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Chapter 1: A Plan
Sarah and Becker returned to the ARC disheartened. The anomaly had closed, with Connor, Abby, and Danny trapped on the other side.
The pair had put off phoning Lester to inform him of the tragic turn of events, refusing to believe that it had even happened.
They walked toward Lester's office, their legs dragging like lead weights.
Lester was standing behind his desk, his arms crossed in front of his chest.
"So where is the rest of the Mystery Inc. gang?" he asked cynically, oblivious to what had happened to three-fifths of his freelance staff.
"They're—they're gone." Sarah stuttered.
"Sorry?" Lester asked, thinking he had heard Sarah wrong.
Becker sensed Sarah's discomfort and explained to Lester.
"The—the anomaly closed, with Danny, Connor, and Abby on the other side, sir."
"And Helen?" Lester asked, seemingly ignoring the statement Becker had just made.
Sarah and Becker shared a look and turned to Lester.
"We're not exactly certain of Helen's whereabouts." Sarah answered.
"Well, that's brilliant! Just bloody brilliant! Three missing high-profile members missing in action, as well as a mentally deranged lunatic, who may or may not be running ramped throughout the anomalies!" Lester shouted, causing Sarah to jump.
Becker had even flinched slightly.
"What do you propose we do, sir?" Becker asked after Lester cooled down.
"I have absolutely no idea. If the prime minister finds out about this, I'm finished and, more than likely, so is the ARC." Lester replied quietly.
Sarah made a face as if she were thinking about something.
"What—what if we were able to find someone, who knew nearly as much as us, who could help?" Sarah asked cryptically.
"Unless you know how to time-travel or navigate the anomalies, there is no one." Lester answered cynically.
"But there is." Sarah challenged.
"Who?" Becker and Lester asked in unison.
Jena walked the empty corridor on the floor below her dorm room. This was getting ridiculous. She needed to sleep more, honestly; but the fact that there were so many legends and other miscellaneous legends and hokum that needed debunked, her job would never be done.
Then again, it was definitely more interesting than the classes that she often missed. Her teachers couldn't figure out how she was still able to be passing when she should be failing for tardiness and absence.
"Miss Veeve." A voice called behind her.
"Dr. Parker. What a pleasant surprise!" Jena greeted, forcing a smile.
"I believe it would be more pleasant if you made an attempt to show up for class and hand in your dissertation."
"Yeah, about that. My pen-pal's been sending me a bunch of material that I've been trying to incorporate into my dissertation, but nothing is connecting for some reason." Jena explained.
"I understand that you're a recent transfer, and though you're still trying to adjust to it here, remember that graduation is upon you." He began.
"Is this going somewhere?" Jena asked impatiently.
"You are a very clever student, Jena, one of the brightest in my class. I'd hate to see such talent wasted disproving the supernatural and testing odd theories brought forth by your pen-pal." Dr. Parker stated.
Jena didn't answer.
"I want your dissertation in my hands by Monday morning, Jena, understand?"
Jena nodded. "Yes, sir."
"Good, I expect to see you in class tomorrow, when you'll hopefully be awake before the end of my last lecture at eight pm." Dr. Parker spoke as he departed down the stairs toward the exit out of the building.
"I really don't like that man." Jena commented to herself as soon as Dr. Parker was out of earshot.
Her stomach growling brought her mind back to the real reason that she had bothered to come downstairs.
She usually left the campus to walk downtown to a nice, little diner that severed the best sandwiches and soup in town.
It was like every other night, that was, until she returned to the campus to see the cops surrounding the parking lots of the campus.
"It's probably a drug bust," she laughed to herself, reminiscing late nights watching the cops TV show.
As she attempted to sneak back into the building that housed some of her classes as well as her dorm, she was stopped.
"Freeze!" One of the cops shouted.
Jena's hands instinctively flew up in the air to show she wasn't armed, as she turned to face the cop.
She ended up sitting in the campus police office with both the Head of Campus Security and the Police Chief.
"What were you doing roaming the campus when a lockdown has been established?"
The Head of Security inquired angrily.
"Um, I left for dinner in town a couple hours ago and there wasn't one then." Jena answered.
The Police Chief and the Head of Campus Security looked at each other.
"Why? What happened?" Jena asked when they didn't speak.
The Police Chief cleared his throat. "A student was allegedly walking home from their work-study, when they were attacked and mauled to death by a bear, we think."
"You think?" Jena asked sarcastically. "There hasn't been a bear sighting here in over two decades."
"Like Police Chief Pack had said earlier," the Head of Security cut-in. "We think it may have been a bear, or a big cat. We can't really say at this time."
"Then, can I go?" Jena asked, wanting to leave
"Only on the condition that you tell no one."
Jena saluted. "Gotcha."
As Jena Veeve exited the Campus Police Office, she briskly walked back to her dorm room with the intention of grabbing a torch and investigating the supposed "bear attack."
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