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crystalninjaphoenix · 11 months

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Red, Green, and Darkness

Paranormal Preteens AU: Episode Seventeen

A JSE Fanfic

This is the chapter where I was like, "this is a story ABOUT kids, but I don't know if it's a story FOR kids." If that wasn't evident by the swearing and putting children in danger dhfsjaklh The kids meet up after the incident at the hospital to talk about it. They discuss some information they managed to take from the hospital, and then are visited by a familiar shadowy face. Who, against all odds, shares some more information. Anyway... Enjoy ;)

++++++++++++++++++++

Going to school on Monday felt like the strangest thing after everything that happened. They’d rescued Marvin from a strange basement under the hospital on Saturday, and now they were supposed to go to school? It was weird. Chase felt weird just walking up to the front entrance, and he could see that same feeling reflected on Schneep’s face.

The feeling persisted throughout the first half of the day, and then it was time for lunch. Chase, Schneep, and Stacy had all decided in homeroom that they would try to find JJ and Marvin in the cafeteria. They’d be able to talk about stuff—but not everything, because Jackie wouldn’t be there. The older grades didn’t have lunch at the same time as the younger ones.

The three of them met up soon after getting their lunches, then scanned the cafeteria for the twins. “If I were them, where would I sit...?” Stacy muttered to herself. “I’ve never really seen them around.”

“Maybe they go outside to eat,” Chase suggested. It technically wasn’t against rules for students to go eat in the school courtyard by the front entrance. As long as they didn’t leave the grounds.

“They do not seem the type,” SChneep said. “I am betting they sit somewhere along the edges. Come on.”

Sure enough, Marvin and JJ were soon spotted at a table pushed up against the brick wall of the cafeteria. It was empty except for the two of them—which may have been due to the twins’ reputation, but Chase thought it was more likely because the trash cans were right next to the table. No one wanted to sit by the trash cans. “Hey! Guys!” Chase sped up a bit, nearly dropping his tray of food before sliding onto the empty table bench. “Here you are! Do you sit here all the time?”

Pretty much, JJ said. It’s not as crowded. Marvin nodded, tracing a pattern on the table with the handle of his plastic fork.

Stacy and Schneep sat down as well. “Uh... how are you?” Stacy asked.

“Did your parents yell at you for disappearing?” Schneep added, looking at Marvin.

“Uh, I’m good, and no.” Marvin looked up at the others. “I told them I left the hospital early to try and get home and they were really disappointed, but like, nothing happened. They almost grounded JJ, though. Dad thought his story was a bit sketchy. Like, how did he run into me if he was really at your guys’ house like he said he would be? But JJ convinced them that you guys saw me when you were taking me back home and Jackie picked me up.”

“That sounds crazy,” Chase said.

They’re a little crazy sometimes, yes, JJ agreed. Marvin rolled his eyes.

“But are you okay?” Stacy persisted. “Didn’t your hands get all scraped up?”

“Yep.” Marvin raised his hands; the palms were wrapped in bandages while the fingers were plastered with band-aids. “But they don’t hurt anymore. I don’t even think they’re bleeding. They must’ve been really shallow cuts.”

“Hmm, that does not make sense with what happened,” Schneep said slowly. “You would think that the cuts would be very deep with all the blood and how much you were grabbing. Even if they were not, they should still hurt.”

“Well... they don’t,” Marvin said simply.

“What did your parents say about it?” Schneep asked.

“Oh, they were worried!” Marvin looked almost excited about that. “I told them and Granmam that I tripped and scraped them up when I fell. They didn’t ask any more questions after that, but Granmam got really fussy and helped wrap them up. She’s great.”

Schneep nodded. “She seems great.”

A moment passed, the conversation dying down. Then Chase coughed. “Do you think we should do something about the big hole in the hospital basement?” he asked in a low voice.

I don’t think we can, JJ said. What are we supposed to do about a big hole?

“Not to mention those weird guys wearing black,” Stacy added. “We’d have to get past them. I-I think we barely got away this time.”

