Prologue — "The Vanishing"
> Location: Edge of the Nameless Town
Time: 03:12 AM
The road ends without warning.
Fog curls over the cracked asphalt, swallowing the forest on both sides. There's no signpost. No map. No lights—only a rusty metal gate, barely held up by rotting wood, swinging slightly in the breeze.
A man stands there. Alone.
His name is Victor Hale. Late forties, sharp eyes, ex-military. He's been sent ahead. "Reconnaissance," they told him. A test run. Easy money. One week, then out.
He checks his watch.
No signal.
Just like they said.
With a deep breath, he pushes the gate open. It groans—loudly.
A second later, silence swallows the sound whole.
He walks in.
---
INT. MAIN STREET – THE NAMELESS TOWN
The town is eerily intact. Not destroyed—just... empty. Like its people vanished mid-step. Cars parked. Lights off. Mailboxes full. Windows shut tight.
Victor moves carefully. No footsteps echo. His boots make no sound on the gravel.
Then—
A click. Behind him.
He turns.
Nothing.
He raises his flashlight. It flickers once. Twice. Then dies.
He swears under his breath, reaches into his pack, and pulls out a flare.
The red light bursts to life.
That's when he sees it.
A figure. At the far end of the street. Not moving. Not breathing. Just… standing.
"Hello?" Victor says.
The figure twitches.
Victor lowers the flare.
CRUNCH.
He turns—too late.
A shape lunges from the shadows.
A sharp snap of bone.
A choked breath.
Then silence.
The flare rolls across the street, sputtering.
No screams.
Victor Hale is gone.
---
ONE WEEK LATER…
A van pulls up outside the gate.
Inside: ten strangers.
None of them know Victor ever existed.