Cedric leaned over the railing at the edge of the building, checking out what Dyllan and Andie had been peering at. Down below, on the opposite side of the road from the bus stop, was a girl. She seemed to be in her mid teens, but it was hard to be sure from twelve stories up. Her curly dark brown hair was held back with a rainbow scrunchie, but something was… off about the scrunchie’s coloration. The same was true for her clothes and hair, and likely the rest of her as well. Cedric couldn’t put his finger on exactly what was wrong - the shades and hues just felt muted and rotten. If the world was a coloring book, then she was colored in by Tim Burton.

Still, Cedric saw no reason to assume this person was the monster Andie had seen on her way to school. Not until a squiggle of motion on the pavement caught his eye. Dozens of scribbled creatures crawled off of the Tim Burton girl and onto the pavement below her, each of them making their way to a different building. In fact, now that Cedric looked closer, he could see the scribbles crawling all over the place. They snuck through cracks and slipped through windows, no doubt headed to spread dark thoughts to whoever had the misfortune of living where they hunted.

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A grim determination rested on Andie’s face, as she prepared to leap down and fight. “…We need to stop her.”

“No, Andie. We need to scout ahead, gather information, then find a way to contact Finnegan. We’re still just beginners - just kids!” Cedric clenched his fists dramatically, caught up in his own speech. “We know we aren’t the last line of defense now, it’s okay for us to take our time and figure out what we need to before we -”

“Yeah…” Dyllan sighed. “She’s already gone.”

“She’s what?” Cedric turned to the spot where Andie had just been. “Goddammit Andie!”