Vic McQueen/Season 1

### The Shorter Way

Haverhill, Massachusetts, New England teen Vic McQueen joins her mother on a house cleaning job. They're cleaning the Brewster's house. Vic was childhood friends with the daughter, Willa Brewster. Vic inquires about Willa’s high class school, Exeter, which Willa was not a fan of, as she felt overwhelmed by all the commitments and extracurriculars she was being forced into. The last time Vic had seen Willa was 8th grade graduation, when Vic’s dad gave Willa a ride on his Harley. Willa’s family were planning to throw a party at Lake Winnipesaukee for Labor Day, and she invited Vic to join them. Before Vic could answer, her mother Linda interrupted.

After cleaning the Brewster’s house, Linda told Vic how much of a help she had been throughout the summer and was hoping that Vic could continue to help post graduation. While cleaning houses for a living wasn't ideal, Linda made her own hours and was well compensated. She hoped she and Vic could go into business together. However, after finishing her final year of high school, Vic was hoping to go to college, though unlike Willa, Vic’s family wasn’t well off.

Vic and Linda returned home to find Chris working on his Harley. As her parents began to argue as they typically would, Vic headed inside the house.

While drawing in her room, Vic overhears her parents fighting over a credit card, which Chris blames Linda for losing. Vic hears a loud bang shortly after her mother calls her father a drunk. Having grown tired of their constant fighting, Vic takes her red dirt bike for a ride through the woods, all the while replaying her parents' fight in her head. Vic pulls up to a clearing, where she spots an old, rickety bridge. the Shorter Way Bridge, to be exact. Vic enters the bridge, inside she could hear bats screeching along with an echoing white noise. To her left, Vic notices that "Willa’s" is written on the bridge wall in green spray paint.

Back at the bridge, Vic begins to experience a dull pain in her left eye and turns her bike around, heading back into town.

On her way back from the bridge, Vic stopped by the Smith’s house to visit her neighbor Haley Smith. She had drawn a picture of her cat Mittens, who had been put out the house. Haley inquires about their next movie night, but Vic struggles to answer as her head begins ringing.

Vic returns home, where her father is outside soaking his hand in the cooler. She reveals to him that she doesn’t want to be stuck in Haverhill for the rest of her life cleaning houses. Vic wanted to go to college for art, which Chris encouraged. He shared with Vic how he wanted to be a composer when he was her age. He even used to play in a band. They traveled to Boston and New York for a few gigs. When he got out of the service, he thought he was going to go to a real music school, however, that’s when Linda got pregnant and Chris found himself with new responsibilities. Vic on the other hand, has a better chance than he ever had. He gives Vic one last piece of advice, to never get married and have kids. She then gets on the back of his Harley, and he drives her to school. He drops her off out front near her friends. Vic and Craig head inside, where Vic gifts the school janitor, Bing Partridge with the next installment of "Doctor Incubus".

While in class, Vic asks her teacher if it would at all be possible for her to attend art school. Mrs. Simonson tells her to work up a portfolio, and with that she should have a shot at RISD. And while it may be expensive, Mrs. Simonson advises her to apply for financial aid. On a second look, Mrs. Simonson notices how closely Vic’s drawing resembles that of the Shorter Way Bridge off of Pittman Street. She had her first kiss there and was devastated when they tore it down 15 years ago. Vic grows concerned given that she had just seen the bridge several hours before.

ic, Chris, and Linda spend the day at Aunt Carrie's dinner near Lake Winnipesaukee. Chris looks over Vic’s drawing journal and is amazed at her progress. She claims that she has more time to practice now because she doesn’t have any friends since Willa left for Exeter and Craig started getting high all the time and skipping school. Drawing is something that Vic can do by herself and when she really gets into it, it’s like being on a bike, she describes. She then shows her father her drawing of the Shorter Way Bridge. Just looking at Vic’s drawing brings Chris back. He recalls all the trouble he used to get into on that bridge. He helped demo it when Vic was a kid. Felt like he was blowing up his youth. The Shorter Way was one of a kind. Chris shows Linda the drawing, but she doesn’t seem to enthusiastic about it or Vic attending college. On that note, Vic decides to take off for Willa’s party at the lake house.

Vic arrives at the Brewster’s lake house, where she is greeted by Willa’s mom Angela, who is very welcoming. She hands Vic her mother’s credit card, which she must’ve dropped that morning while cleaning the Brewster’s house. Vic is then greeted by Willa, who introduces her to the rest of her friends. Drew offers Vic a sip of Vodka, but she declines. He remarks that he was under the impression that all Haverhill townies were hopeless alcoholics. She retorts that she thought all Exeter kids were spoiled douche bags with heads up their asses. He takes the comeback rather well, even complementing Vic on her shirt.

Vic, Willa, Drew, and the others discuss the stigma surrounding Vic’s school, William White. A kid had gotten stabbed their during the last week of school. Vic confirms that Joey Ricci got stabbed, but he was fine. Willa recalls showing him her underwear when she was four and he was five, and how his mom called her a slut. When Vic says that she's going to RISD, Drew expresses his interest in doing the same. His parents, who are doctors wouldn’t like it though. When asked about her parents, Vic reveals that her mother cleans houses and her father’s in demolition, which doesn’t translate well with the Exeter kids. Willa attempts to help, but only makes matters worse in revealing that Vic’s mom cleans their house.

Vic separates herself from the group, taking a seat on the grass by the lake’s edge. Drew follows her. He asks Vic what she is afraid of. She’s afraid that her father’s going to leave and that she’ll have to live alone with her mother. She’s afraid that she’ll get stuck in Haverhill her whole life. Most of all, she’s afraid that she’s going crazy because she saw a bridge in the middle of the woods that was apparently demolished years ago. Drew jokes that maybe the bridge is a ghost or that Vic’s a time traveler. She briefly smiles, only to accuse Drew of "slumming it with the Haverhill townie." She then leaves.

Angela approaches Vic to inquire about her mother. She had tried to talk to Linda when she was at the house, but she was all business. Angela suspects that Chris has been abusing Linda, so she tells Vic that she donates to a women’s shelter in town. If ever Vic or Linda felt that they weren’t safe, Angela wanted them to have some place to go. Vic doesn’t take kindly to Angela’s insinuation and takes off.

Vic returns to the Lake Side motel where she and her parents are staying. Chris and Linda, along with Tiffany Jones and several others, surround a camp fire and wait for the fireworks. Vic returns the credit card that Angela found to her mother. Vic and Linda join Chris as he plays the guitar and sing. While singing, Vic notices the bruises on the right side of her mother’s face, presumably inflicted by her father.

The following morning, as Vic continues her drawing of the Shorter Way Bridge, she overhears her parents arguing over a lost watch. As the fight continues, the insults they hurl at one another worsen. When Chris calls her an ugly person, Linda questions how she could ever have a kid with a drunk, selfish, bastard such as himself. Vic barges in and the fighting stops abruptly.

Vic takes her bike and rides out into the woods, where she finds the Shorter Way just as before, all the while, her parents’ fight replays over and over in her head. This time, Vic rides across the bride, and on the left side written in green spray paint is Aunt Carrie’s. The white noise grows and bats fly aimlessly as Vic cross the bridge. It takes her to Aunt Carrie’s. Miles away from her home in Haverhill. Vic appears disorientated from the ride. She gets off her bike and enters the diner, where Pete, one of the waiters, hands Vic the watch that her dad had left behind. Vic exits the diner, and she is not alone in witnessing the bridge. A passerby also acknowledges it, confirming its existence. Vic starts to experience a sharp pain in her left eye, causing it to turn red. Vic gets back on her bike and rides onto the bridge. She stops halfway and looks down. Beneath the floorboards and outside the bridge itself appears to be only white static. Vic revs her bike back up and crosses over. The bridge disappears behind her as she return to the Haverhill woods, though she is in excruciating pain. Vic makes it as far as to Haley’s house, where she collapses on the ground. In her disoriented state, she sees a gas mask, a stack of books, Scrabble tiles which spell out "The Wraith", and an old and withered Charlie Manx.

