Chapter 4 – "No Exit"
> Location: North Edge of Town – 7:44 AM
Malik floored the gas pedal.
The road ahead was clear. Endless pine trees. Faint sunlight breaking through the mist.
He'd been driving for thirty-seven minutes straight.
Yet every time he passed a gas station sign, it was the same one.
He slammed the brakes.
Stepped out.
Walked to the side of the road and kicked the mile marker post.
It crumbled like paper.
Then reassembled.
Before his eyes.
He didn't scream.
He simply whispered,
> "We're in a loop."
---
INT. CLARA'S ROOM – SAME TIME
Clara checked her pulse again.
Still there.
But the clock on her nightstand didn't move.
The second hand jerked back and forth—stuck between two seconds.
A black smudge had appeared on the wall behind the dresser.
She hadn't noticed it last night.
It was growing.
She touched it.
Sticky. Cold. Breathing.
She backed away.
---
INT. COMMUNITY LIBRARY – 10:13 AM
Elena paced through the aisles of the abandoned library.
Dusty books.
Half-melted candles.
A children's section with smiling posters that seemed too bright for the airless space.
She found an old journal left open on a table.
A single sentence, underlined in red:
> "Those who speak above a whisper are heard."
A sound creaked behind her.
She turned.
No one.
Yet on the table, a new page appeared.
Her name, written in red ink.
> "ELENA WHISPERED AT 3:06 AM"
---
INT. KIERAN'S BEDROOM – MIDNIGHT
Kieran laid in bed, staring at the ceiling.
He had placed pots and pans around the bed, hoping they'd make noise if anything moved.
Nothing.
He closed his eyes.
A breeze passed through the room.
But the windows were shut.
He opened his eyes.
A hand was pressed flat against the inside of the mirror on his wardrobe.
It was his.
But it didn't move with him.
---
EXT. OUTSIDE ZOE'S WINDOW – SAME TIME
She heard the dripping again.
No rain. No broken pipes.
Just that same, rhythmic drip… drip… drip.
She opened the window.
Below, in the garden—rows of shoes.
Each shoe filled with blood.
And beside the last pair…
a single note.
> "One of you is already gone.
But still walking."