01x02 - My Little Lighthouse

[bunniefuu]

[LIGHT BACKGROUND CHATTER]

- [CROWD APPLAUSE]
- [GUITAR CHORDS RESONATE]

["DON'T LET IT BRING YOU
DOWN" BY NEIL YOUNG PLAYING]

♪ Old man sitting by
the side of the road ♪

♪ With the lorries rolling by ♪

♪ Blue moon sinking from
the weight of the load ♪

♪ And the buildings scrape the sky ♪

- ♪ Cold wind ripping down the alley at dawn... ♪
- [LOUD, PIERCING DRONE]

[STATIC THROUGH SPEAKERS,
SONG CUTS IN AND OUT]

♪ Dead man lying by
the side of the road ♪

- ♪ With the daylight in his eyes ♪
- [HORSE NICKERS]

♪ Don't let it bring you down ♪

- ♪ It's only castles... ♪
- [OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYS]

- [BREATHING THROUGH GAS MASK]
- [MERYL] Dad?

- [JAMES] I see it.
- [ELLEN] What is happening?

- [NICHOLAS] Why are the lights doing that?
- [ALL OVERLAPPING]

[VALERIA] Somebody call 911!

[DRAMATIC STING]

- [HORSE SQUEALS]
- [MERYL] I'm on it.

[ELLEN] I'll call too. I
don't know what's going on,

but there's just...
there's just no signal.

Be faster if we head to the
fire station in New Hope.

They have a paramedic there.

Dad?

I'm getting the car.

- [VALERIA] I'm not getting anything either.
- [ELLEN] Okay. Okay.

Help him.

- Okay. You got him?
- Yeah.

[ARLO MUTTERING WEAKLY]

M-Maggie, we should hurry.

- Okay, you got him?
- [ARLO GRUNTS]

[DOG BARKING]

[ELECTRICITY BUZZING]

[ELECTRICITY PULSATING]

- [ENGINE SPUTTERING]
- Come on.

God dammit.

[ENGINE SPUTTERING]

[DOG BARKING]

[BRAKES SQUEAKING]

It won't start. I even
tried to pop the clutch.

No, I-I'm getting you and
your boy to the hospital.

All right, come on.

[ENGINE CLICKING]

[DOG BARKING]

Oh, come on.

Nothing?

- [ELECTRICITY SURGES]
- [SHARP, OMINOUS MUSIC]

[DOG WHIMPERING]

What the f*ck is happening?

Okay, we're gonna take Arlo inside.
Whoever did this is still out...

- Dad. Dad. Dad? What's going on?
- Shh. It's okay.

[DOG WHIMPERING]

- [CLAIRE] Don?
- It's okay. I know.

[MAGGIE] Let's go inside.
I'm gonna get a lantern.

Watch your step here.

Nicholas? Come and help
me find candles, please.

Yeah, yeah, I'll...

[DOG BARKING]

[NICHOLAS] Go.

[MAGGIE] Just... Yup. Okay.

[FRANTIC BARKING]

Duke, stop! Stop!

- Stop.
- Ruben, where are they?

- In the house.
- Okay.

Um... help me saddle up the horses.

[RUBEN] We can ride to our
place and get Valeria's car.

Everybody else, can we just
go inside, please? Thanks.

Donald, where you goin'?

Whoever's up there, they hurt your kid.

You're gonna get help,
and you absolutely should.

But by the time the cavalry shows up,

that sumbitch gonna
be gone, count on it.

So I'm gonna keep the f*ck busy
till you get back. Sound good?

[EXHALES]

Absolutely.

Don.

Claire. Claire, come on.

[DOG BARKING]

- Come on.
- Don! Don.

Come on. Come on, please.

[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]

Okay, eyes seem fine.

Arlo, can you follow my finger?

I'm not seeing any broken bones.

Breathing is fine.

Pulse is slow.

God, you're so calm.

When things go wrong, Mom gets calm.

[MAGGIE] Whatever happened, I
don't think that this is your blood.

[VALERIA] Oh, thank God.

I'm starting to think he might
have a concussion, though.

