...that bass, what bass?

[The scene opens in a dimly lit, cramped room. Four figures – ANNA, a wiry young woman; BEN, a slightly overweight man; CHLOE, a tall, lanky teenager; and DAVE, a nervous-looking man – are huddled together, surrounded by flickering, multicolored lights.] ANNA:...........................This is ridiculous! We're trapped again. BEN: ..................I told you, we should've packed more snacks. Maybe the snacks would have been enough to bribe them. CHLOE: Bribe whom? The… the… things? They're not people, Ben. DAVE: ........................... This... this place... it’s… it's listening! I swear, I felt something watching us. ANNA: ......................Look, we need a plan. Any ideas? CHLOE: ........................Maybe if we sing really loud? Or shout? BEN:............................. Singing or shouting? That won't work against… against that bass. DAVE: ................That bass? What bass? ANNA:..........................That bass. The only way out. CHLOE: ................The bass? But…............ BEN:..................... Exactly. The bass. It’s the key. It's the only key. It… it resonates with them. They... they respond to the vibration. DAVE: ..................Respond? How? ANNA: .......................I don't know, but Ben's right. That bass is our only chance. BEN: ........................I have an idea! We must unleash the full power of... the bass. (Ben, surprisingly agile for his size, leaps towards the bass speaker, eyes wide with newfound determination. He fumbles with the controls, pressing buttons and twisting knobs wildly.) CHLOE: ..........................Ben, slow down! You'll break it! DAVE: .......................What if it... amplifies their presence? (The bass speaker emits a low, deep hum, then a shuddering, resonant pulse that reverberates through the room. The multicolored lights flicker violently.) ANNA: ................................ It's working! (The figures stand frozen, bathed in the pulsating light. Chloe’s hair starts to glow a vibrant purple. The room is filled with an almost painful resonance, and then... nothing.) **(A single, wavering synth note rings out before fading to silence. The lights around the room begin to flicker to a different color; a red tinged with purple. The door opens, but it's not a door they've ever seen before. It's a hole into a distorted, otherworldly space.) BEN: ..................the bass worked. CHLOE: ...................What now? CHLOE: Run! They scattered, desperate, confused, their bodies acting in a pre-programmed survival mode that felt almost devoid of control. The shapeshifting clouds, their features now horribly distinct, snaked and coiled, their movements blurring into a horrifying ballet of pursuit. They were not beings, but manifestations of a hunger, a void that demanded fulfillment. ANNA: We have to find a way back. BEN: (Panting, his voice barely a whisper) There's no way back. This...this isn't the world we knew. DAVE: (His eyes wide with fear) I…I can't breathe. This… this air. It’s… taking me. Panic clawed at their throats. They were trapped, not only by the alien landscape but by the consuming dread. Each step they took felt like a struggle against the very essence of the void, a void that craved their very existence. As they ran, a faint, almost inaudible melody drifted through the chilling silence. A familiar melody. A melody of Christmas. The sound seemed to come from the distorted portal, now pulsating with a slow, rhythmic heartbeat. CHLOE: The portal! It's... it's trying to bring us back. Could the bass that had been their key to escape, now be their path back to the familiar horror of their world? Could the music, so horrifically familiar, guide them through the terrible realm of the unknown? They stumbled towards the shimmering scar, the portal pulsing faintly, the echo of the bassbeat a relentless companion. As they neared, the landscape began to shift, the grotesque forms returning to abstract shapes, the chilling music fading back to a low hum. They fell through the portal, the world around them exploding in a blinding white flash. And then, they were back. Back in the dimly lit room. Back in the fractured reality they once knew. But something had changed. Their faces, as they looked in the mirror, were not their own. They were masks. And the faintest echo of that chilling music, that dreadful song, now whispered in their minds. The echoes of the party, and the hunger, lingered, forever embedded in their souls. They were changed. Irreversibly. And they knew, with a terrifying certainty, that the next Christmas might not be so festive after all. The bass had opened a door, but what did it bring back? And what would it want next? And then, they were back. And then, they were back. And then, they were back. And then, they were back. And then, they were back. Back in the dimly lit room. Back in the fractured reality they once knew. But something had changed. Their faces, as they looked in the mirror, were not their own. They were masks. And the faintest echo of that chilling music, that dreadful song, now whispered in their minds. The echoes of the party, and the hunger, lingered, forever embedded in their souls. They were changed. Irreversibly. And they knew, with a terrifying certainty, that the next Christmas might not be so festive after all. The bass had opened a door, but what did it bring back? And what would it want next? And what would it want next? And what would it want next? And what would it want next? And what would it want next?