#episode 1. the vanishing of ross lynn

[spooky-things-au]

So, 3rd chapter is officially ready and just waits for it's time to be released on next Monday (yay!). And now, I've got to writing the next chapter!

And I'm honestly really excited about it, as I'm finally getting to write Skid! (Aka, AU's Eleven!)

Plus a quick doodle! (Yes, it's supposed to be me)

@crossover-enthusiast @catsockpuppet @spookuzm @ferfbish @sunny6677 @momentokori @nottapossum @nostalgic-soda

[spooky-things-au]

First chapter is out! Woo! (Also posted here under the cut)

Spooky Things

Season 1. Beginning

Episode 1. The vanishing of Ross Lynn

Chapter 1. The basement kids

It was late evening of early November 2012, the sun has long since set and night has stepped behind the reigns over small town of Frightville. Street lights were brightening the streets of town with their weak, yet stable light, showing the last bits of recently passed Halloween decorations the few people still hadn't taken off.

The people were passing by, some going to switch on night shifts, some coming home from day's work... while some just wanted to have last bits of fun at local club before new work day next morning...

But as busy as those few people were, it could not compare the slightest to the commotion that was happening in the lonely mansion on far East of the town.

A person in red robe with many holes on hood ran through the twisted corridors deep underneath the town, trying to get away from... whatever was following behind them.

Soon enough, they reached the door, getting out buncy of keys out of pocket, starting to try find one from the door.

All while the sound of footsteps were getting closer... and closer...

Click!

The light seemed to flicker through one of holes, as the person pulled the door open.

They were ready to bolt through the corridor and put of the front door to the safety of outside world... when they realized the sound just... stopped. They could've sworn it was there just a moment ago. It was just around the corner! Where did it go?

Did it get tired of chasing them and went after somebody else?

But then, the person heard weird clicking noises to their side...

Needless to say it was the last thing they heard.

A crayon fell onto floor, before another one was picked up, with a small hand starteing to make first lines across snow white paper.

At seven years old, Wilbert Wonder was a normal child, really. He loved drawing, playing and getting on people's nerves, many also said he was very smart! Sure, some people would say he was lonely, but he never complained about that. He had his parents! (But they worked a lot) He had Grandpa! (But he was too old to really play with him) He had..!

Okay, he didn't really have friends his age. He wasn't exacly one to shy away, but other kids tended to avoid him for some reason (definitely not because he lead an army of stray cats to school once. Yep! Definitely not that!) BUT EITHER WAY. Will never took his lack of friends to heart.

His one friend was more than enough! Especially with who that friend was.

"Something is coming..." A voice started in so familiar mysterious manner, it had long since became part of his life. "Something hungry for blood..."

Will left his drawing supplies on the carpet, walking to the table. Susie was narrating yet another D&D compain with her friends. The four of them long since decided it should be Susie to do so. Mainly because she was a girl, which meant she wouldn't have her voice cracking in middle of narration.

Will stood by her side with wide eyes and bright smile. He could barely understand the rules of their game yet... but he liked hearing his sister telling these fantasy adventure stories they all were on. They were almost as good as the bedtime stories, their mom would tell them! (Almost.)

"A shadow grows on the wall behind you, swallowing you in darkness..." Susie continued her story, paying no mind to her brother. "It is almost here..."

"What is it?" Ross, one of boys and Susie's best friend, spoke first, he was sitting across the table from the siblings.

"What if it's the Demogorgon?" Roy smirked from right side of table.

"Oh, crap... we're so screwed if it's the Demogorgon..!" Robert's timid voice finished for them.

"It's not the Demogorgon." Roy replied, a bit annoyed with fourth's fright.

"An army of troglodytes charge into the chamber!" Susie announced, pushing a couple of figures onto the board.

"Troglodytes?" Robert asked, surprised with this turn of events.

"Told ya~" Roy smirked once more, crossing his arms, when Robert made his confused face, making other two boys laugh.

Meanwhile, Susie was pulled down by Will, who whispered something in her ear. The girl's eyes widened and mischievous smirk crossed her face as she nodded. She then sat back straight up, letting Will climb onto her knees, so he could reach the table as well.

"Wait a minute!" She suddenly said, getting attention from her teammates. "Did you hear that? That... that sound?"

"Boom... boom..." Will joined in, bouncing excitedly on his seat. "BOOM!" The youngest yelled again, slamming the table with his small hands, before breaking into giggling.

