Session Four

## There Is No Way But Try

The sun rises. Jessie comes to at the Moonpool, naked, alone. She retrieves a hidden duffle bag and pulls on sweatpants and a hoodie. She walks to Ashlynn’s to get Big Mike’s car and heads home. She knocks on the door. Big Mike answers instantly. Jessie agrees that she is so grounded.

One Week Later… Ashlynn and her Hive (now Harper, Charlie, Jason, and Tylar) enter school. Tylar hands her a coffee, saying “Ashlynn… here…”

Jessie gets to school on time for the first time in a while and slides a note to Broden with the message, “Sesh tonight?”.

Crow arrives late, after a week of absence. Under her breath, Ashlynn calls them a murderer. Crow flinches. Ms. Hidalgo huffs and makes another note on her class planner. Jessie gapes at Crow, having not seen them since the party.

A few moments into class, there is a knock at the door. Diana appears in the doorway and moves to enter. Mrs. Hidalgo reminds her that she’s not in this class. Diana apologizes and runs away. Kareem walks in after Diana leaves. He sits in his seat quietly, hiding in his hoodie. Jessie slides a note to him, questioning him, which he crumples and throws in his backpack. Jessie whispers to him, convincing him to come over tonight with her and Broden.

The bell rings for class, and Crow tries to scurry away. As they pass, Ashlynn tries to trip Crow. Charlie accidentally knocks a book over (a failed distraction), and the class catches Ashlynn in the act. Brittany calls out Ashlynn, who shuts her down, telling her to shut the fuck up. Jessie pulls a string from her and Crow’s friendship (... and love?), and asks them to wait. Crow does. Jessie grabs Crow’s hand as the two leave class to talk.

Jessie tells Crow that her dad is really worried about them, and Crow tells Jessie that they can't be around her, they’re dangerous, they could hurt her. Crow tells Jessie that she knows she had to run away at the party, and that she can’t hurt the only people she cares about. Jessie begs Crow to come over later, so she can explain all of it. Crow agrees.

Ashlynn leaves class, searching for Diana. She sees her flee into a bathroom, and the cronies posture, looking dramatic and beautiful, outside without a word. Ashlynn follows Diana in. She tells Diana that she really misses her.

In flashback, we see Ashlynn crying in the library. We see Diana, a lonely and shy library volunteer, comforting her. The two bond, with Diana helping Ashlynn study and improve her grades. We see Ashlynn getting an A+, and excitedly running to Diana. The two embrace. After that night, we see Diana, now brainslugged, blossomed, becoming more popular, gregarious, better.

In the bathroom, we see Diana leaving a stall, now dressed in her old clothes. She doesn’t acknowledge Ashlynn. Ashlynn lays a hand on Diana’s arm, gasping when she can’t feel the brainslug present. Diana slaps Ashlynn’s hand away, cursing at Ashlynn and storming out. Ashlynn follows her out, and lays a hand on an upset Tylar’s chest. She comforts him, and tells him they have to figure out what happened to **her** Diana.

At lunch, Jessie slides into a seat beside Diana, who eats alone. She grips the table, which crumples beneath her hands. Diana freezes. Jessie tells her that she did what she had to do to keep Diana alive, and leaves.

After school, Jessie runs home to tell Big Mike that Kareem is back. He thanks her, and gives her a letter from her mother, labeled Jessica on the back. She takes it upstairs. The letter is covered in her mom’s small handwriting. The letter is brutal, criticizing Jessie for her behavior, dropping out of sports, and school performance. The letter finishes with her mom telling Jessie that her cousin, Alexandra, is being bullied at her school and has been given permission to switch to Crystal Mills High next week. Jessie’s mom tells her that Alexandra and her older brother Caleb will be coming to live with her and Big Mike to help around the house and set a good example. Jessie cries the entire time she reads the letter.

After school, Crow satiates their deep hunger on a small deer, caught unaware in the woods. They head to Jessie’s.

