""The big old owl flapped his wings and yawned." "It's much too late and too many creatures about." "She will surely get a scary fright." "Where the alligators romp and the frogs grow fat and orange the field mouse sings to the owl kings with a voice like a squeaky door hinge there lived a girl who's sunny sweet and the children call her Sticky Feet." "With almond eyes and golden curls she knew that swamps are not for girls."" "Claire, the dreams are getting stronger." "All I'm saying, Claire, is you gotta stop avoiding it." "It's time we started to really deal with this." "It's important." "Are you taking your medication?" "Doesn't help." "It's evolving." "I'd like to try hypnosis, a change." "We're ready." "Is this a man-made problem or possibly the result of global warming?" "Check into any inn or bed-and-breakfast in Westmoreland and you'll notice a serious decline in hunters and birdwatchers alike." "But is it from their own doing?" "The blue-winged warbler hasn't been seen here since last summer in Westmoreland County." "Perhaps this once-flourishing..." " Claire?" " Mrs. O'Shea." "Mercy, and this is Heidi." "Welcome to Rose Marsh Farm." "We don't get too many guests this time of year, so..." "Here's your living room." "There's wood and kindling over there." "Should keep you warm." "The fireplace is working." "It's pretty straightforward." "We get photographers and birdwatchers in the summer." "So if you'll follow me, I'll show you the upstairs." " You're a writer?" " Yes." "Well, you'll have lots of peace and quiet, and plenty of space." "I can guarantee you that." "This is the master bedroom." "There's extra linen in the closet." "And here's the studio." "The Manvilles and the Roses settled the whole area." "We call him Old Mister." "And that's the marsh." "Yeah, I'd steer clear of that, if I was you." "You can get lost in there pretty quick." "If you need anything, I'm the first house on the way into town." ""The big old owl flapped his wings and yawned." "What is a girl doing in a swamp at night?" "It's much too late and too many creatures about." "She will surely get a scary fright."" "How do you make up your stories?" "I start by asking the question, "What if?"" " Oh, sorry." " I'm sorry." " I didn't see you." " It's all right." "I'm so sorry." " Are you all right?" " Yes." "All right, well, good morning," "Good morning." "Noah, Noah Pitney." "That's the great thing about being from a small town is you can introduce yourself to anyone you bump into." " Right, Ernie?" " That's right." " Claire Holloway." " Pleasure to meet you, Ms. Holloway." "Nineteen fifty, miss." "No, no, no, allow me, please." "This is country manners in action." "Ernie, I just want to remind you there's a game tonight." " Got it." " I'll see you then." "Oh, and please, put this on my tab." " This is for you." " You don't have to do that." "No, please, take it." "I've already read it." "Help you get accustomed to the town." "Editor's got some pretty eccentric views but, say, I bet he'd love an interview with you." " You really that short on tourists?" " Come on, Claire, I have three nieces." ""Star children's author hits Westmoreland."" "That's pretty big stuff around here." "I'm flattered." "But?" "But I think I'm going to pass." "That's all right." "I'll just have to interview yet another bingo winner." " You're the editor." " I am, yeah." "Also the local historian." "Actually, I brought out a book last year." "I only, you know, only printed 250 copies, but..." " That's what my first one was." " Really?" "So there's hope for me." "Okay." "Listen, if you need anything my number's on the back of the paper, if you wanna call me." "Bye." "What if?" "What if, what if, what if, what?" "I could get used to this country living." "Yeah, well, I can..." "I can appreciate that." "I remember there was a time when I covered crime for all the big dailies all over the country." "How did you end up here?" "It's weird." "I always told myself that I was never gonna come back." "And then the editor's job came up and Philip Manville asked me to do it and I said yes and I guess it just felt right to come back." "You know, I have my farm and got a horse." "And it's good." "It's a good life." "There." "It's not perfect, but it'll work." " You know Ernie well?" " All my life." " He's always lived here?" " Yeah." "Why?" "I should go." "That's quite enough of you, Sticky Feet." "Ernie, have we met before?" "I don't think so." "They say the same face can turn up on different people." "Isn't that so?" "Yeah, I guess so." "Enjoy your book." "Get back!" "You forget something, Claire?" "Did you forget something, miss?" "No." "Hi." "Morning." "Good morning, Claire." "Good morning." "Was it the storm?" "You okay?" "Yeah, I'm fine." "I bought your book." "So you're the