Margaret paces around the room. She smokes nervously. She's on the edge of a breakdown.
"I've been waiting here for an hour, Capt," Margaret says.
"I'm sorry, I had some --"
"An hour! Do you know what that means? Do you know what could have happened to him in an hour?"
"I'm sure he's fine. He probably just skipped school --"
"Not my Sabastian. He wouldn't do that. He's not like that."
"You never know. Kids can be unpredictable. One time my dad thought I was in the chess club when really I was sneaking out to see Jenny Jones at the drive-in --"
"Sabastian is not like you. He's not like me. He's not like most kids."
She takes a drag from her cigarette. She fights back tears.
"He's different, okay? He has a few friends, but everyone else – they make fun of him. Call him names, laugh at him, his clothes --"
"His clothes? What's wrong with his clothes?"
"They're too – too bright – I don't know. Does it matter?"
"Maybe, maybe not."
Margaret takes another drag.
"He's just – special, alright? R – Roy always said he was weird – called him a freak." Roy is Margaret's ex-husband, a drug addict and a former soldier who fought in the revolution against the British rule.
"Is he?" Captain Jack asks.
"What?"
"A freak."
"It doesn't matter what that bastard called Sabastian. What matters is that he's missing and I need you to find him."
Captain Jack scratches his stubble.
"You heard from Roy lately?"
Margaret hesitates. She doesn't like to talk about Roy.
"He was in Phnom Penh, last I heard. That was a year ago. But he has nothing to do with this. He doesn't care about Sabastian. He never did." Margaret says.
Captain Jack digs through his desk, finds a pen and a pad.
"What's his number?"
"I told you, Roy has nothing to do with this --" Margaret says.
"Look, most of the time, when a kid goes missing, he's with a parent or a relative --" Captain Jack says.
"What about the other time?" Margaret asks.
"What other time?"
"You said most of the time. What about the rest of the time? The one percent." Margaret says.
Captain Jack takes off his glasses. He leans forward.
"This is Lakewood, Margaret. Nothing bad ever happens here. You know the worst thing I've seen in four years? It was when that seagull attacked Joy the crazy man. Thought his hair was a nest. He was about to lay an egg when we showed up."
Captain Jack laughs at the memory. He tries to lighten the mood.
Margaret cracks a smile. But only for a moment.
"I'll call Roy. He'll talk to me before he talks to a --"
"Pig!" Captain Jack interrupts.
"Cop." Margaret corrects.
Margaret sits down. She puts out her cigarette in an ashtray. She looks at Captain Jack with tears in her eyes.
"Please find my son, Capt. Please. I don't know what I'll do without him." Margaret cries.
Captain Jack comforts her.
"It's okay, Margaret. It's okay. I'll find him. I'll find your son."
Captain Jack feels a weight on his shoulders. A responsibility he doesn't want. He puts on his glasses and continues typing.
WHAP! WHAP! WHAP! The typewriter slams the paper.
The camera pans up to the sky above the dark forest. A faint light shines from a small temple near a waterfall.
A mysterious man walks into the temple, holding a bag of gold and jewels. Another figure comes out to greet him.
"Is it ready?" The man asks.
An old woman with a crooked smile and a Chinese accent comes out from behind a curtain. The room behind her glows red.
"Almost ready, my lord. We just need to wait for the full moon. Then the beast will be ready to give you the blood you crave for so long." The woman says.
"Here's half the money I promised you. When it's done, I'll give you the rest. Don't screw me over this time, or I'll take your head instead." The man says.
"Don't worry, my lord. Everything will be perfect this time. The boy I got is strong and brave. He'll do whatever I tell him when he transforms." The woman says.
"And when will this full moon happen?"
"In two weeks, my lord. When the time comes, I'll send my servant to inform you." The woman says.
"Good. That will be all."
The scene cuts to the school. It's history class time, the favorite of Miles, Ellis, and Alice.
Mr.Oliver walks in front of a middle school class. He is charismatic and smart. And handsome too. The girls swoon over him.
"Who here likes mysteries?" Mr.Oliver asks.
All of the girls raise their hands eagerly. Most of the boys do too, including Miles, Ellis, and Alice.
