little fears rpg - nightmare edition - among the missing

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“Sure, I remember him. Used to hang out with that kid with the crutches and that other one, that girl with thebig glasses.

“We weren’t friends or anything. We just lived on the

same street. He was alright, I guess. His friends buggedme but he was okay.

“I know what the cops said happened, what the parentssaid happened, but I dunno. I saw him playing outsidethe day before. He seemed happy enough. I heard he leftsome kinda note or something so I guess it’s possible.

“He just didn’t seem like the kinda kid who’d run away.”

- Preston Langley, age 12



Written & Conceived by

Jason L Blair

Top 3 System Designed by Jason L Blair &Caz Granberg

Edited by Matt M. McElroy

Published by

FunSizedGames

Cover illustration by

Veronica V. JonesInterior illustrations by George CotronisGrumbleputty Veronica Jones

Jeff Preston

Layout & Graphics by Jason L Blair

All text copyright 2011 Jason L Blair. All rights reserved.

Interior illustrations are copyright their respective artists. Used with permission.Little Fears, Little Fears Nightmare Edition, op 3 System, and “Tis Game Uses the

op 3 System” are trademarks of Jason L Blair dba FunSizedGames.

www.littlefears.com www.funsizedgames.com

Book 2: AMONG HE MISSINGa guide to the lost and forgottenfor use with Little Fears Nightmare Edition

REAL LIVES ARE NOT A GAME. Amber Alert

www.amberalert.gov National Center for

Missing & Exploited Children www.missingkids.com



amongthe

missing



Table of Contents

Introduction: Gone, Just Like That 9 What Tis Supplement Is 10 What You Will Find in this Book 11

Final Note About this Book 13Chapter One: Against Their Wills

(The Abducted) 15

Part One: How it Happens 16 By Convincing 16 By Using Other Kids 17 By Force 17

Without the Kid Knowing 17

Part Two: Why it Happens 18 Parental Justification 18 Replacement Family 18 Indoctrination 19 More Nefarious Reasons 19

Part Three: What Happens Next 19 Swallowed by Shadows 19 Escape into Nothing 20 Agent of Monsters 20 Change of Heart 20

Part Four: Sample Abducted 21

Chapter Two: By Inhuman Hands

(The Stolen) 25

Part One: How it Happens 26 Being Overpowered 26 Being Ambushed 27

Falling for a Lie 27 Falling into a rap 27

Part Two: Why it Happens 27 o Feed 27 For Sport 28 For Labor 28 For Companionship 28

Part Three: What Happens Next 29 Te Child Escapes 29 Te Child Meets Another Monster 30 Te Child is Let Go 30

Part Four: Sample Stolen 31



Chapter Three: On Their Own

(The Runaways) 35

Part One: How it Happens 37 Into the Night 37 Amongst the Crowd 37

akes Off 37

Part Two: Why it Happens 37 Jealousy 38 Inadequacy 38 Feelings of Guilt 39 o Get Away from Abuse 39 Get to an Other Family 39

Independence 39 Part Three: What Happens Next 39

Lost on the Road 39 No Destination in Mind 40 Not All It’s Cracked up to Be 40 Found a “Friend” 40


Chapter Four: No Longer Wanted

(The Abandoned) 45 Part One: How it Happens 47

Left on a Doorstep 47 Left on the Side of the Road 47

Left with a Friend 47

Part Two: Why it Happens 48 Home Economics 48 Fear of Abuse 48

Mental Illness 48 Addiction 49 Behavioral Issues 49

Part Three: What Happens Next 49 New Family 50 Become a Runaway 50 Become Forgotten 50


Chapter Five: Through The Cracks

(The Forgotten) 55

Part One: How it Happens 57 Quick, Like a Bandage 57 Fading Memory 57



Vanishing Act 58

ime Jump 58

Part Two: Why it Happens 58

Because Tere is no Love 58 Chemical Eraser 58 Side Effect of Grief 59 It’s What Monsters Do 60 Act of Mercy 60 Cover up a Crime 60

Part Three: What Happens Next 60 Find a Friend 60 Cling to the Fragments 60

Go to the Authorities 61 Start a New Life 61

Part Four: Sample Abducted 62 “I came home and they wouldn’t let me in.”

“I couldn’t remember how to get home.” “All of a sudden, I was in an empty parking lot.”

Chapter Six: One of the Missing 65 Missing Child as Character 66

Part One: Missing PCs 66 Choose the ype of Missing 66 Tis is Me 66 Abilities and raits 67 Virtues 67 Qualities 67 Stuff 68 Questionnaire for All 68 for the Abducted and Stolen 69

for the Runaway 70 for the Abandoned and Forgotten 70

Part Two: Being the Missing 70 He’s a Survivor 70 rust Comes Hard 70 He is Now “One of Tose Kids” 71 He is Hiding Something 71

Part Three: Missing GMCs 71 Introducing a Missing GMC 71 How Tey Help 71 How Tey Hinder 71 Te Treats Tey Present 72



What Can Be Done 72 Save the Kid 72 Protect the Kid 72 Missing as Bad Guys 73

Bad Seed 73 Unwelcome Reminder 73

Part Four: Expanded GMCs 73 GMC ype 73 Making an Expanded GMC 74 Expanded GMC Rules 76

Chapter Seven: The World Around You 77

Part One: The Real World 78

Community Centers 78 Church 78 A Friend’s House 78

Part Two: The World Between 79 Getting into the In-Between 79 Te Halfway House 80 Te Crack in the Grass 81 Where Monsters Come Trough 82 Living in the In-Between 83 Aging in the In-Between 83 Other In-Between Kids 83 Getting Out of the In-Between 84 How Kids Get Stuck 85

Part Three: Hiding Places 85 Te Big Domino 85 Te Ash Pile 85

Part Four: Places to Avoid 87

Te Nowhere 87 Hopscotch Hallway 88

Te Old Wintergarden 89

Chapter Eight: The People You Know 91

Part One: People You Can Trust 92 Karen Finney 92 Edgar and Alexis Krohl 92 Walter Highways 93

Part Two: People in the Between 95 Helper 95 Mabel Mae Belle 96



Part Three: Light Amidst Dark 98 Te Dogmother 98 Stephanie Nolastname 99

Part Four: Real Bad People 100 Te Cat 100 Madam Switchswatch 102

Part Five: Missing Monsters 102 Smelly Belly 102 Stranger Danger 104 Te Ghost Car 104

Sewer Ting 105

Chapter Nine: The Long Way Home 109 Intro 110

The Scenes 112

Episode GMCs 121

The Monsters 122

He Left a Note 124

Play Sheets 125

Expanded GMC Sheet 125 Missing Character Sheet 126

New Questionnaires 127



introduction:gone, just

like that



10

INTRODUCTION

An entire street full of cars. Te sounds of late autumn fill the air.Beyond, 5 o’clock traffic races down the interstate. First shifters coming home. Te late

retail crowd heading in. But here, there is no traffic, no rush of cars against the wind. Here, eachone parked outside a brick-faced residence, they are still. Tey are empty. Except for one.

Down the street, at the basketball court, a group of kids play Horse in that manner childrendo. Each calls an impossible shot and fails to pull it off. Bobby’s on H. He sank a three pointer. Hecalls it skill but everyone knows it was a lucky shot. Anton’s been trying to dunk all day. At 4’8”,he’s a bit shy of the rim.

In the not-empty car, a shadow turns the ignition. It’s a quiet car. Te perfect kind. It’snon-descript: Four doors, bluish-grey. Or was it brown? It’s hard to say. Y’know, it might be ahatchback. Or a sedan.

Mick tells Anton to stop messing around and take the shot already. Willie sits on the paintline,book in hand. He’s tired of sports. Anton tells everyone to chill. It’s happening. He can feel it.

Bobby gloats about his H. Calls himself the King of Park Street. Mick tells him to stuff it.“Besides,” the boy says, “you live on Vine.”

“Yeah, but the court’s on Park and that’s what matters.” Te car pulls out of its spot. It rolls slowly around the bend, toward the basketball court. Just

past the court is a church. Small, white, wooden cross on top. Black sign in the front with thehours of Sunday’s service.

Anton rushes, jumps, and lets loose the ball. It spins around the rim before teetering in.“Dunk!” Anton shakes his butt at the other kids. “Kiss it! Kiss it! Kiss the dunk master’s butt!”

he says.

“So not a dunk,” Mick says, chasing the ball. Anton says it was so. Says he’ll do it again. Mick scoops up the ball. No way Anton’s getting it again. Mick offers it to Willie but the boy says he’s not playing anymore. He passes to Bobby but the

place the older boy once stood is now empty. All three look around, but no one can see him. No oneknows where Bobby went.

“He probably went home”, Anton says. Mick spins in place, scanning the area. “Tat’d be kinda fast. How’d he skip out without us

seeing?”

“Maybe he cut across the church.” “Yeah, maybe.” Probably. Best way to Vine Street. Anton shrugs, tells Mick to throw it to him. Tey have three hours before the streetlights come

on and today’s the day he’s gonna prove he’s the dunk champion.

What this Supplement IsIn Little Fears Nightmare Edition, we tell stories of children who are heroes. Children

who fight back against the monsters, who conquer evil, and who saves lives—their ownand others. Most of these children lead otherwise uneventful lives. Tey live in safeenvironments, with trustworthy people, have good friends, normal lives, homework everynight, and an early bedtime every school night.

But there are other children, other heroes. Ones who fight first against the situationsof their lives and then, or sometimes at the same time, the world of monsters. Tesecharacters come f rom different backgrounds, have different families, and lead different



11

GONE, JUST LIKE THATlives than each other. But they all have one thing in common: Tey are all missingchildren.

Tere are five ways that a child becomes missing. Tey are either abducted (meaningthey are taken by another human), they are stolen by a monster, they run away (causing

themselves to become missing), they are abandoned by their families, or they are forgottenby the real world. Each type has its own story, its own underlying cause, and its ownresolution. But they are all children who became separated from how the real world issupposed to work, and who became susceptible to Closetland’s machinations because of it.

In the real world, a lot of kids reported to be missing are eventually found. Some simplytook a wrong turn and couldn’t find their way home. Others went to friend’s houses

without telling their parents. Tere are those who were kidnapped but eventually returnedthanks to the concerted efforts of communities, police, and federal agencies. Of course,not all real missing kids are found. And, if they are, sometimes years or decades pass

before that happens. Tis supplement deals with those kids who have yet to be found. Tey are no longer

captives but they are not free. Somewhere along the path, possibly at the start, possibly just yesterday, they found themselves in the realm of monsters and they couldn’t get out.Each child wishes for escape, even if he doesn’t wish to go back home.

When a child goes missing, when he’s severed from the safety of family, he is left opento being absorbed by Closetland. It’s possible for a child to simply sink into a strange bedand disappear from the real world. Some monsters prey exclusively on the missing, those

who have lost contact with the people whose presence would otherwise deter the beasts. Tese monsters swallow the children in their giant empty mouths like ravenous doorwaysto a twisted wonderland. Others lead them down dangerous paths, into a cool white light,promising salvation, promising home, but delivering something far darker.

Some of these children are in Closetland proper, running through its grey hallways andtwisted corridors. Tey pull on door handles, desperate to escape, but every door leads toa hundred more. Some children exist in our world but cannot be seen by adults. Tey aretrapped in the in-between. Tese children didn’t just go missing, the world forgot them.

Tere are numerous children who are missing—far, far too many—and in this book we’ll talk about them. How it happened, why it happened, and how your characters cansave them.

What You Will Find in this BookBook 2: Among the Missing is designed for both players and game moderators

and is written to inspire heroic and horrifying tales about salvation, redemption, andreconnection. Te theme of family, blood and otherwise, runs strong in these pages and issomething we will explore in numerous points throughout.

The Chapters Tis book is divided into eight chapters including this introduction. Te first five

chapters detail a specific type of missing child, including how it happens and whathappens next. Te next two chapters talk about the world around a missing child as wellas the people, and the final one is a complete standalone episode that puts this book intopractice at the gaming table. Te chapters are:



12

INTRODUCTION

Introduction: Gone, Just Like That Tis is what you’re currently reading. It discusses the scope of this book and briefly

covers its contents.

Chapter One: Against their Will (The Abducted) Tis chapter covers the Abducted, those kids who were taken by people.

Chapter Two: By Inhuman Hands (The Stolen) Tis chapter talks about the Stolen, kids who were snatched away by monsters.

Chapter Three: On Their Own (The Runaways) Tis chapter details the Runaways, the kids who left of their own accord.

Chapter Four: No Longer Wanted (The Abandoned)

Tis chapter is all about the Abandoned, who are kids left by their families.Chapter Five: Like They Never Existed (The Forgotten)

Tis chapter focuses on the Forgotten, those kids who slipped through the cracksbetween Closetland and the real world.

Chapter Six: One of the Missing Tis chapter goes over rules particular to missing kids and includes new rules for

making GMCs who are a bit more important than your standard minor characters.

Chapter Seven: The World Around You

Tis chapter talks about the places a missing child can be safe and those places that areespecially hostile to him.

Is This Appropriate? Te subject of this supplement is not something to be taken lightly. In those areas

where I have put the concept of missing children in a fantastic setting, it is to putthese situations in a context appropriate to the game. Tis isn’t done to trivialize whathappens in the real world but give players the tools to explore these issues and themesin hopes of better understanding them from the victim’s perspective.

Dramatically, a child who is missing—whatever the cause—can be a fascinatingplayer or non-player character. He would have experiences and exist undercircumstances the other characters probably wouldn’t understand otherwise. And agroup of missing kids who have built a network to help save themselves and others areheroes of the highest regard.

Also, you’ll see that the more nefarious aspects of missing children, what every parentdreads to her very core, are not detailed in this book. Tey are referenced, for the sakeof completeness, but I strongly discourage it from being part of a player character’sbackstory and suggest it should only be used as the history of a non-player character

with utmost regard and caution.My advice to players, with respect to characters who are missing children, is that it is

scarier to not say and more dreadful to not know.



13

GONE, JUST LIKE THATChapter Eight: The People You Know

Tis chapter is all about the people, both friendly and not, who can be important tomissing kids. Tey might be someone to seek out in times of trouble, or a reason to avoida particularly dark alley.

Chapter Nine: The Long Way Home Tis is a complete episode for use in an existing series or as a one-off episode. In it, the

player characters will help a missing kid find his way back to where he belongs.

Final Note About This Book Te world presented in this book is highly fictionalized. Even though some very real

situations are referenced, detailed, or used as inspiration for some of the material withinthis book, everything in here is fiction. I have kit-bashed, altered, repurposed, and flatlymade-up things in order to create a world where children fight back against the creatures

of Closetland and one where missing kids play a particular role in that fight.For the player and game moderator: Creating and portraying a missing child can be a

sensitive subject for some players and groups should use common sense when doing so. Iurge groups to discuss the impact including such a character might have on the group andto treat these types with respect. While we may be talking about fictional characters here,there are real missing children in the world and their struggles and stories should not betrivialized.

Now, without further ado or disclaimer, open the door and step into a new world. Afrightening world of desperation and isolation. Te world of the missing.



no!



Chapter ONe:against their wills

(the abducted)



16

CHAPTER ONE

On the far sidewalk, something shiny catches Bobby’s eye. Ignoring his friends, the boy skipsacross to see what it is. He checks traffic before hoofing as fast as he can. Someone’s left some

money on the sidewalk. A big stack of coins.“Sweet,” Bobby says, shoving the change into the pockets of his shorts.He turns to head back and almost slams into a car that’s parked between him and the basket-

ball court. Bobby squints his eyes, trying to see into the darkness of the car. It smells like pine. Hehears someone clear his throat from inside the car.

“Say,” the voice is kind, familiar. “Are you the Stinson boy?” Bobby leans forward a bit. He can make out a few sharp features but nothing much.“Yeah,” he nods, unsure.“Name’s Adam. I’m a friend of your mom’s. She ever mention me?” Bobby thinks for a second. He shakes his head.“Oh, well, she talks about you all the time. Say, I’ve come to visit her. I know she lives here

somewhere. Any chance you can show me?” Bobby starts to give directions but the voice inside stops him.“I appreciate that, but I’m horrible with directions. I get all turned around. Worst sense of

direction in the world, my wife tells me. Say, if it’s close, why don’t you come in here and showme?”

Bobby shuffles his feet, considering.“ell ya what, I’ll give you five bucks for your trouble.” Bobby can’t stop from smiling. He touches the car handle. He pauses a second before opening.“Okay,” Bobby says, climbing inside.Te door lock clicks shut next to him. Te man puts the car in gear and gently steps on the gas.“I sure do appreciate it,” the man says, ruffling Bobby’s hair. “Sure do appreciate it.”

The Abducted An abducted character is a child who has been taken by another person. It could be a

family member, a family friend, a parent or relative of a kid the child knows, a neighbor,or a complete stranger. Te key element here is that the child was taken by a human.

While this is almost always an adult, it’s not unheard of for that adult to use another childas a lure. Tat child may be the offspring of the kidnapper or another of his victims.

Part One: How it Happens Tere are many ways a child can be abducted. Some kidnappers use force, some use

sob stories, some use the promise of treats or threats to lure their victims. All prey upon achildren’s naiveté, natural inclination to help, or deep-rooted fears.

By ConvincingConvincing is a non-violent, non-physical means of abduction. Tis is where someone

gets the child to come with them by posing as a friend of the family, someone who needshelp, or through the offering of a treat or reward. Tis is a con job, playing on the child’s

trust or fear to get him to come along. Te person usually establishes himself as a kind person, someone the kid can trust, and

then tells some concocted plea in order to exploit that trust. Tere are a million storiesand the more the person knows the child, the easier it will be to convince him.



17

AGAINST THEIR WILLS (THE ABDUCTED) Te person may say his puppy ran away and he could use help finding it. He may claim

he is new to the area and just needs help finding the library. He may say he’s a familyfriend, or a parent’s coworker, who was asked to pick up the child after school. He maysay he’s going to hurt the kid’s mommy or daddy if she doesn’t get in the car right now.

Te person may be a neighbor or family member, someone the child knows, who is usingthat familiarity against the child to convince him to get in the car.

By Using Other Kids Tis is a form of manipulation where the kidnapper uses another child to lure the

victim. Children have a built-in empathy for other kids. While parents may warn theirkids about creepy men in vans and to never take candy from strangers, they rarely discussthe dangers of following other kids. After all, learning to trust and engage with otherchildren is a natural part of the socialization process. Kids connect with kids all the

time—in the classroom, on the playground, at the kids gym, or the play area at the mall.It’s so natural and unassuming that parents rarely think to caution.

By Force When a child is abducted by force, he is overpowered and physically moved to a car, a

van, or wherever the kidnapper wants him. Tis is usually some mode of transport thoughif it’s in a mall or possibly a very large house, the kidnapper could try to disappear intothe crowd or stow the child away in a cupboard, room, or attic until the place clears out.Children can be amazingly strong, able to kick, punch, and bite with the ferocity andabandon of a wild thing, but that’s often not enough to stop a healthy and determined

kidnapper. Tere’s rarely any subtlety in abduction by force. One moment the kid is playing on

the swings and the next he has a hand over his mouth and an arm around his waste. Hesquirms and claws but to no avail. He’s pushed, headfirst into a trunk or the backseat of acar. Maybe he’s bound, with handcuffs, silver tape, or coarse rope, and a bag’s put over hishead. It’s not subtle, it’s not to be romanticized; it’s vicious and traumatic.

Without the Kid Knowing Tere are a few ways a child can be abducted without knowing that’s what happening.

He may have been drugged, sleeping, or going about his everyday routine when his life issuddenly, drastically changed. Te first two are fairly self-explanatory but let’s talk aboutthe latter.

Sometimes kids are taken by those they trust implicitly. We’re talking a father, mother,or really close family f riend. Maybe the father always picks the kid up from school. Butthis one time, the mother does. Te kid rolls with it. It’s unusual but it’s his mom. Butthen they don’t go home. Instead, they just drive. Day turns to night, they eat a quickmeal at a fast food joint on the interstate. When the kid asks where they’re going, she saysthey’re visiting her sister for the weekend. Or maybe a relative is sick. Or mommy has to

see a man about a new job.But that’s not what’s happening. Te kid may not understand it, but he’s just beenabducted. Maybe the mom was about to lose parental rights due to a parole violationor because the child’s dad has filed a court order because she’s facing a pending drugcharge. Maybe the lady from Social Services was performing a follow-up visitation that



18

CHAPTER ONE

afternoon and the mom knew she’d fail the interview. Often in these situations, there isan underlying cause to which the child is oblivious. All they know is that they’re with aparent. And parents can always be trusted, right?

Part Two: Why it Happens Tere are a lot of reasons people abduct children. Before anyone thinks the descriptions

below excuse such behavior, let me state upfront that abduction is a horrible and inhumanact. For our purposes, we are exploring the reasons behind abduction as potentialbackstory for an abducted character. When portraying a character it is important to knowthe history that informs his behavior, the actions he’ll take, and reactions he’ll have toevents in a story.

Parental Justification A biological or adoptive parent who feels slighted by his spouse or the legal system willoften take “his kid” because he feels justified in doing so. Maybe he feels a biased judge

has unfairly taken away his visitation rights following a messy divorce. Or maybe he feelshis spouse is going to leave him and try to prevent him from seeing his kid. Tere are a lotof situations that can make a parent desperate enough to do anything in order to protecthis claim to a child. After all, it’s his kid and no judge or ex-wife is going to keep himfrom seeing his own flesh and blood.

Sometimes the parent has lost visitation rights entirely. Tis is almost exclusivelybecause the judge has been convinced the parent poses a physical or emotional threat

to the child. Restricted visitation rights might be for those reasons or because the judgedoesn’t feel the parent can provide a safe home environment for the child, which maystem from where the parent is currently living or the people with whom the parentassociates.

No matter what the parent convinces himself of, the flaw here is that there is oftena good reason the supposedly slighted parent has lost or has restricted visitation rights.Now, whether the parent has been painted in an unfair light is a debate far beyond thescope of this supplement but the important thing to know is that the parent feels asthough he is justified in his actions and that their taking the child rights an imbalance.

Still, a parent who thinks the correct course of action is to abduct his child isn’t making agood argument for himself.For an abducted character, who has become separated from a parent by abduction, life

is extremely complicated. He can lose the ability to discern his place in a family or even todefine what “family” means. He will often get skewed details about the other parent, often

with a demonizing retelling of events the child witnessed or that are being used to justifyto the child what the abductor has done. A parent desperate enough to kidnap his ownchild often feels a compulsion to get the child on his side.

Replacement FamilySome folks abduct children to right a “greater wrong” they feel has befallen them. Some

people, denied their own offspring by God or nature or accident, feel the world owesthem a child. Te root can be that the kidnappers are unable to conceive or they had achild who died or ran away. Or they feel that another child is being treated wrongly by



19

AGAINST THEIR WILLS (THE ABDUCTED)his biological family and that they would provide a better home for the him. In that case,they are convinced they are serving the greater good.

Tese people are seeking a replacement family. Either they are seeking a child forthemselves or feel they are serving as better parents for the child. Folks who are seeking

this try to provide as normal a home life as they can for their abducted child. After all, tothem, they’re doing a good deed or correcting a cosmic injustice. Tey may become quickto anger if the child doesn’t take to the environment they provide or sees them as flawedor guilty of a crime. In their eyes, they are just and it is the child—and the world—thatmust see the light.

IndoctrinationSometimes parents or relatives hold beliefs on the very fringe of accepted culture. Tey

may revere a mortal man as a great spiritual leader who is building a flock for a greater

purpose or believe beings from beyond the stars are coming to collect the chosen peopleof Earth in their great mothership. It may be that other members of the family disagree with those beliefs and feel any children involved may be at risk for potentially harmfulactions or beliefs. Tis would cause the faithful parent to disappear within the sect, usuallyunder the protection of the religious council or leader, effectively sealing the child offfrom the rest of the world.

If not parents, strangers who are members of a cult may be tasked by their priestto “recruit” new members. Young kids are far more susceptible to the necessary cultprogramming than most adults and make for perfect subjects.

More Nefarious ReasonsPeople abduct children for all sorts of awful reasons beyond what I’ve already discussed. We all know this and I won’t and needn’t get into those details. What I urge you to dois to stick to the reasons above—as backstory only—and not delve into the most evil ofman’s motivations.

Part Three: What Happens NextBut being abducted is not where the story ends. Abducted characters, especially player

characters, have little playability if they are still captured. Rescuing an abducted friend

who is an NPC can make for a tense and terrifying episode but it just doesn’t work for aplayer character. So, it’s important to ask: Ten what happened? When a child is abducted, Closetland has an opportunity that doesn’t happen

otherwise. Tere has been a severing in the child’s life as he has been ripped from hishomestead, his safe place, and had his life thrown into chaos. Closetland will capitalizeon this, using its monsters and influence to claim the child as its own during an especiallytroubling part of his life. In particular, the Bogeyman is always looking to add a few morebirds to his collection. Tough he’s far f rom the only one.

Swallowed by ShadowsOnce he has realize what happened, a kid may have such a hard time coping with it

that their soul suffers. Te kid becomes so depressed that he goes dark so quickly that theshadows literally swallow him up. Te child wakes up in Closetland with no idea how hegot there and no idea how to get back home. When he comes to, he is nearly despondent,his Spirit wavering between 2 and 0, almost completely disconnected from the world.



20

CHAPTER ONE

Escape into NothingLet’s say the child manages to escape capture, hit the road, head home. But he discovers

that he can’t find the way home. Even in a familiar environment, there seems to be an

invisible wall that he can’t step past or a fuzz that clouds his head whenever he triesto remember his address or which way the interstate lies. He knows he needs to getsomewhere but he can’t remember where that place is or how to get there. He doesn’teven know to find the police or some other adult; he just wanders, hoping someone whoknows him will help.

Agent of MonstersIt’s possible the human being who kidnapped the child was working for the monsters.

People who live extremely sheltered lives, who suffer f rom certain psychological

conditions such as dissociative identity or schizophrenia, or who have severelycompromised mental faculties are susceptible to manipulation from certain monsters. Teabductor may or may not be aware of it. Te monster could be a voice in the person’s head,could appear as the spirit of a controlling mother, or even a maniacal dog who only thekidnapper can understand hasn’t caught the smell of a wandering cat but is barking ordersfor him to follow.

In these instances, it’s probable that the agent brought the kid into an area whereClosetland and the real world overlap if he didn’t deliver the child directly to a monster ora monster’s room.

Change of Heart Te kidnapper may have had a change of heart at the last minute and left the childsomewhere. Certainly, he couldn’t take the kid home nor could drop the child off at thepolice station, for fear of being caught for his crime. Instead, he drops the kid off in themiddle of nowhere or pushes him out while drifting through a quiet neighborhood. Tisact, this senseless and needless separation mixed with the kid’s own boiling fear, weakensthe membrane between Closetland and the real world, allowing just enough corruptedinfluence into our world that the kid slips through the cracks and into the world ofmonsters, the second skin folding over him and pulling him from the real world.



21

AGAINST THEIR WILLS (THE ABDUCTED)

“My dad took me.”He and my mom were fighting all the time. He was always coming home late and my

mom was sick of it. She said that he had to choose between his family and somethingcalled a floozy. I’m not sure what that is but dad said that my mom can’t make him choose

and that he’s the man, he’ll do what he wants. After that, my dad wasn’t allowed in the house anymore. He’d still come over and they’d yell at each other outside or through the door and my dad would beat on the door withhis fists and call my mom all sorts of names. Mom said I wasn’t allowed to talk to himanymore and that she didn’t want me turning out like him.

Ten one day, on my way home from school, he showed up with this woman calledDarlene and he said he and mom had made up and that she said I was going to live withhim from now on. Dad said he had this great big house and a puppy and that we weregoing to live there and I’d love it.

Tere’s no house that I’ve seen, just this dumpy apartment. Dad said the puppy musthave run off while he and Darlene were getting me. I don’t really believe him but Ipretend I do.

Dad and Darlene fight about as much as him and mom did only now it ’s because ofmoney and how come Darlene doesn’t have a job and my dad being lazy.

