"Hey, by the way, thanks for keepin' me company." "And miss a chance to ride out to the country?" "Sure." "Maybe you and jim will move out here someday." "No." "Jim is a city boy." "I think village square is about as country as he's gonna get." "I never thought this house would sell." "Yeah, you and me both." "It's changed hands 4 times in 10 years." "Well, you know what they say." "It is the most haunted house..." "In driscoll county." "I think it's not selling 'cause it's a money pit," "Not because of the ghosts." "Wow." "This from you?" "Vacant houses usually aren't haunted." "No?" "They need the energy of the living to feed off of." "There are more ghosts in dentists' offices" "Than there are in an abandoned house like this." "Oh." "Well, that must explain my dentist's bad breath." "Eww." "Hey!" "My first guests." "Come on in." "Hey." "Steve, i" " I hope you don't mind I brought a friend." "This is melinda rdon." "Hi." "I'm sorry." "I just had hand-To-Hand combat with a saw," "And the saw won." "Ouch." "Yeah." "That word came in handy a lot today," "Along with a few others, huh?" "Well, I was just stopping by to see how you were settling in," "If you needed anything." "Uh, yeah, a how-To book on power tools." "This is my daughter." "Hi." "Marlo, pioneer girl." "Do your horses need some feed?" "Wagon wheels need a-Fixin'?" "Marlo's just annoyed because the closest mall is 10 miles away." "No, I'm annoyed because my friends are a hundred miles away." "Anyway, I just have a couple papers" "I need you to sign from the title company." "Yeah, sure." "You know, I think I'm gonna clean up my thumb." "I'd rather not sign in blood." "Well, you're gonna, whether you want to or not." "Hey, you work at an antique store, too, don't you?" "Uh, yeah." "That's my boss." "Oh." "Hi." "Hi." "I found some really cool old board games." "I was gonna keep some of them" "There's not a ton of entertainment here at the homestead." "But I was wondering if you could tell me what they're worth?" "Sure." "I could take a look at 'em." "Oh, perfect." "Have you ever heard of a game called, uh..." "Twister?" "You wanna come and check out the games?" "No." "I'm good." "I'm just gonna explore." "Ok." "Yep." "This game." "I'm not sure if all the pieces are here, though." "This is a great game, yahtzee." "You've never played?" "Never played it." "Is someone here?" "Hello." "Hello." "I can help you." "Who are you?" "One of them will die." "Are you ok?" "Can you see us?" "Wonder when this tipped." "Floor's rotted through underneath." "Made a little river all through the ceiling." "What a mess." "I'm gonna see if mario's finished cleaning' herself up," "And I'll bring up some paper towels and..." "I'll bring her back up here." "You know, for a minute there..." "You almost thought there was a ghost?" "No." "Have to remember my rule." "What rule?" "Rational explanation for almost everything." "Right." "Do you know why they moved?" "You know, steve lost his wife a few years back." "He said that mario was having" "A hard time in high school," "And I guess it was just too painful" "To stay in the house." "Oh, that is so sad." "It's really hard on a kid when they lose a parent." "Yeah." "It can be hard on the other parent, too." "So do you know what happened?" "Do you know why she died?" "No." "He didn't say." "I don't know if..." "Wait." "I know that tone in your voice." "You are asking for a reason." "I saw something, someone." "Are you saying that you saw a ghost in steve's house?" "In the garage, actually." "What?" "It's just that" "I mean, there's always a damn ghost" "Everywhere you go." "What is that?" "Ok, I wish they weren't always there, too, believe me." "But it's not like I go out looking for them." "Don't you?" "What?" "Look, I'm sorry." "It's just that mario and steve" "Have been through so much." "They just need a clean start." "They don't need to hear about ghosts" "And have their whole lives turned around." "Yeah, but what if the ghost is mario's mother?" "Melinda, they especially don't need to hear that." "They need time to heal." "There's obviously a" "A rational explanation." "Well, it's not always that easy." "I am just asking you to give them some peace." "It's up to the ghost, not me." "Fine." "You're gonna do what you're gonna do." "I just sometimes don't understand her." "I mean, what's it gonna take, you know?" "After all she's