Vic wakes up in her bedroom screaming. Chris is there to comfort her. He tells her that she has a fever and fainted out by the woods. However, Vic is more concerned with her father hitting her mother. He admits to this, though he blames it on the alcohol and promises her that it won’t happen again. She tells her father that she found his watch at Aunt Carrie’s and that the bridge took her there. Chris chalks this up to Vic being delirious from the fever. He reminds Vic that she can be anything she wants in the world, and lastly tells her not to get married or have any kids.

Vic wakes up to find her mother sitting on the edge of her bed. Linda reveals that Chris left. She doesn’t know where he went or why he left. She tried her hardest to keep him. She kept liquor out the house, but she can’t compete with the bar and she can’t be 24 anymore. That’s how old the last one was. Vic refuses to accept this, but Linda insists it's the truth. Still, Vic would rather be with him, even as Linda tells her that he left both of them behind.

Vic rides out to the Shorter Way to find her dad. It takes her to Tiffany’s house, where she watches through the window as her dad parties with Tiffany.

### The Graveyard of What Might

Vic arrives outside her father’s new place with his girlfriend Tiffany Jones. She spots them through the window and knocks on the front door. She accuses her father of leaving her and her mother behind. Chris claims that there’s been a misunderstanding, though he admittedly should’ve talked to Vic before leaving. Chris explains that he and Linda bring out the worst in each other and that they’re better apart. Nevertheless, he claims he’ll always be there for Vic, who doesn’t bother sticking around to hear the rest of his excuse.

Vic returns home. Her mother's smoking a cigarette in the kitchen. Vic informs her that Tiffany Jones is the woman he left her for. Linda asks if they were drinking, which Vic claims they were. Linda questions how Vic knows this, but Vic doesn’t answer.

Vic and Craig meet at the clearing near the Shorter Way. She asks him about the doll he used to have in the third grade. The one she lost. Craig explains it was a stuffed rabbit named Leonard. With that in mind, Vic revs up her bike. As she approaches the clearing, the Shorter Way bridge appears just in time for her to ride over it, much to Craig’s amazement. Craig attempts to follow her over, but something goes wrong. Vic returns and finds him knocked out on the ground. She wakes him up, and they discuss the bridge and how she seems to be the only one who can cross it. The first time Vic went over the bridge, it took her to her father’s lost watch. The second time to his girlfriend’s house. And this latest time, it took her to the town landfill, where she recovered Craig’s stuffed rabbit Leonard. Craig warns Vic against crossing the bridge. He’s concerned with what it may be doing it her, making mention of her inflamed left eye.

As Vic cleans houses with her mother, they discuss her father and how he may be right about them being better off without him. Linda expects Vic to help her out in the afternoons and on weekends, but Vic has bigger plans. Angela interrupts after learning from Willa that Vic is applying to RISD. She has a sorority sister who works in the registrar’s office and is willing to put in a call if Vic needs help.

Afterward, Vic and Linda stop by a diner to eat. During which time, Vic explains that RISD (Rhode Island School of Design) is a fine arts college. Linda remarks it would’ve been nice to hear that for the first time from Vic rather than Angela Brewster. Furthermore, she sees Vic’s plan to go off to college as nothing more than a pipe dream. Once home, Vic packs her bags as she plans to move in with her father. Linda expresses her pain in watching Vic leave her for her father, who left them both behind. Linda makes Vic promise her to come back home if there’s hard liquor in Tiffany’s house. She proceeds to cry as Vic leaves.

Vic rides her bike over to Haley’s house, where Haley is drawing with chalk on her front porch. She and Vic are similar in many ways. Haley tells Vic how her mother wants her to stop her creative ways and to be more like the other girls her age. Vic had a similar upbringing. She gifts Haley her art set and kisses her on the head before leaving, ensuring her they’ll always be friends.

Vic arrives at Tiffany’s to find her dad in the backyard with a topless Tiffany, spraying her down with a hose. They gather themselves, and Tiffany hesitantly offers to put Vic up in her craft room. While Chris claims to want Vic around, she can’t help but feel he doesn’t want her at Tiffany’s. Chris believes that home is better suited for Vic even though Chris, unlike Linda, believes Vic is capable of succeeding in college. Vic asks if there’s a future where he could ever come home and they could be a family again. Unfortunately, Chris doesn’t see that happening. He and Linda grew up together. They had good times, but things have changed and he can never go back.

Vic, Chris, and Tiffany discuss Vic’s future and her plans to attend RISD. Linda unexpectedly pulls up and demands that Vic come home with her, though Vic refuses. Chris and Tiffany’s involvement only escalates Linda’s rage. Linda warns Vic that in staying with her father and Tiffany, the closest she’ll come to college is tending bar while pregnant next to Tiffany. Linda then confronts Tiffany, demanding to know how long she and Chris have been together. With Linda shoving Chris and him threatening to call the cops, Vic jumps on her bike and rides off.

Vic rides over the Shorter Way, skidding out in Here, Iowa, where she is greeted by Maggie Leigh, who addresses her at "the Brat." She refers to Vic’s motorbike as her "Knife" and the bridge as her "Inscape". Maggie realizes that her words confuse Vic as she looks about the age that one’s abilities tend to manifest. She tells Vic that she’s a "Strong Creative". Vic starts to hear the high-pitched ringing in her head again. She asks Maggie if she has something for her. Something someone left or lost. Maggie does. She’s been expecting Vic.

Maggie takes Vic to the library where she works and also lives, as she’s an orphan. The library looks familiar to Vic. Maggie explains that her Scrabble Tiles told her Vic was coming. They can tell her just about anything, if she listens. They can’t give her proper nouns though, much like in scrabble. But nicknames are okay, hence Maggie calling her the Brat. She then starts to hear the high-pitched ringing again. Maggie explains to Vic that her bridge, the Shorter Way, is an Inscape; a world dreamed up in her imagination. Everybody has them, but only Strong Creatives can pull theirs into the real world with the help of a knife, such as Vic’s bike. It cuts the fabric of the real world and the world of thought, allowing her to access her bridge. Vic explains that when she crosses the bridge, she gets this sharp pain in her head. Her left eye feels as if it’s got a needle in it. Maggie explains that’s the cost of her gift. Maggie didn’t always stutter. It wasn’t until her bag found her. She was close to Vic’s age she then. Maybe younger, but it varies, similar to puberty.

Maggie’s a medium. She helps interpret the static. Her Tiles have been chatting about Vic for days. Maggie grabs her purple Scrabble Bag and asks it what is Vic there to find. She shoves her hand inside the bottomless bag as the lights flicker. She pulls out several tiles that come to spell the phrase "The Wraith." Maggie explains that it is a serial child abductor that she’s been tracking. He too is a Strong Creative, and he took someone that Maggie knew. Vic is freaked out by the entire experience and leaves, though not before Maggie tells her that she was supposed to help find the Wraith and Daniel, the 8 year old boy that was taken. Vic is the only person that can stop him. Maggie believes Vic was chosen, but Vic doesn’t want to be chosen, telling Maggie her tiles are wrong.

Vic returns to Haverhill over her bridge. The sharp pain momentarily returns. Haley catches Vic as she returns. Vic warns her against telling anyone what she saw as it’s dangerous. Haley promises that she won’t tell anyone. As for why she's in the woods in the middle of the night, she’s out there in search of her cat, Mittens. Vic assures Haley that he’ll come back and gives Haley a ride home.

Vic returns to Tiffany’s and fills a rag up with ice, which she places over her throbbing eye. She goes to her room, unpacks, and lies down in bed, forced to hear her father and Tiffany having sex in the next room over.

### The Gas Mask Man

While filing for student aid for RISD, Vic’s laptop freezes and starts to show random images, including that of a man wearing a gas mask, a drawing of a man and a child, and a burning house. Vic slams her laptop shut. Vic informs her father and Tiffany that she’s filling out her application for RISD, but could use his help with the financial aid. She’ll need a copy of her father’s tax return. He instantly becomes defensive. Chris hasn’t paid any taxes since 2005. All his work is under the table and if any of his earnings go on paper then the government will find out and he’ll be arrested for tax evasion. Chris suggests that Vic asks her mother for help instead.

