As Geoffrey Simmons packed his bags he felt the inevitable feelings of doubt. What the hell was he doing taking off half of his annual holiday to go gallivanting off to some random town on a hunch that it was important? Surely there was already an investigation into the disappearance of the school bus and if Gary Lawson knew the whereabouts of it's disappearance, it shouldn't be too difficult for the police to find it.

He hurriedly packed a few pairs of boxer shorts and a spare T-Shirt, not knowing how long they would be staying in Foresbrook or whether it would be safe enough knowing that the town was full of cultists. He didn't know what was going to happen, but despite all his doubts, he knew that it was just something that he had to do. Normally there is no way he would have gone on this wild goose chase, but his life was at an all-time low, and the trip seemed to be his saviour somehow.

'Shit…' he whispered to himself. He was supposed to be in the diner with Gary right now. Twenty minutes just wasn't enough to get home, pack a bag, lock up and drive to the diner. He began to meticulously lock all the windows and doors to his house. He wasn't going to risk being burgled to get to the diner faster, so Gary would just have to wait.

He was just about to leave and was stood in the hallway with his bags when he caught his reflection in the mirror. His greying hair and beard had merged into a cobweb-like mass which seemed to envelop his head, penetrated only by his tired looking alcohol induced bloodshot eyes. In other words, he looked like crap! He couldn't see how investigating a possible kidnap in a backwater town full of cultists would somehow rejuvenate his soul, but somehow he knew that it would.

After one long glare at himself he left the house, firmly locked the front door and sat in his car for 5 minutes to anticipate the week ahead. He sighed before starting the engine and swinging his car into the darkening and deserted road ahead.

- - - - -

'So you're really going? It's going to be so strange for you to see your father again after so long…' said Rachel, taking a dainty sip from her cappuccino and observing her boyfriend lovingly.

Philip smiled and stroked her free hand. 'You don't have to come with me y'now.'

Rachel nodded. 'I know, but I want to. After all, I was invited.' She smiled gently. 'How did Roger know about me anyway? We've been dating for 3 years, but you tell me you haven't seen him or spoken to him in about 5.'

Philip shrugged. 'Who knows. Mum must've told him I guess. There's no other way he could've found out.'

Suddenly Philip felt something very hot soak his arm and he jumped to his feet in surprise and pain.

'Jesus Christ! What the hell was that?' he yelled, quickly ripping off the jacket that had absorbed most of the liquid and throwing it to the ground. He glared angrily at a small chubby, balding man with a wobbling turkey neck and a fat black moustache.

Gary Lawson looked around sheepishly before beginning to gently dab at Philips arm with a dirty napkin. Philip wrenched his arm away.

'What the hell are you doing you idiot?' he snarled. The diner went quiet.

'I'm just w-w-waiting for a frie-nd…' he stammered. 'I tripped and spilt my coffee, sorry. On your arm, sorry.' He began to sidle off back to his chair like a naughty child.

Philip began to pursue but Rachel pulled him back.

'Leave him Phil, it was an accident, OK?' she said soothingly, pulling him back into his seat.

This seemed to calm him down. 'Yeah. Sorry,' his breathing was heavy. 'Jeez that coffee was hot. I'm going to go run some cold water on my arm.'

He picked his jacket up from the floor and laid it down on his seat before getting up and entering the small diner bathroom. He slapped his cheeks in an attempt to lessen his rage, but it didn't disappear completely until he had filled the sink with icy cold water and plunged his head in. Every thought rushed out of his mind and was instantly replaced with a powerful feeling of helplessness, isolation and unimaginable cold… Then his face resurfaced, the heat rushed back into his face and the air rushed back into his lungs. He breathed a sigh of relief before grabbing a handful of paper towels and gently drying his face, not wanting to ruin the feelings of peace and serenity that release from the cold water had bestowed upon him. He stood for a minute and breathed in the pungent and yet somehow comforting smell of the bathroom before standing upright, composing himself and exiting back into the diner.

Rachel greeted him with a sad but loving smile as he sat back down.

'You feeling better now,' she asked.

He took a sip of coffee and nodded. 'Yeah, I'm feeling much better thanks. Can't wait to get out of this crummy diner though.'

She nodded slightly, gazing around the yellowed and peeling restaurant. Then from the corner of her eye she saw a man enter the diner and begin a frantic conversation with the man who had spilt coffee on Philip. He looked like a crack head or something, his head swathed in shaggy grey hair and his eyes more bloodshot than a freshly cut steak. She averted her vision suddenly, trying to avoid any attempt at eye contact the weirdo tried to make.

'I'm gonna be worried about the cat whilst we're gone,' Philip said suddenly.

Startled, Rachel turned to face him.

'What? Oh, he'll be fine. Andrew from next door said he'd feed him twice a day.'