seen, she can't just say," ""Ok, I get it." "There's ghosts. "" "Well, sometimes what people don't believe" "Is just as important to them as what they do believe," "And some people feel better" "Thinkin' that there's nothin' after we die." "You didn't have a hard time believing." "Well, it was because i believed you." "Also, I don't know..." "What?" "Come on." "I always wanted to believe." "I mean, I always wanted to believe that there was more." "I mean, after my father died," "I wanted to think that everything we do here" "Does not come to nothing." "And then..." "There was melinda." "So what do you think?" "Should I just stay out of it," "Let the family live in peace?" "Hey, who says they're in peace?" "I think you can cross this ghost over quickly and quietly" "In, out, nobody gets hurt." "Ha." "Famous last words." "Are you here?" "You scared me." "What are you doing in my garage?" "I'm sorry." "Um, it's just that the, uh" "The furniture, it's so interesting." "Um, we could sell some of it for you if you wanted." "I had a little something for mario." "That's ok." "I'd like to give it to her myself, if I could." "It's adorable." "Thank you so much." "It suits her." "I have to keep her in here," "'Cause my dad's not crazy about cats." "How's your dad doing?" "He seemed" "Moody?" "Right." "He's been doin' pretty well since my mom died." "What was her name?" "Liz." "Short for lisbeth." "She hated being called lisbeth." "Must be hard for you," "Moving and all, not knowing anyone." "She got me." "What?" "My mom." "She-She got me." "She was the only one." "Well, I'm sure your father" "I know." "But not like her." "Now I don't think anybody ever will." "Sometimes I think he blames me for what happened." "What happened?" "Where's dora?" "I hope she didn't go in my dad's room." "Hang on." "Liz?" "What happened?" "The cat, it died." "What did you do to her?" "I didn't do anything to her." "I just found her like that." "Might have been some rat poison or something." "I'm sorry, honey." "Steve, are you ok?" "Yeah." "She sure did like that cat." "Yeah?" "Hey." "Steve." "I'm so sorry to bug you," "But I just thought I could walk you through these county tax..." "Rebate forms." "You know, it's a great program," "Especially if you plan on putting any money into the place." "What's wrong with the place?" "Well, you know." "I mean, whatever you do" "For improvements, things like that." "I like the place just the way it is." "Ok." "Well, then, um, I could just" "Just forget it." "If it makes life easier, he's not interested." "Yeah, well, you're the expert on easy livin'." "Never do today what you can put off till tomorrow, right?" "What are you saying?" "I'm lazy?" "You didn't think I was lazy" "When certain things had to be done to a certain person." "I should have stopped you." "That's easy to say now," "But you had too much to gain, didn't you?" "As long as I was doing it, you weren't gonna stand in my way." "You know, it looks like i came at a bad time," "So I'm just gonna leave these over here." "Bad time for what?" "Um, to sign the tax rebate form." "It's ok." "I can just leave it." "If I sign it, will you get the hell out of here?" "Um, yeah." "It was like they were 2 different people." "It was so eerie." "Like they were in a trance?" "Yeah, exactly." "And they kept talking about" "Having done something to somebody," "And mario said that her dad had too much to gain to stop her." "Weird." "Could they have been talking about mario's mother?" "Well, why would you think steve would have done something to the mother of his child?" "Because of this." ""Liz sinclair, 36, of oak hills died" ""In a fatal fall from a hiking trail" ""In the northwest section of ryden state park." ""Her hiking companions, husband steven sinclair, 37," ""And daughter mario, 15, were unharmed." ""Sinclair was questioned late into the night" ""By the county sheriff and released the next morning." "Officials would make no further comment. "" "Yeah." "Well, obviously they let him go." "Yeah, which only means they had no proof." "I mean, it could explain why liz is haunting him." "Then again, mario did say that steve blames her." "Maybe she's haunting mario." "Wait, wait, wait." "Just hold on." "Did you say anything" "The last time you were there about ghosts or hauntings?" "No." "Are you sure?" "Yeah, of course I'm sure." "Why?" "I don't know." "Maybe