The Lantern in Black Hollow

SCENE 1

The Flicker in Room 17

Dimly lit, dusty hotel hallway outside Room 17, flickering antique lights. — Clara stands outside a battered door, torch in one hand, staring at a candle flame flickering beneath the gap; shadows crawl along the cracked wallpaper.

SCENE 2

Meet Miss Petal

Candlelit backroom filled with arcane books and strange talismans. — Miss Petal, hunched and intense, spreads ritual items across a table as smoky light frames her wizened face.

SCENE 3

Warning from Harrow

Grand hotel lobby, polished floors reflecting ghostly silhouettes. — Mr. Harrow stands imposingly before Clara, his expression icy and severe under a chandelier's broken bulb.

SCENE 4

Lucy at the Window

Moonlit hotel room, peeling curtains reveal a foggy night outside. — The child ghost, Lucy, gazes mournfully through a rain-streaked window, her small face illuminated by moonlight, teddy bear hugged tightly in her arms.

SCENE 5

The Candle’s Shadow

Room 17, distorted by darkness, only the candle flickers. — Clara kneels by the candle, her reflection wavering in the wax; an elongated shadow—Mr. Harrow’s—looms menacingly behind her.

SCENE 6

Circle of Salt

Floor of Room 17, arcane symbols etched in salt around the candle. — Miss Petal’s hands guide Clara as she completes a circle around Lucy’s faint apparition forming inside it; the candlelight pulses unnaturally.

SCENE 7

The Whispering Dark

Room 17, darkness collapsing inward as shadows writhe. — Clara, wide-eyed and trembling, clutches Lucy’s hand as swirling darkness threatens to engulf them both, Harrow’s spectral face glowering from the shadows.