06x01 - Chapter 1

[bunniefuu]

Woman: From the very first moment, I felt danger there.

Who's out there?

(distorted howl, shriek)

Oh!

My family was in danger and all I could do was watch.

When you see something like this, a lot of crazy thoughts go through your head.

Woman: Humans respond to fear in two simple ways: fight or flight.

(inhuman howling)

Our friends used to tease us that they didn't like socializing with Matt and I because we were too perfect.

They'd get in fights in the car on the way home from dinner with us because... we made them feel like they weren't as in love as Matt and I were.

I won a free yoga class at a work raffle.

I'm a pharmaceutical salesman.

Shelby was the teacher. I... pulled a hamstring and never took a yoga class again, but it was the best thing that ever happened to me.

Things were going really well.

We settled in Los Angeles-- the yoga capital of the world-- and... decided to start a family.

Yeah, we found out that, uh, Shelby was pregnant on the same day that I got promoted to West Coast sales manager, so we decided to go out and celebrate both.

(grunts)

(screams)

That was the worst night of our lives.

No, no!

Matt: It was a g*ng initiation.

Game of knockout. They had to pick a random person on the street, sneak up on 'em and... knock 'em out.

Help!

Yeah! Help!

Help! Somebody, help us!

Shelby: I was in a trance in the waiting room.

If I lost Matt...

Mrs. Miller?

Is he okay?

His orbital socket is broken.

He will need surgery once the swelling goes down.

Our bigger concern is he hasn't regained consciousness.

Well, I need to see him.

If I'm with him, he'll wake up.

I know it.

(heart monitor beeping steadily)

I was right.

As soon as we touched, he started waking up.

That's just... that's just the kind of connection that we have.

He was gonna be okay.

But she wasn't.

She lost the baby.

They don't know if it was the stress or-or, um, being pushed, but...

(clears throat)

...well she... she lost the baby.

The city just didn't feel safe anymore.

We needed to get out.

I wanted to go east, to where I grew up.

My sister lived there.

My mom.

It was home.

It's, um, North Carolina.

Right near the ocean, but... but also full of the most gorgeous native forests.

It was so quiet and wonderful and calm. I think we just both just realized that at the end of the day, we weren't city folks.

Shelby: We were in the woods, having fun.

(laughs)

It was a perfect day, and we found ourselves in front of the most beautiful old farm house.

It was three bedrooms.

And two stories and a basement.

They told us that it had been built in 1792.

It was in great shape.

Matt: It felt like it was meant to be.

Like the universe just wanted us to be there at that moment.

I also thought "there's no way we can afford that house."

Auctioneer: Opening bid is $21,000.

What is your bid?

Well, now, that includes the ten acres of forest around the house.

But you can't build on it.

It's protected.

That seems inexpensive. (laughs)

What's wrong with the property?

Hurricanes.

You don't want this house.

We bid $25,000.

$26,000.

Do I hear 27?

We bid $40,000.

It was almost all of our savings.

It totally turned me on when he did that.

Going once.

Going twice.

Sold, $40,000.

(laughs)

(truck door opens, closes)

(engine struggling to start)

Oh, my...

What did we just do?

Baby, we just started over.

Shelby: I loved it. And I loved him, but from the very first moment I felt danger there.

(engine starts)

♪ ♪

Matt: From the moment I walked into the house,

I... I was home.

I mean, I love the country life-- the fresh air, waking up to the sound of the birds singing.

If Shelby felt any different, she didn't say anything out loud, but I sensed a-a reluctance.

Maybe she missed the city. Maybe my wounds healed quicker. They were nothing compared to what she lost: a life inside of her.

(moaning)

I love you.

(inhuman howl in distance)

(moaning)

(howling continues)

What the hell was that?

(loud pounding)

sh*t!

No, no, no... no, no, no, no.

Matt, please don't go.

Matt, please don't go down there.

Just stay here, stay here.

(howling continues)

Matt: At first I thought it was a... a raccoon or-or a bear.

But a bear didn't do this.

(thump)

Who's there?

Who's out there?

(howls)

Hey! When you see something like that, a lot of crazy thoughts go through your head.

You think, today, prejudice is not going to rear its ugly head.

But... this is the South.

They just got rid of the Confederate flag.

And with Shelby and I being an interracial couple...

(whispering): Matt!

Matt: This kind of hate is something that's always in the back of my mind.

And then I thought of those hillbillies who lost the auction. Wouldn't surprise me a bit if they were trying to scare us away with this kind of vandalism.

