(FADE IN: St. Louis, Missouri. Bedroom. A young blonde woman is tied in a chair. She is beaten and bloody. A man is standing a few feet away, examining a knife. Outside the house, a S.W.A.T team is making their way to the building. They reach the front door and shoot the handle, unlocking it. In the bedroom, the girl tries to scream, but the man covers her mouth to stifle the sound. The team is now searching the house. The walls and furniture are smeared with blood. They enter another room, allowing the man to leave the bedroom and try to escape. After searching the rest of the house, the team enters the bedroom and find the girl. They start to untie her.)
POLICE OFFICER: It’s ok. It’s ok.
(The girl points to the room across the hall.)
GIRL: In there! In there!
(The S.W.A.T team moves to the other room. The man is there, trying to open a pair of doors leading to a balcony.)
POLICE OFFICER: Freeze! Don’t move! Drop the knife. Keep your hands where I can see ‘em. Drop it! Hold it right there! Do it! (The man turns around. It is DEAN. The screen goes black.)
(FADE IN: Gas Station. One Week Earlier. SAM and DEAN pull into the station.)
DEAN: Alright, I figure we’d hit Tucumcari by lunch, then head south, hit Bisbee by midnight. (SAM does not respond.) Sam wears women’s underwear.
SAM: I’ve been listenin’, I’m just busy. (He is checking e-mails on his PalmPilot.)
DEAN: Busy doin’ what?
SAM: Reading e-mails. (DEAN gets out of the car and starts to fill the tank with gas.)
DEAN: E-mails from who?
SAM: From my friends at Stanford.
DEAN: You’re kidding. You still keep in touch with your college buddies?
SAM: Why not?
DEAN: Well, what exactly do you tell ‘em? You know, about where you’ve been, what you’ve been doin’?
SAM: I tell ‘em I’m on a road trip with my big brother. I tell ‘em I needed some time off after Jess.
DEAN: Oh, so you lie to ‘em.
SAM: No. I just don’t tell ‘em….everything.
DEAN: Yeah, that’s called lying. I mean, hey, man, I get it, tellin’ the truth is far worse.
SAM: So, what am I supposed to do, just cut everybody out of my life? (DEAN shrugs.) You’re serious?
DEAN: Look, it sucks, but in a job like this, you can’t get close to people, period.
SAM: You’re kind of anti-social, you know that?
DEAN: Yeah, whatever. (SAM continues to read his e-mails.)
SAM: God….
DEAN: What?
SAM: In this e-mail from this girl, Rebecca Warren, one of those friends of mine.
DEAN: Is she hot? (SAM ignores him.)
SAM: I went to school with her, and her brother, Zack. She says Zack’s been charged with murder. He’s been arrested for killing his girlfriend. Rebecca says he didn’t do it, but it sounds like the cops have a pretty good case.
DEAN: Dude, what kind of people are you hangin’ out with?
SAM: No, man, I know Zack. He’s no killer.
DEAN: Well, maybe you know Zack as well as he knows you.
SAM: They’re in St. Louis. We’re goin’. (DEAN chuckles.)
DEAN: Look, sorry ‘bout your buddy, okay? But this does not sound like our kind of problem.
SAM: It is our problem. They’re my friends.
DEAN: St. Louis is four hundred miles behind us, Sam. (They exchange a look. A minute later, they pull out of the gas station and start driving.)
(CUT TO: EXT. – REBECCA’s house. She opens the door and sees SAM and DEAN.)
REBECCA: (happily) Oh my God, Sam!
SAM: Well, if it isn’t little Becky.
REBECCA: You know what you can do with that little Becky crap. (She smiles and they hug.)
SAM: I got your e-mail.
REBECCA: I didn’t think that you would come here. (DEAN steps forward and extends his hand.)
DEAN: Dean. Older brother. (She shakes his hand.)
REBECCA: Hi.
DEAN: Hi.
SAM: We’re here to help. Whatever we can do.
REBECCA: Come in.
(They walk inside the house, and DEAN shuts the door.)
(CUT TO: INT. – House.)
DEAN: Nice place.
REBECCA: It’s my parents’. I was just crashing here for the long weekend when everything happened. I decided to take the semester off. I’m gonna stay until Zack’s free.
SAM: Where are your folks?
REBECCA: They live in Paris for half the year, so they’re on their way home now for the trial. (They enter the kitchen.) Do you guys want a beer or something?