Vic returns home to find her mother gardening in the front yard. Linda apologizes for her actions from the night before. Vic asks for a copy of her mother’s tax return for financial aid. Unfortunately, Linda cleans houses for a living, meaning much like Chris, all her earnings are under the table. Linda explains that maybe this is a sign. They’re not the type of people who go to college. Linda suggests Vic look into Trade School, which Vic turns down. Linda still needs help cleaning the Gates’ and the Brewsters’ houses on Friday if Vic wants to make some money.

Vic rides over to the Brewster’s house in pain as the high-pitched noise has returned. She looks at the Brewsters’ front door and sees a bloody Christmas wreath, though only for a moment as she looks back and it’s gone. Willa greets Vic at the front door and tells her that she can help her with getting into RISD. As they get high, Vic shares with Willa how her parents are as she describes, fugitives from the IRS, having not paid taxes in years. Vic also tells Willa how she’s living with her dad and his new girlfriend who does jewelry. Willa doesn’t like the fact that Vic’s dad is refusing to help her and suggests that Vic forge his signature. She’s been signing her mother’s since the sixth grade. However, Vic refuses. Willa assures Vic they’ll figure everything out. She’ll talk to her mother, and they’ll take a trip to Providence.

Bing unlocks the doors to the schools to allow Vic to retrieve her portfolio from inside. He tells Vic that he’s starting a new job, but he’s nervous after having already messed up once. His boss is giving him another chance, but he doesn’t know if he can. Vic advises him to be himself.

Maggie waits for Vic on the road outside Tiffany's house to warn her that she’s not safe. Her Tiles are never wrong, and they’re telling her that the Wraith is in Haverhill, and he’s hunting Vic. Maggie explains that sometimes Strong Creative can sense each other, so he must sense Vic or her Bridge. Maggie asks what else has Vic seen, but Vic doesn’t answer. She wants nothing to do with the Wraith or her Bridge. Maggie’s Tiles called to her, something they’ve never done before, not that Vic cares. Vic has a chance to go to college and get out of Haverhill, and she doesn’t want to risk that, even if she is the only person that can stop the Wraith, as Maggie claims.

Vic puts her portfolio together in preparation for her trip to RISD. Just outside, her father takes a look at Craig’s bike. He offers to give him a ride to the site and help him fix his bike afterwards. Vic joins them as she awaits Willa’s arrival. Chris is proud, though Craig seems less enthusiastic. He’s worried if Vic should be leaving after her eye was bleeding a few days ago. Vic assures Craig that she’s fine and leaves with Willa, Drew, and Simon. Drew tells Vic to ride shotgun and makes Simon get in the back.

Vic and Drew tour RISD while Willa and Simon look at Brown. They visit an art gallery and discuss the various paintings and their desire to attend. Afterward, Vic sits down with Celeste Henderson, someone who can hopefully help facilitate getting Vic to RISD once she’s applied. If her parents won’t release their income information, Vic does have the option to declare herself independent. Normally, she would have to be 24 years old to do that, but if she meets certain criteria, exceptions can be made, such as enlisting in the military, being married, and or an orphan. However, Vic is none of those. There’s also an exception for those who can prove abuse in their home. Celeste has already been informed by Angela some of Vic’s home life. Almost instantly, Vic’s head starts to ring. She sees glimpses of Charlie Manx and Daniel Moore before rushing out of registrars’ office in a panic.

Vic is so overwhelmed by her visions that she blindly walks into the street and is nearly hit by a car. Drew pulls her back onto the sidewalk and asks about her eye. Vic regrets coming to RISD. She believes she should’ve listened to her mother when she told her McQueens don’t go to college. Drew argues that they can do whatever they want if they work hard enough for it. He believes that there’s more to life beyond what their parents have intended for them. Also, he tells Vic that this is the most fun he’s had in years and grabs her hand.

Vic and Drew meet back up with Willa and Simon, all of whom claim to have enjoyed themselves. Willa is impressed with the fact that she can create her own major and drop a class a week before finals. Drew claims that he and Vic are both applying to RISD in spite of his parents’ plans to send him to Exeter-Harvard to become a doctor.

Maggie calls Vic to inform her that the Wraith is in Haverhill. She got confirmation from another Strong Creative. An old woman whom he paralyzed. Maggie also got another message from her tiles; "Wraith hunts Smittens." She asks Vic if the word "smitten" means anything to her, but Vic claims it doesn’t and tells Maggie to go home. She then approaches Willa and asks for her help in forging her father’s signature. Willa claims she can forge anything and tells Vic they can do it on her laptop once they get home. Despite her desire to attend RISD, Vic is still apprehensive about forging her father’s signature. Willa explains that she doesn’t owe her parents anything given that all they’ve done for Vic is make her a pawn in their marriage. She encourages Vic to break the cycle.

Vic returns home and fills out her application for RISD on the front porch. She hides the tax return form from her father and once he’s gone, mails the application. Vic then gets a call from Steve, asking for Haley. However, Vic hasn’t seen her. She realizes that Haley must’ve been taken by Manx and calls Maggie. It wasn’t Smitten that the Wraith was hunting. It was "Mittens". Vic rides out to the Smith house, where she finds police officers already on the scene talking to Steve. *Christmastime is Here* plays over one of the patrol car's radio. Vic finds Mittens’ body tossed to the side in the grass.

### The House of Sleep

Present day, Haverhill, Massachusetts. Vic gives Mittens’ body to Steve, who tells Vic that the cops think Sharon took Haley and left him, however, he knows she would never do that. Maggie arrives soon thereafter, and Vic tells her how Charlie Manx took Haley and her mom. Maggie apologizes as she thought that Manx was after Vic, however, she didn’t know that Haley knew about the Shorter Way. And her stutter appears to worsen. Vic rides off to find them, riding over the Shorter Way. Inside the bridge, written in green spray paint is "House of Sleep." Vic goes over her bridge, surrounded by bats and white noise. She finds herself outside Bing’s house. He asks if she’s lost. Vic claims she was going to Craig’s house and got lost. When Bing gets lost, he reminds himself "Go forth to the North, then left is West." Vic nervously thanks him and leaves.

Vic returns from to the Shorter Way, but it takes a toll on her. The high-pitched ringing in her head returns every time she rides it. Vic meets back up with Maggie at the Smith house. Vic informs Maggie how the bridge took her to Bing’s house and that there’s no way he’s the Wraith. Maggie suspects that he may be just a henchmen. However, Vic refuses to believe that is so. She’d rather believe the bridge made a mistake even as Maggie explains that Inscapes don’t make mistakes. Maggie wants Vic to trust her gift.

Vic arrives at her mother’s house. While Vic can barely stand, she explains to her mother that Haley and Sharon are missing, though Linda’s more concerned with Vic, as her eye is red, and she appears to be in pain. Linda takes Vic upstairs and puts her in bed. She insists that Haley and Sharon are fine, surmising they’re likely in Florida with Sharon’s mother. As she sleeps, Vic envisions the Wraith and Haley with sharp fangs.

Vic comes downstairs and overhears her mom on the phone with her dad complaining about her bike. Linda claims its the reason that Vic’s been sick. She wants Chris to try and get through to Vic in spite of them not being the best example. Vic joins her mom in the kitchen and asks when was the first time her father hit her. Linda claims she doesn’t remember. They were so young and wild when She first met Chris. Even wilder when Chris got back from the Gulf. They liked to get drunk, and when they got drunk, they’d fight. And sometimes Linda would wake up with a fat lip. She stayed because it wasn’t all the time. Also, because sometimes she’s the one who started the fight. He also used to promise her he would lay off the hard liquor, and she’d believe him.

Suddenly, it had been years, and she had Vic. At that point, her life with him had been longer than her life without him. So, she stayed. She tried to keep believing that he’d change. She asks how long Vic has known. She replies not that long, but looking back, she always had a feeling. She kept it a secret because she needed to believe her dad was a good guy. Linda explains that Chris is both a good guy and bad. People can be both. The trouble is, you only ever see the good. Linda then leaves for work, though she’s packed Vic a bag with some of her things that she’d want over at Tiffany’s. Inside the bag is a comic book, among other items, bringing Vic’s suspicions of Bing back to the surface.