Dad says I’ll get to go to school once the new year starts but I don’t understand why Ican’t go now. School just started like a month before he came and got me.

I miss my mom. Dad says part of the deal is that my mom wants a new life and that sheloves me but just can’t talk to me right now. I miss my friends too, especially Riley. He’s so

funny.Dad didn’t even let me get my old stuff. I miss that too.Last night, I went to sleep like usual. I had these really bad dreams about big black

birds and a guy with a weird laugh. When I woke up this morning, I was here—in thisfield—and all I see are trees. So many trees. I’ve tried to find my way out but, no matter

which way I go, I always end up here. In this field.



22

CHAPTER ONE

“He said he worked with my mom.”He knew my name and everything. I didn’t know him but he seemed okay. He said my

mom got sick at work and that she asked him to pick me up. She wanted him to takecare of me while she got better. He said he’d take me to the hospital but that kids weren’tallowed in since she was so sick.

His car kinda smelled funny but not really bad, just weird. Kinda like my grampa’shouse, especially his couch. We drove a long time, just me and him. He told me about his

wife and said he had a daughter named Jane who was about my age.His house was kinda small but it had a yard. I don’t know how long I have to stay here

but he said that my mom should get better any day now. He said she’ll call when she’s

better and she can come pick me up.His wife is alright even though she keeps asking me to call her “mom” but I think her

name’s really Debbie because that’s what Jane calls her.One time the man saw me talking to a boy from down the block. He got really angry at

me. He told the boy that I was his nephew. I don’t why he said that.One day, I saw this cat and he kept looking at me. He had funny eyes, almost like

people eyes. All this time the people in the house have told me not to go past the backfence but I did this time, chasing after that cat.

I didn’t really like it there but I suppose it’s better than where I am now. I can’t see

anything and everything smells like mud. Way worse than that guy’s car.I hope my mom gets better soon and comes to get me. I really don’t like it here.



23

AGAINST THEIR WILLS (THE ABDUCTED)

“I woke up in the back seat of a car.”It was dark, and a woman was singing along with some song on the radio. I tried to sit

up my legs felt too heavy to move. I could speak but just barely.I remember asking what was going on. She said just to relax and we would be there

shortly. When I asked where, she just turned up the radio.Her phone rang and she started yelling at the person on the other end. Something

about my last name and how I was the wrong one. She kept saying my name, then she was screaming it, and she slammed on the brakes. So hard I almost fell off the seat.

She looked back and asked me who my dad was. When I said his name, she got reallyangry. She threw the phone so hard, I think it broke. She turned the car around and we

went down this really long road. We must have been far out in the country because we went like ten minutes between houses. I saw a lot of horses and smelled a lot of animalpoop.

She pulled over to the side of the road and asked me if I could sit up. I did okay—Icould finally feel my feet—so she opened the door and told me to get out. I didn’t see anyhouses anywhere, except for one light really far down, like a porch light or something.

I guess I didn’t do it quick enough because she grabbed my arm and pulled me out. Shethrew me to the dirt, almost as hard as she threw her phone, got back inside and took off.

And that’s it. No words, nothing. So I took a guess and started walking.

I’ve been walking ever since.



help!



Chapter Two:by inhuman Hands

(the stolen)



26

CHAPTER TWO

On the far sidewalk, something shiny catches Bobby’s eye. Ignoring his friends, the boy bustlesacross the street to see what it is. From where he was, it looked like it was on the sidewalk

but it’s really in the storm drain. Bobby positions himself as close to the drain as possible. It’sdown but not too far.

Te grate is loose. Bobby manages to slide it open and get his hand through the opening. Hecan’t quite make out what it is but he’s almost got it. Bobby pushes through, enough so his entirearm is through the hole. Something sharp brushes against his fingertips.

“Ow,” the boy says, flinching. He bites down to stifle a louder cry. He glances over at the guyswho are arguing about a shot, oblivious.

“Son!” A voice says from behind him. “Back away, son!” Bobby can’t turn around to see who’s talking. He ignores it. Maybe the guy is talking to some-

one else. Bobby inhales and wedges his shoulder into the hole. Now he’s got as much arm as he possibly can down the storm drain.

“Son,” the voice again, louder. Tere’s a hand on Bobby’s shoulder, tugging at him. “Son, getaway from it!”

Something else clutches Bobby’s hand, the one inside the drain. It’s cold, wet, furry. Somethingsnarls from underneath the sidewalk.

Bobby tries to jerk his hand back but the thing holding on is strong, too strong. Te boy twistshis head back to see some guy in a green jacket pulling on his shoulder.

“Hold on, son,” the man says, tugging with all his might.Te snarl turns into a growl, or rather a bunch of growls, like a dozen cats attacking each

other. Something bites into Bobby’s hand. Te boy is about to scream when there’s a sharp tug.Bobby feels the rush of wind on his face, the scrape of concrete against his cheek, and hears a brief popping sound before he is surrounded by darkness.

Te man stands on the corner, his hands empty, staring into the grate. Another one. Gone. Justlike what happened to the man’s brother so many years ago.

The Stolen Te second most common means by which a child becomes missing is for that child

to be stolen. Any child who has been captured directly by a monster is a stolen child.If a monster takes a child after the child has been abducted by a human, the child is

still considered—for our purposes—to have been abducted as the monster wasn’t whatseparated the kid from his family.

Part One: How it HappensIt’s not always as simple as a monster grabs a kid and runs off. Tat does happen, yes,

but not all monsters are stronger than children. Kids are not just dolls laying on the floor;they have minds and wills of their own. If a monster’s incapable of overpowering a child,it will use other tools and tricks it has to capture a child.

Being Overpowered Tis is the obvious one. Monster grabs kid, kid tries to get free, kid can’t, monster drags

kid away to Closetland. Tis typically happens at night, while the kid is sleeping (and,perhaps most importantly, the parents and siblings are sleeping too). Big monsters, suchas a typical Closet Monster, can grab up two, three kids at a time. Some monsters have



27

BY INHUMAN HANDS (THE STOLEN) whip-like tails they wrap around children, others have muscular arms with grips like a vice, and there are monsters whose mouths are like bird cages, slamming shut on someslumbering child in the quiet of night.

Being AmbushedMonsters who aren’t big, bad beasts may gang up to overpower a kid who is goingat it alone or has become separated from his friends. Tey will lay in wait for someunsuspecting child to stumble past them before springing into action, using theircombined weight, sheer number, and the confusion of their attacks to take the childdown.

Falling for a LieSome monsters prefer subtler techniques. Perhaps the monster sees muscle and

strength in numbers as crude, maybe even garish. Tese monsters rely on their charm and

(sometimes actually) silver tongues to sweet talk or fast talk a child into following them,maybe the monster appears as a trusted friend, to convince a child to come with them,into a rundown house or a carnival that’s shut down for the night. Te monster seeks toisolate the child and let the natural course of Closetland’s magic capture them rather thanaggressively attempting to get the child.

Falling into a Trap We’re talking physical traps here, not emotional or mental (as those would fall

under the above header). A monster may use a trap to catch a child. Tese range from

camouflaged holes in the ground that give way to deep pits, to metal cages whose luresdraw in children and then the door slams shut, to ropes laying in the dirt that string upchildren by their feet as they rush across. If a physical device is used to contain or restraina child (usually until the monster that set the trap can come back to claim its prize), itfalls under this.

Part Two: Why it Happens Whether a monster snatches a child straight from his bed in the middle of the night,

dons the face of a f riend to convince the child to come into an old house, or snares a childrunning through the woods in a trap, the child has been stolen. But the reason is anothermatter.

To Feed Just as a wolf will kill for food, monsters will too. Generally speaking, Monsters need to

eat just like anything else. Some eat fear, some drink tears, some crunch bones, and otherslike ears. No part of a child goes to waste, by command of the Bogeyman. While monstersare often forced to make do with woodland creatures, stray animals, mashed up butterflies,or each other, each and every one would trade those scraps for a nice, fresh, juicy child.

Not all monsters eat their catches right away. Some store the child in a box or bag, stow

them away in a cellar, tie them to a tree, seal them in a glass box, or wrap them in leatherand pack them in salt. Monsters almost always prefer live food.Of course, playing a digested child wouldn’t be much fun so let’s assume, if your

character was stolen for the purposes of food, he managed to escape prior to being eaten.



28

CHAPTER TWOFor Sport

Monsters exist that simply like to scare kids. It’s what gets their ichor pumping. Somemonsters, such as ghosts, have little use for food, at least human flesh. Tey’ll grab the kid,drag him into Closetland, drop him in the middle of the abandoned school, and laugh

their heads off as the tot runs around, desperately searching for a way out. Occasionally,the monsters will rattle chains, drop buckets of bile or slime, or pop up for a quick “boo”that about makes the kid pee himself. After they’ve had their fun, they’ll simply leave thekid wherever he is. Tey don’t care if the child ever makes it home.

Some monsters prefer competitive sports. One will pick his champion out of a litterof freshly-arrived children or maybe field his reigning champion. Another will select hisown fighter. Te two children will be forced to fight each other—rarely to the death, moreto submission. Te victor wins his monster-controller bragging rights or a prize but, really,the main draw is the pain the children cause each other.

For LaborClosetland is a world born from magic and populated by monsters so the idea actual

grunt-level work needs to get done may seem ludicrous but someone needs to clean thefloors and wash the windows of the land’s many buildings. While the bigger monsterscould force the smaller ones into doing it (and sometimes do that just because), why notmake the kids do it. In the laundry, children scrub grungy clothes and curtains againstdirty washboards. Tey suffer a whip across their backs whenever the drapes don’t comeout spotless. In the labor camps, children toil day and night for no greater gain than more

work.Monsters keep their feral brethren, such as the mutant pigs and disfigured dogs, inpens. Nobody wants to feed these misshapen beasts so they send the kids out, heavy slopbuckets in hand, to dole out rations into the troughs and feedbags.

As a PresentGoblyns in particular think of children as a food, yes, but also presents for their queen

itania. Innocent blood is an important part of the mixture they use to keep their queeneternally young. Some monsters, desperate to get on the Bogeyman’s good side, will try tocapture a bunch of kids as a gift. Tey think it will allow them to get favors or preferential

treatment from the King of Monsters. It won’t (the Bogeyman gives no monsterpreferential treatment over himself ), but still the monsters try.

For CompanionshipSome monsters are crazed, feral beasts guided only by instinct. Others are conniving

and cunning manipulators. Yet others are lumbering beasts following orders from theirbelly and the demands of the master. Now, this may be hard to believe, but some monstersare just lonely. Some monsters have the emotional maturity of a small child—some havethe physical maturity of one; some are indistinguishable from a real child—and they just

want someone to play with. Tere is a pecking order among the monsters as with anyhostile group and some of the smaller, weaker monsters want someone who is a peer,can speak on their level, who respects them (even if that respect is really fear), and won’tabandon them because other, bigger monsters come along.

So if these monsters can’t make friends, they’ll steal them.



29

BY INHUMAN HANDS (THE STOLEN)Part Three: What Happens Next

Te kid was stolen, ripped from our world by villainous creatures, and now faces alifetime of grueling labor, emotional torment, bizarre tea parties, or being used as cruelsport. Te child is now in the world of the monsters, with hundreds of places to hide,countless doors to open, and evil beasts at every turn. So what happens to the child next?

The Child EscapesMonsters may be great at catching kids but they’re not always great at keeping kids.

Monsters tend to recycle boxes and cages from the real world, and sometimes the metalis a bit rusty or the wood is rotten and the monster is oblivious as to what that means. Asmart child will usually wait until the monster is out of sight to break free though anxiouschildren may kick a door off its rusty hinges right away and try to make a break for it. Forthe curious, it’s usually better to wait, though potential escapees do risk the chance of the

monster deciding it better eat its catch now before it has a chance to run away.Even if the kid is successful, he’s only escaped immediate capture. He’s still in

Closetland (most likely) and away from his family and loved ones (most definitely).



30

CHAPTER TWOThe Child Meets Another Monster

Some monsters don’t like being one-upped by their peers. If one monster sees another’strap has a kid in it, the monster may set the child free simply to aggravate the othermonster. Or an enterprising young monster may steal the child when the original captorhas his back turned. In that case, the child either escapes or is let go after he serves hispurpose for that second monster.

In a case where a second monster frees the child or absconds with him in the night,the original monster may set out to find his prize and show that other monster whathappens to those who infringe on his property. Tis could lead to the child being caughtin a monster feud, possibly using the confusion of a monster-on-monster confrontation tomake his escape. Tat, in turn, could lead to both monsters (or whoever is the victor oncethe dust settles) looking for the child.

In both of the above cases, a monster exists who believes it has claim on the child. Aclaim wrongfully challenged by another monster or cut short by the sudden escape of thechild. A player character on the lam from a monster who is actively pursuing him has thepotential for a lot of action and danger.

The Child is Let GoSometimes monsters just let the kid go after they’re done, especially if the kid was

captured for sport or short-term labor. Te monster gets its amusement, or its laundrydone, and that’s it. It doesn’t want to eat the kid; it doesn’t want to harm the kid anyfurther. Who can say why. Monsters are mercurial and unpredictable at the best of times.

Could be the monster is bored, or that the monster’s essentially throwing away its scrapsand what the kid doesn’t realize is there’s another monster in the area who will eat thechild after the first one is done. Could be any number of reasons, really.

Te smart thing is for the child to assume the worst: Te monster’s coming back or a worse one is around the corner. Find a way out of Closetland or at least to a good hidingspot.



31

BY INHUMAN HANDS (THE STOLEN)

“He said he was my friend.”I had fallen asleep next to the big tree in the park. I woke up when I felt him breathing

on me. He was so big and had eyes like my dog. He smiled at me and said he was goingto take me to a magical place, where there were all these other kids to play with. I didn’t

know; I thought it was a dream. I looked around all and the other people who were at thepark were gone so I figured I was imagining this whole thing.He picked me up in his gigantic hands and hugged me. His skin was so hot I thought

my face was going to melt off. And then he dumped me into a big wooden box, like a treasure chest, and shut the lid.

It smelled like a fart and I could barely move. I was laying on something wet and soft, likea furry towel, and I think that’s what stunk so bad. I had to press my face against a hole inthe wood to stop from choking.

He must have been dragging the chest because it kept hitting bumps, like tree roots

and potholes. I realized this maybe wasn’t a dream so I started screaming. When I did, heshook the box so hard that I hit my funny bone really hard on the lid. It hurt so bad that Ididn’t say anything for the rest of the trip.

When he opened the lid, we were in a room with these huge blocks, the kind babiesplay with, and a rocking horse twice as big as me. Cartoons were scribbled on the wall andfrilly curtains and blankets and, ugh, just so much cutesy stuff.

He told me to put on this dress, and I told him no way because only girls wear dresses,but this made him really mad so I just put it on over my clothes. It was frilly and had thisbig poofy hat. Everything was blue and yellow; I hated it.

He made me play tea party like I was a little girl. Every day. At night, he would snuggleme like a teddy bear. Some nights, he wet the bed.One morning, I woke up before he did, and managed to slip out from under his arm. I

made a break for it—running as fast as I could—and finally found a way out of this sickand twisted playroom. I don’t know where I am now but I’m not there. And you know

what? Tat’s good enough for me.



32

CHAPTER TWO

“I was pulled through the floor.”I was walking into the kitchen to get something to drink when the lights went all weird

and this huge dark spot appeared right by the fridge. I jumped back because, well because,and then I leaned over to see what the heck it was. It was just black at first, like a really,really long rabbit hole, but then an arm reached up. I remember it was gross and slimy

and green. It looked like it was covered with moss or something. But this arm grabbed mypant leg so hard that I fell. Tat’s when I started to slide across the tile.

It dragged me into the hole but I kept fighting. I grabbed the edge of the floor as hardas I could but it was slippery, probably from that thing’s slimy arm, and I couldn’t hold on.

Next thing I know, I was in a dark tunnel. It was wet—I could hear somethingdripping, like a leaky faucet or rain maybe—and the ground was as slimy and gross as thisthing. And the smell. OH-EM-GEE. Te smell was so bad I thought I was gonna hurl. Iswear to God. It like my dad’s morning crap times a thousand.

We came to this hole and it shoved me in. I fought though! I did. Hard as I could. I

was punching it and kicking it but this thing was so strong I don’t think it felt it.It put me in the hole with this other girl who thought I wanted to eat her. What? No

way. She said she had been there for a couple days at least and that the green monsterkept trying to feed her bugs. I asked her what the thing wanted and she said she thoughtshe heard the monster take another kid from some other hole and eat it.

Eat it. Te thing eats kids. Te girl was taken before I was. I don’t know what happened to her. I hope I find her

though.

When the thing came for me, I was somehow able to slip out of it. It chased me for what must have been miles. I was so tired by the time it stopped chasing me. My ribshurt so bad and I was so hungry. I found some apples in this weird forest. I’ve kinda beenliving on them since I escaped. I can’t find anywhere else to go though. I saw a well, andtried to open this door that was nailed to a tree stump but it wouldn’t budge.

I guess I’ll just keep going though. What else is there to do?



33

BY INHUMAN HANDS (THE STOLEN)

“What I remember most are big yellow eyes.”I said to my friend Julia that we had to get out of there. When she asked why, I pointed

at the eyes but she said she didn’t see anything. I started to think I was crazy but no way.How did she miss them?

She heard the growl though and that ’s what made us run. I took off like a bat outta you-know-where but Julia got ahead of me. Tis is off Myers Rd, near the pond, wherethe big curve is. Julia took the turn and I couldn’t see her anymore. My legs were pumpingso hard, my blood burned. And I’m not much of a runner but those eyes and that growland I was a frickin’ Olympic track star.

I made it to the curve, where there’s that big straightaway, and didn’t see Julia anywhere.I looked behind me and I saw those eyes in the darkness so I kept going.

It had already got me by the time I heard the sound. Tere was a snap, like a tree branchbreaking, but I swear I was already hanging upside-down by then. I looked over and saw

Julia. She was looking at me, more scared than I was. I must have been, I dunno, in shock?I don’t know.But Julia was upside-down but the right way. Upside-down to me so rightside-up,

really. She was on her feet, I mean. I had fallen into some trap. I remember begging Juliato get me down but she just stood there and then she took off.

I hung there for a bit before the eyes put me in a bag and then, I think, in a cart orsomething. Something with wheels. I couldn’t see anything, the bag was really heavy anddark. It put me in a cage and left me there. It had taken the bag off and given me a plateof uncooked chicken parts.

I remember it said, “Get ready to fight.” But, really, I don’t know what that means.I waited until it was gone and then I kicked the cage open. I guess it thought I was weak or something because the cage was thin and wooden. I got out but then I had tofind my way home. I crawled through a small door in the room I was in and that led to aforest. Full of trees just like the one that trapped me.

I’ve been avoiding trees lately. As you can probably guess.



goodbye



Chapter Three:on their own

(the runaways)



36

CHAPTER THREE

Bobby watched his friends having a good time. Tey laughed and gave each other crap abouttheir weak shots and lame insults without a care in the world. His own joy suddenly

drained from him, as he recalled his parents’ conversation from last night, the fight they didn’t

think he could hear. But he sat at the head of the stairs and listened down the next step, at thetwo adults in the family room. Teir voices were low at first, calm but stern, then they got angry.His father saying he was too tired to fight and his mom saying she didn’t want to fight, shewanted a solution.

A solution.From the three-point line of the concrete court, Bobby looked toward his house and thought

about the people within. Te look on his mother’s face every time she received a yellow envelopewith that red stamp. How tired his father was from working double shifts and again on theweekend. His baby sister’s cough and all the trips to the doctor, the overnights at the hospital

when Bobby had to stay with his neighbor Mrs. Greaver. If he wasn’t there, if he was one less mouth to feed, one less person to worry about, they wouldhave it so much better. His father wouldn’t have to work so many hours and could be home in theevening, to relax and watch some V. He’d have weekends for fishing, which he loves, and maybeball games. His mother might have the money to go back to school like she wants and she could pay all those stupid bills in the basket by the stove. Tey could afford to see that doctor they keeptalking about, the one for his sister. Te specialist who works up in Brookpark.

Bobby was too young to work, even a stupid paper route which he wasn’t even sure they hiredkids for anymore, or he could maybe do that.

Te boy heard a door slam. A man got out of his car and walked up one of the brick-fronts.Bobby looked at the car. He wished he could drive.“Kiss the dunk master’s butt!” Anton yells, laughing.Bobby picked up his backpack. It didn’t hold much: some books, some paper, his lunch box. He

still had an apple from lunch and the juice box he didn’t like. It was fall, and there were placesnearby he could scrounge food. He could make it a couple days at least. Maybe get a ride out ofstate.

He loved his family. He’d miss them. He thought maybe he should say goodbye first. But thenthey’d know. Tey would probably try to stop him. It might tip them off and then they’d all freak

out and probably fight again and he’d be in trouble. Probably better just to go. Like ripping off abandage. Te less you think about it, the quicker you do it, the better it is. Te less it hurts.Bobby hoofs across the street, not bothering to check for traffic, and hits the sidewalk at a run.

He goes, as fast as he can, his backpack bouncing loosely off his legs, past a red car then a greyone then a black one, a white van, the fire hydrant, the stop sign, and keeps on going. He wasn’tsure where he was going but it didn’t matter, as long as his family had a better life. Tat’s whatmattered.

The RunawayNot every kid who goes missing is forcibly removed from his home by person or a

monster. Some children leave of their own accord for their own reasons. While escapemay be what they’re after, what they find—in the case of our characters—is something farmore. Te ways are as varied as the whys and we’ll look at both those next.



37

ON THEIR OWN (THE RUNAWAYS)Part One: How it Happens

When a child decides to run away from his family, he needs to find an opportunity. Te calculating child plans his runaway, packing necessary but transportable goods suchas food, water (or soda), and maybe a first aid kit, flashlight, etc. A kid with the thoughtand the means may buy a train ticket on his mom’s credit card or grab enough moneyto take the bus or subway out of town. Te idea is to put distance between himselfand his parents. Hitchhiking is foolish these days (not that running away isn’t foolishenough already) which makes public transportation a good option. But all that requirespremeditation which kids, especially impassioned ones, don’t necessarily take the time tocalculate. Some just (or must) seize the opportunity for escape when it comes.

Into the Night Tis is the classic idea of the runaway child. Te romanticized version of a kid, hobo

sack over his shoulder, has him escaping in the middle of the night, while the familyslumbers unknowingly in their beds. Well, romanticized or not, this is probably the mostcommon. Te long stretches of night give the kid time to consider his action and preparefor the journey ahead. He can fill his backpack up with enough food for a few days andsome magazines, music, and books so he doesn’t get bored on the road. He may leave anote, he may not, it all depends on his situation. Tis gives him one last chance to saygoodbye to his stuff and the pets before heading out on his own.

Once whatever preparation is done, he is free to sneak out and let the door close behindhim forever.

Amongst the Crowd Just as monsters and people can use crowds to snatch children without being detected,

a kid can use the confusion that comes from a mass of people to escape from his familyunseen. He could lag behind his parents for a step or two, then a few more, until theparents turn back and he’s not there. Tey glance around but all they see is an ocean ofpeople, taller heads that hide their young one’s sudden exit.

Te kid stays in the crowd as long as they need to, trying to find the best place to pullaway from the group. Public entrances and exits are good as they usually attract a bunchof people but then allow the child to dissimilate on the other side of a gate or pair ofdoors to make a break for it.

Takes OffMaybe the kid isn’t subtle about it at all. He could just run, with his parents unable to

catch him. Tis could happen at home, in public, wherever. Te goal here isn’t for the kidto escape without notice but to get away, far away, and as fast as possible.

A kid who takes off may do so in familiar territory, such as his neighborhood, wherehe can utilize known short-cuts and pathways to evade his parents (and even authoritiesif they are around or later called). Te kid may run away in a public place, using the maze

of interconnected stores at the mall or winding walkways of the local amusement park tomask his exit.

Part Two: Why it Happens Whether they sneak out the house under the cover of darkness, rush out amongst

a throng of holiday shoppers, or never return from “having to pee” during the family



38

CHAPTER THREEcamping trip, these are just the means. Te reason is yet unknown and the root can be

varied and complicated, if truly known at all. Here are some common reasons childrenbecome runaways.

Jealousy Te child could be having a hard time coping with the arrival of a new baby in thehouse, a cooing, drooling, pooping bundle of joy who leeches all the loves and hogs thespotlight with its constant crying and neediness. Or the kid could be the outsider whofinds himself living with relatives or friends who already have their own busy lives anddon’t have the time or energy to give him the attention he needs.

InadequacySome children don’t think they deserve the love their family provides or think they are

in the wrong family, possibly switched at birth, snatched from parents and siblings more

like them. Maybe he stands in the shadow of his smarter, better-adjusted, sports god of asibling. Maybe the family is a bunch of brainiacs and the kid is more interested in footballor track than reading and talking about math (of all things). Te feelings of inadequacycould be complete fabrication, a seed planted by the child’s own sense of failure, or itcould come from the parents who tell the child how disappointed they are while neverrecognizing what the child is good at or helping with the struggles he faces. Children, likemany adults, seek approval and if they feel they aren’t getting it at home, they will look forit elsewhere.



39

ON THEIR OWN (THE RUNAWAYS)Feelings of Guilt

Te child may have done something he is not proud of. He may have caused anaccident that hurt a friend or family member. Maybe it even killed her. Maybe the child

was playing with his dad’s old swing-top lighter out in the garage and caused a fire.Maybe the fire was big enough to do some real damage. Perhaps the child’s parents aredivorcing and he blames himself for their separating.

To Get Away from AbuseSome kids have good reason for getting out of whatever situation they are in. While

running away may not be the smartest, maybe it’s the only way they will survive. Teabuse may be mental, tearing down the child’s self-esteem and instincts, or verbal,obliterating their self-worth. It may be physical, literally putting the child’s life at risk. Orit may be another type of abuse altogether, which harms the child every way it can.

Get to an Other FamilyIn some cases, the kid lives with one parent while the other lives somewhere far away. It

could be an old friend who moved away and the kid left behind thinks his f riend’s parents would love him more and treat him better than his own family does. Or the child mayprefer his aunt or uncle or grandparents or whomever—someone besides the immediatefamily he has. Usually, the kid imagines life would be better with that other parent orfamily member. Maybe it is to get away from abuse, as above, or inadequacy (“My dad’sinto sports like I am, not like mom’s new boyfriend who only wants me to read theencyclopedia.”) but the focus isn’t just on escape but on getting to that other person, onbuilding a life with that (generally idealized) new family.

IndependenceKids are kids, and don’t necessarily have a reason so much as an idea. Te thought of

running away crosses every kid’s mind, for some it ’s because of the reasons listed aboveand for others it’s a way to exercise their want for f reedom. Running away could be anexpression of independence, a means to prove they don’t need their parents, they canhandle things on their own. Voluntary separation from their family is a clean break, a wayfor them to say, “I’m grown-up and don’t need you to protect me anymore.”

Part Three: What Happens Next When a child runs away, one assumes a journey of some sort follows. Te child may

continue on foot, hitch a ride from a stranger or friend, take the bus, get on the subway,buy a train ticket, or hop on his bike and go. Te word “runaway” breaks into “run” and“away” so assuming both are involved is very reasonable. Te question becomes about thedestination: Where is the child going? And, what happens next?

Lost on the RoadSome kids set out with grand plans in mind. Tey’re going to go to the coast, live with

their dad and his new wife, get away from crummy old mom and that idiot of a newhusband she has, and start a new life. Ten plans go awry. Te kid doesn’t have enoughcash to buy the bus ticket or he hitched a ride in the wrong direction and is now 150miles farther away from where he wants to be. Te kid is now just wandering, lost and

without a plan to get back on track.



40

CHAPTER THREEPerhaps the kid didn’t get so much lost on the road but distracted toward another goal.

Something new that caught his eye and now he’s on his way toward that.

No Destination in Mind

Could be the kid had no destination in mind. He set out to wander, to discover America (or whichever country he calls home), meet people, and live a nomad lifestyle.He’d rely on the kindness of strangers to fill in the lean times, take some odd jobs mowinglawns and shoveling sidewalks to earn some cash for food.