DEAN: (smiling) Hey—
SAM: No, thanks. So, tell us what happened.
REBECCA: Well, um, Zack came home, and he found Emily tied to a chair. And she was beaten up and bloody, and she wasn’t breathing. (She starts to cry.) So, he called 911, and the police—they showed up, and they arrested him. But, the thing is, the only way that Zack could’ve killed Emily is if he was in two places at the same time. The police—they have a video. It’s from the security tape from across the street. And it shows Zack coming home at 10:30. Now, Emily was killed just after that, but I swear, he was here with me, having a few beers until at least after midnight.
SAM: You know, maybe we could see the crime scene. Zack’s house.
DEAN: We could.
REBECCA: Why? I mean, what could you do?
SAM: Well, me, not much. But Dean’s a cop. (DEAN laughs.)
DEAN: Detective, actually.
REBECCA: Really? (DEAN nods.) Where?
DEAN: Bisbee, Arizona. But I’m off-duty now.
REBECCA: You guys, it’s so nice to offer, but I just—I don’t know.
SAM: Bec, look, I know Zack didn’t do this. Now, we have to find a way to prove that he’s innocent.
REBECCA: Okay. I’m gonna go get the keys. (She walks away, down the hall.)
DEAN: Oh, yeah, man, you’re a real straight shooter with your friends.
SAM: Look, Zack and Becky need our help.
DEAN: I just don’t think this is our kind of problem.
SAM: Two places at once? We’ve looked into less. (DEAN says nothing, defeated.)
(FADE TO: EXT. – ZACK’s house. DEAN, SAM, and REBECCA park the car and get out.)
REBECCA: (to DEAN) You’re sure this is okay?
DEAN: Yeah. I am an officer of the law. (They walk to the house.)
(CUT TO: INT. – ZACK’s house. SAM and DEAN enter and look around. The furniture and walls of the house are smeared with blood. REBECCA stays on the porch steps.)
SAM: Bec, you wanna wait outside?
REBECCA: No. I wanna help. (She ducks under the police tape and enters the house.)
SAM: Tell us what else the police said.
REBECCA: (tearfully) Well, there’s no sign of a break-in. They say that Emily let her attacker in. The lawyers—they’re already talking about plea bargain. (She looks around the room, crying.) Oh, God….
SAM: Look, Bec, if Zack didn’t do this, it means someone else did. Any idea who? (REBECCA shakes her head, then begins to remember something.)
REBECCA: Um, there was something, about a week before. Somebody broke in here and stole some clothes—Zack’s clothes. The police—they don’t think it’s anything. I mean, we’re not that far from downtown. Sometimes people get robbed. (SAM walks away. DEAN moves to the open front door and sees the neighbor’s dog, barking loudly. REBECCA comes up behind him.) You know, that used to be the sweetest dog.
DEAN: What happened?
REBECCA: He just changed.
DEAN: Do you remember when he changed?
REBECCA: I guess around the time of the murder. (DEAN looks at her, then walks away.)
(CUT TO: INT. – House. SAM is in the hallway, looking at a framed picture of himself, ZACK, and REBECCA. DEAN walks over to him.)
DEAN: So, the neighbor’s dog went psycho right around the time Zack’s girlfriend was killed.
SAM: Animals can have a sharp sense of the paranormal.
DEAN: Yeah, maybe Fido saw somethin’.
SAM: So, you think maybe this is our kind of problem?
DEAN: No. Probably not. But we should look at the security tape, you know, just to make sure.
SAM: Yeah.
DEAN: Yeah. (REBECCA walks over to them.) So, the tape. The security footage—you think maybe your lawyers could get their hands on it, ‘cause I just don’t have that kind of jurisdiction.
REBECCA: I’ve already got it. I didn’t wanna say something in front of the cop. (DEAN laughs.) I stole it off the lawyer’s desk. I just had to see it for myself.
DEAN: All right. (All three of them leave.)
(FADE TO: Street. ZACK is sitting on a bench across the street from a house. He watches an Asian man come out of the house with his wife, LINDSAY.)
MAN: I’ll be home tomorrow night. I’ll make it up to you. (They kiss. The man gets in his car and drives away. ZACK watches LINDSAY go back in the house. He smiles wickedly, and his eyes glint silver for a moment, before returning to normal.)