it's like" "Power of suggestion, you know?" "They think they're haunted," "So then they just start acting like it." "Ok, I love you" "Like a sister, really, I do," "But you are the most stubborn person" "I have met in my entire life." "I mean, you will twist yourself up into a pretzel" "Trying to rationalize some" "I'm sorry, I'm just looking for a logical reason for them to" "Oh, you mean the believable reason, not the real reason," "But the easy reason." "Whatever makes you comfortable." "Let me get this straight." "Daddy and daughter move to the country to get away from it all." "There's a ghost in the garage that predicts" "That one of them will be dead soon." "The cat turns up somewhat less than alive," "And daddy buries it like it's just another day of yardwork." "And this morning..." "And this morning, delia goes over to the house" "And finds herself in the middle of who's afraid of virginia woolf?" "What are you doing?" "Oh." "I'm, uh-I'm trying" "A radical new technique to my class lectures." "What?" "Preparation." "Ok, so what am I looking at with this ghost?" "You're looking at, uh..." "A little more jack nicholson, little less linda blair." "Meaning?" "Meaning it's not like there's a demon taking over their bodies." "It sounds like there's a spirit influencing them from the outside," "Controlling their behavior from time to time." "It's called "oppression. "" "You mean "possession. "" "No." "I say what I mean." "I mean what I say, damn it." "I said, "oppression. "" "Ok, oppression." "Sorry." "Never heard of it." "Basically it's when a spirit controls a body" "Without ever entering inside of it." "It's a bit like hypnotic suggestion." "In essence, it directs how it wants the body to behave," "And what's really creepy is over time," "The person begins to act more and more like that ghost." "It's possession lite, if you will." "It's all the bad manners with half the head-Spinning." "Ok, so why not go full-On possession?" "Ah, possession, that's a tool used by demons," "Spirits that never walked the earth in human form," "Whereas oppression these are-These are used by earthbound spirits," "Earthbound spirits that are very stubborn" "And will do whatever it takes to get what they want." "Which is?" "That's for the ghost to know and for you to find out." "Ok, so how do I get the ghost to stop, to leave them alone?" "That's hard to say." "I'm not sure, but I do know this." "You have to be careful, because an oppressive spirit" "They will really take advantage of any weakness," "Any vulnerability that their host has" "A mental illness, emotional turmoil." "Turmoil like, "i killed a loved one"?" "That kind of turmoil?" "Oh." "Ok, I was thinking more like white slacks in november," "But sure, that would work also." "Steve?" "Hey." "Uh, i-I'm sorry that i didn't call first." "I just" "You play from your head, not your heart." "That's why you lose." "I don't always lose." "Sometimes just let you win." "Why?" "Mess with your head a little bit," "False confidence" " Things like that." "Heh." "You think I'm falsely confident?" "Why don't you make yourself useful and go get me a drink?" "Good idea." "Liz?" "Stop it!" "You're not liz sinclair." "Who are you?" "You see me, don't you?" "Leave them alone." "Matt, we have more company." "Whoa." "It's scary when they look right at you like that." "Marlo, look, I don't know if you can hear me," "But you're being used." "I" " I know that you can't see them, but you" " You can feel them." "Steve, please listen to me, ok?" "You don't know what's happening." "Both of you get out of this house right now!" "Steve." "What did you do?" "My daughter." "Where's my daughter?" "She right here." "She's fine." "She's goin' with you." "Hey, stay with these 2 guys." "They'll take care of you, all right?" "You're playing too rough." "You're gonna break them like you broke the others." "You're just a sore loser." "No, I am not." "It's just that these two are too perfect to lose." "I mean, all that guilt, i can practically taste it." "What the hell are you two doing?" "Sorry." "It's a private game." "Oh, is that what this is?" "You just play with them like they're toys?" "None of your business." "Buh-Bye." "Melinda." "Is he gonna be all right?" "Zenorex prescribed to steven sinclair." "Yeah, this is good news, actually." "It's an antidepressant." "He'd have to take a lot of these to be