**INT. CAFE - DAY** A small, cozy cafe filled with the smell of coffee and cinnamon. MARIA sits alone at a small table near the window. She cradles her digital camera, scrolling through photos with a troubled expression. The autumn light catches the dust motes in the air. HUNTER, in a simple but well-kept jacket, enters. His eyes scan the room before landing on Maria. He walks over to her table, his steps deliberate. *** **Maria:** (Softly, to herself, looking at a photo) "Dios mío..." **Hunter: "Excuse me, ma'am."** Maria looks up, startled. She quickly lowers her camera, her guard up. **Maria: "Sí?" **Hunter: "Are you Maria? The photography student from the university?"** **Maria: "Sí... soy María. ¿Por qué?" **Hunter: "I'm Detective Hunter. I'm investigating some... incidents that happened around town recently. Specifically, the night of the apple festival. I was hoping you might have seen something."** Hunter pulls out a small notepad. Maria’s face pales. She starts to shake her head, her eyes wide with fear. **Maria: "No... no, no vi nada. Por favor, no sé nada."** **Hunter: "Ma'am, I just need to ask a few questions. Anyone who was out with a camera that night... they could be a witness."** **Maria: "Un testigo... ¡No! ¡No quiero problemas! Estaba tomando fotos, sí, del paisaje... de las luces... ¡Pero no vi a nadie!"** She speaks faster, her words tumbling over each other in a panicked rush. Hunter just stares, his brow furrowed in complete confusion. **Hunter: "I... I'm sorry, I don't understand. English? Do you speak any English?"** **Maria: "¡No entiendo! ¡Inglés no!"** She looks around the cafe, as if for an escape. Hunter sighs, frustrated. He tries a different tactic, pointing to his notepad. **Hunter: "The festival. Apple festival."** He mimes picking an apple and then points out the window towards the town center. Maria nods, still trembling. **Maria: "Sí, el festival. Las manzanas."** **Hunter: "You were there. With your camera."** He points to her camera. A flicker of understanding—and terror—crosses her face. **Maria: "Sí, la cámara... Vi... vi algo. Algo... extraño."** **Hunter: "Something strange? What did you see?"** Maria’s frustration boils over. She gestures wildly with her hands, pointing out the window towards the dense treeline at the edge of town. **Maria: "¡Allí! Cerca del bosque! Un coche viejo, negro. Estaba... esperando. Y luego... una sombra. ¡Se movió tan rápido!"** **Hunter: "Ma'am, I have no idea what you're saying. Black? Woods? Shadow?"** He latches onto the one word he thinks he understood. "Shadow?" He mimes a person walking with his hand. **Maria: "¡Sí, una sombra! Una persona! ¡Tomé una foto, pero salió mal! ¡Mire!"** She desperately shoves the camera towards him, trying to show him the screen. She’s frantically scrolling to a specific, dark, blurry image. **Hunter: "Okay, okay, slow down. A photo? You have a photo?"** Just as Hunter leans in to get a better look at the camera screen, his phone rings loudly. He straightens up, annoyed, and pulls it from his pocket. **Hunter: (Into phone) "Hunter. ... Yeah, I'm in the middle of something. ... What? ... Okay, I'm on my way."** He hangs up, his expression grim. He looks from the phone back to Maria, who is watching him with wide, pleading eyes. **Hunter: "I have to go."** He starts to turn away, then hesitates. He looks at the camera in her hands, then back at her face. He points to the camera, then to himself. **Hunter: "Photo. I need to see the photo. I'll be back."** Maria just stares, clutching her camera like a shield. Hunter gives a firm, decisive nod and walks out of the cafe, leaving her alone, shaken and more afraid than before. **Maria: (Whispering to the empty space where he stood) "Volverá..."**