He knocked lightly on Molly's door, then tried turning the knob, but it wouldn't give. "Molly?" No answer. He knocked again, harder this time. Nothing. He pressed into the door with his less-injured shoulder and finally it swung open to reveal... nothing. The window was open; Molly was gone. "What did she do, climb down?" He looked out the window suspiciously, but there was no sign of anyone limping away in the vicinity. Jack and Clu were sitting in her car in the driveway, so the possibility that she had secretly left was pretty slim.
"Something isn't right," he murmured, a master of the obvious. He surveyed the room again. Her backpack was in the corner, lying pathetically on its back with its straps clawing the air helplessly, where she had no doubt thrown it in a fit of pique after being denied in the hallway. The photocopies were strewn around the bed, some scattered on the floor around it.
"Fi!" he shouted, and sprinted down the hallway to her door. She met him in her doorway, looking uncharacteristically weary.
"Yeah?"
"She's gone."
"What do you mean, she's gone?" He grabbed her by the arm and led her into Molly's room. He gestured around wildly with his good hand.
"Look!"
"Did she actually climb down?"
"I don't think so. Look, her stuff's still here." He tossed the backpack onto the bed and began gathering up the scattered copies. Fi didn't respond, instead roaming around and inspecting the details of the room; she pressed her fingers against the windowsill. "Claws," she whispered.
Jack and Clu were not pleased to be interrupted by Fi and Carey climbing into the backseat uninvited.
"Hey," Jack said indignantly, "we were--"
"Drive," Fi commanded, rummaging through the backpack. He knew better than to argue.
They pulled off the road in the same general spot where Molly had stopped a week before. Fi distributed the supplies--a flashlight to Jack, photocopies to Carey and Clu, the backpack and the rest of its potentially lethal contents for herself. She dictated a plan: everybody spread out.
An hour had passed, and Fi was growing tired of traipsing around the forest, yelling occasionally for her mother, looking for something no one could even prove existed. She wasn't in the mood to be the paranormal's lone champion tonight; all she wanted was to go back home and resume feeling sorry for herself at once. She was pursuing this pitiful line of thought when she nearly ran into Jack.
"Hey! Watch it," he warned. "Aren't you supposed to be, you know, looking for something?"
"I have been," retorted Fi. "But there's nothing there. Did you find anything?"
"No."
"We can't stop looking."
"Let's go this way," he said, shining his flashlight into the trees and heading off in a different direction. She had to run to keep up with him.
"Slow down!"
"Keep up!"
"Jack!"
He stopped and turned to face her. "What?" he demanded.
"I just... you know, slow down. I can't keep up when you walk that fast," she finished lamely. What was wrong with him? Did he blame her for losing Molly? "You know, you can't blame me for this. Who could have predicted that--"
"No, nothing's ever your fault, is it? Everything happens to you."
Fi's brow furrowed. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing. Never mind. Nothing. Come on." He started to walk away again, not slowing down a bit. She ran to catch up with him and grabbed his arm. He shook her off angrily and stopped. "What the hell did you think you were doing?" He pointed the flashlight at her face and she raised her hands to ward off the light.
"I was just... I was upset about something, so I went into my room for, like, three minutes. That's it."
"That's not what I'm talking about." He switched off the light.
"Then what are you talking about?"
"Don't act like you don't know."
"Oh. He told you, too?"
"What do you mean, 'too'? Yes, he told me everything. All about you."
"About me?"
"About what you were doing out here that night."
"Oh. Him. That." She blushed and pretended to look around in the backpack with as much nonchalance as she could muster. "So?"
"What I don't get is why you did it."
"Since when are you an abstinence freak? And why is it any of your business anyway?"
"Because you're my sister, and he's my best friend, and I love him."
"Well, of course you love him, everybody loves Clu, he's a great guy, what do you think, I'm going to--"
"No. Not like that."
She arched an eyebrow as this revelation sunk in. "Oh. So you..."
"Yes."
"Well. That's interesting. Are you sure he's interest--"
"Yes," he cut her off again.
"It's just that he seemed awfully--"
"But, he's in love with you."
"Oh, Jack, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for that to happen."
"What does that mean?"
"Well, I don't love him. And if I had known... I would have been shocked, and, um, very surprised, but I definitely wouldn't have done what we did."
"Why don't you love him?"
"Because... I was interested in someone else, and he wasn't interested in me. And there was Clu, such a great friend, always ready, always happy. So I suggested that we take a drive. And we got lost, and some things happened that apparently shouldn't have. But that's all it ever was."
"Oh." He turned around and started walking slowly again.
"I'm sorry he doesn't love you," she offered softly.
"Oh, no, he does. Apparently he loves us both."
"Well, that's a little gross," she said, wrinkling her nose. "Although I've heard grosser things than that tonight, I guess."
"What?"
"Nothing."
They walked along silently for a while, occasionally and futilely shouting for Molly. Neither of them were surprised nor overjoyed to see Clu bounding toward them. "Finally!" he exclaimed.
"What, did you find her?"
"Oh, no. It's just really boring walking around out here by myself. I was starting to go a little crazy."
"No offense," Fi smirked, laying a hand on his shoulder, "but I think you already were a little crazy."
He smiled adoringly at her and Jack's formerly clearing expression darkened to sulkiness again as he charged forward. "He's upset," Fi told Clu confidentially. "You should go talk to him." He gave her another adoring smile and ran to catch up with Jack. She shook her head and kept walking slowly behind them, listening hard both to their conversation and the surrounding forest noises in case the monster was in range. He wasn't, and she soon found that their conversation wasn't something she wanted to listen to either, so she stealthily headed off in a different direction after noticing a few decimated tree stumps and some tree trunks that looked as if they had been forcibly pushed to the side by something very large and very strong. Of course, it could have just been their natural formation, but she figured any lead was a good lead, especially considering the alternative. Was it everyone's mission to freak her out today?