He would often do that when they played. Again, he didn't grasp most of the rules yet, but the older kids always let him join in for sound effects. The boys were now again paying attention to them, when Susie went back to the story.

"That didn't come from the troglodytes..." She started to tell again. "No... that... That came from something else..."

Then, both siblings shared the look, as Susie reached for the figure, slamming it onto the board.

"The Demogorgon!" Both siblings exclaimed, which followed by groans from other three kids.

"We're in deep shit..." Roy whispered into his hand, preparing himself for the battle.

"Ross, your action!" Susie announced, looking to the raven-haired boy, who suddenly looked at her in shock.

"What!?" Ross asked.

"Fireball him!" Roy yelled to his friend.

"I'd have to roll a 13 or higher!" Ross argued back,

"It's too risky!" Robert added, before turning back to Ross. "Cast a protection spell!"

"We don't have time to be a pussy, Robert! Fireball him!"

"Cast Protection!"

"The Demogorgon is tired of your silly human bickering!" Susie, a frown forming on her face, said again. "It stomps towards you!" The continued as yet another "Boom!" was heard from her brother.

Ross stayed in his chair, thinking over his next move. The monster was infront of them and, as the wizard of the team, it was his role to protect them from creatures like this... and now, his friends and team depended on him.

But despite the seriousness of their situation... Ross then found himself amused by the fight between other two boys. Roy was too impulsive, he was a textbook example of "fists first, brain later", as Susie loved to put it, while Robert was taking too long with deciding on things, trying to get the safest option, that often would be death of them, be that outside of the game.

So, he always thought it was the best course of action that role of wizard was given to him. He loved his character and . Over their fights on what to do next, they managed to distract each other enough for him to make his decision...

"I'm casting fireball!" Ross finally announced, preparing to roll the dice, before letting it fall onto the board.

But what he didn't mean to do was to throw the dice to hard, it flew over the board.

"Oh, shit!" Ross whispered to himself, as four older children got off the table. Susie sent Will back to his drawing, while she joined the boys to find the game piece.

All over the screaming of "Where is it!?", "Is it 13!?" and "I don't know!" a voice of an adult woman was heard from the upstairs. She was calling for Robert, who eventually managed to hear her over his friends' arguments. But only when she went down to the basement to check on them.

"Robert, your brother's here to pick you up." The woman said, looking between the five children and the chaos that was going on in her basement.

"Miss. Lila!" The four older kids whined, looking to their babysitter the woman.

"Please! We lost the dice and we're in the middle of a campaign!" Susie said for the boys, who went back to their chaotic search.

"You mean the end? You said you needed fifteen more minutes..." Lila continued, sighing out. Just like the kids, she didn't want this to end. She enjoyed watching the five of them for their parents... not to mention the children themselves were a great company...

It was too lonely to live alone.

"Please, Miss. Lila, twenty more minutes!" It was now Robert the one to plead for some extra time, pulling his best puppy dog eyes.

"Children, this is a school night." Lila said again. "Come on, it's already almost Becky and Will's bedtime." She sighed, gently putting hand around Robert's shpulder. "Come on, sweetie, you ca finish it next weekend..."

"But that'll ruin the flow!" The blonde boy continued to argue.

"Robert-"

"I'm serious, Miss. Lila! The campaign took two weeks to plan! How were we supposed to know it was gonna take ten hours?!"

That made the two stop in their tracks, as Robert covered his mouth, when a young adult man, very similar to Robert, came from around the corner. He was holding a little girl in his arms, already asleep.

"You’ve been playing for ten hours?" The man asked, rasing eyebrow.

"Rad!" Robert perked up at the sight of his older brother. "Do you think we could-"

"I think we should listen to Miss. Lila on this, Robert." Radford said, cutting his brother off. "Come on, Robin is waiting in the car."

Robert saddened, but sighed out, admitting his defeat. The shared look between four older kids, silently deciding to finish this session on finding the dice to learn what became of Ross' attack. The boys took up on themselves to do that, while Susie went to help Will get ready to go home.

"Dumb piece of junk..." Roy mumbled to himself.

"FOUND IT!" Ross yelled from across the room. "It's seven."

Robert made a face, hissing slightly on the sound of it. "Ouch."