'Oh, OK, that's good. Wait. You gave him a key?' he replied anxiously.

'No no, no,' she laughed. 'I told him to just leave the food on his outside windowsill. You reckon that'll work?'

'I don't see why not. He's perfectly capable of catching his own food if not. There are plenty of pigeons around,' said Philip jokingly.

He drank the last of his coffee and stood up. 'Ready to go?'

Rachel drained her cup and stood up, throwing a 5 dollar bill onto their table as she did so.

'Let's go.'

They exited the diner and headed for the car parked on the opposite side of the street.

- - - - -

Geoffrey Simmons eyeballed them suspiciously through the frosted pane window as they did so.

'He the guy that went ape-shit at you?' he asked Gary.

Gary nodded. 'Yeah, but I did spill coffee all over his arm. He's bound to be pissed, I mean, I know I would.'

Geoffrey nodded and thought nothing more of it.

'So, you all ready?' Gary asked, patting his own bag which sat propped up beside him in the red leather clad booth.

Geoffrey nodded. 'Yep. I didn't know how much to bring, so I decided to travel light. How long do you think we'll be staying in Foresbrook?'

Gary shrugged. 'Who knows? The bus may have crashed into a ditch and nobody in Foresbrook has noticed, or equally, they could all be being ritually sacrificed as we speak,' he chuckled darkly.

Geoffrey winced. 'Don't joke about shit like that. Those kids could really be in danger.'

Gary held up his hands. 'I know! And that's why we're going in isn't it?'

'I guess it is,' replied Geoffrey. 'Are we quite finished here? I'm getting kinda sick of this place.'

'But Mr. Simmons, you've been coming to this diner nearly every weekday for the past 5 or 6 years, why change your mind all of a sudden?' The waitress had overheard his last comment and came over to the table.

Geoffrey blatantly and rudely ignored her.

'C'mon Gary, lets get out of here.'

They left the diner and climbed into Geoffrey's car, just as Philip and Rachel's black soft-top drove off into the soft fog that was beginning to settle on the dark and silent streets. Geoffrey started the car and quickly banged the heating on. Both he and Gary smiled as the warm air blew at them gently, warming the cold that they'd picked up in the brief time they were outside.

'Man, that feels good,' sighed Gary, taking off his gloves and placing his hands in front of one of the small, square vents. 'So,' he said as Geoffrey pulled out into the road. 'How you been buddy?'

Geoffrey yawned. 'Just look at me Gary. What the hell do you think?' He revised his harsh reply. 'I've been in a hole for a while. Life isn't really going too well for me at the moment.'

'Women problems?' asked Gary sympathetically.

'Erm, I guess women do come into it yeah. Well, the lack of them that is. I don't really know what to do when I meet women I like these days. It's been so long… For a while I swear I'd forgotten that they even existed!' He laughed dryly. 'That's not the only part though. My job is the same old shit day in, day out. It's a million times less stressful than New York though, I'll tell you!'

Gary nodded and smiled. 'Touché.'

There was silence for a while until Geoffrey turned a corner and pulled out onto a moderately busy motorway.

'I feel like life is flashing before my eyes, and any hopes of having a family are just slipping away. I'm 36 Gary! A 36 year old with only 4 relationships to his name! Call it a midlife crisis or whatever you want, but it's serious and I'm doing what I can to take my mind off it.'

'…like helping me with the school bus investigation,' Gary said, finishing Geoffrey's sentence.

Geoffrey nodded. 'Every time I help someone or solve a murder or whatever, I feel good about myself which makes my existence more bearable.'

'You really need to get some treatment for depression mate,' said Gary, a concerned look in his eyes.

'Yeah, that's what I thought, but I know that I'm not going to get any worse.'

'How?' Gary interrupted.

'I dunno really, I just know. Once we've solved this case, I'm going to sort myself out. It's as simple as that,' he said proudly, smiling to himself.

Gary shrugged. 'Whatever you say Geoff. It's your life.'

Geoffrey nodded. 'Yeah, it is… So what about you mate? How have you been? And why did you come all the way from New York to get my help with this case?' It was an obvious question, but one which hadn't crossed his mind until this point.

'I needed a partner for the case and everyone else in my department is a total jackass! So I was passing through Ashfield on my way to Toluca Lake and Foresbrook when I thought, wait a minute, my old buddy Geoffrey lives here! Maybe he'll want to help.'

Geoffrey nodded, now beginning to understand. 'Right, I see… Aww man! And here was me thinking that you wanted my help because I was the best detective in all of both New York and Toluca county,' he joked. They both laughed.

Geoffrey sighed. It was good to laugh after not doing so for so long. In fact, it was good to have some company outside of the workplace after not doing so for so long!

