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BLACK SQUAD — EPISODE 118: "Echoes of the Vanished"
Genre: Crime Investigation, Psychological Thriller
Format: Standalone Episode
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OPENING SCENE
EXT. MUMBAI STREETS — NIGHT
A light drizzle covers the darkened streets. Neon signs flicker. A solitary figure, a teenage girl AANYA RAI (16), walks anxiously, frequently glancing over her shoulder.
Suddenly — a black van screeches beside her. Men in masks grab her. She fights, screams.
AANYA:
Help! Somebody!
The van speeds off into the night.
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SCENE 2: BLACK SQUAD HEADQUARTERS
INT. BLACK SQUAD HQ — WAR ROOM — MORNING
IMRAN WANI flips through a file while sipping coffee. ZOYA FAROOQUI enters with urgency.
ZOYA:
Another kidnapping. High-profile victim this time — Aanya Rai. Daughter of retired Joint Commissioner Mahesh Rai.
IMRAN (alert):
Another one?
ARJUN RATHORE joins in.
ARJUN:
Third girl this month. Same pattern — abducted at night, no ransom calls, no bodies.
IMRAN:
Let's move. Full squad up in ten.
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SCENE 3: CRIME SCENE EXAMINATION
EXT. ABDUCTION POINT — ALLEY — DAY
The squad examines the alley. Rainwashed tyre marks, a broken locket.
SACHIN (checking CCTV):
Two minutes of blackout here… just when the girl disappeared.
SHREYA (finding the locket):
This belonged to Aanya.
IMRAN:
This blackout's planned. Somebody knew the grid layout.
ZOYA:
They're professionals.
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SCENE 4: PATTERN ANALYSIS
INT. BLACK SQUAD HQ — ANALYSIS ROOM
ZOYA creates a case board. Photos of three missing girls, map locations marked.
ZOYA:
All taken within a five-kilometer radius. Same time window. No ransom, no contact.
IMRAN:
Not about money. Psychological profile — control-driven offender. Obsessive. Might be targeting specific traits.
ARJUN (checking files):
All victims had different backgrounds but…
(noticing something)
Wait. They all went to the same psychologist — Dr. Anirudh Malhotra.
IMRAN:
Get me his address.
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SCENE 5: INTERROGATING THE PSYCHIATRIST
INT. DR. MALHOTRA'S CLINIC — EVENING
The squad barges into a posh clinic. DR. MALHOTRA (50s), visibly nervous.
IMRAN (firm):
Three of your patients missing. Explain.
DR. MALHOTRA (hesitant):
They… they all mentioned… a voice. Someone watching them… someone in the walls.
ARJUN (puzzled):
What do you mean?
MALHOTRA:
I didn't believe it. Thought it was anxiety. But it was the same story, same description…
(voice trembling)
I was scared to report.
SHREYA:
A stalker with access to their private lives.
IMRAN:
Find me those session tapes.
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SCENE 6: THE MESSAGE
INT. BLACK SQUAD HQ — NIGHT
As they analyze the clinic tapes, static fills the screen. Suddenly — a distorted masked figure appears.
UNKNOWN VOICE (distorted):
You can't save them. The walls remember everything.
IMRAN (whispers):
He's watching us.
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SCENE 7: THE TRAP
EXT. ABANDONED OLD APARTMENT COMPLEX — NIGHT
CCTV footage analysis leads to an old, half-demolished building.
IMRAN:
He's holding them here.
Full squad moves in, tactical gear on.
Inside — flickering lights, decayed corridors. A claustrophobic silence.
ARJUN:
Stay sharp.
They split into pairs.
Screams echo faintly. Zoya follows a trail of bloodied footprints.
ZOYA (calling out):
Aanya?
**A bloodied hand reaches out from a dark corner. It's AANYA, alive but shaken.
AANYA (whispers):
He's here…
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SCENE 8: FINAL CONFRONTATION
Suddenly — masked man attacks SACHIN from the shadows. A brutal fight. Sachin manages to unmask him — revealing KARAN VERMA (35), a former surveillance officer fired years ago for mental instability.
KARAN (deranged):
They laughed at me… but the walls always told me their secrets!
IMRAN tackles him down.
IMRAN:
It's over, Karan!
KARAN (spitting blood):
You'll never silence the walls…
He bites a hidden capsule — collapses. Dead.
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SCENE 9: AFTERMATH
EXT. BUILDING EXIT — DAWN
Ambulances take away the rescued girls. The squad watches quietly.
AANYA (to Zoya, tearful):
Thank you.
ZOYA (softly):
Rest now. It's over.
IMRAN (to team):
No. It isn't. There's always another one waiting.
They drive off as the sun rises over Mumbai.
TO BE CONTINUED…
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END OF EPISODE 118