She asked if I could see you, too." "Why would she ask that?" "Why do you think?" "I'm sorry, I..." "I should have offered a drink." "Um, tea?" "Stop, honey." "You want to tell me what you're on?" "What?" "I..." "I don't..." "What drugs you're on." "No." "I don't do that." "Senor, you didn't say there would be two of you." "Sorry, I was just trying to help." "Well, she's my mother, I'm sorry." "She must not be here for our meditation." "A skeptic looking on will spoil any chance..." "He's a skeptic, too." "That's why he's here." "But he wants to believe." "The difference is everything." "No!" "Hey, hey!" "Hey!" "Th..." "They are really bad right now." "They don't like that you're here." "Do you see more people in here than I do?" "I have many spirits tethered to me." "You have..." "Ghost." "Many ghost." "You never mentioned this in your video..." "I never mentioned." "A haunting is a lonely thing." "No one else can see what you see, even the people you love would call you... crazy." "That's why I never mentioned, because why tell what I cannot show?" "So you're going to show me a vision of my own death?" "Si." "But not your death in this life." "The last time you died." "How many times have I died?" "Closer." "By looking at you," "I think... many." "When does it start?" "It's happening already." "Breathe." "I will pass it to you." "Um, this feels a little intimate." "What you're searching for is an intimate thing." "Look at me." "Oh, my God, are you okay?" "No!" "Oh, no, no!" "They will not allow it." "Oh, my God." "There are so many." "Por favor!" "Okay, I think..." "I think, I think we're done." "Did she touch you?" "What is going on?" "Let's just go, let's just go." "It's over, hon." "It didn't work." "Who's Bill?" "I don't know any Bills." "Yes, Bill." "He's showing me his neck." "He suffocated." "He's warning you to stop your mission now." "My father was William, but he didn't suffocate." "He died in car crash, so I don't know why..." "No one called him Bill, no one." "It isn't him, it isn't anyone." "Wait!" "Don't go!" "I really hope you get better." "Wait!" "We can see the third guy tomorrow." "Mr. World-Traveler Sexy-Phone-Voice lives here?" "We're early." "Hey, what are you doing?" "That's private." "Looking for butter-scotches." "I don't have any." "Get out of there." "Holy shit!" "Is that a tiny gun?" "Do you have a tiny gun in here?" "Wow." "This would be almost adorable if it wasn't an instrument of death in my mother's purse." "It's a purse gun." "What am I supposed to do?" "Take shit..." "Mom, wait... just..." "Hold on a sec, Mom." "I'll be right back." "Don't shoot anyone." "Brian?" "Dude!" "Oh!" "I haven't seen you since graduation." "How are you, brother?" "I'm, uh, good." "You?" "Yeah, I'm good, good." "Great, actually, yeah." "You still doing the..." "The special effects, yeah, I'm still in it." "I got my own little company, and it's actually not so little anymore." "So, do you live around here or just..." "Nah, once in a blue moon," "I get the opportunity to do a real-life set up." "You mean like..." "Yeah, real-life special effects, man." "Real life scares." "I got all my holograms back in here, and this guy up the way is paying some stacks to do some real crazy stuff." "He's got this small box, right?" "He's making it out to be Tibetan..." "It's good to see you." "There are 12 still in the "Maybe" category." "I say we wake up tomorrow, we make pancakes..." "No." "Why keep looking?" "I mean..." "Be happy." "Hmph." "This is what you wanted to find." "Or not find." "I don't know." "If there's nothing after we die, well, I guess..." "I always liked that it means... no one's watching." "It means no one's been watching this whole time." "It means no fate, no destiny, no... specific stuff" "I was supposed to get done while I was here." "Best of all... no one waiting at the end, you know, to... judge me." "That's what really scares me, Miles." "Because, um..." "I'm ashamed of more stuff than I'm proud of." "And I don't want to be judged, I really don't." "That..." "That scares me so bad." "I'd rather it all be a blip that means nothing to no one." "Because I think I failed." "I know I failed him." "But hey, somewhere along the way," "I guess your, uh, hope is kind of catching." "It would be good to see him again." "Welcome back." "I am just chomping at the bit here to share with you, our very latest model, the Vacu-Tak 80..." "Ready." "So you don't believe in