Not All It’s Cracked Up to BeIn his mind, this was going to be smooth-sailing. He would take a bus to Phoenix,

hitch a ride to Mesa, show up on his Uncle Joe’s doorstep who would pull him in, arms wide open, sit him down for a nice big dinner to welcome him into his new family. Butinstead, Joe was worried. Te kid’s mom had called him, after finding the note, and she

was worried sick. Joe pulls the kid inside and, after a quick hug and prayer, calls the boy’smom to let her know the man will bring her son back first thing in the morning.

Or the kid had it all planned: He’d pack a bag full of canned food and jarred fruit, acan opener (can’t forget that!), some bottles of soda and water, and he’d go out into the

woods to live. He always liked animals better than people anyway and, hey, his years inthe Nature Boys prepared him for the rugged life. And so he did, even managed to set upa shelter and a fire. He’s working on the hunting part but he has enough rations to lasthim another week. Cold set in early though and now there’s snow on the ground. Teanimals he was going to hunt for food are nestled away. Te trees are barren of anything

resembling food and now the boy will have to go down to one meal a day if he’s going tomake it until the thaw. Even then, he probably won’t have enough.

Found a “Friend”Maybe the kid met someone else on the road and is now following their path. Tis isn’t

an abduction per se, as it was voluntary, but it could be the person doesn’t have the kid’sbest interest at heart (if they did, they probably would have contacted the authorities).Besides, an abduction assumes an adult (usually) while, in fact, the “friend” may beanother missing kid. Tey could be commiserating about their lot in life, complementingeach other’s skills (one’s a smooth talker who can scam cash while the other knows the insand outs of makeshift shelters and scrounging for food).

Te runaway in this case settles into a coexistence where he finds happiness, or someapproximation thereof, even if it ’s not f rom a healthy source.



41

ON THEIR OWN (THE RUNAWAYS)

“She treats me like a child.”I’m almost thirteen years old. I’m practically an adult, and they still treat me like I sleep

in a crib.For my birthday last year? My mom got me a Serena Ballerina cake.SERIOUSLY.For my gifts, I got a Kidz Rock! CD and a pair of fairy pajamas. It’s like my parents live

in this bubble where it’s always seven years ago. Nobody ever grows up, nobody ever getsolder. I was sick of it.

I couldn’t live like that anymore. I had to get away. My room still had the same pink walls from when I was five years old. It was ridiculous. My mom didn’t let me pick out my

own clothes. Not just buying the clothes but she would set out an “outfit” for the next day.She wouldn’t let me wear make-up and still wanted my hair in those stupid pigtail braids.

She was driving. Me. Crazy. Whatever. I tried talking to her about it and she was all, “I just don’t want my baby girl

growing up too fast.” and “I don’t know what your hurry to be an adult is all about.” Andmy dad, ugh, he was all, “I leave this to your mother. You should talk to her about this.”

Um, I have? And she’s as thick as a brick wall. Tanks, dad . Whatever. I’m almost at my Aunt Belinda’s house and she’ll understand. She’s mom’s

baby sister and was probably treated just like I was. Just a few hundred more miles to go

and I’ll be there. Ten, finally, I’ll be treated like the adult I am.



42

CHAPTER THREE

“No one believes me.”I said I didn’t start that fire. I didn’t. Besides, we didn’t think anybody lived in that old

shack anyway. Who would live in that beat-up dump in the middle of the woods anyway.How was I supposed to know some homeless guy was sleeping inside it?

I couldn’t have known that. I couldn’t have known he would die. And then the judge was going to send me to juvie and my mom freaked out. My dad

about had a heart attack. My stupid sister was all “I told you he was hanging around the wrong kids.” God, I hate her. Listen, it wasn’t my fault. Joey’s the one who had the lighter.He’s the one who brought the gasoline. I just wanted to watch it burn. Tat’s all.

And then that stupid bum had to be in there and die.No way I could have stuck around. No way I was going to spend the rest of my life in

juvie because some bum couldn’t find a better place to sleep. So I hit the road. Why not?Nothing for me at home but a life behind bars.

Out here, anything’s possible. I can be my own man.



43

ON THEIR OWN (THE RUNAWAYS)

“My parents don’t like me anymore.”My mom said it wasn’t true but I knew it was. I was always messing up and letting

them down. Tey yelled at me all the time. My mom was too busy with the baby. Mystepdad was always working and when he wasn’t working he was in the garage working onprojects. Tey didn’t want anything to do with me.

First, I started going over to Maggie’s house. Her parents are nice and they didn’t mindthat I was always over there. I would spend the night whenever I could and her dad wassuper sweet to me. Her mom would do my hair, which my mom never had time for, andMaggie and I would try on her big sister’s clothes—she always had the best clothes. It

was great.But then Maggie and I got into a fight about some stupid thing and she started

hanging out with Katarina and they’re all BFFs now—which, God, Katarina? Really?—soI didn’t go over there anymore.

I would just come home after school. Let’s see, I could stay in my room and do nothing.Or listen to my mom gaga over their precious baby. Or hang out in that nasty cold garageand listened to the bandsaw or whatever. I think my stepdad was building a birdhouse orsomething stupid like that.

So, what’s it matter? What’s the difference? I packed my things and left one night.Some nice guy offered me a ride. He’s old. Like, 19 or 20. But he’s really sweet. I told himI’m 15 and he totally believes me. He says he thinks I’m really pretty and could totally

make it out in LA. Tat’s where he’s headed: Los Angeles. So I’m heading there too. And when we get there, we’re going to have the best life ever. He’s starting a band and I’mgoing to be the singer. Until the acting or modeling or whatever takes off anyway.

My parents probably haven’t even noticed I’m gone.



why?



Chapter four:No longer wanted

(the abandoned)



46

CHAPTER FOUR

The house is empty. It has been for weeks, ever since his dad lost his job. With his mom sick, only his dad

worked, and they barely had any money as it was before. Tey got behind on payments. Bobbyremembers seeing the notices. Te yellow envelopes stood out in the stack.

“We never could afford this house,” his dad would say. Except he threw in a lot more swearwords when he said it.

His mom would sigh and talk about how she was feeling better and that the doctors didn’tknow what they were talking about.

She told him she had the flu. But the flu doesn’t make you go to the doctor three times a weekand the flu doesn’t make your hair fall out.

People started calling on the phone so often, Bobby’s dad unplugged them. Ten he canceled the phone. And the television. Te internet had been canceled a long time ago. Since before his mom got sick, even.

Bobby was sent to live with his cousins while his parents figured out what to do. Te boy hatedit though and sneaked out every night the first week he lived there. For a while, he would comeback here. His parents were packing everything up. Tey didn’t want him to see. A lot of it wassold. Tat’s where the couch went, and the V, and the CD player. Tose were too big to hide andthey were the first things Bobby didn’t see anymore.

Rae and Uncle Bill would come get him and they would apologize and Bobby’s parents wouldsay it was alright. And that they loved him. Tey always told him that.

Bobby looks out the big bay window, at the lawn where he used to practice tee-ball, and thesidewalk he opened both knees on when he tanked on his first big-boy bike. His mom said he criedlike a baby that day.

“But you’re a big boy now,” she said. “So big.” One night, the boy sneaked out of Rae and Bill ’s house and came here. But it was empty. A

few days later, maybe it was just the next day, he got a letter in the mail. It was from his parentsand it was an apology.

“It’s easier this way,” it said. “We still love you. And we will come get you as soon as we can.” Te boy walks through each room, still as a picture, and remembers all the photos and toys and

stuff that used to be on the walls, on the mantel above the fireplace. In this corner, that’s wheredad put up the Christmas tree every year.

He’s been too embarrassed to tell his friends. When he saw his aunt’s brown car down the streetwhile they were playing Horse, he didn’t bother to even come up with an excuse. His friendswere distracted so he took off.

A door slams shut outside. Aunt Rae knocks on the door, politely. She knows it’s been hard on the boy. Bobby opens the

door slowly and they lock eyes for a moment.Quietly, Rae pulls her nephew close. His instinct is to fight it, but he doesn’t. Instead, Bobby

falls into her, clutches her tightly. But he won’t cry.He refuses to cry.

The Abandoned An abandoned child has been left by his biological family. Tis is a sharp sensation

when a strong bond is severed, one that cuts to the bone and sends a signal throughoutClosetland and can put the child in both mundane and supernatural peril.



47

NO LONGER WANTED (THE ABANDONED)Characters in Little Fears Nightmare Edition are between six and twelve so it’s safe to

say we’re not talking about infants left on church steps—at least, not anymore. In mostcases, when we talk about abandoned children here, we talk about those kids who havesuffered a loss and feel that pain that can only come from sudden, possibly unexplained

separation. Tere are those who never knew their biological family, or possibly any familyunit, but who long for such a thing so strongly the feeling of separation is just as vibrantand aching as those who knew their family.

Abandonment is possibly the hardest for a child to understand. We are taught familyis safe, that family looks out for its members. Abandonment can feel like a betrayal ofthat foundation. And when a foundation that strong is shaken, other things can’t help butcollapse.

Part One: How it Happens Te idea someone would move while the child is away at camp sounds like the premiseto a family V movie and, while that could happen, the following ways in which families

abandon their children are a bit more common.

Left on a DoorstepIt may sound like a bit of a fairy tale but it happens. In fact, some states have no-

penalty policies for mothers who wish to drop off children at hospitals and otherdesignated centers. Folks usually think of babies but it happens to children of all ages asthe situation surrounding a family changes.

Te facilities will then work to find temporary care and housing for the child. In some

areas, that means the kid goes to an orphanage or other group care facility. Some enter thefoster system. Others get adopted. For our purposes, we can assume the abandoned playercharacters and non-player characters do not have a permanent family. Tey may be infoster care or living in a place that takes good care of them but the hole left by not beingraised in a family environment remains unfilled.

Left on the Side of the RoadSadly, this happens as well. Usually a sign of severe mental illness or wrong-thinking,

a parent who is at an extreme emotional edge may be driven to taking the child

out somewhere and leaving him. Here, there is an urgency to the act. Tis may bepremeditated but more likely it’s an act of passion, a reaction to a heightened sense of fearor depression.

Left with a Friend Te kid may be left with a family friend or family member. Some abandoned are given

to folks the parents trust. Tat trusted person may think they’re only watching the kid fora short period of time or could know that the parent isn’t coming back for a long time ifever. Te two parties may conspire to not tell the child in order to protect him or becausethey don’t want to get into the long backstory (maybe one of the whys listed below) that

led them all to this point. We can assume the new home, the new “family” is a safe environment, and the main

source of pain is the eventual realization that mommy and daddy are not coming back.Or we can assume the chosen caretakers are unfit and the child is on the road to a worsehome life than before. For our purpose, we’ll take the former route over the latter. Te



48

CHAPTER FOURnew family won’t intentionally harm the child but they may still not be fit for parenting(incompetence can be overcome, if that’s the case).

Told to Leave

Maybe it’s nothing dramatic. No swaddling bundle handed to a nun, no driving outbeyond the city, no makeshift family to fill the gap. Tey’re only two words but they sayeverything the child needs to know: “Get out.”

Some families struggle to find harmony. Tey don’t naturally click and need to workhard if everyone is going to have anything resembling peace. When equilibrium isn’treached, when the family just can’t come together, sometimes elements need to beremoved. In some cases, a parent leaves or an older child moves out. Other times, thesolution the family comes to is for a younger child to go.

Part Two: Why it Happens When you see the headline that someone has abandoned their child, either to someone

else’s care or by shoving him out the door, a natural reaction is one of bewildermentmixed with disdain. But every act, no matter how despicable, has an underlying cause.

Tere is a reason the parent abandon the child. I’m not saying it’s a good reason or thatabandonment is justifiable—but that doesn’t mean it was a senseless act. Something hadto bring it about, so what was it? Why was the child abandoned?

Home Economics When parents have more kids than they can financially care for, they only have a

handful of options: keep the kid and take on extra work to fill the fiscal gaps; keep the kidand apply for financial assistance; keep the kid and tighten the belts even further, or; givethe kid up to someone else.

Tis is not an option of want. Tis is an option of need. Te family cannot take care ofthe child. A sudden downward shift in income could be to blame or the family could havespent years skirting the edge of abject poverty and maturation or the arrival of a new childcould have altered their financial situation. Either way, the family hit a do-or-die momentand a hard decision was made.

Fear of AbuseOne parent may feel the other is a threat to the child. Tis notion may come from past

experience with other children (their own or others) or vile promises made by the abuserthe protecting parent won’t let happen. Not to her baby. Not to her child.

Could be a parent abandoned her child because the other parent has abused himalready. A third possible scenario is that the parent feels she will abuse the child herself,the product of mental illness or poor impulse control.

No matter which of these scenarios is the case, the child is in danger, immediate orforthcoming. Te only solution in the mind of the parent is to give up the child. Abuseis an ugly concept and even uglier act. I urge that, if this is used, it is only for backstory, a

vague threat possibly, and never depicted or portrayed in a positive light.

Mental Illness Te parent may suffer from a diagnosed or undiagnosed mental illness such as

schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Teir brain chemistry is unbalanced; their actions are



49

NO LONGER WANTED (THE ABANDONED)unpredictable and not always based on fact. Te parent may think invisible monsters areafter her and she needs to get the child somewhere safe. Te parent may have a momentof clarity after a particularly harrowing bout and feel abandoning the child is a way toprotect it (possibly a “fear of abuse” situation as described above). Abandonment due tomental illness is usually an act of desperation not malice, though the latter does happen.

When it comes to mental illness in a parent, to the level where the adult may drivethe child out to the country and leave him there, warning signs often present far inadvance. Tese can be subtle but an observant child may sense them and prepare for a badsituation.

Te child may have a handful of provisions to see them through a short while; they maynot. A child who suspects his parents may be up to something (though who could foreseesomething like this?) may stash things in a backpack, just in case. As said, there is usuallylittle warning as this is an act of desperation more than malice but the parent may give offsignals something’s not right.

Addiction Addiction digs into your bones and makes the object of its desire more important than

anything. Everything else gets put by the wayside: hobbies, jobs, responsibilities, family.Children of drug- or alcohol-addicted parents are marginalized, made secondary by thedeep-borne need to satisfy the cravings. Te children of addicts face a hard life and hardchoices. Some endure, some run away, but others don’t get the chance to do either.

When a parent abandons a child because of addiction, it could be because they don’t

want the hassle of raising a child. Addicts can be remarkably like needy children in theirdisdain for responsibility. But an addicted parent, or the spouse of an addicted parent,could get rid of the child in order to protect him from the influences of the drug sceneor the threats of an angry dealer. Or it could be the non-addicted parent is choosing theaddicted parent’s desires over protecting the child. None of these situations is anythingbut ugly.

Behavioral IssuesSometimes the parents just can’t handle the child anymore. Lying, stealing, being with

boys/girls in adult ways, drug use, all manner of criminal activity can turn that sweet littlechild into a proto-adult whose ability to control his emotions hasn’t caught up with theircomplexity. Most families suffer through, or reach out to clinics or other professionals forassistance or to provide temporary housing as well as rehabilitation for the child, but someparents are in no financial shape to spend the hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars forthat level of care.

Some parents reach their breaking point and need to get as far away from the unrulychild as possible. When this happens, sometimes the only option is dropping him off witha relative or no-fault facility.

Part Three: What Happens Next Te questions of “Why didn’t mommy love me?” and “What did I do to upset daddy?”gnaw the child, corroding his soul and galvanizing a feeling of hatred toward the world atlarge with the fear that everyone they love will leave them given the time and opportunity.

Tis can come about over years or surge to the forefront like a wave, enveloping the



50

CHAPTER FOURchild’s hope for joy and dragging it to the bottom of the deep. For an abandoned child,there are only three options and we detail them below.

New Family

Te child could find a new family, someone else to protect and care for them. A child who is abandoned by his family into another person care doesn’t necessarily take to thatfamily. He may remain emotionally distant, separated from his caregivers even if theyattempt to love him and bring him into the family fully. On the flip side, a kid who wasdropped off on a street corner could fall into a new family, a group of people who willguide and protect him.

You might think a child who went from one family to another would not be considereda missing child. Monsters exist who love to pick at the wound left by abandonment, nomatter how minor or how deep the child has buried it. Some kids move past their sense

of loss completely and the feeling almost completely heals. But no scab can fully coverthe wound and there will always be a scar, no matter how small. Months may pass, maybe years, but having been abandoned never fully fades and some monsters can track that likehounds on the trail of a body.

Become a RunawayIn cases where the child is not put into someone else’s care, the child ends up as so

many other missing: free under his own recognizance. For children the ages of the playercharacters, that almost always means the abandoned kid ran away from whatever situationhe found himself in. Without the shackles of family, he can do what he wants, go where

he pleases, and be his own man. Which, while maybe the dream of a precocious preteen,can be a horrible sentence for a fragile seven-year old.

Become ForgottenOr the abandoned child could become a member of the rarest type of missing: a

Forgotten child. We’ll talk all about that in the next chapter.



51

NO LONGER WANTED (THE ABANDONED)

“I stayed with my auntie while my mom wasat work.”

Used to be three times a week at the most but then more shifts became available andmy mom took every one she could. We needed the money and, with dad away on that tripof his, she had to earn it. Tat’s what she said. “I have to earn it.”

Ten, after a while, I was at Aunt Lucy’s every night. I’d come over there right afterschool. I’d walk with my cousin Charice who’s a little older than me. She’s alright but

we don’t really talk. Lucy’s nice but she has a lot of boyfriends and when they’re overshe doesn’t leave the bedroom. I don’t know if they’re sleeping or what but on those days

Charice and I have to make our own food. Tat usually means cereal but they have oneof those sandwich machines which is really cool. I like to put peanut butter and jellysandwiches in there. Tey get all gushy and warm.

I started staying the night, I dunno, last month or so? I’d go home every few days, on weekends. Ten I started bringing more stuff over here—I think all my clothes are overhere now—and I remember that’s when my mom started talking about a new job she

wanted. One out of state. I don’t know which state just out of this one, I guess.I haven’t seen my mom in about a week or so. Lucy said she called once but when I ask

when she’s coming back, she just says to not worry about it. She says I’m always welcome

to stay here. And that’s okay, I guess.Still, I really miss my mom.



52

CHAPTER FOUR

“The sisters tell me my mom was a very nicewoman.”

She was young and very pretty. Mary Agnes says she was like a movie star. When Iclose my eyes, I think of Natalie Portman. She’s probably too young to be my mom—Idon’t even know if she’s ever had kids—but I liked her a lot in that movie where she was a

space princess and that one about the crazy toy store. Tat was pretty funny.But I dunno. I guess it doesn’t matter who my mom is since I’ll probably never see herin real life. I guess she could be anybody. But, you know, I’m going to try to find her atleast. Some day. I mean, that’s why I left but I don’t think I’ll try to do it immediately. Tefosters were alright, one of the better ones, but I’m twelve years old now. It’s time to stop

jumping from house to house and it’s time for me to be on my own.My mom must’ve thought I was able to, right? Tat’s why she gave me up?



53

NO LONGER WANTED (THE ABANDONED)

“He said I was trying to kill him and that Ihad to go.”

I tried to talk to him but he kept telling me to “Shut up!” and “Get out!” I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t have anywhere to go. We didn’t have any money so I couldn’t afford togo anywhere except maybe Uncle Joey’s who maybe could help. But he lives three statesover and has his own kids.

Ten my dad started throwing things. Books, pillows, stupid stuff. I don’t even think he was trying to hurt me. He’s thrown stuff before, said stuff before, but he was really madthis time. Like really red-in-the-face mad.

And then he grabbed me by the shirt and started hitting me. I try to get away, tried topunch him. He was all “You work for them! I know you do!” and “I won’t let you take therest of my family!” I was so scared; I had no idea what to do.

And then he pushed me out the door. No shoes, not even socks. It was so cold. I wentover to my friend Emily’s house and she let me borrow some stuff. She asked if I wantedto call the cops or something. But I didn’t. If I did, they’d take him away. Probably lockhim up again in that hospital.

I’ll just, I dunno, make it here on the streets for a while. I got friends. I know people.I’m a kid, and folks always give money to kids.

It’s not the first time my dad’s needed to cool off for a while. But the first since momdied. I guess I’ll see how he is in a few days.



hello?



Chapter five:through

the cracks(the forgotten)



56

CHAPTER FIVE

I gotta go, guys!” Bobby says, waving as he runs. His friends, oblivious, keep playing ball.Te game was dragging on anyways and the way Bobby sees it, his time is better spent do-

ing other things. He just got a new game for his GameStation 3 and is already almost done withit. He hopes he can play some more tonight before bed.

Bobby picks up a stick from the back of the church. It’s big, almost as tall as he is, and weighsabout as much as a baseball bat.

He bounces it off the cold ground, once, twice. He beats out a rhythm as he walks.“Excuse me, young man,” someone says. Bobby turns around to see a man in a car. Te driver

has a map in his hand and a confused look on his face. “Can you tell me which way is OverlandStreet?”

Bobby points down the road. “wo blocks that way.” Te driver waves a polite thank-you and drives off. Te entire subdivision is like a maze.

Folks get lost in it all the time what with Park Street and Lark Street, Vine and Pine, Elm and

Maple and Oak and Redwood. Why did people name streets after trees? Bobby turns a right down Vine, crosses two lawns and goes up five steps to the familiar red

door. He sets the branch against the wrought iron banister and kicks the dirt of his shoes. Te ground is getting hard now but it’s become habit for the boy after weeks of late summer mud.

He opens the screen door and pinches the latch, pushing on it. Te door doesn’t budge. Bobbyreaches into his pocket for the key but comes up with a nickel and some lint. No way was hewalking back to Park Street to hunt for some dumb old key.

He knocks on the door. wo good thumps. Again.

He hears his mom inside. He hopes she’s making dessert. He peers through the glass. She’s sit-ting at the table, book in hand.

“Mom!” Te boy yells, pounding harder on the door.Te woman inside looks up. About time, the boy thinks.Te woman sets the book on the table, open face down, and crosses the living room to the door.

She pulls back the sheer white curtain and looks right at Bobby. She looks to the left and then theright. Bobby waves his hand.

“Hello! Mom! Hello! Open the door!”

Te woman lets go of the curtain, careful to set it properly in its place. She walks back to thekitchen table, picking up where she left off.

Bobby stands outside, dumbfounded.“Man, what is up with her?”

The Forgotten Another way children become missing is to be forgotten. Not just by their parents,

though that’s part of it, but by everybody and everything. A forgotten child has slippedout of their old lives (and sometimes our reality) and life becomes as though the child had

no life prior to now. Tere’s no record of him being born, registering at a school or withthe Nature Scouts, no medical history or record of him ever taking piano lessons. Te only shred of memory is in the minds and hearts of the child’s friends. And even

that may be sketchy, more along the line of “Hey, didn’t there used to be a kid in thathouse?” and “Was there a kid who played third base before Mitchell did?” A nagging



57

THROUGH THE CRACKS (THE FORGOTTEN)question that could be picked at and expanded if there was reason to but, as it sits rightnow, it’s just a thought in the back of the f riend’s mind that’s hard to put a finger on.

Younger children have an easier time remembering, especially if they were close to theforgotten kid, say a neighbor, best friend, or even a sibling. Middle-aged kids, from 8 to

11, have a harder time, so much so that they may deny remembering even if they do havea small flickering memory. Older kids will likely dismiss the idea out of hand, claimingthe kid who does remember is “full of it” or “talking nonsense” even if the forgotten kid isstanding in front of them. “Never seen her before.”

Obviously, adults have a really hard time remembering. Te best chance is if theforgotten kid was their child, nephew, niece, or someone they taught or watched duringthe day, someone with whom the adult had regular contact.

Some adults manage to catch glimpses of forgotten children. Tese brushes with thein-between can manifest as a shadow on the side of the road, the echo of a child laughing

at the playground, a brief glimpse a familiar-or-is-it face at the supermarket or the park.No matter how the child appears, his presence is only temporary. A second glance willshow nothing but a road sign, a merry-go-round spinning in the wind, a stack of discountlaundry detergent, or the burnt stump of an old tree. o those within the real world, theforgotten children are whispers in the wind, passing ideas, a persistent maybe or maybenot that has yet to be answered.

When a child is forgotten, he has two options. He can accept that he’s been forgotten(sometimes to great relief) and live on either in the real world, the in-between as a sorta-ghost, or in Closetland, among other kids who live there. Or he can refuse it and fight to

be remembered again. If he takes the second option, he’ll likely need some help f rom afew stalwart PCs.

Part One: How it Happens Te world doesn’t make a habit of forgetting the folks who live in it; it takes a

significant event, a strong catalyst, in order for a child to slip bodily from the firm footingof reality into the in-between non-world that buffers our world from Closetland. We willget into the reasons behind disappearances next but first let’s look at how it happens.

Quick, Like a BandageOne moment the kid’s there. Te next he isn’t. Just like that, a living, breathing, honest-

to-goodness real-live human boy that saw six, maybe nine, maybe twelve years in this world is unplugged, yanked into the in-between as if he was never born. Tis type offorgotten child is the rarest and the strangest. No one knows what causes such a sudden(and sometimes violent-feeling) disappearance but the worst part is the kid still has agood memory of things. Te world shut him out right-quick but he still has memories.

And he’ll need to fight to keep them if he ever wants back into our world.

Fading MemoryIt starts with the family forgetting his name or overlooking him at family functions.

“Oh, I didn’t see you there” becomes a common phrase, as does “Hey, where did you comefrom?” Over time, it gets harder to remember the child’s name but the parents cover it upbecause he looks familiar. Te face, the face is familiar. Maybe he’s a friend of one of theirother kids? Tey keep this internalized, trying to never let on, until the blank stares startto linger and the name doesn’t come anymore.



58

CHAPTER FIVE Vanishing Act

Te child starts to physically fade away, becoming transparent so that other peoplecan’t see him or can’t notice he’s there. He becomes like a ghost, fuzzing into view takeseffort. Te child feels this; he feels something is wrong. He starts to lose connections

with people and places that are new and then the older and stronger ties break. Hedoesn’t remember his sister. And his sister doesn’t remember him. He disappears fromphotographs with no trace he was ever in them. Over time, could be days or could be

weeks or more, traces of the child’s existence strip away one by one until the child is just amemory. Or worse, not a memory. Te kid becomes nothing at all.

Time JumpSome kids transition from one reality to another, a shift in space, if you will. But others

shift in another way; they shift through time. Tis could be months or years or decades

ahead—or behind. One moment, they’re celebrating the first day of summer vacation andthe next they’re standing in a foot of snow. All the other effects happen as well: Folksdon’t remember them, paperwork and trophies are suddenly missing, but they are not onlyno longer in our world, they jumped forward or backward in time. Usually, you can countthe span that was jumped in weeks but sometimes years or decades pass. A kid who wasbragging about his sweet new portable cassette player one moment finds himself standingin front of a kid with the latest generation mp3pod the next.

Part Two: Why it Happens Whether the child slowly fades from view or seems to vanish in thin air, there is always

a reason. Unlike some of the other ways kids go missing, there isn’t necessarily a motive.Kids aren’t forgotten as punishment or to protect them; whatever intention there may be,it isn’t usually that obvious. Tat doesn’t mean the reasons don’t hurt just as much if notmore. Intentional or not, sudden or not, there is a why. Let’s look at some of those below.

Because There is no LoveChildren who do not have enough love to keep them rooted here can simply slip away

from the world, becoming absorbed into Closetland as a consequence. Not to be overlysentimental, we are talking about severe negligence on the part of the parent or guardian.

Children who are left to their own devices for long stretches while daddy bouncesbetween work and the bar, or the mom takes off for three weeks to join her boyfriendhalfway round the world while her kids are locked away in an apartment with instructionto “be good” and “don’t answer the door for anybody but me.” Tese are the children atrisk.

Family, blood or bond, is what connects us to the world. When that doesn’t exist, thereisn’t much to keep us here. Being forgotten isn’t the fate of every neglected child but it’s arisk some run, and others succumb to.

