Session Three

## Raw Ground Beef and Sexy Slugs

The Night Before… We see Crow walking, muddy and wet, to Jessie’s house.  Big Mike greets her, concerned. He comforts Crow, wrapping them in a blanket and a big hug, and her stomach gurgles ominously...

Everyone heads to school. Ashlynn and Jessie listen to music, and Crow waits for Ashlynn’s cronies, looking drowned again. Crow scares the absolute shit out of a janitor on the way into the building.

Diana and Harper try to get Ashlynn alone, trying to subtly fill her in on what happened with Crow.  Ashlynn walks as head of formation, chatting with Jessie instead. The homeroom bell rings. The hallways are empty besides the 5 of them… and Crow. Charlie catches a glance at Crow and screams, but doesn’t reveal why. Ashlynn lays a hand on his shoulder and calms him. Ashlynn and Jessie go to homeroom. In the classroom, Kareem, Crow, and Eden are all absent. Ms. Hidalgo criticizes them for their lateness and returns to her teaching subject: cells splitting, replicating, regrowing.

Charlie, Harper, and Diana instead dip into a bathroom to discuss Crow. Charlie tells the two that he’s sure he just saw Crow, while Diana and Harper deny anything. They return to class, and Ms. Hidalgo criticizes them as well.

During the day, Crow appears as a face in the crowd, moving just out of sight, disappearing when they look again. Charlie is on edge, and Harper and Diana are unsettled. In the locker rooms, Ashlynn confronts her cronies, whose lockers are graffitied with the word “MURDERER”, courtesy of Crow. Harper explains, comforting Ashlynn and saying that they didn’t have to worry about Crow anymore. Ashlynn, seething, tells Harper that they’re here to grow… and share… Harper tries to comfort Ashlynn, who rejects her affection and shuts her down, telling Harper that she’s a “PSYCHO”. She yells at the three, telling Diana and Harper that they need to go bury Crow… now. The two take Ashlynn’s car to the Moonpool, while Ashlynn and Charlie discuss throwing a party and bringing some boys (and maybe even Juno) in…

As Ashlynn and Charlie walk to practice, Crow stands ominously in the parking lot. Charlie sees them and freezes. Before Ashlynn can see her, Crow ducks between the cars. Ashlynn only sees a flash of a person and investigates the parking lot, pissed off that someone is fucking with her friends. Crow runs away with a squeak of shoes and escapes. Ashlynn stamps her foot, and turns her gaze towards the football players. She flashes a smile and pointed look at Tylar and Jason, and heads towards them. Charlie joins her, linking arms in perfect formation.

After school, Jessie walks back home to talk to Big Mike about Crow before she leaves for the Moonpool. He struggles to chastise her, and she concedes that she’ll totally be grounded in 5 hours. She grabs a wooden box, throws it in her bag, and runs eerily fast to the Moonpool. Big Mike looks concerned but again says nothing.

At the Moonpool, Jessie walks to a flat rock and opens her wooden box, out of which she pulls occult books and objects. She stares down into the Moonpool and gazes into the abyss to try to figure out Ashlynn and her cronies. She sees visions of a shitfaced Ashlynn, bees in hives, strangely synchronous orgies (notably without Ashlynn), and flashes of slugs. Jessie leans over the water closer and closer, trying to get a better look, until she falls forward into the Moonpool.

When she emerges, her body morphs grotesquely, hair and teeth falling onto the shore of the Moonpool. Jessie curses and hides herself in her hoodie, and her phone lights up with a text from Ashlynn, “Party tonite!”, and an apology text from Crow brushing off what happened the night before. Behind her, Ashlynn’s cherry red convertible pulls up. Diana and Harper hop out, exclaiming “What the fuck?”. Jessie tries to explain away the situation, saying she was looking for Crow. The two tell her she should leave, before debating if Ashlynn wants her. In the background, Jessie runs away, sprinting into the woods towards home.

Back at Jessie’s house, Crow showers again and watches Harry and the Hendersons with Big Mike. Crow asks if she can use Big Mike’s… typewriter… to look up information… Big Mike agrees to boot up his computer. Jessie storms in, soaking wet, complaining she can't find Crow anywhere! The two catch up, and Crow tells Jessie that Ashlynn’s cronies jumped her the night before. Jessie texts Ashlynn back and replies that she doesn’t know if she can make it. Ashlynn pulls a string from their connection the night before, tempting Jessie to come. Jessie agrees. Jessie and Crow discuss going to Ashlynn’s party and agree to stick together.

