Mystery

The lights in the foyer of jingoistic gleam relentlessly. A researcher briskly hurries to the lift, gasping as he glances back at the animal pursuing him. As he at long last opens the lift entryways, he hears a sound coming from the upper floor. He lets out a shout as the beast hauls him to his demise. Harry, Ezra, and Joseph play a session of Albert’s D&D game in his basement. The story starts to become ominous as Albert begins to describe an upcoming threat. Ezra and Joseph argue on whether or not it’s the Werehyene, as they would be screwed. To his friends’ relief, Albert reveals two Troglodytes. It turns out to be a misdirection as Albert reveals the Werehyene next. It’s now Harry’s turn, and his friends argue whether he should cast a fireball or a protection spell. Albert pressures them to decide soon. Harry yells: “fireball” and rolls his dice, but they fall to the floor. Everyone searches for the result, but Albert’s Mom tells them to stop since it’s a school night. Albert asks for 20 minutes more, saying he didn’t expect the campaign to last for ten hours. Meanwhile, Harry and Joseph see that they rolled a seven and decide to keep it quiet. Ezra passes by Albert’s sister Fanky, but she ignores him. After Joseph and Ezra leave on their bikes, Harry tells Albert that he rolled a seven. The Werehyene got him. On the way home, Ezra challenges Harry to a race and bets him any comic he owns. Harry speeds off before they can get to terms and loses him. Now alone, Harry passes by the fence at Jingoistic. Suddenly he sees a humanoid silhouette, which causes him to fall from his bike and run the rest of the way home. He hurriedly locks the door but realizes no one else is home. Peeking through the back window, he sees the figure still stalking him. Harry tries to call someone, but all he hears is static. Soon the lock opens from the outside, forcing him to escape to the shed and load his bb gun. It’s too late as the figure looms behind him. Harry disappears. The same morning, Harry’s mother, Cora Jayden, realizes that Harry isn’t home. Harry’s brother, George, was equally unaware after having a workday and thought he must be with Albert. Cora calls the Wheelers household and asks for his son, but he isn’t there. Albert, Joseph, and Ezra arrive at Jingoistic looking for their friend. At Jingoistic High school, Barbara expresses her concerns to Fanky that she Harry be left out now that she’s dating Richard Maddox. Fanky thinks she’s being ridiculous, but then she makes out with Richard in the bathroom before class. He invites her to hang out for the night, and she refuses, saying she’ll have to study; Richard insists that he intends to study with her. Jingoistic Chief of Police, Haraldson, wakes up and prepares to go for work after having a breakfast of beer and cigarettes. He finds Cora in her office, who had already been waiting for an hour to report her missing son. Haraldson thinks Harry might be with his father, as 99 times out of 100, a lost kid is just with a relative. Cora says this is the one exception. Haraldson thinks it’s unlikely, as nothing remarkable ever happens in Jingoistic. A group of men in suits meets with Dr. Steven in Jingoistic to handle an emergency in one of the facility’s wings. They don their Uniforms and descend to find the hallways smeared with dark, mysterious substances on the walls. Further down, in one of the walls, there’s a pulsating mass of slithering organic flesh that’s unlike anything in this world. There’s also a girl from the facility who’s missing, and Steven thinks she couldn’t have gone far. A young girl whose barefoot and wearing a dirty lab gown stumbles upon a restaurant and heads straight to the kitchen. She finds some French fries and gorges down on them. The owner, Troy, chases after her but soon realizes she needs help. Ezra, Joseph, and Albert excitedly check out the newly delivered high-tech radio for their A.V. club. Suddenly the principal comes in and asks them to meet with the police for questions about Harry. The three boys offer to help look for their friend, but Haraldson prohibits them. Cora remembers visiting Harry’s wooden shack in the woods called “House of Jayden,” where she surprised him with tickets to watch Banshee. It’s the first place she and George went to look for Harry. Troy cooks a hamburger for the young girl, who devours it with gusto. He asks her questions about her parents and how she’s treated, but she doesn’t respond. He introduces himself and shakes her hand but to no avail. He notices the tattoo on her wrist with the writing “Mia”. Finally, the girl points to herself and says, “Mia.” Troy calls social services to report the missing kid. Haraldson and his two deputies’ search around the area called “Mirkwood,” which the three boys say was in Harry’s path. There, they find his bicycle left down the road. The personnel at Jingoistic monitor every call from the area and listen to Cora as she calls everyone she knows to search for Harry. Haraldson arrives carrying Harry’s bike and traces back what he might have done that night. They hear their dog barking outside at the shed, and a Haraldson comes in and sees the light bulb flicker. He goes out and orders his deputies to coordinate a search. That night, Albert insists to his mom that they should be looking for Harry, but she refuses. Fanky complains that she isn’t allowed to go out either, and Albert spills that she wants to hang out with Richard, and she storms off in anger. Harry follows suit, as he can’t believe his family doesn’t care about his missing friend. Haraldson and some volunteers search the woods for Harry with their flashlights. The science teacher, Mr. Zander, tells him the boy is a good student. Haraldson says he’s not one for science, but his daughter would have loved it. Someone from the group reveals that Haraldson’s daughter died a few years back. Albert radios Joseph to invite him to search for Harry, saying their friend would instead cast fireball even though it puts him in danger to help the party. Albert prepares his bag and bikes away, passing by Richard, who’s climbing towards Fanky’s window. Richard barges into Fanky’s room to study and praises his ninja skills. Troy gives Mia a pint of ice cream while cleaning up for the night. A woman introducing herself as a social services officer asks for Mia but then shoots Troy after she’s let in. Mia sees this and runs for it, subduing the two shooters who tried to trap her from the backdoor. Meanwhile, Cora and George go over Harry’s stuff so they can make missing posters of him. The two break down and cry, watching Harry’s picture. Cora gets a call and hears nothing but static, but she swears it was the sound of Harry’s breathing. Albert, Ezra, and Joseph pass the no-entry gate to descend into the woods and search for their friend. Soon it starts raining, and the three argue whether they should continue or not. Suddenly they find Mia alone and scared.