05x09 - The Ranch

[bunniefuu]

This was our forever home.

What is that?

It looked like hieroglyphics.

Looks kind of human, right?

Why won't you listen to me?

Her behavior became dangerous.

(CRASHING)

I'm not alone in here.

(CLATTERING)

(SCREAMING)

Help me!

(DOG BARKING)

It was like something out of my worst nightmares.

Ah!

(CRASH)

(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)

(GROWLING)

I couldn't believe what I found.

(SNARLS)

(HAUNTING MUSIC)

(GROWLING)

(BELL DINGING)

The family and I were always on the road.

We always were moving.

My husband, Todd, he worked in construction, a position that required a lot of traveling.

So were nomads.

We have two daughters, Bri and Andi.

Moving around constantly, that was difficult for the girls.

I think I've lived in nine different states and one Canadian province at least twice.

Apartments, houses, trailer houses.

There was a tent once.

So we were always kind of looking for that place where we were gonna say, this is it.

We're gonna buy real furniture.

This is home.

We found this perfect 10-acre plot.

It was a small ranch.

I just went, "Wow, this is it."

I was instantly in love.

It was like, you know, "This is so cool."

It's in the middle of nowhere, Mom.

And I don't even want to think about what's living in those fields.

It was so isolated, and we'd never lived in a place that far away from a town before.

So that kind of made me nervous.

Once we actually got into the house, we could see there was going to be a lot of work to do to bring it up to the standard that we had hoped for.

It was kind of dreary.

I didn't like the inside at all.

Look, it's all gonna change.

We thought, you know, we'll brighten it up.

A little bit of modification is gonna go a long way.

So the carpets were the first thing that had to go.

As Todd would pry the carpet up, the girls and I were rolling the carpet up.

What is that?

(OMINOUS MUSIC)

And we started to see there was, like, something painted on the floor.

Some kind of symbols.

It wasn't just one or two of them.

They were, like, all over the floor.

Human figures, animals.

Horses, eagles, even wolves.

Almost like hieroglyphics.

They must be really old.

Okay, let's not get carried away here.

Let's get back to work, come on.

So we just sort of brushed it off.

Sit.

Bagel!

Come here, sit.

My sister and I had two dogs that we took with us everywhere,

Itchy and Bagel.

Sit.

We had a little agility course.

Good.

Over and through, over and through.

We had a lot of fun.

Yes, Itchy!

(LAUGHTER)

Oh, that's so good.

What is it, Itchy?

We kind of saw something sticking out from under one of the bushes nearby.

Oh.

Oh, don't touch it.

Mom?

Mom, get over here.

You have to see this.

Where did you get that?

She's holding a jaw bone, and I thought, "Oh, my god, it's human."

Looks kind of human, right?

No.

I didn't want to scare her, and so I was like, "Oh..."

There's no way that's human.

It's probably a raccoon or a skunk or something.

That's a raccoon bone?

Yeah.

I'm sure it's some kind of animal.

We'll give it a burial.

Let's treat it with respect, whether it's a skunk, whether it's a raccoon.

Go get your dad's shovel, will you Breezy?

But inside, I was going, how many other bones are we're gonna find?

What did we just stumble into?

A few weeks later, we were sitting down to dinner...

(PHONE RINGING)

And the phone rang.

(RINGING CONTINUES)

Hello?

It was Todd's mother, Gaye.

Hey, how are you?

Todd's mom and I were always very close.

She was one of my best friends.

Oh, god.

That's horrible news.

After a few minutes, it was obvious she was hearing some distressing news.

Yes, he's coming over.

Hi, Mom.

I knew something really horrible had happened.

The news that she gave was just devastating.

She had been diagnosed with advanced stage IV lung cancer.

And the doctors only gave her a few months.

We decided it would be a good idea to have her come stay with us for a few months, and we'd hope for the best.

You made it.

Take more than a little road trip to put me in my grave.