I don't have a concussion.

- Arlo.
- Hey. Hey, you. You're back.

- [HORSE WHINNYING]
- What's going on?

Um, you know, we're just
getting you checked out,

and just getting you all cleaned up.

Ouch.

"Stop" ouch? Or "grin and bear it" ouch?

- You faker.
- [NICHOLAS] You were faking.

- I'm not a faker.
- Oh, sure you are.

Gotta be the center of attention.

Okay, now wait. Aren't you
the one who hid in the oven

just so your parents
could come find you?

- [MERYL] What? Shut up.
- I... [LAUGHING]

Mom, I thought that story was a secret.

Okay, um, I don't think
that Arlo's faking it.

Doesn't... look like
these are fake, does it?

Looks like someone might have
tried to grab you. Is that right?

Maybe.

It's gonna be okay, Arlo.

It is?

Absolutely.

I'm your sister. I know things.

So you have to trust me, okay?

[SIGHS] You know what? I think,
um, maybe you're just too dirty

for cotton ba*ls and peroxide.

Meryl, would you mind grabbing me, um,

the towels from the linen closet?

- On it.
- And Nicholas, grab me a couple cold packs

from the downstairs bathroom, please?

And Valeria? Could you just make sure

that the windows and doors are
closed and locked downstairs?

Yeah. Yeah, sure.

Of course.

[GENTLE, EERIE MUSIC]

[SIGHS]

Okay, um...

it's just you and me right now.

I need you to tell me what
happened and who did this to you.

I don't know who did that.

Okay.

That's okay. You don't have to know.

- You don't have to know right now.
- [LOUD, PIERCING DRONE]

I do know one thing.

Okay, what's that?

We need to go.

Go where?

Away from here. Right now. As fast as...

No, we're not going anywhere.
We're gonna get you cleaned up.

- Okay? Then we can talk...
- Wasp-brave, m*rder-maker.

Wasp-brave, m*rder-maker.

- Wasp-brave, m*rder-maker.
- Arlo, you're okay.

m*rder-maker. m*rder-maker!

I'm right here. Arlo!

[GROANS]

- Arlo!
- [GRUNTS]

[ARLO GRUNTING]

- No!
- Stop it!

- All right, it's okay.
- It's okay...

[MERYL] Arlo?

[ARLO] Hide-die, g*n-shot, teacup-brave.

- Mom? What's wrong with him?
- [ARLO MUTTERING]

Wow. Um... I'm bleeding.

- Oh, sh*t.
- [ARLO MUTTERING]

- [MAGGIE] Meryl, would you?
- Yeah, okay.

[SHUSHING] Hey, hey, hey. Arlo.

- [WHISPERED MUTTERING]
- Shh...

I got it. You go. It's okay. Go.

- [MERYL] Okay, come with me.
- [SIGHS]

Hey. Hey. Hey.

[ARLO QUIETENS]

[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]

Feels like waiting for the
other shoe to drop, but...

at this point, I mean, how many
more shoes are there left to drop?

Should we help with the kid? Or...

Maggie's got it handled.

All right, yeah. I
have to do... something.

Well... Well, you...

- You don't have to do that.
- No, it's fine. I want to.

I wanna do something too.

Maybe I should just walk
home and call 911 from there.

Nobody's gonna mess
with me if I have Duke.

We should all just stay put.

I've just never seen anything like that.

What was he saying?

I think he's in shock.

Could he have done that to himself?

Arlo didn't do that to himself.

I-I'm just saying maybe.
Or maybe not. I didn't...

- I didn't mean to...
- We know. It's fine.

[POURING LIQUID]

[GLASS CLINKS]

[ELLEN] You know, back in the Stone Age,

when I was a little girl,

one day, all of a sudden,

my head, my neck, my glands

just swelled up.

Just all of a sudden.

I-I looked like a balloon.

My mother took one look at me, and
she burst into tears. [CHUCKLES]

They rushed me to the hospital,

they did all kinds of tests, and...

What was it?

Cat scratch fever.

