A Horrific Inspiration III: From Screenplay to Serial Novel
A Horrific Inspiration III: From Screenplay to Serial Novel
Origin Stories for The Devil's Road a TRUE CRIME Serial Novel about Serial Killers
This week we do a side by side comparison of The Devil’s Road screenplay with the current serial novel adaptation.
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And now, for the origin story of Chapter 2 of The Devil’s Road.
Introducing Samantha Hart was one of the more difficult scenes I had to write. I wanted to show her personal strength while also clearly sharing the trauma she carries with her throughout the story. It wasn’t until I found a way to bring her sister in as a real and present force that the emotional journey for Sam really took hold.
EXT. HIGHWAY 64 ROADSIDE - DAY
The prairie grassland looks alive as it moves in the wind. SAMANTHA HART(30s) stares out over the landscape, stretching into the forever. She holds a cell phone to her ear.
LITTLE SISTER (V.O.)
Sammie, it’s your struggling little sister. Need you to watch the girls tonight. Got another job interview, and it could go late. You’re the best.
A tear rolls down her face, and she wipes away the rare show of emotion as she flips the phone closed.
The phone buzzes in her hand, and she flips it open again. The small digital screen reads, “Sequoyah County Morgue.” She denies the call.
She looks up at the rising sun. It bathes her uniformed body in orange rays as she leans against the trunk of her cruiser.
She walks back around to the driver’s side door emblazoned with the SEQUOYAH COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT logo, and slings the phone into the open window.
She grabs a pair of binoculars off of the dash and raises them, peering into the distance.
There is a trailer park across the highway. She focuses on one trailer in particular. The front door of the small worn home opens.
HEATHER JEAN(20s) walks down the cement block steps in cut-off shorts and a baggy t-shirt covering her thin frame. She pulls out a pack of smokes. Empty. She crushes the pack and tosses them into the dirt.
Samantha pulls out a pad and makes a note. The time log on the sheet is near the bottom. She’s been at this for a while.
She watches Heather walk down the rolling hill towards a truck stop, just off the entrance to Interstate 40. She looks back to the trailer, and the open door swings in the wind.
She sees a two-door coupe parked in the drive and notes it in her log. STATIC erupts on the radio from inside her cruiser.
BANDY (V.O.)
Uh ... gotta ten fifty-four out here on Okie sixty-four, over.
Samantha climbs inside her office.
INT. SAMANTHA’S CRUISER - CONTINUOUS
Samantha turns the volume on her police radio up.
BANDY (V.O.)
Anybody got that? That’s a possible dead body on Okie sixty-four near the forty-four ninety.
Samantha picks up her handset.
SAMANTHA
Bandy? Lieutenant Hart here. Can you confirm your location, over?
BANDY (V.O.)
Okie six-four near four-four-nine-oh. Over.
SAMANTHA
Copy Bandy. On my way, out.
Samantha hangs up the handset and raises her binoculars for a last look. Through the lenses, she sees the trailer door is now shut but the two-door coupe remains.
SAMANTHA
Dammit.
She tosses the binoculars on the passenger seat, slams the car door, and starts the ignition.
She’s about to shift into drive but feels something in her seat. She reaches underneath her bottom and fishes out her cell phone.
Red and blue lights flash and pulse across her face. Samantha tracks the light to her rearview mirror.
Sitting in the backseat is the limp body of MARY HART(20s), her sister. Her body is painted in an ethereal police light. A needle protrudes from her jugular vein, and her skin glistens with moisture.
Samantha closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. When she opens her eyes again, the vision is gone.
She slides the phone into the pocket of her jacket, and drops the car into drive.
EXT. HIGHWAY 64 ROADSIDE - CONTINUOUS
The back wheels spin in the soft gravel on the side of the road as the car pulls back onto the blacktop of Highway 64, heading away from the truck stop.
INT. SAMANTHA'S CRUISER - CONTINUOUS
Samantha glances in the side mirror and sees Heather, nearly to the truck stop now. She shakes her head in disgust, pushes the ignition harder, and flips on her lights and siren.
INT. MOSES’S CAR - DAY
MOSES BLACKROCK(50s), a Native American man with a buzz cut and steely gaze, squeezes and kneads the steering wheel as he drives, working over a problem in his mind.
A police SIREN is heard approaching, and he pulls off the road, puts the car in park, and watches Samantha’s cruiser fly past.
He turns and watches the cruiser slide over the hill in his rear glass. He looks at the small duffle in the backseat.
He turns back to the front, drops the car into drive, and continues on, keeping the car under the speed limit.
I’ve spent the majority of my life in areas that I would consider rural, but have always been fascinated by these places I consider to be, in between. They aren’t incorporated townships. You couldn’t really even call them communities, but a small grouping of people, usually selling gasoline and cigarettes just eeking out a living. These places and the people that exist within can be some of the most fascinating characters you will ever meet.
EXT. OLD 64 TRUCKSTOP - CONTINUOUS
Heather walks past a tractor-trailer parked in a large grassy lot behind the station.
The window rolls down, and a bloated, bearded face pokes through the opening. The TRUCKER whistles.
TRUCKER
(to Heather)
Ready to clock in, little darlin’?
HEATHER
Not before breakfast, big fella.
She spins and gives him a false smile. A rough, sick laugh erupts from behind the beard, and he rolls up his window and starts his engine.
Heather opens the door to the station and goes inside.
INT. OLD 64 TRUCKSTOP - CONTINUOUS
Behind the counter is DARLENE(50s), with her hair pulled back tight enough to raise her eyebrows. She sucks on her Virginia Slim and washes it down with a Diet Dr. Pepper.