"Well, Susie didn't see it. So it doesn't count." Roy shrugged, sneaking the leftovers of pizza into his bag.

Few minutes later, the five kids made their way into the front yard, where Roy's bike was. While there, Ross heard Rad talking with somebody on his phone.

"By the way, Rob, didn't your brother start to date somebody?"

"Yeah, this new guy..." The blonde boy crossed his arms. "Kevin P... something..." He frowned. "I don't like him, he's kind of a jerk..."

"Well, your brother can be one as well." Roy shrugged, getting a light hit from Susie. "Ow! Why!?" He looked back to him.

"He's not like this!" Robert stood on his brother's defense, still looking at his friend. "Remember, when he dressed as an elf for the Elder tree campaign?"

"It was before he went to college!" Roy argued back. "And that was... four years a-"

Roy stopped mid-sentence, when lights from around them blinked for a second.

"What?"

Then there was a honk from the car, making Robert sigh out and wave to his friends.

"Later, guys" He said, before going to his siblings.

Roy then followed the suit on his bike, towards his own house. It left Ross, Susie and Will together. They all lived in walking distance from Lila's house, so they always assured the older woman they didn't need help getting back home. While the youngest of three was talking about getting ice cream in way to their home, Ross decided to spill the beans.

"It was seven."

"Huh?" Susie, getting distracted from her brother, looked up to the raven-haired kid.

"The roll. It was seven..." Ross repeated, throwing his bag over his shoulder. "The Demogorgon got me." He explained, before offering the girl one last smile. "See you tomorrow."

"Bye..." Susie said back, before turning back to her brother.

The two bid their goodbyes for the evening, as they both went their separate ways towards their homes.

But little did they or Roy or Robert that this would be the last day of the lives as they used to know them...

@crossover-enthusiast @catsockpuppet @spookuzm @ferfbish @sunny6677 @momentokori @nottapossum

[spooky-things-au]

Chapter 3 of the fic! So we're officially halfway through the first episode! Wooo!

And at this point, I counted something in my update schedule and... due some things that I was not satisfied with, I decided to change days, I update this story! New updates will now follow every Monday and Thursday/Friday (on my side)!

Also, my first time EVER trying to write something... aheam... more "mature" than I used to, so... let me know how you like it or what I should change about it!

(The chapter is also undercut)

Spooky Things

Season 1. Beginning

Episode 1. The vanishing of Ross Lynn

Chapter 3. Something's off.

School bus stopped infront of Frightville's elementary-middle school, as the driver was opened the door to let passengers out.

"Alright, final stop. Everyone's out." Kevin said, watching the kids leave the bus, last of which was Robert. "Have good day, kids." He added with smile, but that was ignored, as Robert, supposedly, spotted his friend outside.

Or he just ignored because they didn't have good relationship. Well, Kevin still needed to get his trust, he supposed... the poor kid had hard life, from Radford's words, and sudden appearance of new partner in his life was definitely not something he would accept that quickly.

Yes, he wanted to bond with the boy... but Kevin realized that Robert needed some time to get used to new person in his life.

"Hey." There was a knock on side of the bus, that made Kevin turn around, but that then turned to a smile.

"Hey, Ethan..."

The other man smiled, climbing inside the bus, standing next to Kevin.

"So, what happened last night?" Ethan asked, leaning against the metal. "You never replied to me back."

Kevin's eyes then widened, quickly pulling out his phone to check his messages... when he found nearly 10 missed ones from Ethan last night...

"Ah, sorry, man..." Kevin scratched back of his head. "I was just..."

"Radford happened, didn't he?" Despite how teasing it sounded... Kevin could also pick up notes of tension in his friend's voice. "Kevin, I warn you. He's bad news! He just wants sex, you know?"

"Well, if it all he wanted, why hasn't he left me yet?" Kevin smirked. "We've been together for nearly six months at this point and not even once we went past maki-..."

"Never went past making out, huh?" Ethan forced out a laugh. "Man, Kevin... for times like ours, you sure able to speak freely of this..." He crossed his arms.

"Hey..." Kevin sighed out. "I know... how it might sound to you... and believe me, I've had enough troubles with people... talking about us behind our backs... or making comments about me wanting to date a guy..." But he then smiled, leaning against the seat, as his thoughts left to the man, he loved with his entire heart.

Radford was definitely one of a kind. Caring and gentle, loving and supportive... loyal to his family and goal... not to mention being goofy and gorgeous... the blonde was everything, Kevin wished for his partner.

