S1:E2 - The Curse of The Whispering Pines, Part 2

General Summary

Early Autumn, 2024   Hunters Dean Remington and his brother, Sam, are joined by Ethan Graves, a reporter from the National Inquisitor, who is investigating strange disappearances in the coastal town of Shadow Falls.       Ethan Graves opened the door and stepped into the diner.   It was small, with half a dozen red vinyl booths by the windows and about as many Formica tabletops in the center of the room. Twelve round cushioned stools lined up at the counter. Half a dozen pies under plastic lids were on display at the far end.   Ethan Graves, a seasoned reporter from the National Inquisitor, had built his career on uncovering the bizarre and unexplained. With a keen eye for detail and a knack for getting to the heart of a story, he's the publication's go-to journalist for all things mysterious. When whispers of strange events in the small, eerie town of Shadow Falls reached the newsroom, Ethan was the obvious choice to investigate.   In a booth at the opposite end of the diner, Ethan noticed a woman eating lunch by herself. Her dark hair was pulled into a neat bun, and her eyes sparkled with curiosity and caution. She was reading the latest novel from Richard Raynland, a best-selling author known for mixing fantasy and horror.   Ethan had recently finished reading the same book, The Shadow's Embrace, which plunged readers into a world where nightmares came to life in the haunted town of Eldritch Hollow. As ancient, malevolent forces awakened, a group of unlikely heroes unraveled cryptic prophecies and faced their deepest fears to prevent the darkness from consuming their reality. With Raynland's signature blend of chilling suspense and richly woven lore, the novel delivered a gripping journey into both terror and enchantment.   After Alice, the diner's co-owner and only waitress, brought his ordered lunch to the table, Ethan noticed two men enter the diner. Both were in their mid-twenties and, like him, did not look like they were from Shadow Falls.   The two took the booth next to Ethan's.   Alice welcomed the two back and took their orders.   "So, how's your stay in Shadow Falls going so far?" Alice asked Dean and Sam.   "Strange, to say the least," Dean said.   "Do you know anything about Whispering Pines, the woods behind the town's inn?" Sam asked Alice.   "I know enough to avoid it after all the disappearances that have happened lately," Alice said. "Beth--my partner--and I used to hang out at Shadow Lake when we were teenagers."   "What about the old cabin on the way to the lake?" Dean asked. "Know anything about it?"   "Used to be an old hunter's lodge, I think. It's also where three young tourists disappeared about a year ago. I'd avoid that place if I were you. Whispering Pines has become a dangerous place."   "Anything else you can tell us?" Sam asked.   "Not really. But if you want to know more, ask Evie over there." Alice nodded toward the woman reading at a booth nearby. "She's the town librarian and is somewhat of a local expert on the town's history."         After introducing himself, Dean asked Evie to join them at their booth.   "So, Evie," Dean began. "What’s the strangest thing you’ve heard about Shadow Falls?"   Evelyn "Evie" Kantor, the town's librarian, nodded thoughtfully. "I’ve seen my share of oddities in the archives. Old newspaper clippings and forgotten books hint at something ancient lurking in the town’s history. But it’s the disappearances that worry me the most."   Sam Remington, ever the thinker, furrowed his brow. "Have any patterns emerged? Anything linking the victims?"   Evie shook her head. "Nothing concrete, at least not on the surface. They come from all walks of life—young, old, locals, and newcomers. The only common thread seems to be their proximity to the woods when they vanished."   Dean exchanged a look with his brother. "Sam and I went into the woods early this morning. When we got to the old lodge, we ran into two of the missing people who disappeared last year."   "They're alive?" Evie asked, surprised.   "Not quite," Sam said. "Both had wisps of dark mists coming off their skin. Their eyes were gone, too. Instead, their skulls were hollow, with the same dark smoke coming out of their eyes sockets and mouth."   "According to the report, there were three who disappeared," Evie said.   Dean shook his head. "We only saw two."   "Can you think of anything you've heard or read about any other strange events or disappearances in the woods in the town's past?" Sam asked.   Evie thought for a moment. "I do remember coming across a really old journal. It was written by a hunter. He was from Ireland. I can't recall his name. But he wrote about running across a 'monster', as he puts it, in the woods."   "What did he write?" Dean asked.   "Not much," Evie said. "He described the creature as resembling a large hairy, tall manlike beast with ethereal eyes that glowed like embers."   Sam glanced over at Dean and then back over to Evie. "Sounds like a Hollow Loris."   "That's what the hunter called it!" Evie exclaimed. "How did you know?"   "We did some research of our own," Dean said.   Evie took a sip of her iced tea. "The hunter wrote about running into a man--a fellow hunter who went missing years before--near where he spotted the creature. The hunter described the missing man as having vacant eyes and seemingly having no will of his own."   "Thralls," Dean and Sam said in unison.   "Thralls?" Evie asked.   "A supernatural thrall is a being whose will and life force are dominated and controlled by a more powerful entity," Sam said. "Often, they become mindless and subservient to their master's commands."   "So what happens next?" Evie asked.   "Well, we need to know more about what we're dealing with," Dean said.   "Does the internet work in your library?" Sam asked. "It's kind of spotty at the inn...and everywhere else in town, for that matter."   Evie grinned. "The library is about the only place where it does work."   "Then let's see what we can dig up there," Dean suggested.   Before the three could get up to leave, Ethan Graves, who had overheard everything stood up to greet them.   "I couldn't help but overhear, " he said. "I'm Ethan Graves, a reporter from the National Inquisitor. I was sent here to report on the missing people."   All three had heard of the National Inquisitor.   The National Inquisitor was a sensationalist tabloid renowned for its bold headlines and eye-catching stories about conspiracy theories and strange, unexplained events from all corners of the country. With a reputation for delving into the bizarre and the mysterious, it covered everything from alien encounters and secret government experiments to hauntings and cryptid sightings. Despite skepticism from mainstream media, the National Inquisitor maintained a dedicated following of readers who craved the thrilling and often outlandish narratives it consistently delivered.   "I hope you don't mind if I tag along," Ethan said. "I think I could be of some help."         The next morning, Dean, Sam, and Ethan entered the eerie expanse of Whispering Pines, their footsteps crunching on the forest floor as they approached the old hunting lodge, the epicenter of the mysterious disappearances.   The air was thick with tension and the scent of pine.   Armed with the knowledge of the Hollow Loris, a sinister creature that drained souls and turned some victims into supernatural thralls, they were determined to uncover the truth.   Dean, ever resourceful, had procured a powerful searchlight designed for boats, its beam capable of piercing through the thickest darkness. At the library, they discovered that the creature's one weakness was an aversion to bright light.   At the library, they also learned that Evie had been the town's librarian for over five years since arriving in Shadow Falls. She shared that she had just gone through a bitter divorce with a man whom she married right out of high school. One day, while driving, she came upon the town's sign outside of town. On a whim, she drove into Shadow Falls. Days after arriving in town, she learned of the town's library which had been closed for decades. In need of a librarian to reopen the aging library building, the mayor happily offered her the job, which she gratefully accepted.   While trying to prepare the library for reopening, she said she discovered a 'secret' room in the basement where many of the town's old records had been stored. It was while reading through them, that she learned of the town's strange history.   Ethan, who had asked Evie if he could peruse through the archives, had learned a lot about the town's mysterious past: from a herd of livestock vanishing and reappearing, a ghostly choir of voices seemingly coming from nowhere to an entire lake draining, then refilling a week later.   The town of Shadow Falls definitely lived up to its reputation, Ethan thought. He could almost taste the Pulitzer Prize he was certain he was going to win someday.         Dean, Sam, and Ethan stepped cautiously into the clearing. The old hunting lodge loomed ahead, its decaying structure a stark reminder of the town's dark history.   Suddenly, three figures emerged from the gloom; the same three people who had vanished over the past year, now grotesquely transformed. Their eyes were empty voids, and tendrils of darkness wafted off their skin like smoke.   Reacting swiftly, Dean activated the powerful searchlight, bathing the thralls in a harsh, bright glare that made them recoil and hiss.   Meanwhile, Sam and Ethan sprang into action, brandishing their weapons and engaging the thralls in a desperate struggle.   Although sustaining minor injuries during the battle, the thralls were eventually defeated. Their bodies dissolved into wisps of dark smoke that disappeared with the wind.   A second later, the Hollow Loris broke through the walls of the darkened interior of the hunting lodge. Its eerie, shifting form resembled a large, grotesque ape and seemed to consume the very shadows around it.   Dean, gripping the searchlight tightly, swung its beam directly at the creature, the intense light causing it to writhe and recoil in pain.   Sam and Ethan sprang into action, their weapons ready—Sam with his shotgun and Ethan with a silvered whiplike weapon ending in a spike tip.   Together, all three fought with precision, their attacks synchronized as they exploited the creature's vulnerability to the light. Each strike met resistance, but with Dean's unyielding focus on the searchlight, the Hollow Loris grew weaker and more erratic.   After a fierce and chaotic battle, the combined assault overwhelmed the creature.   With a final, anguished cry, the Hollow Loris disintegrated into a swirling cloud of dark smoke that slowly dissipated into the night air, leaving the lodge and the forest around them eerily calm once more.   Searching the area around the cabin, the three made a grim discovery. They had found deeper into the woods behind the lodge, the remains of nearly two dozen bodies. Most were no more than skeletal remains, while others were mutilated forms partially obscured by the underbrush.   Among the victims was Nathan Russell, a friend and fellow hunter of Dean and Sam Remington, his recognizable features a painful reminder of the personal loss the Remington brothers were feeling.   Near Nathan's body, Sam found a backpack with Nathan's notebook, cellphone, and camcorder inside it.   Sam took the backpack with him.               Later...       Sheriff Clayton Whitehall, his weary face etched with concern, stood alongside Deputy Emilio Rodriguez and the town coroner, Dr. Allan Pierce, as they uncovered the grim scene behind the old hunting lodge.   As the coroner and his team meticulously cataloged the remains, the Sheriff’s grim expression hardened with the weight of the discovery. With no clear evidence pointing to a specific culprit, Whitehall reluctantly concluded that the heinous acts were the work of a serial killer, although judging by the age of some of the remains, the killer would have to have been in his seventies or so, which didn't seem at all possible.   Unfortunately, the crime scene left him with more questions than answers, as well as a sense of uneasy fear and uncertainty.     .
The Hollow Loris
Report Date
19 Jul 2024

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