Psycho PRL3.doc

Introduction

At first she thought she was dreaming. A hotel, here, in the middle of nowhere? Impossible. She closed her eyes and opened them again. Yes, it was true. There it was. A small sign shining in the night:

BATES MOTEL

'I don't believe it,' she said to herself as she drove towards the sign. 'This is my lucky night.'

Marion Crane is a secretary from Phoenix, Arizona. She is in love with Sam Loomis, who lives far away in Fairvale,Texas. She wants to marry him, but Sam cannot marry her because he doesn't have enough money. So Marion steals $40,000 from her boss and drives away with the money to be with Sam. It's a long, dangerous journey and, not far from Fairvale, Marion gets lost. It's dark, it's raining, she's tired and hungry. If she can find somewhere to stay for just one more night, then all her troubles will be over ...

  But for Marion, as she drives through the rain towards the small, quiet motel by the side of the Old Highway, the bad dream is only just beginning.

Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980) made the film Psycho in 1960. Hollywood believed that the book, by Robert Bloch, was impossible to film, but Hitchcock had different ideas. Working in black and white, he made one of Hollywood's most frightening films ever.

  Robert Bloch was born in Chicago in 1917. His first book, The Scarf, came out in 1947. He wrote many mystery and science fiction books and stories for television. He also wrote the films Psycho II (1982) and Twilight Zone:The Movie (1983). He died in Los Angeles in 1994.

Chapter 1    Marion and Sam

In a small, dark hotel room in Phoenix, Arizona, Marion Crane was looking at herself in the mirror. She was worried. Her hair was untidy and she was late getting back to work.

'Don't go, Marion,' said a voice from behind her.

  Marion looked in the mirror at the young man who was sitting on the bed. She smiled at him sadly. 'I must get back to the office, Sam,' she said. 'My boss is beginning to get worried about these long lunch-hours.'

  'But it's Friday afternoon,' Sam said. 'I don't see you very often. Can't you stay?'

  'When we're married,' Marion replied, walking across the room to pick up her handbag.

  Sam jumped off the bed and stood behind her. He touched the side of her face softly with the back of his hand. 'Can I see you next week?' he said.

  'Why?' she said, not looking at him.Tor another secret lunch, hoping that nobody will see us together in a small, cheap hotel room? It's the same every week.'

  She turned to Sam, her eyes shining angrily. And then suddenly they softened. 'Oh, Sam,' she said quietly. She rested her face in his hand as she looked up into his eyes. 'Why can't we get married now? I want to be with you all the time. I want to walk along the street with you so that everyone can see us together.'

  This time, Sam walked away. He stood alone by the window and looked down at the hot, dry city. 'We can get married when I've paid off all my father's debts,' he said. 'I only need to pay another $11,000.'

'And how long will that take?'

'Two years, maybe three.'

  'Oh, Sam,' Marion cried, throwing the handbag onto the bed and running to hold him. 'I can't wait three years. I don't care about the money.' She kissed his face, but she was almost crying.'I want to be with you. I'll leave my job. I'll come and work in your shop.'

  'Marion, please. You must understand. I don't want us to be poor when we get married. I want us to be happy. In three years' time, you'll be my wife — Mrs Sam Loomis. I promise.'

  Marion sighed and turned round in his arms to rest her head against his shoulder. 'In three years, I'll be twenty-nine,' she thought unhappily.

  Then she suddenly remembered that she was late for work. She left Sam by the window, picked up her bag and walked towards the door. 'I have to go, Sam,' she said again. 'I'm late. Mr Lowery will kill me.'

Chapter 2    Marion's Plan

'I'm sorry I'm late,' Marion called as she hurried into the office.

  'Don't worry,' the other secretary said. 'Mr Lowery s having lunch with a customer.'

  Marion gave the other woman a tired smile and sat at her desk.'Did anyone phone while I was out?' she asked.

  'Just your sister. She says that she's going away for the weekend ...'

  Just then Mr Lowery walked in. He was talking to a loud-voiced man in a cowboy hat. Marion immediately looked down and tried to look busy. She knew Tommy Cassidy and she didn't like him. He was an unpleasant, greedy old man who was always talking about money.

Cassidy   sat  down  on  Marion's   desk  and  showed   her  a photograph of his daughter. 'She's eighteen years old,' he said. 'And she's never been unhappy.'

  Marion looked at the photograph and then at Cassidy. She didn't like the way that he was looking at her, with his clear, cold eyes and his wet, smiling lips.

  'She's getting married next month,' he said, 'and I'm buying her a house.' He took a thick packet of money out of his pocket and waved it in front of Marion's face. '$40,000,' he smiled proudly. 'This will make her happy, won't it?'

Marion looked at the money and smiled politely.

  'Are you happy, Marion?' Cassidy asked, still holding the money in front of her.

  Marion wanted to stand up and shout at him: 'How can I be happy? I can't get married for three years while Sam works to pay off his father's debts. But you're rich! You can make $11,000 in three weeks. It isn't right!'