And yet, what attracted Kevin the most... was probably his determination and ability to get back on his feet when things get hard, being able to be there for people when they needed it... when his parents went away and he became the sole support system for his younger siblings... and still, he stood strong for them, ready to provide the best childhood for his two youngest siblings he could.

No matter how you looked at this... Radford was amazing... and Kevin felt so lucky to be able to call him his... lover. (Boy, that still sent shiver down his spine-).

"But I know what I want... and I don't care what some snobby stuck-ups might think of me..." Kevin finished. "I love what and who I love. And it should be my decision..."

"Hm..." Ethan looked to Kevin, now his face showed genuine happiness for his friend. "Well, whatever makes you happy, man... just don't you dare stopping be friends with me, you hear?!"

The two men looked at each other for another second, before both of them broke into laughter.

"You dork!" Kevin spat out in the end.

The public toilet was... definitely not the best place for this, but Kevin didn't seem to care much about it at the moment... he leaned closer towards his partner... his boyfriend as their lips sealed together for a kiss.

Radford called him to come over at his lunch break, just so they could chat and talk about plans for the night. To have a "mini-date" as the blond called it. But now, it turned into a making out session in the theater's restroom.

"Oh God-" Kevin breathed out. "Rad, please-... I need to go..."

"Oh, really now?" The blonde let out a chuckle. "Alright then... but only if you can give me a kiss... and that we can meet tonight..."

"Rad..." Kevin chuckled.

"Whaaat?" Radford came closer. "I'm not saying anything... dirty... I'm just saying, you and I... in my car... driving somewhere pretty to unwind after a long, hard day..."

"Rad, I can't..." Kevin sighed, but still didn't let go. "You know, my mom is over for now... and she still doesn't know-"

"You're dating a guy?" Radford said again. "No problem... your house has ladder, right? I can climb into your room..." He then touched their foreheads, that made Kevin chuckle, blushing lightly. "Ninja style~"

Kevin let out a light laugh.

"Well, deal it is, then..." He smiled, before pecking one last kiss. "I'll see you tonight~"

Radford was satisfied with this answer. A quick cuddle later, the two finally separated. Kevin splashed himself cool water to calm down from all the... excitement that just went down. After fixing his clothing into presentable look, he left exited the restroom.

Radford watched him go. When Kevin stepped out, the blonde sighed out again, tagging the collar of his shirt... ooooh boy! This was November, it wasn't supposed to be so hot in here-!

He heard the door open and saw Rick standing in the doorway. The two shared a look, before Radford cracked a light, nervous smile.

"You're..." He started, playing with his shirt. "...not going to tell the boss, are you..?"

Rick stayed quiet for a second again.

"...I don't get paid enough to care..."

And it meant no.

"You're the best" The blonde smiled.

A car stopped in front of police station as a man stepped out. Tired eyes looked over the building, before he sighed out, stepping inside.

"Morning, Patty..." John said to woman in front desk, before turning to the people further into the building. "Morning, everybody!"

"Hey, John!" Jack smiled, waving to him.

"Damn! You look like hell, Sherif..." Sophie commented with a chuckle.

"Oh, yeah?" John raised eyebrow. "Well, I looked better than your wife when I left her this morning!"

John waved to the others, starting to head to his office. While Connor and Sophie continued to laugh, Jack decided to follow John to catch him up with the news of the morning.

"Alright, John..." Jack started, taking out the list with what calls they got over last few hours. "We've got a few cases this morning... first, Ignacio Smith called. Said some kids are stealing the gnomes out of his garden again."

"Oh, those garden gnomes again..." John groaned, covering his eyes with his hand. "Well, Jack, I'll assure you, I'm gonna get on that in a few..."

Jack nodded, smiling to sheriff, before looking back on the list, as his smile faded. "On more serious matter... We've got a call from Aaron and Jaune Lynn."

John looked up, surprised to hear that.

"Jaune called?"

He knew her since they both were kids, plus she was his old schoolmate... one of first people to welcome him back when he returned back in town... but why were she and her husband calling them? They lived relatively quiet life.

"Yes. They called about... two hours ago..." Jack confirmed, his face still gloomy. "They said they can't find their son..."