“Maybe beanie boy will have some ideas,” Marvin said. “When can we meet up with him?”

“Jackie says he works after school on Mondays,” Chase explained. “So it’d have to be tomorrow or later. I left my phone in my locker, but I can go get it and message him to come to my house tomorrow.”

JJ shook his head. I don’t think that’s a good idea. Our dad is insisting that he drive us everywhere for the next week, and he and Mam won’t be happy that I’m spending so much time with you.

Chase blinked. “Why? You spend time with us all the time.”

JJ looked a bit sheepish. Actually, since the school year started, I’ve been telling them that we’re studying at the library whenever we meet up...

“They’re not gonna stop us from being friends with you or anything,” Marvin added. “But they’re gonna be unhappy.”

“We should not meet up this week, then,” Schneep said. “Oh, but it seems so long to wait.”

“Why don’t we just actually go to the library?” Stacy asked. “JJ and Marvin can go there early and the rest of us can meet them there. Like, I know there was a whole ghost thing there that happened to you guys, but you said the ghost is gone now.”

“Oh!” Marvin sits up straight. “Yeah, that could work!”

“Alright, I can message him to meet us at the library after school, then,” Chase said. “Would that be—” He stopped.

“Chase? What is it?” Schneep asked.

Chase’s eyes were locked onto one spot. The others all followed his gaze... to a pair of teachers walking over to their table. “Well hello there!” said Mrs. Karter, the Chemistry teacher. “You guys are all sitting on your own over here.”

“The cafeteria gets pretty full,” Marvin said, shrugging.

Mrs. Karter laughed. “Yeah, it does, doesn’t it? Ah, are you Marvin?” She waited for him to nod before continuing. “Right. Your grandmother called the school and told us you’d been in the hospital recently. Is everything alright?” Marvin nodded again. “Well, if you ever have any problems, you can talk to Gina here.” She gestured at the other adult with her.

“Hello.” Gina was a tall woman with a long blonde ponytail and round glasses. She nodded at the kids. “I’m the school’s guidance counselor. If you ever have any problems, like with school or friends or stuff at home, my office is right by the headmaster’s.”

“Okay,” Marvin said dully. Nobody else said anything. They all stared at the two adults in silent unison.

“Well, that’s all I wanted to say,” Mrs. Karter said. “Have a good lunch.” She smiled, then she and Gina left.

The table was silent for a while before Stacy spoke up. “She was at the planetarium.”

“Yeah, the whole reason we knew about the basement there is because we followed her into the staff door,” Chase agreed. “She’s part of the mystery group.”

Which means that other woman probably is, too, JJ said. He looked at Marvin. Do you think Granmam really called the school?

“Yeah, I think so,” Marvin said. “You think she’s lying about that and is really checking on us because the mystery group wants to? I mean, she’s definitely checking on us because the mystery group wants to. But I think Granmam really called the school. It’s a weird detail to make up. If she wanted to make something up to hide that she knew we were at the hospital through the group, she would’ve said our parents. But she probably does know about the hospital through the group. And that’s why she’s talking to us. And brought that other woman. She doesn’t know that we know she’s in on it.”

“I am sad that the counselor is part of it,” Schneep sighed. “Counselors can be good.”

“Mmm, I don’t think that the counselor here is that good,” Chase said. “Back in April I got sent to her office cause I wasn’t, uh ‘participating’ in class. And she kinda just... sucked. Asked me what was wrong over and over, but I didn’t wanna talk about it and it was... I-I didn’t like it.”

“I said they can be good, not that they always are,” Schneep pointed out.

I don’t like that there are teachers here that are part of the group, JJ said frowning.

“Yeah,” Chase agreed. “But I mean, it’ll probably be fine if they don’t know we know. And if we don’t, uh, talk to them or anything.”

Stacy nodded. “We should probably be careful about being alone with any of the—”

Laughter rang out. “Ohhh my god, hi Stacy!”

