Coastal Miami University is one of the oldest universities in Florida. The sign in front reads “Est. 1879.” The campus is near the beach, which sets the backdrop of the school. It’s night, so the campus is quiet. A strong breeze blows through the palm trees. Inside the school's Lennon Science Center, a custodian, Nancy Carter, mops the hallway floor outside classrooms. The last class of the night gets out. The students trample on the freshly-mopped floor. Nancy frowns. She re-mops the dirty spots the students made. The professor exits the classroom, Roxanne McCoy. She sees Nancy and smiles. She asks Nancy if she's having a good evening. Nancy looks up and sees McCoy she grins. Nancy replies as good as can be expected.
Dean Martin Warwick walks down the hallway and interrupts. He asks if he can speak with her for a moment. Nancy gives McCoy an exasperated look, then turns to Warwick. Warwick looks at the tracks left on the floor by the students. He tells her to make sure to get THAT before you leave. He nods toward the tracks. Nancy says "Yes, sir. Is that what you wanted to talk about?" Warwick scans her face, trying to determine whether or not she’s making fun of him. He can’t tell. He says "No... we’re gonna need you to clean out the basement of the Marino building...."
Warwick has a grim look on his face. Warwick says "It hasn’t been emptied in many years... and there was a water leak... it’s been drained and dried out... but there’s a ton of trash to be removed...." Nancy is grim-faced. Get it done in... let’s say... a week. Can you do that?" Nancy says "Yes, sir." He says "Good... get it done on time... and there will be a $20 bonus on your next paycheck." Warwick waits. Nancy says "Thank you, sir." Satisfied, Warwick moves on. He stops briefly to offer McCoy a stone-faced greeting. Warwick calls McCoy. McCoy rolls her eyes. Warwick doesn’t see her, though, he’s already moved on. McCoy approaches Nancy. He says "Why do you put up with this job? You’re too smart to do this crap." Nancy shrugs. Nancy says "It pays the bills." Nancy starts mopping up the tracks on the floor. Nancy says "I’m a painter in my spare time." McCoy is impressed. He says "Yeah? What kind of stuff do you paint?" Nancy says "Fantasy stuff like Conan and Game of Thrones. Some day, I want to paint the covers for novels." He says "Let me see your work some time." Nancy stops mopping and pulls out her phone. Nancy says "I have some pics on my phone." Nancy unlocks her phone, navigates to the pictures and hands her phone to McCoy. McCoy flips through the pictures. She smiles. He says "These are really good! You should tell old Dean Warrick to shove his basement full of trash up his you-know-what." Nancy chuckles. Nancy says "Nobody’s bought any yet. I still need this job until I start making steady income from my work." McCoy hands Nancy her phone back. He says "Well sounds like you have a plan. Keep at it. It’s gonna pay off some day." Nancy says "Thank you. Seriously." He says "Listen... I gotta go... I have a stack of papers to grade... but, if you ever need anything, here’s my card." McCoy hands her a card. He says "He says "Call me any time." Nancy pockets the card. She says "I will." He says "Good to see you." She heads for the exit. Nancy says "Same." She goes back to mopping.
The Marino Building is one of the oldest on campus. It’s a short, multi-story building. The campus is sparsely populated, only a few night STUDENTS wander around. Nancy pushes a large plastic trash bin inside. Later, Nancy tries, but the bin is too big for the elevator. She gets on without the bin and pushes the down button. The doors close. Nancy walks into the basement. It has bad lighting, so it’s hard to see. The room is filled with hundreds of water-damaged boxes. She's frustrated. She sifts through the boxes, finding lots of old student records, tests, term papers and similar items. She says his is going to take forever. She says she's never gonna see that $20. A series of shots: Nancy carrying boxes to the elevator. Nancy riding the elevator up, holding boxes, one at a time. Nancy carrying boxes to the plastic bin and tossing them in. Nancy riding the elevator back down.
Back in the basement, Nancy lifts a box and it falls apart, spilling several books onto the floor. She picks up one of the books and opens it. It’s in a language she’s never seen before and exotic illustrations. Nancy picks up another book and finds more of the same. And another book. More of the same. And another book. More of the same. Nancy picks up the books and heads for the elevator.