ghosts, huh?" "Well, you should." "They're everywhere." "I can show you, I think." "Yeah, I'm with one right now, a dead lady, says you've seen her already in the... in the grandfather clock." "She died in that place." "Come on, come on." "Oh, come on, come on, come on, come on." "Don't do this." "Don't do this, Miles." "Come on, man, you've got this." "You've got it." "Come on!" "Okay." "Okay, Okay," "Okay." "Come on." "Um..." "If you're intrigued, maybe we should meet, you know?" "Don't have a phone." "Don't like them." "This one's actually borrowed, but..." "You can find me most mornings in Vista Del Mar Park, near LAX." "I take my walks there every day, 6:00 am." "Hello." "Hello?" "You get used to it!" "It's hard to believe." "Do you work here?" "Yeah." "I work the runways." "You know, clean the tarmac, change the light bulbs." "Whatever shit needs doing, have for years." "Yeah, better not." "I have a sniffle." "Sorry, I'm Nelson." "Miles." "I'm the guy who..." "Actually, you're the guy." "I'm the guy" "Tell me how you know about the woman in the tape I'm cutting." "I already told you my message." "She told me." "Look, you wouldn't be here if you didn't sort of believe me, right?" "Is she the ghost you're gonna show me, the clock woman?" "Oh, no." "She's just someone I came across." "Look, you'll understand after." "Once you see what I'm gonna show you, you're kind of gonna be in the inner circle on this thing, and... well... you'll be open to it." "To them." "Like, uh, you ever drop acid?" "Once." "Yeah." "Then you know." "It's kind of like that." "A door gets opened, it doesn't get closed again." "You still want to see?" "Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no." "I won't survive jail." "Oh, don't worry." "Yeah, no one will come looking." "This is my territory." "I know the ins and outs." "Tell me what's over there first." "You're afraid." "Yes." "Your ad didn't make you seem like you'd be afraid." "I guess I learned along the way." "Good." "That'll help." "You know, just think of your lady." "That's what I do." "I think of my Alice." "You ought to meet her, really." "Now you got a lady?" "Just tell me what's over there." "That over there is called Surf Ridge." "In the '30s, like old Hollywood times, right?" "The well-offs came in and nabbed this spot." "Real nice little beach community." "Until the baby airstrip next door started to grow, right?" "And now, it's..." "wait for it..." "LAX!" "Yeah, it's jet fuel raining down, it's walls shaking." "Yeah, they went packing." "Went back to Beverly Hills or... wherever." "The place weren't worth nothing to nobody at that point, so they built a fence, left it a ghost town." "What houses are left are used for no good." "I know guys on security detail don't even bother snooping around no more." "Let the worst of things stay in the dark, you know?" "Or maybe you don't know." "Eh, maybe me neither." "Maybe sick twists like you and me gotta go poking." "That's the place, isn't it?" "Yep." "Something taking up in there that ain't human." "Not nearly." "Not anymore, anyways." "What you thinking?" "Honestly?" "I'm at like a 68% chance of being robbed and killed and raped." "You really brought the money with you?" "Yeah." "You know what?" "If this is some sort of weird stick up, take the money and..." "save me the torture." "I really can't handle that at all." "Pay what you want." "If you want." "After." "I mean, I just want to share, you know?" "I want to get you into that inner circle, buddy, just like you want, okay?" "I see you getting your spine." "Whenever get yourself a lady, like my lady." "Hey, you should meet my lady." "She'd say herself." "You don't got any worries with me." "All right, I don't got any guns or knives." "It's not me you're scared of, huh?" "You're scared of that house and what's inside that house." "You already know this is real." "Is it dangerous?" "Depends what you mean." "Better see for yourself." "Might want to hold your nose." "Lots of strays get in and shit and die and God knows what." "I'm pretty used to it." "It's pretty ripe." "Hey." "First door on the left." "That's where he is." "Hmm." "Open it." "Surprise." "Now we're together." "Oh, God, oh, Jesus, oh, Jesus." "Breathe, Miles, breathe, breathe." "Breathe." "Oh, my God, you're okay." "You're okay." "You're okay, you're okay, you're okay." "No, you're not." "You look like pure shit." "Do you know a guy named Nelson?" "Yeah." "He's in Surf Ridge