Stacy flinched. Once more, the group turned to see someone approaching their table. This time, it was Heather Westing, along with her Curly Hair sidekick and some other girl with braided black hair. “Hi, Heather,” Stacy said. “Hi Kat. Hi Anita.”

“Oh my god, we haven’t seen you in so long!” Heather said. “Have you been sitting over here all the time? With the trash?”

“Uh, yeah.” Stacy slumped in her seat.

“That’s so crazy! Wow!”

“What do you want, Heather?” Chase asked.

Heather gasped, turning to him like she just noticed him. “Oh my god, hi Chase Brody! Stacy, is he your boyfriend now?”

“No!” Stacy said defensively. “We’re just friends!”

“But you two are so cute sitting next to each other! Right, guys?” Heather turned to her sidekicks.

“Right, Heather.”

“You two are so cute.”

Chase’s face was getting hot, and he could see Stacy’s whole head turning red.

“Hey, uh,” Marvin leaned forward, waving. “You’re Heather, right? Hi. Fuck off.”

Heather’s mouth dropped open. Her eyes went wide and her face went pale. Behind her, her sidekicks gasped in comical unison. “W-well, I, uh...” Heather stammered. “I was just saying hi!” She whirled around and hurried off, the two other girls following her.

The group watched them go. Then, slowly, Schneep started laughing. “Sh-she... she looked like you slapped her!” he giggled.

JJ grinned. She deserved it. Good job, Marvin.

“Hah.” Marvin grinned back.

“I bet she won’t bother us for a while,” Chase said, also smiling. Then he looked at Stacy, still slumped, and stopped. “Uh... Heather’s a jerk. I know you were friends, but... she was really rude to you.”

“She’s not a jerk,” Stacy said automatically. “She’s just...” But she can’t figure out the words for what Heather ‘just’ is.

“Why is it a bad thing to say that you two are boyfriend and girlfriend?” Schneep asked.

Chase choked on the sandwich he’d just decided to take a bite of. “W-well, uh—because she’s gonna tell everyone! And it’s not true! Like, even if it’s not a bad thing, it sucks to say things that aren’t true!”

“Ah.” Schneep nodded. “I thought it was something specific about you two.”

“No, we’re just friends and it sucks to lie that we’re not,” Stacy said, looking at Chase. “But, uh, sorry for getting all defensive about it.”

“Oh, no problem,” Chase said. “I wouldn’t date me, either.”

“Uh...” Stacy’s not sure how to respond to that.

“I wouldn’t date you either, Chase,” Marvin added. “Or you, Stacy. Or, uh... anyone I know. Or anyone I don’t know. I mean, I’d have to know them first to know if I’d want to date them. JJ, would you date Chase?”

JJ gasped and immediately shoved Marvin so hard he almost tipped over.

“What???” Marvin said, confused. “Oh, it’s because you like Ri—”

JJ shoved Marvin again, fully pushing him out of sight, then leaned on top of him and shoved his hand over his mouth. Now it was his turn to have his face turn completely red. Marvin protested, waving one hand in the air like he was waving a white flag of surrender. The other three watched this with mild amusement and confusion. After a couple seconds, JJ let up, and he and Marvin popped back to sitting positions like nothing happened.

“Uh...” Stacy cleared her throat and changed the subject. “So, do you guys still have that cat from your birthday?”

“Yep.” Marvin nodded.

It’s a girl and her name is S-I-N-N-E-Y, JJ said.

“I chose it!” Marvin said proudly. “She’s a Russian blue, and the Russian word for blue is ‘siniy.’”

“How do you know the Russian word for blue?” Chase asked.

“Cause when I heard about that type of cat ages ago I got curious and looked it up in a book in the library,” Marvin said. “So speaking of the library. JJ and I will head over right after school tomorrow. You guys come like, ten or fifteen minutes later. Does that work?”

They all agreed that would work. And when Chase texted Jackie later, he agreed it would work, too.