  But she didn't say any of this, of course. She sat at her desk and smiled sweetly.'I think so, Mr Cassidy,' she said.

  'I hope you are,' Cassidy said, putting the money on the desk. 'Remember, Marion. Money can't buy happiness, but it can stop unhappiness.'

  He walked away into Mr Lowery's office, but Mr Lowery didn't follow him. He was looking at the money on Marion's desk and seemed worried. 'I don't want that money here over the weekend,' he said to her quietly. 'Take it to the bank after work.'

  'Perhaps I can take it now?' Marion asked. 'I've got a terrible headache.'

  'Good idea,' Mr Lowery agreed. 'Take the money straight to the bank, then go home and have an early night.'

  Marion put the money into a white envelope, put the envelope into her handbag, and left the office.

  But she didn't take the money to the bank. A plan was taking shape inside her head. '$40,000 is a lot of money,' she thought. 'With this money, Sam'll be able to pay his debts. Then we'll be able to get married.'

  Pleased with this idea, Marion went straight home. She put some clothes into a suitcase, and drove out of Phoenix.

  As she was waiting at some traffic-lights for people to cross the road, Marion looked at the bag next to her with the money in it. 'Of course,' she was thinking, 'I can't tell Sam that I stole the money from my boss. I'll, have to think of a good story to tell him ...'

  Suddenly one of the people crossing the road stopped in front of her car. It was Mr Lowery. Without thinking, Marion smiled at him and waved. He looked at her seriously, then walked away.

  'Oh no!' Marion thought. 'Now he knows I haven't gone home with a headache. If he thinks I'm running away with the money, he'll phone the police. I must hurry. If I can get to Fairvale before Monday, they'll never find me. I'll be safe with

Sam.'

It was a long journey. After driving all night across the desert, Marion began to feel tired. She had to stop. She drove off the highway and parked at the side of a quiet road. 'I'll just rest for half an hour,' she told herself.

  But she was more tired than she thought. She lay down in the front of the car and slept until the morning.

Chapter 3    Bates Motel

Marion woke up suddenly. A policeman with a thin mouth and large dark glasses was looking at her through the car window. Without thinking, she sat up and turned the key to start the car. The policeman knocked on the window and told her to stop. Marion opened the window and looked at him nervously.

'Is anything wrong, miss?' the policeman asked.

'No. I was feeling tired so I stopped the car.'

  'Why didn't you stay at a hotel? There are lots of hotels near here.'

  'I only wanted a rest,' said Marion. 'Why? Have I done anything wrong?'

  'No, miss,' the policeman replied, but he wasn't happy. 'Can I see your driving papers please?'

  Marion turned away from him and opened her bag. The policeman tried to watch over her shoulder, but he didn't see the white envelope full of money. She hid it carefully under her bag, then handed him her driving papers. He studied them for a minute, gave them back and, without a word, returned to his car.

Marion started her car immediately and drove away. Looking

in her driving mirror, she noticed that the police car wa: following her. She drove slowly so that it could go past, but i stayed behind her. 'Why's he following me?' Marion thought nervously. 'Has Mr Lowery reported me already? If he has, I'll have to sell this car as soon as I can and get another one. I don't want anyone to follow me to Fairvale.'

  At last the police car stopped following her, and turned off along another road. About an hour later Marion arrived in a small town. She stopped at a garage and asked about changing her car for another one. While the man from the garage was looking at her old car, Marion walked out into the street to buy a newspaper. Then she noticed the policeman with the dark glasses. He was standing by his car across the road, watching her.

  Marion didn't look at him. She bought a newspaper and looked through it quickly. 'Good,' she thought. 'There's nothing in the paper about me or the money. Nobody knows yet. That policeman doesn't know anything. He's just trying to frighten me.'

  She went back to the garage and showed the man the car that she wanted.

'Don't you want to try it first?' he asked.

  'No thank you,' Marion replied. 'I'm in a hurry. How much will it cost?'

'Your car, and seven hundred dollars.'

   Marion went to the washroom and took seven hundred dollars from the white envelope. She came out and gave the money to the man, who looked at her strangely. Then she jumped into her new car.

'Just a minute, miss.'

  Marion's heart jumped. She looked round quickly, but it was only another man from the garage. He was carrying her coat and suitcase.

  'You left them in your old car,' he explained, putting them in the back of her new one.

  As Marion drove away, the policeman crossed the road and stood next to the man from the garage.

'Did she seem strange to you?' the policeman asked. 'Very strange,' the man agreed.

Marion drove across the desert all day, then up into the hills. As it got dark, it began to rain. Tired and hungry, she looked hard through the window for somewhere to stay the night. She couldn't see anything in the heavy rain. No lights along the road, no other cars. 'I think I'm on the wrong road,' she thought. 'If I turn round and find the highway again, I'll soon find a place to stay.'