in an abandoned house, upstairs." "Tell them that he's dead in that place." "Oh, dear." "Mom'?" "Are you..." "Surprise." "Next stop, Robertson." "Next stop, Crenshaw." "Crenshaw coming up." "Mom!" "Mom!" "Mom?" "Mom?" "Hi, baby boy..." "Oh, Jesus!" "Oh!" "You smell horrible!" "Mom, wait..." "Why do you smell like shit and rot?" "Mom, shut off the TV, please." "It is off." "Miles, what were you thinking driving alone?" "I'm having..." "You can't even walk down the street by your..." "I just saw a dead man..." "I don't understand, just..." "Listen!" "Something terrible happened and it hasn't stopped happening." "It's still happening." "What's wrong with your eyes?" "I see terrible things at the back of my eyelids when I... so I'm trying not to blink." "When I do... please don't make me think about it, because then it just happens." "Miles..." "somebody dosed you." "What?" "Somebody?" "Dosed you!" "Drugged you!" "They did, didn't they?" "Somebody... slipped you something and made you see God knows what, and now you're on a bad trip and..." "Hey, Miles, you're going to be fine." "You are." "You just... you have to get cleaned up, and, uh, we'll take you to a Doctor..." "My keys, my car..." "where is it?" "So, you met a man who... took you to see his own ghost?" "No." "I met a ghost who took me to see his own dead body." "The man on the voicemail message we heard, the unknown caller?" "He's not a man." "Not a man, okay." "But, well, he called you, right?" "Actually, no." "It never rang." "Never got a missed call." "It was just a message, so that must mean..." "Mr. Grissom." "Please, please, just try to relax, okay?" "Oh, my God." "Okay!" "Oh, my God, Mom, make it stop!" "Make it stop, make it stop." "There's nothing there." "Honey, there's nothing there!" "Oh, my God, Mom." "It's not in my blood." "It's not a bad trip, Mom." "I'm haunted!" "I'm haunted, he's still here!" "I believe you, I believe you." "It isn't drugs, but it is in you." "Bill was afraid, too." "Bill?" "Dad?" "You called him that." "What happened to him?" "I found him hanging." "After they said he... suffocated because... the neck didn't break how he wanted when the rope..." "when it..." "What you never knew is that your father was afraid all the time." "Afraid of ghosts?" "No." "The world, like you, when this started." "By then, it was heights and cars, it was people, it was fire and water and it was just..." "It was all closing in around him." "The note he left said to lie." "That... that everyone should lie." "I think he thought if you knew, then you'd grow up expecting it to happen." "She wasn't a fake." "Josefina was the real thing." "Oh, my God." "That was Dad in the room." "He was trying to tell me something." "He's trying to warn me." "And you lied." "Stop, stop the bus!" "How far you going?" "Inglewood." "I don't know, man." "He don't exactly look normal." "You have to ride in the back, fella." "Josefina, please!" "Sir, we're closed." "You have to go." "Come." "Hey." "His toy was stepped on, and he's not sleepy yet." "But he will fix it, see?" "Come on." "Don't let go." "Hey, and sit." "Don't look." "You can relax." "Hey." "Hey." "You're safe." "No." "Look." "Do you see him?" "Si." "He's your ghost now, and he's everywhere you are." "Don't think about him." "I can hold him back for a while." "I know how you suffer." "I know, I know." "He wants to kill me." "The last thing the spirit wants is to kill you." "He did not intend to die." "If you die, he will pass with you." "He cannot take you over." "He cannot kill you." "He's tethered to you, it's what I call it, but everybody knows about it." "I don't." "Si, you do." "When my Mama passed, she tethered to my Dad." "She rode along with him like a passenger in a car." "She rode with him for a whole month." "And then one day he felt her just... go." "Just don't die." "Lift off like a balloon." "There's someone in every family who can tell the same story." "But your ghost was a man who died unloved." "They need a willing stranger to attach." "Did he bring you to the body?" "I had one that took me in that way." "So how do I get him off, or out, or..." "untethered?" "He must choose to untie, but he will never do that." "Never?" "For him, the Light is like fire." "He will never go in." "Maybe he won't go alone." "What are you saying?" "He was in love with a girl." "He told me about her when we met." "Alice." "He shows her to me sometimes." "I think he wants me to find