++++++++++++++++++++

Hollewych Library hadn’t changed at all since the summer. It was a bit cooler inside, with the dropping temperature that came with the fall, but that was it. Mom dropped Chase and Schneep off, wished them good luck studying, and then drove off.

“Do you think she will realize we are not studying here?” Schneep asked Chase.

“Nah, bro.” Chase shook his head. “It’s not like I told her we had a specific project we wanted books on. So she won’t be asking about it. If you’re worried, I can do all the talking about it.”

Schneep nodded, grabbing the straps of his backpack. “That would be fine. Let’s go inside now.”

The group had agreed to meet up in the Young Adult section of the library on the second floor, which Chase thought was the only real good part of the library. This was where most of the comic books were! They were lined up on small half-size bookshelves that only came up to his waist. In between these half-size shelves and the computer lab, there was the main “Teen Hangout,” as the posters on the bulletin board by the front entrance called it. This was fairly cool. The furniture here was newer, colored blues and greens, with cool polka-dot-decorated rugs underneath them. The tables had outlets you could plug laptops into—or phones, if you had the charger. Probably the only place with outlets that wasn’t right by the wall.

Everyone else was already here. Jackie was sitting in a chair flipping through a comic book, Stacy was in another chair, reading the back of books stacked on a nearby table, and JJ and Marvin were sitting at the nearest computer playing some sort of game. “I told you the teleporter was a bad idea,” Marvin said as Chase and Schneep approached. “Watch this, it’ll be the disguise, I swear.”

Of course it will, it’s the last one! JJ said, exasperated.

“Hey guys,” Chase said, waving.

Jackie put the comic book down. “Hey, little guys. Marvin, JJ, they’re here.”

“Hang on, something’s happening,” Marvin said as he and JJ leaned closer to the computer screen.

Stacy sighed. “You can play computer games at home, you know.”

“No we can’t, we don’t have a computer,” Marvin said.

“Wait, really?” Chase asked.

“Mm-hmm.” Marvin fell silent as he and JJ watched the screen.

“Well, I guess we’ll just wait a bit,” Jackie said.

“That is fine,” Schneep said, walking over to the most central table. He took his backpack off, unzipped it, and pulled out a manila folder. Then he set it on the surface. Jackie and Stacy looked immediately curious, but the group stayed silent until Marvin and JJ were finally ready to join them—which, luckily, didn’t take too long. Soon, everyone was sitting in a chair or sofa near this central table.

“What’s this?” Jackie asked.

You took this from that office in the hospital, didn’t you? JJ asked.

“Yes.” Schneep nodded. “I thought about looking at it a couple times, but I thought we should all see what is inside together.”

“Alright, let’s get started then.” Jackie reached over and flipped the folder open. Inside was a stack of papers that all looked very similar. Tiny type, with some bold letters at the top, and absolutely no pictures. Jackie started separating them out, counting silently as he did. “Twenty-three,” he finally concluded.

“That’s not all that big,” Chase said. “Mom has folders in a filing cabinet for when she works at home, they’re all really thick. What are these?”

“Look, they all have the same word at the top.” Schneep pointed at one. “What is ‘memo’?”

“Oh, I know that,” Stacy said. “It’s, like, a short note that goes out to a company telling everyone something.”

“So, it’s something that the whole hospital got?” Marvin asked.

Maybe just the strange doctors in the basement, JJ speculated.

“So what’re they about?” Chase asked.

“Hmm.” Jackie pursed his lips. “They were stacked in order from oldest to newest. See, they all have dates at the top. Let’s start with the oldest. Hang on.” He pushed the papers into a stack, then did some rearranging so they were in the order they wanted. While he did that, he looked at Marvin. “How are you doing, by the way?”

Marvin shrugged. “I’m fine. My hands aren’t even cut up anymore. See?” He held up his hands so everyone could see. There were small white lines going vertically down his palms and the undersides of his fingers. “Only scars now.”

Schneep frowned. “That really healed very quickly.”

