Chapter 8 – "The Disappearances"
> Location: Town outskirts – 6:41 PM
Night came early now.
The sun fell behind the trees like it was fleeing something.
The group split up — against Malik's protests.
They were desperate to find Jacob and Elena.
Hope was louder than caution.
Zoe and Malik searched the forest.
Clara and Naomi took the eastern street.
> "We have walkie-talkies," Clara said.
"We won't go far."
But that was the last time they all spoke.
---
INT. FOREST PATH – 7:10 PM
Zoe held the flashlight steady.
Malik walked ahead, tense.
Branches snapped somewhere too close.
> "Stop," Zoe whispered.
"Do you hear that?"
No wind. No leaves. No animals.
But something was breathing.
Not from the trees.
From below.
Zoe aimed the flashlight at the ground.
Soil moved.
Not shifting — rising.
She pulled Malik back just before something long and black pierced the dirt, like a finger searching.
They ran.
---
INT. CLARA AND NAOMI – EASTERN STREET – 7:27 PM
Naomi held her walkie close to her mouth.
> "Malik? Zoe? Are you—"
Static.
Then, softly:
> "...behind you."
She spun.
No one.
But Clara was gone.
Her flashlight lay spinning in the dirt, red light flashing like a heartbeat.
Naomi ran.
She didn't stop until her legs gave out.
And from the shadows behind her…
> "Play with me."
---
INT. LIBRARY – 8:03 PM
Malik slammed the door shut behind them.
> "They're gone," he gasped.
"Something's under the town. It's alive."
Zoe collapsed into a chair.
> "It's not just the girl.
There's more. Something bigger."
On the wall, a new message was written in charcoal:
> "She brings them.
But he keeps them."
They didn't know who wrote it.
But the handwriting looked like a child's.