Chemical Eraser As a corollary to the above, the neglect may not be physical but chemical. Meaning:

it isn’t that the parent is away from the kid, working or partying or whatever, but is soinsanely out of her head 24/7 that the child isn’t so much as an afterthought. We’ve talkedabout other side effects of addiction in previous chapters and we can chalk this up to yetanother.



59

THROUGH THE CRACKS (THE FORGOTTEN)Side Effect of Grief

Say there are these parents, a mom and dad or a mom and mom or a dad and dad, andthey have two lovely, bright, healthy children. Ten there’s an accident. Doesn’t have tobe anyone’s fault. Could be the car hit an ice patch or no one saw the light change. Andone of the children dies. Te parents fall into depression, a sadness so deep and dark andexhausting, that they fail to recognize the child left behind and can only focus on thechild that was taken from them.

Or say there is another set of parents. Tey have a kid too, maybe more than one. Butthe parents are unhappy. One of them is cheating, thinking of leaving the other. Te otherknows this and feels paralyzed, completely helpless, and is consumed by despair andcoming loss that the child who needs love and attention can’t be seen through the pain.

Either of these situations, and others, can result in a withdrawal of love so intense,rooted in pain that runs so deep, the child fades like an old photograph in thebackground.



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CHAPTER FIVEIt’s What Monsters Do

Monsters do all sort of things that mess with children and by pulling a proverbial sackover the child and performing some strange monster hoodoo, some monsters can causechildren to be forgotten. Some slowly unravel the bonds that connect the child to his

family or the real world like a finger lazily working the laces f rom a pair of shoes. It takestime but the separation is inevitable. Other monsters rip the child from reality with bothclaws, pulling the child into the in-between with a sudden jerk. Te scab that forms overthe cut is bulky, imperfect, and this is the cause for most kids remembering somethingabout their former life but not exactly what.

Act of MercyRumors persist of a monster that makes abusive parents forget they have children. In

turn, the child forgets about the abuse. What follows is a clean separation but the child is

in the same predicament as the other forgotten: He has no family to turn to, his old lifeis gone, and he may wander the in-between for eternity. Whether this is the intentionof this monster is unknown. Ten again, the entire existence of this monster is oftendoubted.

Cover up a CrimeSometimes something has been done, an act so terrible and incomprehensible that

reality has no choice but to take desperate measures to repair itself. In doing so, itsometimes needs to rearrange people and events as to make things right. If the child

was involved in the crime, or was the victim of it, he will have little if any recollection

of the event. It will be a black hole in his memory; the harder he focuses on it, the lesshe will be able to recall. Te sense of bewilderment is generally higher when this is theroot cause behind the change as the child is completely displaced and has a large (or atleast significant) singular event missing from their memory. Te lacuna can often causeconfusion, dementia, or extreme emotional shifts in the child without explanation orapparent cause.

Part Three: What Happens NextBeing forgotten is a strange and bewildering occurrence, possibly more than any other

way a child becomes missing.Find a Friend

Perhaps he told his story to someone new who wants to help. Or an old friendremembers bits of what the kid said or is convinced by the things the kid wouldn’tknow otherwise. Having someone in his corner does wonders for a child who has beenforgotten. It validates his suspicion, adds fuel to his fire, and gives him a partner who

will stand by him to keep his mind focused on the goal and away from the all-too-easydips into insanity. Because being forgotten—believing that the world just, oops, doesn’tremember you—is insane. When somebody has your back, this is all a lot easier to face.

Cling to the FragmentsNo matter how deep they are buried, every forgotten child has shards of old memory

locked away. A child may hang onto those bits of his former life with everything hehas. Reclaiming his old family and reinserting himself into his rightful place in reality



61

THROUGH THE CRACKS (THE FORGOTTEN)becomes his driving passion. He hunts down every possibility. If there’s a monster that hehears can help him, he will chase that monster down. If there’s a door someone says cantear open reality and let him back through, he will try every knob and latch in Closetland.

Te child will stalk his old family, call them daily, try to convince them that what they

know is wrong and that the child was and is a member of their family. Te same goes forhis friends who he will remind of all the good times they had, the secrets they shared.

During the down moments though, the times when victory seems impossible when hisfate seems predetermined, the child will visit old stomping grounds like the sandlot by theold bake shop, his school, and let the feelings of pain and loss wash over him. Maybe he’stending to the wounds but maybe he’s washing himself of the will to keep fighting.

Go to the AuthoritiesGoing to the authorities is a good option though they will have loads of questions. Te

kid could fabricate a story about a family that gave him up or about running away. Goingthis route, he would need to come up with a family name, address, and enough details tosatisfy the interrogation and give the authorities enough to proceed with an investigation.

Sticking with the truth opens up an entirely different can of worms. Tey wouldn’tbelieve the child—though who would?—and would likely treat him as an abuse or mentalcase. Depending on the child’s emotional state, they may treat him like a drug casethough a basic blood test would clear him of that (provided the child isn’t on drugs; if heis, that’s a whole other set of problems).

Either option would see the child in the care of professionals in a hospital or carefacility. Tis isn’t a fitting next step for a player character (unless he plans to escape, Isuppose) but can make a great back story for a game moderator character.

Start a New Life Whether he remembers his old life or not, the child may opt to not push against the

seemingly overwhelming tide and will surrender to his new life. If he doesn’t go to theauthorities as detailed above, perhaps he strikes out on his own. Te kid could make newfriends, possibly stay with them a while, or live on the street. He could pick up part time

work stocking shelves, walking dogs, or something to get some cash into his pocket. Tis road isn’t easy—and the child will have to become adept at skirting the many issues

associated with that life—but it is the option that leads to the least amount of hasslingabout his past or dealing with monsters (the Closetland variety, anyway).



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CHAPTER FIVE

“I came home and they wouldn’t let me in.”My mom looked at me like I was crazy. She kept saying, “Devon? Devon who?” My

father threatened to call the cops if I didn’t get off the porch. I laughed, thinking it wassome sort of weird joke but then I realized they were both serious.

I told them who I was but that just made them angrier.“We don’t have a son,” they said. “Never did, never will. Now go!”

Te look in their eyes told me they believed what they said.I tried to remind them. I told them my entire name, the day I was born, about the

house we first lived in, back in Fairfax.“How’d you know about that house?” My mother asked, looking at my father, worried.

But the old man shoved me away, told me to go bother someone else.“But Harold, how did he know?”I started to cry, I remember that, once I realized this wasn’t some dumb joke. My father

went back into the house. I thought maybe he was going to get his shotgun so I got out ofthere quick as I could.

I thought about going to the police but who would they believe? Me? I don’t think so.I went to some of my old friends and they didn’t remember me either. Except Kara. Shelooked like maybe she remembered me but then her dad asked her if she knew me andshe said no.

So, I just started walking. I didn’t have anything on me but what I was wearing. I hidout in some kid’s treehouse, I needed a place to get out of the rain, and one day I ran intothe kid by accident and we sorta hit it off.

I have new friends now, as much as anyone here is a friend, and sometimes I walkby my house but I haven’t worked up the courage to stop by again. I see my parentssometimes, bringing in groceries. Tey seem happy. I think my mom noticed me onetime—she got this sad look on her face—but that’s it.

I don’t know what happened, but I wish it hadn’t.



63

THROUGH THE CRACKS (THE FORGOTTEN)

“I couldn’t remember how to get home.”Most things looked familiar—I remembered the street signs and the big black eagle on

the Guevara’s garage door—but other things didn’t. I thought it was winter but it wasn’t.It was really hot, like middle-of-summer hot.

How does that happen? How does half a year just disappear?I walked around the block for hours. I thought hard about my name, my last name, and

I looked at every mailbox. Te ones that didn’t have names on them, I looked inside to see what names were on the envelopes. But then my name went away. I had it. I really did. Ihad my name but then I didn’t.

I stood there, looking at all those houses, knowing one of those roads went by my homebut I couldn’t for the life of me remember which one.

So I just walked. I walked down some other streets. I thought, “Hey, maybe I was wrong. Maybe that’s not my street.”

But the problem is, no matter how much I walked, no matter how many houses I staredat, none of them felt like home.

No place feels like home.



64

CHAPTER FIVE

“All of a sudden, I was in an empty parkinglot.” Just before, my mom had been on my case about coming home late. She was furious.

She was screaming her head off. My little sister came downstairs to see what the problem was and my mom smacked her butt and told her never to come downstairs again.

She was really angry. And I don’t even know why. I told her I was going to be late butit didn’t matter. She was always on my case about where I went and who I hung out with.Like it mattered. Like she’d approve of any friends I had. Unless I was buddy-buddy withBrad McCourt and his whole stupid bunch of friends. Tey were perfect.

“Tey’re a good influence.” Yeah, right. Angels to parents, sure, but not to us kids. Anyway, she was as red as ketchup and ready for round two of telling me how much of

a future criminal I am when I started to yell at her and, then, BAM.She was gone. Te house was gone. I was in this huge parking lot but there were no

cars, nothing. Well, paint lines and those tall lights with cameras but I don’t think there were cameras on those.

I mean, I have no idea where I was. Nothing looked familiar. Ten I heard somegrowling come from somewhere, some kinda big dog. So I got outta there. Wanderedforever until I found some other people. Same thing had happened to them. So weird.

Tree months later, I still have no idea how to get back home. At this point, I don’t even remember where home is.



Chapter six:One of the Missing



66

CHAPTER SIX Te first five chapters explore the hows and whys of missing children but without the

means and reason to use them in your game, as either player characters or GMCs, it’s just information. Tis next few chapters will make the characters described prior usefulto your game by looking at how characters are made and then exploring the world those

character inhabit.

Missing Child as CharacterChoosing to play a missing child, no matter how he became missing, provides a great

roleplaying and storytelling challenge as your character attempts to overcome the suddenturn his life took, learn to trust other characters, and eventually, maybe, find his way backhome. If you feel you are up to the challenge, the rules for creating—and tips of playing—any of the five types of Missing, are detailed below, along with rules specific to each typeand some tips on bringing the character to life at the table.

Part One: Missing PCsMost player characters are your average kids; just a gang of well-meaning pre-adolescents trying to have a good time and take down some monsters. Some kids haveheavier things weighing down their shoulders. Tis may be a shattered home life, anuncertain future, or, in this case, that the child is one of the Missing. Missing playercharacters are made essentially the same as any other PC, as you will see below.

Choose the Type of Missing While generally made the same, there are a few specific differences between the five

types so decide the type of Missing first. Let’s recap the five types.ABDUCTED: Kidnapped by a friend, family member, or stranger. Te key is that theperson who took the kid is human.STOLEN: aken by a monster. Tis could have been in the middle of the night or by a

monster masquerading as (but that wasn’t actually) a human being.RUNAWAY: Te kid took off, leaving his old life far behind him. He may have slipped

out under cover of night or found a way to escape in a public place.ABANDONED: For some reason, as a way to unburden themselves or maybe as protection,

his family abandoned the child.FORGOTTEN:

Te kid slipped through the seams between Closetland and our world andhas been, at least for the most part, forgotten.If you’re using the Missing character sheet in the back of this book, there is a space for

that information; mark it there. Otherwise, you can write in the margins of the regularsheet.

But don’t stop there! Generate a little backstory for your character. No single worddefines anybody, especially not major characters in the story you and your friends areabout to tell. You don’t need to get everything down just yet—you’ll have opportunity toflesh this out when we get the Questionnaire—but knowing a bit about this character will

help as we continue along the character creation process.This is Me

Going along with the character creation rules from Chapter wo of the corebook, theabove counts as your character’s Concept. Now write down the character’s name, age,

whether the character is a boy or a girl, and his birthday.



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ONE OF THE MISSINGAbilities and Traits

Continuing with the steps outlined in the main book, we hit Abilities (the Five Verbs)and raits (Good and Bad). Tese are the same; no changes are made other than keepingin mind your character’s present situation when choosing raits. We’ll get into this more

when we get to Qualities.

VirtuesIf you want, you can do Belief, Wits, and Spirit the same as regular characters. As an

alternative though, you can trade up to three points of spirit for three points you can putinto either Belief and/or Wits. Tis reflects your character’s strengthened resolve andconnection to the strange magic of Belief but the backlash it has on his soul.EXAMPLE: Alex is making a missing kid character. Her name is essa and she is a Runaway.

Alex decides that essa’s had a hard life since leaving her family. She’s made some poor decisions,

had to flee from shady characters, and been worn down by the hard life of the streets. She decidesto drop her Spirit by 2, giving essa an 8 in that Virtue to reflect essa’s downward-trendingattitude and slowly sinking outlook. She could add two points to essa’s Belief or two points to your Wits and give one of them a big bump. Alex decides to split the difference though and addone point to each.

Normal rules apply here so a) you cannot go above ten points in Wits and b) if yourcharacter’s Spirit dips to four or below, you take the dice penalties to the affected Abilities.

QualitiesMissing kids get the same number of Qualities as other characters. Te difference

comes in balancing the Qualities the child had before he became missing and those heacquired afterwards.

Qualities reflect immediate, useful skills and perhaps are more fluid than presented inthe core rulebook. Te majority of kids grow in straight lines; a kid who has a knack forsports gets better at sports (if he’s allowed to practice and play) just as a talent for math orscience gets better and better as it is nurtured.

But missing kids aren’t on a straight course anymore. Sure, your whiz kid charactermay have been on a path for advanced placement mathematics courses but that goes outthe window when a monster nabs him or the boy takes off in the middle of the night.Missing kids rarely have the opportunity to practice those things they previously loved todo and were good at.

Tat said, a kid with a natural athletic ability may be better suited for long travels onfoot and fending off potential danger than a bookworm is so maybe he is flexing hisnative Qualities that way. Or that bookworm may discover previously untapped reservesof endurance and strength he didn’t know before. Such is the way of things.

All this may seem tilted toward more physical Qualities as the above examples show. Tis is true: there isn’t much opportunity for study when you’re on your own. While youprobably have the time, what you lack are tools. You can find substitutes for a ball andall you need to exercise is your body. Intellectual pursuits are harder to improvise. Tosemissing kids who try to stay sharp have well-worn library cards or knacks for finding theirreading material in community dumpsters.



68

CHAPTER SIXStuff

Tis brings us to Stuff. Missing kids aren’t rolling in cash and usually need things thatare portable. If something meant a lot to them, they probably grabbed it if they could. Ifthey didn’t have the time or advance notice, a precious object may have been left behind.

Te kid may be pursuing this lost object even now, possibly as a means to cope with hisnew life (or fight his way through it). Just keep in mind that small is best as are thingsthat can be used for different purposes or in different ways. Uni-taskers can be wastes ofprecious backpack space.

QuestionnaireFinally, we have the Questionnaire which presents the biggest difference between a

missing character and a regular one. If you like, you can fill out the original Questionnairefrom the main rulebook along with this one or only fill out the questions below. Tere are

some particular to certain types of missing so keep an eye out for those. As with the Questionnaire in the core rulebook, you should answer these questions as your character would, as honestly as you can.

Questions for AllFirst, we’ll tackle those questions every missing kid should answer.

“What was your life like before?”Briefly describe your character’s home life and general state of being before he became

a missing kid.

“Have you made contact with your old life? If so, how did it go? Ifnot, why not?”If your character has tried to get in touch with his old family or f riends, talk about that

here. If he hasn’t tried, what prevents him from doing so?

“Where are you now?” Your character is no longer abducted but he is not yet home. So where is he? Did your

character stumble into Closetland? Does he wander the backroads of some rural townshiphe doesn’t know in hopes of finding a familiar route? Is he stuck in some strange in-between and can’t tell where he is?

“What have you been doing?”How does your character spend his time? Is he actively searching for a way back home?

Is he living in a part of Closetland that pretends is his home? Has he surrendered to a lifeof homelessness? Is he living in a shelter?

“Do you want to go back home?” Tis may seem like a dumb question but not all kids who were abducted want to

necessarily go home. Tat isn’t to say they wish to stay abducted, just that maybe they want a third option. If your child’s life was hard at home, does he really want to return

there? Maybe he’s found friends now, possibly other missing kids, and is doing alright forhimself, at least f rom his perspective.

“If not, why not?” Why doesn’t your character want to go back home? Was his home life rough before he

went missing? Does he think he’s not wanted back home?



69

ONE OF THE MISSINGQuestions for the Abducted and Stolen

Te following questions are for abducted and stolen characters.

“Do you know the person/monster who took you? If so, who/whatwas it?”

A lot of kidnap victims know the person who took them. Was your character taken by afamily member, friend, neighbor, complete stranger, someone else? If your character knewthe person, say who it was. If you were stolen, had you ever seen the monster before? Do

you know why it chose you?

“What happened to that person/monster?”Does your character know where that person or monster is now? Even if he doesn’t

care, knowing what happened to that person and where they are will help if the child isever able to go to the police.

“How did you get away?”Somehow, your character went from being abducted to being somewhere else. Did he walk into a shadow? Escape into a closet? Follow a strange creature into the woods? Wakeup one day laying in a field surrounded by cat-toothed critters with weepy yellow eyes? Ordid he escape while his abductor was sleeping?



70

CHAPTER SIXQuestions for the Runaway

Te following are for runaway characters only.

“Why did you run away?”It’s the question on everyone’s mind. What made it so your kid felt he had to leave?

You needn’t provide a lot of description, especially if the reason is painful, but a quicksummary is good to write down. When other folks hear your character is a runaway, this

will probably be the first thing they ask you. You can tell them the truth, sure, or just givesome stock answer. Here though, tell the truth, as much as your character is comfortabledoing so.

“How do you feel about your decision?”Does your character regret leaving? Does it still seem like the right thing? A lot of

runaways regret giving into their impulse but feel it’s too late to turn back. Is this in line

with what your character feels?Questions for the Abandoned and Forgotten

Te following questions are for Abandoned and Forgotten characters only.

“What’s the last thing you remember?”Both abandoned and forgotten kids were pushed out of their old lives. What’s the last

solid memory of his old life he has? Why does that memory stick with him?

“Why do you think it happened?”Does your character have any clue as to why his family abandoned him or the world

forgot him? Tink back: Were there any clues this was going to happen? Tis isn’t tosay your character should have seen this coming or is somehow at fault but this kind ofreflection could provide some insight into how to reclaim his former life (if he wants to).

Part Two: Being the MissingChoosing to play a missing child, no matter how he became missing, provides a great

roleplaying and storytelling challenge as your character attempts to overcome the suddenturn his life took, learn to trust other characters, and eventually, maybe, find his way backhome.

I won’t pretend I know anything about what is must be like for real life kids who have

been abducted. But I know a bit about making characters, so I will offer the following:

He’s a Survivor Your kid’s a survivor. He has to be or he never would have come out of this sane (or

in any condition befitting a player character). Keep this in mind when you’re pickingQualities and raits.

Trust Comes Hard Abducted children have had the floor fall out from under them in the trust department.

More often than not, they have a real difficult time believing people—even (maybe

especially) other kids—and will view folks with heaps of distrust.Having been abducted is going to have psychological effects on your character for the

rest of his life, certainly, but loss of trust is an acute effect he will need to deal with now.He may sleep with one eye open or not be able to have his back to the door. He may beuncomfortable in large crowds, where abductors hide.



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ONE OF THE MISSINGHe is Now “One of Those Kids”

Folks who know what happened to your child will now look upon him with pity andhe will have to cope with being treated that way. Some kids may relish it while others just

wish the whispers and stares would stop and life could just get back to, well, not normalbut not this.

He is Hiding Something You may not know what it is. He may never talk about it. He may claim nothing’s

wrong but he’s lying. He’s hiding the truth at the very least. Every missing kid has somesecret buried deep inside them: a feeling he keeps bottled up, the whole story as to whyhe ran away, the real reason he won’t go back home. Keep this in mind and figure outsome area or topic of discussion your kid considers off limits. He may react violently if thesubject is brought up or he may go stone quiet and stare coldly at the person asking until

they change the topic.

Part Three: Missing GMCsMissing characters make engaging characters for the game moderator as well. Now, this

part of the chapter will look at Missing GMCs in general, using the Simplified GMCrules f rom the main rulebook. Te next two parts, though, present Missing GMCs usingtwo new sets of GMC rules (that you can use for any other type of GMC as well).

Introducing a Missing GMC We’ve talked a fair bit about missing kids as player characters but missing kids make

interesting game moderator characters as well. As the GM, placing a missing kid at thecenter of a mystery (as we will in the included episode “Te Long Way Home”) can makefor an intriguing, engaging scenario. But missing kids don’t have to be plot devices; theycould simply be interesting people the player characters know. Tis gives them long-termuse in your story, from a dramatic as well as practical standpoint.

How They HelpMissing kids have connections to both the people and groups in the next chapter but

ties to Closetland as well. Some live there still, after all. Kids who are forgotten haveno paper trail and are more likely to help out in those less-than-legal situations such asbreaking into a locked house or picking a key from someone’s pocket. Not that they won’tget in trouble for it. Sure, there may be no one to ground them but breaking the law isbreaking law, no matter how confusing the lack of any records may be. Even with that inmind, though, some forgotten kids have a brazen stage following the realization of theirsituation and become bigger risk-takers.

How They HinderSome missing kids are being hunted by monsters. Others have their parents and/or

authorities actively looking for him. Lots of folks pass those “Missing” posters every day

without a glance but the image sticks with some and if those folks see that kid wanderingaround in broad daylight, they’ll likely call the police (or at least call out for the kid,drawing more attention to him).



72

CHAPTER SIXThe Threats They Present

As you’ll see in later chapters, a world of trouble awaits—and at times activelypursues—missing kids. Having one among your number opens you up to those dangers.

o the monsters after missing kids, any associations the kids have are obstacles to beovercome in the best light and collateral damage in the worst. An inclination to help amissing kid is natural but it attracts a whole bunch of danger.

If the kid was stolen, the monster who took him may be looking for him. If the monsterfinds him hanging out with a bunch of other kids, the monster may snatch up the wholelot. If the kid was abducted and runs across the person who did it, that person may decidethe friends of that missing kid know too much and need to be silenced.

Abandoned kids and runaways present threats from associations they have made duringtheir time as a missing kid, the same as other types of missing.

Forgotten kids pose a unique type of threat in that those who associate with them tooclosely or for too long run the risk of becoming forgotten themselves.

What Can Be DoneMost folks hear about a missing kid and want to fix it. Whatever happened, you want

to set things right. Adults with decades of life experience under your belt struggle tohelp those in need, even if they have connections with folks like cops and social workers.

When you’re a kid with less than thirteen years on earth and very little, if any, credibility with authority figures, the idea of helping a fellow kid seems easy and impossible all at thesame time. So, what can your characters do to help missing kids?

Save the KidSaving a kid isn’t always easy. For some, you only need to reunite the kid with his

family. Tis holds true for the abducted, stolen, and runaways especially. Healing the wounds that caused the latter is another story and likely one the cast will only be able toassist with, not do entirely on their own. For the most part, abducted and stolen kids wantto be reunited. Something interrupted their normal life and caused a huge disruption.Reconnection goes a long way toward fixing that. Runaways may have had good reasonfor leaving, and maybe that can be repaired or the situation explained to someone whocan affect change, but sometimes kids runaway for poor reasons and only need to betalked to in order to bridge the emotional gap that led to their running away.

Abandoned kids are another story. We’re talking forceful rejection or removal from afamily unit. How do you heal that? How does a kid learn to trust again? Solve that first orany second step won’t last. Once that’s done, it’s not as easy as placing the kid back in hisoriginal family but maybe they can find another family, either legally or just by acceptingother people into their lives again.

Sometimes saving a kid means getting them back to their old life. Sometimes it’s amatter of helping them find peace with their new life (a luxury fictional characters haveover real life missing children). No one true path exists but all resolutions begin with trustand understanding. Once those are established, the rest will grow from there.

Protect the KidIf the kid is in immediate danger, you can use your strength in numbers to protect the

kid. Missing kids often form loose-knit networks but having a group of friends who have



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ONE OF THE MISSING your back is invaluable. Te threats coming after the kid can be monstrous or mundane,from creatures who want to drag him back to their awaiting cages to helping the kid geta hot meal. Kids new to their missing life need even more help as they haven’t learned thehard lessons those who have spent longer on their own have and could use a leg up.

Missing as Bad GuysNot every missing kid is here to be saved or wants to pal around with the player

characters.

Bad Seed Te missing kid may pretend to be friends with the group in order to get something,

such as information or protection, but will turn his back as soon as he can, or he couldbe recruiting for the person or monster that took him, possibly in exchange for his ownfreedom.

Unwelcome ReminderIt could be the player characters remind the missing kid of his life before and the

association is not a good one. Maybe one of the PCs looks like a runaway’s brother, thecast is from the stolen kid’s hometown (which he blames for what happened), or it’s just amatter of the missing not wanting to be reminded about his life before or the other world.

Part Four: Expanded GMCs Te original GMC rules came in two flavors: fully-fleshed out characters made the

same as the cast members and quick-and-dirty GMCs that acted as a set of obstacles

rather than characters. While the simplified rules worked well for characters such asteacher, cops, and babysitters that the cast needed to outsmart or otherwise best in orderto reach their goal, the rules didn’t allow for game moderator characters with some moremeat, those such as older brothers and sisters who were obstacles sometimes but assetsother times. Tese new rules, detailed below, give you the tools to create Friendly GMCsas well as Hostile GMCs and straddle the fence between the simplified rules and the fullcharacters.NOTE: Tese rules apply only to people and animals. Monsters should always be built

using the monster rules in the main rulebook.

GMC Type Tere are two types of expanded GMCs: Friendly and Hostile. Let’s look at each.

Friendly GMCsFriendly GMCs are what you expect: men and women, boys and girls, teens and tweens

who, when push comes to shove, are on the player characters’ side. Tis alliance may bereluctant, as in the case of the exasperated older sister who really doesn’t want to spendher Saturday escorting her little brother around the mall—especially when her friends arethere—or the neighbor who is a grump, sure, but doesn’t want to see any children hurt

(just off his lawn and not peddling their “devil cookies” on his doorstep). It may be against what the cast wants but is in their “best interest,” such as the security guard who preventsthe kids from entering the museum even if, yes, the statues are going to come to life andeat the guard whole or the teacher who keeps a child after class to clean the blackboardin order to instill some sense of discipline into him. No matter the expression of their



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CHAPTER SIXalliance, Friendly GMCs look out for the characters, possibly in a flawed or incompetentmanner at times.

Hostile GMCs

Now, “hostile” in this sense doesn’t necessarily mean the character is actively attemptingto harm a player character, just that this GMC does not have the character’s best interestat heart. Tis GMC may act like an enemy, taunting and threatening the cast, or be a

wolf in sheep’s clothing and pretend he’s on the cast’s side, possibly not reveal his ultimatedeceit until many episodes (or seasons!) into the series.

As with Friendly GMCs detailed above, this new method of devising GMCs hits thehalfway point between the simplified rules presented in the core book and the full-fledgedcharacter generation. Hostile GMCs are also made with the express purpose they are

working against the player characters, again even if not overtly.

Making an Expanded GMCLet’s look at how you create an expanded GMC. An example follows along with theseinstructions to show how these rules and guidelines are put into use. Afterwards, we’ll goover how these pieces work in play.

Brief Description Who is this character? Give the character a name—if he warrants a higher level of

system function, he probably deserves a name beyond his job description. Also mark whether he’s Friendly or Hostile. Mark what they really are, not necessarily how they willpresent themselves to the group.

GMC AbilitiesExpanded GMCs have three Abilities, rated from 1 to 6. Tese Abilities are Tink, Do,

and Feel.THINK: Any time an GMC needs to outwit someone, remember some obscure fact, or

work through a puzzle, use this Ability.DO: Any action, from climbing to fighting to skipping rocks is handled by this Ability.FEEL: Anything to do with emotion, intuition, or tugging at heartstrings is covered

under this Ability.

Tese are more general than the Abilities full characters have and that’s by design. While this may make them better overall, it’s also harder for them to be as good at stuffas full characters. Also, this allows for much less handling time which is key when comingup with GMCs on the fly.

