Lost Child (2018) Movie Script
1
- Janella Fern Sreaves.
- Florine?
- Sure never
expected to see you here again.
What's it been, 15 years?
- I need to find Billy.
I called the Family Services
office looking for him.
They gave me the run around.
You know where he is?
- I ain't seen Billy
in a long time.
You might get wet tonight.
Heavy dew on the grass
outside your new home.
Sure-fire predictor of rain.
- It's not my home.
- It is now.
Your daddy lived a hard life.
Paid for it in the end.
Don't you even think
about openin' this door
after dark if you ain't
expecting company.
- I did used to live here.
- Like when you were 10.
- I know how to
take care of myself.
- You got a gun in that bag?
- I don't believe in guns.
- Well how'd they feel
about that in the Marines?
- Army.
No guns.
I've no plans to
ever use one again.
- Then at least
get yourself a dog.
- This woman on the
bus told me that
copperheads are thick this year.
- The woods ain't your problem.
She's a living, breathing thing.
You show her some respect,
she'll take care of you.
Now these people around here,
they don't play
by the same rules.
- Who?
You know where
Billy is, don't you?
I can help him.
- Last I heard he
was floppin' down
in the woods in one
of them tin boxes.
I'll come back tomorrow
and take you to town,
get you some food.
- Where are you hidin'
the hooch these days?
- Jim William Sreaves was a
devoted father and husband.
I'm sure that he greets
his maker with open arms
and that he is
welcome into heaven
where his wife awaits him.
Let us pray.
Father, we just
pray in Jesus' name,
grace and peace into this
family understanding.
- What the hell you want?
- I'm looking for Billy Sreaves.
- Try county lockup.
Now get the fuck outta here.
- How you boys holding up?
- Hi there.
- Hm?
What can I get you?
- Jack and ginger, please.
- Yeah.
- You don't look
like a bar tender.
What's your main gig, hm?
Let me guess.
Construction?
Demolition?
- All right, so you
took one look at me
and you said now there's a man
that destroys shit for a living.
- You look like
you work outside.
- I help people.
People who need a handout,
people who need a leg up.
Some need a slap in the face.
It usually takes
me about one minute
to figure out who needs what.
- So what do you suppose I need?
Myself
Just searching for
something I couldn't reveal
It's never really there
- You need coffee
as bad as I need coffee?
You in the military?
- Couple tours.
Got processed out.
- So what next?
- Now I'm trying to
get to county lockup.
- You want to check yourself
in for stealing my heart?
It's too far to walk.
I could drive you in my
truck if you want to.
- Let's go.
- Well I'll wait for you.
- I'm good.
- Hey.
You want to do this again?
- See ya, Mike.
- That's what you get for
goin' after one of them
instead of a husky church girl.
- I'm lookin' for my brother,
William Sreaves, Billy.
He's 22.
- William Sreaves?
- Yes, sir.
- Drugs, assault, stealin'.
Not here now, he'll
be back before long.
- Do you have an
address for him?
- 1054 Dominion.
- We have to go.
- No, we're not.
- Daddy
said to stay here.
- I'm going.
- Shut the door.
Don't leave the car.
- Billy, I'm gonna get help.
- No, don't go.
- He's not coming back.
So come with me.
- No, don't leave.
- We'll come back.
- What do you want?
- Who in the hell are you?
You some of Sreaves' kin?
- I'm his daughter,
what do you want?
- I'm gonna burn this sucker
and do the county a favor.
- Why in the hell
would you do that?
- Fire's the only way
to get rid of a demon.
Your Jim had a mean
streak, foot wide.
I don't need to have
him back around here.
- Well I'm staying here
for a little while,
so I'd appreciate it if
you didn't burn it down.
- Lookin' for a dog?
- Yeah.
I don't really know how
to choose one though.
- What do you need it for?
- Protection.
- From the living or the dead?
- The living.
- Quiet!
Which one of you can
protect this woman?
Speak now.
There's your great protector.
- What's his name?
- I call it Cujo, but
it'll answer to shit-eating
fucker as long as
you feed it regular.
- Daddy.
Mm!
You can come inside,
but just for a minute.
- Ain't exactly Little
House on the Prairie, is it?
You found your brother yet?
- No.
- Maybe he don't wanna be found.
- Billy just doesn't
know I'm here.
- You'd be surprised
how word gets around.
- Well I know he'd come
to see me if he did.
- You lookin' for closure?
- Are you my therapist?
- Suppose not.
- You know that old
hillbilly up the road?
- Fig Karl?
- He's a Karl?
I thought they were all dead.
- He's one of the last.
That man's just on loan
from the penitentiary.
Likes to burn down empty houses,
strips the copper out first.
- Is he dangerous?
Oh, hi.
- Oh good Lord.
Is this the dog you
got for protection?
- I like him.
- These are the
Ozark's woods, child.
You need to get yourself a man.
- Look, I haven't asked
for your advice, all right?
Not once.
Can you just...
Leave, please?
- It's bad luck to
ask a person to leave
before they've finished eatin'.
I'm doin' you a
favor by stayin'.
- Dog?
Dog, dog!
Get back here!
Shit.
- Hello?
- Hi there.
What are you doin' out here?
Do you have a name?
- Cecil.
- Hi, Cecil.
Do you want to come
over here to me?
Do you want me to come to you?
Cecil, where's your family?
You out here all by yourself?
You hungry?
Do you want to come with
me and get some food?
It's okay, come on.
- Say, where'd you get that boy?
- This your place?
- It was my dad's,
but he's gone.
- Gone where?
- He passed away.
- Howler get him?
- Howler's not real.
- Yes he is.
- Unless the Howler poured the
booze down my Daddy's throat.
He did it to himself.
- So it's your place now?
- I'm not stayin' very long.
Cecil, where's your family?
What happened?
Cecil, how long you
been in those woods?
Do you know where your home is?
- Don't got no home.
- Yeah, I found a boy and I
need somebody to get out here.
Tomorrow?
So what am I supposed
to do with this kid?
All right.
- Thank you for letting me stay.
- You're welcome.
Found a couple things,
think they might fit.
- Thank you.
- Goodnight.
- Hey.
Hey.
Caught us breakfast.
- What am I supposed
to do with those?
- I'll show you.
- Have you ever gone to school?
- I would like to.
- Do you know how to read?
- No, ma'am.
- Well there's gonna be somebody
that's gonna come
by the house today.
- To take me away?
- They're gonna wanna
ask you a bunch of stuff
about your parents and
where you come from
and your parents' names.
Do you know any of that?
- Bad idea to tell people
too much about yourself.
Causes trouble.
I know which berries
are poisonous.
I know how to cut down wood.
I can help you here.
- Well I'm not stayin'.
- Mike Rivers with
Social Services.
- So this is your other job?
You're a social worker?
- I told you, I help people.
Who's this?
- That is Cecil.
- Howdy.
Hey, Cecil.
How is it you came
to live out here
in these woods all by yourself?
Let me get a picture
of you right quick.
- Prefer not to, sir.
- Why don't you just smile?
Give me a good lookin' smile.
Now.
It's just a picture.
We'll talk inside for a minute.
Hold onto that for me, will you?
I didn't think you'd
ever call again.
- Look, we had a fun time.
Let's just leave
it at that, okay?
I guess I should
say goodbye to him.
- Any idea what happens
to that little boy
if I take him with me now?
- Temporary foster care.
10 other kids, screaming,
crying, crowded.
Then three days later,
whole new set of parents.
New set of rules
and punishments.
- You sound like you got
some experience with that.
- Yeah, in at 11, out
on my 18th birthday.
- That's where you
want Cecil to go?
- Look, I'm not here to take
care of a messed up kid.
I'm here to find my brother.
- A kid like that's calling
me sir, calling you ma'am,
let's just pack him a pink
lunchbox and see if he makes it.
- He'll be okay.
That kid's a survivor.
- Is that what you were,
you were a survivor?
- I am now.
- You could give that boy a good
life for a couple days,
it ain't gonna kill you.
- No, absolutely not.
No.
- Why?