Oh, yeah.

Oh, Mom.

You love this painting.

One of the things she gave us was this framed picture of an elk.

Are you sure?

Oh, I'm fine with it, honey.

I want you to have it.

It really meant a lot to her.

So we decided to give it a place of honor, because it was hers.

So it would be one of the very first things that people saw when they walked in.

Yeah, it's beautiful, isn't it?

Gaye loved to smoke.

She insisted.

She would not stop smoking.

She would rather die than quit.

(GAYE HUMMING HAPPILY)

So Gaye spent a lot of time out on the porch, smoking and admiring the yellow rose bush.

♪ There's a yellow rose in Texas... ♪

Humming that old folk song "The Yellow Rose of Texas."

(GAYE SINGING SOFTLY)

It was strange knowing that she could die at any time.

(GAYE SINGING SOFTLY)

One afternoon, I was just kind of puttering around the house, kind of tidying things up, and I heard Gaye talking in her bedroom.

(GAYE TALKING INDISTINCTLY)

Don't tell me to go to Miami.

It's not gonna work.

At first, I thought, oh, she must be on the phone.

I am not going anywhere.

Mr. Warren, please.

Please listen to me.

Can't you hear what I'm saying?

So I poked my head in her bedroom, and I could see there was no phone.

Gaye, who are you talking to?

Mr. Warren.

I'm looking around the room, and it's completely empty except Gaye, and I said...

Who's Mr. Warren?

He's my friend, of course.

See, these are my family.

This is their home.

I thought it was very odd that she was having this detailed conversation with nobody.

But I kind of brush it off as being part of the illness.

But Gaye's conversations with Mr. Warren started to become more and more frequent.

They won't like it.

And I guarantee I will not allow it.

No, I'm not going anywhere.

Please, stop, no!

The hairs on the back of my neck kind of stood up.

Who is this Mr. Warren?

What is he asking her to do that she doesn't want to do.

So I asked her.

Who are you talking to?

Who is Mr. Warren?

Gaye, who is Mr. Warren?

She just got up, walked past me, and went to bed.

At that point, I'm thinking, is somebody out there?

(EERIE MUSIC)

That night, Todd and the girls had gone out for the evening.

So I decided I'd take a shower.

(EERIE MUSIC)

There was somebody at the sink.

And I thought, well, Todd and the girls must have come back for something.

(EERIE MUSIC)

So I yell out to him...

Todd?

Could you please hand me a towel?

Nothing.

He doesn't say anything.

He's just watching me.

Todd?

Come on, stop messing around.

Give me a towel.

This is really weird.

Todd?

What if it's not Todd?

(EERIE MUSIC)

(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)

Nobody was there. .

Who was in the bathroom?

Why did I see somebody?

(SLOW CREAKING NOISE)

(WATER WHOOSHING)

The faucet's on full blast.

There was something wrong.

I could still hear water running.

(WATER RUNNING)

Hey?

Did you guys come home?

I'm starting to get a little scared.

(WATER RUNNING)

(WATER RUNNING)

The kitchen sink was on full blast.

Hello?

It felt like someone was leading me, room by room, through the house.

(WATER RUNNING)

(WATER STOPS)

(TELEVISION BUZZING)

(WATER WHOOSHES)

The house was coming alive with me inside of it.

(TELEVISION BLARING)

Bam, the TV, full blast.

The Indian, who had resisted the White Man's settlement of the new continent from the beginning, and grown bold and powerful over the years the...

There was something really, really wrong in our house.

Things continued to get worse and worse.

Over the next few week's, Gaye's personality seemed to start to change.

Grams, do you want to see Itchy's new trick?

Gaye?

The girls are talking to you.

Why won't you listen to me?

I told you to get out.

Now get out!

Mr. Warren, don't you touch me.

Get away from me!

That was really scary.

Her behavior became dangerous.

(CRYING)

It was disturbing.

She was changing.

