THE TOWN THAT EATS TIME

📺 Season One: The Town That Eats Time Episode 1 – Pilot FADE IN: EXT. COUNTRY ROAD – NIGHT A battered bus rattles down an endless two-lane road. The headlights cut through mist that clings to the asphalt. Inside, scattered passengers stir awake. Confused. Groggy. None of them remember boarding. INT. BUS – MOVING – NIGHT • MARA (30s, paramedic, sharp-eyed, practical) grips the armrest. She notices her watch ticking backward. • JALEN (40s, ex-soldier, stoic, haunted) scans the passengers, hand twitching as if reaching for a weapon that isn’t there. • IVY (17, runaway, rebellious, hiding fear beneath bravado) chews her lip, glancing out the foggy window. The bus driver hums tunelessly, face hidden by his cap. MARA (to herself) This… this isn’t right. The bus lurches. Lights flicker. Passengers scream— EXT. EBON HOLLOW – MAIN STREET – NIGHT The bus screeches to a halt in the middle of a deserted town. Quaint, almost picturesque… but wrong. Every clock in every window ticks backward. The DRIVER turns, grinning too wide. BUS DRIVER End of the line. His face blurs. He’s gone. The doors hiss open. Mist rolls inside. The passengers have no choice but to step out. EXT. EBON HOLLOW – MAIN STREET – NIGHT Mara, Jalen, and Ivy step off with a handful of others. The bus doors slam shut — and the vehicle vanishes into the fog. Silence. Suddenly — a bell tolls. Low, heavy. From the clocktower in the distance. IVY (trying to joke, voice shaking) Okay… so, haunted town cliché. We just… wait for the tour guide? Jalen doesn’t answer. He’s already moving, scanning rooftops, corners. Soldier mode. Mara crouches by a newspaper stand. The front page reads: “EBON HOLLOW WELCOMES YOU. TODAY IS YESTERDAY.” Her breath catches. INT. DINER – NIGHT The group pushes inside. A classic 1950s diner — but the food on the tables is rotted, coffee cups filled with black sludge. FLASH! — The jukebox comes alive, blasting a warped old tune. Everyone jumps. Ivy grips a kitchen knife from the counter. Mara tries the phone. Dead. Then — FOOTSTEPS. Upstairs. Everyone freezes. Jalen signals silence, moving toward the staircase. But before he reaches it — A woman bursts down the stairs: ELLEN (50s, tough, survivor look). She’s carrying a shotgun. ELLEN (aimed at them) Sun’s down. You’re not safe out here. Lock the doors. Now. INT. DINER – NIGHT (LATER) The windows are boarded. The newcomers huddle as Ellen paces. ELLEN They come when it’s dark. Smile at you, talk sweet… but if you open that door, they’ll tear you apart. IVY (half scoffing, half terrified) “They”? ELLEN They look like people. But they’re not. The group exchanges nervous looks. Then — from outside, a knock at the door. VOICE (O.S.) Mara… let me in. It’s me. It’s your father. Mara freezes. Her father’s been dead for years. Everyone stares at her. The knocking grows louder. VOICE (O.S.) Sweetheart. Don’t you remember me? Please… it’s so cold out here. Mara’s hand trembles on the doorknob. ELLEN Don’t. It’s not him. Mara hesitates — tears in her eyes — as the thing outside keeps calling. EXT. DINER – NIGHT Through a crack in the boarded window, we glimpse them: A MAN IN THE SHADOWS. Pale. Smiling. Too wide. His eyes never blink. Behind him, more figures emerge from the fog. All smiling. All whispering. Dozens of them. Surrounding the diner. INT. DINER – NIGHT The group backs away from the windows as shadows press against the boards. IVY (whispering) We’re not getting out of here… are we? The bell tolls again, echoing through the night. Mara steels herself, clutching the knife Ivy handed her. MARA We survive tonight. We figure the rest out tomorrow. The camera pushes in on her terrified but determined face as the whispers grow louder. FADE OUT. TITLE CARD: “FROM: THE TOWN THAT EATS TIME” END OF EPISODE 1.