- Because I'm unfit.
- I disagree.
- Well I am, I can't
even take care of a dog.
Took off after one day.
- But you brought that
little boy out of the woods
and into your home.
And the fact of
that alone qualifies
you to lead a Sunday
sermon in this town.
Why don't you just let me
straighten out who his kin are?
That boy must've
come from someplace.
Be good little man,
I'll be back soon.
- You're havin' a cigarette?
- Yes, I'm having a cigarette.
- You like to smoke?
- Yup.
- Don't it burn when the
smoke goes down inside of you?
- Cecil, can I just
get a minute, please?
- You not hungry?
- Not really feeling good.
- Maybe you got a ghost.
You ought to burn your
daddy's dress shirts.
And if that don't work,
I'll catch you a rattler
and give you a bit to eat.
- I don't believe in ghosts.
- Hey Paul, it's Mike.
Need to file a report
on a missing person,
a young male, Caucasian,
probably nine or 10 years old.
He's been out in the woods
by himself for a while.
He belongs to somebody.
But he's good manners,
somebody straightened
him out more than once.
What do you say, Miss Fran?
- Oh, hey Mike.
- How are you?
Y'all seen a boy about
nine or 10 years old
come through here,
blonde haired kid?
- Nah.
- No.
- I got a picture of him.
- Oh thank you, man.
- Yes, sir.
I thought I had
a picture of him.
Where'd you go, little man?
- Cecil?
Cecil?
What are you doin'?
- Do you believe in monsters
coming out of the forest?
- No.
Go back to bed, please.
Thanks for giving me a ride.
- Well now, who's this
fine young gentleman?
- This is Cecil.
- Cecil what?
Who's your people?
- He doesn't like to answer
questions about himself.
Come on, get in.
- I tell you to get a dog,
you get an overgrown rodent.
I tell you to get a man,
you get a 60 pounder.
- This is it?
- If you want some
guy in a white coat
and a fancy diploma, that's
30 miles up the road.
- Hello.
- Hello.
- You're a Sreaves.
- How could you tell?
- It's in the eyes.
Shame about your folks.
Drugs sure have a way
of hollowin' people out.
So, what you got brewin'?
- I got really bad
headaches and I can't sleep
and I'm just really congested.
- Well when did
all this start up?
- Um...
Night before last.
- Eatin' anything unusual?
- No.
- Probably got a virus.
You got time to rest?
- No, I've recently took
in a kid, a little boy.
I don't even know how long
I'm gonna have him for.
- You took in a boy?
From where?
- Found him in the woods.
- And you started to get sick
after you brought him home?
- That night.
- Who's your Lord and Creator?
Where'd you come from, boy?
- What was that about?
- Old stories
around these parts.
Some lies, many true.
You've got to take that boy
back to the forest,
Miss Sreaves.
Take him back and leave
him where you found him.
- What are you saying?
- There are some sicknesses
that medicine just cannot cure.
- What's the diagnosis?
- He said it's a virus.
Have you ever heard the
word tatterdemalion?
What is it?
- Well now, that's an old one.
Tatterdemalion.
Story goes that little boy
was banished to the trees.
Can't come out unless
somebody carries him across.
He'll make you love him.
The whole time stealin' your
health, life, years ahead.
They say that's how he
stays young forever.
- And you believe that?
- This place is
built on stories.
Some of 'em true,
most of 'em horseshit.
Folk tales come from necessity.
Kids like me was gettin'
lost in the woods,
so they made up the Howler.
You know, they tell kids stories
to scare 'em into
stayin' out of trouble.
It works, too.
- Yeah, but why would anybody
need a story about
a tatterdemalion?
- Now Cecil, I know you
ain't gonna sit at my table
without washing that
dog off your hands.
- No, ma'am.
Can somebody please
help me with this?
- I'll go help him.
Hello?
Can you just stop, please?
Hey, you want to
play a game with me?
- What is it?
- It's a game where you
have to think of somebody
and I have to ask you questions
till I can figure out who it is.
Yes or no questions.
- Okay.
- Okay.
All right.
So you need to think of
somebody really special to you.
- Got one.
- Okay.
- Is it a boy?
It's a girl?
Is it a little girl?
It's a woman?
Is it your mom?
What's her name?
- You said it had to
be yes or no questions.
- What's her name, Cecil?
Where is she?
Hey, come back here!
You can't lie to me, okay?
Hey, that's not how it works.
All right, tell me
where your mom is.
Where is she, where's your mom?
Tell me, where is she?
- Mama died when
the baby came out!
They both died!
- What was she like?
- She used to sing
old songs to me.
- Why were you living
in the woods, Cecil?
- Can't tell you.
- Why not?
- Because you don't
believe in monsters.
- No, I don't.
- I do.
Know them to be a fact.
Where you goin'?
- I'm goin' out.
- How long are
you gonna be gone?
- Not even an hour.
- Why can't I go?
- Because it's not
kid stuff, all right?
- I don't want you to go.
- Well, I'm goin'.
So you just need to stay inside
and don't let anyone
in the house, okay?
Just stay inside
and lock the door.
"Holy Water" by Ashley McBryde
Thank you so much, thank you.
Another drink, please.
Woo!
Yeah!
Thank you, sorry.
- Hey beautiful.
- Hello.
- How 'bout you come
outside with me?
- No thanks, I'm good here.
- All right.
Get up, get up!
- Get off of me!
- Get up!
- Get off of me!
- Get the fuck up!
- Fuck off me!
- This family shit, all right?
- You piece of shit!
- Get out here.
Where you think
you're goin', huh?
Where you think you're goin'?
Whatcha gonna do?
- Get off!
You're fuckin' crazy.
- Nothing's changed,
has it, Janella?
- Billy?
What are you doing?
- You come around here,
askin' about me like
there's some kind of
family reunion planned?
- Why are you so angry?
- After what you did?
- What did I do?
- You ripped our family apart!
- No, I did not, I was a kid.
- No, you were a fuckin' rat.
You quit askin' after me.
I don't want nothin'
to do with you.
I don't want you in my life.
Go back to wherever
the fuck you come from.
- Hey!
Step off.
Step off.
- This is
not your quarrel.
- Anytime an asshole hits
a woman, that's my quarrel.
Now step off.
- A woman?
No, no, no, this is a soldier.
Can't you tell?
I don't want nothin'
to do with you.
And fuck you!
I'll be seein' you
around, it's a small town.
- No!
- All right.
Easy, now.
Oh, okay.
Okay, get it all out.
- I expected him
to be fucked up.
Why the fuck's he mad at me?
He should be mad
at our fucking dad.
- A kid like that's always
angry at the wrong person.
- Stop, stop.
- You want me to stick around?
- No.
Could've handled it myself.
- Why do you drink booze?
- 'Cause it helps
me feel better.
- Do you feel better today?
You shouldn't do it no more.
- Ah!
- We should get you a toy.
- What for?
- For playing, having fun.
- What did you play with
when you were a kid?
- I loved bubbles.
I liked to see how far they
could get before they pop.
The best ones...
When they just kept
goin' and goin' till
you couldn't see 'em anymore.
Like maybe they were
still goin' somewhere.
- Bubbles sound good.
- All right.
- Come on!
- Cecil!
Stop!
God.
Stop.
- I want to stay
with you forever.
- You can't.
- Why not?
- 'Cause you deserve better.
- I found some clothes that
might fit him a little better.
You feelin' okay?
- You found his family yet?
I went out in the
woods the other day
and I found this fort
and I'm pretty sure
that he's been
stayin' in that thing.
- Did you find anything in it?
- Just found this magazine,
and it was like real ancient,
but I made out this address on
the front, Old Hickock Road.
Have you ever heard of that?
I looked on some maps but I
couldn't find it anywhere.
- Mm, nothin'.
Well I mean, there's a thousand
dirt paths in this county.
They all got different names
and then every generation,
the name changes.
Hey Cecil, my boy.
- Yes, sir?
- Miss Sreaves
being good to you?
- Yes, sir.
- Mm-hm.
Looks like she's feeding you.