Right. They also had a kid... if he remembered correctly, just entered his teens... so it would give... a couple of ideas, where the boy could be. John sighed out. Yet another overworried mother, freaking out over small things... but, well... he supposed he couldn't blame them either way, given what they have to go through to bring the whole new person into the world.

"Alright the... I'm gonna get on that..." John sighed out, making himself a cup of coffee. "Just give me a minute..."

"But John!" Jack interrupted once more. "Jaune is very upset-"

"Now, Jack, we've discussed this." John looked onto the younger man. "Mornings are for coffee and contemplation."

Then, Jack turned to go to his office. Jack followed him still.

"John, she's already in your-"

"Coffee and contemplation, Ja-!"

And then Jack opened the door to his office... to see it occupied by a worried out of her mind Jaune with equally worried Lila, who did her best to comfort her friend. The two women turned to face John, as Lila finally sighed out.

"There you are..." Lila breathed out, relieved.

The best way to describe next few minutes would be... a mess. Jaune was all over the place, yelling and screaming on top of her lungs, that made few other officers come in to check on them. Eventually, when Jaune accepted some water to calm herself down... she was finally able to have a normal conversation with John.

"We've have been waiting here over an hour, John!" Jaune said, still walking around the room in worry.

John covered his face with his hand, letting out a deep, long sigh. "And I apologize again..."

"I'm going out of my mind!" Jaune put her hands on the table, before Lila pulled her back again, quietly apologizing for it, getting just a nod from John.

"Look, Jaune... your son is... twelve right?" John started, as Jaune nodded in confirmation. "A kid... this age... he's probably just playing hookie, okay?"

Jaune's eyes widened. "What?!" She asked, shaking her head. "No, not my Ross! He's not like that! He wouldn't do that!"

"Well, you never know... I mean, look at my sister..." John showed onto a picture of a late teen girl in what seemed to be a white dress. "I was ten, our mom thought she was on the debate team... but then, next thing we know, she's getting married at sixteen, five months pregnant with her oldest."

Jaune looked at John in disbelief. She couldn't believe it. No. It couldn't be that. Ross wouldn't do that! Her and Aaron taught him better than that... he wasn't ever even interested in girls or boys. A part of her wanted to snap out again. To yell at John to even think of such thing! And yet, she held back. She sighed out.

"Look, he's not like your sister, Sheriff. He's not like you, Lila or me. He's not like... most." Jaune rumbled off. "He's a good boy, has a couple of friends, but... you know how kids are..." She crossed her arms. "Peer pressure and stuff, one of his friends hangs out with those other kids and... they're mean. They make fun of others. They call them names... I tried to step in once, but I think I only made it worse... they kept laughing at Ross... at his clothes, hair-"

"His hair?" John asked, rasing eyebrow. "What's wrong with his hair?"

"Nothing! He does dye it..." She looked away, wiping away the tear, covering her face.

She hated seeing her little boy suffering like this... something so small! She suggested changing schools, suggesting to fight them (yes, she wasn't above hitting a kid if needed) or going to self defense classes himself... but her little boy... Ross kept saying he was fine. He could deal with it.

"Does that matter?"

Jaune looked at John, a bit confused, but just shrugged, feeling defeated. "Maybe. I don't know..." She sighed out once more. "Maybe it's just not like it used to be and a boy dying his hair is enough to target a kid now..." Jaune then took a deep breath, looking into John's eyes. "Look, he's... He's a bit of a weird kid, sure, but... he's a good boy..." She then looked at her hand once more.

"I used to argue with my father back in the day about this... he would say that my child will be uncontrollable... he hated Ross had Aaron for a father... said he'd need a 'real man' for this role in his life, unless I wanted him to grow up a 'fag', as he put it." Jaune winced as she pushed out the insult. She hated going to that memory... and this time it was harder, as she had to say it out loud.

"Well... Is he?" John asked, cracking a light smile. Not to sound homophobic (that'd be hypocritical of him, honestly), but making fun of somebody being worried about this.

"He's MISSING!" Jaune cried out once more, tears falling down her face once more. "That what he is!"

John looked away, as Lila once more started to try calm Jaune down. Okay, it was a bad joke... The man sighed out, standing up.

"Alright, Jaune... when was the last time you heard from your dad?"

Jaune raised her head back up, surprised. But then sighed out, trying to think about the question. "Uh... last I heard... he was in Indianapolis..." She thought, before nodding. "Yes, there. He moved there ever since him and mom split up... But he has nothing to do with this."