Vic returns to Bing’s house under the guise that she’s there to give him back his comic book. She invites herself inside, where she finds an abundance of lotion, tissue, and Playboy magazines at various locations throughout the house, which she pretends not to notice. As she takes a look around, she asks Bing about his job. He claims it went well and that he’s working security. Vic says that there’s a rumor going around about him being involved in something bad. Bing starts to panic, but he maintains his composure. Vic agrees to leave, but asks for her comics back first, hoping to buy herself sometime while he retrieves them from his car. Vic begins going room-to-room, eventually finding herself in his basement. Bing catches Vic searching for Haley. "Those who sneak and those why spy, get punished when they try to lie."

Vic pulls out a knife and demands to know where Haley is. Bing claims he never touched her. The phone rings. It’s Manx. He tells her that Vic is the girl he’s been searching for and that he wants to talk to her. Vic grabs the phone from Bing. Manx, who is now youthful once more, tells Vic that he’s been looking for her. He knows of her and her Inscape, same as she knows of him. Manx introduces himself as Vic only knows him as the Wraith. Manx assures Vic that Haley is well taken care of. He’s only interested in Vic and her bridge. Manx arranges a face-to-face meeting between him and Vic for a later date. Bing tells Vic that Haley is better off with Manx than she was with her mother, who was as he put it, dirty. Bing claims he helped her and made her clean. When he doesn’t reveal where she’s at, Vic leaves. He recites "Bing, you thing... what have you done?" over and over.

Vic uses the Shorter Way to take her to Sharon Smith. She finds her body buried in a field, underneath a pile of dirt. Vic calls the police to report her discovery of Sharon’s body. Before long, the scene is covered with officers and news reporters. Maggie arrives not long after, just in time to see Vic leave with Linda.

Vic and Linda don’t speak on the ride back to Tiffany’s. Chris greets them as they arrive, and Vic heads inside without so much of a word. He follows Vic up to her room. Chris tells Vic that Linda’s worries about her and thinks that she needs to go see a doctor, but Vic insists that she’s fine. Hoping to take Vic’s mind off of recent events, Chris wants the two of them to take a ride up to a bike show in Plaistow. Vic agrees, though not once during the conversation does she look at her father. he assures her that cops will find Haley and catch the person responsible, though Vic knows this isn’t true. Vic locks her door and cries after her father leaves.

### The Wraith

Vic's eye has worsened, blood dripping from it as she talks to Maggie over the phone. Neither one can sleep. Vic can’t stop thinking about Sharon Smith. Maggie advises her to stick to her story when the police return for questioning, that Bing killed Sharon, and he knows who took Haley. The police will undoubtedly come back to see Vic given the magical bridge sized hole in her story. Vic hangs up with Maggie and sneaks into the garage, where she uses Tiffany’s supplies to sketch out her visions, in what is almost a trans-like state. Before Vic knows it, it’s morning time, and she’s being confronted by Chris and Tiffany. Vic finally takes a break to look at her work and it’s numerous pictures of Charlie Manx and the Wraith.

While waiting in the car for her dad, Vic gets a message from Willa, inviting Vic to her party so they can talk about the fact that Vic found Sharon’s body. Chris gets in the truck and tells Vic just how much she scared him this morning in the garage. On Chris’ first tour in Kuwait, he was a driver for an armored truck convoy. He’d been there a couple weeks when the lead truck in the convoy got blown sky high. And later, he recognized Ricky Giblin’s hand because they got the same tattoo one night when he was Vic’s age. He never talked about it and it poisoned him to keep everything inside. He wants better for Vic, who insists she’s fine.

They stop by the house to pick up Vic’s bike. Linda suggests that maybe it’s time Vic get a car. However, Vic prefers her bike. Linda questions what Vic was doing in that field where she found Sharon. "Where you with Craig?", she asks. Vic explains that she wasn’t and that she doesn’t have time to argue right now. Linda turns her frustrations on Chris, blaming him for ever buying Vic the bike, which Linda attributes to her eye problem. They are interrupted by Detective Tabitha Hutter, whose been assigned to the Sharon and Haley Smith case.

Inside, Detective Hutter asks how Vic found the body. Vic claims she was riding home on her dirt bike when she saw a ton of crows pecking around in the dirt. Hutter is skeptical. Vic goes on to say she was coming from Bing’s house, who she accused of committing the murder. Detective Hutter asks Vic if she saw Bing kill Sharon or dispose of the body, which Vic didn’t. But Vic explains that Bing said he made Sharon clean, before she escaped his house. Detective Hutter is having a hard time connecting Vic’s story. She’s certain that Vic at the very least isn’t telling her everything.

Vic returns home to find Tiffany cleaning her mess. She was going to redo the kitchen with the linoleum that Vic ruined. Months of extra shifts wasted. Vic offers to pay her back, but she’s in high school without a job. Tiffany isn’t expecting back much in terms of compensation. Vic apologizes. Tiffany is sorry as well for what Vic saw; Sharon, naked and buried with a nail in her head, but she didn’t sign up to look after Vic. Chris arrives, and Vic tells him how Tiffany was just telling her she didn’t sign up for this. She thinks Vic should be with her mother. Vic looks to her dad and asks if he feels the same. He doesn’t respond, but his silence speaks for him. And so, Vic leaves on her bike.

In art class, Craig reminds Vic of all the times he told her something wasn’t right about Bing. But no one ever believes him. She retorts that’s no one believes him because he’s always high. Craig knows that Vic used her Bridge to find Sharon despite her promising to never use it again. Vic’s heart is too big and too dumb for Craig’s comfort. He wants to skip class, but Vic is hoping to finish her portfolio so that she can leave Haverhill to attend RISD. She suggests that Craig apply as well, but they both know that he only took art class to be near her. He tells Vic that she’s the best part of the town and that he doesn’t know what he’s going to do without her. Vic invites him to Willa’s party. Craig would rather go swimming on Amity Island than party with Drew, whom he refers to as "tea and crumpets." Feeling left out in Vic’s new world that she’s building for herself, Craig leaves class abruptly. Vic makes eye contact with Bing, who passes her classroom.

Vic confronts Bing as she was under the impression that he would be arrested. Bing recites a rhyme; "Murmur, chitchat, gossip, prattle. Everyone knows true friends don’t tattle." Bing explains that Detective Hutter didn’t have any evidence to hold him. He then hands Vic an letter. It’s details where and when to meet up with Manx.

Vic stops by Maggie’s hotel room and informs her of the meet up with Manx. Manx has been taking kids for decades and still nobody has found them. She thinks Manx is taking the kids to his Inscape, and if they find out what that is, maybe Vic’s Bridge can take them there. However, Vic isn’t so sure it can. Last time she tried, it took her to Bing’s house. But that’s when she was looking for Haley, who was in the Wraith at the time. Maggie concludes that Vic’s Bridge can only take her to a fixed point. It can’t take her to a moving car, meaning Manx must’ve left Bing’s with Haley right before Vic got there. Tomorrow, Vic is meeting with Manx, and she’ll have to find out all she can about his Inscape. Maggie offers to drive as Vic can’t take her bike. Should Manx find out about her Knife, he’ll ensure Vic loses access to her Bridge. While Vic’s meeting with him, she’ll find the Wraith and get the license plate, something concrete they can give to the police. Maggie’s Tiles told her the Brat would find the Wraith, but they didn’t say it she would survive.

Vic can’t sleep or go home, so instead she decides to attend Willa’s party with Maggie. Simon offers Vic a drink, which she would normally decline, but makes an exception for tonight. After two drinks, Vic spots Drew across the room and joins him by the window. Drew asks if she’s okay. Vic looks outside to the pool that she almost drowned in as a kid. She was 8 years old. Willa had two cousins visiting for the summer. They were teenage boys. She and Willa were playing with their Barbies one afternoon when they grabbed Vic, threw her in, and held her underwater by her wrist and ankles until she thought her head was about to explode. It felt as if she was between worlds. Life and death. Reality and thought. Vic explains to Drew how there are some people in the world whose imagination is so powerful they can bring their private World of Thought into the physical World of Reality by tearing the fabric between the two. Vic is one of those people. Drew tells Vic how scientists say time and space are infinite with billions of dimensions. Whatever they can think or dream of has already happened or is happening right now somewhere else. Vic kisses Drew, her first kiss to an extent. There was this one time with Joey Ricci, but she was 5, so she doesn’t think it counts. And then they kiss again.