one." "Fascinating history this place has." "Listen, you wanna find out more, I'll take any excuse to skip church." "Please?" "So the Manville School for Boys closed its doors in the late 1800s and the Westmoreland Elementary School opened at the beginning of the last century." "How nice of the county to invite the girls out to play." "From what I know of the boys' school the girls might have been happier at home." " Scary." " Good fodder for a new book." "I just read The Swamp to my niece and I gotta tell you, I found it quite creepy." "All the great children's books are dark." "Brothers Grimm, Aesop, Roald Dahl." ""Ring Around the Rosy" was about dying from the plague." "Scary monsters in the deep dark marsh." "Oh, scary." "Fairy tales and nursery rhymes tap into the primal, subconscious fears of the young mind." "So you're saying that all kids like to be creeped out." "Didn't you?" "You ever hear any stories about this place?" "Like what, like creepy ones?" "Creaking boards, slamming doors, whistling winds..." "You writers." "I'll tell you what." "I'll tell you everything that I know over dinner tomorrow." "Platz!" "Platz!" "Platz!" "Platz." "Platz." " Normally, he's a pussycat." " Could have fooled me." " Are you Geoffrey Hunt?" " Hunt." " Everybody calls me Hunt." " Claire Holloway." "He hasn't blown his top like that in a long time, Claire." "Only one reason he does that." "Oh, yeah?" "What's that?" " He smells a ghost." " What?" "Think of it like vapors from the other side." "I don't believe in ghosts." "Neither do I." "I'll follow you." "So this place, huh?" " You've been here before?" " Three years ago." "What was her name?" "Grace?" " Mercy." " Yeah." "So you're a paranormal consultant who doesn't believe in ghosts?" "I believe in people." "I mean, people are water and energy." "If water can transform from ice into steam, into mist and energy transforms them, why can't people?" "What happened with Mercy?" "She got a little spooked, that's all." "Noises and such." "Nothing major." "These kinds of energies can be very particular." "They can reveal themselves to one person and not to another one." "Why me?" "You tell me, Claire." "He was in there?" "Port." "Port?" "It's the access point for them to come in." "The computer's another good one." "I'd leave that off for now." "How long has this been here?" "A couple of days." "Why?" "On the other side doors can be both symbolic and literal at the same time." "Taking one down can be a way of stopping someone from coming across." "So when you put the door back up..." "You're inviting them back in." "There's a definite increase in energy." "That's for sure." " But why?" " People are weird." "They die, they get weirder." "Question is, why do you care?" "Because I've seen..." "I've seen that little girl before, and not just in this house." "Do you have any idea what you're dealing with?" "It's a different world." "They don't play by your rules." "I lost my wife and my little girl seven years ago." "I went looking for answers." "I never found them." "So you need to think about that before you go looking for answers on the other side." "You wanna be amongst the living, trust me." "There's a motel in town." "If I were you, I'd check in to it." "Why make this your battle?" "My father used to say, "Hunt"..." "He called me Hunt." "He could be rather impersonal, my father." "He'd say, "Hunt, you can dodge the draft, you can cheat on your taxes but never desert a damsel in distress."" "Let's get this party started." "What do they want from me?" "Don't know." "But one thing's for sure." "It's you that they want it from." "Can you imagine?" "Can you imagine, if Mercy had seen what you seen she'd be living in another country under an assumed name." "Can you stand there for a second?" "Just for a second, please." "Thank you." "You are very photogenic." "I hope you can see them too." "Unless they're camera-shy we'll get them." "So where did you grow up?" "All over." "Oh, you're a military brat, huh?" " No." " Little sip." "No, my parents were teachers." "Where they from originally?" "Well, they weren't my birth parents." "Well, how old were you when you were adopted?" " Eight." " Eight?" "I bet you were a pretty little girl, weren't you?" "Don't lie." "You were a cute one, weren't you?" "Unless you just sprouted up all of a sudden and became just what you are right now." "My parents were killed in a car accident." "I see." "You expecting someone?" " Hey." " Noah, I'm sorry." " I should have called you." " Why?" "What happened?" "Hunt, Noah." "Hunt's been helping me." " How's it going, Pitney?" " Hello." "Let me guess." "This has to do with those creepy things you were talking about." "I'm gonna go and get some logs for our fire." "Sorry about dinner." "Maybe we can do it another night?" "You