her." "You know what he's asking for." "Yes." "He wants me to kill her, so that he can take her with him." "Some of my tethers, they want me to do terrible things, but if you want to take a life to save your own, now your life is not worth saving." "When I bought that ad, I was so sure" "I'd be glad to find anything." "Now I know a little more why Mom wants just wants to go to sleep at the end." "You haven't heard the good part yet." "What's the good part?" "I will show you." "The ghost who haunts you is proof only of what happens when we are afraid to leave this world." "But when we finally do, what happens then is another story." "It's like home." "Arms all around you." "It's like a whole other memory that come flooding back, that was in the tip of your brain the whole time." "Remember now what it was like to die... and what came after." "Wow." "We get to be young again." "Josefina?" "What stops you from ending it?" "Ending it yourself and just getting to the good part?" "I will never do that." "And neither will you." "Promise." "If we do that, we miss the entire point." "We are not in this life to be comfortable or to be satisfied." "We are here for the adventure." "Got any change?" "God bless you!" "I need it badly." "If you got anymore." "I was in a terrible fire." "Keep it together, dude." "Keep it together, dude." "Keep it together, dude." "Keep it together, dude." "Keep it together, dude." "Oh, keep it together, dude." "Keep it together, dude." "Keep it together, dude." "Ahh!" "Sorry." "Keep it together, dude." "Got your car back." "I see that." "Thank you." "Miles..." "I'm sorry." "Did you see her?" "I saw Josefina." "She could see Nelson." "You mean..." "My ghost." "I know you don't believe a word..." "Nelson Kinny." "LAX runway worker." "They found the body." "It was on the news, and..." "He's here, now, isn't he?" "Yes." "Do you see him?" "No." "Well, for a second, I thought..." "It's because you're scared now, too." "You're starting to believe me." "I believe you." "I believe you." "What did she tell you?" "I mean, is there something we can do to..." "Nothing." "There's nothing." "There is something." "Don't lie to me." "Miles... tell me what she said." "Oh!" "I'm sorry." "It's okay, it's okay." "I just..." "It's all right." "It's just an egg." "I'm going to fix it." "Here we go, no big deal." "So, this girl, Alice, do you think you'd recognize her face if we have..." "Enough." "We're not talking about her, you promised." "There's only one option here, and it's not really an option, so just..." "Don't tell me what my options are." "I never hurt anybody on purpose, but when it comes to my son, there's no such thing as morals, no right and wrong." "I'd personally end innocent lives by the goddamn dozens if it meant..." "you could be alive, if it meant you could be happy." "I call that worth it." "I call that being a mother and having a son." "The virtuous man, though he die before his time, will find rest." "The length of days is not what makes age honorable, nor years the true measure of life..." "How many do you see?" "Three plus a priest." "Not four?" "He has sought to please God, so God has loved him." "Your funeral's pathetic, Nelson, you sad son of a bitch." "He has been taken up, he has been carried off so that evil may not warp his understanding or treachery seduce his soul, for the fascination of evil throws good things into the shade, and the whirlwind of desire" "corrupts a simple heart." "Coming to perfection in so short a time, he achieved long life." "His soul being pleasing to the Lord." "He is taken in quickly from the wickedness around him." "It does not enter their heads that grace and mercy await the chosen of the Lord and protection, his holy ones." "The Lord bless you and keep you." "The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you." "The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace." "Beautiful service." "Hmph." "Hmm." "You're Alice." "Nelson told me about you." "I'm Miles." "I worked with him." "YOU?" "Greasy runway rat?" "Really?" "Nelson described me so damn well you could spot me like this?" "Yeah." "I mean, no." "He had pictures." "He had pictures?" "Son of a bitch." "I'm very sorry for your loss." "My loss?" "I thought you said you knew him." "I did care for him." "A long time ago." "This one never did get it straight in his head how I'd never feel what he felt, and... well, he kept coming." "Never did stop." "Never did