The lights suddenly start to flicker. Drew suspects it’s the circuit breaker and stops dancing with Vic to check it out. Maggie then grabs a drunk Vic and takes her back to her hotel room to sleep it off. Vic and Maggie lay in bed together, side by side. Vic tells Maggie how she trashed her dad’s girlfriend’s garage after using her Bridge to find Sharon. She's scared. The first time Maggie’s mother caught her using her Scrabble Bag, she sent Maggie to see their pastor as they thought something was wrong with her. Vic’s dad on the other hand used to think she was the greatest when everyone else thought she was a weirdo. And he’d always take her side and make her feel like she belonged. Vic fears that she’ll never belong anywhere ever again. On the contrary, Vic’s Bridge brought her to Maggie, who believes that Strong Creatives belong together.

The following morning, Vic wakes up and leaves Maggie behind. She meets Manx at the Peter Pan Bus Station as planned. He’s much younger than Vic imagined. She asks him what has he done with Haley. The first time she used her Bridge, he could feel it — an arrhythmia. Static came over the radio. He knew that Vic must be extraordinarily gifted to disrupt his Wraith. Then came the dreams. He never saw her face, but he did dream of things related to her. A river. A man’s watch. The bats. He warns her to be careful of the bats. Their Inscapes are manifestations of their minds, so if all the bats fly out of Vic’s Bridge, she’ll lose her mind. She asks him what his Inscape says about his mind. She knows that it involves Christmas. It pleases him to know that she’s been dreaming of him as well. While she may have used her Bridge to find Sharon, she can’t do the same to find Haley.

Vic’s body is already paying a price for using the Shorter Way. Most Strong Creatives are crippled before they even reach their full potential. But Manx is going to live forever because he’s figured out how to refill what his Inscape takes from him. He could teach Vic. "Like you taught Bing?" Vic asks. Manx explains that Bing is a simple man. Unlike him and Vic. They’re one in a trillion. Christmasland is Manx’s life work. It is a place of wonder and joy. Haley is there safe and sound with all his other children. He’s given them everything except a mother. Vic would be very welcome in Christmasland, at Manx’s side. Vic declines. He warns her that there will be consequences if she refuses him and cannot be prevailed upon to behave herself. Vic tells him of her plan to take her Bridge to Christmasland, rescue Haley, and burn it to the ground with Manx in it. However, no one has ever been able to enter Christmasland except via his Wraith.

Maggie inspects the Wraith. Taking a good look at the NOS4A2 license plate. Maggie grabs the door handle on the Wraith, and Manx instantly realizes that Vic didn’t come alone. The door is locked. It suddenly swings open and knocks Maggie to the ground. The Wraith starts on its own and chases Maggie down through the parking lot and hits her just a few feet away from Vic. Manx exits the station just behind Vic and drives off in the Wraith.

Vic watches over Maggie as she lays unconscious in a hospital bed. Detective Hutter approaches and asks to speak with Vic, though Vic doesn’t wish to talk to her given that she allowed Bing to walk. Hutter explains that Vic didn’t give her enough information to hold him. She asks if Bing was Vic’s boyfriend and if she was with him when he abducted Sharon. Hutter doesn’t know what to think given that Vic has left so many details from her story. Detective Hutter asks Vic who was driving the car that hit Maggie. Vic tells her the truth; no one was driving. It’s a black 1938 Rolls-Royce Wraith with a vanity license plate NOS4A2, Vic describes. Vic watched it run down Maggie on its own. However, the Wraith belongs to Charlie Manx. He uses it to abduct kids and take them to a dark place in his imagination called Christmasland. Vic also explains the Shorter Way and it’s inner workings, such as how it helps her find lost things.

Given her statement, Detective Hutter wants Vic to sign a release form for conditional voluntary commitment into the hospital. Chris is in agreement. He tells Vic it’ll only be a few days, so that she can get some rest and help. He wish he had gotten help when he needed it. He thinks this would be good for everyone. Vic reluctantly signs the form.

### The Dark Tunnels

Vic is administered a physical exam as her left eye remains inflamed. Since arriving at the hospital, she’s experienced low-level pain and the occasional headache. Following her exam, Vic visits the hospital’s therapist, Dr. Nathaniel Janes. He asks Vic about Charlie Manx. Vic assures him that she’s feeling better and is ready to be released. He informs her how people tend to create fiction realities when the pain becomes too much to deal with. So, he asks again who Charlie Manx is. Vic replies that he’s responsible for putting Maggie in the hospital. When Vic tries to leave the session, he informs her that he is authorized by Massachusetts state law to increase her stay up to 90 days. He questions if Vic was pressured into being committed by her father, but she assures him she made the decision of her own will.

Vic is roommates with Jolene July. The radio turns to static as Vic enters the room. She whispers to Vic "Charlie Manx." Vic soon realizes that Jolene is the Strong Creative Maggie discovered that Manx was responsible for putting in the hospital. Vic asks Jolene if she can get her to Christmasland. Before she can answer, the nurse brings them their medicine. Vic is reluctant to take her meds, but does so in fear that she might be forced to stay longer. Much like Vic, Jolene is reluctant as well, forcing the nurse to resort to injection rather than pills. Jolene’s a paranoid schizophrenic and will act out without her meds. As the nurse leaves the room, Vic dumps Jolene’s meds down the drain and informs the nurse that she took them.

Vic returns for another session with Dr. Janes the following day. Maggie’s out of surgery and will make a full recovery. They repaired her fractured kneecap and torn ACL. He asks Vic about art school. He has photos of Vic’s paintings and asks who the man is. Art school is Vic’s ticket out of Haverhill, she explains. Art always made the world go quiet when things got noisy at home. Her parents often fought and sometimes it got physical. Her father would hit her mother, and her mother would hit her. However, Vic refuses to see her or her family as victims.

Linda brings Vic an overnight bag to the hospital. When Vic asks about her dad, Linda reveals that he wasn’t at the house and that he was likely at a bar in town.

Vic returns to her room, where Jolene is sitting upright, talking to herself. She tells Vic she needs her skates, or she can’t get to work. Instead, Vic grabs her wheelchair and places Jolene in it, hoping it’ll lead them to Christmasland. Vic pushes Jolene down an empty hall in her wheelchair. The lights flicker and they disappear.

Vic and Jolene reappear in Jolene’s Inscape; The Dark Tunnels. In her Inscape, Jolene is cognitive and can walk. She tells Vic that the wheelchair wasn’t always her Knife, but it is now. Much like Vic, Jolene didn’t know that Strong Creatives could have more than one Knife. She didn’t come into this discovery until after Manx stole her skates and left her bedridden. It was then that the wheelchair found her and got her moving again until she was too weak to get it up to speed. Jolene knows of the Shorter Way, describing Creatives as magicians with different tricks. Vic explains that it allows her to find lost things, but she couldn’t find Haley after Manx took her to Christmasland. She was hoping Jolene could get her inside.

olene takes Vic further into the tunnels, where she has missing children posters plastered all over the walls. She’s been tracking Manx since the 50s, and not one of the kids have been seen since. The only way there is in his Wraith. There isn’t a single Creative in the entire World of Thought who has seen Christmasland besides Manx. She urges Vic to accept that Haley is gone forever. She then takes Vic to what appears to be a tunnel filled with static and white noise and offers to show Vic her "magic trick."

Vic and Jolene’s bodies drop to the ground, and the two of them astral project to Manx, who sleeps inside his Wraith, parked in a barn. Vic watches as Jolene haunts him, disrupting the radio and blowing in his ear. He comes to realize that she is the culprit. Jolene doesn’t stop there. She dismantles the Wraith, causing the engine to smoke. Manx struggles to exit the vehicle. He manages to get the door open and stumbles out the barn, morphing from his more youthful appearance into a shriveled up, feeble old man. He grabs the water hose and sprays down the Wraith. Vic watches as this unfolds. Manx yells out to Jolene, certain that she's the cause of this.