“Hey, I’m not fucking complaining,” Marvin said. “Jackie, what’s in the memos?”

“Okay, okay, I got it.” Jackie held up the new stack, scanning the first one. “This is from December, two years ago. Uhh... nothing exciting. It’s talking about someone stealing lunches from the break room.” He looked at the next one. “‘Switching of offices’... blah blah blah... this is also useless.” Then the next one. “Aaaand so is this one.”

“They can’t all be useless,” Stacy protested. “That was some, like, evil hospital basement. There has to be evil stuff in their papers!”

“We’ve only looked at three so far. Here.” Jackie separated out the back half of the papers and put them on the table. “You guys look for yourselves.”

The kids immediately snatched up the papers, ending up with each getting two. Chase looked at the ones he’d taken. The first one was boring. Stuff about ordering supplies. The second one... “Maybe this is a thing?” he said. “Apparently back in January this year there was someone who went to inspect their, uh, ‘base of operations in the hospital.’ That has to be the basement. The guy is only referenced with his initials, I.H., but... it sounds like it’s their boss.”

“Well, we know that the guys in the hospital weren’t the only members of the mystery group,” Marvin said. “So of course they have a boss somewhere.”

“I.H. is good,” Jackie said. “Now we know to be worried about people with those initials.”

“Oh! Jackie, you said that the planetarium was, ah—it fell down, ja?” Schneep said. “This one talks about that.” He held out the paper to Jackie. “Here, see.”

Jackie took the memo and scanned it really quick. His eyebrows raised into the air. “‘We lost several personnel in the collapse’,” he read out loud. “‘They will be missed’... duh duh duh... oh, ‘We will be expected to step up recruitment to make up for the loss of our members. Other locations may also expect to see increased activity from the Fissures due to the one at the planetarium being closed off.’”

“Fissures?” Marvin repeated. “So, are those the cracks in the ground? Like the big hole in the hospital, o-or the planetarium? I even saw one in the pool.”

“I’m guessing so, yeah,” Jackie said. He paused for a moment, then his eyes widened. “Wait a minute. There’s this. ‘The collapse may have been caused by one of the Anomalies from the Fissures. A notice to look out for any strange shadows you might see.’” He looked at the others. “Sound like anyone we know?”

“Anti,” Chase said quietly. “He’s all shadow. So... he might be a... what was it?”

“Anomaly,” Stacy said. “There’s stuff about those in this one, too.” She held up one of her memos. “This is from May. Something about there being more Anomalies appearing.”

“That must be what all the strange things are,” Schneep said. “Like the pool monster, and the dog, and those mushrooms, maybe even the ghost from here. They are... Anomalies.”

“So the group knows about them,” Jackie summarized. “They come from these Fissures in the ground. But... what do they want with the Fissures and the Anomalies?”

JJ cleared his throat. The others all looked at him. His expression was... troubled. Silently, he handed one of his memos to Jackie.

“Oh. Uh... thanks.” Jackie looked at it. He read silently, his face growing more grim and anxious with each line.

“What is it?” Chase pressed.

“Uh... well.” Jackie cleared his throat. “This is from the middle of August. It’s uh... talking about... They were planning to... oookay.” He shook his head.

Do you know how the city does blood drives to collect blood for people in need? JJ said, drawing the attention of the others again. This group was taking some blood from those drives and pouring it into the hole in the basement.

“Why the heck would they do that?” Stacy asked, nose wrinkling in disgust.

“This, uh... says that it’s not as effective,” Jackie said quietly. “‘No matter the age of the donor, the donation lost potency in the time it took to transport it to a Fissure.’ I-I don’t know what it’d be effective for, but... that’s what it says. So... um... they decided to try something new.” He glanced at Marvin, then quickly looked away.

Marvin, unfortunately, understood instantly. “So that’s why they brought me to the basement,” he whispered.

“I-it’s kind of funny, the memo says ‘the new program is better than the old one,’” Jackie said. “Better... fucking how would that be better?” JJ leaned over and pointed at a spot near the bottom of the paper. “Yes, I saw that, and that’s...”