He yawned and pulled the car off the motorway and onto a foggy highway that stretched out into the distance. He followed the red lights of the car in front, not wanting to accidentally run off the road and crash into the soggy grassed embankments lining either side.

'So how have you been?' Geoffrey repeated.

'I've been good, well, better than you, ' he laughed. 'I got myself a nice little paperwork job in the office, but couldn't stand being away from the action, so now I'm back being a detective. I've moved away from homicide though, you were right about it being a grisly business. I'm still doing the messed up shit, y'now, stabbings, rapes and whatnot, but I'm sick of murder. I get paid less, but it's worth having less cash to be away from all the death.'

Geoffrey didn't really see the logic. Stabbings left only marginally cleaner crime scenes. The only difference was the lack of a body. Maybe he saw it differently to Gary. Maybe he was so desensitized to killing and violence, and that the presence of a corpse didn't affect him at all.

'You have a love life?' Geoffrey added.

'Not really. I had a little fling with a chick from the office, but she was married,' he chuckled.

Geoffrey laughed with him. 'Jesus Gary! You'd better watch who you're shagging! You could end up with some right psycho, meathead husbands on your tail!'

Gary shrugged. 'Hey, she came to me. Clearly I'm irresistible,' he bragged. Geoffrey couldn't tell if he was joking or not.

'Right…' He didn't want to offend his friend in anyway, so suppressed his laughter and kept his comments to himself. 'So how's your boy? He must be what, 11 now?'

- - - - -

Rachel kept glancing over her shoulder nervously, and it was starting to freak Philip out.

'What's the problem Rach?' Philip asked. It was hard enough driving in the fog as it was without her repeatedly fidgeting in the corner of his eye.

'I dunno. That car seems to have been following us for a long time.'

Philip raised an eyebrow. 'So? They're clearly just going in the same direction as us. How do you know it's even the same car in this fog? You must have pretty good eyesight babe.'

She smiled. 'Maybe it's just you that has crappy eyesight,' she chuckled.

'Maybe,' he replied.

The fog suddenly got heavier, and Philip could barely see beyond the headlights.

'Shit! I've got to stop,' he slowed down suddenly.

'No! We don't want the car behind to crash into us,' Rachel yelled as the two yellow orbs of the car behind suddenly appeared very close behind them. Then, as quickly as it had arrived, the fog lessened slightly. They both sighed in relief as the swirling fog passed them and they were left with the original soft, white blanket that had covered the road pretty much continuously throughout the evening. Rachel looked in the rear-view mirror as the car behind began to pull away from them both, and as she did so, got a good look at the passengers; a small balding man with a moustache, and a red eyed, grey haired tramp like figure.

Her eyes widened with fear suddenly.

'Philip! The people in the car behind us! They're the two from the diner,' she whispered, her voice dripping anxiety.

Philip was confused. 'Who?'

'You know. The guy who spilt coffee on you and his tramp friend!'

He looked in the mirror, just catching their faces before they disappeared back into the fog.

'Shit, you're right! What the hell are they doing here?' he asked.

'I don't know. Seems like an unlikely coincidence, don't you think?'

'You think they're out to get us?' he asked. Philip was now on the same train of thought.

'They must be. Why else would they be here?' Rachel replied, beginning to panic.

'Calm down, calm down. OK, we need to try and lose them. It shouldn't be too difficult in this fog,' he began, formulating a plan in his head.

'Don't do anything stupid Philip. We can barely see, and besides, we're on one, straight road. No turnoffs to lose them on. How much fuel do we have left?' she asked, glancing at the dials above the wheel. 'Shit! We're nearly out. Bloody typical.'

Then Philip did something stupid. In a moment of panic he all of a sudden pressed his foot heavily onto the accelerator and began to plough his way through the fog.

Rachel screamed in panic. 'What the hell are you doing? Are you insane?'

Philip gave her a quick, fearful glance. 'Shut up! I know what I'm doing, OK?'

- - - - -

'And in his classes play? What was it…? Exodus, I think or the Nativity… I forget. I think it was –.'

'Shut it Gary! Look,' Geoffrey interrupted, pointing at the car in front. There was a sudden screech of tires as it sped off down the road and towards a small wooded area.

'Holy shit! What do you think? Boy racer?' Gary asked, palming the police badge in his breast pocket.

'I don't know. Could be drunk or high or something. Damn! I wish we were in a squad car; then we could radio for backup and put the siren on,' Geoffrey replied as he banged the gear stick into 5th and began speed after them.

'Maybe we should leave it Geoffrey. We're not even supposed to be here ourselves. Could end up opening a can of worms that I'd rather stay closed, y'now?' Gary said nervously.

Geoffrey gave him a glance of contempt.

'What kind of cop are you, man? That guy is out of control and needs apprehending.'