fatal." "This guy just try to kill himself?" "His daughter put it in his drink." "What?" "It wasn't really her, ok?" "There's 2 ghosts in the house, and they're trying to control them." "Wait." "There are 2 ghosts" " What, they're possessed?" "It's called oppression." "They lived here before." "It's a long story." "Wait." "You always say houses aren't haunted, people" "Ok, just" " All right." "Well, do we call the cops?" "Not yet." "As long as they're out of the house, they're safe," "And they don't even remember what happened." "I just can't let this little girl get taken away from her dad." "All right." "Ok, will you just keep an eye on him for me?" "I'll do what I can," "But I think they're only gonna keep steven overnight." "I have to figure out who these ghosts are and what they want." "Right." "Hey." "Yeah?" "You call me if anything changes?" "You know it." "It was a man and a woman." "The woman is slightly older than him." "It's not mario's mother?" "No." "I don't think they're connected to the family at all." "They might be connected to the house." "But I thought you said places aren't haunted, and people are." "All right, shush." "Hey, wait a minute." "You got steve and mario" "Out of the house." "That's a positive thing." "Except for the fact that mario practically killed her father." "Less positive, I admit." "Look, these oppressive ghosts, they're stubborn." "They're very powerful." "Powerful enough to survive more than one owner," "Which is probably why the house is haunted, and not the people." "Touché." "All right." "So you said that these ghosts are treating it all like it's some kind of a game?" "Yeah." "Like a contest." "What is it, the newlydead game?" "That was good." "I just made that up." "All right, what's the point of their game," "Last ghost out of the house wins?" "Last man standing." "Steve and mario are the game pieces." "Why don't you just figure out what their names are," "Figure out how to play, and beat them at their own game" "And get them to cross over?" "Don't make it sound so easy." "Maybe I already have a name." "You said that steve signed a tax form-Sorry." "He did?" "Oh, there you are." "When you went down there." "Can I see it?" "Uh, why?" "Why-Why do you need to?" "Please." "I just need to see it." "Is it something about his handwriting?" "Okget ready to think of a rational reason." "For what?" "Why steve sinclair signed his name as "matthew sembrook. "" "You know, I don't get it." "Why would steve sign somebody else's name?" "Because that's who he thinks he is." "Here." "Look." ""Matthew sembrook with father erwin and mother vivian. "" "Mother?" "She looks 10 years older than him." "Matt is erwin's son from a previous marriage." "He was vivian's stepson." "It says here that matthew and vivian died of natural gas poisoning." "What happened to erwin sembrook?" "Where's he?" "Dead, 6 months before." "Apparently, erwin died in an accident shortly after marrying vivian," "So mother and son inherited the house and the fortune." "So you're saying that these two," "Matthew and vivian, are haunting the sinclairs?" "Not only haunting them, but controlling them," "Which I'm sure is what they did with everyone else who lived in that house." "Well, their death, what happened?" "Was it an accident, a suicide?" "What does the article say?" "Well, it says here that there are unanswered questions." "Well, is there something i can do to help?" "Would you really want to?" "Look." "You're right." "I don't know why," "But there is just some default switch that goes off inside my head," "And it always resets to "that can't be. "" "Well, maybe it can be." "Ok." "Maybe it can." "I just don't want to feel like I'm hurting you" "Every time that I question it." "It has nothing to do with hurting me." "I just hate to see you so closed off." "I mean, there are tons of things in life that we take on faith," "That we can't see." "Why can't you do that with spirits?" "I can." "I will." "I'm gonna try." "But if I can't" "I'm sorry." "Jim." "Mel, steve's being released from the hospital tonight." "He's signing himself out, goin' home." "I know who you are." "Matthew and vivian sembrook." "You like to play games?" "So do i." "Let's see how you do with someone you don't control." "Not so easy keeping up the energy" "When the sinclairs are gone, is it?" "Oh, you'll do." "You both need to cross over." "No, thanks." "We're