“I want to see.” Marvin didn’t even wait for Jackie to hand it over, he just stood up and snatched it out of his hand. Everyone went quiet as he read the paper. Surprisingly, he looked relieved. “Oh. Okay. I really thought I was gonna die or something, that’s better.”

“I don’t think you’re understanding how supremely fucked up that is,” Jackie said softly.

“What?” Chase asked, not sure if he really wanted to know.

Jackie sighed. “This... ‘new program’ of theirs was the idea to... fucking... keep a couple ‘subjects’ around so that they could use their blood whenever.”

“That’s better than dying,” Marvin said.

“Marvin, how can you say that?” Schneep looked aghast. “It is still horrible!”

“Yeah, but you guys would’ve found me eventually,” Marvin said casually. “If I died, that would’ve been it.”

Jackie stood up suddenly. “I-I need to go to the bathroom,” he said. “Does anyone else want to come?” He looked around at the others. None of them said anything. “Okay. I-I’ll be right back.” And he turned and hurried away.

The kids were quiet for a while, digesting what they just learned. “Um... So...” Stacy shifted in her seat awkwardly. “Do you guys want to... keep doing this stuff? After... all that?”

If we don’t do something, who will? JJ asked. The police were no help when Marvin disappeared because the mystery group lied to them. I think the same thing will keep happening.

“Also, uh, I dunno if we can stop now,” Chase said. “These guys gotta know who we are now. Remember Mrs. Karter at lunch? I think she was checking to see what we knew.” He stood up to his full height. “We have to do this! We know how to fight the monsters, we can figure out how to fight the people doing this!”

“I doubt the grown-ups would listen to us if we tried to get them to do something,” Schneep muttered. “So I think we have to. So nothing happens to more people like happened to Marvin.”

“Yeah.” Marvin nodded. “I’m gonna fucking murder them all.” He looked at Stacy. “You don’t have to murder if you don’t want to, though.”

Stacy sighed. “No. I’d feel bad for quitting now.”

Chase smiled at her. “Well, uh. Thanks, then, Stacy.”

“Stacy? So that’s her name.”

At once, the group tensed. That voice—that familiar voice. All flying to their feet, they turned to look at where it came from—

Anti sat on top of one of the half-sized bookshelves, grinning. “Hi,” he said.

“You fucking bitch!” Marvin shouted. “Why the fuck did you push—”

Chase quickly claps a hand over his mouth. “Shhh,” he hissed. “Do you want the whole library to look at us?”

“No, let’s do it,” Stacy said. “Let’s get the whole library over here to see this.” She drew in breath to shout, and Chase put his other hand over her mouth. Quickly, she shoved it away and glared at him. “What are you doing?”

“He’d just disappear and we’d look like idiot kids,” Chase explained. “They might even kick us—hey!” He quickly withdrew his hand from Marvin’s mouth. “Did you just lick me?”

Marvin wiped his mouth on his sleeve and didn’t answer, instead continuing to glare at Anti. “Why the fuck did you push me down the stairs?!” he whisper-shouted.

JJ’s head whipped towards Marvin. HE PUSHED YOU?! he signed furiously, throwing his hands around.

“He did!” Marvin nodded. “That’s why I was in the hospital! And then when I was stuck on a gurney underground he showed up and said a bunch of weird shit!” He pointed an accusing finger at Anti. “You bitch! You bastard! You motherfucking dickwad!”

Anti’s smile dimmed, but didn’t disappear. “So you didn’t like your present?”

“Was pushing me down the stairs supposed to be a birthday present?!”

JJ picked up a library book from the table and threw it at Anti. It hit him in the chest, and Anti looked down, surprised, as it landed in his lap. JJ picked up a second book and threw that too, but this time it passed right through Anti, and the first book fell through his legs.

“No, that wasn’t it,” Anti said, no longer smiling. “That was how I got you there. You had to go to the hospital. And not visit it, I mean, you needed to be there for a while so the dark doctors would notice.”

