"Please, please…oh, please, help us…I beg of you. They took my Rachel away…I love her so much. They took her from me. Please…would you please help me? Give me strength and the will to find the devil that took her away from me. Please, blessed my love, Rachel Ambers, and my friends, Chloe and Max, hoping they are safe. I will do anything…I will change my whole life…I beg of you to help me: my savior, the almighty Lord." Frank was kneeling down on the altar, supplicating to his one and only Lord with a crucifix in his hand as he sobbed and wept for the safety of his lover and friends. Stella and Alyssa were at the back, giving him some space to pray as he treats himself for some solace and solitude which he needed.
The light from the candles on the altar was waning, but the full moon in the sky helped direct more light to the church through the crystalline painted windows of biblical imageries. Last night was wicked, seeing two moons in the night sky than later in the evening, one of the moons just vanished from the sky like a hologram being distorted. People around the world would not believe their eyes as some of the denizens of Arcadia Bay snapped photos of the divine occurrence with their smartphones, but the internet was always sardonic, and have come to the belief that it was a hoax and that the photos were probably photoshopped. The internet also did not come to believe about the beached whales and the solar eclipse because there were just too many things going on at once in a small town like this. No one would believe the people of Arcadia Bay except, that is, for the people who reside locally in Arcadia Bay.
From the distance as Frank was preaching to the Lord, Stella and Alyssa was trying to listen in as his words echoed through the structural bones of the interior, but even that was rather imprudent and his voice did not suffice to their hearing faculty as all they can hear were sobbing whispers.
"I feel really sorry for him." Stella moped, lugubriously as she stared at him in the distance.
"Me too." Alyssa sighed solemnly in the dark. "If this is the person whom Frank had mentioned earlier that can help us in our case, then you can forget about it."
"Atheist?" inquired Stella.
"Yup." They both fist-bumped.
"What are we doing? This is no way of trying to help the case, instead we need to go out there and look for more clues and some lead to the culprit." Stella said vigorously with determination.
"And talk to suspects and witnesses…and oh, set up traps and we can use you as bait for the culprit " Alyssa added.
"You could knock it off, Alyssa, that's just messed up." Stella snapped at her.
"Sorry." Alyssa's energies was draining stagnantly as the evening passed by.
Meanwhile, at the altar, Frank was still sobbing and praying, waiting patiently and solemnly for the Lord to answer his prayer, but nothing came and Alyssa, the atheist, hated waiting for Frank to finish his entreaty when she could be bashing witnesses in the alley for answers to finding Max and Chloe and Rachel Ambers, too, like a total badass, and chasing bad guys; but given her poor performance in physical education, she could entitle Frank and Pompidou to such privilege of chasing down their suspects since they both desired revenge. Pompidou did not know the meaning of revenge but the dog appeared to love Rachel. Wherever Rachel Ambers is, they hoped she isn't dead; they might found her shirt in the junkyard but not the beautiful deity that comes with it.
Alyssa and Stella would have done the investigation alone, without Frank, however the thought of a killer scares them to death. Alas, they were too mentally lethargic as the idea of a killer in Arcadia Bay would kidnap them and kill them, it frightened them on the brink. Stella squinted her eyes and noticed a silhouette by Frank side and she calmly notified Alyssa who was trying to snooze off for a bit.
The shadow crept up to Frank, and Frank suddenly saw the shadow looming over him as he opened his eyes and simultaneously turned around, only to see his prayer answered, and not perilous threat,as the figure unraveled from the shadow and stepped into the effulgent light.
"Frank,"
"David!" They both hugged each other even though they despised one another but a critical circumstance meant both sides had to cooperate with each other in order to reach their objective: finding out where Chloe, Max and Rachel, and who is the culprit behind this string of kidnapped cases.
"I totally shipped them." Alyssa announced.
Stella elbowed her: "Shit, it's Mr. Madsen, we have to leave before he finds us and tell Principal Wells on us; I don't want to be expelled from Blackwell."
