TV INTRO
[WIND WHISTLING WAILING AS THE SPOOKY “BEYOND THE VEIL” TV SHOW THEME PLAYS]

JEFF:
The Afterlife. Reincarnation. The Underworld, paradise, damnation, saints, specters and spirits … What happens after death? After those final moments, when you have breathed your last, when your heart has beat its last, what comes next? Where do we go when we die? Or … do we linger? This question has tormented mankind for eons. That’s where I and my team of crack paranormal investigators come in. We study the hauntings and sightings nobody else will. We lift the curtain and reveal what lies behind it. My name is Dr Jeoffrey Harris and you’re watching Beyond The Veil.

HARDWARE STORE
[Music Transitions To Announcement Chime of a Hardware store]
[HARDWARE STORE AMBIENCE OF CUSTOMERS AND EMPLOYEES PACKING UP AT THE END OF THE DAY]

IN-STORE ANNOUNCER:
Attention Hardhat Hardware shoppers, our registers are now closing.

SYD:
Are we coming back later or …

IN-STORE ANNOUNCER:
Please make your final selections and bring your items to checkout …

JEFF:
We’re good to stay. I had a word with the manager.

MIKE:
A word ending in a couple zeros, I bet.
(chuckles to himself)

IN-STORE ANNOUNCER:
… located at the front of the store. A friendly reminder that our opening hours tomorrow are 7am to 11pm. Thank you for shopping at Hardhat Hardware, and have a good night!

MIKE:
Here’s hoping.

[PEOPLE PASSING BY, BAGS RUSTLING, CHECKOUT BEEPS, SLIDING DOORS OPENING & CLOSING, STORE LIGHTS TURN OFF, TORCHES SWITCH ON, THE STORE BECOMES QUIET AND ECHOEY]

JEFF:
Okay team, you know how we do this, first we –

MIKE:
We know the drill, Jeff.

SYD:
(being cheeky)
We know the drill!

MIKE:
(pained sigh, a beat)
Let’s get this over with. I still can’t believe we’re doing this in a hardware store …

JEFF:
This is supposed to be a very active haunting. Plus we need the ratings after you ruined the Jacobs’ House investigation.

MIKE:
If a ghost can’t take a few verbal jabs below the belt, then they have no right to linger after death.

JEFF:
Just don’t get carried away this time … Hey, Syd.

SYD:
Yeah?

JEFF:
Go make the place look more spooky. Do your … your goth thing.

SYD:
Right. I can do that.

[EMF DETECTOR SWITCHED ON AND BEGINS TO HUM]

JEFF:
Alright, got the EMF out, motion sensors, thermometer, check … Mike, give me a read. What are you feeling? Are you picking anything up yet?

MIKE:
I’m getting a lot of aggression, but that might just be from you … A lot boredom, a lot of confusion, quite a lot of despair –

SYD:
Sounds like capitalism!

[EMF READER INTENSIFIES FOR A MOMENT]

MIKE:
Thanks, Syd – and then I’m getting this soul-sucking, mind-numbing emptiness of doing the same thing day in and day out, hoping that something will change, but nothing ever does … oh, wait. That’s just me.

JEFF:
I … think this is the place with the most activity. Hey, I think I see something!

[FLASH LIGHT CLICKS ON]

SYD:
No, sorry, Dr. Harris – it’s just me.

JEFF:
What are you doing lurking in the dark?

SYD:
Getting some visually interesting B-Roll, like you told me to?

JEFF:
Why are you backlit like that?

SYD:
Oh, that’s just my laptop. I have the brightness turned down, but –

JEFF:
Why would you – uh, never mind, that’s not relevant.

MIKE:
Right, take a step back, let me work.

[PIPE IS DRAGGED ON THE GROUND, WACKING NEARBY SHELVES, SCATTERING SMALL OBJECTS]

MIKE: (CONT’D)
Let’s hope this ghost isn’t another old man hiding in the attic to avoid an eviction notice. Wakey, wakey.

[EMF READER HUMMING AT A LOWER PITCH]

JEFF:
Readings are dropping, Mike. You’re at a 5 and I need you to be at an 11, give it some of that (Profanity Bleep) psychic shit.