Tese Abilities are rated 1 to 6 just like regular Abilities. As with the Abilities ofstandard characters, each Ability starts with one point already in it. You have a number ofpoints you can use to increase each of these Abilities. Te number of points you have tospend on them depends on how important the GMC is intended to be.

As a general rule, an expanded GMC gets 9 points to divide amongst those three.

If you want a bit stronger, bump that to 12. A little weaker, drop it to 6. 12 is good foradults, especially ones intended to be tough or imposing. Little kids may only warrant6. But age isn’t the big deciding factor. What’s important here is how long you wantthe GMC to stay in play and how much of an influence she should have on the othercharacters.



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ONE OF THE MISSINGEXAMPLE: Let’s make a big sister. Now, she isn’t your usual just-wants-to-rat-out-her-

younger-brother-and-hang-at-the-mall big sister character. She likes her brother—who is one ofthe player characters—and may even accompany him on some of his adventures. She’s 16, just gother license, and doesn’t mind carting her brother and his friends around too much. I’ll name her

Marilyn. Marilyn is your average teen so I’ll give her 9 points. Her Tink, Do, and Feel already have

one point in them. She’s smart but not brainy, so I’ll add 2 points to her Tink which gives hera total of 3. She’s physical, runs track on the school team, so I’ll drop 4 points into Do. Tat givesher a total of 5. I have 3 points left and put them into Feel, giving her a total of 4 in that Abil-ity. Tat probably explains her soft spot for her brother.

Tink: ØØØOOO Do: ØØØØØO Feel: ØØØØOO

QualitiesEach expanded GMC gets three points’ worth of Qualities. You can choose one of the

following ways of splitting up those points: one 3-point Quality; one 2-point Qualityand one 1-point Quality, or; three 1-point Qualities. Use the rules for Qualities as you do

with player characters though one of the Qualities must be:I am [blank].Fill in the blank with a brief one- to three-word description of the character. “I am a

cop” or “I am a librarian” or “I am the neighborhood bully” are good examples.EXAMPLE:

For Marilyn, I choose one 2-point Quality and one 1-point Quality. I’ll start withthe required Quality, and I’ll drop in my initial concept for her. For the second, I already knowshe’s an athlete so I’ll use that. I put down:

I am Mike’s teenage sister ØØ I run track Ø Te first Quality allows her to put some authority behind any attempts to direct her brother or

get someone to help. It also covers the fact she’s older and is a bit more respected by folks like mallsecurity. Well, at the very least they won’t dismiss her as easily as they would her younger brother.

Te second reflects her athletic nature and will definitely come in handy if she needs to go

somewhere (or get away from someone) in a hurry.Weaknesses

As with simplified GMCs from the main rulebook, expanded GMCs have Weaknesses. Tis can be social, mental, or physical drawbacks that hold the character back in some way. Tese needn’t be that broad, but should be something that could come into play andnot have a lot of qualifications or special circumstances.

You can choose either one 2-point Weakness, which would be severe, or two 1-point Weaknesses, which is a pair of mild ones.EXAMPLE: I’ve already established Marilyn has a soft spot for her brother and I don’t mind

making that a Weakness but I feel putting two points into it is a bit much. I’ll take it as a1-point Weakness instead and give her along with “Doesn’t like attention” at 1. Te girl getsuncomfortable when folks pay her too much attention, even when running track. It looks like:

Soft spot for her brother -1Doesn’t like attention -1



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CHAPTER SIXHealth

Expanded GMCs have Health, same as player characters and monsters. Double theGMC’s highest Quality and add that to 8. Tat number is the character’s Health.EXAMPLE: Marilyn’s highest Ability is Do, which is rated at 5. I double that and get 10. 10

plus 8 is 18 so I write 18 next to her Health.

GoalsIf you foresee the expanded GMC sticking around or being a big part of the story (or

they become one whether planned or not), give the GMC some Goals, same as you wouldplayer characters. Rate it at 1 (if a minor goal or relatively easy to accomplish in a sessionor two) or 2 (if it’s a big deal to the character or really hard to do).EXAMPLE: For Marilyn, I put down a single 1-point Goal. “Prove to her father she’s a good

driver.” I like that: It speaks to a family connection and is attainable under the right circum-

stances. If Marilyn keeps coming up in the story, does some amazing things during a session,or becomes a character I really like, I may give her more. Te more Goals you give, the more thecharacter can get better, earning them more time with the player characters.

And that’s it. Marilyn is done and ready to take her brother out for ice cream.

Expanded GMC RulesNot a lot is different. Expanded GMCs use the same rules as regular character, just in

abbreviated form. When an expanded GMC tries something, roll a number of dice equalto the relevant Ability and add the Quality if it makes sense. If a Weakness applies, dropthe total number of a dice rolled by 1 or 2 points (whichever number the Weakness is

rated at). An expanded GMC takes damage per usual, except the damage comes out of a general

pool, instead of health levels as it does with player characters.Expanded GMCs gain Playaround Points by completing Goals, and upgrade their

Abilities and such the same as player characters. Tere ya go. Tat’s how you make and use an expanded GMC.



Chapter seven:the world

around you



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CHAPTER SEVEN Te life of a missing kid is hard, no two ways about it. Aside from the uncertainty of

his future and questions about his past, he has his present to face. In order to help yourmissing kid character make sense of things, let’s take a look at the part of the world thatapplies directly to him. We’ll look at places in the real world (good and bad), places in

Closetland (ditto), as well as the world known as the in-between.

Part One: The Real WorldFor those kids not trapped in the world of monsters or stuck in the twilight zone that is

the in-between, the real world is one that children, missing or not, need to contend withon a daily basis. Regular kids have their routine: wake up, go to school, do homework, play

with friends, eat supper, watch television, go to bed, repeat. But missing kids, who spendan inordinate amount of time without predictable routines, shelter, and people to watchover them, have to take care of themselves. Knowing the right people is key to survival as

is knowing the right places.Here are some places kids can find shelter and protection in the real world. While theseare written with the missing in mind, regular kids can use these as well, for the most partanyway.

Community CentersKids in trouble, or who need to hide out for a while, can find safety in community

centers, boys and girls clubs, and youth outreach centers. With the corporatization someof the larger community associations have undergone in recent decades, their doors arenow closed to non-members, but local, smaller centers are still welcoming. Community

centers have a wealth of programs, focused on social growth and harmony, and many ofthem have religious affiliation (though are rarely exclusive).

Youth clubs are mostly open afterschool hours and weekends, giving latchkey kids andothers a safe place to play some sports, surf the internet, do homework, and hang out withfriends. Youth outreach centers focus on at-risk children, those in economically-depressedareas, who live in areas with high levels of crime, drug addiction, and teen pregnancy.

Tese centers strive to provide positive role models and instill a heavy dose of self-esteemin its charges.

ChurchDepending on where the game takes place, the local churches may keep their doorsopen all day and night, providing a spiritual rest stop to any lost and weary souls in needof solace or shelter. Beyond the obvious religious guidance they offer, local church officialscan also give references for food banks, the names of people who may be able to provide ameal, a shower, and a warm bed, or an open ear for any child who needs to unburden hissoul (or talk frankly about his current situation).

A Friend’s House A friend’s house can be a safe place, particularly for runaways who want to lay low for a

few days or reconnect with a familiar face after being away for a while. While these placesare safe, from the perspective that your friend will feed you and keep any secrets you tell,everything else about this can get messy quickly.

If his parents don’t like you, they may call the authorities, or your parents, without waiting to hear your story. Tey don’t care if you have a good reason; they only know



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THE WORLD AROUND YOUsomething’s wrong and they don’t want you dragging their child into your mess. If theparents do like you, they may still call the authorities—to make sure you get home safe,are taken care of—though they will probably listen to what you have to say first and maybe persuaded to hold off making that phone call.

Part Two: The World Between Te in-between is a fabled place. Most kids think Closetland butts up right next to the

real world, clean and close, but the seam isn’t perfect and gaps exist. Tese gaps form thein-between, a place that exists in both while neither at the same time.

Kids in the in-between can glimpse both worlds, the real and the one for monsters, andinteract in limited ways though the longer they spend in neither world, the harder it is todo so—and the harder it is to escape.

Getting Into the In-Between Tere are three ways a child can enter the in-between: intentionally, by accident, and by

being forgotten.Forgotten children make up most of the population. Tough, really, population is

perhaps too leading of a term. Kids live in the forgotten but it ’s not like they have housesand friends and do stuff on the weekends. You know that feeling of waking up in themiddle of a dream, and your head’s foggy and reality shifts in and out of focus for a bitbefore your brain kicks into gear. Tat feeling between sleeping and starting to wake is

what it’s like in the in-between. You glimpse the neighboring realities of the real worldand Closetland but do not exist in either.

Intentional cross-overs are often in pursuit of a friend who has gone missing, to save aforgotten child, or retrieve an artifact. Usually this is a matter of finding a weak spot, of“sensing” an area where the real world is a bit thinner than normal, and forcing your willinto it.

o find the weak spot, meet or beat a difficulty of 12 with a Care check. Failing bumpsthe difficulty up one level to a maximum of 18. Once the weak spot is found, you needto push your way through it. o do so, make a cross-over check: meet or beat a difficultyof 12 with a Spirit check. Once a weak spot is found by one kid, other kids can enterthrough the same spot just by succeeding in a cross-over check. If more than three kids

are attempting at the same time, drop the difficulty from 12 to 9. Te collective will givesthem an advantage.

Kids learn about this trick through folklore, the stories they tell each other f romfriends of friends of friends—and, remember, Belief has power. When enough kids thinksomething is done one way, that thing can then be done that way. Te difficulty numbersare game-knowledge, of course; what the kids know is: “You need to concentrate in orderto find it. Once you feel like you’re in the right spot, you imagine yourself entering amagical place.” Tat’s how it usually plays out in the fiction, anyway.

Tere are a couple well-documented (or at least well-rumored) weak spots that are

often also the site of a number of bizarre happenings. As a weak spot is used again andagain, it becomes so thin that kids can walk into the in-between without trying. Tese

weak spots also allow some of the spirits stuck in the in-between to menace the real world, which can be the case behind such instances as poltergeists and cold spots.



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CHAPTER SEVENKids who cross over by accident, tend to do so by being too close to someone who is

crossing over intentionally, someone who is forgotten, or they happen to stumble througha weak spot that has been used too much and has grown frayed.

Some children can enter the in-between whenever and wherever they wish, such as

Mabel Mae Belle, who you will meet soon.

The Halfway House Te Halfway House, so called because it exists halfway between the real world and

Closetland, has sat abandoned since who knows when. It’s not a bad looking place. Whoever lived there last took good care of it but with no one to oil its wooden pillars anddoor frames or dust its many cabinets and built-in cupboards or tend to its lawn, it can’thelp but look aged.

How this house became abandoned is unknown by most kids but the truth is

rather mundane. Built in the late 1880s, the house passed through four generationsof the Muldoon family, before Harold Muldoon the last owner, passed away. Harold’sgrandparents, Henrietta and Ford Muldoon, expanded the back of the house during theirtime while Harold’s parents, Harold, Sr. and Margarita Muldoon, put on the second levelback in the 1950s. Harold’s parents passed away in 1969 and 73, respectively. Haroldtook over the house soon after his papa died and, a reclusive gent who never married orfathered children, had no one to inherit the house when he succumbed to lung cancer inthe summer of 1993.

Of course, that’s the story the paper trail tells. Te one passed around the campfire is a

bit more supernatural in its telling of events. Te Muldoon part sticks—that’s the faded name on the mailbox anyway—but kidsswear up and down that the house was built as a prison for some angry spirits who burstthrough the ground back during the Civil War and killed hundreds of people. Te Way-Back-When Muldoons, it is said, used strange magic and maybe even a pact with thedevil to lock the ghosts in the house and contain them there forever.

Te ghosts haunted the Muldoon family every day after that, turning every one of themmad eventually, until Harold Muldoon (sometimes called Jeb, Epidiah, Raymond, Joshua,and a million other names) summoned a ghost powerful enough to take them all on.

Te big bad ghost took over Harold’s body and blasted the angry spirits to smithereens.But the ghost’s power was too much for Harold and, when the battle was over, the manexploded in a huge fireball of ghostly energy. It was like a mushroom cloud, so strong thatit ripped a whole in our world. And that’s how it happened, according to the stories.

Whichever beginnings you believe, the current-day truth remains the same: When youare within its walls, you are in the in-between.

But more than that, there is a visible line that separates the front of the house (the real world) from the back (Closetland). Tere is a distinct difference between the two halves. Te interior looks normal enough but appearances deceive in this case. When you look

out the windows in the front of the house, you see the real world. Te people in the real world, though, don’t see you. All they see is an empty house—unless you will otherwise(using the same rules discussed above). When you look out the windows in the back,

you see Closetland. Te real world is always the same real world (and it’s up to the gamemoderator and/or the players to determine the specifics of this). Te area of Closetland



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THE WORLD AROUND YOU

you see tends to change. Opening and closing the front door triggers this change. Tataction serves as a reset switch. Anyone staring out the back window when someone elsesets off the change will see a flash to black and suddenly a new view of the world ofmonsters.

Here’s the thing though: Kids who step through the back door into Closetland can beleft behind by this. If someone opens and closes the f ront door while a child is outside theback of the dwelling, the Halfway House will vanish, magically transported to some otherlocation in Closetland. So be careful, kids.

For whatever reason, the magic is contained to the house. When you’re outside, you’re

either in the real world (if you didn’t cross over) or Closetland (if you did). Only thehouse is in the in-between.

The Crack in the GrassNo, you read that right. Te crack in the grass is found within a massive field that is

as long and green as far as the eye can see. Somewhere in it though, between one perfectline of blades and another, is a crack in the earth. It runs about three feet long and only aninch or so across at its widest point but its physical dimensions aren’t what matter. What’simportant are its psychical dimensions.

You’ll know you’re close when you enter a grassy field in the real world and suddenlyeverything around you disappears. Any green plain works, provided it’s about an acre or soof land. Tis can be a lawn, an unturned stretch of farmland, a sports field (or collection ofsports fields such as a community park might offer). When the hustle and bustle up andleaves though, you’ll know you’re close to the crack.

Tis magic fissure does not transport you physically into the in-between which makesit unique amongst the other ways kids cross over. o cross, you have to will your waythrough it, same as most ways. Meet or beat a Spirit check against 15 if you’re anywherein the field or 9 if you’re standing on the line. You can only find the line by searching for

it, which is time-consuming but not impossible. If successful, your body drops like a stoneand your consciousness enters the in-between. When you do, you drop out of the illusion of the neverending field back into the in-

between version of wherever you started (the lawn, farmland, whatever). You are free tomove around from there.

Thing About HousesHouses tend to crop up in monster lore, from haunted houses to Mother’s house to

Baba Yaga’s chicken-legged shack to the Halfway House. What is it about structures

intended for the living that attract so much strangeness?It’s hard to say. It may be that they’re enclosed structures and spirits, bad energy, or

whatever force is at work finds it hard to escape. Could also be that houses, especiallyflat-fronted bi-levels, cut imposing images, especially when seated at the end of adimly-lit cul-de-sac. Who can say how much fear and Belief has been pumped intohouses over the ages.

No matter, houses are classic horror images and I hope you enjoy the one describedabove.



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CHAPTER SEVEN

What’s the benefit of crossing over here instead of another place? Since your spiritualenergy is not contained within a mortal shell, you’re more powerful. Tis means you candrop attempts to do stuff, such as speak or interact with folks in either neighboring world,

you lower the difficulty by one level. Te downside is that your body is vulnerable to anypeople, monsters, or animals that wander by. It’s a smart idea to have someone with you toprotect your body.

Where Monsters Come Through When monsters step into our world from Closetland, they open a temporary tear in

both realities. When a monster continually goes in and out of the same spot, that area can

become weak the same as anywhere else. Also, though, if a kid tries to follow a monsterfrom the real world to Closetland (or vice versa) but the rip mends itself at just the rightmoment, the kid can become stuck in between the worlds. And by “in between” I mean“the in-between.” Be wary following monsters.



83

THE WORLD AROUND YOULiving in the In-Between

As stated, the in-between feels more like a state of mind than a physical location, which may as well be true. Kids stuck in the in-between can see into both worlds, likelooking through the curtains at the outside world. In the in-between, you can speak to

those on the other sides, either the real world or Closetland, but your voice is weak, afaint echo, unless you put your will behind it by meeting or beating a difficulty of 9 witha Spirit check. If you really try, you can make your voice as clear as if you were standingnext to the person you’re speaking to (a difficulty of 12). If you get a Passing Grade, youcan manifest physically as well, usually just your face and upper torso. With two PassingGrades, you can interact with physical objects, much like a poltergeist. You can movepennies across a table or knock a lamp over. (You can also do it with one Passing Grade if

you choose not to appear physically.)If you entered spiritually, such as through the crack in the grass, lower each of those

difficulties by one level (which is three points).In the in-between, you’re free to move around. You’re not stuck in a single spot. When

you walk, you see the real world out of one eye and Closetland out of another. Te imageis hazy, fuzzy, but will become crisper if you turn both eyes toward it (or walk around withone eye closed). In that way, moving through the in-between is like being in a video game

with a really poor camera system, or walking with clumsy, robotic legs. It’s disorientingbut you can get used to it.

Otherwise, the topologies are the same. Te real world is the real, Closetland is the world of monsters. And, you, you are like a ghost, living inside both worlds at once.

Aging in the In-BetweenStrange thing about the in-between: some kids age and others don’t. Why do some kids

age and others don’t? Don’t know. Te in-between has laws but only sometimes feels likeobeying them.

You don’t get hungry in the in-between. You don’t have to use the bathroom either. Yourteeth don’t rot and fall out because you’re not brushing them. Tese are three of the manystrange side effects of being stuck between worlds.

Other In-Between KidsFolks in the in-between will sometimes run into other stuck kids. Tey can interact just

as they would if both were in the real world or both were in Closetland. Tey are, after all,in the same world.

When a kid in the in-between meets someone who crossed over spiritually, notphysically, the other kid looks like a ghost. Te kid has the outline of a body but he isn’tsolid. Te two kids can talk to each other just fine though.

In-Between AdultsKids aren’t the only ones who slip into the in-between; some adults do as well.

Plus, some kids continue to age in the in-between, meaning they crossed over youngbut may now be grown-ups. Tose who stay a long time have a harder time gettingout, and some are driven a bit mad by the experience, but there seem to be no long-term effects outside those.



84

CHAPTER SEVENGetting Out of the In-Between

You can get in, you can look around, you can do whatever you like. Getting out is theissue. Escaping is problematic because the gaps are not static. Te space between the real

world and Closetland undulates, creating little ripples that form the gaps. Tis means you

have to find one of those gaps again and try to break through. You can get out, but youhave to anchor yourself to someone (or something) that exists fully in one of those worlds

while standing in the gap. Tis means you have to physically take hold of the person orthing in the other world and latch onto it, using their physical force and your will to breakfree.

Here’s how it works, with game terms included:First, you have to find the gaps and make that initial breakthrough. Punching a hole

into the webbing around the in-between falls on you. You find gaps not through physicaltouch but by gut feeling. If you close your eyes, clear your thoughts, and focus real hard,

you can sense the areas that are weakest. (Care check versus 12. Bump up a difficultylevel if there are a lot of distractions.) You can also sense slight separations which makeit possible to find small openings and follow them to where they are widest. (wo carechecks versus 9. Both must be successful or the first one must get a Passing Grade.) Oncethere, you have to get yourself physically ready to leave. While a physical move, it’s reallya matter of will. Meet or beat a difficulty of 12 to punch through. Ten grab onto a personor thing in whichever world you wish to enter (usually the real world but it could well beClosetland, depending on your goal here) and will yourself into that other world.

In game terms, this requires a Spirit check against a base difficulty of 12 if the kid has

been there less than a day (24 hours, not a calendar day). If between a day and a week,bump it to 15. If the kid’s been in the in-between for over a week, it will take meeting orbeating a difficulty of 18 in order to escape. Tis would be a good time to have a bunch offriends putting their Belief in the kid who is trying to escape. Each places his hands onthe kid’s wrists, all pulling in unison, hoping in themselves and the kid.

If the kids succeed in their rescue, it looks a lot like pulling something through a wall ofgelatin. Except the gelatin isn’t some tasty, jiggly treat but the weakened fabric of reality.

Te longer you have been in there, the thicker and stickier the threads will be, wrappingthemselves around your wrists and legs as the in-between tries to pull you back in.

As said before, a kid stuck in the in-between can grab onto a thing such as a passingbicycle or a table leg but that thing can’t help you. Even a moving object, such as thatbike, can’t help you. Tis isn’t a matter of physical law but of willpower. You can take holdof a monster, who may try to drag you out for its own purposes but, again, it can’t help

you. (In fact, a monster may resist by trying to push you back into the gap.) It all falls on your kid to break free from the in-between, with maybe some Belief to aid him.

Is The In-Between a Good Place? Te in-between doesn’t have a side in the world of people versus the world of

monsters. It’s more of a side effect of those two not getting along. It just is, and itaccepts that.

Some see the In-Between as a place bad people go, some see it is a safe haventhey can slip into when the need arises. While not expressly a good place, it’s notnecessarily a bad one either.



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THE WORLD AROUND YOUHow Kids Get Stuck

So, if it’s as easy as grabbing onto a thing and putting all your willpower into wantingout, how is it possible that kids get stuck? First, most kids who slip into the in-betweenspend a good amount of time bewildered by what has happened. A lot of them don’teven realize anything weird has occurred for a good couple hours. If the kid slipped whilesleeping, he may already have been stuck for eight hours before he even starts to realizeanything has happened. Second, once realized, it’s not like there’s a manual telling them

what I just told you above. How are they supposed to know they only just really need to want out? Or that they have to anchor themselves?

Usually, kids who get stuck need to hear from someone else how to get out. Some mayintuit the action, or they may just hope against hope that wanting out is enough, but mosthave to hear from someone else. And those who don’t wander confused, desperate toconnect with people on the other sides.

Part Three: Hiding PlacesVery few places inside Closetland are safe. Every kid knows this. But what fewer kids

know is that there are havens, places empowered by what good exists in the world or bysomething a child is willing to give up, that can protect a child in need. Most of thesehave fixed locations, or what passes as fixed in the world of monsters, while some appearin times of need.

The Big DominoFound within one of Closetland’s more suburban-looking areas, the Big Domino sits

across two uneven stones, not unlike a piece from Stonehenge, though quite a bit shorter. Te flat slab is about a foot thick, seven feet long, and four feet wide. While the slab wasobviously cut or otherwise formed by a stoneworker, the rocks it sits across are naturalformations, still mostly round with only their peaks flattened. One is about three feettall with the other easily cresting four. Tis gives the Big Domino a severe slant but thestructure shows no sign of slipping anytime soon. If anyone tries to move it, he will findthe slab is rooted in its spot.

Obviously not actually a playing piece from the classic game, this giant brick gets itsname from the deep pocks along its surface. Four round divots mark the stone’s flat,upward-pointing face, two on each side. When these craters fill with water, whetherrain, tears, or poured from a bottle, the stone generates an invisible field around itself.

Anyone standing next to or under the slab cannot be found by anyone, monsters or man. Te formation becomes invisible as well, but neither the stone nor the people around itbecome insubstantial, meaning monsters or people can still bump into it. If it’s snowing,piles may collect on it, giving away its form. As mentioned above, precipitation can triggerthe Big Domino’s power even if no one is around to take advantage of it.

The Ash Pile Te Ash Pile or, simply, “Te Ashes” is legendary. And like most legends, it’s hard to

find. Seeking it out doesn’t seem to help; kids will find it when they need to.. Te Ash Pileis literally a pile of burned remains. Most of it came directly from wood, some indirectly(paper), and some of it is old clothing, blankets, and whatnot.



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CHAPTER SEVEN Te mound is impressive. It stands seven feet, easily, and as much in diameter. Some of

the ash is still smouldering, with areas flaring into flames sporadically, and while it’s nottoo hot to touch, it’s definitely warm.

Te Ash Pile is tightly packed. You have to dig your hands into it really hard in order

to scoop some out—even the strongest wind lifts only scant sediment from its bulk—butits density is the least of its magical abilities. When a child is covered in its ash, they areinvisible to monsters, as is anything they put the ash on.

You need to use a bit of ash—a smudge won’t cut it. But a faint dusting makes youcompletely invisible. Marking your face with symbols or patterns confuses monsters.

Te monster may ignore you, thinking it doesn’t want to mess with anything it doesn’tunderstand, or the monster may become enraged, angered that something dares challengeits intelligence.

Kids on the run from monsters, particularly a former-stolen escapee, may dive into the

ash pile. It’s an understandable impulse. ake this important note, though, that using toomuch, or using the ashes too often, may cause you to become invisible to your friends,possibly turning you into one of the forgotten.



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THE WORLD AROUND YOUPart Four: Places to Avoid

Lots of places exist where children would do well to cross the street before passing butthe places talked about here are particularly nasty and have direct ties to missing children.

Te missing would do well to stay away from these places. Legends persist, which meansat least someone has survived the wickedness of these places but that doesn’t mean a lot ofthem have.

The Nowhere Any intersection in the real world will do. Anywhere two roads cross can become

the Nowhere. You’ll know it when the sound dampens, like water filling your ears, andeverything in front of you goes swimmy. Te people around you, even those you know,

will morph into terrible beasts. Giants with slavering jaws, feral creatures with glowingeyes and acid spit, mean-faced girls and misshapen boys who want to harm you with

sticks, stones, and words. And you start to feel weak, sick as the world comes crushingdown around you. You know only one thing: Fear. You want only one thing: Escape.

Te fewer connections you have to the real world—the fewer family members, thefewer close friends—the more severe this sensation is. For the abandoned and therunaways especially, the sensation brings sharp physical pain, body aches and shivers, andcauses even the most stoic kid to curl up into the fetal position and sob. As this first wavepasses, the feeling of paranoia and accusations toward the others comes. You still feel thepain but it becomes secondary to survival. You have to get away from the monsters—orget them before they get you. You run, and if they grab you, you fight, bite, kick, punch,

anything to get away. What’s happening isn’t real but you don’t know that at the time. You can’t think

straight, can’t parse out that anything weird is happening. All you know is the immediate.Somehow monsters descended upon you.

Tis usually only affects one person at a time. Tose who witness someone succumbingto the Nowhere often feel helpless, unsure, as their f riend collapses suddenly, starts cryingand accusing others of being monsters. You reach out to them and they resist, get violent,and the look in their eyes goes dark as hatred fills their every glance, every word.

Te Nowhere will latch onto its victims like a parasite. Wherever the victim moves, the

Nowhere follows. Te only way to save the person is through Belief. Tree people mustBelieve in the victim (give a Belief token to the character) in order to establish the real-

world ties required to repel the Nowhere. Tis clues the victim into the fact somethingstrange is happening (though not exactly what). Te victim feels as though his body hasbeen hijacked and he is viewing himself from the third-person.

If three people each chipped in one Belief, the victim gets two chances to break theconnection. Meeting or beating a 12 with a Tink or Fight check (victim’s choice) snapsthe ties and the person slowly comes around. For every extra Belief token, whether froman additional person putting in a token, somebody putting in two or more tokens, or a

mix of those, the victim rolls an extra die.Missing kids need to meet or beat a 15 as their connection to the real world is already

strained. elling that someone has stepped into the Nowhere is hard. Te person shows

symptoms, sure, but he can’t communicate what has happened to him. Stories of the



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CHAPTER SEVENNowhere creep up here and there—most attribute it to bad fairy magic—but the only wayto be one hundred percent certain it’s the Nowhere and not something else is to step intothe in-between.

By stepping into the in-between you can see the thin, web-like thread that connects

the victim to the physical location they came into contact with the Nowhere. Each end ofthe thread, both at the place the person stepped into it and on the person himself, lookslike a nerve cluster, a bundle of knotty threads and jumbled webbing. You usually see thisattached to the person’s back, between the shoulder blades.

