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She looks around, breathing fast.
MEL: Okay. I need to figure out—find the others. There’s nothing here except a creepy-ass chandelier. And I’m talking to myself. Or my phone. Whatever, makes me feel less like I’m about to get ax-murdered. Okay. Let’s look around.
She flips the camera around, focusing it on the room.
MEL: Nothing too spooky around—What the FUCK?!
Someone walks into frame. Sara Donoghue, turning as she takes in the room.
MEL: Sara?
Sara doesn’t respond or seem to react in any way. A second person walks into her path. Anthony Beck. They steparound each other neatly, not seeming to notice their own movements.
MEL: Oh my God. Okay, so I can see them on the camera, but I can’t see them or hear them myself. So where’s—
She swings the camera around, locating the others. Jeremy is stalking around the room, head swiveling to and fro. Kyle stands near double doors, hand hovering hesitantly over the nearest handle. Trina, her phone out and the book clamped between her elbow and ribs, stands behind him, yelling soundlessly and waving an arm.
MEL: Oh, thank God. Hold on.
She runs across the floor and moves around until she’s partly in front of Trina. She waves. Trina jerks around to face her, eyes fixed on the phone in her hand. She looks up, then back at the screen.
MEL: I see you. Can you see me?
The flickers of movement at the edge of the screen suggest she’s signing, though clumsily. Trina signs back.
TRINA:I see you, but I can’t hear you.
MEL: Me neither. What do we do? Ah, can’t remember half this stuff but you know what I mean.
TRINA:The others are splitting up. Hold on, can you—
She reaches out. Mel hesitates, then seems to get it. She puts her hand out, and their palms press against each other.
MEL: I can feel that. Okay, so we can perceive touch?
TRINA:Get the others. Make them stop. Stick together.
MEL: I’ll go to the—out there, you get these guys.
Trina nods sharply and turns to grab Kyle’s wrist as he finallytakes hold of the knob. His reaction is cut off as Mel sprints for the foyer. Jeremy and Sara stand facing each other, awkwardly close and utterly unaware of each other.
MEL: Ew, you look like you’re going to kiss. Of all the injustices this place has flung at us...
She strides forward and grabs Sara’s hand. Sara jerks out of her grasp and runs.
MEL: Damn it!
Mel chases, dodging around Jeremy, who stands oblivious to the chaos. Sara bolts up a staircase. Mel follows, but her foot catches. The phone flies out of her hand. The screen goes dark for two full seconds, then the view springs back as Mel grabs it.
Sara’s shoulder flashes into view, then out again. Mel swings the camera as Sara dives through a door. The door slams shut behind her.
MEL: No, don’t!
She’s steps behind. She yanks open the door, but there’s nothing beyond but an empty hallway.
MEL: Do I follow? I don’t—Okay. No. Don’t go running down a creepy empty hallway by yourself. Get the others. Then go after her. That’s the smart thing. Do the smart thing for once in your life, Mel.
She pulls herself away from the door. Without her hand holding it open, it swings shut with a click. She trudges back down the stairs. The others are clustered in the foyer. Kyle’s hand grips Trina’s upper arm, and he stares blindly into the room, but the others all have phones out, cameras on.