Vic and Jolene return to their bodies in the Dark Tunnels. Vic recalls Manx growing old right before her eyes after Jolene destroyed the engine to his car. If Vic wants to stop Manx, she has to destroy the Wraith. Vic hopes that Jolene will join her and Maggie in the fight to stop Manx, but Jolene’s days of fighting are long over. He won. And she’s tired. But, she couldn’t rest until she knew someone could pick up the fight. While Vic couldn’t save Haley, Jolene’s counting on her to save the next kid. Manx visited Jolene after 50 years because he fears Vic. Jolene isn’t going back, but she advises Vic to tell the doctors what they need to hear so that they’ll release her. Lastly, she warns Vic against taking their meds. It’ll only dull her mind and Knife, and she’ll need to be full strength to take on Manx. Jolene never had kids. She always thought she would. There’s a time when she thought Manx would be there father. She knew him before he became what he is. He was handsome, charming, and sweet. But every Strong Creative pays a price. Manx paid with his soul. Jolene knew what he was deep down, but she didn’t want to see it because she loved him. Now, it’s up to Vic to stop Manx. Jolene then lays down on the ground, her eyes filled with static.

Vic rolls Jolene’s lifeless body back into her room and turns the radio on before pulling the alarm. Next, she attends another session with Dr. Janes and just as Jolene advised her, she tells him exactly what he wants to hear. How Manx isn’t a real man and that he's a figment of imagination. Like her Bridge. When Vic felt lost, she would imagine it and it would appear. And when she went over it, she felt different than she’d ever felt in her life. She also reveals that it was Manx’s face in her paintings. She believed she was the only one with the power to kill him and save the kids. That was Vic’s reality, but the truth is that she was trying to escape her reality. Where Haley is gone, Maggie was run over, and Vic doesn’t have the power to save anyone. Vic continues, thanking him for helping her see the truth and confront her reality. And with that, he signs her release under two conditions — she fill a prescription for lorazepam and remove herself from her current living situation. Lastly, he tells Vic that just like with Haley and Maggie, there’s nothing Vic can do to save her father.

Vic helps Maggie get dressed as they both prepare to get discharged. Vic insists that she’s going to kill Manx. She tells Maggie that she was roomed with Jolene. From her, Vic learned how to stop Manx by destroying the Wraith. Maggie urges Vic to stop hunting Manx as its become too dangerous. She now regrets coming to Vic. When she was ran over and was on the ground bleeding, Maggie saw Daniel. He was looking down at her smiling. His teeth were like razors and blood was pouring out his mouth. When the Wraith hit Maggie, it showed Daniel to her. Vic’s had the same visions of Haley. Maggie’s done hunting Manx, and she hopes Vic will follow suit.

Vic gets picked up by her mom from the hospital and taken home. There, Vic contemplates taking her meds and moving on with her life as both Maggie and Dr. Janes advised. However, she dumps her prescription down the drain instead.

### Scissors for the Drifter

Whilst she lies in bed awake, Vic has visions of a burning house, a tombstone, and Haley with razor sharp teeth. The kitchen phone suddenly rings. When Vic goes down to answer it, she finds her mom, who apparently can’t hear the phone, sitting in the living room. Vic answers. It’s Haley calling from Christmasland. She claims to be happy where she is. However, Manx hasn’t returned, and they’ve grown worried. Millie Manx, Charlie’s daughter, tells Vic that a ride in the Wraith is the best thing to happen to Haley. She then asks about Manx, and Vic tells her that he’s hurt. Millie calls Vic a liar and tells her that he will bring Vic to them to play "Scissors for the Drifter." Linda catches Vic talking on the phone and tells her to go back to bed.

Linda tells Vic that she sold her dirt bike while she was in the hospital. Vic demands that she retrieve it, and when that fails, she calls Maggie and tells her to ask her Tiles where her bike is or where she can find a new Knife, as Jolene told her Knives can be replaced. Unfortunately for Vic, Maggie threw her Tiles away. Vic informs Maggie how Haley called her from Christmasland. She sounded different though. They don’t have a choice but to stop Manx, however, Maggie is done. She no longer feels like she can protect herself. She wishes Vic the best of luck in finding her bike and hangs up before popping a couple pills.

Vic runs to her Bridge, but it doesn’t appear, though the ringing in her head is constant. Vic calls her dad and informs him that her mom sold her bike. Chris is aware. He tried to talk Linda out of it, but with Vic in the hospital, it was hard to argue with her. Vic questions why he never came to see her while she was in the hospital. He claims he had to work, but offers to make it up to her by taking her to Bike Week, which Tiffany isn’t enthusiastic about, as she was hoping it would only be her and Chris.

Vic comes face-to-face with Bing for the first time since Manx’s ran Maggie over. Vic asks for Manx's whereabouts. She informs Bing of Peter Ives, Manx’s last helper who he killed. The police pinned several kidnappings on him, but he’s dead, same as everyone else who’s ever worked for Manx. Vic knows that Manx has a house in the real world and wants to know where it is. Bing slams Vic against the locker and says "Tell your lies. Mess with my head. But know that you could end up dead."

Vic and Drew walk through town hand-in-hand, discussing her love for art, which she gained through her grandmother, Bob Ross, and comics. Her dad is picking her up shortly to take her to Bike Week. However, Drew doesn’t think she owes him anything and that remark sparks a heated argument between the two over Vic’s family drama. He thinks Vic deserves better. Vic comes to her dad’s defense. Drew only knows of Vic’s father what he’s been told, such as him walking out on her and not showing up while she was in the hospital. Vic continues to defend her father even at the cost of her relationship with Drew. Chris arrives on his bike soon thereafter and the two leave for Bike Week.

Vic and Chris arrive at Bike Week. The same place they found "Big Red", Vic’s dirt bike. He said it was too big for her at first, but he couldn’t ignore how infatuated she had become with it, so he bought it for her. Vic and Chris proceed to look for a new dirt bike.

Vic and Chris continue their search for a new bike. However, none of them are able to replace her old one. While grabbing a bite to eat, Chris apologizes to Vic for not stopping Linda from selling her bike. Even she has grown tired of his excuses and storms off. The telephone rings as she passes by, though just like before, at her house, only she seems to be able to hear it. It’s Haley and Millie calling, both with pale, veiny skin and razor sharp teeth. She wants Vic to take her Bridge to visit them at Christmasland. They haven’t seen Manx in a while, and they’re hungry. Millie proceeds to sing a rhyme. "Poor old Vic McQueen — her father a drunk, her mother a mean. Early motherhood awaits her, with no man to wed her. Unless she can find it within to give thanks to her new friend and savior, Millie Manx."

Vic returns to the table to find Craig having joined her and her father for Bike Week. He bought Vic a souvenir. A commemorative pin. Vic chugs a beer in front of her father and ask him why he bought her Big Red at Bike Week when she was a kid. Chris claims it was because she was so obsessed with it, but in actuality, he had just had a huge, drunken fight with Linda. A cocktail of beer, vodka, screaming, and bruises. Vic heard all of it. He brought the bike as an apology to make up for it. The bike didn’t make up for anything, nor does his "shit-faced" apology today make up for abandoning her and not showing up at the hospital. Chris looks to Vic and tells her that he hopes she never has to know what it feels like to disappoint the people that you love. Vic storms out, with Craig following behind. She’s frustrated at her dad for being a deadbeat drunk and her mom for selling her bike. Without it, she can’t access her Bridge and save Haley. She thought she could find another bike or Knife, but she can’t. Craig’s only worried about Vic, asking if she’s alright. She recalls him mentioning that he got her a commemorative pin as a souvenir. She asks to see it, pins it to her boot, and asks Craig to take her home.

Craig brings Vic home with him. His mom passed out on the couch as they head into his room. Vic finds a picture of herself on Craig’s nightstand that he’s kept since second grade. He takes a seat next to Vic on the bed and asks when was the last time she slept. She replies when they sedated her at the hospital. They smoke some weed and lay together in bed.

### Parnassus

Vic wakes up in Craig’s bed to visions of Haley and Daniel. She smokes weed to hopefully calm her nerves. Craig joins her, and the two share a kiss.