- Yes, sir.
You can stay and eat with us.
- Mm.
That sounds like an
invitation to dinner.
It'd be bad luck
to pass that up.
Hey Cecil.
You didn't happen to
delete that picture
I took of you off my phone
the other day, did you?
- Dangerous to have your image
gathered away from your body.
- So how can nobody
know who this kid is?
- Last summer I
found a family living
in a refrigerator box
in the deep, deep woods.
Three kids, two, three and six.
And none of 'em had ever
seen electricity before.
So a kid like that,
no birth certificate,
no school, no medical records,
just gotta dig deeper,
you gotta look deeper.
Now he didn't come
out of nowhere.
Like you heard that
stuff he was sayin' about
gathering his image
away from his body?
- Yeah?
- I mean, that's old time stuff.
Like I haven't heard
anything like that since
I was a little kid and
even then I didn't hear it
except for when I was way
off in the hills somewhere.
The old timers
preachin' the old ways.
- What if he's dangerous?
- I think you could take him.
- I'm serious.
Like this, he talks about
stuff, like weird stuff.
- Like what?
- Like he talks about monsters
coming out of the woods.
- Yeah, welcome to the
Ozarks, Miss Sreaves.
- No, I'm telling you
this kid needs help.
Like real medical help,
like therapists and
assessments and all that.
- Is that what you needed?
Or did you just need
somebody to love you?
- You don't know a
damn thing about me.
I'll give you two more
days and then you take him.
What are you doing?
What are you doing?
Cecil!
Cecil!
Cecil.
Cecil.
- Why don't you want me?
- There's more to it, Cecil.
- You want to be all alone?
- Sometimes it seems easier.
- Why?
- Because then I
don't have to worry
about anybody else's
feelings but my own.
I don't have to worry
about anybody hurting me
and I don't have to worry
about hurting anybody else.
- I don't wanna go back.
- Where is your home, Cecil?
- I step in there and
you'll never see me again.
Is that what you want?
- I just want your family
to know that you're okay.
- I don't have any
family anymore.
I told you that!
- Hey, what are you doing?
Be careful!
- You want me to go?
Tell me to go.
- I just want you to
tell me who you are.
- I've already told you.
- But tell me something else.
Tell me how old you are.
- What does it
matter how old I am?
- Okay, come down,
let's go back inside.
- You want me to stay or go?
- Come down.
- Say it.
- Just please stay.
Goodnight.
- Hey, I didn't get a chance
to a proper introduction
the other day.
Fig Karl.
You've been warned
about me, have you, huh?
- What is it with you and fire?
- Keeps things pure.
This demon lives
in this old snag.
Try to burn it out once a week.
Keeps him at bay.
The dead's been known to
gather 'round Paw Paw trees.
For reasons unknown.
- What do you know about
the tatterdemalion?
- If you've got that
damn thing in your house,
you need to bring him back
down here in the woods
where he belongs and be
done with him tonight.
- What do you know about it?
- He's gonna ask
you to take his hand
and gonna walk right
into your life.
He can't come out
of the woods alone.
He can't cross over.
A Tatterdemalion has
got to abide by that.
He's gonna be sweet as pie,
and you're gonna
start seein' changes.
- What kind of changes?
- Your pretty hair's
gonna turn white.
It's just gonna get sick,
you just gonna keep
gettin' sicker.
Then you just ain't
gonna wake up.
Then he's gonna come back
down here in the woods
and he'll be stronger with
your life than he was before.
We got an old
sayin' around here.
If it ain't your kin,
don't let him in.
- Have you actually
seen a tatterdemalion?
- I ain't never seen
Australia either,
but that don't mean
it ain't there.
You need a lil' proof?
- Yeah.
- You take these three nails,
you bang 'em into
your front door
in the shape of a triangle.
- And what's that prove?
- A tatterdemalion's a
demon, and a demon's a witch.
There ain't no witch can enter
when they see this in
shape of a triangle.
No ghost, no demon.
Nothing on this earth.
You best be gettin' on back
home now, it's gonna rain.
Flint rock up in
the high country
were sweating on my way here.
You know how many times
I've about busted my ass.
Dickens of a rain comin'.
Back to hell with you.
- Who's that?
- Hey, you go back
inside right now.
- Somebody should've burned
this place down a long time ago.
- What happened to you?
- Their names are
goin' on the list.
They'll know soon.
The old man had a gun.
Pistol, six shots, I want it.
- You don't want a gun.
- Don't tell me what I want.
- You know, my...
My last day on active duty,
I spent holding the
hand of this young kid
who's about your
age from Arkansas.
Took a bullet
right to the belly.
And I held his hand and
he told me about this girl
that he was gonna
marry when he got home.
And then he bled out on evac.
- Why should I care about that?
- 'Cause ever since
then the only thing that
I can think about is getting
back here and seeing you.
- You think you're just gonna
come back here and
fix everything?
You're the one who broke
it all to start with.
You wanna talk
about bad memories?
We can be here all fuckin' day.
Nine years.
Nine years I bounced from
one fuckin' dump to another.
- I know.
- No, you don't.
Get off of me.
- Billy.
You're my brother, please--
- Don't you touch me.
- Billy, stop--
- Get off of me!
- Don't touch her!
- And what, big man?
What are you gonna do?
- I'll hurt you.
- Is he yours?
- I found him in the woods,
he didn't have a family.
- Why do you care about this
waste of skin and bones, boy?
- I need her.
- You shouldn't
have come back here.
- Maybe not.
- You know, it could've
been a lot worse.
I'm surprised it wasn't.
- He saw Cecil and then ran off.
- Now you listen to me.
You need to stop worrying
about your brother.
You won't break through.
The boy you knew is gone.
- Why...
Why didn't you...
Why didn't you keep us?
You were mama's best friend.
You could've kept us together.
- Do you think you was the
only one with problems?
My Red, he had a real taste
for drinkin' and beatin' on me.
He would've been
real nasty to kids.
Besides, I...
I didn't wanna
sacrifice my own life
for somebody else's kids.
- What the hell is that?
What is this?
Hey, what is this?
Why'd you put this on me?
What the hell is this?
- It's a madstone.
- Was this supposed
to hurt me, Cecil?
- Give it back, it's special.
Give it back, it's special!
- No!
Hey.
- Did you see how
far that one went?
- Cecil, I need you to
do something for me.
- Yes, ma'am.
- I want you to go inside
and get me a glass of water.
- You thirsty?
- Real bad.
Everything okay?
What's wrong?
- Who put those nails there?
Who did it?
- I did.
- Why'd you put the
goddamn nails in the door?
- Because I need to
know what you are!
You think that I can't see
that my hair's goin' gray?
You think that I don't
see that I'm sick?
What are you?
- You shouldn't have done that.
- So that's what
you think's goin' on?
- Yeah.
- I got an uncle that uh,
he wears his clothes inside out
anytime he goes to a funeral.
You know, if he drops a
dish rag on the floor,
he won't open the
door for a week.
And he swears that he's
laid hundreds of ghosts
to their graves with
a stone because they
were spellin' him from
the great, black beyond--
- Okay, so what's your point?
- He thinks that the
tatterdemalion's a bunch
of backwoods hooey.
- Really?
He was using this.
Pushing it onto my face
while I was asleep.
I think it's part of
how he does his thing.
- You don't see many of these.
- So you know what that is?
- You find 'em sometimes
in a deer's stomach
lining, but they're rare.
Mountain people say that
they have healing powers.
It's okay.
You got scared and you tried
to find another way out of it.
- No, you should never
have left him here with me.
- I thought I saw a connection
between you and that boy.
- Well I guess you were wrong.
- No, I wasn't wrong.
You come in here out of nowhere,
you're all alone, and that
boy walks out of the woods
with very similar
circumstances to you.
As if you two were always just
spinnin' towards
each other, bonded.
- Just take him away.
- If you still care, I
heard your brother's staying
down at the end of County Road.
- Hi.
- Hi.
I'm looking for my brother.
- Who's your brother?
- His name's Billy Sreaves.
You know him?
