TITLE: The Midnight Circle
881 Words
EPISODE 1 — “The Book of Ashes”
*Horror • Mystery • Dark Fantasy • Light Humor*
---
CHARACTERS (Introduced Naturally in Story)
* Arin Velora — Smart, sarcastic, secretly in love with Lyra.
*Lyra Morrow — Brave, curious, the calm center of the group. Arin likes her… but she likes someone else.
*Jaxon Reed— Lyra’s childhood friend. Confident, funny, likes to flirt with Lyra, making Arin jealous.
*Mira Solace — The shy and sensitive one who believes in ghosts.
*Kai Thorn — The energetic troublemaker who thinks everything is a joke… until it isn’t.
---
# **THE STORY BEGINS…**
### **The Old Church in Blackpine Forest**
Blackpine Forest always had a reputation—strange lights at night, disappearing animals, whispers in the trees.
But tonight, Arin, Lyra, Jaxon, Mira, and Kai walked straight inside it as if it were nothing.
Only because Kai said,
**“Bro, it’s just a building. Worst case? A rat bites us and we get superpowers.”**
Mira almost cried.
Arin almost punched him.
And Lyra just laughed—the kind of laugh that made Arin stare a little too long.
But Jaxon noticed that stare… and smirked.
---
## **Inside the Church**
The wooden door groaned open by itself.
“Okay, nope. NOPE. I’m out,” Mira whispered.
But the door slammed shut behind them.
“Guess we’re all in,” Jaxon said, trying to sound brave.
Arin rolled his eyes. “You didn’t sound scared at all. Totally convincing.”
Lyra punched both on the arm.
**“Stop fighting. Look—this is actually interesting.”**
The candle holders were melted like wax sculptures. Dusty benches were flipped. The air smelled like burnt incense and old secrets.
At the center of the floor…
A large, black circle was drawn. Inside it, strange symbols curled like twisted vines.
But the real nightmare was on the altar.
A **half-burnt book**, still smoking, as if someone had set it on fire minutes ago.
---
## **The Love Triangle Begins (Subtle & Funny)**
“Lyra, don’t touch that,” Arin whispered.
Jaxon grinned. “Let her. She’s braver than both of you combined.”
Lyra raised an eyebrow at him.
Arin muttered, “Show-off.”
Lyra smiled slightly, not noticing Arin’s jealousy—but Jaxon did, very much.
Kai laughed loudly from behind:
**“Ah yes, and thus begins another episode of ‘Two Idiots Fight for the Same Girl.’”**
Both boys shouted, “WE’RE NOT—”
Lyra: “Shut up and follow me.”
---
## **The Whisper**
Lyra touched the book.
A cold wind blasted through the church.
The candles lit by themselves.
The shadows of all five teens stretched unnaturally long across the walls—moving even when they didn’t.
Mira grabbed Arin’s arm so hard he squeaked.
Kai whispered, “Dude… your scream hit puberty before you.”
But before Arin could punch him, they all heard it:
A whisper.
Right behind their ears.
**“Five enter…
One leaves whole.”**
Lyra’s hand trembled.
Jaxon quickly stepped in front of her.
Arin felt his stomach twist—not just from fear, but because Jaxon did it first.
---
## **The Book Opens by Itself**
The book flipped open violently.
Pages turned, faster and faster, as if invisible hands searched for something.
Then it stopped.
On a page with a symbol that looked like an open eye surrounded by teeth.
Blood dripped from the page.
No one was bleeding.
Mira screamed.
Kai screamed because Mira screamed.
Jaxon screamed because he saw Kai screaming.
Arin screamed because everyone else screamed.
Lyra didn’t scream.
She whispered:
**“Guys… I think we woke something up.”**
---
## **Shadows That Don’t Belong**
Their shadows began to move on their own.
Arin’s shadow tilted its head, even though he wasn’t moving.
Jaxon’s shadow stretched its fingers toward Lyra.
Kai’s shadow… slapped him.
“HEY! RUDE!” Kai shouted.
Mira’s shadow pointed at the window.
Outside, fog pressed against the glass like hands.
Lyra’s shadow was the scariest—it didn’t move at first.
But then it slowly turned its head toward her and smiled.
Lyra wasn’t smiling.
---
## **The First Seal Breaks**
The book suddenly slammed shut.
A shockwave rippled through the church, knocking everyone to the floor.
The black circle on the ground glowed bright red.
The air grew heavy.
A deep, distant voice spoke—not in a whisper, but like thunder echoing through bones:
**“SEAL ONE IS BROKEN.”**
The lights went out.
Pure darkness swallowed them.
Arin grabbed Lyra’s hand instinctively.
Jaxon saw it—his jaw tightened.
Jealousy. Fear. Everything mixed in the dark.
Lyra squeezed Arin’s hand back.
But for comfort?
Or something else?
Arin couldn’t tell.
Then—
Something moved in the darkness.
Something big.
Something breathing.
A cold touch grazed Lyra’s shoulder.
She whispered, trembling:
**“Who’s touching me?”**
No one answered.
Because it wasn’t one of them.
---
## **Final Cliffhanger of Episode 1**
A deep, growling whisper echoed from inside the church:
**“You broke the circle…
Now the Hollow King returns.”**
The darkness exploded with a monstrous roar—
**CUT TO BLACK.**
---
I
- Writer