“So what was the present?” Chase demanded, stepping in front of JJ before he could try throwing something else. “The hole in the ground? The experience of being freaking terrified? Of disappearing forever?”

“No, no.” Anti looked genuinely confused. “I mean... I mean the stuff.” He stared at Marvin as if expecting him to say something.

“Am I supposed to know what ‘the stuff’ is, motherfucker?” Marvin asked, fists clenched at his sides.

“Yeah?” Anti tilted his head. “I thought you’d like it. Cause you like magic. You’re a witch, right?”

“Um... what the heck are you talking about?” Stacy asked.

Anti looked at each of them in turn. They were all clearly angry and confused; even Schneep, who was usually the most scared of Anti, wasn’t backing away like he usually would have. “The stuff,” Anti said. “You know... like...” He waved his hands, becoming more shadowy and translucent before snapping back to how he was before. “All that stuff.” The kids all glanced at each other. Slowly, Schneep shook his head. “You mean... it didn’t work?”

“What didn’t work?!” Marvin cried.

“O-oh.” Anti looked... sad. More than sad. His whole posture slumped. He almost seemed guilty. “I thought putting your blood in the hole would... oh. I’m sorry.”

Nobody knew how to respond to that. JJ glanced around at the others. This is weird, he said.

“Yeah,” Chase agreed. He looked at Anti. “What were you trying to do? What was that place beneath the hospital? Who were those guys in black? What was the hole all about? Was it a ‘Fissure’? Why are you sorry?”

Anti hummed. It sounded less like a sound made by an organic creature and more like the buzzing of lights about to burst. “Okay.” He shifted position, folding his legs beneath him, and it’s then that the kids noticed he wasn’t actually sitting on the bookcase, but instead floating a couple inches above it. “I guess I can explain some things. The present didn’t work, so it’s only fair. This can be your present now.”

“Okay, cool,” Marvin said, exasperated. “So what the fuck were those guys in black going to do to me?”

“They were gonna feed your blood to the dark place.” Anti pointed at the contents of the file spread out on the table. “It’s all in there. I knew they’d pick you for a target cause no one would really miss you.”

Marvin blinked, taken aback.

I would! JJ said angrily.

“I still dunno what you’re saying,” Anti stated.

“He says that he would miss Marvin,” Stacy said.

Anti shrugged. “He’d get over it.”

JJ was shaking, furious, but Marvin simply put his hand on his shoulder, silently asking him to stand down.

“Why did they want to give blood to this ‘dark place’?” Chase asked.

Anti shook his head. “No, that’s a bit too much.”

“Then what is the dark place?” Chase pressed.

“It’s where the greenlight comes from,” Anti explained. “Blood makes greenlight stronger. You guys remember that from when you were fighting the dog monster, right?”

Schneep frowned. “That hole in the hospital leads to the dark place? It’s... a Fissure?”

“Yeah. And yeah.”

“And who are the people in black?” Chase asked.

“Those guys were the dark doctors,” Anti said. “It’s their job to get the blood. The dark doctors are only a small part of the Circle, though.”

Marvin cleared his throat, getting over his shock. “Who are the Circle?”

Anti giggled. “I can’t tell you that! That’ll ruin everything!” He rocked back and forth, not falling from his floating position. “That’s kinda the whole point of this, isn’t it? You guys want to fight monsters that the greenlight causes? You need to find the Circle eventually.”

Everyone was getting increasingly fed up with Anti’s behavior. JJ looked about ready to grab him and try shaking clear answers out of him—the only thing holding him back was Anti’s ability to pass through things. Chase was about to discard his own advice to be quiet and scream at Anti to stop being weird and vague, when—

“Oh my god.” Jackie appeared from around a bookshelf, right behind Anti. He stared, gaping. Anti stiffened at the sound of Jackie’s voice and promptly disappeared. Jackie on over. “A-are you guys alright?”