good here." "Ok." "Then I'll play you for it." "For what?" "A crossover." "20 questions." "If I can tell you what happened when you lived here," "Then you have to cross over." "And if you don't guess?" "I'll never bother you again." "Really?" "That is so stupid." "You don't bothers at all." "You mean nothing to us." "I like it." "Let's do it." "What were you doing when i first saw you in the garage?" "I never saw you in the garage." "Are you sure you want to count that as a question?" "Your late huand died in this house, didn't he?" "Yes." "And you were both here that night?" "Yes." "And you feel guilty about what happened?" "Just like you feel guilty about a few things, don't you?" "About someone in particular, maybe?" "I'm asking the questions." "That's right, andrea, you are." "What?" "I'm sorry." "Did I call you by someone else's name?" "Did you kill your husband?" "You want to know what happened that night?" "Come." "Vivian, mathew, are you up ther?" "How can you do this?" "He's my son!" "He's not my son." "He does something you never do," "Pays attention to me." "Vivian, wait." "And you!" "What kind of a man are you?" "A man raised by you." "Don't you turn your back on me!" "Look, it was an accident." "Ok, I just saw it." "He missed a step," "So you don't have to blame yourself." "You guys can forgive each other." "And your dad, he's gonna be in the light, ok?" "He'll forgive you." "Wow." "She did it." "She wins the game." "So now you can cross over" "And you can leave the sinclairs alone." "Wait." "There was one more thing." "Why?" "Why?" "Stop it!" "You killed him." "Yeah, sorry." "It's just that..." "Well, we're really not very nice people." "Melinda, what-What are you still doing here?" "I'll explain later, ok, but we have to get out ofere." "Now, you can just come a" " And stay with me," "But you have to get out of this house right now." "Ok, let's go." "Ok." "Don't be a sore loser." "And leave us the hell alone." "Steve, please don't do this." "Who are you?" "Are you liz sinclair?" "Are matt and vivian stopping you from going in the house?" "I'm too weak." "They're too strong for me." "They're only strong 'cause they've spent years" "Feeding off of other people's fear," "Playing their little games." "Did steve cause your death?" "Yes." "But he had to." "Why?" "The alternative would have been even worse." "I think that steve's guilt" "Is what's allowing matt and vivian to have so much power over them." "It's not just steve's guilt." "What?" "It's mario, too." "He will always blame you." "Every time he looks at you, he sees his dead wife." "Do you know what that does to him?" "There's really only one way to end this," "All this pain, all this anger." "You know what it is." "You know what you have to do" "For your own protection." "You know what you have to do" "To make sure you both get peace." "It's the best thing for both of you." "It only hurts for a second." "You'll barely know," "And then you'll both finally have some peace." "Don't listen to her." "Ok, this is not you." "This is a ghost that's making you feel these things." "What?" "This is what you do, isn't it?" "You just play your story over and over again," "Except it's a new person each te," "But your real story" "Is that you were so guilty about killing your husband" "That you killed yourselves." "Looks and brains." "I'm impressed." "The newspapers keep saying that it's-It's poisoning from natural gas." "It's a little more complicated than that, isn't it?" "A bit." "And it wasn't about guilt either." "The thing is matt and I always thought we were a perfect match," "Because neither one of us had a shred of conscience." "Oh, it was just delicious." "The problem is that when you realize the man you love is as dangerous as you are..." "Let's just say it's not a trust builder." "Attraction turns to suspicion." "There was a lot of money at stake." "Erwin had left us both very well off." "So I started to wonder" "Was matthew's devotion real," "Or did he really want all that money to himself," "And what would he be willing to do?" "He already knew what i was willing to do," "And I'm sure he was having the same thoughts about me." "Which is why I decided" "That the best thing for our relationship" "Was for matt to have a tragic, careless accident." "Control freak that I am, I wanted to make sure that he fell asleep," "As it were, before