2. Road Trip

MARCUS

Jason looks up, confusion crosses his face. "I remember the rabbit."

He turns and looks back towards the clearing. It's no longer visible through the throng of trees. He keeps looking anyways. "And then I was ..." He starts, then stops - quieter. "I think I had a daydream. It was so vivid."

He turns back to the group. "I was in a flowerbed - I think it was the one outside the farmhouse. Someone was screaming from the forest. Then ..." He pushes his glasses up on the bridge of his nose. "... someone called my name."

He lowers his eyes to the ground and kicks at the dirt with a shoe. The tips of his ears going red.

"I don't remember the rat thing."

"Did you say the rat had a blade?" Clarissa asks. She looks from Marcus to Rod, then back again.

JOCELYN
Joe pulls up in front of the MacLearan farmhouse. He waits for Jocelyn to enter the house before pulling away.

The cars are still parked out front. No one is out front. Luckily enough, she has returned home before the group started out on their searches.

The door opens to silence.

The smell of breakfast hangs in the air. A few plates sit balanced on the fireplace mantle - food half finished.

There is no sound of movement from upstairs, no voices from the kitchen - even Blaine's room sits open and empty.

"I know how this sounds... but, yes. That's what I have seen. It... It hunted on two legs too. I think it might be worth searching for it, in case... in case that creature is responsible for the students' disappearance. It looked dangerous, nobody should go in the woods alone. Best in a large group... and armed."

Suddenly extremely hungry, Jocelyn sets to filling the pit in her stomach.

MARCUS
Clarissa is about to respond when Noakes cuts in. "I believe you saw something out there."

He covers the distance in a few strides and drops a heavy arm across Marcus's shoulders. "I'll come back with you for another look - maybe after lunch. Or first thing tomorrow." He gives Marcus's shoulder a squeeze and glances around at the others, giving them a weak smile.

Rod nods, but remains quiet. His expression difficult to read.

Clarissa, on the other hand, is unable to hide her concern. "How much sleep did you get last night?" She seems to be trying to solve an equation.

"Stress and a tired mind can do strange things in low light. Also, rats can stand on their hind legs. And they're known for their interest in collecting shiny objects."

She shrugs, as if accepting the plausible solution. "It's possible it was a combination of all these things that made you believe what you saw."

Robert Blaine's voice cuts through the awkward silence that follows. He is somewhere off near the house calling out names, attempting to muster the students together again.

Marcus nods at Clarissa, but decides to stay silent and not press the matter further.

He motions towards Blaine's calling voice, but maneuvers so he stays near Trent.
When the opportunity to talk to him discreetly presents itself, he whispers "I thought you had seen the standing rat and the blade... You said so! I need to know what happened there in the woods. Our safety might depend on it. What else did you see when you zoned out? You seemed to be looking deep in the woods. Will you tell me, Jason? "

He pats Jason on the shoulder, to let him off the hook with a smile. "Don't worry, pal. I think those woods are very weird. We should only go back in there as a large group."

He nods to Blaine. "Let's follow the others now," he says heading to rejoin the group.

The group makes it's way back to the MacLearan farmhouse without much talk. What conversation remains is low - a question, a murmured response, nothing loud enough to overheard.

Everyone is quiet. Reflective. The worry is palpable in the silence as everyone leaves the forest and crosses the field towards the house.

Nobody says what everyone is thinking ... another lost student.

Jocelyn is just out of the tub in the kitchen. She is wrapped in a towel feeling somewhat cleaner, but still extremely sleepy, and is currently sat on a chair investigating her big toe, which has split right in the front beneath the nail.

"Jocelyn?!? You're here?" his first reaction is one of surprise - and relief.

Then he realizes the senior student is only wearing a towel, and he clumsily turns around to give her some privacy - it would be un-gentlemanly not to do so. "Oh. I'm sorry. We... we've been searching for you in the woods! Where have you been, you didn't sleep in the farm, last night! What happened? Are you hurt?"

"Only my feet really," Jocelyn replies, "I think I sleepwalked," she hesitates, "or something like that, I was reading, then I felt a bit drowsy, then I was, well, in the forest. But I'm ok.

"There was a house, an old guy from Romania I think. He had all these wards up around the house, you know, for vampires and werewolves and forest spirits. He seemed spooked, thought I was a witch.

"But then this nice farmer, a guy called Joe, well, he gave me a ride. Told me something about this place. Said that some folk believe there's some sort of curse on this place. One that affects young folk.

"He gave me some suggestions of who to talk to too. But the young folk, well, that kinda makes sense doesn't it? With why we are here and all."

She realizes that she has blurted that all out at Marcus, and is still not dressed. "I reckon I'd beat go get dressed , eh. Oh, one other thing. There was a place with these engraved stones and all."

She finishes describing her adventures then heads upstairs to get dressed.

Marcus tries to grasp the implications of her account, after Jocelyn leaves to get dressed.

Sleepwalking... Then how much of what she remembers is real? The guy from Romania with the wards? It sounds like a dream... And the curse affecting only young people.... seems something from a fairy tale. I must ask her about the stones, and the engravings. Could those be real? Can she find them again? Does she mean standing stones?

He reflects on the sleepwalking aspect, and how he has observed Jason Trent completely zoning out in the woods. Was that the same thing that happened to Jocelyn?
Was the standing, tentacled rat a dream too? Was I sleepwalking or in a trance myself?

He looks at the back door of the farm, wondering if they should put some sort of chime or bell there at night, as well as on the front door, to hear potential people leaving in the middle of the night.

He goes looking for Blaine to speak of his concerns.