(FADE TO: INT. – REBECCA’s house. Living room. DEAN, SAM, and REBECCA are watching the security footage.)
REBECCA: Here he comes. (The tape shows ZACK entering his house.)
DEAN: (noticing the timestamp) 22:04, that’s just after ten. You said time of
death was about 10:30.
REBECCA: Our lawyers hired some kind of video expert. He says the tape’s authentic. It wasn’t tampered with. (SAM seems to notice something on the tape.)
SAM: Hey, Bec, can we take those beers now?
REBECCA: Oh, sure. (She gets up to go to the kitchen.)
SAM: Hey. (She turns around.) Maybe some sandwiches, too?
REBECCA: What do you think this is, Hooters? (She leaves the room.)
DEAN: I wish. (He walks over to SAM.) What is it?
SAM: Check this out. (He rewinds the tape, then replays it. One of the frames shows ZACK looking directly at the camera. His eyes are silver. SAM pauses the tape.)
DEAN: Well, maybe it’s just a camera flare.
SAM: That’s not like any camera flare I’ve ever seen. You know, a lot of cultures believe that a photograph can catch a glimpse of the soul.
DEAN: Right.
SAM: Remember that dog that was freakin’ out? Maybe he saw this thing. Maybe this is some kind of dark double of Zack’s, something that looks like him but isn’t him.
DEAN: Like a Doppelganger.
SAM: Yeah. It’d sure explain how he was two places at once.
(CUT TO: INT. – House. The Asian man enters.)
MAN: Honey, it’s me. Flight cancelled at the last minute. (He sets down his briefcase and keys and looks around.) I called. Why didn’t you answer? (LINDSAY doesn’t respond.) Lindsay? (He looks around.) Lindsay? (He turns around and sees blood spattered on the wall.) Lindsay?! (He opens the door to a nearby room and finds LINDSAY. She is tied in a chair, beaten and bloody. The man rushes over to her and takes the gag out of her mouth.) It’s ok, Lindsay, it’s me.
LINDSAY: Please, don’t hurt me anymore! Leave me alone! (The man looks at her, confused. He hears a noise in the other room and leaves. In the living room, the man looks around. Suddenly, he turns and sees himself, standing there with a baseball bat. The man is puzzled. The double’s eyes glint silver, and he hits the man over the head with the bat. The screen goes black.)
(FADE IN: EXT. – ZACK’s house. DEAN and SAM park their car behind the house and get out.)
DEAN: Alright, so what are we doin’ here at 5:30 in the morning?
SAM: I realized something. The videotape shows the killer goin’ in, but not comin’ out.
DEAN: So, he came out the back door? (He leans against the hood of his car.)
SAM: Right. So, there should be a trail to follow. A trail the police would never pursue.
DEAN: ‘Cause they think the killer never left. And they caught your friend Zack inside. I still don’t know what we’re doin’ here at 5:30 in the morning. (SAM looks around the outside of the building, and notices blood smeared on a nearby telephone pole.)
SAM: Blood. Somebody came this way.
DEAN: Yeah, but the trail ends. I don’t see anything over here. (An ambulance drives past them, and they exchange a look.)
(CUT TO: EXT. – House. DEAN and SAM observe the scene. The Asian man is handcuffed and is stepping into a police car.)
DEAN: (to nearby woman) What happened?
WOMAN: He tried to kill his wife. Tied her up and beat her.
SAM: Really?
WOMAN: I used to see him going to work in the morning. He’d wave, say hello. He seemed like such a nice guy. (They watch the man get taken away.)
(CUT TO: EXT. – House. Later. SAM is on the side of the house, looking around. He looks inside two garbage cans but finds nothing. He moves to the front of the house, where DEAN comes behind him.)
DEAN: Hey. (SAM turns around.) Remember when I said this wasn’t our kind of problem?
SAM: Yeah.
DEAN: Definitely our kind of problem.
SAM: What’d you find out?
DEAN: Well, I just talked to the patrolman who was first on the scene, heard this guy, Alex’s story. Apparently the dude was driving home from a business trip when his wife was attacked.
SAM: So, he was two places at once.
DEAN: Exactly. Then he sees himself in the house, police think he’s a nutjob.
SAM: Two dark doubles attacking loved ones in exactly the same way.
DEAN: Could be the same thing doin’ it, too. (SAM thinks for a second.)
SAM: Shapeshifter? (DEAN shrugs.) Something that can make itself look like anyone?
