Run: 2026-03-25-01KMJ8Q9P3AV09HBX14Y93TMZN

**Voice Sheet – Scene: Café Encounter in Alborn, MN** *Ambient café sounds: soft chatter, clinking cups, distant espresso machine. SELVI sits at a corner table, intently reviewing photos on her camera. Her brow is furrowed. HUNTER enters, dressed in a trench coat despite the mild weather, eyes scanning. He approaches her table.* --- **HUNTER:** Ma’am? Excuse me. You were near the old orchard trail yesterday, weren’t you? Around dusk? *Selvi looks up, startled. She blinks at him, then slowly lowers her camera. She speaks, voice trembling, in Hindi.* **SELVI:** मुझे नहीं पता कि क्या हुआ। मैंने सिर्फ तस्वीरें लीं... लेकिन वो आदमी... वहाँ कोई नहीं था। फिर भी मैंने उसे देखा। उसके बाद से तस्वीरों में कुछ... गलत है। *(Translation: I don’t know what happened. I just took pictures… but that man… there was no one there. And yet I saw him. Since then, something’s wrong with the photos.)* *Hunter stares, expression shifting from focused to confused. He tilts his head slightly, trying to grasp meaning.* **HUNTER:** I… uh. I don’t understand Hindi. Sorry. You see anyone near the trail? Anyone unusual? *Selvi frowns, tries to slow down, gestures to her camera, then points vaguely westward.* **SELVI:** मैं... कैमरा... तस्वीर में आदमी... लेकिन वास्तविकता में नहीं। डरावना। *(Translation: I… camera… man in photo… but not in real life. Scary.)* *She flips the camera screen toward him, showing a photo of the orchard at sunset — something faintly humanoid half-obscured in the mist between the trees.* **HUNTER:** *(Leans in, squints)* Huh. That’s… not wind bending those branches. That’s a shape. You took this *after* sunset? *Selvi nods urgently, her hands trembling slightly.* **SELVI:** हाँ। बाद में। मैंने डिलीट कर दिया, लेकिन वो वापस आ गया। *(Translation: Yes. After. I deleted it, but it came back.)* *Hunter rubs his jaw, gaze locked on the image. His radio crackles softly. Then his phone rings — sharp, urgent.* **HUNTER:** Hold on. Let me just— *He answers, turning slightly away.* **HUNTER (into phone):** Hunter. Yeah. … What? Near the cider mill? … Got it. I’m on my way. *He hangs up, glances back at Selvi, torn.* **HUNTER:** I gotta go. But… stay here, alright? Don’t go back to that trail. And keep that camera — I’ll need to see those photos later. *Selvi doesn’t understand, but sees the urgency in his face. She nods slowly.* **HUNTER (softer):** Stay safe. I’ll come back. *He gives her one last look, then strides out. Selvi watches him leave, then turns her camera back on, hesitates, and flips through her gallery. The same photo flickers on screen again — though she swore she deleted it.* *Fade out with the hum of the café and the quiet click of a shutter.*