Hopscotch Hallway While mostly appearing in the abandoned schools of Closetland, this deceptive

challenge can show up inside any enclosed building. While listed as a location in thischapter, you might consider this more of an event, a happening without apparent

provocation or root, not entirely dissimilar f rom the Nowhere described above. Butinstead of focusing on a single person, the Hopscotch Hallway affects all those who see itand delivers a silent threat to them all: Play the game or pay the price.

First, a point of light appears. It scrawls along the ground, forming a series of squares—some singular, some paired up, until an uneven series is formed. Ten the numbers appear,all at once, all written by shaky, unsure hands like a team of children working in unison.Some of the numbers are upside-down, backwards, or are a mix of variations such as thelightning bolt 4 and slashed zero. From start to finish, the entire area takes form in underten seconds, flaring to life with a flash once completed.

Laughter follows, as does the shadowy visage of a wild-haired girl. Tis girl, who variesfrom 8 to 10 years of age, is its caretaker and possibly the power behind it. If she has aname, it isn’t known, and she doesn’t speak. She just laughs, taunting and dangerous.

She has a tendency to single out a child, by pointing her long finger, staring intently,or tossing a small pebble at the kid (she seems to have an endless stash of these stones).Everyone knows immediately what she wants; the girl wants to play. But why?

If the kids accept, reluctantly or not, the shadow-girl will initiate the game. She startsby tossing a small stone along the hopscotch path. She will then hop the length of thecourt, skipping the square upon which the stone landed. Te other kids must follow (she

will produce a small pile of stones for them to use if they don’t have anything). Normalhopscotch rules apply: Jump on every square (except the one with the stone), don’t touchany lines, don’t lose your balance.

You can play this as a series of Move ests, wherein the girl would roll six dice againsther opponents. Every time the girl wins though, she adds a die to her next roll (nevergoing above ten). She grows stronger whenever she wins. She will want to play everychild, best two out of three.

If the kids play the game, win or lose, the shadow-girl is satisfied and will leave themalone for now.

If the kids refuse her challenge, she and her court will seem to disappear. But makeno mistake: Tose who don’t play have made an enemy. She will return, each time moreaggressive than before. She will throw multiple stones, stomp her feet, get into a kid’sface and sneer, anything to get them to play. If they keep refusing, she will make themplay. She will draw a square around herself and the kids and no one will be able to escape



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THE WORLD AROUND YOU(unless someone’s willing to put some Belief behind it).

Rumors persist that the girl is one of the forgotten. She somehow slipped intoClosetland, perhaps while playing this game, and that she is a hollow shell of a girl whocan still be redeemed, if anyone has the mind to. Some say the hopscotch board is a

monster—or the product of many monsters—and she is a stolen child, forced to play thisgame until the proper replacement can be found. As with so many things, the truth isunknown but perhaps the player characters can find out the truth someday.

The Old Wintergarden You know that image on Christmas postcards of a snow-covered field, filled with an

array of trees alight with the colors of the season, sprawling around a large frozen pond? Tat is the Old Wintergarden. Except the ice is thin and the colors of this season aremuted and old.

Te etching above the main gate gives the place its name, and the appellation couldn’tbe more fitting. From a distance, it looks so inviting and wondrous that few children,especially those aching for respite, can resist at least a quick look around its invitingevergreens and mirror-like body of water.

Fences circle the main garden, seven feet high with sharp finials atop the vertical spikesthat dot every six inches. A chill greets you as you enter and the gates close suddenly, assoon as no one is looking. It becomes very hard to escape the place, not that you will wantto once you come to enjoy its splendor.

Snow is always falling inside the Old Wintergarden. Snow so soft, so fresh, so crisp onthe tongue that no one suspects how malicious it actually is. As the flakes fall, collectingon hair and clothes, the folks it lands on start to forget. Where were we going? What is this place? Who are you?

Who am I? When enough snow has collected, the child vanishes with a flicker. In this way,

children become forgotten. Te snow erases who they were and almost imperceptibly thekid fades into the in-between, and no one suspects anything until it is already too late. Itfeels like sleeping, like slowly falling into a warm and perfect slumber.

Once inside the in-between, as the snow melts away and the haze lifts, children becomeall too aware of what happened. Tose with compromised Spirits go first, followed bythose with the lowest Care. It is possible for those within the in-between to warn theirfriends who have yet to slip (using the rules for communicating across the veil detailedearlier).



be careful



Chapter eight:the people

you know



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We’ve looked at the types of the missing, talked about some of the places pertinent tothem, so now let ’s meet some people who can be important to the missing. Most peoplearen’t out to get missing kids, though it can sometimes feel that way, but not a lot ofpeople bother to help them either. Folks are skeptical, don’t want to fall for some scam,

and aren’t willing to take the leaps of faith necessary to make a difference sometimes. Youcan’t really fault them but that doesn’t make it any less frustrating. Still, there are goodpeople in the real world, and other places too, and it pays to know them. Of course, it paysto know who the bad ones are as well.

Part One: People You Can Trust While knowing the right places is good, knowing the right people is even better. Te

following folks are clued into the struggles of missing kids and some even have an inklingas to Closetland and the existence of monsters. While not all can actively back up a

missing child in a fight, they can provide food, shelter, advice, and a shoulder when the weight of a kid’s fate becomes too much to hold inside. Te people can be in or from any city or town you like, wherever you need them to be.

Karen FinneyKaren Finney spent three decades as an elementary school teacher, primarily Grade 2

but she’s done her time at almost every level. She retired a few years ago and spent sometime idling but the sit-down life was not for her and, about six months ago, she decidedto volunteer at a hotline for kids in trouble.

Te job isn’t easy. Some kids are in a world of trouble and there isn’t much anyone can

do for them except listen. If it sounds like the cops need to get involved, the volunteershave a direct line to local agencies. Karen’s enjoyed her time there. She likes doing thegood work and has a natural, easy rapport with children that gets them to unburdenthemselves. She has turned more than one kid back from the brink.

When a call comes in, she can tell almost immediately if the kid is down in the dumpsor if the kid is in real danger. Te cops do a decent job of following up with leads f romthe call center, but history shows only a fifth of the flagged calls are legit. When the copsgive low priority to something she feels is urgent, Karen won’t hesitate to do her ownlegwork. If she can, she’ll try to find the child and she’ll help however she can. Her funds

are limited but her heart is not.

Meeting Karen FinneyMissing kids may encounter Karen after calling the hotline and getting in touch with

her. Te woman’s instincts could lead her to an area where missing kids congregate, or onemissing kid could give her a lead on where another is, one who is in even more danger.

Edgar and Alexis KrohlHand-me-downs are strange things. Sometimes they’re made on purpose, others by

fluke, sometimes they go missing just as you need them, and sometimes they appear in

the nick of time, giving kids that exact boost they need in order to best a monster, escapea tricky trap, or shine a light in the darkness. It’s almost like they have a mind of theirown. So many hand-me-downs have been made and lost and moved throughout the

years, it’s impossible to know how many there have been or where you might find any oneparticular hand-me-down at any given time.



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Tat won’t stop Edgar and Alexis Krohl from trying though. Te couple are social workers by trade. Edgar worked in patient advocacy at a local large hospital while Alexisstill works in the metropolitan school system. Tey catalog and collect hand-me-downs,as best they can anyway, acting as a directory and museum of the enchanted objects.

Te two stumbled upon the existence of hand-me-downs about a decade back, when Al overhead a couple of her kids talking about a porcelain doll they swore up and down would say your deepest darkest secret into your ear. Per her request, the kids presented Alexis with the doll a few days later. From all evidence, it was an ordinary Wendy Whispers doll, a bit rough (it was fifty years old at that point) but otherwise nothingextraordinary. Tat was until Gretchen, their niece, stayed over one weekend. Gretchenfell in love with the doll and wanted it to be her special night-night toy. Alexis told the

young girl to be extra-special careful with it since she needed to return the doll. Te first night, after tucking her niece into bed, Alexis heard the girl chatting in her

room. Te woman thought nothing of it until she heard a second voice answer back.Still, she figured, that was probably just Gretchen affecting a tone, as children often do.

Troughout the next day, Alexis kept hearing that same soft voice from Gretchen’s room.Every time she got close, the voice stopped, as if it knew she was a grown-up and the dollshouldn’t act that way around her. But later that evening, as Gretchen was getting readyfor bed, Alexis heard the doll whisper a name from the woman’s past, “Michael Sayers.”

Alexis hadn’t heard that name in twenty years and she wouldn’t have cared if thirty more went without her hearing it again.

She told her husband Edgar, who was skeptical at first, but as she came across more and

more of these strange artifacts, and was able to piece together the mythology shared bythe children and her own faint memories, the world of hand-me-downs pulled them in.

Edgar works full time now, searching and researching hand-me-downs, while Alexisuses her position within the school system as an ear to the ground, always on the lookoutfor leads to potential additions to their collection.

Meeting Edgar and Alexis KrohlMissing kids may meet Edgar and Alexis as the pair is hunting down a new object.

Hand-me-downs have a particular affinity for missing kids and tend to appear in some

fashion to aid a child who has been stolen or who ran away. Alexis’s job puts her incontact with a large percentage of the area’s homeless family population, and missing kidsmay run into her that way.

Walter Highways Admittedly, Walter doesn’t give the best first impression. He’s grumpy, has kinda

crazy-looking eyes, and smells a bit musty. He isn’t the type of guy your parents wouldnormally let you pal around with. Appearances aside, Walter Highways is one of thebest connections a missing kid can make because Walter knows how to get anywhere—anywhere—even places that don’t want anyone visiting them. Even places that don’t

necessarily exist. Walter has been homeless for the past thirty years. In that time, he has survived by

panhandling and doing the occasional odd job though he’s not as healthy or strong as heused to be. imes are leaner now than they’ve been in a long time, and Walter struggles



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especially. Still, he has a very quick, very dry sense of humor that sustains him throughhardship. Tat, and the good he does helping kids in need.

Walter’s talent, finding places, has served him well. He shares the talent with those who can prove their need of it. He has a knack for sensing when folks are lost, and he

often bewilders passersby by giving them directions to places they’re headed and can’t findbefore they even ask anyone for assistance. Tis earns him the occasional hand-out butmore than a few folks have been scared by it.

Kids who are missing, or just plain lost, can reach out to him for help. All you need todo is tell Walter where you’d like to go and he’ll tell you the most direct route to get there.

Te key being “the most direct route.” Tat may lead you somewhere you’d rather not gobut if you’re desperate enough you will get there. Walter won’t send you through riversor buildings—his power’s not that cruel—but it won’t shy away from haunted woods orshadowy car parks. Walter’s good for more than just directions, though. He tells great

stories, from kneeslappers to spine-tinglers, and he plays a variety of musical instruments(and occasionally has access to them). Mostly, he toots this little trumpet he can regularlybe seen fiddling with.



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Not only is Walter a member of the Army of St. Nicholas, his bag of belongings andbushy white beard make him look strikingly similar to the group’s namesake. He doesn’tassociate much with the group, and doesn’t take part of their online world, but he has hisear to the group’s rumblings and helps out where he can.

Walter doesn’t talk about his life before, has no interest in reminiscing or wondering why, but that doesn’t stop folks from speculating. Story goes, when Walter was a youngman, he saved a boy from some dog-toothed monsters set upon making the child theirnext meal. He fought them off, saved the boy, but the monsters swore vengeance uponhim. Te odd thing here is that Walter saw the monsters, an ability he never outgrew for

whatever reason. o this day, he glimpses the beasts that shamble out of Closetland andhe hates every single one of them. Te images aren’t fully detailed, some are just outlines

with rough, smoky edges, but some—like the ones who grabbed that boy—come acrossclear enough. Walter doesn’t talk about the monsters among other grown-ups as he knows

what the oh-so-smart so-and-sos think about old homeless men and he figures they’llcall the paddywagon to cart him off to the looney bin. And he can’t afford that, not whenthere are still children in danger.

While not happy with his current situation, he’s resigned to it and doesn’t see the pointin stargazing. He doesn’t want to see other kids end up as he did though and will go outof his way to help kids in trouble as best as he can.

Meeting Walter Highways Walter aids runaways primarily. He has a soft spot for those who can’t hack their old

lives anymore, but he would never turn away any child in need. Walter wanders, it’s in hisblood, but he sticks to urban areas. Te rural sector is not the place for his kind, he says,and he’s not much a fan of fresh air.

Part Two: People in the BetweenOthers exist in the in-between. A whole world exists, in fact. Te in-between lives in

the middle of two worlds but is a world unto itself. For those who are within, you may befortunate enough to cross paths with the following folks.

Helper

Tis sweet-looking pixie can really help in a bind, picking locks and scurrying underdoors and into cracks, and she can carry an impressive amount for a creature her size, butdon’t turn your back on this scamp. She may be called “Helper” but a name is just a name,especially in this case.

No bigger than a standard dress-up doll, and weighing about half as much, it’s easy topass by Helper without giving her much notice. Te fact she can blend into surroundingsdoesn’t help that. But Helper goes out her way to get attention, either calling out in abooming voice or by thudding against a child’s back. She projects a very sweet and timiddisposition, talking in a cutesy voice and often very soft and slowly to younger kids.

She will help however she can. Her slight frame makes it easy for her to sneak intoplaces. She can carry remarkably heavy objects, up to the size and weight of a bowling balleven.

Helper looks like a typical fairy She has a slender build and she’s tall, almost too tall,giving her a bit of a stretched appearance. Te loudness of her voice always surprises



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people though she usually keeps it in check and uses room and situation-appropriate volume and tone. And Helper knows all the languages; a fact she prides herself on. Notknowing modesty, she doesn’t wear any clothing—which usually brings out a bit ofsnickering from older kids. Te fairy doesn’t mind though; she doesn’t know shame or

embarrassment either.But she does know tit-for-tat and one-hand-washes-the-other. If she helps you, which

she will sometimes do without even being asked, she demands payment. Sweets work well, as do shiny objects. Tose who fail to pay will find their shoe laces stolen or theirpockets picked. Or perhaps even their shoe laces around their throat as they are jarredout of sleep by lack of oxygen and the warm sensation of blood filling their cheeks andeyeballs. Helper knows how to put her size and strength to all kinds of uses.

Now, why are you reading about Helper in a book about missing kids? Couple reasons.First, this fairy is aces at helping stolen kids escape from monster cages. Not only is she

good at it, she’s good at finding kids who have been stolen. She can smell new fish, to usea phrase. Also, Helper hates—hates like only fairies can hate—parents who are mean tokids. If there’s a bad parent at the core of why a kid went missing, Helper will cross intothe real world and exact some sort of revenge. She can’t harm adults directly, but she’ll settraps or cause mischief wherever she can. Lacking a firm grasp in the whole “punishmentfits the crime” thing, her actions can be quite severe.

Meeting Helper You can run into Helper just about anywhere. If she doesn’t make her presence

known by her voice, she may play a small and usually harmless practical joke to get yourattention. Most kids run into her in wooded areas but she’s often known to hang out inand near the school. She doesn’t much like Principal Higgins. She doesn’t like anyone

with a voice more boomier than hers.

Mabel Mae BelleKids have been passing stories of Mabel Mae Belle around campfires for decades, if not

centuries. She isn’t always called by her birth name, and the other specifics almost neverstay the same, but the gist carries through every telling: Mabel Mae Belle, the In-BetweenGirl. One of the more popular tellings, and my personal favorite, goes like this:

Mabel Mae Belle was only six-years old the day she climbed into the attic of her family’s newhouse. Her father had left the pull-down dangling into the hallway and Mabel, agile adventurerthat she was, couldn’t resist the chance to explore a new area.

Her family had bought the house at auction after the previous owner, Maddy Rolf, passedaway at the age of 103. Te passing of the oldest woman in Cornette County was big news andeveryone wanted a peek at the legacy stashed inside her house, but her will was very specificabout what was to be taken out and left behind when it came to her belongings.

Not everything was cleared out. Some furniture was left behind, a small church organ, andeverything in the attic was not to be touched—no exceptions.

Te house was put up for auction and the bidding was fierce. Mabel’s father was persistentthough and was the last man standing when the gavel struck down. Her family moved in a fewweeks later.

Tey had been living in the house for less than a week when Mabel made her fateful ascent.Her father was outside, helping unload the truck that had just arrived. Her mother was at work



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at her new job and her older sister, who was supposed to keep an eye on Mabel, was upstairs, fawning over her new room.

Mabel was a quiet child. Observant, yes. Precocious, yes. But not one for attention. Sometimesshe’d slip into a room and it would be a half hour before anyone noticed. Sometimes she’d slip out,

and even more time than that would pass before folks took note.Her father was in and out of that room a half-dozen times without noticing his girl was in

there, rummaging around the boxes Maddy left behind. He didn’t notice she was knelt down be-hind a stack of fresh boxes and didn’t notice she was playing with some of the dolls she had found.

One doll in particular, with a perfect porcelain face and lively glass eyes, caught Mabel’s at-tention. Something shined inside that cherubic creature but something dark burst from it, like asnake made of smoke, and smacked right into Mabel’s face like a frying pan in an old cartoon.

Tat knocked Mabel straight on her butt. She flew back, hit the ground hard, and knocked herhead against the attic’s hard wooden floor. When Mabel came to, she saw her father standing

over her but he didn’t seem to notice her. He was walking around, moving boxes, straighteningstacks, and mumbling about there being too much stuff in such a small space.

Mabel said “hello” to him but there was no response. Given how quiet she could be, that wasnot out of the ordinary. Mabel stood in front of her father and greeted him again but he stilldidn’t respond. She was quiet, sure, but she wasn’t invisible. Te girl waved her arms, nothing.Stomped her feet, nothing.

She went downstairs and found her sister snacking in the kitchen. Te adolescent walked rightby without saying a word. Mabel knew something was up. Ten she passed a mirror.

And she saw her face.

Smooth porcelain skin. Clear, dark eyes. Like marble. Mabel screamed. She clawed at her face, trying to get the mask off but it wouldn’t budge. She

dug so hard into her flesh, she drew blood but it wouldn’t move, not even a little.Te girl rushed back into the attic and found the doll. Sure enough, it had her face. Impul-

sively, she ripped the head off the doll. As soon as she did, she heard her father ask, “Mabel, whatare you doing up here?”

He scolded her for messing with the stuff in the attic and sent her back downstairs. Mabellooked at the doll head in her hands and it didn’t look like her anymore. Gladly, and only a little freaked out, she went downstairs and vowed to stay away from that attic forever.

Over the next couple days, Mabel noticed strange things out of the corner of her eye. She glimpsed tears in the air, like peeling wallpaper, and she could pick at them, exposing some otherworld beneath. What Mabel was glimpsing was the in-between and, on the other side, Closet-land. She didn’t dare tell anybody about this. Instead, she practiced it so she could find these littlerips whenever she wanted. And she found them all over the place.

One day she tightened up her courage and tore a hole big enough to step through. Instead ofthe world she saw on the other side though, she found herself in a strange haze. Her eyes slowlyadjusted and she realized she could now see two worlds. Her old world and one full of strangecreatures.

She had never heard of Closetland before, and certainly not of the in-between, but now thatshe had experienced it, she visited whenever she wanted. She rarely stepped into the other world,the one full of monsters, but she liked visiting the in-between.

Ever since Mabel has had the ability to fade in and out of the in-between as she likes. If shechooses, she can take one other person with her—whether they wish to go or not. Now, Mabel



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doesn’t know this but as anyone who has accompanied her can attest, when she travels to the in-between, her face looks just like that doll’s head.

Outside of this ability, she’s actually a pretty normal girl. She likes school, getting into messes,seeing new places, and meeting new people. Only thing is, Mabel can’t stand dolls. Any time she

sees one, she tears its head right off.Now, how much of that is true? Does it matter? As you well know, true and want-to-

be-true overlap quite a bit in the world of Little Fears, where Belief is as powerful as fact.

Meeting Mabel Mae BelleIf Mabel is real, and she actually has these powers, you can probably meet her anywhere.

Her name may not even be Mabel Mae Belle—and you may have heard this story but with a girl of another name. You may live near her. Or go to school with her. She mayeven be a friend of yours.

Part Three: Light Amidst Dark When you think of Closetland, you probably think of a world brimming with wildbeasts, crazed monsters, and mask-wearing freaks who are way too into birds. You’d beright for the most part. But there are other people in Closetland, and other things thataren’t people, that kids can rely on in a pinch.

The DogmotherRumor has the Dogmother wasn’t a dog in the real world, just a regular woman who

was very protective of her children. A persistent variant of this rumor has it she, like many

of the adult and quasi-adults in Closetland, lost someone, probably one of her children,and she followed her grief into the world of monsters. She’s a dog now, though, a big one.She looks like one, she acts like one, and she most definitely fights like one.

On all fours, she stands about two-and-a-half feet at the shoulder, and she can jumphigh enough to clear tall fences, such as the ones outside the Old Wintergarden. She’s

well-muscled and has been seen carrying four large children on her back while running atfull speed. She has a thick black coat and weepy brown eyes. Her jaws are strong enoughto drag even the largest Closet Monster and her teeth can rip muscle from bone.

Te Dogmother is smart, in both dog-ways and people-ways, and has a soft spot for

kids. She can nuzzle and play as well, if not better, than she can protect and fight. TeDogmother is especially protective of kids without proper parents, which sees her crossingpaths with a fair bit of missing children, though she’ll throw herself in f ront of anydanger, man or monster, that threatens a child.

Te Dogmother is not a friend of any beast, but she especially hates the Cat.She has a series of small homes for her “pups” set up throughout Closetland and is

usually no more than a quick journey f rom any of them. Kids who are taken to thesehomes will find a small stash of food—keep in mind a dog’s definition of “food”—andblankets. Tey’re not great places to live but if you need a place to stow away for the night,

they’ll certainly do.Meeting the Dogmother

You can run into the Dogmother anywhere in Closetland. She roams around, huntingmonsters and seeking out the lost and wounded children. She is especially f riendly with



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the Butterfly Knights. Some say Kendra may be the Dogmother’s true master but the boydenies that. He says he and the Dogmother just understand each other.

Stephanie Nolastname“Stephanie Bephanie, Little and Big, Voice of a Monkey, Face of a Pig.” Tat’s what the

other kids at Childhaven would sing at her. Back when, Childhaven was an orphanage/school in upstate New York with heavy religious affiliation and a reputation for turningaround “troubled kids.” At the time, the public opinion of orphans wasn’t positive withthe popular portrayal being something more Oliver wist than Annie. In a lot of ways,the residents of Childhaven deserved that reputation, though Stephanie was a definiteexception.

Left on the doorstep of a local church in the winter of 1921, the baby was wrappedin nothing but a homemade afghan bearing a trio of brown ponies in the middle. Tebundle, which the sisters named after the patron saint of horses, was a sickly thing. Tefever sapped her strength and the infection that crept in took part of her hearing beforeshe was able to beat it back. Despite her initially poor health, Stephanie recovered andgrew into a tall, scrawny thing with a pleasant disposition and all-too-forgiving spirit. Soforgiving in fact that she never held the harsh words against those who made her daily lifeso grueling. Even when the threats became physical, Stephanie forgave them. Doing so

was in her nature, though the day 13-year old Meredith pushed Stephanie down a flightof steps, breaking the girl’s right arm in the process, was a test of her limits.

Father Fitzpatrick was the head of Childhaven but it was Sister Mary Augustus with whom the kids interacted daily. She was old and gruff but not without kindness, and shetook Stephanie under her wing when it seemed everyone else at that place had abandonedthe child. Stephanie’s almost saint-like disposition attracted the nun’s attention first. Herexceptional reading and writing ability cemented that attention.

As time went on, Sister Mary Augustus watched out for Stephanie, severely punishingthose who made cracks or took whacks at the poor girl. In 1929, a girl who had stolenStephanie’s lunch disappeared. In 1931, another girl was sent to “the reflection room”and came back unable to speak. As years went by, the girls of Childhaven stopped beingso harsh to Stephanie. Until Meredith, who was two years older, broke Stephanie’s arm.

What happened to Meredith is unknown but the stories ranged from tales of her suddenadoption to rumors of her remains being served to the kids as porridge.

So was Stephanie’s life, under the stewardship and gentle arm of Sister Mary Augustus.But when Sister Mary died in the summer of 1933, no one stepped up to take her placeas the girl’s guardian. Tis left Stephanie defenseless and with a long list of enemies just

waiting for their chance at revenge. After all, it was the girl’s fault what happened to thoseother kids.

It wasn’t until fall of 1934 that Stephanie’s body was found at the bottom of LakeLlewellyn, one mile west of Childhaven. It wasn’t until spring of 1935 that the stories ofStephanie’s return took root. When Childhaven was shut down in 1941, the demolition

was fraught with accidents and strange sightings. A dozen crewmen walked off that job,three were injured by falling bricks, one dropped into a sinkhole, and two men admittedthemselves into a nearby sanitarium.

In the real world, nothing but a field occupies the space where Childhaven once stood.No animals cross over or through it. No people visit it. In Closetland, though, Childhaven



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still exists. rapped in time, looking the same as it did the year Stephanie disappeared, itsdoor remain open to the missing, the abused, and those without families.

And Stephanie walks its halls. No longer the reserved and patient girl she was in life,she is vengeful, angry, unforgiving. She will strike against those who harm the missing

and dispossessed without reservation or mercy.

Meeting Stephanie Tough tied to the orphanage’s grounds, she is capable of calling to children, a voice in

their head, and of compelling bad people into her world. She is able to reach through the veil between the real world and Closetland and plant small suggestions into the minds ofbad parents and people who don’t know how to treat helpless children.

Stephanie teaches those who need to learn their lessons.

Part Four: Real Bad PEOPLEIt might be nice to think all the bad people are secreted away in the world of monsters

but that’s just not true. While plenty of bad folks made the headlines for all sorts ofreasons, we’ll avoid those folks and talk about others. Te people here aren’t the ones

you’ll find mention of in the newspaper. If you’re lucky, you’ll never find mention of themanywhere. Still, better to know of them than for them to know of you.

The Cat When one missing kid says “the cat,” every other missing kid knows exactly what

he’s talking about. Te Cat looks like an average tabby, the kind you see walking

through suburban neighborhoods all the time. It’s fairly big, a bit stocky, kinda ugly, andsomething in its eyes is real unsettling. Tey don’t look like normal cat eyes. Tey look,and are, human eyes.

Tere are a lot of stories about where this feline came from. Some say it’s a mutant, likea centaur or mermaid except it only has human eyes instead of a whole head. Some sayit’s the devil’s cat and, if you’re not careful, it will eat your eyes if you get too close to it.Others say it’s a child who was turned into a cat by a wicked witch out in the woods butthe hag’s magic ran out before she finished.

Tose might explain the eyes but none of those explain anything else about the cat, like

its misshapen body, mismatched ears, and oversized feet. o understand those, you needto understand where the cat came from.See, the cat didn’t begin life as a cat. It began life as a drawing.

Te girl who drew this cat had drawn many cats during her eight years on earth.She drew all sorts of cats—they were her favorite subject—but there was one cat, oneparticular tabby, that held her heart. She loved her creation very much. She didn’t justdraw this cat once. She drew it numerous times: On notebooks, in her diary, in themargins of tests, on the back of her hand during recess. And while the girl became verygood at drawing the cat over and over, she never gave the cat proper eyes. Each and every

time she drew its eyes, she put a dot instead of an up-and-down line. Te girl loved her cat and the Cat loved her right back. Ten, one day, the girl didn’t come home from school. Te girl’s family became very

worried. Men and women in black suits and blue uniforms asked a lot of questions. Tefamily didn’t know very much and neither did the people in uniforms. Tis made the



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Cat very sad. But then the Cat got a brilliant idea: It would go looking for the girl itself!So that’s exactly what it did. It took a very long time, and a lot of looking, but the Cateventually found her. She was being held in a cage by a very mean shrew who wanted to

crunch the little girl’s bones. Te cat begged and pleaded for the little girl’s life and theold woman finally relented. But with a condition. Te cat had to bring not one, not two, but twenty-three little children in exchange for

her one. If it did that, the hag promised, she would set the little girl free.It is that bargain the cat is looking to fulfill. It is targeting missing children, as they are

more susceptible to its charms and are easier to lead astray, and so far it has given sevenhapless victims to the hag. It still needs 16 to fulfill the bargain, but it’s finding more andmore every week. By the time you read this, it may only need 12 or 8 or maybe just one.

