Chapter 9 – "The Recordings"
> Location: Public Library Basement – 9:11 PM
The basement door was locked.
Always had been.
But tonight, it was open.
Inside, Malik found a dusty box labeled "PROPERTY OF TOWN HALL – DO NOT DESTROY."
Inside, rows of old cassette tapes.
Some marked with names.
> "June 3rd – Elena."
"July 8th – Clara."
"August 19th – Unknown girl."
Clara stared.
> "But… I've never been interviewed."
Zoe picked up one tape.
Unlabeled.
She pressed PLAY.
---
🎧 [RECORDING – TAPE BEGINS]
> [STATIC]
[Breathing]
[A girl's voice, whispering]:
"He said I couldn't tell… but I don't want to be alone anymore."
> "I hear them scratching.
Under my bed. Under my skin.
They want to come out, but there's not enough room."
> "Lou brings them.
He eats them."
> [Silence]
[Then louder, angry]:
"You shouldn't have come here."
> [TAPE ENDS]
---
INT. BASEMENT – 9:18 PM
Naomi, pale, whispered:
> "That voice… that's my sister."
No one breathed.
She hadn't told anyone her sister once lived in this town.
She was a child. Went missing during a family trip.
No one remembered. No one had found her.
Until now.
Clara took the next tape. It had her name on it.
But when she hit play, she didn't hear herself.
She heard someone mimicking her voice.
Repeating things she never said.
> "I love the silence. It hugs me.
It tells me I belong."
"I want to go back into the walls."
Clara dropped the recorder.
> "She's using us."
---
INT. STAIRCASE – 9:27 PM
Zoe found another message, carved into the stairwell:
> "You don't remember being here.
But you've all been here before."
Malik turned to her.
> "What if this isn't the first time we've come to this town?"
> "What if we're part of the experiment?"