DEAN: Every culture in the world has a shapeshifter lore. You know, legends of creatures who can transform themselves into animals or other men.
SAM: Right, skinwalkers, werewolves.
DEAN: We’ve got two attacks within blocks of each other. I’m guessin’ we’ve got a shapeshifter prowlin’ the neighborhood.
SAM: Let me ask you this—in all this shapeshifter lore, can any of them fly?
DEAN: Not that I know of.
SAM: I picked up a trail here. Someone ran out the back of this building and
headed off this way.
DEAN: Just like your friend’s house.
SAM: Yeah. And, just like at Zack’s house, the trail suddenly ends. I mean, whatever it is just disappeared.
DEAN: Well, there’s another way to go—down. (They look down and notice a manhole.)
(CUT TO: Sewer. DEAN and SAM climb down the manhole and look around.)
SAM: I bet this runs right by Zack’s house, too. The shapeshifter could be using the sewer system to get around.
DEAN: I think you’re right. Look at this. (They bend down and examine a pile of blood and skin on the ground. They are both disgusted.)
SAM: Is this from his victims? (DEAN takes out a pocketknife and holds up some of the skin.)
DEAN: You know, I just had a sick thought. When the shapeshifter changes shape—maybe it sheds.
SAM: That is sick. (DEAN puts the bloody pile back on the ground.)
(CUT TO: Car. DEAN opens the trunk and takes out some weapons.)
DEAN: Well, one thing I learned from Dad, is that no matter what kind of shapeshifter it is, there’s one sure way to kill it.
SAM: Silver bullet to the heart.
DEAN: That’s right. (SAM’s cell phone rings. He answers it.)
SAM: This is Sam. (The scene alternates between the car and REBECCA’s kitchen.)
REBECCA: Where are you?
SAM: We’re near Zack’s, we’re just checkin’ some things out.
REBECCA: Well, look, Sam, just stop, ‘cause I really don’t need your help anymore.
SAM: What are you talkin’ about?
REBECCA: I told the lawyers that we went to the crime scene. (SAM scoffs.)
SAM: Why would you do that?
REBECCA: Well, I told them that we were with a police officer. And they checked it out, and they told me that there is no Detective Dean Winchester.
SAM: Bec—
REBECCA: No, I don’t understand why you would lie to me about something like that.
SAM: We’re tryin’ to help.
REBECCA: Oh, trying to help? Do you realize that that was a sealed crime scene? This could have just ruined Zack’s case.
SAM: Bec, I’m sorry, but—
REBECCA: No, goodbye, Sam. (She hangs up. DEAN walks over to SAM, who looks disappointed.)
DEAN: I hate to say it, but that’s exactly what I’m talkin’ about. You lie to your friends because if they knew the real you, they’d be freaked. It’s just—it’d be easier if—
SAM: If I was like you.
DEAN: Hey, man, like it or not, we are not like other people. But I’ll tell you one thing. This whole gig—it ain’t without perks. (He holds up a gun. SAM takes it and puts it in the back of his jeans. They walk away.)
(CUT TO: Sewer. DEAN and SAM are looking around with their flashlights and guns.)
DEAN: I think we’re close to its lair.
SAM: Why do you say that?
DEAN: Because there’s another puke-inducing pile next to your face. (SAM turns and sees another pile of blood and skin on a nearby pipe.)
SAM: (disgusted) Oh, God! (They look around the area and see a pile of clothes in a corner.)
DEAN: Looks like it’s lived here for a while.
SAM: Who knows how many murders he’s gotten away with? (SAM turns and sees the shapeshifter, still in the form of the Asian man, standing behind DEAN.) Dean!
(DEAN turns and gets punched by the shapeshifter. He falls to the ground, and the shapeshifter runs away. SAM shoots after it a few times but misses. He moves over to DEAN.)
DEAN: Get the son of a bitch! (SAM and DEAN run away, following the shapeshifter.)
(CUT TO: Street. The shapeshifter comes out of the manhole and runs away. Seconds later, SAM and DEAN come out and look around.)
SAM: All right, let’s split up.
DEAN: All right, I’ll meet you around the other side.
SAM: All right. (They walk away in separate directions.)
(CUT TO: Alley. DEAN is looking around, with his gun drawn. Passersby turn away, frightened.)
(CUT TO: Street. SAM is also searching, while keeping his gun inside his jacket.)