“We’re fine,” Chase said. “Anti doesn’t really do much.”

“He pushed me down the fucking stairs!” Marvin was barely able to keep his voice as a whisper-shout instead of straight-up yelling.

“He did what?” Jackie gasped.

One by one, overlapping each other, the kids explained what just happened. Jackie looked a bit overwhelmed but listened as best he could. Then he raised his hands. They all quieted down immediately.

“The point is, he was acting weird,” Chase said.

“Yeah,” Stacy agreed, nodding. “This was my first time seeing him, not counting that little bit at the hospital, and even I knew that this wasn’t a normal thing.”

“Well, uh, I-I wouldn’t know either,” Jackie said. “I’ve never seen him in person before this.”

You only saw him from behind and then he disappeared, that doesn’t really count, JJ said.

Jackie laughed. “I guess.” He sat down in the chair he’d sat in earlier. “Okay. So. Let’s put all this together. There’s this group that Anti called the Circle, and the people at the hospital—who he called ‘the dark doctors’—are part of it. The Circle is probably who’s sending these memos, then. They have something to do with the cracks, which they call Fissures. And Anti said that the Fissures lead to somewhere called ‘the dark place,’ which is where greenlight comes from.”

“And the greenlight causes the monsters,” Marvin added. “And the Circle guys call the monsters Anomalies, and Anti is probably an Anomaly, too.”

“Right.” Jackie nodded.

“So... it’s like...” Stacy held out a hand. “This is the dark place.” She held out her other hand a foot above the first. “And this is us. And there’s like... tunnels connecting them.” She tilted her hands, extending her pointer fingers until they pressed together. “And the greenlight comes out and does stuff to things up here.”

“But what does this Circle group want to do with the greenlight and the monsters and all of that?” Schneep asked.

Jackie shook his head. “We don’t really know, do we? They... pour blood into the Fissures.” He shuddered as he said that. “There has to be a reason for that.”

“Anti said blood makes greenlight stronger,” Marvin recalled.

“Do you think they want to take over the world?” Chase asked. “That sounds kinda cartoony, I know, but like... this whole thing is already stuff that would come from a cartoon.”

If Anti is telling the truth, then we will have to confront the Circle eventually, JJ said. If we want to keep fighting the monsters.

“If you guys don’t want to, no one’s making you,” Jackie said quietly. “You can all pretend like all this never happened.”

“We already talked about this when you were gone,” Chase said, folding his arms. “We all want to keep going.”

Jackie looked at Marvin. “Even after what happened to you?”

“Yeah.” Marvin nodded. “Cause if we keep going, and we figure out how to stop them, then that won’t happen to anyone else.”

“...heh.” Jackie smiled. “You guys are all so brave, you know that? I guess I have to be brave with you. I’m not letting you guys do this alone.”

Chase grinned right back. He leaned into Jackie and gave him a big hug. After a moment, Schneep joined in.

“Whoa, hey!” Jackie laughed. “Alright, alright, break it up.” Chase and Schneep backed away when cued, and Jackie started putting the memos back in order. “This has been... a lot today, so I think it’s best if we stop here. We can still hang out here, though. Just not talk about all this stuff.”

You know, we never finished the ghost movie, JJ said thoughtfully.

“You didn’t bring your camera, though,” Marvin pointed out.

JJ frowned. He made a sign that none of the others knew, and Marvin laughed.

“We can do that some other time,” Schneep said. “Perhaps we can check out books while we are here?”

“Yeah, that’s what a library is for,” Stacy pointed out.

“I don’t like books, though,” Chase muttered.

Jackie laughed. “You probably just haven’t found the right one. Come on, little guy, I’ll show you some of the stuff I liked when I was your age. You’ll probably like it too.”

Chase would never admit it, but he was glad that Mom insisted he and Schneep take her library card with them. He wondered if the adventures in the books Jackie suggested would be anything like what was happening to them right now.

Maybe not. This was real, after all. Something they were all beginning to grasp.

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