- He ain't here.
- Where is he?
- Billy don't check in with me.
- Well I just wanna
say goodbye to him.
- Why?
- Because he's my
brother, I told you.
- He ain't your brother.
He ain't anybody's anything.
He's Billy.
- You live here with him?
- This shithole look
like anybody lives in it?
Just lay my head
here when I need to.
Me, and the others.
- How old are you?
- Hey.
Stays out by the river
when it's hot like this.
He'll be by himself.
- Thank you.
- You shouldn't
be here right now.
- Just came to say goodbye.
- You better cut
that out, I'm...
I sleep here!
- Do you remember anything
about what happened that night?
We were drivin', remember?
We were in the middle
of some dirt road.
Middle of nowhere.
And they'd been
to their dealers.
And the car broke down.
Daddy said that you know,
I'm gonna go get help.
"Y'all stay in here,
don't you move.
"Don't you leave this
care, you hear me?"
We waited there,
and waited there,
and waited there and
he never came back.
And then mom passed out.
I decided to go get help.
You were always so
eager to please him,
that you did whatever he said.
But I tried.
I tried to get you
to come with me.
And you wouldn't,
you didn't budge.
- I don't remember it that way.
I remember you left me.
- I didn't mean to leave you.
I'm sorry.
- You know, she woke
up after you left
and she just started
smokin' and smokin'.
Then she started
shakin' and throwin' up.
Begging me to help her.
So I held her real tight, mm-hm.
And she just kept shakin'.
And I was so small, she
shook the both of us.
And then she didn't
shake no more.
- I actually thought
for a lot of years
I was gonna run away
and I was gonna find you
and we were gonna find
our happiness together.
- Yeah, whatever that is.
- You know what?
I want you to...
Have this key.
Take the house, 'cause
I don't want it.
- What about that boy?
- I know what he was.
- And what was he?
- Don't act like you don't know.
I saw the way you ran off
right when you saw him.
- No, I didn't run from him.
I ran from what he
stirred up inside of me.
- That kid's a tatterdemalion.
- No, that's a bullshit
story made up so folks
can justify not taking
care of kids like me.
- I'm sick.
- You of all people should
know better than that.
- I've been sick since
the day he got here.
And my hair's turnin' white.
White.
- I used to visit our
daddy now and then.
You know, he hated
this time of year.
When these Paw
Paw's are bloomin'.
Terrible allergic.
Said it felt like they
were stealin' his breath.
Four walls and a roof ain't
gonna fix what's wrong with me.
Somebody should take that
place and make a home of it.
Start new.
- Billy, you don't
have to stay here.
- Well you can move on and go
save somebody worth savin'.
Get outta here!
I'm not gonna ask you
again, you better go now!
Go!
- Get it, get it, get it!
Get it, get it, get
it, get it, get it!
- Stop it!
You know what they
say about you?
You go stay in that room.
- Hello.
Excuse me, sir.
- Afternoon.
- Good afternoon.
The lady inside told me
that you've lived around
these parts for a real long time
and that you remember
different things?
- Less and less everyday.
- Have you ever heard
of Old Hickock Road?
- Old Hickock Road.
I haven't heard it called
that in a long time.
- Do you know where it is?
- I reckon so.
But it won't be
easy to get there.
You gotta cross the river.
- Hello?
Hello?
- 103 dispatch, I have
a 50 to 55 year old male
that has overdosed
on his own batch.
If you would please send EMS
to our location,
Old Hickock Road.
Over.
- It's Cecil Fillmont.
- Fillmont?
So you found out
who his family is?
- I made a horrible mistake.
Can we go get him, please?
Please?
- Hey, we came to get Cecil.
- On who's authority?
- Right there.
I spoke to the juvenile
judge about an hour ago.
Made a strong
recommendation that
he be released in her custody.
- Hey.
Y'all know where Cecil is?
- I still want my
stipend, he was here two nights.
- Cecil?
Cecil.
Cecil, I'm so sorry.
I know you were trying
to help me with this.
Cecil.
Cecil Fillmont.
- How'd you know that?
- Because I found your house.
And I know what it was
like for you there.
- He was right to punish me.
- No, he wasn't.
- I talked about
our family business.
He gave me one week outside.
- It was wrong to do that.
- He told me if I ran off,
if I talked about
what he did to me,
the Howler'd come.
He'll come for me.
- I'm not gonna let him.
- He'll come for me.
- I'm not gonna let him.
- When Daddy chained me up,
I heard him howling
in the trees.
Nobody can stop him.
- I'm gonna protect
you from now on, okay?
- Close your eyes.
Close your eyes.
I am a poor
wayfaring stranger
I'm traveling through
this world below
There is no sickness,
toils or danger
To that good world
to which I go
I'm going there
to meet my father
I'm going there
no more to roam
I am just going over Jordan
I am just going over home
- You know
what a killdeer is?
- Mm-mm.
- It's a tiny bird that makes
its nest in precarious places.
Yet every year I get a few
eggs out on the driveway,
I try to steer clear of 'em,
but if you get too close,
the mama killdeer,
she starts squawkin'
and then she'll lead you
away from the babies,
all the while she's fakin'
an injury to her wing
so that you'll choose
her over her babies.
It's that ultimate sacrifice
for a baby she
ain't even seen yet.
I think that everybody's
got that instinct in 'em.
Just gotta wake it up.
- I don't think
these people like me.
- Yes, they do.
You belong here.
- I want to leave.
- No, we don't have to leave.
- Help!
- Cecil?
- Help!
- Cecil!
- Let me go!
Let me go!
Help, put me down!
- I know what you are.
You go back there
and you'll kill her.
- Cecil!
Cecil!
Hey!
Where's Cecil?
- You know what, I warned
you about that thing.
You oughta be thanking me--
- What did you do to
him, you son of a bitch!
- Tell you right now, you
let that demon in your head.
- Where is he?
Tell me!
- Man, I'm helping
you by not sayin'!
- Tell me where he is right now
or I'm gonna blow your head off.
- I dragged him back down in
the woods where he belongs.
- Where? Where?
- East, that way.
- Cecil!
Cecil!
Cecil!
Cecil?
Cecil, you have to
come back with me now.
I'll never stop looking for you.
Cecil.
Are you okay?
You're safe now.
Are you hurt?
- I can't go back
with you, Fern.
- Cecil.
Please.
- My daddy told me
I killed my mama.
They told me what I
am at the foster home.
They all believed it.
It must be true.
- It's not true.
- Are you still sick?
- No, I'm not sick
anymore, okay?
Those were all just
terrible stories.
- You thought I was a demon.
Other people think I am.
My mama and daddy both died.
- Cecil.
- I think there's something
really wrong with me.
I'll go away, far
away from here.
Keep you safe.
It's the Howler, run,
he only wants me!
- What, what's wrong?
It's okay, it's okay, it's okay.
Shh, shh.
I see him.
I see him, I'm
gonna get him, okay?
Stay there.
- Fern!
Fern!
- Cecil.
Cecil.
It's okay, he's gone now.
Forever, okay?
You don't have to
be scared anymore.
Okay?
It's okay, you're mine now.
I love you.
Come on, it's all over, okay?
I am a poor
wayfaring stranger
I'm traveling through
this world below
There is no sickness,
toils or danger
In that good world
to which I go
I'm going there
to meet my father
I'm going there
no more to roam
I am just going over Jordan
I am just going over home
I know dark clouds
will gather over me
I know my pathway's
rough and steep
But golden fields
lie out before me
Where weary eyes
no more shall weep
I'm going there
to see my mother
She said she'd
meet me when I come
I am just going over Jordan
I am just a going over home
I want to sing
salvation's story
In concert with the
blood-washed band
I want to wear
a crown of glory
When I get home
to that good land
I'm going there to
see my classmates
Who passed before
me one by one
I am just going over Jordan
I am just going over home
I'll soon be free
from every trial
This form will rest
beneath the sod
I'll drop the cross
of self-denial
And enter in my
home with God
I'm going there
to see my Savior
Who shed for me
His precious blood
I am just going over Jordan
I am just going over home
- Janella Fern Sreaves.