know what I can do is I could stick around and help you with this séance or whatever." "We don't need any help." "Okay." "I was looking forward to having dinner." "Me too, but it's okay." "You know, we can do it another time, right?" "Good luck, good luck with this." " I'll see you around." " Later." "Hunt." "Hunt." "Hunt!" "Who are you?" "Can you tell me your name?" "Can you tell me something?" "Just ask me nicely." "Why are you doing this shit?" "You're fucking me up!" "Stick it up your fucking ass!" "Please." "Just ask me nicely, please." "I asked you nicely 10 minutes ago." "I'll tear this house apart and when I find it, you're gonna be one sorry fucking kid!" "Go away!" "Help me!" "Help me, Claire!" " Claire, no." " No!" "No!" "God!" " Who are they?" " Denman and Maude Rose." "From the farm?" "I spent the evening doing a little research and dug a little deeper." "I gotta tell you, this story's amazing." "So the Rose family got it into their heads to drain the marsh in 1902." "Denman was doing a lot of the work himself." "The little girl is his sister." "She was 8 years old." "One day, he's working, Maude goes into the marsh to bring him lunch but she falls into the bog and drowns." " God." " Yeah." "And then, I think Denman must have lost his mind." "He went after her, searching." "He never came out of the marsh." "Some of the locals went in and they disappeared." "And then, well, you know how a small town is." "All of sudden, everyone thinks that this marsh is, you know, hexed." " Why didn't you tell me?" " I wanted to tell you." "I just..." "I never got the chance, remember?" "Besides, I gotta tell you I didn't think you were the type to believe in this kind of stuff." "What type is that?" "I'm sorry." "I should have told you." "People have been talking about that house and that marsh for years and I just always sort of, you know, I laughed it off, so..." " Don't patronize me, Noah." " No, I wouldn't dare." "Listen, Claire, I can ask around." "I bet you I can find you a place just as nice, if you wanted." "No." "Thank you." "Hello?" "Oh, God." "What?" "No." "No!" "Feels like it was my fault." "Whatever's going on here, you couldn't have stopped it." "But you are part of it, somehow." "If you want to make it stop you have to figure out how it started in the first place." "How?" "Take a look at this." "You know, in a way, you're lucky." "Generally speaking, these cases involve a voice in the attic a peevish little spirit who's in need of a little bit of hand-holding." "This..." "This is epic." "Got it." "June 19th is missing." "Oh, look." " Isn't that your editor friend?" " Yeah, with Mercy and Ernie." ""Local girl sexually assaulted." "Since the victim is a minor, her name has been withheld by the police."" "That's him." "My God, that's him." "Brendan Manville." "Oh, look." "I spent the evening doing some research." "The Rose family got it into their heads to drain the marsh in 1902." "Denman was doing a lot of the work himself." "The sister falls into the bog and drowns." "Son of a bitch." "I'd say your friend's been messing around with history." "Why would he do this?" "Should ask Pitney." "Ask me what?" "Any additional archival stuff on the Rose family story would be over there in microfiche." "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt." "I didn't know you were here." "Where did this come from?" "I've seen him at the house, Mercy." "He moved away from here 20 years ago." "And the little girl?" "You've seen her too." "That's why you called Hunt." "Don't know what you're talking about." "I heard noises, that's all." "What do you know about this, Mercy?" "What the hell you asking me for?" "What is it that you want?" " My friend just killed himself." " He didn't kill himself, Mercy." "Those voices that you heard what Claire's been seeing, Ernie's death it's all connected, Mercy." "It's all connected." "Stop it!" "What are you doing?" "You know who she is." "Tell me." "You tell me." "I got work to do." "You've gotta remember something." "Think, think." "What do you remember from before your accident?" "What's that have to do with anything?" "Because I think that our little girl, that's you." "It's you, Claire." "I mean, if you can accept that the soul or the essence of someone, that's energy but in the case of a severe trauma some of that energy can be torn from the body and it leaves an imprint." "That impression just replays over and over and over again, like a videotape." "What kind of trauma?" "We're talking about sexual assault, Claire." "No, Hunt." "Think about it." "Everything around here, everything's familiar to you." "And this is not a dream this is not a piece of fiction from one of your books, no." "This is..." "I think they're memories." "They're your memories, Claire." "Let's just burn