Kyle is pacing.
The anklet in his hand.
The room feels too small.
KYLE (to himself): “Aunt Maggie said stay inside.
Said she’d call me.
Every second we wait, feels like letting Lolita die twice.”
He stops pacing.
Grabs the phone.
[FRONT- APARTMENT COMPLEX – Mid Day]
Kyle comes outside looking wrecked. Pale. Wired.
They exchange a look.
Kyle is talking a million miles an hour.
40 Oz:
“Bro, slow down. Start over.”
KYLE:
“She’s gone, guys. Something took her.”
Shadow squints. Screws up his face.
SHADOW:
“Like… somebody?”
Kyle shakes his head.
KYLE:
“Not somebody.”
Silence.
They exchange another look.
KYLE:
“The point is, Lolita's missing & I know where she's at.”
NORTH SIDE OF TUNNELS – LATE AFTERNOON]
They ride around the long way.
Out of the front complex gate.
The neighborhood looks normal.
Too normal. A couple of blocks later.
They lay their bikes down near the fence.
Shadow and 40 Oz hop over.
Kyle stays straddling his bike.
Watching.
Listening.
Uneasy.
[ANGLE – THE TUNNEL FACES]
One mostly dry.
One with water spilling steadily from it.
The air feels wrong here.
Shadow cups his hands and calls back to Kyle.
SHADOW:
“So what attacked you? A dog?”
40 OZ:
“You sure you didn’t just trip?”
Kyle doesn’t answer.
He’s staring.
From the tunnel with the slimy water—
Slow. Deliberate.
Too tall.
Clothes hang wrong on it.
It does not look at them, but through them.
It just walks.
Shadow freezes in a fight stance, then thinks better of it and runs.
40 Oz turns.
They both turn to look over their shoulder, to see it while running away.
No flicker.
No blur.
Just not right.
40 Oz: (Disbelief):
“…Yo…”
The Marker keeps walking.
Shadow and 40 Oz. scramble through the ravine, and over the North side fence.
Kyle fumbles his feet onto the pedals.
The Marker never runs.
Never hurries.
Just walks toward them.
[NEIGHBORHOOD STREET]
Glancing back every few seconds.
The Marker is still behind them.
Walking. Same pace. Almost out of sight.
No longer in immediate danger, they were further away, No creatures in sight.
They nearly collide.
Looking back while pedaling. Breathing hard.
They reach the end of the long neighborhood road.
They can't believe it—
Across the main street—
The Marker is there.
Crossing traffic. Walking toward them.
How?? It never passed them.
No cars now.
No crosswalk.
No sound.
Just walking.
Like transported to a dream, while knowing you're still woke.
Shadow’s breath stutters.
40 Oz whispers:
“No. No. No.”
They scurry to get their bikes turned around.
They fumble again to get pedaling in the opposite direction.
was already headed the other way, while
they were still braking, kicking up dust
from their back tires.
They barely get going before the Marker touches them.
40 OZ:
“Man, I gotta stop. I gotta stop.”
SHADOW:
“Who the hell was that?!”
Kyle stares at the empty street. Also, heaving for air.
KYLE:
“That’s what I was trying to tell y’all…
Not who.”
After pausing a second to shake his head, and catch his breath.
KYLE (quietly):
“What.”
They all look around. The world looks half normal again.
Birds. Distant lawn mower. Nothing chasing them.
But, the looks on their faces say none of them truly believe that.