MIKE:
Fine.

[PIPE SLIDES DOWN A SHELF RATTLING THE OBJECTS PLACED UPON IT]

MIKE: (CONT’D)
Knock knock, you ghosty (Profanity Bleep), (Profanity Bleep)! Where are you at? I’m gonna go full contra nequítiam on your ass if you don’t show your face!

[EMF READER HUM INCREASES AND EMITTING STATIC]

SYD:
That’s … That’s definitely a lot of aggression.

JEFF:
Keep it up! Practice your inner WWE LARPer. Really get into the zone.

SYD:
But please take some care, we have to clean up any mess we’ve made … oh, hey, Jeff! (Knife leaves it’s sheath) Do you see this floating knife over here?

JEFF:
That’s great practical effects! Super imposing, Syd, good work!

SYD:
Thank – duck!

[A KNIFE FlIES THROUGH THE AIR AND EMBEDS INTO THE WALL]
Cut to:
REALITY SHOW CONFESSIONAL CUT AWAY: JEFF
[WIND HOWLS]

JEFF:
So as we all know, ghosts are real. Those of us with the eyes to see it spent entire careers doing everything we could to convince the public, and the greater scientific community that we weren’t just crackpots. Crawling through sewers, breaking into churches, violating maritime law, and after all of that, confirmation! Three years ago we uncovered the proof required to not only convince the world, but prove Bauer’s Law of Metaphysics, validating a new field of study that I and my colleagues have been thanklessly pioneering for decades.

Credit where credit is due, those discoveries were in large part thanks to the team over at Haunting Histories, and their attempts to find the Zodiac Killer through the use of radical new methods. Now, some in the field of paranormal research resent the Haunting team; they were newcomers to the field while many of us had sacrificed careers and much of our credibility in the search. But how could I hold a grudge? They had the opportunity and the streaming service budget, and gave us proof of the afterlife for all the world to see. Pretty good for a gang of kids if you ask me.
However, as governments, academic institutions, and the private sector take over the field of paranormal research, we’re at risk of losing the techniques and the mindset that brought us to the discovery in the first place, which is why I and Beyond the Veil are still out in the field, still exploring the unknown.
Now I’ve been in this business for over 20 years, and in that time I’ve learned 2 important things: people won’t watch if nothing happens and when something does happen, you better have the camera rolling.

CUT TO:
Hardware Store Aisles
[METAL ITEMS RATTLE ON THEIR SHELVES]

SYD:
That sure is one angry ghost!

JEFF:
It sure is! Please tell me you got that, Syd!

MIKE:
We should get out of here.

JEFF:
No, things are just heating up! We can’t leave now!

MIKE:
That was a warning shot. The next one won’t be that polite.

[P.A. ANNOUNCEMENT CHIME]

IN-STORE ANNOUNCER:
Attention Hardhat Hardware shoppers, our registers are now closing.

MIKE:
See? It clearly wants us to leave.

IN-STORE ANNOUNCER:
Please make your final selections and bring your items to the checkout located at the front of the store. A friendly reminder that our opening hours tomorrow are 7am to 11pm. Thank you for shopping at Hardhat Hardware, and have a good night!

[P.A. ANNOUNCEMENT CHIME]
[SLIDING DOORS OPEN IN DISTANCE]

SYD:
Guys? (beat) The doors are open.

MIKE:
That’s our cue, let’s go.

JEFF:
I’m not leaving until I’ve got something good.

[P.A. ANNOUNCEMENT CHIME]

IN-STORE ANNOUNCER:
Attention Hardhat Hardware shoppers, the store is now closed.

JEFF:
We aren’t going anywhere! I was told there was a malicious entity in this building, and I’m not leaving until I’ve got it on camera! So come on, then!

[P.A. ANNOUNCEMENT CHIME]

IN-STORE ANNOUNCER:
Attention Hardhat Hardware shoppers, the store is now closed. (STATIC BURSTS) The store is now closed, (STATIC BURSTS) the store is now closed.

[DISTORTED P.A. ANNOUNCEMENT CHIME]

MIKE:
Wait, you’re telling me this is a malicious entity and you’re taunting it?

SYD:
You were taunting it earlier!

