Silence. Absolute silence. Except for the occasional faint sound of a blood-stained mouse scurrying across the filthy roads of Lurkville.
As the gloomy clouds roll in on the gray town, the unblinking and blank faces of the inhabiting citizens stare down from their windows at the glaringly obvious pair of newcomers. Dressed in bright Hawaiian shirts, Olivia and John strut down the cracked pavement astonished by the juxtaposition of their vivid demeanor and their shadowy surroundings, oblivious to the dark secret Lurkville hides.
“What’s your plan here, John?” utters Olivia, as the couple takes their last few steps until reaching the house marked on John’s map.
John laughs sarcastically and replies, “I planned to follow yours so I guess that explains how we’re here in the middle of nowhere”. As John lifts his eyes off the map and directs his attention to the eerie establishment meekly standing before him, Olivia notices a small crack in the door.
“Check this out John, I think it’s open,” shares Olivia, gently pushing the door open wider. Dusty, bleak, and cold, a chilly breeze hits the couple as they take a few steps inside when suddenly—Creak—a dark figure stands at the top of the stairs and slowly steps toward John and Olivia. The door supernaturally shuts and locks behind the lovers, trapping them in the dark. The sinister figure walks down toward the terrified couple.
A sliver of light from a partially shut window on the second floor shines down on the mysterious figure and Olivia distinguishes it to be a wrinkly, deformed woman walking towards her with nothing seemingly wrong except one thing: her head facing the wrong way. Filled with intense dread, Olivia fearfully calls out, “John?”
When the terrifying tranquility and sounds of her heavy breaths accompany her words, she yells, “John!”
Again, not a word.
Feeling a brush on her shoulder, Olivia’s heart drops as she steadily turns to her left and witnesses John’s wide disturbing smile below his foggy white eyes.
“Ah!” yelps a teary-eyed Olivia when she peers into the empty being of what is left of John and attempts to run for the nearest door on the top floor. Frantically pacing up the frail wooden stairs, Olivia manages to reach the balcony.
“Someone call the police I need hel-” Olivia’s cries are cut short as her ghastly screams mark the final sound before Lurkville returns to its natural silence, where the monster awaits its next victim.