We came to the decision that we were no longer able to care for her, and we really needed to get her in a hospice situation.

We were concerned about her health.

It was heartbreaking to watch somebody that you love suddenly just kind of become this entirely different person.

A couple days later, I just happened to glance out the window.

There was a rose blooming on this bush that was red.

It jarred me, because this was a yellow rosebush.

Rosebushes don't change colors.

(CELL PHONE RINGING)

At that moment, the phone rang.

Hello?

Yes.

We got a call to let us know that Gay had passed away.

Even when you know that death is imminent, it's heartbreaking.

We let the girls know that Gaye had passed away.

Do you smell that?

Cigarettes.

We were just overwhelmed with this smell of cigarette smoke.

Look.

And there was this gray cloud of smoke kind of wafting over the breakfast table.

It was really weird, because this was the exact moment that we were having a conversation about my grandma and her passing.

Maybe she's saying good-bye.

(CRASHING)

The picture of the elk exploded.

(CRASHING)

What on earth is going on?

I was laying in bed that night,.

And I was kind of replaying the events of that whole day.

The roses changing color that Gaye had loved, and the smoke, and now Gaye's favorite picture shattering in front of us.

At first, I felt like perhaps Gaye was still with us.

Gaye was trying to tell us something.

But then, we found out there was something much deeper going on.

The house had a garage that was attached to the house through a hallway.

(LIGHT CLANGING)

I heard something.

(LIGHT CLANGING CONTINUES)

There's something in the garage.

When I go to turn on the light switch...

(LIGHT SWITCH CLICKING)

It didn't work at all.

It was just pitch-black in there.

I kind of started to get a really weird feeling.

It almost felt like I was in a place I shouldn't be.

(EERIE MUSIC)

Well, the walls of the garage were just covered in these long scratches.

These scratches went up the wall, higher than I was tall.

They were almost like claw marks.

The scratches were wider than my hand was.

What on earth could have done this?

Hey.

What are you doing in here?

Have you seen these scratches?

They're huge.

This is probably where the last family kept their dogs.

Dog?

Right, you know what they say.

Everything's bigger in Texas, right?

He's my dad.

He tells me it's okay, so it's okay.

But at the same time, I'm thinking, what was in here?

A couple days later, I was running some errands around the house, and I had to go to the garage.

It was always kind of a strange atmosphere.

(DOOR SLAMS)

All of a sudden, bam, the door slammed shut.

Must have been, like, a draft.

(JIGGLING DOOR)

It's locked, but there shouldn't have been a lock on it.

Todd?

I can't get out.

Todd, I'm locked in the garage.

(CLATTERING)

(CLATTERING)

(POUNDING ON DOOR)

I started to get a little panicky.

Somebody?

Andi.

I could see Andi through the window.

Andi, I'm locked in the garage.

(POUNDING ON DOOR)

Bri and I were doing schoolwork.

We'd been, you know, at it for a couple of hours.

Andi!

Andi, listen to me!

Help me, I'm locked in the garage!

She couldn't hear me.

She couldn't see me.

(POUNDING ON DOOR)

Andi?

(GROWLING)

And then I realized,

I'm not alone in here.

(GROWLING CONTINUES)

(SCREAMING)

Help me!

Help me, somebody, please!

And all of a sudden...

(CLATTERING)

The paint can came flying across the room at me.

Please, help!

I kind of, like, saw something out of the corner of my eye.

(SCREAMING)

Help me!

(SCREAMING)

Andi!

I went to open the door.

(PANTING)

It just opened for me, no problem.

I said, "Why didn't you let me out?

"What are you doing that you guys are so distracted you don't hear me yelling and screaming and banging?"

I don't know what you're talking about.

I didn't hear a thing.

We'd been right in the next room, doing schoolwork.

There was someone in there.

There was something watching me.

I couldn't see anything that was in there.

A couple days later, the girls were at a friend's house.

I decided this is the perfect opportunity to paint.

