Run: 2026-07-25-01KYCXGXH2TE6QK0J9C5960D80

The autumn air in Alborn carried the sweet promise of the coming apple festival—posters for the town of 3,000 lined the windows of the Main Street Café. Inside, Selvi, a thirty-year-old student from India on her study-abroad program, sat alone with her camera on the table, scrolling through landscape shots that had turned suddenly dark. Detective Hunter, a thirty-five-year-old former marine with a hard, direct posture, approached her table without preamble. He asked about the recent disappearances plaguing the small Midwestern town. Selvi looked up, her eyes wide and troubled, and answered in rapid, shaken Hindi, clutching her camera. Hunter froze, clearly lost, with no grasp of a single word. **Voice Sheet** Selvi: "(Trembling, in Hindi) Maine raat ko kuch dekha... log gayab ho rahe hain... main bahut darr gayi hoon." Hunter: "I'm Detective Hunter, Alborn PD. I'm asking everyone about the disappearances—specifically near the old apple orchard. Did you see anything out of place?" Selvi: "(Shaken, pointing urgently at her camera screen) Yeh tasveer dekhiye... wahan andhera tha... kuch bura hua hai." Hunter: "Hindi. Right. I don't speak a word of it. Look, I need answers. Do you understand me at all?" Selvi: "(Nods frantically, then shakes her head, speaking in a low, frightened voice) Haan... wahan se... log gayab hue... mujhe darr lagta hai... main India se hoon." Hunter: "Your camera—you took pictures near the grove? Show me. Is that the north orchard, close to the festival grounds?" Selvi: "(Shows him the image, her hands shaking) Yeh sach hai... maine khinchi... wapas mat bhejiye mujhe wahan." Hunter: "(Leaning in, no-nonsense but tense) There's a language wall, but you're terrified. Did anyone come with you? Are you alone here?" Selvi: "Main akeli hoon... aap meri madad kar sakte hain? Main angrezi nahi jaanti." Hunter: "I'll get a translator to the station. Don't go near that grove alone. Understand? Stay away." Selvi: "(Speaking softly, eyes filled with fear) Aap samjhte hain... shukriya..." Hunter: "(Phone rings; he answers sharply) Hunter... Yeah, I'm at the café on Main. Another site? The apple grove? I'm leaving now—wait right here." Selvi: "Aap ja rahe hain? Mat jaaiye... main akeli hoon yahan..." Hunter: "(Backing away, pointing firmly) Stay. Police station. Don't move. I'll be back with help." Selvi: "(Looking up, still troubled and shaken, holding her camera tight) Theek hai... main yahin rukoongi..."