Cherreads

Chapter 2 - Chapter 2 — "The Ones That Watch in Silence"

[PAGE 1]

[VISUAL]

Pitch black. A cold, surreal silence. Then—

A flicker of flame. A voice echoes in the dark.

???:

You're too late.

[VISUAL]

Sudden explosion of light — Rain stands in a burning hallway, watching Dawn's corpse smolder in a pool of blood.

RAIN:

DAWN—!!

[VISUAL]

He turns. More bodies. People he's known. Faces he's failed.

Everyone he's ever cared about — mutilated, piled, eyes staring at him.

[VISUAL]

One last body falls from the ceiling — his own reflection. Mangled. Smiling.

RAIN (internal):

What the fuck is this—

[PAGE 2]

[VISUAL]

A single glowing moon hovers above him in the dark.

The stars swirl around it… and suddenly shatter into dust.

[MOON PERSON] (V.O., cryptic):

When the essence of heaven chooses a vessel…

It does not whisper.

It devours.

[VISUAL]

A star-shaped sigil burns into Rain's chest as he screams.

CUT TO BLACK.

[PAGE 3]

[VISUAL]

Rain gasps awake.

Breathing heavy. Shirt drenched. Eyes wide.

DAWN (off-panel):

You good, corpse-boy?

[VISUAL]

He turns. He's in Dawn's room — her posters, her mess, her sarcasm.

A water bottle rests on the side table.

RAIN:

…What the fuck?

[PAGE 4]

[VISUAL]

Dawn stands with arms crossed, annoyed but obviously relieved.

DAWN:

You've been out for two days.

Didn't even twitch. I thought you were fuckin' dead or something.

RAIN:

Why the hell am I here and not in my room?

DAWN:

You tell me.

I woke up, and you were face-down on my carpet like a goddamn mannequin.

No wounds. No blood. Just… cold as shit.

RAIN (internal):

…What the hell happened?

Last thing I remember—

[PAGE 5]

[VISUAL]

Flashback — 80th floor, cartel suite.

Rain's body is broken, face bloodied, slumped beside a shattered TV stand.

Blood pools. His breathing slows. Eyes fading.

RAIN (internal):

I was done. Stabbed through. Couldn't lift my blade.

There was no backup. No exit. Just pain.

Then everything… went black.

[PAGE 6]

[VISUAL]

Back to the present — Rain stands up slowly. His body feels… normal.

No cuts. No scars. Just confusion.

RAIN:

Nah, this don't make sense. I was bleeding out. I felt my goddamn life slipping.

DAWN:

Yeah, well, guess death took a smoke break.

I'm just glad I didn't have to scrub your corpse outta my rug.

[PAGE 7]

[VISUAL]

Rain walks over to the window.

Afternoon sky — blank, empty. No stars. No sun. Just a cold blue.

RAIN (internal):

The stars…

They're gone.

[VISUAL]

Zoom out. No reflection of the stars.

Not in the sky. Not anywhere. Just static, uncaring air.

[PAGE 8]

[VISUAL]

Cut to a mountaintop bathed in darkness.

A shrined ruin, ancient, floating in the void.

Sitting cross-legged is the Moon Person, shrouded in robes.

MOON PERSON:

The stars once sang in harmony…

Now they sleep, buried inside the boy of blood.

Chosen not by fate… but by grief.

[VISUAL]

Their eyes glimmer with fragments of galaxies.

MOON PERSON:

He is their bearer.

Their cage.

Their weapon.

[VISUAL]

They look up at a half-lit moon.

MOON PERSON:

When the heavens scream again…

The world below will burn in silence.

[PAGE 9 ]

[VISUAL]

Back in Dawn's room.

Rain stares at his reflection in the mirror.

His pupils flicker — just for a second — with the faint pattern of a constellation.

He doesn't notice.

But the sky does.

[CAPTION]:

The stars have not vanished…

They're just waiting to wake up.

[Panel 10 – Deep space. A dead universe. Fractured stars drift like shards of glass.]

Narration (off-screen):

There are some universes that never get born.

Some… are murdered.

[Panel 11 – A shadowy figure kneels before a shattered star.]

Cloaked, with strange inscriptions glowing beneath the skin. A void-like presence with eyes that reflect galaxies.

Narration:

He is known by many names in many realities.

But most just call him… Mourn.

[Panel 12 – Mourn rising, gripping a shard of a fallen star, black smoke whispering around him.]

MOURN (whispers):

Another one gone… and yet…

A new light dares flicker.

[Panel 13 – Exterior. Earth. Friday morning.]

The sun rises over the city. Ordinary life drones on.