[DISTORTED P.A. ANNOUNCEMENT CHIME]

IN-STORE ANNOUNCER:
Tired of [static busrt] Hardhat Hardware Shoppers [static burst] Need a break? [static burst] your safety is [static burst] for a limited time only! [static burst][static burst]

[DISTORTED P.A. ANNOUNCEMENT CHIME]

JEFF:
I’m not impressed. You don’t scare me. Show us your worst!

[SLIDING DOORS CLOSE]

MIKE:
You’re making a mistake.

[METAL ITEMS SHAKING ON THE SHELVES WITH SMALL ITEMS FALLING OFF]

JEFF:
That’s the best thing you can do? Clean up in Aisle 7.

[HEAVY METAL ITEMS FALLING ON THE FLOOR WITH A CLANG]

JEFF: (CONT’D)
There we go. This is gonna be good. Syd, where are my infrared glasses?

SYD:
I thought Mike had them!

MIKE:
Oh yeah, I left them in the van. Is this really the time?

JEFF:
You left them in the va – (Profanity Bleep)! Alright, alright, alright fine. What else do we got?

MIKE:
We’ve gotta run!

Cut to:
REALITY SHOW CONFESSIONAL CUT AWAY: MIKE
[WIND HOWL]

MIKE: (CONT’D)
Me, I’ve always believed in the supernatural. My grandma had the sense, and we lived in a house full of ghosts. It scared my old man pretty bad growing up, he actually muttered psalms in his sleep.

Jeff brought me on ‘cause he needed someone with some authority on the supernatural … Which I was happy to loan out. I’ve never been one for authority, and I wasn’t doing much with mine anyway.
I mean, there’s not a lot of work for a priest when you’ve been excommunicated, you spend half your life in seminary collecting merit badges in Latin and there’s not a lot of transferable skills.
Now, Syd showed me our Twitter, and apparently there’s a lot of questions floating around about how I lost my collar.
There’s a lot of bad (Profanity Bleep) you can get excommunicated for, and I am guilty of none of them. What I am guilty of, and you’ll have to believe me because the Vatican had this sealed, was calling a particularly influential cardinal that (Profanity Bleep) to his face, and punching him in his (Profanity Bleep) after he slapped me.

SYD:
(off mic) You can’t say that!

MIKE:
What?

SYD:
(off camera) Jeff’s been – because of the network –

MIKE:
(Profanity Bleep) off, it’s our own show, what do you mean I can’t say (Profanity Bleep)?

CUT TO:
Hardware Store Aisles
[WIND HOWL]
[P.A. ANNOUNCMENT CHIME]

IN-STORE ANNOUNCER:
Here at Hardhat Hardware, your safety is our number one concern.

[SHELVES CRASHING AND GROANING, METAL ITEMS CRASHING, THE GROUP RUNS DOWN THE AISLES SCARED]

IN-STORE ANNOUNCER: (CONT’D)
If you are unable to reach any products in our overhanging shelves, or need assistance lifting heavy items, contact one of our teammates and they’ll be happy to help you.

MIKE:
Oh, you’ve really done it this time!

JEFF:
We’re fine, this whole shelves-crashing-in thing makes some great visuals! Syd, have you got all this?

SYD:
We’re still running!

MIKE:
Yes, we are! The backrooms, hurry!

[LAPTOP FALLING AND CLATTERING ON THE GROUND]

SYD:
My laptop!

MIKE:
Leave it!

[DISTORTED P.A. ANNOUNCEMENT CHIME]

IN-STORE ANNOUNCER:
Here’s another Lifehack from Handyman Hal [static] Break [static] Save yourself [static] 30% off.

JEFF:
30% off what?

MIKE:
Stick around and you’ll find out!

[DOOR OPENING]

SYD:
Is that far enough?

[DOOR SLAMS SHUT WITH AN IMPACT SOON AFTER]

IN-STORE ANNOUNCER:
(through a door) Hardhat Hardware (static burst) safety (static burst) concern (Static burst) shelves (static burst) heavy –

JEFF:
The break room’s this way!

SYD:
Why’s this ghost so angry?

MIKE:
Oh I don’t know, maybe someone trapped it into doing a third rate reality show.