stop with the needles, either." "When I heard he'd gone missing," "I already had it figured for an OD'er." "OD'er?" "As in "OD."" "As in oh, dear, you shot too much shit and croaked, you stupid asshole." "I'm glad he's gone." "I shouldn't say that here." "I'm glad you're gone." "You see him?" "I..." "I thought I did." "Tell me what is happening." "Now." "It's Nelson." "No." "Look, Alice..." "Alice calm down, okay?" "Calm down." "Alice, look at me, please." "Nelson is wherever I go." "He's haunting me." "He's my ghost." "Make this stop." "He can't hurt you." "But he wants to, doesn't he?" "Only because he didn't want to leave... and he's scared to go alone." "He wants you to hurt me." "Alice..." "Alice, I promise you," "I will live the rest of my life making sure that Nelson never gets what he wants." "I promise, you'll be safe." "You can say goodbye to him now." "And you can mean it." "Mom..." "What the hell happens now?" "Now?" "Now I learn to live with a ghost." "Maybe I'll be able to..." "sleep through the night every now and then." "Maybe I'll be able to tell the dead ones from the real ones on my own." "And if I have to drag Nelson Kinny through my life and never give him what he really wants... then maybe I can find a few things that make him happy." "I'll take him for his 6:00 a.m. walks by the airport, let him hear the planes." "I think he likes the sound." "If I do that for him..." "maybe he'll let me feel normal." "Just here and there." "Enough to justify going on." "Maybe I won't get better." "If I don't get better, then... well..." "If you die, he will pass with you." "You're not ready, not yet." "I'll stay for another day or two." "Mom, Mom, come on." "I'm ready." "Okay?" "I have to try." "Oh, um, will you drop this off for me on your way out of town?" "Look, call to say you made it fine." "Excuse me, is Josefina here?" "She can't see you today." "I have something I need to give to her in person." "It's very important." "Josefina is very bad with spirit today." "I understand, but, um..." "Muy importante." "Si." "Come with us." "Thank you." "You looking for me..." "or him?" "You." "I was hoping not to see him." "I was thinking... well, I was feeling sorry for you." "Really?" "Well, I guess you are the only one who has any idea what it's like to have Nelson on your ass every second of the day." "I've actually been back there a few times." "To the grave." "Really?" "Yeah." "Just" I don't know, talk to him, you know?" "Make a bit of peace." "I told him he should let you go." "Told him I liked you and you seem decent to me." "Wish it had worked." "You got a lady in your life, Miles?" "Señora... your visitor is back." "Bill... he is showing me his neck, where he hung from the rope." "He's..." "He's here?" "Bill?" "I can feel him." "What is he... please, tell me what he's saying." "He say you turn around." "Turn around?" "You turn your car around and go back to your son!" "Go!" "Go now!" "Oh, my God." "Oh, Jesus..." "I'm so sorry." "I would have never hurt you." "No, you would." "You don't get it." "Nelson, he wears you down." "That's what he does." "And eventually you'd have come." "I can't take that chance, damn it." "I have a boy now." "I had a boy with another man, and Nelson was so angry, he told me he'd bury my baby alive." "He said that... and..." "Jesus, a mother has to do something." "So I told him we could go get high at the ghost town, like the old days." "And I tainted his dose..." "shot up three needles full." "I had to." "You gotta take him out of here for good now." "Okay?" "I will." "God bless you." "Nelson?" "Do you hear me in there?" "Burn in hell." "There ls no hell." "I think that Miles has to come with me today because he's so good at finding all the buttons on the floor, so I need him." "I need him today at the dry-cleaners." "Uh-huh, that's good, that's good, that's good." "I need him at work today because he reattaches my knee pads every time I finish with my lunch break." "He's the perfect height to put those knee pads back on." "Yeah, I need him at work today." "Miles is the only one who speaks Spanish." "That's ridiculous, I win." "Why don't we let him decide, Bill?" "Mm." "Okay, Miles, time to make a choice." "Do you want to go with Dad today, or with Mom?" "What'll it be?" "Mom or Dad?" "Mama!" "Pulse check." "There we go." "We got him." "Oh, God." "Thank you, thank you." "Mama..." "I died." "But you came back to me, kid." "And I came back alone."