Run: 2026-07-01-01KWE9GVYX646CJVKGECXMAQM2

# Cafe Scene - Alborn, MN The bell above the door of the Alborn Cafe chimed softly as afternoon light slanted through the windows. Melanie sat at a corner table, scrolling through the photos on her camera's small screen—shots of red barns, rolling hills, the town's crooked apple orchards. Her coffee had gone cold beside her, untouched for the last twenty minutes. Hunter's boots scraped against the wooden floor as he crossed the room, notepad already in hand. --- **Hunter:** "Afternoon. Detective Hunter, Alborn PD. Mind if I ask you a few questions?" **Melanie:** *(looking up, startled)* "Entschuldigung? Ich... ich verstehe nicht." **Hunter:** *(pausing, brow furrowed)* "You were out by Miller's Creek yesterday, right? Taking pictures? I need to know if you saw anything unusual." **Melanie:** *(hands tightening around her camera)* "Ich... das war so beängstigend. Ich habe etwas gesehen, aber ich kann es nicht erklären." **Hunter:** "Whoa, slow down. I don't—I don't speak German. Do you understand English at all?" **Melanie:** *(shaking her head, eyes welling up)* "Nein, nein. Kein Englisch. Es tut mir leid. Ich bin so verwirrt." **Hunter:** *(sighing, glancing around the cafe)* "Great. Okay. Is there anyone here who can translate? This is important—we've got people missing." **Melanie:** *(pointing at her camera, voice trembling)* "Hier—ich habe Fotos gemacht. Etwas war falsch im Wald. Ein Geräusch, und dann... nichts." **Hunter:** *(leaning in, studying the small screen even though her words are lost on him)* "You photographed something? Can I see that?" **Melanie:** *(turning the camera toward him, flipping through images with shaking fingers)* "Schauen Sie—hier, zwischen den Bäumen. Sehen Sie das?" **Hunter:** *(squinting at a blurred shape in the underbrush)* "That's... huh. That's strange. Can you send me these? I need someone to translate what you're telling me." **Melanie:** *(frustrated, gesturing helplessly)* "Ich will helfen, aber ich kann es Ihnen nicht sagen. Meine Worte—sie kommen nicht heraus richtig." **Hunter's phone buzzes sharply on the table. He glances at the screen, jaw tightening.* **Hunter:** "Hunter." *(a pause, his expression hardening)* "Where? ...Give me ten minutes." **Hunter:** *(standing quickly, pointing at the camera)* "Don't delete anything. I'm coming back, and I'm bringing someone who speaks German. Understand? Stay here." **Melanie:** *(nodding slowly, though uncertain)* "Ich... ich warte. Okay." **Hunter:** *(already moving toward the door)* "Ten minutes. Don't go anywhere." *The bell chimes again as he disappears out into the street, leaving Melanie alone with her camera and the cold coffee, her hands still trembling around the small device that held whatever secret the woods had shown her.*