- Florine?
- Sure never
expected to see you here again.
What's it been, 15 years?
- I need to find Billy.
I called the Family Services
office looking for him.
They gave me the run around.
You know where he is?
- I ain't seen Billy
in a long time.
You might get wet tonight.
Heavy dew on the grass
outside your new home.
Sure-fire predictor of rain.
- It's not my home.
- It is now.
Your daddy lived a hard life.
Paid for it in the end.
Don't you even think
about openin' this door
after dark if you ain't
expecting company.
- I did used to live here.
- Like when you were 10.
- I know how to
take care of myself.
- You got a gun in that bag?
- I don't believe in guns.
- Well how'd they feel
about that in the Marines?
- Army.
No guns.
I've no plans to
ever use one again.
- Then at least
get yourself a dog.
- This woman on the
bus told me that
copperheads are thick this year.
- The woods ain't your problem.
She's a living, breathing thing.
You show her some respect,
she'll take care of you.
Now these people around here,
they don't play
by the same rules.
- Who?
You know where
Billy is, don't you?
I can help him.
- Last I heard he
was floppin' down
in the woods in one
of them tin boxes.
I'll come back tomorrow
and take you to town,
get you some food.
- Where are you hidin'
the hooch these days?
- Jim William Sreaves was a
devoted father and husband.
I'm sure that he greets
his maker with open arms
and that he is
welcome into heaven
where his wife awaits him.
Let us pray.
Father, we just
pray in Jesus' name,
grace and peace into this
family understanding.
- What the hell you want?
- I'm looking for Billy Sreaves.
- Try county lockup.
Now get the fuck outta here.
- How you boys holding up?
- Hi there.
- Hm?
What can I get you?
- Jack and ginger, please.
- Yeah.
- You don't look
like a bar tender.
What's your main gig, hm?
Let me guess.
Construction?
Demolition?
- All right, so you
took one look at me
and you said now there's a man
that destroys shit for a living.
- You look like
you work outside.
- I help people.
People who need a handout,
people who need a leg up.
Some need a slap in the face.
It usually takes
me about one minute
to figure out who needs what.
- So what do you suppose I need?
Myself
Just searching for
something I couldn't reveal
It's never really there
- You need coffee
as bad as I need coffee?
You in the military?
- Couple tours.
Got processed out.
- So what next?
- Now I'm trying to
get to county lockup.
- You want to check yourself
in for stealing my heart?
It's too far to walk.
I could drive you in my
truck if you want to.
- Let's go.
- Well I'll wait for you.
- I'm good.
- Hey.
You want to do this again?
- See ya, Mike.
- That's what you get for
goin' after one of them
instead of a husky church girl.
- I'm lookin' for my brother,
William Sreaves, Billy.
He's 22.
- William Sreaves?
- Yes, sir.
- Drugs, assault, stealin'.
Not here now, he'll
be back before long.
- Do you have an
address for him?
- 1054 Dominion.
- We have to go.
- No, we're not.
- Daddy
said to stay here.
- I'm going.
- Shut the door.
Don't leave the car.
- Billy, I'm gonna get help.
- No, don't go.
- He's not coming back.
So come with me.
- No, don't leave.
- We'll come back.
- What do you want?
- Who in the hell are you?
You some of Sreaves' kin?
- I'm his daughter,
what do you want?
- I'm gonna burn this sucker
and do the county a favor.
- Why in the hell
would you do that?
- Fire's the only way
to get rid of a demon.
Your Jim had a mean
streak, foot wide.
I don't need to have
him back around here.
- Well I'm staying here
for a little while,
so I'd appreciate it if
you didn't burn it down.
- Lookin' for a dog?
- Yeah.
I don't really know how
to choose one though.
- What do you need it for?
- Protection.
- From the living or the dead?
- The living.
- Quiet!
Which one of you can
protect this woman?
Speak now.
There's your great protector.
- What's his name?
- I call it Cujo, but
it'll answer to shit-eating
fucker as long as
you feed it regular.
- Daddy.
Mm!
You can come inside,
but just for a minute.
- Ain't exactly Little
House on the Prairie, is it?
You found your brother yet?
- No.
- Maybe he don't wanna be found.
- Billy just doesn't
know I'm here.
- You'd be surprised
how word gets around.
- Well I know he'd come
to see me if he did.
- You lookin' for closure?
- Are you my therapist?
- Suppose not.
- You know that old
hillbilly up the road?
- Fig Karl?
- He's a Karl?
I thought they were all dead.
- He's one of the last.
That man's just on loan
from the penitentiary.
Likes to burn down empty houses,
strips the copper out first.
- Is he dangerous?
Oh, hi.
- Oh good Lord.
Is this the dog you
got for protection?
- I like him.
- These are the
Ozark's woods, child.
You need to get yourself a man.
- Look, I haven't asked
for your advice, all right?
Not once.
Can you just...
Leave, please?
- It's bad luck to
ask a person to leave
before they've finished eatin'.
I'm doin' you a
favor by stayin'.
- Dog?
Dog, dog!
Get back here!
Shit.
- Hello?
- Hi there.
What are you doin' out here?
Do you have a name?
- Cecil.
- Hi, Cecil.
Do you want to come
over here to me?
Do you want me to come to you?
Cecil, where's your family?
You out here all by yourself?
You hungry?
Do you want to come with
me and get some food?
It's okay, come on.
- Say, where'd you get that boy?
- This your place?
- It was my dad's,
but he's gone.
- Gone where?
- He passed away.
- Howler get him?
- Howler's not real.
- Yes he is.
- Unless the Howler poured the
booze down my Daddy's throat.
He did it to himself.
- So it's your place now?
- I'm not stayin' very long.
Cecil, where's your family?
What happened?
Cecil, how long you
been in those woods?
Do you know where your home is?
- Don't got no home.
- Yeah, I found a boy and I
need somebody to get out here.
Tomorrow?
So what am I supposed
to do with this kid?
All right.
- Thank you for letting me stay.
- You're welcome.
Found a couple things,
think they might fit.
- Thank you.
- Goodnight.
- Hey.
Hey.
Caught us breakfast.
- What am I supposed
to do with those?
- I'll show you.
- Have you ever gone to school?
- I would like to.
- Do you know how to read?
- No, ma'am.
- Well there's gonna be somebody
that's gonna come
by the house today.
- To take me away?
- They're gonna wanna
ask you a bunch of stuff
about your parents and
where you come from
and your parents' names.
Do you know any of that?
- Bad idea to tell people
too much about yourself.
Causes trouble.
I know which berries
are poisonous.
I know how to cut down wood.
I can help you here.
- Well I'm not stayin'.
- Mike Rivers with
Social Services.
- So this is your other job?
You're a social worker?
- I told you, I help people.
Who's this?
- That is Cecil.
- Howdy.
Hey, Cecil.
How is it you came
to live out here
in these woods all by yourself?
Let me get a picture
of you right quick.
- Prefer not to, sir.
- Why don't you just smile?
Give me a good lookin' smile.
Now.
It's just a picture.
We'll talk inside for a minute.
Hold onto that for me, will you?
I didn't think you'd
ever call again.
- Look, we had a fun time.
Let's just leave
it at that, okay?
I guess I should
say goodbye to him.
- Any idea what happens
to that little boy
if I take him with me now?
- Temporary foster care.
10 other kids, screaming,
crying, crowded.
Then three days later,
whole new set of parents.
New set of rules
and punishments.
- You sound like you got
some experience with that.
- Yeah, in at 11, out
on my 18th birthday.
- That's where you
want Cecil to go?
- Look, I'm not here to take
care of a messed up kid.
I'm here to find my brother.
- A kid like that's calling
me sir, calling you ma'am,
let's just pack him a pink
lunchbox and see if he makes it.
- He'll be okay.
That kid's a survivor.
- Is that what you were,
you were a survivor?
- I am now.
- You could give that boy a good
life for a couple days,
it ain't gonna kill you.
- No, absolutely not.
No.
- Why?
- Because I'm unfit.