The Morton Faculty Building is a four-story building near the center of campus. Nancy sits in McCoy’s office, across from the professor. McCoy says "So, what was it you found?" Nancy pulls a couple of the books from her bag and sets them on McCoy’s desk. Nancy says "Check these out." McCoy picks up one of the books and opens it. She flips through the pages, fascinated by what she sees. McCoy says "Are they all like this?" Nancy asks if McCoy can read it. McCoy grabs another book and flips through the pages. She says "Not yet, but there are ways to translate such things." Nancy is impressed. She says "Can I keep these for a while?" Nancy shrugs. Nancy says "Sure." She says "I’ll let you know what I find out." Nancy pulls out the rest of the books and sets them on the desk.
The campus is quiet. Nancy enters the Marino building. In the basement, Nancy lifts a box off the carpet. Nancy doesn’t see, but part of the carpet rips free. She heads towards the elevator. Nancy exits the elevator. She takes the box and throws it in the plastic bin. Abaddon's voice says "Come back...." Nancy looks around for the voice, but doesn’t see anything. She gets on the elevator and heads back down to the basement. Nancy walks back into the basement. Abaddon's voice says "Yes... come closer...." Nancy looks around the basement and sees no one. Nancy asks who’s there. No answer. Nancy says "I’m not in the moo--" She goes quiet. She sees a light coming from the floor where she ripped the carpet. Nancy moves closer. She’s never seem a light of that color, almost a black-pink, but more. Nancy asks what the hell. Abaddon's voice says "Come closer...." Nancy says fuck that! Nancy runs for the elevator. Nancy walks away from the Marino Building. She listens to her phone ringing. Unseen by Nancy, Warwick enters the building.
McCoy’s house is filled with stacks of books, newspapers and magazines. McCoy sits on the couch grading papers with a blue marker. She sips from a glass of wine. Her phone rings. She sets the wine down and answers the phone. It's McCoy. Nancy paces back and forth, the Marino building in the distance. Nancy verging on a breakdown. McCoy looks concerned. She asks what’s wrong? Nancy stops pacing. She says "I don’t know... I heard some THING... I saw some THING...." McCoy is concerned. She asks what it was. Nancy is puzzled. She says "I don’t know. Something... bad." McCoy is getting curious. She asks Nancy to send hera picture of it? Nancy is scared. She says "I don’t know. I’d have to go back inside." McCoy pushes. She says "Can you? It’s important." Nancy considers it. She says "I guess I can go back in...." McCoy furrows her brow. She asks if it's safe and tells her not to put herself in harm’s way. Nancy considers it. She says "I can’t think of any reason it’s not safe... Did you translate the books?" McCoy frowns. She says "No, not yet. But I’m getting help from Jones." Nancy is puzzled. Nancy asks if she means the archaeology professor. McCoy nods without thinking. She says "Yeah. He’s been working on some translation models for ancient languages. I’d love to show a picture of whatever you saw." Nancy frowns. She says "Okay, I’ll go." She hangs up. Nancy heads towards the building and goes inside.
Nancy walks off the elevator, her camera’s phone open to the camera app. Dean Warwick ambushes Nancy. He says "Where have you been? You certainly haven’t been working." Nancy says "I was on my legally-mand--" Warwick waves her off. He says "Never mind. You’re way behind on this. What ha--" Warwick notices the light. Abaddon's voice says "Yes... closer...." Warwick doesn’t hear the voice. He walks toward the light. Nancy says "I wouldn’t do that...." Warwick ignores her. He says "What do we have here?" He sees that the light is coming from a tear in the carpet. He grabs the carpet and rips it open, further revealing the light. Abaddon's voice says "Yes... yes... YES!!!" Warwick frowns. Large crystal shards emerge from the light. They’re the same color as the light and they end in razor-sharp points. The shards pierce Warwick in multiple places. Blood spills from his mouth as he dies. The shards pull Warwick’s body into the hole, bending him in half and pulling him into the light until he’s gone. Nancy screams. Abaddon's voice says "Closer...." Nancy turns and runs towards the elevator. Abaddon's voice says "No! Come back!" The elevator doors close behind her.