Jessie’s hair is ruined after her transformation, so she decides to shave her head. She and Crow offer to return the movie to the late dropoff as a front for going to the party. Big Mike tries to argue but gives up without a fight. Crow uses Big Mike’s computer, struggling with the technology. She tries to find information on if Ashlynn’s cronies have killed anyone else, but only finds solved murders and recent-ish animal attacks like Kareem’s. They print out the articles.

After cheer practice, Harper and Diana fill Ashlynn in on how Jessie was being weird and how they couldn’t find Crow’s body. Ashlynn prepares the cronies for the possibility of Crow being alive. Back at the hotel, being primped by her cronies, Ashlynn receives a text from Jessie. “We are coming!” She begins researching Crow Burton. Ashlynn is only able to find scraps of information, specifically one Crow Burton who died in 1972. She finds one blurry photo of someone who looks exactly like Crow in a yearbook from the 1960s, and a missing teen poster with Crow’s name.  She prints them out.

We see Crow, Jessie, and Big Mike having a family movie, juxtaposed with Ashlynn’s cheer team at peak performance. Ashlynn’s team tempts everyone into coming to the party, and she turns on Juno, who agrees to come tonight.

After the movie, the two head to drop off the VHS and go to Ashlynn’s party. Ashlynn’s cronies are strategically positioned to be on the lookout for Crow. With no adult supervision, everyone else is getting shitfaced. Broden and Brittany, who were not invited, slink in. Brittany looks pissed off, and Broden ducks out of sight.

Jessie and Crow arrive, and are greeted by Ashlynn. Ashlynn invites them to make themselves at home and excuses herself to play beer pong doubles with Jason, Charlie, and Juno. During the entire conversation Crow says nothing, but stares Ashlynn down. The two head off to find Broden, discovering Broden and Diana smoking something notably-not-weed together, with Diana chattering about having killed someone last night. Upon seeing Crow and Jessie, Diana screams and drops the pipe, which shatters. Jessie acts nonchalant and buys some weed, and a frightened Diana tries to flee. Jessie grabs her by the wrist, tightening her grip when Diana pulls back. Diana wrenches herself free and punches Jessie in the face. Crow lunges at Diana, shoving her. She flies back, and her head impacts the wall with a wet thud. Broden shoves past Jessie and runs off, ditching Brittany. Crow dives onto Diana and rips the first bite out of her throat. Jessie turns and locks the door behind her, closing off the rest of the party. Ashlynn sees Broden run out, and storms in the direction he came from with Tylar and Jason. Crow is unphased, and gorges herself upon Diana. Jessie runs away, escaping from the other side of the annex, and runs until she is bathed in moonlight. She transforms.

Inside, Ashlynn turns Tylar and Jason on, whose eyes go hazy. She begs them to open the door, and the boys begin breaking the door in. Crow snarls from inside. Jessie bursts back into the annex, now an unrecognizable wolf-creature. The door splits, revealing Ashlynn, Jason, and Tylar. Jessie grabs Diana with her teeth and runs away. Crow takes off running, following Jessie. Ashlynn screams and points at Crow, screaming that they’re a “MURDERER”.

Jessie carries Diana to the Moonpool and drags her underwater. The teeth marks from Jessie and the bite marks from Crow begin to heal. Her bones begin breaking and separating, transforming her into a wolf-creature. After her transformation stops, Jessie drags Diana by her scruff to shore. Crow, from the trees, watches the transformation. Diana awakens, and tears off into the forest alone. Jessie pursues, but Diana loses her. Jessie howls, and hears a howl in response.

In the hotel after the police visit, Ashlynn tells a worried Juno about what happened with Crow and the wolf. She turns them on again and tempts them upstairs. Charlie and Harper pair off with Jason and Tylar, spreading Ashlynn’s Hive, while Juno and Ashlynn spend the night drinking and bonding.

Later That Night… the Moonpool is lit by bright moonlight. Diana’s brainslug swims lazily in the water.