“You’ll be sleeping indefinitely if you keep this up.” Vukosava marches around them with a method to get them up, two artistically made spoons. Clicking them together.

  “Really?” Nathen grumbles. “That’s your method?”

  “Do you want me to think of something better?”

  James waves her off. “I’m not looking to catch a headache. Okay, so we got some cases on the edge of town. In the old district.”

  “How many?” Amber asks.

  “Three. Two dudes, one gal. There’s no rhyme or reason to it though. It’s all freaking random.”

  “If there was a simirity between them – the authorities would’ve been able to narrow it down on their own. They’d say that the victims were taken by multiple crackheads.” John is rubbing the sleep from his eyes, partially yawning as he makes his point.

  “The point is we’re stuck on a wild goose chase.” Harley clearly enjoys her beauty rest just as much as John does. “I for one think we should bite. Sooner rather than ter. The more time we take, the more people get caught up in this kidnapping mayhem. Old, young, in-between, no one is safe.”

  “It’s hard to fathom. These people that have gone missing – it’s our fault.”

  Harley snaps viscerally at him. “Okay, Nathen, don’t you dare get started on that guilt-trip train. I’m not having any of it, okay!”

  “I’m just reflecting on what’s happened. I’ve been examining all of this for ages since then.”

  “So what? Are we going to bow our heads in shame and submit to our own sins – I refuse to give up. I’ve made mistakes, you think that you morons were the only ones that felt it?” Harley snaps at him harshly. “We all made choices that we’re going to struggle with for a long time. That’s some tough shit. But you know what – we got to live with our mistakes, but we also got to learn from them too.”

  “Look, we don’t have time to go over old ground.” John mutters. “Can you two leave it for another time?”

  “Let them get it out.” Vukosava affirms quickly.

  “I know, Harley.” Nathen replies gently.

  “All of that was preventable. I could feel it, but I dismissed it.” Harley’s eyes are fierce and unrelenting. “We all got points to prove, and I’m going up fighting. For every stretch of sand those things set their toes on.”

  After a bit of standing there, facing one another, Nathen and Harley rex ever so slightly.

  “So, do you have any ideas, Vukosava?” James asks.

  “Just one.”

  “One? The hivemind of everything supernatural and otherwise has got one suspect?” James is taken aback. “If you’re struggling that much, we’re fucked.”

  “It’s better than nothing.” John interjects, fully awake. Eyes wide, staring holes into each of them. “Who are you thinking of?”

  “It’s just a theory, many were involved in the death of the Red Queen, and there was one person that followed her closely. That loved her like a sister – till the moment they were ripped apart. An investigator of the past, one that has a familial tie.”

  “Great, more trouble.” Nathen snorts moodily.

  “The one I’m talking about is the Lady of Mist, the one that walks alone in the darkness. Searching for truth where no one else dared. To avenge the lost – to avenge the voiceless.” Vukosava is carefully considering every word. “Of course, this is specution, the entities that slipped through could be demonic in nature, looking to possess an unsuspecting host.”

  “There’s been a total of thirty-nine people missing, and it’s spreading like a sickness.” Amber walks up, pcing down her phone, flicking through the map setting. “Do you think these things are just like him?”

  Her voice hisses at the end, her anger bzing fiercely.

  “They could be. The prince is not going to be one of them. At least that’s what I believe.”

  John csps his hands together. “In other words, we got problems on our hands. A whole bunch of them. If Carlos was pissed before, we’ll be getting a whole different beast now.”

  “He’s probably too busy to be concerned with the likes of us. We got time.” Vukosava says hopefully. She didn’t want another encounter with the madman. “We’ll need convincing cover stories to make sure our folks aren’t breaking.”

  Simultaneously, everyone looks down at their phones. Vukosava could see one call after another filling up her history. That’s going to take some expining – right now though, the lecture can wait. The pn is retively simple; they head out to the st seen locations spread across town and the residential areas and see if any mysterious events took pce prior to the disappearances. Eventually, one of the missing person cases will point to suspects, or more accurately entities that went through the broken seal.

  The one borne from mist is different from her original start in life, whilst the Red Queen keeps her identity bound. Her cousin lost it when the Prince won, and they were bound for eternity in a horrific marriage. If there’s anyone that could cause the unrighteous to disappear in a puff of smoke, or those that the entity deems unworthy it’s the Lady of Mist.

  “You’re really thinking hard about this, aren’t you?” John asks.

  “I don’t have much of a choice. Either I have something to offer or nothing to offer.”

  “That’s how we’ve all felt. In the name of getting there quickly, we’ll use my car.” John takes them into his family’s garage. “Pile in, what should we be hitting?”

  “From outside the town heading in. That way if there’s a trail, we can follow it.” Harley blusters sharply. “Unless you want to pick holiday spots at random.”

  “Good point, hopefully we can figure out something.” John opens up his car. “I’ll take half.”

  Nathen nods, ducking through the exit as the door opens.

  With everyone accounted for, they head off, a real taskforce unit, ready to conquer the world. Vukosava texts her mum and dad as they race away from the river, starting to circle around the long way, missing person posters were aborning the trees and bus stations. Everyone in the local area is remaining indoors under lock and key, with the threat of vanishing looming over them. It should be bustling with children in prams, and the passionate fitness enthusiasts marching down a million miles an hour. It’s impossible to imagine a morning quieter than this. The local businesses were feeling it too – everything from the newsagents to coffee shops.