There was someone out there.

But I automatically assume it's Todd.

I mean, it's not gonna be anybody else.

We were out in the middle of nowhere.

Honey, have you seen my wallet?

(EERIE MUSIC)

All of a sudden, this guy disappears into the barn.

Who is this person?

Todd, come up here.

I said, "Todd, we've got a prowler."

I just saw him walk into the barn.

A prowler?

Are you sure?

Yes.

You need to go take a look.

I saw that guy walk in there.

I am sure of it.

Being the dutiful husband I needed to be, I grabbed the big flashlight and the baseball bat to check it out.

(DOGS BARKING)

(DOGS WHINING)

(DOGS BARKING)

(DOG WHINING)

There's nobody in here.

Come on, it's okay.

Good boys.

(DOG WHINING)

It's okay.

Okay, Bagel, come on.

I'd never seen Bagel act like that before.

It's okay.

(DOG WHINING)

(EERIE MUSIC)

I waited, and he didn't come right out.

I'm waiting, and I'm waiting.

I'm starting to get really concerned, because I don't have any idea what's going on.

What if somebody really was out there and did something?

Todd walked around the corner.

And he was like, "Nobody out here."

I breathed a sigh of relief.

Maybe it was just my imagination.

Maybe I was getting tired.

(SNARLING)

(SNARLS)

(SHUDDERING)

Oh, god.

It was a grotesque face.

It looked like a Native American warrior.

But I knew, it can't possibly be human.

(DOOR BANGS OPEN)

(SHUDDERING)

Todd...

There was... there was something at the window.

His face, it was painted.

Honey, I was just outside.

There's nothing out there.

I searched everywhere.

There was no one there.

I was just nose-to-nose with this thing.

Okay, honey, it's late.

You're tired.

Maybe you saw your own reflection.

I'm telling you, I know what I saw!

It wasn't my reflection.

I don't have long black hair.

I don't have beady eyes.

And I don't have paint on my face.

She wanted to just understand what was happening, and I couldn't explain it.

I started to question my own sanity.

Am I imagining things, or are we being haunted by Native American spirits?

Bri and I had been out all day, kind of running errands, and we had left Itchy and Bagel in the barn.

Bagel?

Itchy?

There was no sound.

They didn't come to greet us.

Andi.

There was, like, something on the ground.

And as we looked closer, I saw that it was blood.

All of a sudden...

Mom, Dad!

We knew something terrifying had happened.

(DOG WHINING)

They looked like they had been dumped in buckets of blood.

(DOGS WHINING)

I was horrified to see them in that state.

They're our friends, and here they've torn each other apart.

They've never fought in their lives.

(DOGS WHINING)

At this point, I knew it wasn't my imagination.

They didn't do this to each other.

There is something evil.

There is something really dark in our house.

After that happened,

I wanted to learn as much as I could about the Native American culture.

So...

I'm just going into town for a bit.

I won't be long.

I took a trip to the town library.

I needed to find out more.

As it was starting to get dark, we decided to pack it in, put the dogs in the house, loaded the A-frame agility equipment back up into the truck so that we could put it in the barn, where we like to keep it.

(ROCK MUSIC PLAYING)

I got out, and I started to take the equipment into the barn and unpack it.

At the library, I started to really dig in and do some research.

I started to look into the history of the area.

(EERIE MUSIC)

Suddenly, I got this sense that there was somebody behind me.

Breezy?

I found out there had been hundreds of bloody conflicts all over this area between the incoming white settlers and the Native Americans.

I read that, before going into battle, the tribes would often smoke tobacco in a w*r pipe.

(SMOKE WHOOSHING)

I started thinking, the smoke...

(SMOKE WHOOSHING)

The Indian, who had resisted the White Man's settlement...

The TV, the pictograms.

I got the real sense that somehow this was connected.

I got this really uneasy feeling that something was watching me.

Something didn't want me there.

Breezy?