[ELLEN CHUCKLES]

[CHUCKLES NERVOUSLY]

I-I know. I know. You can laugh, but...

That's not a real thing.

Except it is.

One of our outdoor cats had
scratched me the day before.

And I had bad headaches.

I had a high fever.

Lasted about a month.

And then, I was good as new.

Wow, cat scratch fever. [LAUGHS]

[CHUCKLES]

All I'm saying is, stuff happens, right?

I mean, weird things happen
to kids, and... [INHALES]

... it all turns out okay.

But sometimes it doesn't, does it?

I mean, sometimes kids get stuff
and it turns out really, really bad.

[OMINOUS MUSIC]

[GRUNTS]

- Seriously?
- It hurts.

- [GRUNTS]
- Stop.

[SIGHS]

Are you scared?

Are you?

Absolutely petrified. [CHUCKLES SOFTLY]

I... I bet my mom's right.

Arlo got a concussion. They
can make you do weird stuff.

No, no, but it's crazy.

How did it happen? Who grabbed him?

What's up with the cars and the
animals, the power going out...

Just hold still.

[SIGHS HEAVILY]

Okay.

- [LAUGHS]
- What?

You act like your mom's
such a pain in the a*s.

Yeah, well, she is.

Your mom's your hero, and
you wanna be just like her.

Is that why you try so hard at school?

I don't have to try.

You're always studying.

And you're always goofing off.

What do you call a bird

who's, like, too afraid to fly?

What?

Chicken.

Just when I thought
things couldn't get worse.

- [BANDAGE PACKAGE RIPS]
- [NICHOLAS SIGHS]

I'm petrified too.

We can be petrified together.

Yeah.

Maybe we can.

Maybe whoever Arlo ran into did it.

f*cked with the engines,
cut the power line.

Yeah, I thought of that too. But why?

Yeah, wouldn't explain Donald
and Claire's truck either.

Or no signal on our phones.

Yeah, well... [GRUNTS]
... I'll tell you one thing.

And I can't believe I'm saying
this. I'm glad Donald's on our side.

[SIGHS] Maybe it's some kind
of electromagnetic pulse?

- Like with a nuclear b*mb?
- Sure, yeah. Or a solar flare?

I don't know. I don't know
what I'm talking about.

- I don't know anything about science.
- James.

[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]

Oh, sh-sh*t!

[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]

[CAR DOOR CLOSES]

[JAMES] Hey!

Hey!

[MARKER SQUEAKS ON WHITEBOARD]

Hey!

Hey!

[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]

[OMINOUS, EERIE MUSIC]

[JAMES SPLUTTERS]

You gotta be f*cking kidding me.

What's going on? Why are
you wearing that mask?

This is insane. My son is hurt!

- He could've been the one that...
- Our cars won't start.

We don't have cell service.
We don't have power. Uh...

I don't know what's going on, I
don't know who the hell you are,

but we need help, and your
car is-is working, so...

- [g*n c*ck]
- Whoa, whoa, whoa!

- Whoa, whoa, whoa!
- What are you doing?

Hey!

[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC CRESCENDOS]

[TAPE SQUEAKS]

[EERIE MUSIC]

[MAGGIE EXHALES]

Just a little gauze and tape, okay?

- [DISCORDANT RINGING]
- [ARLO GRUNTS]

Goat-brave, run-hide...
wasp-die, g*n-shot...

I'm not gonna let you leave again!

Run-ran-hide... woman-go...

Woman-go! Go! Go!

No!

- Listen to me!
- [GRUNTS]

- [GRUNTS]
- [SCISSORS CLATTER]

Arlo, stop!

[BREATHING HEAVILY]

It's not me, Mom.

I'm not doing this.

It's...

[GRUNTS SOFTLY]

What's happening?

[MAGGIE SIGHS]

I don't know.

I don't know.

I'm scared.

I know. I know.

I'm scared too.

Dad says you're never scared.

Oh. I've been scared lots of times.

When were you scared?

Well...

I was scared when your sister got lost.

I don't remember that.

Yeah.

You weren't born yet.