"Why don't you give me his number then?"

"John, please." Jaune said again. "You're just wasting your time! He has nothing to do with this... He... he doesn't even know how Ross looks like!"

"Jaune." John said again, putting his hand on Jaune's. "Believe me, I've been on such cases before. Ninety-nine out of hundred times, kid goes missing, the kid is with a parent or relative."

"I know it, but..."

"What about the other time?" Lila finally raised her voice.

"Huh?/What?" Both, Jaune and John, turned their heads to the purple-haired woman.

"What you said, John..." Lila said. "Ninety-nine out of hundred. What about the other time? The one?" She repeated once more.

"Lila... not you too..." John covered his face.

"The one!" Lila raised her finger. "John, you haven't been in this town in over a decade, until four years ago! A lot happened in that time! The old hospital being shut down f-"

"And you wanna know the worst thing that's happened here in the four years since I came back?" John cut the woman off, as she stayed quiet once he did. "An owl attacking Narciso Evermore's head because it thought that his hair was a nest."

The two women shared a look, before turning back to John. All three of them stared at one another for a minute. Just as John thought it'd be another "two-on-one" situation, Jaune sighed out in defeat, rasing her hands.

"Okay, fine! Give me a note!" She said, getting the items.

"I'll call him right now, and if Ross isn't there, we'll look for him in the forest." John explained, walking to his old friend.

Jaune hmmed. "He'd talk to me first, before he talks to-"

"What? A pig?" Lila raised eyebrow, smirking lightly.

"A cop!" Jaune said back, while John gasped offendedly. But then (after a second long pause) the trio finally broke into light laughter, even if Jaune's was weak. Well, Lila could take that too. Whatever small, she'd considered it a win.

Usually, it would be Jaune trying to lighten up the mood in such situation... but now, Jaune had enough on her plate, so Lila had to be the one to do that instead.

And still, this happiness was only brief, as when Jaune finished writing down the last number on the sticky note, she handed it back to John... it made her remember the reason why they came here in first place.

"Do what you must do, Sherif..." Jaune nearly begged. "Just... find my son, John..." Tears once more started gathering in her eyes. "Find him!"

Lila stood by them, as her hands traveled up her figure to her stomach. Something so familiar, she did it completely absent-mindedly... a reflex, she still hasn't gotten rid of even after eight years passed.

She always did that when she was worried... worried about somebody close to her... whenever she watched missing people reports on TV... whenever she saw a missing kid poster outside her house.

Ever since that fateful night, on March 1st, of 2004.

Ever since that painful day, on December 10th, of 1998.

'I hope God is merciful to you... wherever you are...' She thought to herself, her mind going back to two names, that forever were drilled in her memory and her heart. 'Beverly... Sunny...'

@crossover-enthusiast @catsockpuppet @spookuzm @ferfbish @sunny6677 @momentokori @nottapossum @nostalgic-soda

[spooky-things-au]

First two is done! Yay! (Posted here under the cut too)

Spooky Things

Season 1. Beginning

Episode 1. The vanishing of Ross Lynn

Chapter 2. On the way home

Ross was walking down the street to his house. He lived nearby the woods, which meant he'd always have a nice view on the way home. He liked this forest. It was great place to go to relax or camping, him and his friends had a little hideaway in there too. The only unpleasant memory of this place was when they lost Will when he wanted to play hide-and-seek. Nonetheless, he loved these woods.

But just as the forest was on his way, so was a fenced area. No, it wasn't rich gated part of the town, no... somebody owned large chunk of the land near his house and kept it restricted by tall metal fence. If Ross was to look in, he could see the metal shine even in this dim moonlight.

Susie and him tried to get in there a few times, but never managed to get past the gates, as they didn't have needed equipment... and that they didn't know how to get Will to other side, as the little boy always followed after his sister like a chick after it's mother.

They decided to put this day on hold until Will will he old and strong enough to climb over with them.

But it will still take years before that... so for now, Ross wanted concentrate on what was happening in his life in the meantime.

The boy was humming melody to himself (since he forgot to take earphones, so no music on the way back), when he decided to check on his phone if his parents were home. Neither had picked up, so he thought they were busy... well, he couldn't blame them. If neither of them was home it only mean a quiet evening for himself. And maybe he could get up early to make breakfast tomorrow?

