Run: 2026-02-24-01KJ8TNQGY1MG45WHJGXB84NP0

# Scene: The Café on Main Street *Marie sits alone at a corner table in Dotty's Café, scrolling through photos on her camera. A half-finished café au lait grows cold beside her. Hunter pushes through the front door, badge clipped to his belt, scanning the room. He spots Marie — the only unfamiliar face in a town where he's interviewed nearly everyone — and approaches.* --- Hunter: "Afternoon, ma'am. I'm Detective Hunter Cole. Mind if I sit?" Marie: *(glances up, blinking)* "Pardon? Je... je ne comprends pas." Hunter: "I'm a detective. Police." *(taps his badge, then slowly pulls out the chair across from her and sits)* "I'm looking into what happened last night. Down by the orchard on Route 7? You were seen in the area with your camera." Marie: *(recognizes the word "camera," clutches it protectively against her chest)* "Ma caméra? Non, non... je prenais seulement des photos du paysage. Les pommiers, la lumière du soir... c'est tout." Hunter: *(long pause, brow furrowed)* "I'm sorry — do you speak English?" Marie: *(shakes her head slowly)* "Anglais? Non. Désolée. Je suis française. Je suis ici pour mes études." Hunter: *(exhales, rubs the back of his neck)* "French. Okay. That's... not ideal." *(leans forward, speaking more slowly, as if volume and enunciation might bridge the gap)* "Last night. Did you see anything... unusual?" Marie: *(stares at him, searching his face for meaning, then seems to understand his tone — the seriousness of it — and her expression changes, darkens)* "Hier soir... oui. J'étais près du verger. Je photographiais le coucher du soleil et j'ai... j'ai entendu quelque chose. Quelqu'un qui criait. Et puis plus rien. Le silence. Un silence terrible." Hunter: *(watches her expression shift from guarded to visibly shaken — her hands trembling around the camera)* "You saw something. I can tell you saw something." Marie: *(eyes glistening, voice dropping to barely a whisper)* "Il y avait une silhouette. Dans les arbres. Elle traînait quelque chose... ou quelqu'un. Je ne sais pas. J'ai eu tellement peur que j'ai couru. J'ai couru sans m'arrêter." Hunter: "Ma'am — I wish I understood what you're telling me. You're scared. I can see that." Marie: *(urgently taps her camera, turns it around to show him the screen — a dark, blurred photograph of the orchard at dusk, and at the far edge, barely visible, a shape among the trees)* "Regardez! Là! Vous voyez? Cette ombre — ce n'était pas un animal. C'était une personne. Je le sais." Hunter: *(takes the camera gently, squints at the photo, jaw tightening)* "That's the orchard all right. And that shape..." *(points at the dark figure in the frame)* "That's a person. That is definitely a person." Marie: *(nods vigorously)* "Oui! Oui! Une personne!" Hunter: *(a flicker of connection — the first word they've shared)* "Okay. Okay, we're getting somewhere." *(pulls out a small notebook, sketches a rough clock face, points to it)* "What time? When?" Marie: *(understands the drawing, holds up nine fingers)* "Neuf heures. Il faisait presque nuit." Hunter: "Nine. Nine o'clock." *(writes it down, nods)* "And you ran. You—" *(mimes running with two fingers)* Marie: *(nods, hugging herself)* "Oui. J'ai couru. Je n'ai pas dormi de la nuit. J'entends encore ce cri. Ça me hante." Hunter: *(softens his voice)* "Hey. Whatever you went through out there — I'm going to figure this out. I promise you that." *(holds up the camera)* "Can I take this photo? I need—" *His phone buzzes sharply. He glances at the screen. His expression hardens.* Hunter: *(answering the phone)* "Cole here." *(listens, stands abruptly)* "When? ... How far into the woods? ... Don't let anyone near it. I'm on my way." Marie: *(watches him, alarm rising)* "Qu'est-ce qui se passe? Il s'est passé quelque chose de grave?" Hunter: *(pockets the phone, looks at her with an expression caught between urgency and frustration — so much left unsaid, untranslated)* "I have to go. But I'm coming back for you." *(points at her, then at the table, mimes sitting)* "Stay. Please. Stay here." Marie: *(quietly, more to herself than to him)* "Je ne vais nulle part. Je n'ai nulle part où aller." Hunter: *(pauses at the door, looks back at her one last time — a young woman alone in a strange town, holding a camera full of shadows)* "I'll find someone who speaks French. Just... stay safe." *He pushes through the door and is gone. The bell above it chimes once. Marie looks down at her camera, at the dark shape frozen between the apple trees, and slowly turns it face-down on the table.* Marie: *(whispers)* "Faites attention, monsieur. Celui qui est là-bas dans le noir... il n'a pas fini." --- *End of scene.*