Ashlynn sweeps the forest, investigating methodically. She follows the trail that wolf-Jessie and Diana took the night before. She finds a massive wolf print, bigger than her outspread hand. Harper encourages Ashlynn to leave, Ashlynn rebukes her. Her phone rings. She answers and her mom berates her for the loss of Diana. Ashlynn asks her Mom why Diana would be someone else after being de-slugged. Her mom possesses all of the cronies, surrounding Ashlynn, asking if she needs to come to Crystal Mills. Ashlynn searches for the Diana-slug, and telepathically connects. She experiences the distress of the night before, sees the setting sun, senses icy cold water. She dives into the Moonpool. She emerges holding the Diana-slug tenderly in her arms. Ashlynn, the cronies, and Diana-slug return to the Armstrong. Distressed, Ashlynn puts the frightened Diana-slug into an alien warmtank, one of multiple in a room near Ashlynn’s bedroom. She tucks her Diana in, and opens her laptop to monitor her blog post on missing teens. She refreshes the page.

Crow arrives, blood freshly washed off. Inside, Big Mike is taking news of 9/11 down, showing further research beneath it. Big Mike opens the door and wraps her up in an emotional hug. Jessie and Crow casually make dinner and head upstairs. Jessie brings Big Mike a plate, and he asks that the two not bother him. His office is a disaster, midway between old research and 9/11 news. Upstairs, Jessie and Crow talk about Friday. Jessie asks if it was normal for Crow to eat people. Crow says yes, but that it's infrequent. Jessie admits to being the wolf-creature from Ashlynn’s party, telling Crow that she understands what it’s like to be hungry. Crow thanks Jessie for telling her, and leaves awkwardly to shower.

Ashlynn lifts a refreshed Diana-slug up, kisses its forehead, and taps into its memories of the last night. At first they are hazy, but Ashlynn calls out to the Diana-slug, saying she wants to help and see what happened that day. She is bombarded with images of Diana smoking meth with Broden, of Jessie and Crow arriving, of Jessie grabbing Diana and then of her punching Jessie, and then broken memories of Crow attacking Diana, of a massive wolf dragging her away. The last memory is of the Diana-slug, underwater, watching a dying Diana transform into another wolf creature. Ashlynn awakens from the vision, and her eyes narrow. She calls her Mom for help in retaking someone who has become something else. Her Mom tells her that she should at the very least… try… to retake Diana.

Back at Jessie’s, Crow decides to dip before the meet-up to get something to... eat. Jessie, Kareem, and Broden meet at their regular smoke spot, the roof above Kareem’s after dark. Brittany uncomfortably sits on an inflatable couch on the ground. She complains the whole time. Kareem arrives notably late and refuses to smoke. Broden also abstains. Jessie attempts to break the ice, but Broden changes the subject and tries to push her to buy from him. Jessie grows irritated, wanting to reconnect with her friends. Jessie tosses him $5 for some weed and a changing table. On his way to leave, he opens his bag to throw a baggie of weed to Jessie, and she spots a variety of drugs and a gun inside. Now alone, Jessie tries to turn Kareem on, but he seems hostile to the idea and storms off, telling her he needs alone time. As Kareem jumps back into his room, Jessie spots strange scars on his back… very similar to the scars that crisscross Crow.

Elsewhere, Crow catches a rabbit between houses in town. They dispatch the animal and begin feasting. She looks up, and locks eyes with a horrified woman inside of her house. She screams in fear and Crow flees towards Jessie’s.

Crow finds Jessie leaning out of her window, smoking and staring up at the moon. They talk about how Kareem seemed to be acting strangely, and his bloodless scarring. Jessie changes the subject to ask Crow what they want to do about Diana having jumped them, and Crow responds that they aren’t sure. Jessie mentions talking to Ashlynn about everything that happened the next day at school. Crow warns Jessie that Ashlynn seems to be in a really weird headspace. Jessie tries to convince Crow to come to volleyball tryouts the next day, turning them on. Crow agrees to attend.