JEFF:
That’s uncalled for!

MIKE:
Really? Because from where I’m standing, you dragged us to the murder-shed supply store for a chance at boosting your ratings.

JEFF:
Well if we don’t, you’re out of a job. And who else is going to hire a renegade vicar in desperate need of anger management?

SYD:
Now is not the time for this. Once we can barricade ourselves in that break room we can form a plan to get out of here. I refuse to die in a monument to capitalism!

IN-STORE ANNOUNCER:
(Static burst) Need a break? (static burst) safety (static burst) concern (static burst) teammates (static burst) hack

[DOOR SLAMMING, EVERYONE CATCHING THEIR BREATHE RELIEVED, A FAN HUMS INSIDE]

MIKE:
Okay, explain yourself. What is going on?

JEFF:
(Elated So a few years back, an employee died – overworked.

SYD:
Typical.

JEFF:
(over Syd) The employee’s spirit began to haunt the store and would violently lash out. It killed a manager and two customers and set fire to the paint aisle.

MIKE:
Slam the (Profanity Bleep) breaks, there’s been deaths? Not just some poltergeisty poke and tickle but ACTUAL (Profanity Bleep) deaths? You brought me and the kid in here expecting a spacial anomaly, maybe some (Profanity Bleep) orbs, and this thing’s throwing around boxcutters and gardening equipment like it’s a contractor having a fit!

JEFF:
I did! Because it was what was best for Beyond The Veil, what was best for the field of paranormal science. I’ve worked my whole life to be taken seriously and now that the whole world knows that ghosts are real I will not let my place in history be jeopardized just because either of you got cold feet!

SYD:
Dr Harris …

JEFF:
What?

SYD:
You could have at least lied to me. (beat) Made me feel like all my hard work and efforts for this team mattered. Understood what it means for me to be putting myself in danger for you.

JEFF:
Syd, I … Look, I would never have actually put either of you in danger, I did my research, talked it all out with the manager, all we need is to get that poltergeist on camera, hold ourselves a little exorcism, and we’ll walk out those doors with our name.

MIKE:
(beat) (Profanity Bleep)-ING idiot.

JEFF:
Cool should we –

MIKE:
I said you’re a (Profanity Bleep)-ING idiot!

[FORKLIFT REVS UP AND BEGINS BASHING AGAINST THE DOOR REPEATEDLY]

JEFF:
I’m a pillar of the paranormal investigation community! I have a doctorate –

MIKE:
In literature!

SYD:
Guys!

MIKE:
Jeff. I’m excommunicated, ferendae sententiae. I can’t do exorcisms any more.

JEFF:
You mean you don’t have any of your Catholic superpowers?

MIKE:
For the last time, I don’t have superpowers. I’m psychic and independently: the Lord –

SYD:
Guys! I hear something!

IN-STORE ANNOUNCER:
Your safety is our number one concern

[FORKLIFT BACKING UP BEEPS]

IN-STORE ANNOUNCER: (CONT’D)
Be. Concerned.

[FORKLIFT RAMMING AGAINST DOOR]

JEFF:
Ooooh, that’s a forklift. That’s definitely a forklift.

SYD:
I’m not dying here. I refuse! I have a cat to feed!

JEFF:
You’re not dying here, kid.

SYD:
Dr Harris?

JEFF:
Just keep the camera on me, yeah?

IN-STORE ANNOUNCER:
(forklift backup and ram) HACK (forklift backup and ram) BREAK (forklift backup and ram) CUT (forklift) WHILE SUPPLIES LAST

[FORKLIFT BREAKING DOOR DOWN]

IN-STORE ANNOUNCER: (CONT’D)
(static burst) Break (static burst)

JEFF:
Time to give them something worth watching.

Cut to:
REALITY SHOW CONFESSIONAL CUT AWAY: SYD
[WIND HOWL]

SYD:
I’ve been working with Dr Harris for, for a few years. I was a fan of his show when I was a kid – and I guess I still am a kid, huh. It’s what they call me, because I used to be the intern. Then, when the Haunting Histories Show upended society as we know it with Bauer’s Law of Metaphysics and solving Harold Holt’s murder, I became a full-time team member.