[Panel 14 – Interior, Rain & Dawn's Smoke Shop.]

Rain is seated behind the counter, zoned out. A few stoners browse shelves lazily.

RAIN (inner monologue):

Like another Friday…

Cartel shootout.

80 floors of hell.

I should be fucking dead.

But I'm not.

And business is still open like nothing happened.

[Panel 15 – Dawn walks out of the back holding inventory sheets.]

DAWN:

You gonna help, co-owner of the year?

Or just sit there brooding like Batman?

RAIN (inner monologue):

God forbid I take a moment to process existential whiplash.

[Panel 16 – A customer exits, bell chimes.]

DAWN:

You're lucky you still have your spleen. You didn't even tell me what the hell happened.

You just… showed up in my bed. Like some haunted-ass corpse.

RAIN (grabbing a bag of chips):

I don't even remember how I got there.

Last thing I saw were the stars deleted out of the sky…

[Panel 17 – Rain eats aggressively, Dawn notices.]

DAWN (eyeing him):

…You always eat like that or did dying give you the munchies?

[Panel 18 – Close-up on Rain's blank stare, crumbs falling.]

RAIN:

Wasn't hungry 'til now.

[Panel 19 – A small TV behind the counter plays a news broadcast.]

NEWSCASTER (on-screen):

…allegedly discovered a hidden crypt beneath Jerusalem.

Some believe it may be the actual burial site of Jesus Christ—

[Panel 20 – Rain laughs mid-bite, chips falling.]

RAIN:

That's not where he was buried.

DAWN:

…The fuck?

[Panel 21 – Rain stares at the screen, more serious now.

His voice drops a bit.

RAIN:

He was buried 47 miles northwest, in a mountain cave under a fig tree.

The walls were etched in dead languages.

There were two coins on his eyes… but they weren't Roman.

[Panel 22 – Dawn stares.

DAWN:

How the fuck would you know that?

RAIN (quiet):

I don't know.

I just… do.

[Panel 23 – Dawn steps back, slightly concerned.

DAWN (thinking):

This ain't normal. Something's wrong with him.

[Panel 24 – Rain zones out again. A hum echoes in his ears.]

RAIN (inner monologue):

Why does it feel like my head's a fucking satellite?

[Panel 25 – NIGHT. Rain sleeps restlessly in bed.]

He tosses and turns, soaked in sweat.

[Panel 26 – DARK NIGHTMARE SEQUENCE begins.]

Visuals:

• Blood-slick floor.

• Dawn's severed body.

• The smoke shop in flames.

• The cartel leader holding Rain's head.

• Mourn standing in a black void smiling.

RAIN (screaming):

NO!

[Panel 27 – A voice cuts through the black.]

MOON PERSON (off-screen, cryptic):

The stars scream in your sleep, Rain.

They mourn what you haven't lost… yet.

[Panel 28 – Rain jolts awake in a field of white nothingness.

RAIN:

What the—?

Am I dead again?

[Panel 29 – A figure stands before him. The Moon Person—now human-shaped. Wearing a hoodie, jeans, and sunglasses awkwardly tilted.

MOON PERSON:

Yo fam. What it do, my dawg?

[Panel 30 – Beat panel. Rain blinks.

RAIN:

No. Just… no.

[Panel 31 – Moon Person sighs and drops the act. His eyes turn silvery and ancient.

MOON PERSON:

Apologies. I'm… not yet fluent in the tongue of… vibes.

[Panel 32 – Wide shot of the Grand Tether Nexus (G.T.N.)

A surreal dimension of constellations, spiraling gravity, floating obelisks, and doors from all timelines.

MOON PERSON (V.O.):

This is the Grand Tether Nexus — the heart of all Star Bearers across the multiverse.

You… are one of them now.

[Panel 33 – Rain stands, awestruck. Stars swirl in the shape of symbols behind him.

RAIN:

What the fuck does that even mean?

[Panel 34 – Moon Person turns, solemn.

MOON PERSON:

You carry the last soul-stars of your universe.

A collective consciousness. An ancient will.

Your body is a tomb and a weapon.

[Panel 35 – Close-up on Rain's chest glowing faintly.]

MOON PERSON (V.O.):

But you don't know its name yet.

And until you do…

You're nothing more than a candle in a hurricane.

[Panel 36 – Cut to deep space. Mourn enters Earth's atmosphere. A single word echoes across dimensions.

MOURN (whispers):

Found you.

[Panel 37 – FINAL PANEL – Wide. Rain stands small in the Nexus. A million star-voices whisper behind him.

Caption:

And the stars held their breath.

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