Can the stolen children still be saved? Where is the hag and where has she hidden the

children? Will the Cat let them help it save its girl? Good questions. Good questions.Meeting the Cat

Te Cat is almost always on the prowl so if you’re going to interact with the Cat, themeeting will likely be on its terms. Its goal isn’t inherently evil; it just wants to rescue itsgirl. It’s open to alternate plans but they better be good and you better speak quickly.



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Madam SwitchswatchCrazy. In a word, that’s what she is. And not wacky, cartoony crazy but deeply-rooted,

disturbing, subtle, angry crazy. Te kind of crazy you don’t really understand until you’reolder, which is unfortunate because Madam Switchswatch likes kids. Specifically, she likes

to steal children and hide them away in a series of cages somewhere in a major city sewersystem.

Madam Switchswatch is not a monster in the Closetland sense. Yes, she’s a verydisturbed human being who does monstrous acts but she’s human, of earthly origin. She’s

just among the worst kind of human.Kids say she gets her name from her clothes, which are a mash of fabrics and threads.

But that’s not true. She gets her name f rom what she mutters around her kidnappedchildren. Most of her words are unintelligible, whispered gibberish, but she willoccasionally punctuate her ramblings with loud shouts of “Madam Switchswatch! Madam

Switchswatch! MADAM! SWICH! SWACH!” Who Madam Switchswatch is, if nother, is unknown.

Te reason people know that name is because of Jaime and Yvonne. Jaime and Yvonne were kidnapped by Madam Switchswatch but managed to escape.

At the time, four decades ago, everybody knew the case of the two missing girls, grabbedfrom outside a major outlet at a local mall. Tese friends, 10 and 11 respectively, weremissing a total of 21 days before they were found walking down a major highway, inthe same clothes they were wearing the day they went missing. Both girls were filthy,emaciated, and delirious. Tey rambled on and on about Madam Switchswatch, the cages,

the smell, something called “the soup.” But no leads ever came, no suspects ever charged,and the case sits unsolved in the files.

Jaime and Yvonne are in their early fifties now. Tey’ve grown up, had families, havesuccessful careers, and have put their shared traumatic experience behind them. Tey don’ttalk anymore, haven’t for almost thirty years, and live a thousand miles apart.

Te story of Madam Switchswatch spread like wildfire, and occasionally, when groupsof kids go missing, the tales begin anew. But little is known of Madam Switchswatchoutside the well-documented testimony given by Jaime and Yvonne and the greatly-conflicted hearsay from supposed almost-victims and escapees.

Meeting Madam Switchswatch Are you sure you really want to? If the answer’s yes, may the powers that be protect you.

Madam Switchswatch lives in the sewers under the city. Find the echoing of painful criesand go from there.

Part Five: Missing monstersPlenty of monsters skulk in the real world and stomp around Closetland. And most

aren’t that picky; they’ ll take whatever succulent scamps happen to cross their paths.Other monsters though are a bit more discerning and try to focus on missing children,those without strong ties to the real world. Here are a few such monsters.

Smelly Belly Tis disgusting creature looks like a fleshy bowling ball ambling around on two

elephant legs. Completely blind from its lack of eyes, the beast navigates the halls of



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Closetland by tasting the air with its worm-like tongue. Its thick arms each end in a triadof stubby claws that are strong enough to break a tree in two with just a half-heartedswipe. Smelly Belly’s feet make a wet sucking sound as it walks, its massive body wobblingfrom side to side like a disturbed plate of a gelatin slowly coming to a rest.

Its head is separated from its body by an incredibly wide mouth that opens almost tothe full height of its body and is capable of inhaling with such force it can suck up old

jelly beans from across the room. A wrinkled flap of skin covers a giant belly that sits just under its enormous maw and takes up almost its entire body. When empty, it looksa deflated bag covered in veins but when its belly is full, the true terror of this creaturebecomes evident.

Its stomach is filled with a goopy green digestive fluid that will slowly eat away whatever contents Smelly Belly can stuff inside it. Children are preferred, though it’smore often small animals, old shoes, thrown-away toothbrushes, and discarded fast food

containers. Te exterior lining of its stomach is semi-transparent though, allowing you tosee what it is digesting, no matter the content’s state of consumption.

Smelly Belly gets its name from its massive see-through stomach but also its vomit-inducing stench. Hyperbole alone hints as the smell this creature gives off, but letting youknow that its aroma acts as an attack might give you a better idea of how offensive thisbeast’s hygiene is.



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Stranger Danger A case of life imitating art here. Children have been taught about “stranger danger”

for decades. Initially, this meant bad men in cars offering candy, “friends of the family” who are there to pick you up, and weird people in darkened houses. All of the bogeymenthat become punchlines after the child grows into an adult. But the term has rooted in somany pre-adolescent minds, been feed by the collective fear of so many impressionablechildren, that the warning turned into a living, breathing monster.

Stranger Danger is a living representation of those fears parents have, all those reasonsthey refuse to let their children out of their sight, or go around the corner alone, or goto the neighborhood park without an adult. In this day and age, in the protective parentculture, Stranger Danger is stronger than it’s ever been.

Its natural form varies. It is a shadowy man, an outline in the shadows, or an image onthe wall. It hunts this way, lying in wait, until it chooses the form best suited to the task.It can look as it needs to look and act as it needs to act, in accordance with both real lifecrimes and those imagined by fretting mothers and fathers.

The Ghost CarKids get into the ghost car and are never seen again. Often associated with real-life

predators and monsters such as Stranger Danger, this ghastly sedan is a creature all itsown. It has no driver and no passenger, though it can create an illusion as to such byprojecting a figure in any of its seats. Te image isn’t perfect but the flaws are obscured bythe heavy shadow inside the car.

Now, most kids these days, their parents fed horrifying images of children beingsnatched up by weirdos in sedans, are smart enough not to jump into the car of someonethey don’t know. Part of what makes the ghost car so devious is that it can appear as anycar, including the family sedan. A kid who’s overburdened with science project materialsor a too-heavy backpack, or one who is too distracted to notice, may see his father’s trustyold Buick and hop inside before looking to see if dear old dad is actually behind the

wheel. Te ghost car doesn’t need to rely on distraction or deception, though those tools are

available. No, the ghost car can send out an energy, almost like a child magnet, that plants

the notion inside a kid’s head that he should check out the car. Te kid can’t explain it,and can be shaken out of it by someone intercepting or snapping their finger in the child’sface, but if not stopped, the kid will climb into the car, as if in a daze.

o employ this trick, the ghost car will sometimes appear as rusty old truck orabandoned car with a back door ajar. Te kid gets curious, climbs inside to check out theold wreck or see if anyone left anything fun inside the car, and then the doors slam shutand the driverless car takes off.

While not entirely dark, a heavy shadow fills a lot of the car, dimming even thebrightest afternoon sun. Te seats smell like old cigarette smoke. Te windows are tinted

from the inside even if they don’t appear that way from the outside. Folks who glancein won’t see the child, just the vague shape of a driver in the front seat, which the victimdoesn’t see from inside.

Ting about the ghost car, beyond all the other stuff we’ve talked about, is that thememory of it doesn’t seem to stick in folks’ heads. Tey may remember a car, vaguely, but



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no details. And it seems a lot of the kids who fall prey to it become forgotten. It could bethe interior of the car is a way into the in-between, I suppose, or maybe there’s some otherexplanation.

Sewer ThingSewer Ting is disgusting but, despite its name, it doesn’t live in the sewer. It kindasmells like it does but that’s not its home. It lives in the storm drains you see alongsuburban streets (and other streets, too, but Sewer Ting operates out of the suburbs).Kids commonly refer to these grate-covered openings as sewer drains, thus the creaturegot its name.

And it doesn’t speak anything beyond burbles and burps so it’s never corrected anybody.(Unless its name is Buh-hur-buburp?)

Its body is made up mainly of sickly black muscle, like really old rotten meat, and iscovered in a slick grey-green ooze. Tis fungal component is what gives the creature itsodious aroma. Roughly the shape of a human, maybe a little shorter than normal, that thecreature fits into storm drains is pretty amazing. And it doesn’t hog its ability to squeezeinto tight places; when it grabs kids, their bodies become like gelatin for a brief moment.

Tis allows Sewer Ting to pull children right through the storm drain, even the thin slatsin the grate!

Tis monster has the longest arms you’ve ever seen and they wobble and flex like thosesticky toys you’re supposed to throw against the wall (they feel like it too).

It uses the shiny objects it finds, or that stick to its mucus-like coating, as a lure forchildren. Coins are the most common but large silver barrettes, eyeglasses, and evenpocket knives work also. Kids easily distracted by shiny objects are Sewer Ting’s stock intrade.

o startle children, it will unleash one of its foul-sounding laughs—a cross betweensucking mud, a loud digestive expulsion, and a cat that got its tail caught under a chair.

Te smell of its breath smells almost as bad as the laugh sounds. (Come to think of it,maybe that’s how it got its name.)

Te creature’s adhesive coating, long arms, ample supply of lures, and strange ability totemporarily turn its victims into putty make it a formidable creature, and the cause behindmany a missing child.



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Jesse Albright is a 9 year old girl.Don’t call her Jessica. Tat is way too girly for this dirt bike-riding karate master. Her

mom keeps trying to shove dolls into her hands but Jesse has no interest in playinghouse. Not when there are mudpits to jump. She also has a wicked head for figuringout how things work.



AbilitiesMove: ØØØØOO

Fight: ØØOOOO Tink: ØØØØOOSpeak: ØØOOOOCare: ØØOOOO

VirtuesBelief: 4

Wits: 8Spirit: 10

Healthfine: ØØØØØØOOOOsore: ØØØØØØOOOOhurt: ØØØØØØOOOOcold: ØØØØØØOOOO

QualitiesI am a Trillseeker +2

I love riding bikes +1 I’m not scared +1I’m good at fixing stuff +1I take karate lessons +1I don’t know when to shut up -1I forget to do homework -1

TraitsI can Speak well when I’m talking

about bikes or bike riding.It’s hard for me to Tink when I’m

taking a school test.

THE CAT is a Regular Monster.Te Cat began life as a drawing that was loved very much. When its girl went missing, it

decided to venture out to find her. Seeing the girl was the captive of a hag, the feline made a

deal to provide the witch with twenty-three children in exchange for its girl. It has broughtthe old woman seven. It needs sixteen more.

It is scary when it arches its back and bares its fangs. It wants to save its girl by anymeans necessary.

AbilitiesFight: ØØOOOOChase: ØØØOOOGrab: ØØØOOO

Scare: ØØOOOO

Virtues error: 5Health: 30

QualitiesIt is a nasty and determined cat.It can chase you forever.It cannot enter brown houses.

Stuff Nasty eeth ØØ Bite Trough Clothing (Damage +2)

Big Misshapen Claws ØØ Almost Like Hands (Grab +2)Human Eyes Ø Freaky-Looking (Scare +1)

M. SWITCHSWATCH is a Scary Monster. Madam Switchswatch is a psychotic-but-all-too-real woman who kidnaps girls as a means

of teaching them right from wrong. Something she failed to do with her own daughters, whodied from drug overdoses decades ago. Her “teaching methods” are so traumatizing, those few who escape push them down as deep as they’ll go and pray they never surface. She feedschildren a drug-laden concoction she calls “the soup” in order to keep them docile.

It is scary when it starts screaming its name and batting at nothing in the air. It

wants all the little girls to behave themselves.Abilities

Fight: ØØØOOOChase: ØØOOOOGrab: ØØØØOOScare: ØØØØØØ


QualitiesIt is a seriously deranged woman.It can hide its victim well.It cannot get into Closetland.

Stuff Te Soup ØØØ Makes You Dizzy (Move -1) Makes You ired (Fight -1) Makes You Forget (Tink -1)Manic Gestures/Screams ØØØ Haunting/Crazy (Scare +3)Heavy Chains ØØ

Weigh You Down (Move -2) Wooden Club ØØ Hurts Like Heck (Damage +2)



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VirtuesBelief: 4

Wits: 8Spirit: 10







SMELLY BELLY is a Scary Monster. A massive creature that is constantly on the prowl for food. Its see-through stomach lets you

peep what it’s digesting whether it’s an old shoe or a goop-covered child and the beast doesn’t

even charge you for the show. Like a snake, it swallows its food whole so you can still save your friend if you make it in time. But run quick because it can suck stuff up from twenty feetaway. Oh, and hold your nose.

It is scary when you see kids trapped in its stomach. It wants to eat; it is always sohungry.

AbilitiesFight: ØØØØOOChase: ØØOOOOGrab: ØØØØØO

Scare: ØØØØOOVirtues

error: 10Health: 40

QualitiesIt is a big-mouthed omnivore.It can suck up stuff from far away.It cannot go hungry for long.

Stuff See-Trough Belly ØØØ Full of Goop (Damage +1) Tere’s stuff in there!

(Scare +2)Smells Bad ØØØ Really bad (Damage +1) I’mgunnabesick (Fight -2)BIIIG Mouth ØØ Like a vacuum (Grab +2)Clawed Hands ØØ Stabby-stabby (Damage +2)

STRANGER DANGER is a Regular Monster. A personification of the stories your parents were told growing up, Stranger Danger now

enacts all those snatches and tricks. It can look like whatever it needs to but always does itshomework first, watching its next victim from the shadows and waiting for the perfect timeto strike. It doesn’t project much reason to be afraid and that makes it even more of a threat.

It is scary when it sends a cold shiver down your spine with its voice. It wants youto trust it, that’s all.

AbilitiesFight: ØOOOOOChase: ØØØØOOGrab: ØØØØOOScare: ØOOOOO


QualitiesIt is your parent’s fears come to life.It can look as it needs to look.It cannot approach you if you are

with friends or family.

Stuff An Honest Face ØØ Looks Familiar (Tink -2)

A rusting Smile ØØ You Fall into It (Move -2)

A Calm Voice Ø But Something’s Wrong (Scare +1)



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VirtuesBelief: 4

Wits: 8Spirit: 10







THE GHOST CAR is a Regular Monster.Te ghost car is unoccupied automobile that lures children into it. It has the abiility to cloak

itself as any land-based vehicle it has seen and can copy the exteriors of these vehicles perfectly,

including bumper stickers, scratches, and dings. Its unnaturally dark interior is disorientingto those it traps inside. Te ghost car may work for other monsters, hunting and trappingchildren to take back to its temporary master. What the car gets in routine is unknown.

It is scary when it closes its doors suddenly. It wants to take you for a ride.

AbilitiesFight: ØOOOOOChase: ØØØØØØGrab: ØOOOOO

Scare: ØØOOOO


QualitiesIt is a fiendish automobile.It can lure children into it.It cannot pull into driveways.

Stuff Strange Allure ØØØ Draws Kids Near (Grab +3)

Altered Appearance ØØ

Looks Familiar (Grab +2)Heavy Doors ØØ Only Open from the Outside Hard to Damage (-1 Damage)Dark Interior Ø Can’t See (Tink -1)

SEWER THING is a Big Bad Monster.Tis deformed mass of meat and mold doesn’t actually live in the sewer; it lives in the storm

drains you find along suburban streets. It has incredibly long arms and eyes that shimmereven in the dimmest light. It lures children with coins and other shiny objects, getting them to get close to the grate before pulling them in.

It is scary when it lets out its awful laugh. It wants kids. Yum, yum, yum.

AbilitiesFight: ØØØØØOChase: ØØØOOOGrab: ØØØØØØScare: ØØØØØØ


QualitiesIt is a stinky drain dweller.It can getcha getcha getcha.It cannot go outside the grate.

Stuff Long Arms ØØØ Latch On (Grab +2) urn You to Jelly Foul Stench ØØØ urn Your Stomach (Tink -2) Make You Cough (Move -1)Shiny Objects ØØØ Distract You (Tink -3)Sticky Coating ØØØ Like a Fly Strip (Move -3)



Chapter NINE:the long

way home



110

CHAPTER NINELost has many different meanings.

the long way homeKieran Crosby went missing twelve years ago. His sudden disappearance from the

elementary school playground made headlines nationwide. His father quickly became theprime suspect though the evidence was flimsy. Still, the accusations and the heartbreak

were too much for his family. His father’s life spiraled into a whirl of alcoholism. Hismother left her family to live with her sister and has been under the care of psychiatricprofessionals since. His brother, Jacob, remained with his father and the boy grew up toofast as a result.

Tis morning, Kieran Crosby was spotted crossing the street by your characters’ houses. Tis was the first time anyone has seen the boy since that fateful moment a dozen yearsago. But that’s not the strange thing. No, what’s odd isn’t that Kieran is back—it’s that he

hasn’t aged a single day.

What’s in Here Tis episode, “Te Long Way Home,” is written as a standalone collection of ten scenes,

ready for use in an existing season of play or to set off a new group of young monsterhunters. It can be used to introduce the concept of the missing to your existing playersand, though it deals with some personal drama, is also about finding—and optimallydestroying—a creature who is responsible for far too many missing children.

Each scene covers one major action and usually includes a revelation that advances the

plot and bridges to the next scene. As the GM, you may need to drop or add scenes basedon the characters’ actions but as long as you can stick the big reveals and keep thingsrelatively on track, you’ll do fine.

Who the Characters Are Whether they all witness the inciting incident or if a single member of the group

sees it and calls the others to check it out, the characters just need to know each other. Alternately, kids who don’t know each other can all witness Kieran’s arrival and that couldbe what draws them together. Or it could be a mix of the two.

Inciting IncidentKieran’s appearance kicks off the episode and things run forward from there. Tis isa fast scenario, hits the ground running, but just because most adults and older teensremember Kieran’s disappearance, that doesn’t mean his appearance will have muchsignificance to the player characters. Even the oldest characters were only two years old atthe time he went missing. Chances are the cast members have no idea what that famousmissing kid looks like—but they will almost certainly know the name, even if they don’tknow why they know it at first.

Hey There, Players Te following episode is written specifically for the game moderator and are notintended to be read by potential players. So if you want to retain any level of surprise,don’t read any further.



111

THE LONG WAY HOMEIf the characters coming into this episode are experienced and have already had some

adventures together, you can probably concoct a good reason for them all to be together inthe same place. If you’re bold, you could even have Kieran’s first appearance pop up whilethe kids are on the trail of a monster or hiding out from some wicked creature.

Te specifics of the Kieran’s appearance don’t really matter; it can be anywhere at anytime of day or year. Te rest of the episode spins out f rom there regardless of setting(though some minor details may need to be altered to reflect snow on the ground or thelateness of the hour).

GMCs Te following GMCs are important to the story and expanded GMC sheets for them

have been included at the end of this episode. As your group explores the story, you mayimprovise other characters. Feel free to stat them up as appropriate, using the simplified

GMC rules, expanded rules, or by making them fully-statted characters, same as theplayer characters.

Kieran Crosby, 10 Te catalyst of the story. Kieran is a ten-year old boy disappeared from Carter

Elementary during recess twelve years ago. Everyone knows the story, remembers thename, and while many theories exist, only Kieran knows what really happened. As thestory unfolds, the players may learn also. While Kieran knows the truth, he doesn’t knoweverything as you will soon find out.

Kieran has been through a great ordeal but if the characters are strong, savvy, and caring

enough, he may finally know peace.

Jacob Crosby, 26 Jacob was fourteen at the time of his brother’s disappearance. Jake and Kiki got along

famously. Tey were as thick as thieves and best of f riends, against all odds. When Kiki vanished, the Crosby family fell apart, with Jake left unattended in the center. With hismom gone and his father as good as, Jake learned to take care of himself (and his father)and had to learn far too quickly about responsibilities and consequences. Now grown up,

Jacob is a broken man, who works his third-shift job at night only to come home and

drink. He lives in a daze, having no connections to family or friends. Kieran’s suddenarrival will come as quite a shock to him.

More Than One Missing KidIf you have missing PCs in the group, they may know more about Kieran than the

others. Te non-missing kids have all heard about Kieran Crosby before—probably asa warning for why they can’t leave their parents’ sight—but they may not know his face.Missing kid characters though, especially those who have been missing for a while or

who were stolen or forgotten, may have heard rumblings that Kieran is “tainted.” He was ripped out of the real world by a creature called Vanish. Te monster is legendaryas it is responsible for hundreds (some kids claim thousands) of missing children overthe years. Details about Vanish are vague as only two children have ever escaped hisclutches—and the group has just met one of them.



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CHAPTER NINEThe Scenes

Te following scenes form the basic story of Te Long Way Home. Tis is just aframework though, a backbone, and a good group will go off-script numerous times. Tebest advice is to roll with it, react to their decisions, and try to aid them back on the pathif they lose the thread or hit a dramatic dead end.

Scene #1Before we get into this scene proper, you need to do a little bit of set-up. Tink of

something a cast member really likes. Tis doesn’t need to be something extra-specialto them (though that would work great) but, ideally, it’s something the character hasestablished a fondness for or connection with previously. If nothing comes to you, makeit food from a character’s kitchen (perhaps it’s in distinctive plasticware or the character’slunchbox). Once you have something in mind, proceed.

Te characters are going about their business, having a normal day, playing outsideor maybe duking it out on Rabble Rouser IV (Pugilist Edition!) for the GameStation3. Average day, nothing out of the ordinary, until one of them spots a boy. He could beoutside the window, in the kitchen (having sneaked in through the back door), or if thekids are outside he could be standing across the field, driveway, parking lot, or whatever.He’s not that tall but it’s hard to gauge his age because his face and clothes are covered indirt. His shirt is so thin you can see his skin underneath. His pants are frayed and bothlegs have blown-out knees. His once-white high-tops are barely holding together, asmuch leather as they are duct tape.

o top it all off, he’s got something that belongs to one of the characters (whatever youthought of ). Once spotted, his big eyes go wide and he takes off—precious object in hand.

Hey player, some kid just stole your stuff! Te natural response is to chase after him so let’s stick with that as the most-likely

outcome. Tis is a Spotlight scene. Te boy is trying to get away from the group so all efforts are

focused on chasing him down. Te boy is agile—and quick—so make it a challenge. I don’t know where you’re going

to set this initial scene but I guarantee there are plenty of obstacles you can throw in the

players’ way. Open rural areas have wire fencing, mud puddles, slick grass, large animaldroppings, tall fields (corn and otherwise) and more among the options. Suburban areashave picket fences, parked cars, hydrants, clusters of thick shrubs, rushing through strangehouses (to the occupant’s chagrin) and such. Wooden environments have fallen trees,bramble, stumps, and low-hanging branches. Urban centers have lots of traffic, walls ofpedestrians, sudden turns down blind alleyways. Don’t make it easy. Get the adrenalineup and call for Move and Tink checks as the characters dodge whatever potentialhindrances pop up. Use those accidents rules f rom the main rulebook (page 34) to bangup the characters—not a lot, just a bit. Drive home that the kid they’re chasing is no

stranger to having to get away quickly. But be careful not to reach the point where thecast is discouraged and stop chasing him.

If the team does give up, have the kid tumble (if they can see him) or cry out fromnearby (if they can’t). Tis should motivate them to finish the pursuit.



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THE LONG WAY HOME Tis scene ends when they catch up with the boy, whether they tackled him, cornered

him, or he fell down and twisted his ankle.

Scene #2 Alright, the boy’s been caught. Now it’s up to the player characters as to what they say

or do. Te kid’s tough for his size but he’s scrawny (and possibly injured, depending onhow things played out in the first scene). He won’t instigate a tussle but he will respondto the best of his abilities if one of the cast members gets physical. Otherwise, he’s acornered animal: twitchy, unsure, never taking his eyes off the cast members, jumping atany sudden movements, waiting for whatever the group is going to do. If a spot opens upthat he can escape through, he may act as if he’s going to take it but he won’t.

If the player characters talk to him (and I hope at least one of the cast members hasa cool head about this), he’s not feral or anything, but he barks out his answers withguttural heft, quick and short. Something is obviously wrong with him, not mentally butemotionally. Plus he’s upset, that’s evident to anyone who bothers to really look at him.

And it won’t be long until he breaks down crying. If the kids give him some breathingroom and don’t come in swinging, this will happen sooner rather than later.

Tis is a Dramatic scene. Te focus is on the cast members assessing and engaging theboy they caught stealing. Below are some questions the player characters will likely haveas well as some other information you may need to handle any other questions.

Who are you? His name’s Kieran. Kieran Crosby.

Why did you steal (this thing)? If food, he stole to eat. He’s really hungry. If it was a toy or some other object, hethought it was his. He’s a bit disoriented and may claim it actually is his until he takesa moment to really look at it where he’ll realize, somewhat shame-faced, that he wasmistaken.

He immediately apologizes, asks for their forgiveness, and gives back whatever he took.

Where do you live? It takes him a moment to remember. He’ll close his eyes, shake his head slowly, as he

mumbles: yellow, big tree, the dog across the street. Te street name will come, as will

solid details about the house. If you want, put the house on the same street as one of thekids but I’d avoid making it a place they are too familiar with.

If your game takes place in a densely-packed city or anywhere apartments and condosmake up the bulk of the real estate, don’t sweat making the house a bit out of the way. If

you’d rather it was close, you can switch the house to an apartment, just change the otherdetails to match.

Why are you so dirty? As I said, the boy is filthy. He doesn’t have a good answer. He crawled through a lot of

junk and dirt, he says. Tough some of the filth is ash. ( Just a slight dusting though, not

enough to be invisible to monsters, at least anymore.)

Other DetailsKieran is ten-years old. He knows the name of the town or city they are in, but he gets

some information wrong. He may mention a store that shut down five years ago or say



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CHAPTER NINEhe’d really like some food from a store or restaurant that’s no longer there. Te playercharacters may not have even heard of some of these places and think they are fromanother town over or that the boy is more out of it than he seems.

About KieranKieran doesn’t remember a lot about the real world; everything’s kinda fuzzy. He doesn’t

have amnesia; he’s just severely out of place and doesn’t know it. His slang and referencesare out-of-date as well, which is something the cast might pick up on. As you know, thisis Kieran’s first day back in the real world so he’s a bit disoriented and on edge.

After the TalkOnce the cast members have exhausted whatever questions they had, Kieran will ask

them if they know how to get to his house. If they do, he’ll ask for directions but it’sobvious his brains are a bit scrambled and nothing’s sticking. If they don’t, he’ll thank

them (giving the player characters the opportunity to offer to help him regardless) but, ifno one steps up, he’ll ask outright.Now it’s fully within the realm of expected responses for the group to confront the kid,

get their stuff back, and leave it at that. In case of emergency, Kieran will double over inpain—severe hunger pangs, maybe, or a stomach virus; it’s hard to tell. It’s okay to playa little dirty here. As the main rulebook says, these kids are supposed to be heroes. Tiskid is obviously in need and every good protagonist knows you help those in need. Tat’s

what usually gets them into the best trouble. Te scene ends when the cast agrees to help Kieran home.

Scene #3Now we walk! Or ride bikes.If the kids want to do something before setting off, Kieran’s amenable to it. He feels

a calling to get home but not an urgency—not yet. He will though if things get toosidetracked. He won’t make a huge pest of himself but he will mutter about “gettinghome” and “it’s late” (no matter what time of day it is) with a strange distance in his voice.

On the way, he’ll make more mention of how things look so much different. Hardlynostalgic, he’s more confused by changes, especially any obvious ones (the aforementionedclosed stores, redone murals, and so on).

As the kids near Kieran’s house, they’ll see that, while the boy got most of the detailsright, some things are definitely off—and the house is in severe disrepair. Kieran ishesitant to approach the house but if anyone asks him if something is wrong, he’ll say no.

“I just don’t feel well.”Eventually, the boy will screw up his courage and take a few steps toward the house.

He’ll ask the cast to stick around, if they don’t mind. After trying the buzzer (whichisn’t working), he’ll knock on the door weakly before getting enough strength and/orgumption to make it heard.

Alternately, Kieran may ask one of the player characters to knock on the door for him.

