Hey everyone! It's me, Wesley (the writer not the character) just wanting to wish everybody a very happy Thanxgiving! Hope y'all eat as much as I am…!
James, Matthew, and Wesley sat around the living room coffee table, with the Book of Light in Wesley's lap. An hour had gone by and they still had no idea who the stranger was or where he had gone.
"So what are we gonna do?" James asked. "I have a date tonight with Sam."
"I have plans, too," Matthew said, eliciting looks from both his brothers. "What, I'm tutoring tonight."
"Tutoring on a Saturday night," Wesley commented. "Sounds pretty lame to me."
"Not as lame as staying home on a Saturday night to 'find your muse,'" Matthew retaliated. "How long are you gonna keep this writing thing going, anyway?"
"Until I get a best-seller," Wesley replied. "I ought to write about what we do."
"Hey," James interjected, "you can't do that."
"I know I can't do that," Wesley said, blindly flipping through the Book. "I'm just saying that."
"I told you," James said, "slow things down and let the ideas come to you."
"Sounds like good advice to me," Matthew said. "When I write my papers, I try not to force them. I give myself enough time to organize my thoughts. Which, by the way, I am pulling in straight As."
"Man, shut up," Wesley said. "You are the only person I know who actually starts working on a paper the day the professor gives it out. No wonder you're tutoring on a Saturday night."
"And I've got not one," James quipped, "but two losers for brothers. Nobody's getting any action around here except me."
"Don't go there," Wesley said. "And if I remember correctly, you hardly ever get to see this girl."
"At least I'm out on the scene," James smirked.
"Can we please focus?" Matthew interrupted. "We have work to do."
"Fine," James and Wesley said in unison.
"And I get more action than both of you combined," Matthew muttered.
"This is getting us nowhere," Wesley said, slamming the Book of Light shut. "There's nothing in here, and we have no knowledge about the boy at all. I, for one, give up."
"You know better than that," Matthew said, grabbing the remote and turning the television on. "Everything happens for a reason. The reason doesn't always have to be clear. As far as I'm concerned, this is a lesson for us."
"I'm in college!" Wesley protested. "I get plenty of lessons. Four a day, actually, and five on Wednesdays."
"Put it on ESPN," James said. "I think there might be a football game on."
"Wait," Matthew said, stopping on the local news. "Let's watch this for a second."
He kept the television on channel 8, where the afternoon news broadcasted at that time. Matthew ordinarily would have changed the channel, but the mention of missing people flagged his attention for some reason. Wesley had mentioned it earlier, having read about it online. The story stuck in his head, though, and although he dismissed it before, something about the case stayed in his mind. Something seemed supernatural about the case to him. Now, the news reporter spoke live through the television from an unfamiliar place close to Lenox Mall.
"This is Colin Cavallero reporting live in Atlanta. This tall building behind me is the Atlanta MENSA headquarters, and the sight of the twelfth disappearance in the past two weeks. Known to many as "The Smart House," the MENSA headquarters is home to many of the city's academically elite. But today, and for the past two weeks, it has been turned into a crime scene. Police remain baffled about the whole situation and have no leads for suspects or motives…
"Today, the twelfth person disappeared somewhere near this building, possibly inside. Police have blocked anyone from going in while they investigate. They're asking anyone with any information to please contact the Atlanta Police Department immediately…"
"It's the MENSA headquarters?" James asked. "I didn't even know that there was one of those around here. I've never heard of it."
"For obvious reasons," Wesley noted.
"So that's the connection," Matthew concluded. "They're all in MENSA. Now, why would anyone want to target them?"
"Because they're smart," Wesley said. "That's gotta be it, right? If there's no other connection between them, then that's the only explanation."
"That doesn't seem like enough to go on," James said. "This is too much. I have a date tonight. Can't we save the missing people for tomorrow? We already have to deal with a more important issue."
"I agree with Jimmy," Wesley said. "One thing at a time. Then Jimmy can go on his precious date."
"Fine," Matthew conceded, giving in to his brothers' stares, "that'll be tomorrow's problem, but we really need to get going on this guy."
"Oh damn," Wesley said, looking at his watch. "I need to go to the library. I have to return some books."
"You're putting the library above this?" James asked.
"What about your date?" Wesley asked. "And I'll be back anyway. Gimme one of y'all's cell phones so you can find me."
"Which library are you going to?" Matthew asked.
"The one downtown," Wesley said. "It's a hell of a lot better than the one at Oxford."
"Since you're going out," Matthew said, tossing his cellular phone to Wesley, "Jimmy and I can go check out the MENSA building. Just to check it out today so we'll have more to go on tomorrow."
"Good," Wesley said. "That means I won't have to go. Be careful."