We ran away once, and... we weren't gonna be victims again.

I had just finished 90 minutes of my practice, and I had fallen asleep during my Shavasana, so...

I wasn't quite right with the world.

(hail rattling)

♪ ♪

(Thunder)

Ow!

(clinking)

Hey.

Oh, hey.

Matt: Shelby was literally shaking...

Hey. You okay?

...when I got back from running errands in the little town a few miles away.

Honey, it-it's just a hailstorm.

I drove through it on the way home.

I know what I saw.

It wasn't ice.

There were human teeth falling everywhere!

Weather 'round here does take some getting used to.

That's it.

Shelby: I felt pretty foolish.

I mean, teeth don't fall from the sky.

Raleigh is only two hours away.

WakeMed is one of the busiest hospitals in the state.

If I land these accounts, I won't have to be gone so much.

Babe, I know what I signed up for.

Traveling salesmen travel.

It's how we pay the bills.

All these renovations.

Even that ugly tie that you're wearing.

(laughs)

It's my lucky tie.

Hey, are you sure you're gonna be okay?

I can always cancel my trip.

I'm a big girl.

I'm gonna be fine.

I'm gonna be fine!

Okay.

Okay. (laughs)

Okay. Well... It's good.

Go. Fine.

Shelby: To tell you the truth, I was looking forward to some alone time.

He was being so sweet and so patient, but... he was... hovering, extra protective, and I felt like I was suffocating a little.

So I wanted him to go.

I felt like I needed the alone time.

In a way, it felt normal.

That's how things had always been for us.

He'd go away on business, and I'd miss him like crazy.

And then, we'd have the best sex when he came back.

I'd feel like... like nothing could tear us apart.

And I knew that I was probably being silly.

I just...

It takes time to settle into a new home, and I just needed to relax, and...

(laughs)

Luckily, that's-that's what I do for a living.

(inhales deeply)

(exhales deeply)

(wind whistling, creaking)

(sizzling)

(shutter bangs loudly)

Oh!

(loud, rhythmic clattering)

(sighs)

(wind whistling)

(laughs)

(wood creaking)

(echoing): Is anyone there?

Hello?

Hello?

(sighs)

(insects trilling and chirring)

(water gently splashing)

Matt: Well, Shelby called me, panicked, crying, saying she had been att*cked.

I was in Raleigh, two hours away, but I made it home in half the time.

Where's Shelby? Is she all right?

She's inside.

You her husband?

Your wife reported that she was assaulted and held underwater in the hot tub.

She claimed to have struggled against her attackers.

What do you mean, "claimed?"

I found no evidence of footprints or marks on the deck or in the grounds around the hot tub.

She also said her attackers were dressed in old costumes holding pitchforks and torches.

Does she imbibe?

I know exactly who did this.

It's those ZZ Top wannabes.

They've been trying to scare us off since we bought this place.

I'll bet it's the Polks.

Let me, uh, go have a talk with them.

Those guys keep to themselves, and they're, uh, not so easy to find.

We need protection! Get a g*n.

What?! That cop-- he wasn't gonna do a damn thing for us.

I could tell by his manner, and his-his... his condescending attitude.

He said he'd file a report, but I knew it would just end up in the bottom of a drawer somewhere.

Was it those guys from the auction?

(quietly): No.

I don't... I don't know.

It's just what you told the cops didn't make a whole lot of sense there, Shelby.

I saw what I saw.

They held you down... until they let you up?

Shelby: I was really scared.

I was choking on water.

When I could finally see clearly, they were gone. I ran inside to call the police, then I called you.

(sighs)

What?

The cops said that they didn't find anything by the hot tub.

No fingerprints, no torches.

They must have come back for them.

I wasn't imagining things, Matt.

I wasn't.

Mm.

Do you think I'm lying to you?

Shelby, absolutely not.

No. I believe you 100%.

Shelby, no.

I'm sorry. I believe you.

I believe you. I'm sorry.

I believe you.

(sighs)

Shelby: I felt so guilty, because I couldn't tell Matt the truth.

I didn't want to live there.

(wind chimes tinkling)

(insects trilling)

(inhuman howling)

(howling continues)

(wind chimes tinkle)

(gasps)

Matt: I decided not to tell Shelby about what happened, but it was proof to me that that white trash g*ng was trying to scare us away.

(grunts softly)

I had to be back in Raleigh the next day, so, I set up security cameras all around the perimeter that were synced to my cell phone so I could keep an eye on the place from wherever I was.