- I disagree.
- Well I am, I can't
even take care of a dog.
Took off after one day.
- But you brought that
little boy out of the woods
and into your home.
And the fact of
that alone qualifies
you to lead a Sunday
sermon in this town.
Why don't you just let me
straighten out who his kin are?
That boy must've
come from someplace.
Be good little man,
I'll be back soon.
- You're havin' a cigarette?
- Yes, I'm having a cigarette.
- You like to smoke?
- Yup.
- Don't it burn when the
smoke goes down inside of you?
- Cecil, can I just
get a minute, please?
- You not hungry?
- Not really feeling good.
- Maybe you got a ghost.
You ought to burn your
daddy's dress shirts.
And if that don't work,
I'll catch you a rattler
and give you a bit to eat.
- I don't believe in ghosts.
- Hey Paul, it's Mike.
Need to file a report
on a missing person,
a young male, Caucasian,
probably nine or 10 years old.
He's been out in the woods
by himself for a while.
He belongs to somebody.
But he's good manners,
somebody straightened
him out more than once.
What do you say, Miss Fran?
- Oh, hey Mike.
- How are you?
Y'all seen a boy about
nine or 10 years old
come through here,
blonde haired kid?
- Nah.
- No.
- I got a picture of him.
- Oh thank you, man.
- Yes, sir.
I thought I had
a picture of him.
Where'd you go, little man?
- Cecil?
Cecil?
What are you doin'?
- Do you believe in monsters
coming out of the forest?
- No.
Go back to bed, please.
Thanks for giving me a ride.
- Well now, who's this
fine young gentleman?
- This is Cecil.
- Cecil what?
Who's your people?
- He doesn't like to answer
questions about himself.
Come on, get in.
- I tell you to get a dog,
you get an overgrown rodent.
I tell you to get a man,
you get a 60 pounder.
- This is it?
- If you want some
guy in a white coat
and a fancy diploma, that's
30 miles up the road.
- Hello.
- Hello.
- You're a Sreaves.
- How could you tell?
- It's in the eyes.
Shame about your folks.
Drugs sure have a way
of hollowin' people out.
So, what you got brewin'?
- I got really bad
headaches and I can't sleep
and I'm just really congested.
- Well when did
all this start up?
- Um...
Night before last.
- Eatin' anything unusual?
- No.
- Probably got a virus.
You got time to rest?
- No, I've recently took
in a kid, a little boy.
I don't even know how long
I'm gonna have him for.
- You took in a boy?
From where?
- Found him in the woods.
- And you started to get sick
after you brought him home?
- That night.
- Who's your Lord and Creator?
Where'd you come from, boy?
- What was that about?
- Old stories
around these parts.
Some lies, many true.
You've got to take that boy
back to the forest,
Miss Sreaves.
Take him back and leave
him where you found him.
- What are you saying?
- There are some sicknesses
that medicine just cannot cure.
- What's the diagnosis?
- He said it's a virus.
Have you ever heard the
word tatterdemalion?
What is it?
- Well now, that's an old one.
Tatterdemalion.
Story goes that little boy
was banished to the trees.
Can't come out unless
somebody carries him across.
He'll make you love him.
The whole time stealin' your
health, life, years ahead.
They say that's how he
stays young forever.
- And you believe that?
- This place is
built on stories.
Some of 'em true,
most of 'em horseshit.
Folk tales come from necessity.
Kids like me was gettin'
lost in the woods,
so they made up the Howler.
You know, they tell kids stories
to scare 'em into
stayin' out of trouble.
It works, too.
- Yeah, but why would anybody
need a story about
a tatterdemalion?
- Now Cecil, I know you
ain't gonna sit at my table
without washing that
dog off your hands.
- No, ma'am.
Can somebody please
help me with this?
- I'll go help him.
Hello?
Can you just stop, please?
Hey, you want to
play a game with me?
- What is it?
- It's a game where you
have to think of somebody
and I have to ask you questions
till I can figure out who it is.
Yes or no questions.
- Okay.
- Okay.
All right.
So you need to think of
somebody really special to you.
- Got one.
- Okay.
- Is it a boy?
It's a girl?
Is it a little girl?
It's a woman?
Is it your mom?
What's her name?
- You said it had to
be yes or no questions.
- What's her name, Cecil?
Where is she?
Hey, come back here!
You can't lie to me, okay?
Hey, that's not how it works.
All right, tell me
where your mom is.
Where is she, where's your mom?
Tell me, where is she?
- Mama died when
the baby came out!
They both died!
- What was she like?
- She used to sing
old songs to me.
- Why were you living
in the woods, Cecil?
- Can't tell you.
- Why not?
- Because you don't
believe in monsters.
- No, I don't.
- I do.
Know them to be a fact.
Where you goin'?
- I'm goin' out.
- How long are
you gonna be gone?
- Not even an hour.
- Why can't I go?
- Because it's not
kid stuff, all right?
- I don't want you to go.
- Well, I'm goin'.
So you just need to stay inside
and don't let anyone
in the house, okay?
Just stay inside
and lock the door.
"Holy Water" by Ashley McBryde
Thank you so much, thank you.
Another drink, please.
Woo!
Yeah!
Thank you, sorry.
- Hey beautiful.
- Hello.
- How 'bout you come
outside with me?
- No thanks, I'm good here.
- All right.
Get up, get up!
- Get off of me!
- Get up!
- Get off of me!
- Get the fuck up!
- Fuck off me!
- This family shit, all right?
- You piece of shit!
- Get out here.
Where you think
you're goin', huh?
Where you think you're goin'?
Whatcha gonna do?
- Get off!
You're fuckin' crazy.
- Nothing's changed,
has it, Janella?
- Billy?
What are you doing?
- You come around here,
askin' about me like
there's some kind of
family reunion planned?
- Why are you so angry?
- After what you did?
- What did I do?
- You ripped our family apart!
- No, I did not, I was a kid.
- No, you were a fuckin' rat.
You quit askin' after me.
I don't want nothin'
to do with you.
I don't want you in my life.
Go back to wherever
the fuck you come from.
- Hey!
Step off.
Step off.
- This is
not your quarrel.
- Anytime an asshole hits
a woman, that's my quarrel.
Now step off.
- A woman?
No, no, no, this is a soldier.
Can't you tell?
I don't want nothin'
to do with you.
And fuck you!
I'll be seein' you
around, it's a small town.
- No!
- All right.
Easy, now.
Oh, okay.
Okay, get it all out.
- I expected him
to be fucked up.
Why the fuck's he mad at me?
He should be mad
at our fucking dad.
- A kid like that's always
angry at the wrong person.
- Stop, stop.
- You want me to stick around?
- No.
Could've handled it myself.
- Why do you drink booze?
- 'Cause it helps
me feel better.
- Do you feel better today?
You shouldn't do it no more.
- Ah!
- We should get you a toy.
- What for?
- For playing, having fun.
- What did you play with
when you were a kid?
- I loved bubbles.
I liked to see how far they
could get before they pop.
The best ones...
When they just kept
goin' and goin' till
you couldn't see 'em anymore.
Like maybe they were
still goin' somewhere.
- Bubbles sound good.
- All right.
- Come on!
- Cecil!
Stop!
God.
Stop.
- I want to stay
with you forever.
- You can't.
- Why not?
- 'Cause you deserve better.
- I found some clothes that
might fit him a little better.
You feelin' okay?
- You found his family yet?
I went out in the
woods the other day
and I found this fort
and I'm pretty sure
that he's been
stayin' in that thing.
- Did you find anything in it?
- Just found this magazine,
and it was like real ancient,
but I made out this address on
the front, Old Hickock Road.
Have you ever heard of that?
I looked on some maps but I
couldn't find it anywhere.
- Mm, nothin'.
Well I mean, there's a thousand
dirt paths in this county.
They all got different names
and then every generation,
the name changes.
Hey Cecil, my boy.
- Yes, sir?
- Miss Sreaves
being good to you?
- Yes, sir.
- Mm-hm.
Looks like she's feeding you.
- Yes, sir.
