**Voice Sheet – Marie & Hunter at the Café in Alborn, MN** *[Scene: A quiet corner of “Hazel’s Orchard Café,” a small-town coffee shop with wooden beams and the smell of cinnamon in the air. Marie sits at a corner table, her camera in hand, scrolling through photos with a distant, troubled expression. Hunter enters, badge visible under his coat. He approaches, cautious but direct.]* **Hunter:** Excuse me, miss. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions? *[Marie looks up, startled. She instinctively holds her camera closer. She speaks quickly, in French, her voice shaky.]* **Marie:** *Je… je ne parle pas anglais. J’ai vu quelque chose… dans les bois. Près du vieux verger. Une lumière… et puis… plus rien. Elle a disparu. Comme les autres…* *(I… I don’t speak English. I saw something… in the woods. Near the old orchard. A light… and then… nothing. It vanished. Like the others…)* *[Hunter leans back slightly, frowning. He doesn’t understand, but reads her fear.]* **Hunter:** Whoa, slow down. I… don’t speak French. Sorry. You’re upset. Did you see something out near the orchard? *[Marie stares at him, frustrated and anxious. She tries again, gesturing toward her camera.]* **Marie:** L’appareil… j’ai pris une photo. La nuit dernière. Il y avait… une forme. Pas humaine. Et maintenant… plus personne ne répond au téléphone. Pas depuis hier. *(The camera… I took a photo. Last night. There was… a shape. Not human. And now… no one answers the phone. Not since yesterday.)* *[Hunter studies her, his detective instincts flaring. He points to the camera.]* **Hunter:** Photo? You took a picture of something? Last night? *[Marie nods urgently, flipping through the images. She stops on a blurred shot—moonlight through twisted trees, something faintly glowing between them. She points at it, eyes wide.]* **Marie:** Là. Regardez. C’est là. Et personne ne me croit. *(There. Look. It’s there. And no one believes me.)* *[Hunter squints at the photo, frowning. His tone softens slightly.]* **Hunter:** Alright… alright. I don’t know what you’re saying, but I see it. That’s not normal. We’ve had people go missing. You might’ve seen something important. Can you… just… come with me to the station later? We’ll get someone who speaks French. *[Marie shakes her head, panicked.]* **Marie:** Non! Pas encore. Pas sans savoir ce que c’était. Ils disparaissent… et personne ne les retrouve. *(No! Not yet. Not without knowing what it was. They vanish… and no one finds them.)* *[Before Hunter can respond, his phone rings sharply. He pulls it out, checking the caller ID. His expression hardens.]* **Hunter:** This is Detective Hunter. *[A beat. His jaw tightens as he listens.]* **Hunter:** Where? The old orchard road? Another one? Alright. I’m on my way. *[He hangs up, turns back to Marie with regret.]* **Hunter:** I gotta go. Another person’s missing. Near the orchard. Same area. Stay here. Don’t go out there alone. I’ll be back. We’ll figure this out. *[Marie watches him leave, clutching her camera. She whispers under her breath.]* **Marie:** *Elle est toujours là… dans l’ombre. Et elle regarde.* *(She’s still there… in the shadows. And she’s watching.)* *[Hunter exits, the café door jingling shut behind him. The camera screen glows faintly, the mysterious light in the photo almost pulsing.]* **[End Scene]**