(CUT TO: Alley. DEAN is still looking frantically.)
(FADE TO: Street corner. SAM is waiting. DEAN comes up behind him.)
DEAN: Hey. (SAM turns around.) Anything?
SAM: No. He’s gone.
DEAN: All right, let’s get back to the car. (SAM crosses the street. DEAN stops, waiting for a passing car to drive by. As the car passes, DEAN’s eyes momentarily glow silver. The screen goes black.)
(FADE IN: Street. DEAN and SAM stop at the car.)
SAM: You think he found another way underground?
SHAPESHIFTER: Yeah, probably. You got the keys? (SAM stops and thinks before turning around.)
SAM: Hey, didn’t Dad once face a shapeshifter in San Antonio?
SHAPESHIFTER: Oh, that was Austin. It turned out not to be a shapeshifter, it was a thought form. A psychic projection, remember?
SAM: Oh, right. Here ya go. (He throws the shapeshifter the keys and walks away. The shapeshifter opens the trunk and observes all the weapons. He laughs.) Don’t move! (The shapeshifter turns and sees SAM pointing the gun at him.) What have you done with him?
SHAPESHIFTER: Dude, chill. It’s me, all right?
SAM: No, I don’t think so. Where’s my brother?
SHAPESHIFTER: You’re about to shoot him. Sam, calm down.
SAM: You caught those keys with your left. Your shoulder was hurt.
SHAPESHIFTER: Yeah, it’s better. What do you want me to do, cry?
SAM: You’re not my brother.
SHAPESHIFTER: Why don’t you pull the trigger, then? Hm? ‘Cause you’re not sure. Dude, you know me.
SAM: Don’t. (The shapeshifter pauses before hitting SAM twice with a crowbar. SAM falls to the ground.)
(CUT TO: Unknown location. SAM wakes up in a dingy, dusty room. His neck and hands are bound to a wooden post. The shapeshifter walks over to him and backhands him. SAM groans.)
SAM: Where is he? Where’s Dean?
SHAPESHIFTER: I wouldn’t worry about him. I’d worry about you.
SAM: Where is he?
SHAPESHIFTER: You don’t really wanna know. (He chuckles.) I swear, the more I learn about you and your family—I thought I came from a bad background.
SAM: What do you mean, learn? (The shapeshifter stops. He grabs his head in pain and grimaces. A quick succession of audio clips from past episodes can be heard. SAM looks at the shapeshifter, confused. The shapeshifter relaxes and looks at SAM.)
SHAPESHIFTER: He’s sure got issues with you. You got to go to college. He had to stay home. I mean, I had to stay home. With Dad. You don’t think I had dreams of my own? But Dad needed me. Where the hell were you?
SAM: Where is my brother? (The shapeshifter leans in close to SAM.)
SHAPESHIFTER: I am your brother. See, deep down, I’m just jealous. You got friends. You could have a life. Me? I know I’m a freak. And sooner or later, everybody’s gonna leave me. (He backs away.)
SAM: What are you talkin’ about?
SHAPESHIFTER: You left. Hell, I did everything Dad asked me to, and he ditched me, too. No explanation, nothin’, just poof. Left me with your sorry ass. But, still, this life? It’s not without its perks. (He laughs.) I meet the nicest people. Like little Becky. You know, Dean would bang her if he had the chance. Let’s see what happens. (He smiles and covers SAM with a sheet.)
(CUT TO: INT. – REBECCA’s house. There is a knock at the door, and REBECCA comes downstairs to open it. It is the shapeshifter, still in the form of DEAN.)
REBECCA: Oh. Hi.
SHAPESHIFTER: I know what you’re gonna say.
REBECCA: Oh, you do?
SHAPESHIFTER: Well, no, not exactly. But I can take a guess. Get off my porch? (She laughs.)
REBECCA: That’s about right.
SHAPESHIFTER: I admit it, we lied. Thought I’d try to explain myself. Sam told me not to come, but, you know, I thought, what the hell, I have to try. (He smiles.)
(CUT TO: Unknown location. SAM is trying to get out of his ropes but fails.)
SAM: Damn it. (He hears movement in another area of the room, and he hears someone coughing.)
DEAN: (OS) That better be you, Sam, and not that freak of nature. (SAM laughs.)
SAM: Yeah, it’s me. (DEAN manages to uncover himself from the sheet and starts to undo his ropes.) He went to Rebecca’s, lookin’ like you.