Almost every group has a leader and he’ll single out whoever that is. After a few seconds, and a couple more knocks, a twenty-something man answers the

door. He’s slightly tipsy, unshaven, wreaks of cheap beer, and is smoking an unfilteredcigarette. He’s not happy about a bunch of punk kids banging on his door and makes thatknown first-thing. He wants to know why they’re bothering him and what they want.



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THE LONG WAY HOMEKieran won’t speak. He’s transfixed by the man, staring at him strangely, until he finally

takes a step forward and says, “Jake?” Te man’s face goes sour at this.Okay, real quick: Tis exchange is necessary to set up the player character-focused part

of this scene but, admittedly, it suffers from talking head syndrome. Whenever two gamemoderator characters are interacting, for purposes of drama or plot, this leaves the playerson the sideline. Despite the role Kieran plays here, this is ultimately the player characters’story so let’s not kill the mood by spending a half-hour talking to ourselves. So, I’m goingto give you the information that needs to be conveyed from the exchange and let youdecide how to present it. I trust you.

Te last time Jacob Crosby saw his brother was twelve years ago. Not only did he giveup hope of ever seeing his brother, he eventually came to terms with the fact his brother

was most likely dead. While this kid on his step looks a bit like Kieran, there’s no way he

is and no way the man’s going to believe it—after all, Kieran would be 22 years old now.Kieran’s in no position to make his case either. He stammers, unsure even himself if

what’s happening can be trusted or not. Te player characters don’t know this kid wellenough to really help. Tey may back his assertion but they don’t have any hard evidence.

If he feels these kids are having fun at his expense, he’ll get angry and threaten to callthe cops. Should the cast remain undeterred, he’ll threaten physical violence (though

won’t act on it). In the end, Jacob’s going to slam the door in their faces. If they push him,he will call the cops. Te kids would do well to scatter before things get heated.

When the door slams, the truth about the situation settles on Kieran. He backs awayfrom the house, slowly at first then running. He won’t go far though before collapsingonto the ground and sobbing. Kieran is beginning to remember some things and will tellthe group this fact, though he can’t give words to exactly what they are.

Tis is a Dramatic scene. Kieran is scared, confused, and is in desperate need of comfortand affirmation. Next, they’ll need a plan. What are they going to do with this kid? Lotsof doors they could walk through on this one.

Kieran needs a bath—he’s smelling pretty ripe—and won’t refuse one. Unless he gotfood before, he’s really hungry and could use a meal. He’ll agree to any options thatinvolve these. Going to the cops is not something he’s eager to do. Getting Kieransomewhere safe, wherever that is, is a good idea. Let’s run with that.

Tis scene ends when the kids are on their way to wherever they are going. In the nextscene, we’ll see if they make it there.

Scene #4I’m assuming the cast members are headed toward one of their houses but adjust this if

the players took the scene in a different direction. Most important thing is that the kidsare in transit; if events play out well, they won’t make it to where they’re headed anyway.

On the way to wherever they’re going, the kids become aware something is trailing

them. It will make itself known slowly and a general sense of impending danger precedesit. Te shadows get darker, one of the kids gets a chill down his back, hair stands on end,goosebumps up the arm. Ten it passes.

Let the group walk on a bit more and have it happen again. More intense. Someonesees something move out of the corner of his eye. Just as the group starts to doubt,



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CHAPTER NINEanother sees it. A shadow, darker than the others. Kieran gets scared; he saw it too. Hecries out, “No! No!” as a flood of memories wash over him.

He falls to his knees, pleading. “I don’t want to go back! I don’t! No!” Te shadow stretches out from a tree (or mailbox or snowdrift or whatever you have;

if nothing, it just comes out of the ground) and creeps toward Kieran. Te boy swats at it weakly; he’s in no shape to fight. But the group is.

Tis is an Combat scene. Whatever this shadow is, it’s not getting anybody today. Te shadow is in its weak form—the more light in the area they are fighting, the

quicker it will flee. Give the fight a good couple rounds to give the kids a workout but nomore than three or four before it goes.

Tey are facing Vanish’s Shadow. You’ll find the stats for this creature at the end of thechapter.

Te scene ends when the Shadow has fled. Kieran, sobbing, now remembers everything.

Scene #5Kieran remembers who he is and immediately starts f reaking out. He was the victim

of a horrendous act and the torrent of emotion pouring forth now is almost enough tobreak him. Te group needs to calm him down (a series of Care check, first at 15, then 12,then 9 work). Once he’s down a couple steps, he’s able to talk about what he’s feeling andremembering. Te details are below, for you to dole out as you see fit or as the questionscome up in natural conversation.

Here’s what you need to know:

Kieran used to be a normal kid. His dad worked at the local plastics factory, second-shift. His mom worked retail—returns and checkout—at the local Star*Mart. His olderbrother Jacob was a freshman in high school, and Kieran was a fifth grader at CarterElementary.

Carter Elementary is smack dab in the middle of a residential area, and while the mainentrance faces a street and west side butts up against some woods, half of the back sharesland with houses. Metal fencing separates one from the other, but balls, frisbees, andsuch find their way on the other side. It’s always a challenge to retrieve them without theplayground ladies catching you. A challenge Kieran accepted one day twelve years ago.

He was tossing a football with his friends Davey Moller and Greg Lynn one springday during second recess. Davey botched a pass and it bounced off Greg’s hand into aneighboring house’s yard. One round of rock-paper-scissors later, Kieran is being hoistedover the fence. Te ball bounced farther than Kieran had realized, into a thick uncutpatch of fescue on the far side of the house. Given the position of the sun and angle ofthe adjacent shed, the patch was covered in shadow. Kieran walked into shadow and whenhe turned around, his friends were gone from the other side of the fence. Ten he feltsomething cold over his face and he couldn’t breathe. His entire world went dark and thenext thing he saw was the blackened room with a single light dangling from the middle.

“Without light,” he’ll say, “you can’t have shadow.” And that, he came to learn, is what took him: a shadow. But not any shadow—oneof the same kinds that just attacked them. Tey’re not the real problem though; the realmonster is Vanish. He makes the shadows. Tey’re a part of him.

“I did stuff for him. I helped him hurt other kids.”



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THE LONG WAY HOME Te details are spotty—whether the boy doesn’t remember or refuses to relive the

events is unknown—but Kieran was the monster’s lure. Vanish used him to gain the trustof other kids so they would follow him into dark corners “where Vanish lives.” Vanish is

weaker in light and can’t take any children if they are in direct light, natural or otherwise.

Kieran isn’t sure how long he did this but it seems like it was a real long time. (Tetruth, which Kieran doesn’t know and perhaps shouldn’t, is that Kieran has been workingfor the monster since he was kidnapped. Te boy has helped Vanish steal dozens ofchildren. Te captives were then traded to other monsters.

He doesn’t remember escaping; he’s not sure he really has. Te last thing he remembersis grabbing the arm of some girl, some little girl, and pulling her towards him. Her skin so

warm and his so cold.“Ten I was here,” he’ll say. “And I was so hungry. And confused. I don’t know what

happened, I swear.”

He doesn’t know why he hasn’t aged. He doesn’t know anything else. As much of a relief as it is for him, it does nothing to unburden the guilt he feels. Once

the relevant information is laid out, he doesn’t want to talk anymore. He’s far too tornup to keep talking. He wants to go back home. He wants to talk to his brother one moretime. He needs to.

Tis is a Dramatic scene. Tis revelation needs to motivate the team to see themthrough the rest of the scenario. Lay it all out, put lots of emotion into it, and get thoseplayers hooked!

Te scene ends with the team agreeing to take Kieran back to his house one more time.

Scene #6 Te trip back to the Crosby homestead is uneventful. Te shadows seem a little longer

than usual and the occasional movement in the periphery gives a start now and then butthey make it back without running into trouble. When they arrive at the steps of JacobCrosby’s modest suburban home, Kieran approaches the door hesitantly. After taking amoment to catch his breath, he knocks on the door (unless a cast member volunteers).

Jacob’s in no better mood now than before and throws open the door, already swearing.He immediately lets into the kids, tells them to get off his property or else he’ll get hisgun (he doesn’t have one, but the cast doesn’t know that). He’s addressing everyone buthis eyes keep darting back to Kieran. Something inside him knows, against all reason.

If he called the cops before, he’ll inform the group that the authorities know all abouttheir stupid stunt. (Police don’t prioritize minor nuisances such as this so the chances ofthe cops returning or busting the kids for it—beyond a talking-to anyway—are incrediblyslim.)

Kieran tries to talk to him but hearing anything from the boy just makes Jacob angrier.Calming the man down falls on the players. Tey can approach it with Tink or Care,maybe even Fight if one’s inclined to give Jacob’s shin a quick kick.

When Jacob is snapped out of tirade mode, he can’t help but embrace Kieran. Hisbrother’s face has been burned in his mind for the past twelve years and this kid is hisbrother. Kiki made his way home.

Tis is a Dramatic scene. ears, relief, joy, and sadness are all mixed up in a swirl ofemotion.



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CHAPTER NINE Jacob has a lot of questions, but direct them to the players. Kieran’s too emotional to

talk and this helps avoid the talking-head syndrome of GMC interaction. Te scene ends when Jacob is willing to accept the outlandish notion that this is his

brother and invites the group into his house.

Scene #7 Te house is like a shrine to Kieran. A long-neglected shrine decorated with cheap beer

cans and old magazines, but a shrine. Pictures of Kieran line the wall and mantel, coveredin dust. Newspaper clippings cling to the wall, stuck with old packing tape and staple.

Te boy’s fifth grade school portrait sits center on the dining room table adjacent to themain living area. Almost ashamed of the state his house is in, Jacob clears seats and doesa quick clean-up before offering everyone a seat. Still, he can’t take his eyes of Kieran. Hequestions his sanity, wonders if he’s dreaming, and says he’d offer the kids something todrink but all he has is beer.

“I don’t get much company. Especially kids.”In his heart, Jacob’s a good guy, but the years of wear and worry are evident. Show this,

get the kids on Jacob’s side—or at least glad the two brothers are reunited before droppingthe hammer that’s about to happen, now.

Te lights in the house flicker for a moment. Ten all but one goes out. Kieran gasps.“You can’t have shadow without light.”

Jacob has no idea what’s going on. He’ll make a lame excuse about “old wiring” buteven he knows something’s up.

“You mustn’t leave before the job is done, child,” a voice says. Vanish. Kieran screamsand falls behind the cast for cover. Te lights come back on—and there’s nothing.

Ten they hear the cackling. But where’s it coming from? Vanish can live in any shadowbut he has to jump from one to another. Te players don’t know this but Kieran does.If they can isolate the general area, they just need to remove as many shadows as theycan—or trap Vanish in one with nowhere else to go.

Tis is an Investigation scene. Find where the cackling is coming from, eliminate theshadows, and bring Vanish out of hiding.

Make this a challenge. Houses have hundreds of shadows beyond the obvious ones and

Vanish is no fool; he’ll move around as the group pushes him into a corner.One of the kids may get the idea to completely blacken the house (Again, “you can’thave shadow without light”) but Vanish is already inside the house. At this point,darkening the house extends the shadow.

Tis scene ends when Vanish is either found or reveals himself. Grab the dice, thingsare coming to a head.

Scene #8Drawn out of hiding, the monster has no choice but to make his full appearance.

Vanish looks like a person made of solid shadow. Tis isn’t a form he takes often but he

needs to in order to physically interact with people. In this form, he can briefly appear inlighted areas but will not stay there long. He can break up into shadowy shapes briefly,usually when rushing f rom one shadowy area to another. Because he is both made ofshadow and fights from the shadows, he can be hard to spot. He can make his face appearas people familiar to the kids, like seeing your parent’s face in shadow. It’s almost right,



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THE LONG WAY HOMEbut not quite. While he usually employs that trick to lure unsuspecting kids, he may doit in order to evoke sympathy from the kids or throw particularly sensitive kids off theirguard.

Vanish doesn’t want to fight though. He’s not here on business. He’s here to get what

he thinks is rightfully his: Kieran. Vanish has brought up Kieran in monster tradition fortwelve years—two more than he was ever a member of the real world. If he can avoidfighting, he will do so.

Te group needs to make sure Vanish can’t avoid fighting. Tis is a Combat scene. ime to take on a monster, kids. You can find the stats for

Vanish at the end of this chapter. After he’s endured a bit of physical damage, Vanish will explode into a hundred

shadowy bits that flitter around the room like crazed birds. Tey whip through the airseemingly without destination until finally settling on Jacob. Te bits swirl around his

skin, mixing his pink flesh with black streaks. Te man screams, claws at his flesh, but it’stoo no avail. Jacob stumbles back, grabs his head, and almost bangs into a wall.

Te swirl absorbs into his skin and Jacob seems okay at first. Until he opens his eyesand the kids see the hatred evident within them. In two strides, Jacob clears the room,grabs Kieran by the collar, and rushes out the door.

Te scene ends when Jacob (possessed) takes off with Kieran in his clutches.

Scene #9Go go go!Vanish has taken over Jacob’s body, used it to nab Kieran, and run off. Te cast members

have to hunt him down and save Kieran. Good luck, kids. Jacob is on the move. (Use Jacob Crosby’s monster stats at the back of this chapter for

this scene.) He’ll take whatever path is the most likely to trip up the characters. As we did with Scene #1, throw some obstacles in the kids’ paths. Jacob’s clearing trash

bins, Kieran firmly in his grasp, without breaking stride but the characters have to workto hurdle the now-toppled cans. Te cast members will catch up with Vanish/Jacob butmake them work for it.

Problem is, Vanish can’t carry Kieran outside of Jacob’s body—pull, push, silence, yes,but not carry. He needs Jacob’s body, but Vanish doesn’t know this neighborhood, ormaybe Jacob’s spirit is fighting back, either way the monster will eventually work himselfinto a corner. Tat’s when this turns into a fight.

Tis is a Combat scene. Round two, this time against the possessed Jacob Crosby.Unless! Unless you need to want to end things here then you could. Te way this is

written, the kids will beat Jacob and then Vanish disappears, just in time for Kieranto—well, I won’t spoil it. But the kids fight Jacob, Vanish goes away, story ends. But here’sanother way this could play out.

When the kids corner Vanish/Jacob, the man will scream and black shadowy bits comefoaming out of his mouth. He collapses on the floor, unconscious. Te shadowy bitsfly off, eventually disappearing into some nearby pool of darkness. If you opt for this, Irecommend stretching out the chase. urn this into a Spotlight scene and throw moreobstacles, more challenges, toss in some accidents and minor damage to bulk up the scene.

In this case, the scene ends when Vanish lives up to his name and goes away.



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CHAPTER NINEOtherwise, the kids have another fight on their hands. But before we get into that,

let’s talk a bit about possession. When a GMC is possessed, he becomes, at least for themoment, a monster. So you stat him up as a monster. System-wise, he acts the same asany other monster. What’s unique is what happens after the possession is over. Here’s the

important part: Not all the damage the possessed person takes in his monster form countsagainst their actual health as a regular GMC. For every three points of damage theirmonster version suffers, their human form only takes one point.

So if the kids take out possessed Jacob, doing all 30 points of damage, only ten transferto Jacob the human GMC. Jacob the human GMC has 16 to begin with. Minus the tenpoints of damage that could transfer, the most beat up he will be is down to six points ofhealth. He’ll be beat up, but he won’t be dead.

But the kids won’t need to do 30. Vanish will vamoose after 15. He’ll make his exit asdescribe earlier. Jacob will collapse, Kieran will rush over to him.

Tis scene ends when Vanish leaves.

Scene #10Vanish is gone, for now. Jacob is down, unconscious. Kieran is kneeling next to him. His

hand on his brother’s chest. Everything is quiet. Kieran turns to the player characters andsays he has to go. He says he’s nothing but trouble, that Vanish will never stop looking forhim, and that the kids cannot protect him forever.

“And I can’t even protect myself.”He hopes Jacob will wake up, think this was all some strange dream, and forget all

about it. Kieran sniffles back tears as he says this. It’s probably the right thing to do but hedoesn’t really want to do it.So he’ll go, back to Vanish, and do what the monster says. Kieran hates this idea but

tells the other kids that so many other children will get hurt as Vanish tries to get himback. Tough he knows he will be used as the monster’s bait.

“What—what do you think I should do?” Tis is a Dramatic scene. Which way will the cast members swing this?

Convince Kieran to StayGo back? Are you nuts? Do they feed you crazy pills where you come from, Kieran? No

way you’re going back to that monster to help him steal children!Kieran is free now, however it was that happened, and he needs to stay free. If Vanish

comes back, they’ll take him on again. Every time. A hundred times if they have to. An honorable vow. If Kieran stays, he’ll spend his life walking around with a missing

kid’s face. I mean, sure, he’ll age and grow (probably) but right now he looks like that kidthat went missing twelve years ago. Tat’s going to be weird. But it should settle, and asimpossible and insane as Kieran’s story will seem to his older brother, they might be ableto heal some wounds and go on with their lives. Finally.

Agree that Kieran Should Go

It’s not a choice a child should have to make but Kieran may be right. Vanish is no joke.He’s one tough monster and could hurt a lot of kids on his hunt to find and keep Kieran.Still, they could send him back armed—maybe with a hand-me-down—that can helpKieran fight back against Vanish. Maybe. But still, what an awful choice to have to make.



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THE LONG WAY HOMEHunt Down Vanish

Vanish used Kieran to lure children. Now it’s time for children to use Kieran to lureVanish. Te group could put forth that Vanish needs to be stopped. What’s this talk ofgiving up? Of going back? Forget that noise. Vanish is a monster and we can’t let him

keep attacking kids.Offer Another Option

If your group is anything like the ones I’ve had the fortune to play with, they willprobably concoct a scheme far greater, grander, and inventive that what you and I came up

with. And that’s great. Tat’s part of what makes these games so much fun.

Whatever They Choose Tings are far from over for Kieran and the group. If Kieran stays, Vanish will come

back—and the monster may try to take out the player characters one by one before

making a grand attack. If they send Kieran back, they may cross paths with him again.If they hunt down Vanish, they have their work cut out for them, but it’s definitely notimpossible and you could get a whole other episode out of it. No matter the direction, theplayers take this, have fun and be safe. Tere are monsters out there.

The Long Way Home GMCs and Monsters Te following GMCs are for use with Te Long Way Home or any episode of Little

Fears Nightmare Edition. Tese have been built with the expanded GMC rules found inthis book. Stats for the monsters follow.

This is Me!My name is Kieran Crosby.Character description: 10-year old stolen boy

who hasn’t aged a day in 12 years.

Abilities Tink: ØØØØOODo: ØØØOOOFeel: ØØOOOO

QualitiesI am a missing child ØØOI have had to steal things to survive ØOO

HealthØØØØØ ØØØØØØØØØØ ØOOOO

KIERAN CROSBY

Goals______________________________________________________OO______________________________________________________OO

Playaround PointsOOOOO OOOOO

WeaknessesHunted by a monster called Vanish ØOSpotty memory ØO



122

CHAPTER NINE







VirtuesBelief: 4

Wits: 8Spirit: 10







VANISH’S SHADOW is a Regular Monster.Tis shadow-form of the monster called Vanish is a separate entity entirely. While some

monsters have multiple forms, Vanish is capable of creating independent, though temporary,versions of himself. Tis is used primarily to scare kids, get them off their guard, or distractthem. Like a shadow puppet, it can alter its appearance to ape what terrifies children.

Vanish is a very powerful monster and this is only a shadow (heh) of its true self.It is scary when it darkens the area around its victims. It wants to make Vanish

happy.Abilities

Fight: ØØØOOOChase: ØØOOOOGrab: ØØOOOOScare: ØØØOOO


QualitiesIt is an angry shadow.It can creep anywhere.It cannot stray far from darkness.

Stuff Loose Form ØØØ Create “Puppets” (Scare +2) Any Shape it WantsShadow ravel ØØ Appear Suddenly (Scare +2) Catch Off-Guard (Tink -1)

This is Me!My name is Jacob Crosby.Character description: 26-year old, thin,depressed, slow to speak.

Abilities Tink: ØØOOOODo: ØØØOOOFeel: ØØØØOO

QualitiesI am Kieran’s older brother ØØOI’ve been hardened by life ØOO

HealthØØØØØ ØØØØØØØØØØ ØOOOO

JACOB CROSBY

Goals______________________________________________________OO______________________________________________________OO


WeaknessesMisses his brother ØØ



123

THE LONG WAY HOME







VirtuesBelief: 4

Wits: 8Spirit: 10







JACOB CROSBY is a Regular Monster.Once Kieran’s older brother, Jacob Crosby’s broken heart and shattered family opened his soul

to the being known as Vanish. Fourteen years of age at the time of his brother’s disappearance,

Jacob is now 26 though he looks and acts much older. As Vanish’s puppet, he will try to reclaimKieran by using the connection the brothers used to have and Kieran’s desperate need toreconnect with family.

It is scary when it shows its eyes in the dark. It wants to capture Kieran.

AbilitiesFight: ØØØOOOChase: ØØOOOOGrab: ØØØOOO

Scare: ØØOOOOVirtues

error: 5Health: 30

QualitiesIt is, or was, Kieran’s brother.It can hold you tight.It cannot see in the dark.

Stuff Low Voice ØØØ Bone-Chilling (Scare +2) rance-Like (Tink -1)

Strong Legs ØØ Run like lighning! (Chase +2)

VANISH is a Big Bad Monster.Vanish has stolen hundreds of children over the centuries from all parts of the world. A

creature comprised of darkness, Vanish is capable of making you think it’s someone familiar,however temporary even though it’s taken no physical form. In addition, it has the ability totake over the body of people consumed by sadness from personal loss.

It is scary when it shows its true face. It wants more and more victims.

AbilitiesFight: ØØØØOOChase: ØØØØØØGrab: ØØØØØØScare: ØØØØOO


QualitiesIt is the #1 kidnapper.It can snatch you from shadows.It cannot enter well-lit rooms.

Stuff Low Voice ØØØ Bone-Chilling (Scare +2) rance-Like (hink -1)Old as ime ØØØ Knows Every Hiding Spot

(Grab +2) Knows You Well (Scare +1)

A Familiar Face ØØ You rust It (Tink -2)Migrant Spirit ØØ Can Possess the Heartbroken



Well, this took longer than I expected. When I released Little Fears Nightmare Edition in October 2009, I had grand plans

for the line. I had a list of episodes to write, a book on Closetland, a fiction collection, andall sorts of stuff. Slated for 2010, they were. On the spine of the main rulebook, there’s a

band that says “Book 1.”Book 1. Tat was a promise I made to myself. A promise I wasn’t sure I would fulfill.

While I did get three standalone episode PDFs out, the other books didn’t materialize.Of the books I had planned, this book you’re reading now wasn’t even on the list. I was

sure I was going to do the Closetland book first. Ten, after I started getting Campfire ales material out, I thought the next book would be a collection of those.

But no. Te next book is a setting expansion/character option/episode/I don’t know what mashup all about missing kids. At this point, I don’t even remember where the ideacame from, though I remember it came to me driving home from Noble Knight Games.

I had the thought to do these small PDF releases about different kinds of special kids.It was going to be the “One of ” series of supplements. “One of the Stolen.” “One of theForgotten.” I had a neat little stack of these ideas. Six of them, if I remember right.

Ten I wondered if they wouldn’t be better as a collected volume. A whole bookof character options. I brainstormed the idea early last year during a lull in my workschedule. After drafting a quick outline, I wrote about 12,000 words before putting theidea away in favor of some freelance gigs.

Te idea was like an itch though, and I couldn’t help but scratch it. I’d read over what I’d written, make notes, write a few hundred more words, put it away. On a lark, I

commissioned a cover from Veronica V. Jones, the same amazing artist who did the coverto the main rulebook. We hashed out the idea and what Veronica came up with was juststunning. I love it.

So I had 12,000 words, an outline, and a cover. I’d get to it eventually, I reckoned. And eventually I did. I thought at first this would be a 25,000 word supplement,

something small. I thought, hey, I already have it half-written.I went about my other writing work, always with this book in the back of my mind. It’s

half-written, I said, I only need a couple weeks to finish it.So I scheduled myself a couple open weeks and set about to write it.

As the pages filled up I realized I had a lot more to say than I thought. Tere was moremeat to this idea than I initially considered. urns out this wasn’t a 25,000 word projectbut a 50,000 word one. Tose two weeks grew to a month. I started talking about it onlittlefears.com and folks seemed to respond. I commissioned some art and drafted thelayout and Ikept writing. I switched chapters around, moved huge chunks of text, as thebook solidified. A flurry of art direction, writing, editing, playtesting, and, next thing Iknow, I have a Book 2.

And now you do too. Te spine of the main rulebook says “Book 1.” Te spine on this one says “Book 2.” Tis

book fulfills the promise I made in 2009. So let me make another one. If you like thisbook, I promise you’ll really like Book 3.

Sleep tight, Jason L Blair

124

HE LEFT A NOTE



This is Me!My name is ____________________.Character description:____________________________________________________________.

Abilities Tink: ØOOOOODo: ØOOOOOFeel: ØOOOOO

QualitiesI am ______________________________ OOO__________________________________ OOO__________________________________ OOO

HealthOOOOO OOOOOOOOOO OOOOO

EXPANDED GMC SHEET

Goals______________________________________________________OO______________________________________________________OO


Weaknesses____________________________________OO____________________________________OO

Download a full-sized copy of this Character Sheet at www.littlefears.com

This is Me!

My name is ____________________.Character description:____________________________________________________________.

Abilities Tink: ØOOOOODo: ØOOOOOFeel: ØOOOOO

QualitiesI am ______________________________ OOO__________________________________ OOO__________________________________ OOO

HealthOOOOO OOOOOOOOOO OOOOO

EXPANDED GMC SHEET

Goals______________________________________________________OO______________________________________________________OO


Weaknesses____________________________________OO____________________________________OO



Child’s Name: ____________________________________________

Age: ____ Sex: ____ DOB: ___/___/___ Player: ________________ MISSING SINCE: _____________Type of Missing:______________ Last Seen With:____________________________________________

ABILITIESo Move: ØOOOOOo Fight: ØOOOOOo Think: ØOOOOOo Speak: ØOOOOO

o Care: ØOOOOOTRAITSGOOD: I can ______________ well when _________________________________ _________________________________.BAD: It’s hard for me to ____________when _____________________________ _________________________________.

QUALITIESI am ______________________________ +2 ______________________________ +3 ______________________________ +3 __________________________________ +__ __________________________________ +__ __________________________________ -__ __________________________________ -__

VIRTUESBelief ____ Witsscared OOOOO|OOOOO calmSpirit

dark OOOOO|OOOOO whole

I FEELlfne OOOOOOOOOO

sore OOOOOOOOOO (-2)bad OOOOOOOOOO (-4)cold OOOOOOOOOO (-6)

MY STUFF ______________________OOO __________________________ __________________________ __________________________ ______________________OOO __________________________ __________________________ __________________________ ______________________OOO __________________________ __________________________ __________________________ ______________________OOO __________________________ __________________________ __________________________ ______________________OOO __________________________ __________________________ __________________________ ______________________OOO __________________________ __________________________ __________________________

GOALS ____________________________ ____________________________ __________________________OO

____________________________ ____________________________ __________________________OO



MISSING CHILD




QUESTIONNAIREQuestions for All Missing

“What was your life like before?” _________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

“Have you made contact with your old life? If so, how did it go? Ifnot, why not?”

_________________________________________________________________

“Where are you now?”

_________________________________________________________________

“What have you been doing?”

_________________________________________________________________

“Do you want to go back home?”

_________________________________________________________________

“If not, why not?”

_________________________________________________________________

Questions for the Abducted and Stolen

“Do you know the person/monster who took you? If so, who/whatwas it?”

_________________________________________________________________

“What happened to that person/monster?”

_________________________________________________________________

“How did you get away?”

_________________________________________________________________

Questions for the Runaway“Why did you run away?”

_________________________________________________________________

“How do you feel about your decision?”

_________________________________________________________________

Questions for the Abandoned and Forgotten

“What’s the last thing you remember?”

_________________________________________________________________ “Why do you think it happened?”

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

little fears rpg - nightmare edition - among the missing

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