"Good, good. Because I want you to think of this class as an investigation into the greatest mysteries known to mankind. You'll need to learn to think beyond your own senses. This means using your imagination. I don't know how many of you watched History Channel like I asked."
More hands go up.
"You may remember something Marc Bloch said: 'The very names we use to describe ancient ideas or vanished forms of social organization would be quite meaningless if we had not known living men.'"
A loud knock on the door interrupts him. Mr.Oliver turns around.
The door opens and the principal walks in with a new girl.
Here is my attempt to connect the scene with the previous scene:
The principal leaves the room with a smile.
"Welcome to Lakewood, Oriel." Mr.Oliver says.
The girl tries to sit down, but Mr.Oliver stops her.
"Wait a minute. Don't you want to introduce yourself to the class?" Mr.Oliver asks.
The girl sighs.
"Orielly." She says quietly.
"What was that?" Mr.Oliver asks.
"Orielly." She repeats louder.
"Hmm."
"No one calls me Orielly. It's just Oriel." She says with a hint of annoyance.
"The redhead girl." All of the boys, including Alice, whisper in unison as she walks to her seat.
Alice turns around to look at her.
She has red hair and fair skin, just like the girl she saw last night at the festival.
Alice smiles at the new girl, but she doesn't smile back. She just stares out of the window.
"Friendly." Alice mutters as she turns back to the front.
It's lunchtime, and the boys and Alice are sitting at a table in the cafeteria.
"Hey, what do you think of the new girl?" Alice asks.
"Yeah, I saw her. She's the same girl we saw last night at the festival, right?" Miles says.
Alice nods, leaning on the table.
"I don't think it's her. She does not look like a nerd." Ellis says.
"Except for Alice." Ellis continue. "And even if she did win them, she couldn't have done it twice. It's impossible."
"Impossible for you, possible for her." Miles says and laughs with Alice.
"Come on, man. Admit it. You lost to a girl." Alice says.
The boys keep talking as Alice gets up and walks towards Oriel.
"Alice, where are you going?" Ellis shouts from his seat.
Alice gives them a thumbs up and approaches Oriel, who is sitting on the stairs that lead to the French class.
"Hi, I'm Alice. I saw you last night at the festival, but I didn't get to say hi." Alice says and extends her hand.
"Oriel. You can call me V if you want." She says and shakes Alice's hand.
"And I know who you are too." She says and picks up her backpack and spits out her gum.
"Oh yeah?" Alice says with a raised eyebrow and a grin.
"Yeah. You're the richest girl in this school. So why are you talking to me?" V asks and gets in Alice's face.
"I think you're mistaken. I'm not the richest girl in this school. That's Victoria, the governor's daughter." Alice says and points at Victoria, who is sitting at a fancy table with her friends.
"And besides, it doesn't look like you have anyone else to talk to." Alice says and looks around exaggeratedly.
"What are you looking for?" V asks curiously and leans back a bit.
"I'm looking for your friends. But it seems like you don't have any." Alice says with a weak smile.
V smiles back. "You're cool and funny. I like you."
Alice smirks as she follows V up the stairs to the French class.
"Wait a minute. I need to tell you something. If you know those two guys," she points at Miles and Ellis, "tell them to stop staring at me."
"They're my friends. They were curious if you played archery at the festival last night because you won two of the hardest prizes in town in one night." Alice says bluntly as she rubs her nose, slightly embarrassed by her childhood friends.
"Oh yeah, I did. That game was so easy!" V exclaims as she stops next to the French class. She leans against the wall next to V.
"I bet." Alice chuckles as V drinks some water before going to class.
"We should hang out sometime. How about the mall later? Say... 4:30?" V asks.
"Sure." Alice says.
"Great. See you at the bus stop then." V says as she walks into her class.
Alice smiles to herself as she turns around, heading to the bathroom. When she comes back from the bathroom and goes back to the boys, she sees them crowding around the window of V's class.
She laughs uncontrollably as she walks down the stairs, putting her hands in her jeans pockets.
"Seriously guys!" She giggles as she stops next to Miles. The boys roll their eyes and look away, knowing they were busted.
"Alice, Miles, and Ellis, Captain Jack is here for you. He's waiting in the office." The principal says over the intercom.