DEAN: Well, he’s not stupid. He picked the handsome one. (SAM gives him a confused look, then continues to work through his ropes.)
(CUT TO: REBECCA’s house. Living room. REBECCA and the shapeshifter are sitting in front of the fireplace.)
REBECCA: So, you’re saying that there’s something out there that made itself look like my brother.
SHAPESHIFTER: Mmhmm.
REBECCA: What’d you call it?
SHAPESHIFTER: A shapeshifter. (REBECCA laughs and rolls her eyes.) Yeah, maybe we’re crazy. But what if we’re not? I mean, look, you said it yourself that Zack was in two places at once. Now, tell me how that can happen.
REBECCA: Okay, so, this thing—it can make itself look like anybody?
SHAPESHIFTER: That’s right. (She chuckles.)
REBECCA: Well, what is it, like a genetic freak? (The shapeshifter laughs.)
SHAPESHIFTER: Maybe. Evolution is about mutation, right? So, maybe this thing was born human but was different. Hideous and hated. Until he learned to become someone else. (REBECCA looks around, uncomfortable. The shapeshifter’s eyes glint silver, and he smiles.)
(CUT TO: Unknown location. DEAN and SAM are still working their way out of their ropes.)
SAM: Yeah, that’s the thing. He didn’t just look like you, he was you. Or he was becoming you. (DEAN finally works his way out of the ropes.)
DEAN: What do you mean?
SAM: I don’t know, it was like he was downloading your thoughts and memories.
DEAN: You mean, like the Vulcan mind meld?
SAM: Yeah, somethin’ like that. I mean, maybe that’s why he doesn’t just kill us.
(DEAN gets up and walks over to SAM.)
DEAN: Maybe he needs to keep us alive. Psychic connection. (He starts untying SAM’s ropes.)
SAM: Hands. Yeah. Come on, we gotta go. He’s probably at Rebecca’s already.
(CUT TO: Alley. DEAN and SAM climb out a window and onto the street.)
SAM: Come on. We gotta find a phone, call the police.
DEAN: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. You’re gonna put an APB out on me. (SAM shrugs.)
SAM: Sorry.
DEAN: This way. (They start running down the street.)
(CUT TO: REBECCA’s house. Living room.)
SHAPESHIFTER: It’s funny. I kind of understand him. He’s all alone—close to no one. All he wants is for someone to love him. He’s like me. (REBECCA looks very uncomfortable.) You know, everybody needs a little human touch now and then. It’s so hard to be different. (He tucks REBECCA’s hair behind her ear. She shrugs away.)
REBECCA: You should go. (The shapeshifter leans in and whispers something in her ear. She looks horrified and stands up.) You are disgusting, just get the hell out of here!
SHAPESHIFTER: Rebecca, just calm down. (He stands up.)
REBECCA: Calm down? What is wrong with you?
SHAPESHIFTER: What’s wrong with me? What’s wrong with you? (She walks to the phone.)
REBECCA: I’m calling the police. (The shapeshifter walks over to her and throws the phone to the floor. She screams and tries to run away, but he trips her and she falls to the ground. He straddles her legs and begins tying her hands with the telephone cord.)
SHAPESHIFTER: Give me your hands! (She continues to scream.) Shut up!
(CUT TO: Bedroom. REBECCA is tied in a chair, beaten and bloody.)
SHAPESHIFTER: You’re a nice girl, Rebecca. I mean, I liked you. Believe me, that makes this harder. (He holds up a knife and examines it.) But I gotta do what I gotta do. (He moves towards her. Suddenly, they hear a crash come from another room of the house. REBECCA screams but the shapeshifter covers her mouth and holds the knife to her throat.) Shh.
(CUT TO: Hallway. The S.W.A.T. team is searching the house. While their backs are turned, the shapeshifter crosses the hall and goes into another room.)
(CUT TO: Second bedroom. The shapeshifter enters and closes the door, looking around frantically. He moves to a set of doors leading out to a balcony. Just as he opens the doors, the S.W.A.T team enters.)
POLICE OFFICER: Freeze! Drop the knife! Drop the knife! Drop the knife! (The shapeshifter throws the knife at the police officer, and the rest of the team begins shooting. The shapeshifter kicks one of the men, then goes outside and jumps off the balcony, onto the grass below.) Come on! Come on! Go! Go! (The shapeshifter runs away, while the team continues to shoot and miss him several times.)
