THE WATCHTOWER
748 Words
📺 Season One – Episode 3: “The Watchtower”
FADE IN:
EXT. EBON HOLLOW – DAWN
Mist drifts away as the sun creeps over the rooftops. The survivors step into the empty street, haunted from the attack the night before. Blood stains the diner’s doorway.
JALEN scans rooftops, jaw tight. MARA leans against the diner wall, exhausted, hands still red with Jonah’s blood. IVY stares at the ground, silent.
ELLEN shoulders her shotgun, her voice gruff but shaken.
ELLEN
Jonah forgot the rules. That’s all there is to it.
MARA
(angrily)
That’s not all there is. He thought he heard someone he loved. That could’ve been any of us.
Ellen doesn’t answer.
A heavy silence. The church bell tolls once — backward.
CUT TO:
INT. DINER – DAY
The survivors regroup. A crude map of the town is spread across the counter — drawn on old paper placemats.
ELLEN points to a tall structure marked with a shaky X.
ELLEN
The watchtower. Highest point in Ebon Hollow. If you want to understand this place, that’s where you start.
JALEN
(scowling)
Or where you get picked off.
IVY
(flatly)
Or where we finally figure out what the hell this place even is.
Mara studies the map, then nods.
MARA
We go. Today. Before the sun goes down.
Ellen hesitates, then reluctantly agrees.
EXT. EBON HOLLOW – MAIN STREET – DAY
The group moves cautiously through the silent town. Abandoned cars rust in place. Windows are shattered, curtains swaying though there’s no wind.
They pass a small toy shop. Ivy slows, peering inside. A dusty teddy bear sits in the window.
FLASH IMAGE — a little girl’s hand snatching the bear away. Ivy blinks, shaken.
MARA
(quietly)
You okay?
Ivy forces a smirk.
IVY
Yeah. Just… déjà vu.
They move on.
EXT. WATCHTOWER – BASE – DAY
The tower looms above them — steel frame, weather-beaten, its top swallowed in clouds. A staircase winds upward into the mist.
ELLEN
(uneasy)
I told you it was bad luck coming here. Place is… wrong.
JALEN
So is this whole town.
They begin climbing.
INT. WATCHTOWER – STAIRCASE – DAY
Steps creak under their weight. The higher they climb, the colder it feels. Their breath frosts in the air.
Whispers echo faintly — but not from below. From above.
VOICE (O.S.)
Jalen… you left us behind.
Jalen freezes. He knows that voice. His squad leader. Dead for years.
JALEN
(low, shaken)
Ignore it. Keep moving.
They continue upward.
INT. WATCHTOWER – TOP – DAY
They reach the top. The fog parts just enough to reveal the entire town — streets looping in impossible patterns, houses repeating.
Mara’s eyes widen.
MARA
It’s a maze.
She notices something in the distance: the road they arrived on. It stretches into fog, but from this height… she sees it bending, looping back toward town.
MARA (cont’d)
You can’t leave. The road… it circles back.
Ivy grips the railing, pale.
IVY
We’re trapped here. Like rats.
Suddenly — a loud CREAK. The tower shakes violently. The steel groans.
ELLEN
(urgent)
Down! Now!
INT. WATCHTOWER – STAIRS – DAY
They race down as the tower shudders. Shadows flicker across the walls.
VOICE (O.S.) — everywhere at once, whispering each of their names.
Mara slips — Jalen catches her. Ivy stares wide-eyed at the shadows chasing them.
IVY
(terrified)
They’re here. In the day.
Ellen fires upward — BLAST. The sound echoes. The whispers stop. The shadows vanish.
Silence.
The tower steadies.
EXT. WATCHTOWER – BASE – DAY
The group bursts out of the tower, panting.
MARA
(aghast)
They’re not just night creatures.
Ellen shakes her head, rattled.
ELLEN
No… they’re everywhere. All the time.
The bell tolls in the distance — louder this time, echoing across the whole town.
IVY
(quiet, scared)
We’re never getting out of here.
Mara steadies herself, voice trembling but determined.
MARA
Then we fight. Every second. Every rule. Until we find a way.
The others stare at her — some hopeful, some doubtful.
The camera tilts up to the watchtower, looming against the fog. Its shadow stretches across the town like a scar.
FADE OUT.
END OF EPISODE 3 – “The Watchtower”
⚡ Key Notes for Episode 3:
• The survivors discover the looping, inescapable road.
• The Watchtower reveals the town’s maze-like nature.
• Shadows briefly attack during the day → first hint the creatures are not limited by night.
• Characters’ past traumas begin to surface through the voices.
- Writer