Ashlynn texts Broden, asking for a hookup. He responds immediately, confirming he’d be there soon. Ashlynn invites Broden and Brittany in, being incredibly friendly. Brittany’s attitude has completely changed since Jessie’s, fully enraptured by the beautiful cronies and immaculate penthouse. Ashlynn and Broden slip off into a hallway, and he opens his satchel to reveal a wide array of drugs. The gun from earlier is absent. He offers Ashlynn a sample of cocaine, which she takes. The two talk about Ashlynn’s party, and Ashlynn digs for information on Diana and what happened that night. Broden lies and says he left after giving Diana a sample. Ashlynn tells him she doesn't feel safe anymore. She offers to help him if he could do her a favor, especially finding a drug that could knock someone out. He agrees, as long as it can’t be tied back to him. Ashlynn agrees. She asks what exactly he would need, and Broden tells her that they’ve been living in his mom’s attic. She tells him that she’ll see what she can do. They fistbump, Ashlynn overpays for her drugs, and the two return to the cronies and Brittany. Ashlynn turns Brittany on and she flushes, thanking Ashlynn for her hospitality, and Ashlynn gains a string on her. Ashlynn signs for her Mom to lease out a lower level room in the hotel, paying for the rent.

In the late hours of the night… we see an exhausted Alexandra (Lexi) and Caleb arrive at Jessie's house. Caleb crashes on the couch in the living room, while Lexi sleeps in Big Mike’s office.

**The Next Day**

In the morning, Caleb, Lexi, Crow, and Jessie eat breakfast together. They chatter awkwardly about school. Caleb interrupts when Big Mike leaves the room, showing the three a video he took on his phone the night before. In a pixelated shaky view of the street in front of Jessie’s, there is someone shambling and consuming a dog. Jessie recognizes the gray sweatpants, black hoodie, and red beanie the figure is wearing… Kareem was wearing the same thing earlier at their smoke sesh. Jessie flashes Crow a look but says nothing and brushes it off to Caleb, who tells her he’s gonna post it on MySpace.

Crow and Jessie ride the bus to school, arriving on time together. Diana passes them, dressed in overalls and a sweater and looking unkempt, trying to avoid all of them. She rummages through her locker and closes it, and Jessie is revealed behind the door. Diana moves to turn away, but Jessie grabs her tightly by the arm. Jessie warns her that she could lose control if she doesn’t have an outlet for this. She tells Diana that she expects to see her at volleyball tryouts, pulling a string from hurting Diana the night she turned her and squeezing her arm tightly. Diana huffs and leaves.

In class, Ashlynn and her crew arrive in perfect, happy formation. Brittany leans forward towards Ashlynn, gushing about the baby and about how pretty Ashlynn looks today. Charlie cuts in, redirecting Brittany’s chattering focus to him. Crow and Jessie scamper into class as the bell rings. Ms. Hidalgo confronts them again, and Crow takes the blame. Ms. Hidalgo thanks them, writes something onto a slip of paper, and hands them a detention slip. Ashlynn leans over to Harper to shit talk about Crow. Crow glowers, frustrated with Ashlynn. Ashlynn and Jessie talk about what happened after Ashlynn’s party, Jessie lying about having run away during the party.

At lunch, Jessie walks up to Ashlynn’s table and asks to sit. Charlie and Harper slide apart to make room. Jessie tells Ashlynn and the cronies about Diana doing the harder drugs with Broden, and that she ran away with Broden. Ashlynn tells Jessie that she should probably go eat somewhere else, and come back when she wants to tell the truth. She shuts Jessie down, ruining the string from when Jessie carried Ashlynn out of the woods. Jessie jabs back that Ashlynn doesn't have to be so “MEAN” and storms off.

Crow ducks out of detention, avoiding all teachers, and secretly attends the volleyball tryouts. The cheerleaders practice at the other end of the gym, and Crow sits as far away as possible. Big Mike arrives, with Lexi tagging along. The three chatter, with Lexi asking Crow if they’re going to try out. Crow tells her that they have a weird rare muscular medical problem that prevents her from doing stuff. Lexi pushes further, telling Crow that she’s going into the medical field, and that they could meet up sometime to go through her Medical Encyclopedia. She continues to ask invasive questions, until Crow says they’d prefer to watch Jessie in the tryouts.

During tryouts, Jessie performs maybe a little too well. Ashlynn notices from across the gym, and Jessie goes the extra mile, winking and trying to turn her on. It goes badly. Someone tries to trip Jessie, and she catches herself too deftly. Ashlynn notices the movement and her eyes narrow. She gains a string on Jessie for her weird behavior. Tryouts finish, and Jessie is chosen as team captain. Diana tries out, but doesn’t stop to check if she made the team. Jessie follows her to the locker room, and tries to shut her down, telling her she will be coming to volleyball practice and games. This also goes badly, and Diana gets in Jessie’s face, challenging her. Jessie slaps Diana across the face which stuns her. Jessie looks down, and one of Diana’s teeth is on the ground. Jessie picks it up, hands it back to Diana, and tells her that she needs to get that under control. Diana blinks and turns away to leave, shoving past the gathered cheerleaders. As she passes, Ashlynn places her hand gently on Diana’s arm. Diana notices the soft touch and turns with tears in her eyes. They regard each other before Diana runs out of the locker room. Ashlynn pursues.