i left the house." "He was always so restless." "Imagine my surprise when i fell asleep before he did." "Very sneaky stuff, natural gas." "Turns out I was much more sensitive to it than he was." "Of course, matt followed soon after." "Then we woke up, and we were dead," "And we've been here having a blast ever since." "What?" "What is going on?" "I'm gonna get you out of this house right now." "We'll get your father." "I vote for my guy." "He's gonna go all the way." "You should have behaved." "What are you going to do?" "Don't count my girl out." "Both of you just stop it." "This is family business." "You should have left us alone." "Too late now." "Steve, please stop, ok?" "I've seen your wife." "I've seen her spirit." "My wife is dead." "You should know." "You killed her." "Me?" "If it wasn't for you, she'd still be alive." "You let go!" "You didn't listen to me!" "Now that's entertainment." "Come on." "Come on." "What's happening?" "Just trust me." "I'm taking you to your mother." "Wait, waitwait!" "What are you-What are you saying about my mom?" "Tell her I'm sorry that it's been so hard on them." "Your mom is here with us." "I can see her." "Tell her I miss our nightly ritual" "Of brushing each other's hair," "Her beautiful hair that she got from her grandmother." "She misses brushing each other's hair." "Dad, uh, she says mom's here," "Her-Her spirit or-Or ghost or something," "And she wants to help." "What-What are you talking about?" "That shirt he's wearing is my favorite," "Because he wore it when mario was born." "She remembers your shirt." "You were wearing it the day that mario was born." "She said that?" "She's really here?" "They have to stop punishing themselves." "She wants you to stop punishing each other." "I'm so sorry, mom." "Dad's right." "If it wasn't for me, i" " No." "It's all my fault, and" "No." "It was me." "It was me." "I made the decision." "It was me." "What happened that day?" "We were so tired." "We'd been on that trail all day." "Watch my moves." "Oh." "Hey, look!" "It happened so fast." "Aah!" "Liz!" "No!" "One second, she was next to me." "The next, she was hanging off a cliff." "I was trying to pull her up, but I couldn't get any traction." "Mom!" "No!" "Dad!" "Stay there!" "And that's when it all fell apart." "I knew I couldn't stop mario." "How can you stop a child from trying to save her mother?" "Mom!" "Aah!" "Marlo was falling." "She was gonna die." "I couldn't get liz back on the ledge." "I thought there was only one way to save her." "I let go of liz," "And I grabbed ahold of mario." "Mom!" "Liz!" "I'm so sorry." "I should have tried to save you both." "No." "No, he couldn't." "He did what I wanted him to do," "The only thing that he could do." "You did everything that she wanted you to do." "You saved mario." "And I know you were trying to save me." "She risked her life for me." "She doesn't blame you." "She was really proud of you." "I'm so sorry, mom." "I don't know how to do any of this without you." "You will always have me with you in your heart," "But most importantly, you have each other." "They've gotta stop punishing themselves." "Please tell them that we'll always be a family," "And they have to take care of each other." "I will." "I have to go now." "She crossed over." "Is she gonna be ok?" "She was smiling, at peace." "She's always gonna be in your heart." "How come I don't feel anything bad when I go inside now?" "They can't feed off your guilt anymore." "They're weak." "How can I sell this house to somebody knowing what I know?" "I'll come back, cross them over." "Don't worry about it." "You two just get a fresh start." "I cannot thank you enough." "Me, too." "Things'll get better now." "You'll see." "Would you mind checking mario into the hotel?" "I just need to grab a few more things." "Sure." "Come on." "Only one way to be sure things'll get better." "Well played." "My dad!" "Fresh start." "Hi, mel." "Jim, you'd better get the fire department to the sinclair house." "Steve did the only thing he thought he could do." "What will we do?" "What if nobody else comes?" "This is our home, the-The place where we met." "We can't leave." "Don't worry." "Somebody always comes." "They'll build." "They'll buy and sell." "All we have to do is wait." "What do we do in the meantime?" "How 'bout a game?" "20 questions?" "You're on." "Ok." "Oh, I got a good one."