Nancy runs from the building, holding her phone to her ear. It’s ringing. McCoy answers the phone. She asks what is it. Nancy is panicked. She says "It killed him! Something in the light killed him. It took him." McCoy is shocked. She asks what. Nancy arrives at the bus stop and looks frantically for the bus. Nancy says "I gotta get out of town. I can’t have this associated with my name. I’ll never escape it. I didn’t do anything." The bus arrives. McCoy is concerned. She tells Nancy to call her from the road. Nancy climbs onto the bus. Nancy says she will. The door shuts and the bus pulls away.
Tallahassee State University is one of the newest universities in Florida. The sign in front reads “Est. 1948.” The campus is in the middle of a national forest, which sets the backdrop of the school. It’s night, so the campus is quiet. A strong breeze blows through the pine trees.
Nancy vacuums the floor in the school library. In walks the dean, Monte Finkelstein, white hair and beard. Nancy turns the vacuum off. She says "Hello, sir." Loud and jolly, he says "Nancy! How you liking the new job." She grins. Nancy says "It’s great. So much better than my last place." He says "Where was that? Miami?" Nancy says "Yes, sir." He says "Well, we’re glad to have you!" Nancy says "Thanks, sir." He heads to his office. Nancy goes back to vacuuming. A few seconds later, she hears a faint voice. Abaddon's voice says "Come back...." Nancy gets a panicked look on her face. Abaddon's voice says "Come back... or I’ll come to you...." Nancy starts crying.
Nancy’s apartment is on the second floor of a former motel that has been converted to apartments. Nancy stands in the kitchen, pouring herself a glass of cheap whiskey. She’s dialed McCoy and waits as the phone rings. McCoy sits at her desk. She’s taking notes as she uses a translation guide with one of the alien books from the basement. McCoy gets excited. McCoy pulls her notes close and flips through her them. McCoy says "We deciphered the books. Jones ran these fancy computer models..." Nancy gets excited. She asks what they said. McCoy finds the page she’s looking for. She reads down the page using her finger as a guide. McCoy says "I haven’t translated it all yet. There’s a ton of text here..." She glances at the stack of books. McCoy says "Listen, there’s a lot of crazy shit in here... demonic rituals... crazy philosophy... talk of alien dimensions and such..." Nancy gets scared. She asks if McCoy if she found anything about creepy voices. McCoy is puzzled. She asks "Creepy voices?" The phone goes dead. McCoy puts the phone down. Abaddon's voice says "I’m coming...." McCoy looks scared.
Nancy sits in a chair reading the latest edition of the Miami Herald. The library is otherwise empty and most of the lights are off. Nancy finds the article she was looking for. The headline reads “Local Professor Killed; Dean Missing.” Nancy reads the article. The lede is “Roxanne McCoy, a biology professor at Coastal Miami University, was found dead in her home, which was burned to the ground...” Nancy reads further and comes across “McCoy’s home was filled with books and other flammable materials. Fire department spokesperson Logan Stackhouse said the department has concluded the fire was started accidentally.” Nancy says "Like hell it was." She keeps reading and comes across “McCoy’s boss, Dean Martin Warwick, was reported missing a week ago. Police have no leads in the disappearance.” Abaddon's voice says "Come back...." Nancy drops the newspaper and runs for the exit. Abaddon's voice says "Or I’ll come to you.... " Nancy goes outside. Nancy runs away from the library.
Nancy sits on her couch watching the news on television. An anchorman reads the story, he says "In a startling development, less than a week after one of their professors was found burned to death in her home, the ENTIRE campus of Coastal Miami University has burned to the ground. Authorities are at a loss as to what started the fire and why it took fire fighters so long to respond." Nancy covers her mouth in shock. Abaddon's voice says "I’m coming...." Nancy turns off the TV. She goes in the bedroom and starts packing a gym bag.
A busy Budget Rent-A-Car near the airport. Nancy goes inside. Later, Nancy waits in line. The previous customer finishes up. The representative smiles at Nancy. Nancy hands the representative her credit card. She says whatever you’ve got. One-way to Los Angeles. The representative asks if she's in a hurry. She takes the credit card and begins processing the car. Nancy says she has no idea. The representative keeps typing at the computer. Later, Nancy walks out of the Budget, keys in hand. She gets in the car. Abaddon's voice says "I’m coming...." Nancy pulls out of the parking lot and heads west.