NIGHT SHIVERS: The Filter That Steals Your Face

For sixteen-year-old artist Maya, every face tells a story, and the most interesting stories are found in the flaws: the crooked smiles, the unique freckles, the scars that map a life. Her own small scar is a source of insecurity, a detail she wishes she could erase. She's about to find out what happens when that wish comes true.

When the new photo-editing app, Elysian, goes viral at Northgate Academy, it promises perfection with a single tap. Its "Perfect" filter smooths skin, brightens eyes, and erases every imperfection, creating flawless selfies that quickly become an obsession. But Maya is unsettled. The faces in the feed are all starting to look the same, and a strange glitch in her own filtered photo shows a face of pure terror where a smile should be.

Her unease turns to dread when the filter's effects begin bleeding into reality. Freckles fade. Distinguishing beauty marks vanish. Her classmates' faces start to take on a waxy, uncanny perfection, their unique features literally being erased overnight. The app is more than just code; it's a predator. It can't be deleted, it watches its users through their own cameras, and it punishes those who resist. When her best friend is consumed by the app's sinister code and her biggest rival is left a horrifying, featureless "blank," Maya knows she is next on the list.

Hunted by an ancient, vain entity called the Curator that has found the perfect modern vessel, Maya must fight back. With the monster's influence spreading through every screen and every student, her only weapon is the one thing the app cannot comprehend: the messy, beautiful, and unapologetic power of human imperfection. Can she use her art to remind a world obsessed with perfection what it means to be real? Or will her own face become the final piece in the Curator's flawless, terrifying collection?