Good Cop VS. Evil Spirit
This starts off with a young veteran of the police force taking a rookie out for his first day. This young veteran is probably about 28 and has been on the force for about 3 years. Can you even call that a Veteran? Would you be the one taking out a rookie? Seems unlikely but my dream decided to make this guy the protagonist.
And frankly the guy is a badass. And not in the way that most people think of badasses, not the way I normally think of them either, this guy seems a morally solid, good, badass and if I met him in real life I probably would not like him.
His name is Applebee.
Now I’ve never actually been at Applebee’s so I don’t what connection there is, although like I said he is pretty wholesome
He is a sort of young Ron Howard, but rounder face, an Edmund Exley without the condescending attitude or glasses.
Anyway they have to make a stop at a big old building in which poor people rent rooms by the day, so a very poor hotel with grimy beds, roaches etc.
This place seems based on one I considered getting a place at one time in Salt Lake City, but I decided against it and would rather live on the streets.
They need to go check on someone upstairs. There is a check in part in the main hallway you let the people running the ‘hotel’ you’re there and going up. So they do this.
At this point I don’t remember anything of the dream.
The next thing I remember Applebee is running down stairs swearing up a storm, the rookie is laying down at one of the turns of the stairwell, huddled up in a ball, and saying “I don’t want to look, I don’t want to look” Applebee grabs him and pulls him up by the elbows and makes him come down stairs with him, rookie still covering eyes while Applebee is yelling at the house or whatever haunts it “I’m coming back here and I am going to fuck you up, you hear me, I going to piss all over you, I’ll burn you down I am going to kill your ass, just you wait”
They get out the hotel, he takes the rookie to the car and puts him in the car. Rookie still crying about how he doesn’t want to look, but not as crazed as before, it’s winding down.
Applebee closes the door to the car and turns back towards the hotel/ haunted flophouse, real hero type shot.
He goes back in and heads to the check in counter and says “What is the most haunted room in this shithole”
The workers look a bit worried and act like they don’t know what he means.
“Don’t dick me around here, I’m pissed. What room are you scared to go into alone? What room are you scared to close the door when you’re inside”
So it turns out this is some room on the second floor. He heads up, gets to the room. He hesitates slightly outside then goes in and closes the door.
“I’m here, Motherfucker” — characters in my dreams swear almost as much as I do, even if it feels like maybe it doesn’t fit their ‘character’, Applebee really shouldn’t swear if this was a movie and not just a dreamed narrative.
“Come on out, Here I am. Gonna piss on you like I said” There is a ratty orange couch in the room, and next to the couch a grating on the wall. He goes over next to the grating and starts to piss.
Mid-whizz the door opens up, and in walks his chief. The chief of police. Played by — Samuel L. Jackson (unfortunately I did not find a good match for this, it should be Samuel L. Jackson playing Raymond Holt
Now I’m hoping for some quality swearing!
But nope, he starts out with a concerned “Everything alright, Applebee”
Applebee of course zips up quick like.
Then they both sit down on the couch and Samuel L. Jackson gives Applebee a little pep talk.
I don’t really follow what he is saying because the dream is really focusing on the grate in the wall, from which this oppressive breathing is coming. You know the kind of breathing, the haunted horror movie breathing when it lets you know that inanimate objects have their own malevolent form of animation. Applebee can feel the breathing as well, finally Applebee can’t stand it anymore he jumps up, pulls out his gun and shoots into the grate, and yells something about “got you!”
Then he stands up and looks over at Samuel L. Jackson — who has disappeared.
“Alright fucker, now I know where you are” Shouts Applebee, and as quickly as he can runs out in the hallway, down stairs, and down into the basement.
It really seems the building is deserted now — which I guess is the kind of thing that happens when a cop is in one of the rooms shooting at ghosts.
In the basement Applebee meets whatever is haunting the place, which really seems sort of like a child like the Collector in the Owl House — only scary
Of course Applebee turns out not to be a match with this monster, which plays mind games very like the hotel room in the movie 1408
However just as the spirit is about to win Applebee realizes that it cannot fuck with him if he closes his eyes. All its illusions are based on sight, It can of course talk to Applebee and threaten him but everything it does to him really goes through the eyes. Applebee has this realization and at the same time I realize — watching the dream — that this is why the rookie was so intent on not looking.
So Applebee keeping his eyes closed is able to go from the basement back up stairs — saying “mustn’t look”
When he gets upstairs in the main hallway, still with his eyes closed, various people employed by the city are there, including his chief. Applebee, seeing them thinks the spirit is still messing with him and so he closes his eyes.
They assure him that they are not illusions from the evil spirit but, unfortunately for him, they are very sorry but they can’t help him. In fact, they can’t have him leave. He has deeply offended the spirit that rules in this place by threatening it and pissing on the walls and refusing to be properly scared.
The spirit has threatened to drive insane and kill everyone that enters the house, which is problematic for the city because hey, this is where the house the people who would otherwise be homeless. That would make some bad news reports if the 80+ nearly homeless poor people die in this haunted house.
So in order to keep this from happening, very sorry Applebee, but we’re going to have to take you back down and tie you up for it. So they do this, Applebee tries to fight but he also has to keep eyes closed because of still being in the house and the spirit maybe getting him.
So Applebee is screwed, they take him downstairs and cuff him to a chair. Sorry Applebee it will be here soon and finish you, then they run out.
Of course the spirit comes and tells Applebee all the awful things it is going to do to him, but Applebee keeps his eyes closed so it can’t REALLY do anything, just threaten.
And that’s how the dream ended, I woke up.
Personally I think he would get out, the rookie would come back and help him get out, maybe the rookie dies in the process and Applebee burns the house down and destroys the spirit — or maybe frees it to wander the city?
Also Applebee should go the councilmembers and the chief that tied him up and shoot those bastards because they suck.
But I didn’t see any of that stuff, I just imagine that was how it would play out. Narratively I expect Applebee would end up on top, but maybe too damaged to be a cop any more.