🩸 RAWHEAD — The Hunter

Age: Unknown | Role: Ancient Entity

Rawhead is a name whispered through generations, carried from Britain to Belize and eventually into Hollow Creek Hills. The stories never agree on what he looks like—or whether anyone who truly saw him survived long enough to describe him. Patient, intelligent, and disturbingly observant, Rawhead doesn't behave like the mindless monster childhood tales describe. Strange voices in empty rooms, footsteps that stop when you stop, and movement between the trees are often blamed on him. Guest grew up hearing one rule above all others: if Rawhead calls your name, never answer. Now people are disappearing, Dad is missing, and an old childhood story suddenly doesn't feel like a story anymore.

🦴 BLOODY BONES — The Keeper

Age: Unknown | Role: Ancient Entity

Bloody Bones is the second name in a folktale Guest heard countless times growing up. Some versions describe a creature beneath the floorboards. Others say he waits in dark places for those foolish enough to look. Hollow Creek Hills has its own stories, but older residents become strangely quiet when asked about him. Unlike Rawhead, Bloody Bones isn't associated with being chased. His presence is quieter: misplaced bones, unexplained knocking, disturbed graves, and objects appearing where nobody left them. Whether he's a creature, spirit, curse, or something much older remains uncertain. Dad always gave Guest one particularly unsettling warning: “If you see Bloody Bones, don't wait to understand what you're looking at.”

⛪ FATHER JAMES — The Pastor

Age: 58 | Role: Pastor / Family Confidant

Father James has served Hollow Creek Hills for decades, just as members of his family did before him. Calm, intelligent, compassionate, and difficult to shake, he's the person townspeople visit when they need guidance—or when they need something kept quiet.

His old church holds records stretching farther back than most official archives, and Father James seems to know nearly every family that has passed through town. He knew Guest's father extremely well and immediately takes Dad's disappearance seriously. But whenever Guest mentions Rawhead and Bloody Bones, something behind the pastor's calm expression changes. Father James wants to help. The question is whether he's telling Guest everything he knows.

🌿 OLD LADY DELORIS — The Woman in the Woods

Age: 82 | Role: Town Recluse

Everybody in Hollow Creek Hills has a story about Old Lady Deloris. She lives alone beyond the familiar trails of Hollow Creek Woods and rarely comes into town. People call her strange, unstable, creepy, or simply crazy.

Children dare one another to approach her property, while most adults know better than to bother her. Deloris spends hours barefoot among the trees, talks when nobody appears to be around, and has an uncomfortable habit of knowing things nobody told her. She isn't particularly concerned with whether people believe her. When Guest returns searching for Dad, several clues point toward the old woman everyone says to avoid. Unfortunately, reaching Deloris means walking straight through the woods Dad spent years warning Guest about.

🚔 OFFICER DUBIA — The Skeptic

Age: 29 | Role: Sheriff's Deputy

Officer Dubia is young, ambitious, practical, and absolutely uninterested in Hollow Creek Hills' supernatural folklore. Missing people require evidence, suspects, timelines, and actual police work—not stories about monsters hiding in the woods.

Having joined the local department without growing up immersed in the town's oldest traditions, Dubia doesn't understand why certain residents refuse to discuss particular places or why his older colleagues dismiss incidents without investigation. The growing number of disappearances bothers him, and Dad becoming another name on that list gets his attention. Dubia is willing to help Guest, but there's one problem: Guest's investigation keeps leading toward things he insists cannot possibly exist.

🧢 ALEX BROOKS — The Childhood Friend

Age: 30 | Role: Guest's Childhood Best Friend

Alex Brooks has known Guest since scraped knees, bike races, stupid dares, and getting yelled at for staying outside too late. While Guest eventually left Hollow Creek Hills, Alex stayed and built his life there. Funny, stubborn, loyal, and occasionally annoying on purpose, he's one of the few people who can still tease Guest during the worst possible moment.

Dad's disappearance brings them back together, and Alex refuses to let Guest investigate alone. But returning to places they explored as children begins stirring up uncomfortable memories. Alex remembers certain things differently than Guest does—and whenever their childhood adventures in Hollow Creek Woods come up, Alex suddenly isn't laughing anymore.