You can stay and eat with us.
- Mm.
That sounds like an
invitation to dinner.
It'd be bad luck
to pass that up.
Hey Cecil.
You didn't happen to
delete that picture
I took of you off my phone
the other day, did you?
- Dangerous to have your image
gathered away from your body.
- So how can nobody
know who this kid is?
- Last summer I
found a family living
in a refrigerator box
in the deep, deep woods.
Three kids, two, three and six.
And none of 'em had ever
seen electricity before.
So a kid like that,
no birth certificate,
no school, no medical records,
just gotta dig deeper,
you gotta look deeper.
Now he didn't come
out of nowhere.
Like you heard that
stuff he was sayin' about
gathering his image
away from his body?
- Yeah?
- I mean, that's old time stuff.
Like I haven't heard
anything like that since
I was a little kid and
even then I didn't hear it
except for when I was way
off in the hills somewhere.
The old timers
preachin' the old ways.
- What if he's dangerous?
- I think you could take him.
- I'm serious.
Like this, he talks about
stuff, like weird stuff.
- Like what?
- Like he talks about monsters
coming out of the woods.
- Yeah, welcome to the
Ozarks, Miss Sreaves.
- No, I'm telling you
this kid needs help.
Like real medical help,
like therapists and
assessments and all that.
- Is that what you needed?
Or did you just need
somebody to love you?
- You don't know a
damn thing about me.
I'll give you two more
days and then you take him.
What are you doing?
What are you doing?
Cecil!
Cecil!
Cecil.
Cecil.
- Why don't you want me?
- There's more to it, Cecil.
- You want to be all alone?
- Sometimes it seems easier.
- Why?
- Because then I
don't have to worry
about anybody else's
feelings but my own.
I don't have to worry
about anybody hurting me
and I don't have to worry
about hurting anybody else.
- I don't wanna go back.
- Where is your home, Cecil?
- I step in there and
you'll never see me again.
Is that what you want?
- I just want your family
to know that you're okay.
- I don't have any
family anymore.
I told you that!
- Hey, what are you doing?
Be careful!
- You want me to go?
Tell me to go.
- I just want you to
tell me who you are.
- I've already told you.
- But tell me something else.
Tell me how old you are.
- What does it
matter how old I am?
- Okay, come down,
let's go back inside.
- You want me to stay or go?
- Come down.
- Say it.
- Just please stay.
Goodnight.
- Hey, I didn't get a chance
to a proper introduction
the other day.
Fig Karl.
You've been warned
about me, have you, huh?
- What is it with you and fire?
- Keeps things pure.
This demon lives
in this old snag.
Try to burn it out once a week.
Keeps him at bay.
The dead's been known to
gather 'round Paw Paw trees.
For reasons unknown.
- What do you know about
the tatterdemalion?
- If you've got that
damn thing in your house,
you need to bring him back
down here in the woods
where he belongs and be
done with him tonight.
- What do you know about it?
- He's gonna ask
you to take his hand
and gonna walk right
into your life.
He can't come out
of the woods alone.
He can't cross over.
A Tatterdemalion has
got to abide by that.
He's gonna be sweet as pie,
and you're gonna
start seein' changes.
- What kind of changes?
- Your pretty hair's
gonna turn white.
It's just gonna get sick,
you just gonna keep
gettin' sicker.
Then you just ain't
gonna wake up.
Then he's gonna come back
down here in the woods
and he'll be stronger with
your life than he was before.
We got an old
sayin' around here.
If it ain't your kin,
don't let him in.
- Have you actually
seen a tatterdemalion?
- I ain't never seen
Australia either,
but that don't mean
it ain't there.
You need a lil' proof?
- Yeah.
- You take these three nails,
you bang 'em into
your front door
in the shape of a triangle.
- And what's that prove?
- A tatterdemalion's a
demon, and a demon's a witch.
There ain't no witch can enter
when they see this in
shape of a triangle.
No ghost, no demon.
Nothing on this earth.
You best be gettin' on back
home now, it's gonna rain.
Flint rock up in
the high country
were sweating on my way here.
You know how many times
I've about busted my ass.
Dickens of a rain comin'.
Back to hell with you.
- Who's that?
- Hey, you go back
inside right now.
- Somebody should've burned
this place down a long time ago.
- What happened to you?
- Their names are
goin' on the list.
They'll know soon.
The old man had a gun.
Pistol, six shots, I want it.
- You don't want a gun.
- Don't tell me what I want.
- You know, my...
My last day on active duty,
I spent holding the
hand of this young kid
who's about your
age from Arkansas.
Took a bullet
right to the belly.
And I held his hand and
he told me about this girl
that he was gonna
marry when he got home.
And then he bled out on evac.
- Why should I care about that?
- 'Cause ever since
then the only thing that
I can think about is getting
back here and seeing you.
- You think you're just gonna
come back here and
fix everything?
You're the one who broke
it all to start with.
You wanna talk
about bad memories?
We can be here all fuckin' day.
Nine years.
Nine years I bounced from
one fuckin' dump to another.
- I know.
- No, you don't.
Get off of me.
- Billy.
You're my brother, please--
- Don't you touch me.
- Billy, stop--
- Get off of me!
- Don't touch her!
- And what, big man?
What are you gonna do?
- I'll hurt you.
- Is he yours?
- I found him in the woods,
he didn't have a family.
- Why do you care about this
waste of skin and bones, boy?
- I need her.
- You shouldn't
have come back here.
- Maybe not.
- You know, it could've
been a lot worse.
I'm surprised it wasn't.
- He saw Cecil and then ran off.
- Now you listen to me.
You need to stop worrying
about your brother.
You won't break through.
The boy you knew is gone.
- Why...
Why didn't you...
Why didn't you keep us?
You were mama's best friend.
You could've kept us together.
- Do you think you was the
only one with problems?
My Red, he had a real taste
for drinkin' and beatin' on me.
He would've been
real nasty to kids.
Besides, I...
I didn't wanna
sacrifice my own life
for somebody else's kids.
- What the hell is that?
What is this?
Hey, what is this?
Why'd you put this on me?
What the hell is this?
- It's a madstone.
- Was this supposed
to hurt me, Cecil?
- Give it back, it's special.
Give it back, it's special!
- No!
Hey.
- Did you see how
far that one went?
- Cecil, I need you to
do something for me.
- Yes, ma'am.
- I want you to go inside
and get me a glass of water.
- You thirsty?
- Real bad.
Everything okay?
What's wrong?
- Who put those nails there?
Who did it?
- I did.
- Why'd you put the
goddamn nails in the door?
- Because I need to
know what you are!
You think that I can't see
that my hair's goin' gray?
You think that I don't
see that I'm sick?
What are you?
- You shouldn't have done that.
- So that's what
you think's goin' on?
- Yeah.
- I got an uncle that uh,
he wears his clothes inside out
anytime he goes to a funeral.
You know, if he drops a
dish rag on the floor,
he won't open the
door for a week.
And he swears that he's
laid hundreds of ghosts
to their graves with
a stone because they
were spellin' him from
the great, black beyond--
- Okay, so what's your point?
- He thinks that the
tatterdemalion's a bunch
of backwoods hooey.
- Really?
He was using this.
Pushing it onto my face
while I was asleep.
I think it's part of
how he does his thing.
- You don't see many of these.
- So you know what that is?
- You find 'em sometimes
in a deer's stomach
lining, but they're rare.
Mountain people say that
they have healing powers.
It's okay.
You got scared and you tried
to find another way out of it.
- No, you should never
have left him here with me.
- I thought I saw a connection
between you and that boy.
- Well I guess you were wrong.
- No, I wasn't wrong.
You come in here out of nowhere,
you're all alone, and that
boy walks out of the woods
with very similar
circumstances to you.
As if you two were always just
spinnin' towards
each other, bonded.
- Just take him away.
- If you still care, I
heard your brother's staying
down at the end of County Road.
- Hi.
- Hi.
I'm looking for my brother.
- Who's your brother?
- His name's Billy Sreaves.
You know him?
- He ain't here.