The two run outside, before Ashlynn calls to Diana to wait. Diana spins around, and Ashlynn and the cronies can see her mouth covered in blood, her hair falling out in clumps, her body is long and distended. Ashlynn calls and tells her that she can help her, and to find her when she can. Diana turns wordlessly and runs back into the woods. Ashlynn and the Hive hug, with Ashlynn at the core of the hug.

As Jessie leaves the locker room, she’s grabbed by Ms. Hidalgo. She asks if Jessie would happen to know where Crow was after they skipped detention. Jessie tells her that Crow is with her dad, and tries to lead her to them. Ms. Hidalgo tells her that she won’t brute force anyone into accepting their punishment, and leaves. Jessie unhappily informs Big Mike that Ms. Hidalgo is being cruel to Crow and that she might lose her captain position. Big Mike asks what happened, and to tell him the truth. Jessie deflects and is righteously angry about the situation. Jessie reveals that Ms. Hidalgo gave Crow detention, and that Crow skipped it to attend the tryouts. Big Mike insists that they have to tell him the truth for him to be able to help them, and defuses the situation. He asks them if they want pizza or burgers, to which Crow and Jessie answer burgers, and Lexi answers pizza. They squabble, with Lexi telling them that she doesn’t eat meat. Big Mike makes the decision for pizza.

A few hours later, we can see Diana in the woods, calling Ashlynn. Ashlynn answers, but Diana says nothing at first. Ashlynn breaks the silence. “Diana?...” The two talk, with Diana apologizing for Ashlynn seeing her like that. Ashlynn tells Diana that she misses her. Diana tells Ashlynn that she did something weird to her, and that she's mean, and that she doesn't know if she can trust her anymore. Ashlynn apologizes, telling Diana that she thought she lost her, that she wants them to talk more. Diana agrees to talk over the phone, before telling Ashlynn that she did lose her. She ends the call. Beside Ashlynn’s phone, we see two syringes filled with mystery liquid, courtesy of Broden.

Big Mike, Lexi, Crow, and Jessie drive home with pizza. They pass newly hung “Lost Dog” posters in their neighborhood. Jessie and Crow look at each other but say nothing.

Broden and Brittany excitedly arrive at Ashlynn's hotel, with Caleb giving them directions to their apartment. Ashlynn and the cronies follow, not long after. As they pass, Caleb seems transfixed with Ashlynn, who throws a pointed look to Harper, who bats her eyes at Caleb and smiles. The elevator doors close, with Ashlynn and the cronies smiling at Caleb.

That night… We see Crow, writing in a diary at Jessie’s, trying to sort through her feelings.

In flashback, 1969, we see Crow lean against a convenience store. Only the streetlamps illuminate the streets, and everything else is silent and still. Crow looks different… alive. Her hair is longer, more lustrous, and her eyes are a bright blue. Her breath puffs in the cold, and she tried to huddle herself for warmth. A beat up Volkswagen Bug putters down the street, slowing and stopping beside her. A man, average looking, steps out, and introduces himself to Crow. “I’m Ted, would you like me to take you to a hotel for the night? You look like you’re struggling.” Crow is afraid, but desperate, and the man seems nice. She agrees, and hops into his car. She watches as they pass her turn, and leave town, and as he pulls off into an empty field. He tells her to stay put and goes to the trunk. Crow bolts off into the field, but the cold and her hunger weaken her, and he catches up. We see him strangle her in the field, until it all goes black. We see his face, fading out.

   On Big Mike’s wall, we see Ted Bundy’s mugshot, the same man who picked up Crow, surrounded by Missing Persons posters. A missing poster of a younger girl, Lisa Odubayo, missing as of November 1969, sitting prominently on the wall beside his mugshot. Sticking out slightly from the others on the wall, Crow’s Missing Person poster stares back.