Vic receives an acceptance letter from RISD. A full scholarship. She calls her mom to inform her. Linda gets the call that Vic was accepted into RISD while cleaning the Brewster house. Willa is close by, and Linda informs her of the news. In celebration, Willa plans a party. That night, Linda and Vic head off for a party at the Brewsters. Linda is skeptical. They arrive at the party, where Vic is greeted by Willa, Simon, and Brenda. Across the room, completely isolated from the rest of the party stands Craig.

Vic finds her mother cleaning dishes in the kitchen. Vic begs her to stop and join the party. Linda reminds Vic that the Brewsters aren’t her family. She worried what Vic attending RISD will mean for the family. More over, the fancy living that the Brewsters are accustomed to is not meant for people like them, and Linda wants to protect Vic from finding that out the hard way.

Vic's dad arrives at the party and congratulates her on getting a full ride into RISD. He’s offered a drink, which he turns down, announcing to Linda and Vic that as of recently, he’s quit drinking. Linda is amused and doubtful that it will last, though Vic seems to at least appreciate that her father is trying.

Craig pulls Vic to the side and gives her a kiss. Vic, however, is too preoccupied and concerned with her mother, who Craig concludes is being difficult because she’s sad that Vic is leaving. Vic explains that RISD is two hours ago, though Craig agrees with Linda that it’s still not the same as Vic being in Haverhill. She insists that everything will be fine and that she’ll even be back home for breaks. They turn their attention to a piece of artwork the Brewsters have on display, which Vic and Craig describe as a "fancy cooch." The two take off running after Craig nearly breaks the artwork.

Vic returns home and finds her mother waiting for her in her room. Linda confronts her over the alcohol and drugs. As punishment, she’s taken away Vic’s art supplies and computer. While Vic may be 18, she lives under Linda’s roof. So long as she continues to do so, she will abide by her rules. School, work, home. She denounces any partying as well as boys. Linda claims this is for Vic’s own good. She doesn’t believe Vic is ready to be on her own. However, Vic sees this for what it really is. Her mother is jealous, referring to her as an ignorant, small-town loser. It’s why Vic’s dad left her. Linda becomes enraged and throws a glass a Vic, which shatters as it hits the door.

Vic runs into the woods following her fight with her mother. Burdened by the sharp pain in the back of her eye, Vic comes to a stop and rests on a tree. Suddenly, she is ambushed by Bing and sprayed with gingerbread smoke.

Vic wakes up duct taped and tied up in Bing’s basement. He removes the tape from her mouth, and she screams. He covers her mouth with his hand and says "only girls who are nice and sweet get to have a tasty treat." Vic’s been naughty, and if something were to happen to her, no one would come looking. Everyone will think she ran away after the fight with her mother. Vic reminds Bing how they were once friends. He says that can be true again so long as Vic is nice. He then sprays her again with the gingerbread smoke. He tells her to say "I love you, Bing Partridge.

Vic wakes back up after being heavily dosed with gingerbread smoke. Bing sees Vic as his second chance. He blames her for him getting on Manx’s naughty lost. He believes by getting rid of Vic, he’ll be back in Manx’s good graces. However, Vic informs him how Manx told her that she would be welcomed in Christmasland. Bing begins to panic. Should Manx find out that he took Vic, he‘ll be on the naughty list forever. Bing places the tape back on Vic’s mouth and runs upstairs. Vic struggles with the commemorative pin on her book that she got from Craig, hoping to use it to cut the tape restraining her. She pauses as Bing comes back down. Having thought over his options, Bing can’t let Vic go in fear that she’ll tell Manx what he did. Bing would give everything to go to Christmasland. Some of his best feelings came at Christmas. Vic used to think her best feelings happened with her family at Lake Winnipesaukee.

On Christmas, Bing’s dad gave him his gas mask. His mom made sugar cookies. She said that she loved him more than anything. While Bing relives moments from his past, Vic continues to scratch at the tape with her commemorative pin. Her best feeling is when she got into art school. Bing is surprisingly happy for her. Bing's very best feeling came when he killed his parents. He put a nail in both of their heads. He recalls how terribly his father used to treat him. Every time he did, Bing's mom went into the kitchen to make cookies. She never protected him. Vic continues to stall Bing while she breaks free. She surmised that Manx knows all about Bing’s troubled past and used it to manipulate him into doing his bidding, like killing Sharon Smith. However, Bing informs Vic that killing Sharon was all his doing. He recalls her skin being soft like his mom’s. And while she smelled of coconut shampoo and menthols, she tasted just as sweet as his mom. Vic sobs as Bing gets up close and smells her. As he lays his head on her chest, Vic breaks free. She cuts him on his face with her pen and kicks him in his balls before hitting him over the head with his gas tank and dousing him with gingerbread smoke.

Vic returns to Craig’s house and informs him of her latest encounter with Bing. They can’t go to he cops or else Vic will end up in the psych ward again. Craig grabs a baseball bat, intent on taking Bing on himself, however, Vic convinces him not to. She then gets a call from Maggie, who informs her that her Scrabble Bag came back on its own. It found her and told her that Vic has her bike. Regardless of what Vic’s mom says, the Bag can be cryptic, but it never lies. Vic realizes that something is wrong with Maggie, asking if she’s alright, as she needs Maggie's help. They’re a team. Unfortunately, Maggie’s under the influence and is of no help to Vic. So, she hangs up. Vic calls her right back, but Maggie doesn’t answer. Vic looks to Craig and asks him to take her home.

Vic arrives at her house and asks her mother where she put her bike. Linda insists that she sold it, but Vic knows she’s lying. Linda is afraid of being alone, and Vic knows it. With both Vic and Chris gone, she would only have herself to blame for her life. Linda starts to cry, repeating that it’s not fair and that she won’t know what to do once Vic is gone. Linda reluctantly reveals that she hid Vic’s bike in the basement.

Vic rides her bike through the woods and over the Shorter Way to Miss Trixie’s bar in Here, Iowa. Vic finds Maggie passed out on a mattress next to a couple of dumpsters. She shoves her fingers down Maggie’s throat and makes her throw up the pills. Vic holds Maggie close, and Maggie remarks "I guess you found your bike." Vic laughs, though her eye has worsened from the ride to save Maggie.

### Sleigh House

After getting Maggie in a hotel, Vic texts Craig, asking where he is. Maggie rushes to the bathroom to throw up. Millie Manx suddenly appears with a large sword and warns Vic that she’s next. Maggie wakes Vic from her vision to assure her that everything is fine.

Maggie inquires about Vic’s visions over breakfast. They’re getting worse. Vic explains its from taking her Bridge to Iowa. At least now they know Maggie can travel the Shorter Way with Vic, so long as she’s on the back of Vic’s bike, meaning they can hunt the Wraith together. Vic’s more concerned with the immediate issue of Maggie’s health. Maggie insists that she’s fine now, though she had been out of it for a while. The Wraith took Joe while Maggie was strung out. She passed out in a pill coma and woke up in his house, where he took Maggie to keep her safe. Now, he’s gone because of her. And she threw away her Scrabble Bag, so she couldn’t even see it coming. Joe was the closest thing she had to a family, and she got him killed. And once again, she's alone. Vic assures Maggie that she’s not alone. Much like Maggie, Vic got someone she cared about mixed up in this; Craig. And now she fears that something has happened to him after he’s failed to answer her texts.

Vic and Maggie break into Bing’s house. They find blood splatter in the kitchen and realize that Bing has Craig.

Maggie asks her Scrabble Bag for Craig’s location. She spells out “THE WRAITH”. She then asks if Vic can find the Wraith, and the Tiles says she can. However, they also say she’s not ready. Nonetheless, Vic races off to save Craig. She remembers seeing Jolene take Manx out of commission by over heating the engine to the Wraith. She intends to do something similar as she blames herself for Craig getting caught up in her drama. She’s run to him for everything since they were 6 years old. Vic loves him and intends to save him. Vic grabs a gas can out of Bing’s garage and hooks it up to the back of her bike. She tells Maggie to stay behind and help the police track down Bing.