(crow cawing)

Not bad for an amateur.

But I was not going to leave Shelby there alone.

So I called my sister.

Shelby never liked me.

Which is fine, because I was never a huge fan of hers.

Yoga is not a job.

I used to play volleyball in high school.

Back then, yoga was called "stretching," and it was something you did before, not as exercise.

(chuckles) Lee judged my yoga and my gluten allergy and my two years of college.

She thought I was too much of a phony for her brother to marry.

I got my degree in criminal psychology from UNC.

I was on track to make detective.

Didn't work out though.

I didn't start taking pills because of some fault in my character.

I got hurt. On the job.

(indistinct shouting)

(baby crying)

(crying)

(g*nsh*t)

(screams)

Do you know prescription painkillers can be more addictive than heroin? I went from two pills a day to two an hour. I don't remember how many I took that day. I don't remember very much of anything at all that day, really.

(tires screeching)

(siren wailing)

(starts engine)

(tires screeching)

He was a serial r*pist.

A real assh*le.

I hate assholes.

(tires screeching)

(sirens wailing)

Put down the g*n!

Put it down!

You heard me. Put down the...

It would have been his third strike.

You ask me, it's the one time the law worked exactly the way it should.

(indistinct police transmission)

Hey!

What you nee...

They fired her.

Come on, Mason.

Divorce? Now?

When I'm at rock bottom? How many times have you forgotten to pick up your daughter at school this month?

Three times.

Which is three more the amount of times than you've touched me in the past month.

I'm done with this.

Lee: The judge awarded him full custody of Flora.

(door shuts)

I got her three days every 14.

21% of her life.

That's all they gave me.

Can we stop for a moment, please?

(sizzling)

Hmm.

(creaking)

(wind blowing in distance)

(sizzling continues)

Lee: Smelling g...

Oh, Jesus!

Oh, Jesus, Lee!

Don't sneak up on me like that! You scared the sh*t out of me!

My brother married one jumpy bitch.

She knew why we called her there.

And she knew that someone was messing with us.

Why would she move the Kn*fe like that?

So when did you become a cook?

What is that supposed to mean?

Recently.

It relaxes me. Mmm.

Cookin'? Yes.

Cooking.

(sighs) Look, can I be real with you?

While I'm here, could you please not drink inside the house? I know it's your home, but I'm hanging on to my sobriety by my teeth here.

But don't worry, I'll stay sober.

Somebody's got to protect you from the wild men in the woods.

And I appreciate that. Although...

I wish you still had your badge and your g*n.

Well, I may not have my badge, but Mama's still packin'.

I'll be honest with you,

I never put much stock in the stories my sister-in-law was telling my brother.

She never wanted to move to the country.

I figured she was just trying to scare him so they'd pack up and move back to L.A.

(inhuman howling)

(chimes tinkling)

(creaking)

Shelby, um...

I was pissed off.

I thought Shelby was messing with me.

Why, Shelby?

Why would you do something like that, huh? Do something like what?

This. Why would you do this?

I didn't do anything.

And I certainly didn't finish off that wine, so maybe you're the one seeing things. Wait a minute. Hold up. I'm seeing things?

The reason I'm out here is because of what you been seeing.

(phone buzzing)

Matt: My phone buzzed around 11:30.

I thought it was Shelby texting to say good night, but it wasn't her.

It was an automated alert from the security system I'd installed.

The sensors had been triggered by... something.

Well, bottles just don't roll across the floor by themselves.

Why you messin' with me? For the last time, I didn't do it!

God, everything is a five-alarm emergency with you.

Matt: I was in a complete panic. My family was in danger, and all I could do was watch.

When a mob shows up at your house in the middle of the night with torches, they are not there to welcome you to the neighborhood.

Do you know how many hours Matt spends worrying about you?

Matt: And no one would pick up the damn phone.

Every time you have a problem, you call Matt.

Your husband's mean to you, you call Matt. Uh-huh.

You fall off the wagon, you call Matt. Well, that's what families do!

We look out for each other! Yeah, except for you take.

You take and you take. Where were you when Matt was lying in that hospital room, unconscious, fighting for his life? Where were you...(door opens)

(shushing)

(creaking)

(whispering): Someone's in the house.

(soft creaking)

(hinges creaking)

(man shouting, panting)

(chuckling)

(man shouting)

Hey, Lee, I'm not staying up here by myself.

Where's your g*n?

Where it should be, locked, in a drawer upstairs.

Do we need to go back up and get it?