Suddenly, as she was looking for a good place to turn the car, she saw a light by the side of the road. At first she thought she was dreaming. A hotel, here, in the middle of nowhere? Impossible. She closed her eyes and opened them again. Yes, it was true. A small sign shining in the night: BATES MOTEL

'I don't believe it,' she said to herself as she drove towards the: sign. 'This is my lucky night.'

Chapter 4    Norman

There were no other cars outside the motel, and the office was empty. Marion stood outside the office and waited. Looking up, she saw a large old house on a hill behind the motel. On the first floor of the house she could see a light in a window. There was a shadow moving behind the curtain. The shadow of a woman, Marion thought.

  She went back to her car and waited for someone to come. •  At last, through the darkness and the rain, she saw someone outside the house. It was a man, and he was running down the hill towards the motel. Marion got out of her car to meet him. He was a young man, tall and thin, with a friendly, boyish face.

'I'm sorry I wasn't in the office,' he smiled.

'Do you have a room?' Marion asked.

  'Twelve rooms, all of them empty,' the young man laughed. 'You're wet. Come into the office.'

  Inside the office, the young man watched her carefully as she wrote her name in the visitors' book. Not her real name, but: 'MARIE SAMUELS'. Then he thought for a second before choosing a key from the small cupboard behind the desk.

'Room One,' he smiled.'It's next to this office.'

  The young man carried Marion's suitcase from the car, and she followed him into her room. He turned on the light, and opened the window.

  'It's small, but it's comfortable,' he said. 'And look. There's a shower in the bathroom.'

'Thank you, Mr Bates,' Marion smiled.

  'My name's Norman,' he said. 'If you want anything, I'll be in the office.'

'I just want to sleep. But before that, I need to eat.'

  'There's a restaurant about ten miles away, outside Fairvale. But I was just thinking ...' he said, lowering his eyes with a shy smile.'It's a long way to Fairvale and it's still raining. Maybe you'd like to have dinner with me instead? Nothing much. Just bread, milk and cheese. But you can come up to my house with me, if you like.'

'You're very kind,' said Marion.

  Norman looked up, his eyes shining with excitement. 'I'll be back when everything's ready. With an umbrella!'

  Marion closed the door behind him and smiled for the first time in twenty-four hours. 'What an amusing young man,' she thought. 'Just like a little boy.'

  But she was tired, and she had important things to thin about. The money, for example. Marion looked round the roor for somewhere to hide it. There wasn't much furniture. Sh decided to put the envelope inside her newspaper and leave i next to the bed.

  While she was doing this, she heard a loud voice. It came fron the big house on the hill. She went to the window and listened It was the angry voice of an old woman.

'No, you can't bring strange young girls up to this house.'

'Mother, please ...' Norman replied.

  'First you bring them up to the house.Then what? Music after dinner? Holding hands and kissing?'

'Mother, she's just a stranger. She's hungry and it's raining.'

  'She's not having food with my son in this house. Do you understand, boy? Are you going to tell her, or shall I come down and tell her?'

' Shut up!' Norman cried. 'Shut up!'

Then everything was silent.

Chapter 5    Mad Things

Marion heard the front door of the big house as it closed. Moments later she left her room and met Norman, who was standing nervously outside her door.

'I made trouble for you. I'm sorry/ Marion said.

  'No. It's my mother, that's all. She isn't well today. I'm sorry. I can't take you to the house. I've taken the food into my office. Would you like to come in there?'

  Marion followed Norman into a small room behind his office. It was a strange room, full of old clocks and stuffed birds.

  Norman watched her quietly as she began to eat. Then said: 'You eat like a bird.'

  'Do you know a lot about birds?'

'I don't know much about them. I just like stuffing them.'

'That's a strange thing to do,' said Marion.

'I enjoy it.'

'Is your time so empty?'

  'No. I'm very busy. I do everything in the office, I clean the rooms. I look after my mother.'

'Have you got any friends?'

  Norman looked surprised at this question. 'A boy's best friend is his mother.'

  Marion looked at her bread and cheese. She couldn't think of anything to say. The room was quiet. Just the sound of the clocks.

'It's stopped raining,' Norman said.

Marion smiled politely and continued eating.

  'Where are you going?' Norman tried to start the conversation again.

'Somewhere nice,' said Marion.

'What are you pinning- away from?'

This time, Marion was surprised. ' Why do you ask that?'

  'Oh, people are always trying to run away from something,' Norman replied. 'But people can never really run away, can they? Sometimes, when my mother talks to me like that, I want to run away. But I know I can't. She's ill.'

'She didn't seem ill to me,' said Marion.

  'I mean ill in the head,' said Norman. 'My father died when I was five. She was alone with me. Then a few years ago my mother met this man. She loved him. I think she loved him more than she loved me ...' Norman's eyes darkened as he looked past Marion at the wall. 'When he died,' Norman said slowly, 'and the way that he died ... That's why my mother became ill...'

  Marion felt sorry for Norman then. He was like a lost child, spending all his life in a small motel with his mad mother. 'Why don't you leave here?' she asked him.

...