But as Ross was lost in his thoughts, the flashlight on his phone flickered, before turning off completely. Huh... weird. He then turned it back on. Nope, still half the battery of charge. What was it?

And it was when something... ran past Ross, barely missing him. But that was enough for him to lose footing and fall from the sidewalk into grass... seconds later, he felt like he rolled down a hill, before stopping. Raven-haired boy groaned, sitting up. He also noticed his bag opened and his things fell out... crap.

But before he had a chance to pick them up, he felt... like if somebody was watching him... not tearing their eyes off him. He decided to take a closer look, to look up and... all there was a humanoid shape in light of the moon. The two seemed to make an "eye" contact, as Ross supposed, as it made low growling sounds.

If somebody was to ask about physical appearance of this... thing... Ross wouldn't be able to answer it, all due that he tell couldn't make out any details out of it. But if there was something he'd say about it... then it would be that he didn't feel like finding out what it looked like or what it wanted to do with him...

Something felt off about this thing. Something that he didn't like.

Forgetting all about his stuff on the ground, Ross got onto his feet and sprinted to run towards his house that, luckily enough, was in the end of the street. Few tries of trying to get the key in the hole later, he managed to open the front door and bolt inside, locking it after himself.

"Mom!" The boy called out, looking around for any sign of life. "Dad?! Mom!"

The boy continued to yell for his parents, hoping to hear either of their voices, but... there was nothing.

He was all alone in the darkness inside his house. Not even a single sound, other than his heartbeat was heard.

His eyes then fell onto the house phone... he needed to get help... as much as he wanted to call his parents, he knew it would have to be second option to call... first thing to do was to get local police to his house. Robert's uncle was town's sheriff... he could help!

"H... hello?" He whispered as quiet as he could, looking outside, if to see if... the thing was still following him. He saw some movement in nearby trees, that forced him to hide out of the window's view. Then, finally, somebody on other side answered. "Hello?!"

But he was met with silence. Or... what he thought was silence... when in reality... there was some weird noise, that could be described as a unpleasant mix of clicking, bubbling and... something else... but what exacly Ross couldn't pin point.

The boy quickly jammed the phone back into the slot, putting his hands over his head, starting to think... if that movement he saw outside was that thing... what was he going to do!?

But few seconds later... he remembered.

'Dad's gun!'

His father had camping for hobby, that sometimes also included hunting... so it was only fair he owned a gun. And he was starting to teach Ross how to use it recently. Sure, his aim was still far from perfect... but Ross was only 12 years old and this thing seemed to be huge, so even with his unpolished skill... something could be done. At very least, he hoped he could scare the thing off.

And so, Ross once again ran. To the basement, where they kept all the things, they didn't regularly use, but still needed in seasons. And, by the sound as if someone trying to pick a lock... he needed to get there quick.

The boy made his way into the basement, turning on the light, frantically searching for his father's weapon. Getting out the bullets, he started to load the gun. All the while of it, the poor boy was breathing heavily. Just... What was happening!? What was following him!? Please, God, let this be a dream!

Now, with gun in hand, Ross looked behind himself, breathing loudly, his heart pounding faster with each second. How did It go wrong? It was a normal night for them... They were playing D&D in Miss. Lila's basement, Will drawing next to them... it was like always...

But somehow, he was now chased by a strange person... or was it a person at all? He didn't know. All, he knew, that it was after him for some reason... that it was dangerous... and that he might not get out of this alive.

And now, he was cornered. He couldn't think, he couldn't move... when the lights started to flicker, his only thought was "Mom... Dad... I'm sorry..."

Next morning news of power outage last evening was heard through the house, as well as a woman searching for keys around the living room.

"Where the hell are they..!?" The woman whispered to herself, before yelling out "AARON!"

"Check the couch!" A man's voice replied from kitchen. Reply, nonetheless, made the woman frown slightly.

"I already did! It's not-!" She then looked onto the couch, behind pillows, before stopping in her tracks. "Oh... Got them!" A smile now crossed her face.

Jaune then walked to kitchen, seeing her husband. She approached him, placing hiss on his cheek, as he just smiled at her.

"Alright then, handsome..." She wrapped her arms around his neck, as he turned away from frying eggs to her. "I will see you tonight~."

"Yeah..." Aaron replied, returning the kiss to his wife. "See you later."