(man panting)

(man whimpering)

(man shouting)

(man whimpering on TV)

Man (on TV): I knew it... it came back.

I knew it was real.

Shelby: Why would someone break into my house just to play a home movie?

(inhuman howling on TV)

Oh, God.

I've heard those noises.

(man panting on TV, mutters)

Man (on TV): It's close.

(panting): I can smell it.

(inhuman howling, man yells)

(man screaming, howling continues)

I finally got you, you son of a bitch.

What the hell was that?

I have no idea.

(static)

We have to get out of here. Come on. Yeah.

(door slams shut, gasping, whimpering)

(power whooshes off, phone buzzes)

Matt: I was freaking out.

I called the cops-- they said they would look into it.

Freaking useless!

(yells)

sh*t! sh*t!

I knew, even 100 miles away, I'd get there before they would.

I just kept saying, "Please, God, just-just get me home.

Please just don't let me be too late."

(floorboards rattling)

Someone's up there. Shh.

(floorboards rattling)

(panting, gasping)

A lot of someones.

Shelby: We were down there

20, maybe... 30 minutes, but it felt like forever.

Come on.

Come on! Come on! Come on! Shh. Keep it down.

(squeaking, banging, rattling)

(sighs)

What are you doing?

Shh.

(sighs) Come on.

No, no, no, no, no, no.

Come on! (panting)

(panting)

Oh, my God.

Matt: I finally arrived.

The cops had come and gone by the time I got there.

Lee said they took a report and chalked it up to vandalism.

This was not vandalism.

This was terrorism.

How did they do this so quickly?

Shelby: That's not the point, Matt.

They broke into our home.

They locked your sister and me in the basement. They were here.

They lured us down there, made us watch this creepy video.

What video?

Shelby: I didn't want to see it again, but I went down with him anyway because I wasn't going to be alone in that house.

Matt hadn't been there when it happened, so, of course he didn't take it seriously.

Matt: I took it seriously.

I mean, I thought the video was fake.

(video rewinds)

Had to be those rednecks going all out, trying to get us to leave.

(video rewinding)

(inhuman howling, man yells)

(man panting)

I finally got you, you son of a bitch.

Matt: Pissed me off even more.

People do this all the time.

Neighbors or locals do crazy things to try to drive out the new homeowners, so they can come in and buy the property cheap.

They're just trying to freak us out, so that we'll leave.

Well, it's working.

I want to leave, Matt.

Now.

If they want the house that badly, let them have it.

Did the cops see these tapes?

Shelby: They don't care.

They just think it's some good ol' boys being good ol' boys.

You know they're not gonna lift a g*dd*mn finger to help us.

Lee: Come on, Shelby, Shelby, come on.

You got to let the cops do their job.

Oh, don't take this personally.

Matt.

We have to leave.

It's our home, Shel.

Our life savings.

Where are we gonna go?

And with what?

You cannot let these people run you out of your home.

You're not even listening to me.

Wow.

You know what?

Just... Just do what you want.

Shelby...

Oh, let her go. Give her a little time to calm down.

(door slams)

Who is this guy?

Lee: Another member of that redneck family?

(car engine revving)

Shelby!

Shelby!

I couldn't believe it.

Shelby just... left.

Shelby: At the time, it made all the sense in the world.

Humans respond to fear in two simple ways-- fight or flight.

There's no shame in getting the hell out of the way.

(phone buzzing)

Hello?

Matt: Shelby, come home.

(Shelby screams, tires screeching)

Shelby?

Can you hear me?

Are you there?

Shelby!

Oh, my God. Shelby!

Are you all right?

Can you hear me? Shelby!

(panting)

Oh, come on.

Come on, come on.

(panting)

Hello?!

Hello!

Hello?

Hello?!

Hello?

Hello?

Ma'am?

Are you all right?!

Are you hurt?

No, no, no!

Please, stop! Stop!

I have to get you to a hospital!

I didn't understand what happened.

I still don't.

Ma'am!

Hello?!

I followed this woman straight into the forest, maybe 50 feet.

Hello?!

And the road was directly behind me, I swear.

There's no way that she could've gotten very far, but I couldn't find any sign of her.

Hello?!

And I couldn't find my way out.

Hello?

Come on, Shelby. Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, oh...

(softly): Okay.

I was lost.

(heavy breathing)

(rustling nearby)

Hello?

(rustling)

(gasping)

(grunts)

(rhythmic rumbling)

♪ ♪

(inhuman scream)

No! No!

(screaming)