  “You know, I just had a thought.” John is not bothering to check his mirrors, going around with an easy urgency.

  “What?” Vukosava asks.

  “We’re making ourselves into easy targets. What if these mysterious body snatchers decide, you know what, these guys are fishing around. Why don’t we just cause a little accident?” John flicks his left hand out, imitating a car flipping over and over.

  “You won’t have to wait for an accident if you keep this up.” Vukosava snaps.

  “Right. So, that’s covered.” John exasperates. “Joy of all joys.”

  As they stop over at the first location, they’re not the only ones heading out to solve the mystery.

  “Great, we have a loser duo out here.”

  As they start to pile up, the duo in question turns their way. It’s clear they’ve been here for a long while. There’s a massive evidence board in the back of their car, a common background feature in thriller and detective fiction movies and TV. It features a colge of media from different sources, CTV footage, security cameras, even confirmations and statements put out on the internet for the police force to sift through, all of it is secure on a pinboard with a multitude of coloured string marking connections. It’s clear that frustration did py a part, as there are some marks on the board.

  “What do you mean losers?” The girl screeches. Her twin brother is towering over her, a humble giant with a softer tone in his eyes. “Why don’t you head back home to mummy and daddy? Leave the investigating to the experts.”

  “Hey, Theo, lighten up. You don’t have to jump down their throats.”

  “I’m defending our honour, Richard, and if this dumb moron is any indication. They should leave.”

  “Why are you guys out here anyway? You got your own case that you’re chasing? Perhaps we can compare notes.”

  “Don’t you go ignoring me!” Theo cries out.

  Vukosava, John, Amber, Harley, Nathen and James all exchange gnces.

  “Hey, don’t worry, we’re not going to commit pgiarism. We’re semi-professionals after all.” Richard is quite different from his sibling, he’s the stereotypical jock, well-built and well-kept, with an air of confidence-built from exhaustive research into his field of interest. “My sister and I run a True Crime channel called Bcklife. Where authenticity is our policy. We’ve been doing this since our youth – so we mean business. The total number of disappearances in this street alone is seven, all we’ve gotten so far is very spotty footage and static. As you can see.”

  Richard gestures to the board in the boot, lining the sides are two whiteboards, with scribbles all over it from top to bottom. “The cameras being affected like this is a sore point for us, on top of the missing person cases. We can identify the affected, but not the ones pulling the strings.”

  “So, what evidence do you guys have?” Theo demands firmly. “Do you have anything good?”

  Amber gives a tight nod to Vukosava.

  “After looking at your photos and notes, there is one theory that has weight.”

  “You have a theory already? You work fast.”

  “Possession. There’s been multiple cases spread throughout the region. There’s no link to anyone being able to orchestrate all of this. If these were criminals wanting to take hostages to make a quick buck there would’ve been clear, irrefutable evidence indicating as such.” Vukosava barely finishes her statement, before the brother and sister duo find someone to centre their ire onto. “There’s no footage that confirms a humanoid form.”

  “I’m going to stop you right there.” Richard’s earlier manner is dropped. “Are you telling me that your big theory is some fantastical mumbo-jumbo, saying that the people were possessed and just got themselves lost?”

  “All we know is that people went missing.” Amber tries to interject politely.

  “I’m not accepting an argument like that. It’s full of fws and prior convictions made on the basis of possession or other forms of having one’s autonomy taken away is precarious at best. Besides, your evidence, if we’re going to call it that, is not concrete at all. The cameras in question could’ve been affected by the natural environment.”

  “Then why didn’t these criminals wear hoodies or masks? That’d get the job done, right?” Nathen points out neutrally. “No identity to go off of another component is a getaway vehicle of some kind, in all these photos there’s no indication of any.”

  “Clearly, you haven’t studied criminal cases and psychology enough. If you conspiracy theorists are done with all that babble, why don’t you head back home?” Richard dismisses them contemptuously.

  “Listen here, brat, we can’t just go home, we’re not out here to py jokes or tricks. We’ve lost friends to this whole thing – we don’t want to sit aside and do nothing.” Harley sneers at them, for once their impenetrable armour finally develops cracks. “Our friends' lives are worth the world to us; do you think we’d blurt that out if we didn’t think it was true?”

  Richard and Theodora both look at each other. The go-getter sister and the knowledgeable brother decide to not continue the argument.

  “Look, I’m sorry about all of that.” Richard holds up his hands. “I just think it’s not probable in the slightest. If your friends were among the other victims, I’m sure with everyone looking into it – it’ll be a matter of time.”

  “I guess we really went for your throat, didn’t we? Our bad on that. Let’s do proper introductions, I’m Theodora, this is Richard. I didn’t want that to happen. We’re just really passionate about what we do.” Theodore is down from her high, viewing them with less scrutiny than before. “In terms of suspects, we’ve been operating on the assumption that there’s been an increase in gang activity. Particurly, in the case of that bastard, Patrick Hicks and his guy pals. There’s no reason for it to be limited to them or that general area. We’ve delved into their pasts, seeing if there is anyone with connections to that original gang.” Theodore shrugs easily, flicking her head to the photos and clippings on the board. “As you can see, no dice. If you believe some ghosts or malevolent entities are involved, go ahead. But if you think you can solve this problem, you’re wrong. We’re going to be the ones to solve it.”