Run: 2026-03-11-01KKFN5CD0FM13W3ANGXB1S4TM

The afternoon light filtered through the lace curtains of **The Honey Bee Café**, casting warm patterns across the small wooden tables. Isabella sat alone in the corner booth, her camera resting on the table before her. She wasn't taking photos today—her hands trembled too much. Instead, she was scrolling through the images she'd captured over the past week, her brow furrowed, her lips moving silently in prayer. She looked up when the bell above the door chimed. Hunter stepped inside, his badge briefly visible beneath his open jacket. He scanned the café with practiced eyes—a habit he'd never shake from his years in the Marines—and settled on the only unfamiliar face. The young woman with the camera and the Italian accent the barista had mentioned. He crossed the room and pulled out the chair across from her. **Hunter:** "Mind if I sit down? I'm Detective Hunter. I'm looking into the disappearance of a young woman who was last seen near the festival grounds last weekend. You're Isabella, right? The foreign exchange student?" Isabella stared at him, her dark eyes wide. She understood almost nothing—he was speaking too quickly, too directly. She recognized her own name and something about "detective," and that alone made her stomach drop. **Isabella:** "Sì... Isabella. Io..." She clutched her camera to her chest. "Non so... non so cosa è successo, ma ho visto—ho visto qualcosa nel bosco, dietro la festa delle mele. Una donna... stava urlando. E poi... poi c'era solo silenzio. Tutto è diventato silenzio." Her voice cracked. She pressed her fingers to her lips, fighting back tears. Hunter leaned forward, catching only fragments—a word here, a gesture there. He understood "sì" and "silenzio," and the look on her face told him everything else. **Hunter:** "I'm sorry—I don't speak Italian. You saw something? In the woods? Behind the apple festival grounds?" He pointed toward the window, toward the distant treeline, and made a walking motion with his fingers. Isabella nodded rapidly. She set the camera down and tried again, speaking slowly, pointing outward, then pressing her hand over her heart and shaking her head. **Isabella:** "Donna. Una donna... nel bosco. Di notte. Ho sentito... *screaming*—no, *grido*—scusi, mi dispiace—" She made a desperate sound from her throat. "Grido! E poi... silenzio. E la mattina dopo, la gente parlava di una donna scomparsa." She opened the camera and turned it around, showing him a blurry, dim photo taken from behind a fence—barely more than shadows and tree trunks. At the edge of the frame, something that might have been a figure. Or might have been nothing at all. Hunter studied the image carefully, his jaw tightening. **Hunter:** "That's a photo? Can you take me to the spot where you were standing when you took this?" He pointed at the camera, then at the door, then made a walking gesture again. Isabella's eyes glistened. She understood that much. She nodded again, pulling her cardigan tighter around herself. **Isabella:** "Sì... sì, posso portarti lì." She paused, searching for any word she knew in English, grasping at straws. "I—*afraid*. I am... *afraid*." The single English word hung between them, raw and honest. Hunter's expression softened—just barely. **Hunter:** "I know. And I'm not going to pretend this isn't serious. But if you saw something, Isabella, you might be the only witness we have. Can you come with me tomorrow morning? We'll go to the spot, and I'll have someone from the department who might be able to help us translate." Before Isabella could respond, Hunter's phone buzzed sharply in his pocket. He pulled it out, glanced at the screen, and his expression shifted instantly—hardening, tightening, becoming something she couldn't read. **Hunter:** "Hunter. ...When? ...How long has it been? ...I'm on my way." He ended the call and stood abruptly, chair scraping against the floor. **Hunter:** "I have to go. Another missing person—just reported." He held up a hand. "Tomorrow. Morning. I'll be here at nine. Can you be here?" Isabella nodded, clutching her camera again like a shield. He turned and left in a rush, the bell chiming hard behind him. She sat alone again, staring at her camera screen—at the dark, blurry shape among the trees—and whispered to no one. **Isabella:** "Dio, aiutami..." --- # 🎬 Voice Sheet **Isabella:** "Sì... Isabella. Io... non so... non so cosa è successo, ma ho visto—ho visto qualcosa nel bosco, dietro la festa delle mele. Una donna... stava urlando. E poi... poi c'era solo silenzio. Tutto è diventato silenzio." **Hunter:** "I'm sorry—I don't speak Italian. You saw something? In the woods? Behind the apple festival grounds?" **Isabella:** "Donna. Una donna... nel bosco. Di notte. Ho sentito—*screaming*—no, *grido*—scusi, mi dispiace—Grido! E poi... silenzio. E la mattina dopo, la gente parlava di una donna scomparsa." **Hunter:** "That's a photo? Can you take me to the spot where you were standing when you took this?" **Isabella:** "Sì... sì, posso portarti lì." *(pause)* "I—*afraid*. I am... *afraid*." **Hunter:** "I know. And I'm not going to pretend this isn't serious. But if you saw something, Isabella, you might be the only witness we have. Can you come with me tomorrow morning? We'll go to the spot, and I'll have someone from the department who might be able to help us translate." **Hunter:** "Hunter. ...When? ...How long has it been? ...I'm on my way." **Hunter:** "I have to go. Another missing person—just reported. Tomorrow. Morning. I'll be here at nine. Can you be here?" **Isabella:** "Dio, aiutami..."