Do you know where we found her?

Where?

In the oven. [SOFT CHUCKLE]

I was really scared even after that.

I was scared for a really long time.

How scared were you?

I was so scared that
I made your dad promise

to never tell anyone about it.

Not ever.

It was our secret.

Will you sing the song?

[INHALES SHAKILY] Now?

- Yeah. Yeah, now.
- Yeah.

- Please.
- Okay.

Okay.

♪ You give me inspiration ♪

♪ You give me love ♪

- ♪ My little lighthouse ♪
- [ARLO JOINS IN]

♪ And the brilliant things that you do ♪

[SINGING SOLO]
♪ I think I could like you ♪

[MARBLES CLINK IN TEACUP]

[EERIE MUSIC]

I'm your little lighthouse.

[TINKLING, OMINOUS MUSIC]

Yeah.

Yeah, you are.

[OMINOUS MUSIC INTENSIFIES]

[LEAVES CRUNCH UNDERFOOT]

[DONALD BREATHING HEAVILY]

Feels like dominos are dropping here,

one right after the other.

Animals acting all weird.

The cars.

The kid.

Some kind of new COVID fever bullshit.

Or...

well, maybe it's just that
Satan got in the boy somehow.

Sorry, Chenoweths.

[BREATHING HEAVILY]

ER is not gonna cut it.

And insurance doesn't cover exorcisms,

so you're sh*t out of... luck!

[GRUNTS]

[GRUNTS]

[BREATHING HEAVILY]

[DRAMATIC MUSIC SURGES]

Oh, Christ.

- [OMINOUS MUSIC]
- [LOW GROWL]

Oh, sh*t.

[LOW GROWL]

Hey, boy. Hey, hey, hey, hey.

Hey, easy, easy.

[GROWLING CONTINUES]

[DONALD WHISPERING] Gotcha. Okay.

- Gotcha.
- [GROWLING]

Easy.

[SHUDDERING BREATH] Easy...

[DONALD INHALES SHARPLY]

[LOW GROWL]

- Oh, Christ.
- [GROWLING CONTINUES]

A dead body...

pitch black... big, bad f*cking dog.

Fan-f*cking-tastic.

[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING]

Those two Xs are supposed to be us?

That line is this blue line?
And that line goes all around us?

f*ck this. We need your car, man!

- [g*n FIRES]
- Whoa! f*ck!

[RUBEN] Jesus.

It's a line of paint
on the f*cking ground!

[SIGHS]

[DONALD] Hey!

Guys!

Donald!

[DOG PANTING]

[GASPS, SHOUTS INDISTINCTLY]

[RUBEN] Hey! Hey!

[MUTTERS INDISTINCTLY]

[SHOUTING]

[GRUNTING]

- [DONALD SHOUTING]
- [DOG SNARLING]

- [FABRIC RIPS]
- [GROWLING]

What the...

[SNARLING AND BARKING]

- [GRUNTS]
- [DOG WHINES, YELPS]

[GROANING]

- [DOG WHINING IN DISTRESS]
- [SNAPPING, SQUELCHING NOISES]

- [DOG YELPING]
- [SNAPPING, SQUELCHING INTENSIFIES]

[EXCLAIMS]

[SOFT TISSUE SPLATTERING]

- What the f*ck?
- [DOG YELPING]

[GASPS]

[MAN POUNDS ON CAR]

[WHISPERS] "Don't cross the line."

Yeah. Yeah.

Hey.

Hey, you gotta tell
us what all of this is

right the f*ck now!

[BREATHING HEAVILY]

[OMINOUS MUSIC CONTINUES]

What does that mean?

[JAMES] Where are you going?

- Hey. Hey...
- [CAR DOOR SHUTS]

- Where are you going?
- [CAR ENGINE STARTS]

Oh, sh*t. [BREATHING HEAVILY]

[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC CRESCENDOS]

This is stupid.

[LEASH JANGLES]

Claire.

Hey, Claire, that was a g*nsh*t.

Okay, why don't you just
stay until Don gets back?