Vic drives over the Shorter Way Bridge. Written inside with green spray paint is her destination — the Sleigh House. She finds the Wraith inside a barn. She finds Bradley sitting in the backseat. He asks her for help. As she opens the door, she grabs her, leaving burn marks on her arm. Craig calls out to Vic from the trunk. She tries to break him out, but the doors are locked shut. The alarm to the Wraith goes off and the back door opens. Bradley chases Vic out the barn and to the house. He grabs her leg as she reaches the door. Vic kicks him off and locks him outside. She looks around inside for keys to the Wraith, but doesn’t find find them. Vic’s head starts ringing with the same familiar high-pitched tone. Manx calls to Vic from outside. He grabs her bike and throws it onto the Bridge. It disappears, and Vic screams out in agony. She drops to the floor as the pain is so severe.

Vic wakes up on the floor of the Sleigh House. While the Shorter Way was impressive, it is no more thanks to Manx. There's no where left for Vic to go except with him to Christmasland. Blood runs from Vic’s left eye. With Manx at one door and Bradley at another, Vic is trapped inside. Manx kicks the door in and calls out to Vic, who barricades herself in the laundry room. Manx promises Vic that she can still see Christmasland, if only she stop resisting. Vic reminds him of her plans to burn Christmasland to the ground. But there’s only one way to get there, and that’s in the Wraith. He had hoped it would be in the front seat with him, but now it looks like she’ll ride in the trunk with Craig, who Manx claims ruined Vic. She’s no longer capable of providing his children with the love and care they require. When Vic refuses to come out, Manx sets the house on fire. Within seconds, it is engulfed in flames. Smoke starts to seep under the door, forcing Vic to search for a way out. When she fails to break the glass window, she looks up to an air vent.

Vic positions a table center room and reaches up for the vent. Her first attempt is unsuccessful. She attempts to pull herself up, but she slips and falls awkwardly on the table below and fractures her leg. As the flames grow, nearly consuming the house, Vic musters up the strength to move the drying under the vent and attempt for a second time to escape. She pulls herself up and climbs through the vent, leading into second floor of the house. Vic pulls herself to her feet and looks out the window to see Manx driving away in the Wraith.

### Gunbarrel

Vic gasps for air as the flames consume the Sleigh House. She escapes through a window and scales down the house, though she fractured her leg while attempting to climb up the air vent, making her escape especially difficult and painful.

Vic passes through a forest of Christmas trees strung up with ornaments. She can hear Haley and Bradley’s voices. Vic limps out to the road and flags down a biker passing by. His name is Lou Carmody. Vic tells him about Manx, how he has her boyfriend and a little boy. And how he trapped her in a house and set it on fire. Vic gets on the back of Lou's bike, and they drive off. Lou takes Vic to a convenience store called the Gunbarrel. They go inside and ask to use the phone to call the police. Sam, the owner of the store, calls the police to report a fire and kidnapping. A young woman with her baby asks Vic where she’s from. She replies Haverhill. However, they’re in Colorado, much to Vic’s surprise.

Vic calls Maggie from Colorado and tells her that her Bridge is gone. Manx destroyed it. Vic needs Maggie to ask her Bag for the Wraith’s location. Maggie’s stutter worsens. Her Tiles spell out "GUNBARREL." Lou explains that they’re in Gunbarrel just as Manx pulls up outside the convenience store. Sam pulls out two guns, a pistol and a shotgun. Vic grabs the pistol while Sam leads the young woman and her baby into the back to hide. She then hands the gun to Lou.

Vic and Lou confronts Manx by the gas pump. Manx address Lou by his name and informs him that taking orders from a woman is not a good habit. While Lou holds Manx at gunpoint, Vic tries to save Craig from the Wraith. Bradley bounces around in the back of the Wraith, inviting Vic to play with him. When Vic fails to find the keys, Craig takes the tire iron and uses it to puncture the backseat, allowing him to force his way out, where he is attacked by Bradley as soon as he does. Craig hits Bradley with the tire iron, but it does little to deter him. Bradley then to bite Craig, sinking his teeth into his arm.

Manx tells Lou to hand over the gun. Helping Vic is pointless because when it comes to woman, nice guys finish last. The Wraith suddenly starts on its own and reverses, knocking Vic to the ground. With Lou distracted, Manx grabs a gas pump and strike Lou with it repeatedly. As Manx grabs the gun, Vic sprays gasoline allover the Wraith and holds a lighter over the hood. Vic drops the lighter, setting the Wraith a blaze and causing Manx to shrivel up and burn. As Manx burns on the ground in agony, Craig continues to fight off Bradley in the backseat. Vic attempts to intervene, reaching in through the front seat, but there’s a force field separating the backseat from the front, preventing Vic from pulling Craig through. Craig realizes that he can’t get out, so he tells Vic to save herself and leave him behind. However, Vic is reluctant. She only exits the vehicle after Bradley bites her arm. Vic runs for a fire extinguisher to hopefully put the flames out, but the car explodes before she can, taking Craig and Bradley with it.

Vic wakes up in the hospital. Lou isn’t far away. He tells her that Manx is cuffed to an ICU bed with a U.S. Marshal at his door. As for the Wraith, it was taken by the police. However, Vic has to completely destroy it to ensure Manx’s demise. Still coping with the loss of her best friend, Vic cries as she remembers Craig and the commemorative pin he gifted to her that she keeps pinned to her boot. Lou surmises that Vic set the car ablaze to hurt Manx. He saw Manx age rapidly in a matter of seconds, as well as his skin blister as if he was on fire. Lou reads comic books, and it’s because of that he believes that weird, unexplainable things happen in the world. He looks to Vic as if she's a super hero. Lou is discharged from the hospital. Before leaving, he gives Vic his number in case she’s ever in Colorado again and in need of a sidekick. Vic thanks Lou and gives him a hug. Vic, on the other hand, has frostbite on her left arm, torn tendons in her right leg, and a sprained ankle. Lastly, the doctor informs Vic that she’s pregnant. Only a few weeks.

Vic is met by a U.S. Marshal just outside Manx’s hospital room. Manx is in a coma and the state police impounded what was left of the Wraith. Vic asks to see Manx for herself. Vic enters Manx’s room. She stands over his body and and professes her plan to find Christmasland and burn it to the ground.

Vic and her mother attend Craig’s funeral and later his reception. Linda holds Vic close as she struggles with the possibility of it just as easily being Vic who died. Vic looks over to her dad and asks her mom what she would’ve done without him. Linda used to think about that a lot when he was in the Gulf. She remembered thinking she would die without him. In reality, she’d have to stay with her mother for a while, which wouldn’t have ended well as Linda has always had a strained relationship with her mother. Chris checks in on Vic, and she reveals that she’s pregnant with Craig’s child. Chris assures Vic they’ll figure it out.

Vic suddenly feels the urge to throw up and runs outside to puke in the grass. Coincidentally, Tina Harrison, Craig’s mother, is outside having a smoke. She knows that Vic was the only person in town who truly knew the type of person Craig was. Tina describes him as having a solid gold heart whilst everyone at the reception is carrying on as if it’s a party. He doesn’t even have a decent headstone, which Vic assures Tina won’t be true for long. Tina advises Vic to get out of Haverhill before it ruins her. Craig always said she was an artist.

Vic heads inside, where she steals her dad’s keys out his coat pocket and rides his motorcycle to the Shorter Way, stopping by her house as well as Haley’s on the way there. However, without her dirt bike, she can not conjure the bridge, and so, she looks off the cliff where the bridge once stood, gazing at the widespread river. Maggie joins Vic after using her Tiles to track her down. Having lost Craig just as Maggie lost Joe, the two share an indistinguishable pain. While they may have lost love ones, they are at least comforted with the fact that they stopped Manx. Unfortunately, Bing is still at large. Leading to Maggie’s decision to stay in Haverhill to help Detective Hutter find him. However, just like Maggie can’t go back to Iowa, Vic can’t stay in Haverhill. While Manx may be gone, she fears that Christmasland still exists. Maggie asked her Bag, but she got a blank tile.

Vic returns to the now decimated Sleigh House. Just outside, among the decorated trees, Vic receives a seasons greeting from Haley. She asks Vic where Manx is and if she’d be joining them in Christmasland. Lou joins Vic, who’s now six months pregnant. Apparently, she left Haverhill as planned as has been working in Lou’s garage ever since. Vic vows that her child will never ever meet anyone like Charlie Manx.