"The LOOKOUT" is a wide dirt clearing atop a cliff. Bonfires burn inside metal barrels.
Teenagers scattered in clusters. Kyle rides up on his bike.
Drops it beside a pile of others. The mood is off.
Everyone’s waiting.
40 Oz is mid-joke, stomping around like Bigfoot.
Everyone’s laugh sounds forced.
Raven cuts them off.
“Can we talk about finding our friend now?”
All eyes shift to Kyle.
He swallows.
Begins reluctantly.
KYLE:
I… don't know. I saw… something big.”
Silence. Crickets. Skeptical faces.
He continues.
KYLE:
“I mean… it wasn’t big at first. Then it was.
40 Oz (joking):
“A, dawg, you can keep your sex preferences to yourself, you know, T.M.I.”
Kyle looks at him with a scowl. Raven shoots warning daggers, daring her to give him a birthday cussing.
Kyle swallows hard, searching his friends faces. His friends stare back. He blows out a long breath.
The claw scar runs down his forearm. You could hear a pin drop in the grass..
All of their eyes go wide. A loud BANG from the bonfire makes everyone jump.
People scream. Then laugh, looking around nervously.
A bottle of near empty lighter fluid exploded in the barrel.
Kyle exhales again. They all exhale.
KYLE:
“We went to the tunnels this morning. Me and Aunt Maggie.”
He explains:
— The anklet.
— The Marker shapeshifting.
— The digital watch reading midnight inside the tunnel several times, but reading normal when Maggie pulled her arm out.
— The smell.
— The trance.
Their faces shift from skepticism to unease.
Kyle pulls Maggie’s laptop from his backpack.
Opens it.
Grainy footage.
Brief flashes of smoke.
Lightning.
White eyes.
News headlines from around the world:
“Multiple Missing Near Drainage Systems”
“1974 Operation De-Classified”
“Evening Attacks Continue”
The group studies in silence. Disbelief.
One article highlighted:
“When the sun sets, the creatures begin stalking the marked.”
Everyone exchanging looks now.
Shadow looks at Kyle.
SHADOW:
“So, you saying… it's a doorway to hell, right under our neighborhood, and one of the creatures from it… gave you that scar?”
Kyle looks toward the dark horizon.
Toward where the tunnels are.
KYLE (resolved, with conviction):
“You don't have to believe me. You don't have to go with me, but I'm going back to get Lolita.”
(Beat.)
Raven:
“We've all been friends since first grade.
Lolita is friends with everyone here.
We need a vote.
Who all is going on the search party with Kyle?”
Crickets.
Bonfire crackling.