That was probably Donald
taking care of the problem.

Besides, someone needs to call 911,

get the Sheriff and an ambulance.

We have a landline. So, I'll call,

and I'll drive our car back here.

Claire... there's someone out there.

I have Duke. I'm going home.

I'll be fine.

That's what I'm gonna do, yes.

Yes. Yes, we are.

I'll be fine. Come on, Duke.

- Come on, Duke.
- [SIGHS] Claire, hey.

Here.

Thank you.

I'll come right back.

Come on, brave boy. Come on, brave boy.

[OMINOUS MUSIC]

[DUKE WHINES]

What the hell was that?

Something is going
very f*cking wrong here.

sh*t. Hey, look. Look, look, look.

What is it?

[CLAIRE] Duke, damn it!

- f*ck!
- Is that Claire?

She's heading right for the line.

- Hey!
- Hey, Claire! Claire!

- [MEN SHOUTING]
- [WHINES, BARKS]

[CLAIRE] Cut it out!

What is wrong with you?

- [DUKE BARKING]
- [JAMES] Stop! Stay back! Claire!

- [WHIMPERS]
- Duke!

- [JAMES] Stop! Hey!
- Dammit!

[JAMES] No, no, no.
Don't cross the line! Hey!

- [DONALD] No, Claire! Claire! Wait, no!
- [JAMES] Claire!

- I'm going home!
- [DONALD] No, no, no!

[JAMES] Don't cross the line! The line!

- No, no, no, no, no! Don't! Don't!
- Stop! Stop! Hey! Hey!

- What are you talking about?
- You do not understand.

- Just...
- Let me go!

No!

Aah!

Oh, my... [SCREAMS]

[CRUNCHING, SNAPPING]

[GROANING SHOUT]

[ECHOING] Claire.

[BONES SNAPPING]

[POPPING, CRUNCHING]

Claire! Claire!

- [JAMES] No!
- Claire! Claire!

[OMINOUS MUSIC CONTINUES]

[DONALD] Claire! Claire! No!

[TISSUE AND BONES CRACKLING]

[GASPS]

[ELECTRICAL BUZZING]

[SINISTER MUSIC BUILDING]

[SCREAMS, ECHOING]

[MUSIC FADES]

[SIGHS]

[JAMES] Maggie!

- [DONALD] Claire! Claire!
- [JAMES] Maggie!

Everyone back in the house right now.

[INHALES SHAKILY]

We need to go downstairs now.

[DISCORDANT RINGING]

Arlo?

[ARLO GRUNTS]

Run-ran-hide-hid.

Nice... man... g*n... shot.

T... T...

[PAGES RUSTLING]

T... T... T...

T... T...

Trap.

Trapped.

Run... ran... hide.

Trapped.

Okay.

[SHARP, PIERCING DRONE]

He...

He says we need to hide.

Who says?

The man.

What man?

The man in my head.

He says we're trapped.

And we need to hide.

Why?

Because it's coming, Mom.

It's coming.

And it kills everything
that gets in its way.

♪ You give me inspiration ♪

♪ You give me love,
my little lighthouse ♪

♪ And the brilliant things that you do ♪

♪ I think I could like you ♪

["MY LITTLE LIGHTHOUSE"
BY A HOUSE CONTINUES]

♪ Yes, we could walk for awhile ♪

♪ Or simply talk for awhile ♪

♪ We could watch a video show ♪

♪ Or catch a picture
show, don't you know ♪

♪ We could shower ♪

♪ Put on a change of clothes
and go where everyone goes ♪

♪ We could stay in ♪

♪ Get a cheap bottle of wine and dine ♪

♪ And the story so far ♪

♪ Rings like a shotgun in your head ♪

♪ 'Cause you give me inspiration ♪

♪ You give me love ♪

♪ My little lighthouse ♪

♪ And the brilliant things that you do ♪

♪ I think I could like you ♪

♪ Inspiration ♪

♪ Love ♪

♪ Lighthouse ♪

♪ Brilliant ♪

♪ Do ♪

♪ I like you ♪

[SONG ENDS]