Chapter 5 – "Footsteps in the Silence"
> Location: Community Church – 8:01 AM
The bell rang.
Once.
Only once.
And no one was there to pull the rope.
---
INT. CHURCH INTERIOR
Kieran had taken refuge in the church after the night with the mirror.
The stained-glass windows were covered in dust.
Candles burned out, wax pooled like dried blood.
He sat in the pews, whispering to himself.
Just fragments of songs he couldn't remember.
A sound.
Footsteps.
Slow. Heavy.
He stood.
> "Hello?"
The sound stopped.
And then came the whisper — not his:
> "Don't turn around."
He froze.
Didn't move.
Then something cold touched his neck.
When he finally turned —
nothing.
But the pew behind him was missing.
Gone. As if it had never existed.
---
INT. ABANDONED HOUSE – 10:47 AM
Zoe and Malik explored the eastern edge of town.
An old colonial house. Broken porch. Door ajar.
Inside: shattered dishes, rotting curtains, and...
a photo on the wall.
All ten of them.
Standing together in this very house.
Smiling.
> "What is this?" Zoe whispered.
Malik reached forward to touch the frame.
The eyes on every figure in the photo had been scratched out.
Except Zoe's.
---
INT. SCHOOL BASEMENT – 2:00 PM
Clara descended the creaking stairs beneath the school gymnasium.
She had followed the humming sound.
It grew louder the deeper she went.
She found a chalkboard, lit by a flickering light.
It read:
> "Silence is a promise.
Noise is a sin."
On the floor: footprints.
Tiny.
Childlike.
She followed them to the boiler room door.
It was open.
But there was no boiler inside.
Just a black space.
And a girl's voice said:
> "Don't tell them I'm here."
---
EXT. EDGE OF TOWN – SUNSET
Jacob walked in silence.
He wasn't trying to leave anymore.
He was just watching.
Watching the fog that now surrounded the entire town.
It pulsed.
He lifted his phone, recorded three seconds.
In the playback, he wasn't in the frame.
But someone was.
Tall.
Faceless.
Standing behind him.