'Yeah, but the amount of time we'd waste chasing him down and taking him in, how much longer would we be leaving those kids in that school bus?' Gary argued.

Geoffrey could see that he had a point, but couldn't risk letting a felon escape.

'Shouldn't Toluca County or New York State police already have a team looking for the bus? It seems weird that they sent just you to investigate something so big.'

'Geoffrey?' Gary said sheepishly, scratching the back of his head and averting his eyes from Geoffrey's direction. 'There's something you really need to know before we go any further into this whole bus thing.'

Geoffrey shrugged. 'What is it?'

'I was never actually sent to investigate this disappearing bus. In fact, I'm supposed to be at work right now,' he revealed.

Geoffrey was so dumbfounded that he nearly went off the road and crashed into a tree.

'What the hell? Why are you so interested in this case that you'd skip work to investigate?'

Gary winced. 'There's more. The reason that there are no other cops on the case is because… is because, the case doesn't exist.'

Geoffrey slammed on the brakes, sending the car into a half spin down the centre of the road and eventually stopping on the wrong lane, facing back down the road where they'd just come from. Philip and Rachel's car raced off around a corner, getting out of sight in less than a second.

Geoffrey sat behind the wheel stiffly, staring aimlessly but sternly through the windscreen. 'Would you like to explain yourself Gary?' he hissed through gritted teeth.

'A couple of nights ago I dreamt about this place called Foresbrook, and then the next day, a school bus goes missing.'

Geoffrey scrunched up his face angrily. 'And the two are connected how?'

'In my dream, a school bus was laying in a ditch, just outside of Foresbrook. I'm sorry Geoffrey. I didn't want to tell anyone on the force because they wouldn't believe me. I knew I had to go and check it out myself.'

'And you thought you'd drag me along for the ride. I see,' Geoffrey spat. 'I can't believe that you're acting on a dream, I mean, are you insane? A dream dammit! A dream!'

'I know, but it was so real. Plus, I had the dream the night before I found out about the missing bus,' Gary justified.

'So what? An uncanny coincidence maybe? No! Not even an uncanny coincidence. Just a regular, run of the mill coincidence.' Silence descended on the two suddenly. Geoffrey was the one to break it. 'So anything else you'd like to tell me?'

'Yes! God, you should've let me finish,' Gary said, his voice cracking with stress caused by Geoffrey's inevitable outburst. 'The dream as you say was just a dream, and normally I wouldn't have thought anything of it, but the next day I felt really nauseous. It kind of lingered in my head. Usually dreams fade like, instantly, and you forget most of what you saw, right?' Geoffrey nodded. 'Yeah? Well this one didn't, at all! It stayed really vivid in my head for hours after I woke up, and I couldn't think of anything else. I though it was really weird until I found out about the bus.'

'So what are you saying? That you're psychic?' Geoffrey scoffed.

Gary winced again and shook his head. 'No, definitely not. It felt like someone was reaching out to me. Like they were the psychic one, and had picked me as the recipient of the message, y'now?'

Geoffrey shook his head. 'No, I don't.'

Gary leaped up in his seat and leaned in close to Geoffrey.

'C'mon man! You've got to trust me on this one. Please! You're the only person who I can trust!'

It was Geoffrey's turn to wince. His friend looked truly disturbed.

'Look, I'll drive you to Foresbrook, but then I'm going home,' he started, now calm.

'No Geoffrey! You're needed, don't you see? You said so yourself, you were intrigued by the case but didn't know why. In the ten minutes we spoke earlier today, you went from wanting rid of me because you thought I was going to try and persuade you to come back to New York, to actively volunteering to come with me.'

Geoffrey relaxed a little and thought about it. To all intents and purposes, this was true. Why would he take half of his annual leave to go on what he thought at the time wasn't a wild goose chase. Anyone would've have noticed the little discrepancies in Gary's story much quicker than he had. Maybe this was bigger than he thought… Or maybe it was all a crock of shit, much like the rest of his existence. He didn't know. What he did know however, was that if he didn't investigate further, all he would be doing would be returning to his boring, same old same old lifestyle which clearly wasn't working for him. This story was sodden with intrigue and mystery, something new and exciting was happening, and he had to embrace it whilst it lasted.

He shot Gary a sad smile before turning the car round (with great difficulty on such a narrow road; he had no idea how he'd managed to do a handbrake turn on it!) and continuing with their journey.

'So you're going to help me?' Gary beamed.

Geoffrey returned the strangely infectious smile. 'Yeah. I'm going to help you. We'll find that bus together, and hopefully catch up with that other car…' He muttered the last part under his breath, remembering Philip and Rachel's speedy departure.

'Thanks for believing in me,' Gary smiled.

Geoffrey laughed. 'Well, somebody's got to!'