"Oh, man, what is the Blackwell's security doing here?" Alyssa asked, nervously.
"He's baptist." Stella answered as she found the solution to their dire predicament: she crouched down onto the floor and try crawling her way out to the exit like a worm.
"Great idea, Stella." Alyssa dropped down with a loud thud, getting a reprimanding shush from Stella as she attempted to crawl her way out to the exit.
"Have you find any clues to Chloe and Max?" David inquired, smiling at Frank.
"Yeah, here it is?" Frank produced Rachel's torn shirt out of his pocket.
"Oh, shit, I know how much you love her." David said.
"You have no idea." he smiled but trying to repress himself from crying.
Alyssa, on the other hand: "I can't believe Frank is taking credit of what we found in the junkyard."
"Alyssa, please." Stella rolled her eyes. "Keep moving."
"Fine." Alyssa mumbled, angrily.
Back to the altar.
"I wish we can have a miracle from all this."
"Me too. Everything that has been happening so far is beyond anything I have ever seen."
All of the sudden, by the exit, a door slammed against Alyssa and Stella, pounding them against the wall, leaving them a bruise while all the flames from the candle went out.
"Did someone asks for a miracle?" a familiar voice broadcasted throughout the room. The light switch subsequently flickered at the perfect timing as our mysterious quarry was in the spotlight.
"KATE!" Alyssa called out, frightening everyone present in the room with a heart attack.
"Sin!" Kate shoved her crucifix at her and Stella. "Why are you awaken at the hours of the wolf?"
Alyssa got up from her knees and brushing residual dirt and dust from her. "I got a better question: why are you talking like that?"
David broke into the conversation: "You two should be in your dorms! And you: shouldn't you supposed to be at the hospital?"
"I was discharged from the hospital."
"By whose order?"
"My order! I am eighteen years old, and I can release myself."
Stella took the position as the mediator. "Calm down, you guys. We need the help we can get."
"Well, you can forget about it because I am not going to jeopardize any of your lives by the wrong hands. All you three have to return to your dorm and let the adults do this job, because none of you have any professional skills in sleuthing."
"You have to take all four of us including Pompidou, if you want Frank." Alyssa protested.
"What…I don't need any of you guys, I have the police department on my side." David said.
"It's been over twenty four hours, they're sending a brigade of five men to search for Max and Chloe, but no offense, I believe the police department hasn't the best luck ever since Rachel's disappearance. You need us more than we do!" Stella persisted.
David hesitated for a moment and reluctantly affirm their obligation. "Fine, but I'll let you know that whatever happened to you guys, I will eventually quit my job so that way I won't be sued for the liability of any of you girls' safety. He indicated the three girls.
"Fine by me." Alyssa said. "But first I have to make a serious protocol of your enrollment in our gang."
"What?" Stella inquired.
"Not to worry, Stella, this is just a simple protocol, it won't take long, I guarantee." Alyssa whistled and Pompidou barged inside the church.
"Aw, it's Pompidou." Kate exclaimed.
Pompidou went to Alyssa, asking for a rub down. "All righty, now, Pompidou, I want to ask you if you can do something for me." Pompidou perked his ears and tilted his head like he was in for a surprise. She faces David as though she was going to challenge him to a duel: "The only way you can be in our team is if Pompidou approves of you, if not, then you can't really join our team."
David was galvanized and arched his eyebrows banefully, contemplating at how stupid and ridiculous this protocol was. "Are you serious?"
"I've never been so serious in my life."
David turned to see the facial expressions of everyone in the room, and they were all nodding in consensus with this ritual except for Stella who thought Alyssa's idiosyncrasy was pretty idiotic and radical. "Fine with me then."
"Okay, then, David, the only way you could get accepted is if you could make Pompidou like you." Alyssa turned on an app on her smartphone and started playing a dramatic, suspenseful music from that gameshow where you could win a million dollars by answering a lot of questions. "You have thirty second on the clock. Let's begin."