I won’t sugar coat anything and say it hasn’t been hard. The BtV team has shrunk a lot since then. Rosa Rodriguez, Dr Harris’s old partner, quit almost right away – because what’s the point in being a skeptic if the supernatural exists – and he’s been carrying most of the show on his shoulders ever since. I was originally only doing social media, but I was already helping out with video and sound when our techs decided to get married and retire. By the way, hi Zach, hi Ben! Hope you’re doing well!
Then Hadrian Burroughs, Dr Harris’s last camera operator, was possessed by … something some months ago and is still at large, so I’ve been helping out with that too I guess, but when you’re passionate about something you go above and beyond, right?
Sometimes it’s staying up all night to edit Jeff’s interviews before the deadline. Sometimes it’s holding someone’s hand through the ambulance ride after they fell down a flight of stairs. Sometimes it’s staring at an old oak door for hours at a time, knowing that if you look away for even a second there’s a chance that when you look back, it’ll open – and whatever was behind it will be crawling down your throat so you can’t scream.
Anyway, I’m so lucky to be part of the BtV crew. Helping to make something I really love is better than working some dead end job right?

CUT TO:
Hardware Store Backrooms

IN-STORE ANNOUNCER:
The store is now closed. Need a break? I deserve a break.

[TOOLS CONTROLLED BY THE GHOST REV]

JEFF:
Come on you spectral cart caddy, you and I are going into the history books, just smile for your closeup and –

[JEFF SCREAMS, CARRIED OFF BY A SWARM OF FLYING POWERTOOLS, SLAMS INTO THE CHECKOUT COUNTER]

SYD:
We can’t leave him! Dr. Harris!

MIKE:
What do you expect us to do?There’s an entire hardware department bearing down on him

SYD:
We’re not leaving him behind. We can get him out of there.

[JEFF’S BODY SLAMS AGAINST A COUNTER]
[UNEXPECTED ITEM IN BAGGING AREA IS HEARD ON REPEAT]
[SOMETHING CRUSHING, UNEXPECTED ITEM CUTS OFF]

MIKE:
We left Hadrian behind. And what do you think Jeff would want? You ending up dead wrestling a buzzsaw, or you getting out alive to tell people about him?

SYD:
He doesn’t deserve this …

IN-STORE ANNOUNCER:
For a limited time only, save yourself, price of 30% off , best value, while Hardhat Hardware Shoppers supplies last, break.

MIKE:
Maybe not, but he’s giving us a chance. Let’s not waste it.

[DRILL REVS AND PUNCTURE AS JEFF SCREAMS]

JEFF:
Sydney!

SYD:
Dr Harris!?

JEFF:
Keep the camera on me! They can’t miss this!

MIKE:
Kid, come on!

IN-STORE ANNOUNCER:
Final. Checkout. Final. Checkout. The store is now closed. Final. Checkout.

[DRILL NOISES WITH JEFF SCREAMING]
[CAMERA FALLING, GLASS DOORS OPENING, PEOPLE RUNNING THROUGH THEM, GLASS DOORS CLOSING]
[WET MEAT SPLATTERING

IN-STORE ANNOUNCER: (CONT’D)
Thank you for shopping at Hardhat Hardware, and have a good night!

[CAMERA CUTS OFF]
Cut to:
BEYOND THE GRAVE

JEFF:
Look at me there, sprayed all over the vinyl floor, bits of brain and skull splattered the self checkout screen… what a mess. I know what you’re thinking, and I have some good news for you: Beyond The Veil is not over. In fact, this is only the beginning.
You see, my death? It’s exactly what this show needed. My aim for the show was always to reveal what lies in store for you after you die. I had hoped to enlighten you, my dear audience, into the mysterious goings-on of the supernatural. What better way can I do this than as a ghost? Than as a being of the unknown, the otherworldly … the underworldly, if you will?
We are on the precipice of groundbreaking research. We are going where no one has gone before. So tune in next week for our next encounter with the supernatural, where two paranormal investigators deal with their late boss returning.
This has been Beyond The Veil. I’ve been Dr Jeoffrey Harris. My cohost is Michael Callahan; special thanks go to Sydney Revere for filming. Good night, thank you so much for watching, and remember: what comes next?