the place down." "Never burn." "Never burn." "Hey, whoa!" "Heidi, girl." "Heidi, easy." "Easy, girl." "That's okay, Heidi, that's okay." "Heidi." "Heidi." "Hello?" "Hello?" "Hello!" "Heidi?" "No!" "No!" "No!" "No!" "No!" "I got beer in my mouth." "You're not supposed to be here, kid." "Ready or not, here I come." "You okay?" "Don't worry, I know how to get him." "Gonna need to get something that he'll recognize." "An article of clothing, something from his life." "The more personal, the better." "If we can use that, we can trap him again." "I think if I can get rid of him, then I could I free her free you." "Make the next left." " Yes?" " Mr. Manville, I'm Claire Holloway." "I know." "If it's about the farm, Mercy handles that sort of thing." "No." "It's about your son, Brendan." "What happened at the house?" "Why is it, do you suppose, that some people feel they have the right to walk into a complete stranger's home and dig and scratch around in their past?" "You've been talking to Mercy, haven't you?" "That goddamn woman is a drunk." "She sees the whole world through the bottom of a bottle." "Your dad's not gonna care." "What you got there?" "That's my dad's, so..." "Hey, don't point that thing at me." "Be careful." "Give it back to me, okay?" "Hey, give it to me." "Hey, sit down." "It's okay." " Let's do this." " Thanks for coming." "Thanks for having us." "One, two, three." "Nobody came in or out." "It was abandoned." "It sat there empty like a tomb for 20 years." "Look, if you don't like the house, why don't you just leave?" "What about the little girl?" "No, that was a lie." "No." "Brendan was with a little girl." "There was no proof." "That was a goddamn lie." "What happened to your son, Mr. Manville?" "What are you talking about?" "What was wrong with him?" "And why was he alone with a little girl?" "I've seen him." "In the house." "I need something of his, something that was very special." "It's important and I need it right now." "What the hell happened in there?" "Why won't you tell me?" "What did he do?" "Did he hurt her?" "Did you hurt him?" "What did you do to your son, Mr. Manville?" "Nothing." "I did nothing." " I need something..." " Get out of my house." " that was precious to him to make this stop." "You get out of my house!" "Do you hear me?" "!" "Stop!" "Claire." "Claire." "I'll take care of it." "Claire." "Claire!" "Claire!" "Claire?" " Claire." " Hunt!" "Claire?" "Claire." "Hunt!" "Hunt!" "Hey, give me your hand." "I got you." "Come on." "I got you." "We went to the house." "We knew it would be empty." "And we'd all been drinking." "You're a loser." "Go home." "I'll lock up Daddy's house." "We thought he'd left." "It was an accident, okay?" "I swear." " Mercy." " What did you do to her?" "Put the gun down." "I didn't mean to." "I'll do anything." "You've got to help me though." " Put it down." " I'll do anything." "Anything." "Okay?" "Give her to me." " I'll kill you!" " Easy, easy." " Fuck it." "I'm not going down for this." " Shut up!" "No one's going down for this." "It's gonna be okay." "My dad, he can take care of all of this." "All right?" "We just need to do something now." "We keep it a secret." "Noah." " Noah." " Let him be." "I guess he never really grew out of it." "We didn't understand." "My wife loved the boy." "But she wasn't the motherly kind." "She wanted him to grow up fast, become a man." "I saw what she was doing to him." "I watched him bend and break." "And I didn't do anything." "Help him stop hurting." "Thank you." "We gotta go." "Let me have it." "Where are you?" "Come on." "Rose?" "Mercy was looking after us." "I went to a Chinese restaurant" "To buy a loaf of bread, bread, bread" "They wrapped it up in bubble gum" "And this is what They said, said, said:" ""My name is Hi-lo Piccolo, Piccolo Hi-lo" "Hi-lo Piccolo, Piccolo..."" "She brought us here." "With her friends." "Ready or not, here I come." "She made us promise to stay upstairs." "I was hiding." "I was so scared, Rosie." "I didn't know what to do." "You guys have to help me." "Okay?" "I'll do anything." "I'll kill you!" "I'll kill you!" "Fuck it, I'm not going down for this." "Shut up!" "No one's going down for this." "Sit down." "It's gonna be okay." "My dad, he can take care of all of this." "We need to do something now." " We'll keep it a secret." " Where's Claire?" "I'm so sorry, Rose." "Rose." "Do you remember this?" "Do you want it?" "Do you want it?" "No!" "Give her to me!" "You can't have her!" "Not this time!" "Claire!" "It's the door." "The door is the port." "Break the glass." "Break the door!" "Smash it!" "Hey!" "Hey, you come over here." "Come over here." "Help!" "Help me!" "Hunt!" " Throw me the blanket!" " Lead him to the door!" "To the door, Claire!" "Brendan!" "Bury it." "Someplace dry." "Thank you."