- Where is he?
- Billy don't check in with me.
- Well I just wanna
say goodbye to him.
- Why?
- Because he's my
brother, I told you.
- He ain't your brother.
He ain't anybody's anything.
He's Billy.
- You live here with him?
- This shithole look
like anybody lives in it?
Just lay my head
here when I need to.
Me, and the others.
- How old are you?
- Hey.
Stays out by the river
when it's hot like this.
He'll be by himself.
- Thank you.
- You shouldn't
be here right now.
- Just came to say goodbye.
- You better cut
that out, I'm...
I sleep here!
- Do you remember anything
about what happened that night?
We were drivin', remember?
We were in the middle
of some dirt road.
Middle of nowhere.
And they'd been
to their dealers.
And the car broke down.
Daddy said that you know,
I'm gonna go get help.
"Y'all stay in here,
don't you move.
"Don't you leave this
care, you hear me?"
We waited there,
and waited there,
and waited there and
he never came back.
And then mom passed out.
I decided to go get help.
You were always so
eager to please him,
that you did whatever he said.
But I tried.
I tried to get you
to come with me.
And you wouldn't,
you didn't budge.
- I don't remember it that way.
I remember you left me.
- I didn't mean to leave you.
I'm sorry.
- You know, she woke
up after you left
and she just started
smokin' and smokin'.
Then she started
shakin' and throwin' up.
Begging me to help her.
So I held her real tight, mm-hm.
And she just kept shakin'.
And I was so small, she
shook the both of us.
And then she didn't
shake no more.
- I actually thought
for a lot of years
I was gonna run away
and I was gonna find you
and we were gonna find
our happiness together.
- Yeah, whatever that is.
- You know what?
I want you to...
Have this key.
Take the house, 'cause
I don't want it.
- What about that boy?
- I know what he was.
- And what was he?
- Don't act like you don't know.
I saw the way you ran off
right when you saw him.
- No, I didn't run from him.
I ran from what he
stirred up inside of me.
- That kid's a tatterdemalion.
- No, that's a bullshit
story made up so folks
can justify not taking
care of kids like me.
- I'm sick.
- You of all people should
know better than that.
- I've been sick since
the day he got here.
And my hair's turnin' white.
White.
- I used to visit our
daddy now and then.
You know, he hated
this time of year.
When these Paw
Paw's are bloomin'.
Terrible allergic.
Said it felt like they
were stealin' his breath.
Four walls and a roof ain't
gonna fix what's wrong with me.
Somebody should take that
place and make a home of it.
Start new.
- Billy, you don't
have to stay here.
- Well you can move on and go
save somebody worth savin'.
Get outta here!
I'm not gonna ask you
again, you better go now!
Go!
- Get it, get it, get it!
Get it, get it, get
it, get it, get it!
- Stop it!
You know what they
say about you?
You go stay in that room.
- Hello.
Excuse me, sir.
- Afternoon.
- Good afternoon.
The lady inside told me
that you've lived around
these parts for a real long time
and that you remember
different things?
- Less and less everyday.
- Have you ever heard
of Old Hickock Road?
- Old Hickock Road.
I haven't heard it called
that in a long time.
- Do you know where it is?
- I reckon so.
But it won't be
easy to get there.
You gotta cross the river.
- Hello?
Hello?
- 103 dispatch, I have
a 50 to 55 year old male
that has overdosed
on his own batch.
If you would please send EMS
to our location,
Old Hickock Road.
Over.
- It's Cecil Fillmont.
- Fillmont?
So you found out
who his family is?
- I made a horrible mistake.
Can we go get him, please?
Please?
- Hey, we came to get Cecil.
- On who's authority?
- Right there.
I spoke to the juvenile
judge about an hour ago.
Made a strong
recommendation that
he be released in her custody.
- Hey.
Y'all know where Cecil is?
- I still want my
stipend, he was here two nights.
- Cecil?
Cecil.
Cecil, I'm so sorry.
I know you were trying
to help me with this.
Cecil.
Cecil Fillmont.
- How'd you know that?
- Because I found your house.
And I know what it was
like for you there.
- He was right to punish me.
- No, he wasn't.
- I talked about
our family business.
He gave me one week outside.
- It was wrong to do that.
- He told me if I ran off,
if I talked about
what he did to me,
the Howler'd come.
He'll come for me.
- I'm not gonna let him.
- He'll come for me.
- I'm not gonna let him.
- When Daddy chained me up,
I heard him howling
in the trees.
Nobody can stop him.
- I'm gonna protect
you from now on, okay?
- Close your eyes.
Close your eyes.
I am a poor
wayfaring stranger
I'm traveling through
this world below
There is no sickness,
toils or danger
To that good world
to which I go
I'm going there
to meet my father
I'm going there
no more to roam
I am just going over Jordan
I am just going over home
- You know
what a killdeer is?
- Mm-mm.
- It's a tiny bird that makes
its nest in precarious places.
Yet every year I get a few
eggs out on the driveway,
I try to steer clear of 'em,
but if you get too close,
the mama killdeer,
she starts squawkin'
and then she'll lead you
away from the babies,
all the while she's fakin'
an injury to her wing
so that you'll choose
her over her babies.
It's that ultimate sacrifice
for a baby she
ain't even seen yet.
I think that everybody's
got that instinct in 'em.
Just gotta wake it up.
- I don't think
these people like me.
- Yes, they do.
You belong here.
- I want to leave.
- No, we don't have to leave.
- Help!
- Cecil?
- Help!
- Cecil!
- Let me go!
Let me go!
Help, put me down!
- I know what you are.
You go back there
and you'll kill her.
- Cecil!
Cecil!
Hey!
Where's Cecil?
- You know what, I warned
you about that thing.
You oughta be thanking me--
- What did you do to
him, you son of a bitch!
- Tell you right now, you
let that demon in your head.
- Where is he?
Tell me!
- Man, I'm helping
you by not sayin'!
- Tell me where he is right now
or I'm gonna blow your head off.
- I dragged him back down in
the woods where he belongs.
- Where? Where?
- East, that way.
- Cecil!
Cecil!
Cecil!
Cecil?
Cecil, you have to
come back with me now.
I'll never stop looking for you.
Cecil.
Are you okay?
You're safe now.
Are you hurt?
- I can't go back
with you, Fern.
- Cecil.
Please.
- My daddy told me
I killed my mama.
They told me what I
am at the foster home.
They all believed it.
It must be true.
- It's not true.
- Are you still sick?
- No, I'm not sick
anymore, okay?
Those were all just
terrible stories.
- You thought I was a demon.
Other people think I am.
My mama and daddy both died.
- Cecil.
- I think there's something
really wrong with me.
I'll go away, far
away from here.
Keep you safe.
It's the Howler, run,
he only wants me!
- What, what's wrong?
It's okay, it's okay, it's okay.
Shh, shh.
I see him.
I see him, I'm
gonna get him, okay?
Stay there.
- Fern!
Fern!
- Cecil.
Cecil.
It's okay, he's gone now.
Forever, okay?
You don't have to
be scared anymore.
Okay?
It's okay, you're mine now.
I love you.
Come on, it's all over, okay?
I am a poor
wayfaring stranger
I'm traveling through
this world below
There is no sickness,
toils or danger
In that good world
to which I go
I'm going there
to meet my father
I'm going there
no more to roam
I am just going over Jordan
I am just going over home
I know dark clouds
will gather over me
I know my pathway's
rough and steep
But golden fields
lie out before me
Where weary eyes
no more shall weep
I'm going there
to see my mother
She said she'd
meet me when I come
I am just going over Jordan
I am just a going over home
I want to sing
salvation's story
In concert with the
blood-washed band
I want to wear
a crown of glory
When I get home
to that good land
I'm going there to
see my classmates
Who passed before
me one by one
I am just going over Jordan
I am just going over home
I'll soon be free
from every trial
This form will rest
beneath the sod
I'll drop the cross
of self-denial
And enter in my
home with God
I'm going there
to see my Savior
Who shed for me
His precious blood
I am just going over Jordan
I am just going over home