"Uh, dear," David whispered hoarsely through his teeth. He could hear the timer ticking from her smartphone then he remembered he had a very special item in his bag, and produced it quickly. "Pompidou, would you like a Scooby snack."
The dog launches excitedly at David, bit his hand and stole the box of doggie treats from him as the buzzer went off.
"Time's out! Congratulation, David, you're in." Alyssa announced, playing a victory tune from her smartphone and dancing with Kate.
"He fucking bit me!" David yelled as he soothed his hand. "You guys are fucking idiots!"
"Sin!" Kate thrust the crucifix at him. "You have a very foul mouth!"
"Yeah, dude, way to set an example for us kids." Alyssa added. David had to hold his temper before going off rampage against these meddling twerps.
"Well, if you guys need me, I will be warming up the trailer." Frank left with Pompidou, trailing back to the parking lot.
"That was brilliant, Alyssa!" Kate remarked.
"I know."
"Kate, why are you here? Shouldn't you be at the hospital?" Stella prompted.
"Max is gone. I have to find her. She's my friend and she needs me like I needed a shoulder to cry on."
"That's fine with me: let's go." Alyssa said, locking her arm to Stella's and Kate's arm and marching to the exit. The three musketeers was following David to the trailer but their trek was perturbed by Arcadia Bay's rendition of Bill and Ted.
"Hey, watch where you're going!" David yelled in the dark as he saw Trevor knocking him over as he did a nose dive on the rails. David was still soothing his hands after the fiasco Pompidou had incur.
Trevor and Justin couldn't cope with reality after their nightly prescription of baking weeds into their system, and currently their using this euphoric phase as an excuse for reconciliation: Trevor was going out with Dana, and Justin has a crush on her, but these two were making up like Max and Chloe.
"Oh, sorry, about that," Justin said, resolving on his best friend's behalf. "Trevor doesn't talk much: the developer didn't really have enough cash in their budget to hire an actor to give my friend here a voice." Unfortunately, Justin was breaking the fourth wall in this story.
Justin squinted at David, whom he perceived him to be Mr. Potato head. "You-you sound familiar. Do I know from somewhere?" He burped while his wooziness caused him to lose composure with his stance.
"Are you guys smoking grass?" David ventilated their breaths and the waft of skunk-weed permeated in his mind. "I could have you boys suspended if that's what you want!"
"Holy Maxaroni and queso!" Justin's eyes widened and scrambled back along with Trevor. "You're Chloe's step-douche," he turned to his best friend, "dude, that's Chloe's step-douche." They laughed it off for a moment as Justin launched upwards and grabbed David's moustache which he thought was Mr. Potato's moustache. "Step-douche is in town."
"Call me step-douche one more time, and I'll cut you." David warned, prodding his finger at them.
"I didn't say it; you said it!" Justin retorted, feeling unjustified. David snarled at them and they run off, getting their skateboards and leaving the premises.
"Step-fuehrer!" Justin yelled out from the distance while stumbling his skateboard onto as his precious family jewels became the only collateral damage in the partake. "My balls."
"Sin!" Kate whispered quietly to herself as she shook her head glumly.
"Do you think we should recruit them?" Alyssa asked Stella.
"That's not a very bright idea: they would jeopardize our entire investigation."
"Okay," Alyssa said morosely.
Frank opened the door from inside the trailer and called them out: "What are you guys waiting for? We don't have all day!"
"I have my Mustang so I'm driving my own car." David said. "Does anyone want to go with me?"
There was silence with the crickets chirping in the background until Alyssa broke the silence.
"There is no separation clause in the Pompidou gang: you're either in or you're out?" Alyssa squinted her eyes balefully at David.
"Okay, I'm in." David assented against his will.
"Where are we going exactly?" Kate asked.
Stella answered that in a riddle with an ominous voice: "There's only one place where secrets lie and the cheaters cheat, a place where teachers and students meet."
"Fine with me: we're going to hell!" David said.
"Sin."
"Where the teacher is black and his last name is Wells."
"Now, that's racist, Alyssa!"