DARLENE
If you’re here, it must almost be quittin’ time.
HEATHER
Mind if I grab a shower?
Darlene glances under the counter. Below is a small black and white television showing the interior of the shower.
Two people fuck in one of the stalls. A “REC” sign flashes in the corner of the screen.
DARLENE
Be a minute or two.
Heather walks down the aisle towards the sugary snacks. She casually grabs a package of cupcakes and puts them in her pocket.
Darlene watches on the security cam as Heather steals the food before going back to the shower scene.
Coffee pours into a refillable cup, and Heather adds sugar lots of sugar. She stirs and takes a sip. Perfect.
HEATHER
Pack of reds?
Darlene grabs the cigarettes from the overhead shelf without looking and drops them on the counter.
DARLENE
Three and a quarter.
Heather tosses the cash on the counter.
HEATHER
Guess you saw the cupcakes.
Darlene giggles, and Heather opens her sweet treat and takes a bite. She walks back to the front door.
HEATHER
Hollar when it’s all clear.
Finally, we get to meet the third major member of our cast. Given the area of the country this incident occurred, I felt it was important to include indigenous people as major players in the story. Moses will reluctantly join the fray through his own miscalculations.
The Devil's Road: A SERIAL NOVEL
EXT. OLD 64 TRUCKSTOP - CONTINUOUS
Heather leans against the corner of the building and sips her coffee.
Moses’ car pulls into the station and stops in front of Heather. She pulls out her smokes as Moses gets out of the vehicle carrying the duffle bag.
HEATHER
Got a light handsome?
He walks past her, responding only with a hard stare. She lights her own cigarette.
Moses walks around the back of the station to an exterior bathroom door. He opens it and goes inside.
INT. OLD 64 TRUCKSTOP/BATHROOM - CONTINUOUS
Moses sits the duffle on the sink and unzips it. Inside are many large baggies filled with blue/white crystals, methamphetamine.
He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small notepad and pen. He scratches out a note, and drops it in the bag.
The note reads, “LAST ONE AND FUCK YOU.”
He bends down and turns off the water to the toilet. He removes the lid of the tank, flushes, and kicks the water line free from the wall.
He waits for the water to drain, drops in the bag, and replaces the lid.
EXT. OLD 64 TRUCKSTOP - CONTINUOUS
Heather steps into the sunshine and closes her eyes a moment. She takes another draw off of her cigarette and squints into the rising light, enjoying the warmth from the sun.
BANG BANG comes from behind her, and she turns to see Darlene knocking on the window from inside the station.
DARLENE
(through the glass)
All clear.
Heather shoves the last bite of her cupcake in her mouth and walks back towards the station.
Moses is coming back around the corner and bumps into her, accidentally touching her breast.
HEATHER
Hey!
MOSES
Sorry, accident.
HEATHER
How about a few bucks to say I’m sorry?
Moses reaches inside his jacket pocket and pulls out his wallet. He flips it open to show his FBI badge.
HEATHER
Jesus. Hey, I was just kiddin’.
Heather backs away and goes inside the store. Moses watches her go, sees Darlene watching from inside as well. He notices the camera pointed in his direction above the door.
He walks back to his car and gets inside.
INT. MOSES'S CAR - CONTINUOUS
Moses flops into his seat and shuts the door. He slides his badge back into his jacket pocket and starts the engine.
He reaches over and turns on the air conditioning full blast, leans back into his seat, and closes his eyes.
This last issue in Chapter 2 also marks the end of Act One of the screenplay. I was looking for a real nice cliffhanger to pull you back from a commercial break, and hopefully that was executed as designed.
The Devil's Road: A SERIAL NOVEL
EXT. ROUTE 4490 - DAY
BANDY(30s), a lanky deputy with a shock of blonde hair blowing in the wind, stands on the side of the road.
Samantha’s SIREN can be heard in the distance.
Bandy looks back over his shoulder. A body sits in a chair on top of a hill off the road a piece. It’s slumped over, and its long red hair whips in the wind.
Samantha pulls in next to Bandy’s cruiser. She cuts off the siren.
BANDY
Hey there Lieutenant.
Samantha joins Bandy on the side of the road.
SAMANTHA
Bandy.
BANDY
Ain’t been up there yet.
SAMANTHA
You mean to tell me you haven’t confirmed that it’s a-
BANDY
Ain’t no way I’m going up there alone. You kiddin’ me? I mean, you ever even seen a dead body before? They’re hard and stiff, and if-
SAMANTHA
Bandy!
He jumps when she screams at him. She tosses her keys at his chest, and he catches them, barely.
SAMANTHA
Get the camera out of my trunk.
She turns towards the body on the hill.
There are two depressed trails in the grass heading towards the body. Samantha veers far right of them and blazes her own track.
Bandy pops the trunk of Samantha’s cruiser. He opens a file folder with an “LL” written on the lid. He finds the camera sitting on top of a stack of papers. The top sheet has a polaroid of a dead woman paper-clipped to it.
Samantha approaches slowly, searching the ground in front of her for any clues. She stops, bends down, and looks closely at a plastic sack half-buried in the ground in front of her.
She pulls a pen out of her pocket and pulls back the opening. It’s full of stained blue rags. It could be oil, or it could blood.
She walks wide of the bag and continues towards the body and the chair. The red hair whips in the wind as she gets closer. A large gust comes through, and the wig flies off and flips up and away with the wind.
Samantha takes several quick steps and snatches the wig from the air before it can get away. The hair whips back in her face, painting lines of blood on her skin. She doesn’t notice.
As she walks around the body, she sees what’s become of our Woman. Her face has been removed ... and sewn back on as a mask.
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