Page 225 - SHERLOCK transcripts

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(Putting the phone back in his pocket he looks across the room determinedly.)
JOHN (softly): Right.
(Trying to shine his torch in all directions at once and making his way cautiously around all the
workstations and islands, he hurries as quickly as he can towards the side door through which
the scientists left earlier. As he goes, the distinctive sound of claws on floor tiles skitters across
the room.)
JOHN (under his breath): Oh sh...
(Ducking low, he hurries to the door and takes out his card again.)
JOHN (in a whisper): Okay ...
(As he reaches towards the card reader, the claws trot across the floor to his right, and then
something snarls. John turns and stares, breathing heavily, as there are more sounds nearby –
claws on the floor tiles, equipment being pushed aside, and then a deep ominous growl. John
shoves the card back into his pocket and then claps his hand over his mouth to dampen his own
panicked breathing while the growl rumbles on. As the growl finally falls silent, John makes a
break for it and races across the room, running towards the cages and pulling open the door of
one of the empty ones before scrambling inside, slamming the door shut and bolting it and then
reaching through the bars and pulling the sheet down over the cage. Elsewhere in the lab, the
whatever-it-is snarls as John retreats from the door and squats down against the side bars,
wrapping his hand around his mouth again and trying not to sob as the creature growls again.
Suddenly John’s phone starts to ring. Gasping, he scrabbles in his pocket to retrieve it. He
answers it on the second ring and holds it up towards his mouth. He keeps his voice as soft as
he possibly can but even at such a low volume his terror is evident.)
JOHN (softly): It’s here. It’s in here with me.
SHERLOCK (over phone): Where are you?
JOHN (softly): Get me out, Sherlock. You have got to get me out. The big lab: the first lab that
we saw.
(He breathes heavily. Outside, the creature growls. John whines loudly in terror and claps his
hand over his mouth again.)
SHERLOCK (over phone): John? John?
JOHN (lowering his hand and keeping his voice no more than a whisper): Now, Sherlock. Please.
SHERLOCK (over phone): All right, I’ll find you. Keep talking.
JOHN (softly): I can’t. It’ll hear me.
SHERLOCK (over phone): Keep talking. What are you seeing?
(Throughout the conversation John has been peering through the small gap in the sheeting but
the room is so dimly lit that he hasn’t been able to see anything.)
SHERLOCK (over phone): John?
(The creature snarls again.)
JOHN (softly): Yes, I’m here.
SHERLOCK (insistently, over phone): What can you see?
(Getting onto his knees, John crawls closer to the gap in the sheeting, trying to keep his
terrified breathing under control.)
JOHN (softly): I don’t know. I don’t know, but I can hear it, though.
(The creature growls loudly.)
JOHN (softly, terrified): Did you hear that?
SHERLOCK (over phone): Stay calm, stay calm. Can you see it?
(John peers into the gloom.)
SHERLOCK (over phone): Can you see it?
JOHN (quietly): No. I can...
(He trails off, then slowly straightens up, retreats backwards and sits back against the side bars
while his face fills with absolute horror.)
JOHN (in a whisper): I can see it.
(He stares ahead of himself, his eyes full of dread as a shadow begins to move on the other side
of the sheeting.)
JOHN (flatly): It’s here.
(The shadow moves closer as the creature growls once more.)
JOHN (flatly): It’s here.
(The shadow moves closer ... and then the sheeting is tugged upwards and the lights come on
in the lab at the same moment that Sherlock’s face appears on the other side of the cage,
looking down anxiously at John as he pulls open the door and goes inside.)
SHERLOCK (worriedly): Are you all right?

Transcripts by Ariane DeVere (arianedevere@livejournal.com)