(EERIE MUSIC)

(GROWLING)

I was just like deer in the headlights.

(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)

(SNARLING)

Why us?

What had we done?

Why were we being haunted by Native Americans?

I kept thinking back to the conversations that Gaye had with Mr. Warren.

I'm not going anywhere.

Please, stop, no!

Then it hit me.

What if Mr. Warren was real?

What if Mr. Warren was trying to tell us something?

Why won't you listen to me?

I told you to get out!

Maybe he wanted us out of the house.

I typed in, "Mr. Warren and Native Americans"...

And hit enter.

I couldn't believe what I found.

(GROWLING)

Bri, we got to go, there's a stranger in the barn.

What?

Just go, drive, drive!

Okay, okay!

She just hit the gas, and we took off.

(TIRES SCREECHING)

(SNARLING)

Bri.

What?

Please.

Suddenly, this dark figure is just, like, coming out of the mist.

What are we gonna do?

Oh, my god.

(SNARLING)

Henry Warren was the owner of the Butterfield Wagon Route.

It was a major supply route between San Francisco and St. Louis during the 19th century.

It passed right through where our ranch stood.

I read that in 1871 the wagon train was att*cked by local tribesmen.

(MEN SHOUTING w*r CRIES)

Only a few men lived to tell the tale.

(MEN SHOUTING w*r CRIES)

Seven men were k*lled, and their bodies were mutilated... right where our ranch stood.

It all started to make perfect sense.

It all started to come together.

You don't just stumble on a human jaw bone.

Looks kind of human, right?

(MEN SHOUTING w*r CRIES)

And then I realized we were stuck in the middle of a reenactment of the Warren Wagon Train m*ssacre.

(ENGINE REVVING)

Bri and I just kept going.

All of a sudden...

Bri, there's another one.

He's coming out over there.

There's four!

I'm going as fast as I can!

It was like something out of my worst nightmares.

Go faster, please, go faster.

I can't go any faster!

Wait, I think... I think they're gone.

They eventually just vanished.

Ah!

(TIRES SCREECHING)

(CRASH)

What is it? What happened?

I hit someone, I hit a man.

You didn't see him?

What are you talking about?

Bri was convinced that there was someone there, that she had hit someone.

Let's just go.

No, there was somebody in the road.

I hit someone.

There was nobody in front of you.

They are behind us.

We have to go.

(ENGINE GRINDING)

It didn't work at all.

(ENGINE GRINDING)

Come on, come on.

Let me try.

(ENGINE GRINDING)

Nothing.

I found one website that sent a shiver down my spine.

It was about a local tribe and their supposed ability to channel the spirit of animals.

(SNARLING)

It was the same man I had seen in the window.

This explains everything.

At that point, I had this terrible feeling that something was going to happen to the girls.

(ENGINE GRINDING)

(HOWLING)

What was that?

(HOWLING CONTINUES)

We've got to get out of here.

(HOWLING)

(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)

I was panicked.

(PHONE BEEPING)

I could feel there was something wrong.

(BEEPING CONTINUES)

I had to get home.

(GIRLS SCREAMING)

(SNARLING)

(GIRLS SCREAMING)

Something was wrong.

There was a sense of danger.

(SNARLING)

(PHONE BEEPING)

(TIRES SCREECH)

(SNARLING).

(GIRLS SCREAMING)

All of a sudden...

Ah!

(TIRES SCREECH)

They exploded out.

Guys, what's going on?

They were both hysterical.

Tell me what happened.

When I heard what happened, I couldn't believe my ears.

Like what?

Like animals.

(EERIE MUSIC)

We couldn't take it anymore.

We had to get out.

We could not live in this house anymore.

Nobody felt safe.

I held on to the dream of that house, right up to the end.

But the tension was so great, that we had to get out.

Living in that house impacted all of our lives forever.

(ENGINE STARTS)

We were caught up in circumstances that were extraordinary.