(FADE TO: Sewer. The shapeshifter stops walking, looking weak. He takes off his jacket and shirt, then falls to his knees. He groans and screams in pain as he continues to shed his skin. The screen goes black.)
(FADE IN: Street. DEAN and SAM are standing in front of a store window, watching a news report that is being shown on a display of televisions.)
REPORTER: An anonymous tip led police to a home in the Central West End, where a S.W.A.T team discovered a local woman bound and gagged. Her attacker, a white male, approximately twenty-four to thirty years of age, was discovered hiding in her home. (A sketch of DEAN appears on the screen.)
DEAN: Man! That’s not even a good picture. (SAM looks around cautiously.)
SAM: It’s good enough. (He walks away.)
DEAN: Man! (He follows SAM.)
(CUT TO: Alley. DEAN and SAM are walking. DEAN steps into a puddle.)
SAM: Come on. (He pauses.) They said attempted murder. At least we know—
DEAN: I didn’t kill her.
SAM: We’ll check with Rebecca in the morning, see if she’s all right.
DEAN: All right, but first I wanna find that handsome devil and kick the holy crap out of him. (They stop walking.)
SAM: We have no weapons. No silver bullets.
DEAN: Sam, the guy’s walkin’ around with my face, okay, it’s a little personal, I wanna find him.
SAM: Okay. Where do we look?
DEAN: Well, we could start with the sewers.
SAM: We have no weapons. He stole our guns, we need more. (They pause to think.) The car?
DEAN: I’m bettin’ he drove over to Rebecca’s.
SAM: The news said he fled on foot. I bet it’s still parked there.
DEAN: (upset) The thought of him drivin’ my car.
SAM: All right, come on. (They start walking.)
DEAN: It’s killin’ me.
SAM: Let it go.
(CUT TO: EXT. – REBECCA’s house. DEAN and SAM walk around the side of the house and see DEAN’s car parked.)
DEAN: (relieved) Oh, there she is! Finally, something went right tonight. (A police car appears and parks next to DEAN’s car.) Oh, crap. (They turn around, but another police car is parked a few yards away.) This way, this way. (He moves towards a fence.)
SAM: You go. I’ll hold ‘em off.
DEAN: What are you talking about? They’ll catch you.
SAM: Look, they can’t hold me. Just go, keep out of sight. Meet me at Rebecca’s. (DEAN starts to climb over the fence.) Dean. (DEAN stops and turns around.) Stay out of the sewers alone. (DEAN says nothing and hops over the fence.) I mean it!
DEAN: (OS) Yeah, yeah!
POLICE OFFICER: Don’t move! Keep your hands where I can see ‘em. (SAM raises his hands in the air.)
(FADE TO: Car. DEAN is getting weapons from the trunk.)
DEAN: I’m sorry, Sam. But you know me—I just can’t wait. (He closes the trunk and walks away.)
(FADE TO: Sewer. DEAN is looking around. He comes across a chamber filled with candles and chains. Revolting piles of skin and blood are on the floor. DEAN hears a noise and moves to another area of the sewer. He sees a large figure covered with a sheet. He removes it and sees REBECCA. Her hands and feet are bound together with rope.)
DEAN: Rebecca?
(CUT TO: INT. – REBECCA’s house. SAM is sitting, having a beer. He is talking with the shapeshifter, who is in the form of REBECCA.
SHAPESHIFTER: So, say this shapeshifter is real. By the way, you know you’re crazy? But, um, say it is real. How do you stop it? (She replaces SAM’s empty beer bottle with a new one.)
SAM: Thanks. (He sighs.) Silver bullet to the heart. (She chuckles.)
SHAPESHIFTER: You are crazy. (She hits him over the head with the empty bottle. He falls over, unconscious. The shapeshifter’s eyes momentarily glow silver.)
(CUT TO: Sewer. DEAN is untying REBECCA’s ropes.)
DEAN: What happened?
REBECCA: (crying) I was walking home, and everything just went white. Someone hit me over the head, and I wound up here just in time to see that thing turn into me. I don’t know, how is that even possible?
DEAN: Okay, okay. It’s okay. (He finishes untying her.) Come on. Can you walk? (She nods.) Okay, we’ve gotta hurry. Sam went to see you.