Jaune smiled lightly to him, before separating from him. She turned around, about to go fix her hair when she saw spot on table still empty.

"Ross' still asleep?" Jaune asked, rasing eyebrow.

"Yes, I didn't have time to get him up yet."

"Well, I still got half an hour before I need to be off..." Jaune smirked, playful gleam sparkling in her eyes. "I'll get him up."

With his wife exiting the room, Aaron smiled lightly, shaking his head. He loved this woman, yes... but at the same time, he had to always be prepared for whatever Jaune would do to "torment" their poor child...

Jaune made her way towards her son's room, already giggling to herself, getting ready to spring into action at any point. Her little boy wasn't even gonna stand a chance...

Slowly, she opened the door to peek inside the room to find... it empty. Completely empty. The bed perfectly made up, school bag already gone, though books and supplies were still there. Clean clothes laying on the chair like the day prior...

And Ross himself was nowhere to be found.

"Ross?" Jaune looked inside, rasing eyebrow, trying to spot her son. Maybe he heard her and was hiding? "Sweetheart, you here?"

But no answer followed. Not even the slightest giggle or breathing that could normally be heard if somebody was hiding. A sudden feeling of tightness filled the woman's stomach, but she didn't want to give into panic just yet... after all, Aaron could've seen him when he got home...

"Um... Honey?" Jaune peeked from the room, now calling out to her husband. "Have you seen Ross?"

"He's not in his room?" Aaron asked back, now coming to his wife to inspect their son's room too.

"Unless he managed to make himself invisible, I don't think so." Jaune said again. "Did he come home yesterday?"

"I don't know." He shrugged. "I got home after you. Was covering up for one of the guys."

"Eric again?" Jaune asked, sighing out after getting a nod from her husband. "This man, I swear to god..." She pinched her nose.

"Hey, don't panic, love..." Aaron said again, putting hand around her shoulders. "Look, he was at Lila's yesterday all day, right? Maybe he stayed over at her place or with Robert or Susie."

Jaune smiled at her husband, sighing out. She could feel he wanted to say Roy too... but they both knew neither of his parents (ESPECIALLY Roy's bitch of a mother) would ever let him stay at their place.

"Okay... let's do that..." The blonde woman sighed out. Yes. He probably stayed over at her best friend's place. She was his Godmother, she often let him sleep over if they worked late... (a warning would be nice though...)

"Good..." Aaron smiled gently, kissing Jaune on her forehead. "Now, can you call Lila and ask her, while I check Wonders' and Millers'?"

Now, with Aaron leaving the room, Jaune picked out her phone, dialing Lila's number to call her... her hand was still on the frame to her son's room, a part of her still hoping it was an evil prank from her child and nothing more... but call it her guts or a mother's intuition... she still felt something was very wrong about this...

Lila picked up quickly.

"Good morning." A cheerful voice of her best friend said on the other side of the line.

"Hey, Lila?" Jaune started, trying to sound confident, but hint of nervousness was still heard in her tone.

"Oh, hi, Jaune! You're early today..." Though sounded surprised, Lila seemed to be happy about the call.

"Yeah, I have a few minutes, before I have to leave... listen, Lila... did Ross stay over last night?"

"What?" Lila asked, now even more surprised. "No. He left with his friends around eight..."

"Oh, really?" Jaune looked to the doorway, seeing Aaron looking at her.

She silently asked if he had luck on reaching for their son's friends. He only shook his head. She felt her stomach drop at this.

"Wait... you mean he's not home!?"

This day Jaune learned a lesson. Always trust your intuition

@crossover-enthusiast @catsockpuppet @spookuzm @ferfbish @sunny6677 @momentokori @nottapossum

[spooky-things-au]

Season 1. Beginning.

Summery : There was a time when Frightville, was a normal little town in Indiana. Everyone knew each well and it was hard to hide anything sinister... or at least, it was so. At least, until 12 year old Ross Lynn went missing one day. Now now, it's up to his family and friends to find him.

Despite their young age, Roy Stewart, Robert Miller and Susie Wonder (with her younger brother, Wilbert, at her heels) are determined to find their friend... but everything gets turned upside down when they meet Eleven... a runaway child with extraordinary powers.

Episode 1. Vanishing of Ross Lynn.

Chapter 1. The basement kids

Chapter 2. On the way home

Chapter 3.

Chapter 4.

Chapter 5.

Chapter 6.