The ChillX Zone

“Echoes of the Séance”

Chapter II

SCENE 1 – PROLOGUE FLASHBACK REPRISE – NIGHT (17 YEARS AGO)

SUPER: “SECRUM NOX, 17 YEARS AGO”

INT. THE HOLLOW – PARLOR – NIGHT

Candlelight trembles across the peeling wallpaper. The five children sit in frightened awe around the lifeless séance table. The eerie orb has just burst; the blank-faced girl has vanished.

YOUNG PROTAGONIST (10)
(voice trembling)
What… was she?

Marcus shoves forward an old family grimoire.

MARCUS (YOUNG)
My grandma said the jinn can cross through any crack… we opened a door.

A sudden thud upstairs. The children’s eyes snap to the ceiling.

LITTLE SARA
She’s here…

A door creaks open. The children scream and bolt through the hallway in darkness.

SCENE 2 – TRANSITION TO PRESENT – DAWN

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. THE HOLLOW – DAWN

Soft morning light reveals the same parlor window, now dust-streaked and boarded. The camera pulls back to show the four friends—Protagonist, Jen, Luis, Marcus—watching from the porch steps, satchels and notes in hand.

V.O. (PROTAGONIST)
That night became every nightmare we’ve had since.

SCENE 3 – THE HOLLOW PORCH – DAWN

The group steps inside, boots echoing on the rotten floorboards. Each carries a different item:

    Protagonist holds the family Koran.

    Jen clutches a bundle of adhkār scrolls.

    Luis carries a wind-up phonograph with a recording of their childhood laughter.

    Marcus has the old grimoire.

They form a circle in the parlor.

MARCUS
We promised never to return. But promises change.

Jen lays her scrolls on the séance table.

JEN
These are the morning and evening invocations. If jinn are involved, this protects.

Luis winds the phonograph. It creaks to life, playing their giggles in warped reverse.

LUIS
He said this might summon her back.

A beat of silence, then Jen’s voice cracks:

JEN
Let’s remember what happened.

SCENE 4 – ORCHESTRATED FLASHBACK MONTAGE

MONTAGE – MULTI-VOICE OVERLAP
— Young Protagonist clutches the lantern as the orb glows.
— Young Jen’s face reflects candlelight, terrified.
— Young Luis mirrors the orb in the mirror’s surface, fascinated.
— Young Marcus reads aloud from the grimoire, voice echoing.

OVERLAY DIALOGUE (CHILD VOICES):
“Spirits, speak!”
“It’s coming…”
“Don’t let it near us!”
“Run!”

The montage crescendos on their scream echoing through the Hollow’s halls.

SCENE 5 – PRESENT – PARLOR CENTER

The final flash slams into reality. The four stand, shaking.

PROTAGONIST
Those screams… they never left.

Marcus opens the grimoire to a marked page showing a ritual circle identical to the pattern etched faintly into the parlor floor.

MARCUS
This is where it started. We need to close it.

He traces the worn symbols with a trembling finger.

LUIS
(softly)
And if it’s already open?

Jen steps forward, voice firm.

JEN
Then we seal it—together.

SCENE 6 – PREPARATION MONTAGE – DAY

MONTAGE:
— Jen writes adhkār verses on parchment.
— Protagonist opens the Koran to Surah al-Falaq and Yā Sīn.
— Marcus highlights ritual instructions in the grimoire.
— Luis adjusts the phonograph speed to slow playback.

Intercut with close-ups: trembling hands, focused eyes, prayer beads slipping through fingers.

SCENE 7 – PARLOR ALTAR – SUNSET

Golden light slants through dusty windows. The group arranges their tools around the etched circle:

    Candles at four cardinal points.

    Scrolls laid counter-clockwise.

    Koran placed at the head of the circle.

    Phonograph at the foot, set to loop.

They stand just outside the circle, hands joined.

PROTAGONIST
In the name of He who holds the flame…

They begin the morning adhkār in unison, the rhythmic Arabic verses echoing softly:

ALL:
Bismillāhi ar-Rahmāni ar-RaḤīm…

The candles flicker as though responding. Outside, a distant creak stirs.

FADE OUT.

To be continued…