(CUT TO: INT. – REBECCA’s house. The shapeshifter has changed back into the form of DEAN. He finishes tying up SAM’s hands and feet, then starts walking around the kitchen.)
SAM: What are you gonna do to me?
SHAPESHIFTER: Oh, I’m not gonna do anything. Dean will, though.
SAM: They’ll never catch him.
SHAPESHIFTER: Oh, doesn’t matter. Murder in the first of his own brother? He’ll be hunted the rest of his life. (He picks up a sharp knife and examines it.)
(FADE TO: Living room. Later.)
SHAPESHIFTER: I must say, I will be sorry to lose this skin. Your brother’s got a lot of good qualities. You should appreciate him more than you do. (He pours himself a drink.) Cheers. (He takes a drink, then picks up the knife from the kitchen and sticks it into the edge of the pool table. SAM lifts his legs and kicks the shapeshifter, who falls to the ground. SAM quickly sits up and moves his hands up and down on the blade of the knife. The ropes break apart. The shapeshifter gets up, and SAM takes the knife and swings at him. The shapeshifter grabs SAM’s arm in mid-swing and twists it. SAM falls to the ground.) Oh, you son of a bitch. (He and SAM start to fight. SAM tries to pin DEAN down.) Not bad, little brother.
SAM: You’re not him. (They continue to fight. The shapeshifter finally throws SAM into a bookshelf. It falls apart, and books fall on top of SAM.)
SHAPESHIFTER: Even when we were kids, I always kicked your ass. (He grabs a pool cue and swings at SAM but misses and hits a light fixture. After fighting for several more minutes, they fall onto a coffee table. The shapeshifter pins SAM to the floor and starts to choke him.)
DEAN: (OS) Hey! (The shapeshifter sees DEAN and gets off of SAM. DEAN aims his gun at the shapeshifter and shoots him in the heart twice. The shapeshifter falls to the ground, dead. REBECCA enters and sees SAM on the floor.)
REBECCA: Sam! (She rushes over to him. DEAN walks to the shapeshifter’s body and notices him wearing DEAN’s necklace. DEAN yanks it from around the shapeshifter’s neck and nods knowingly at SAM and REBECCA. The screen goes black.)
(FADE IN: EXT. – REBECCA’s house. Day. DEAN is by the car, looking at a map.
REBECCA and SAM come outside.)
REBECCA: So, this is what you do? You and your brother—you hunt down these kinds of things?
SAM: Yeah, pretty much.
REBECCA: I can’t believe it. I mean, I saw it with my own eyes. And, I mean, does everybody at school—nobody knows that you do this?
SAM: No.
REBECCA: Did Jessica know? (SAM looks thoughtful.)
SAM: No, she didn’t.
REBECCA: Must be lonely.
SAM: Oh, no. No, it’s not so bad. Anyway, what can I do? It’s my family. (She laughs.)
REBECCA: Well, you know, Zack and me, and everybody at school—we really miss you. (She hugs him.)
SAM: (sadly) Yeah, me too. (They pull away.)
REBECCA: Well, will you call sometime?
SAM: It might not be for a little while. (REBECCA nods and waves goodbye to
DEAN. He waves back, and she goes back inside the house. SAM walks over to the car.)
DEAN: So, what about your friend, Zack?
SAM: Cops are blamin’ this Dean Winchester guy for Emily’s murder. They found the murder weapon in the guy’s lair, Zack’s clothes stained with her blood. Now they’re thinking maybe the surveillance tape was tampered with. Yeah, Becca says Zack will be released soon. (He smiles. DEAN rolls his eyes and gets in the car.)
(CUT TO: INT. – Car. DEAN and SAM are driving.)
DEAN: Sorry, man.
SAM: About what?
DEAN: I really wish things could be different, you know? I wish you could just be….Joe College.
SAM: No, that’s okay. You know, the truth is, even at Stanford, deep down, I never really fit in.
DEAN: Well, that’s ‘cause you’re a freak.
SAM: Yeah, thanks.
DEAN: Well, I’m a freak, too. I’m right there with ya, all the way. (SAM laughs.)
SAM: Yeah, I know you are.
DEAN: You know, I gotta say—I’m sorry I’m gonna miss it.
SAM: Miss what?
DEAN: How many chances am I gonna have to see my own funeral? (He and SAM smile at each other. They continue to drive as the screen fades to black.)
THE END
Ecrit par blackrose.