When they reach the house she tries wading through books and then considers that she's probably not going to be the one who hits on the right thing this way. Honestly Wishbone is the most likely to identify whatever the mystical thing is.

" - do you have a computer I can use?"

Yeah.  It's fancy. Elaborate display screen and faster and more responsive than any computer she's ever used.

"Thanks."

She wades through newspaper articles about weird occurrences that have happened over the course of the past few days, with a focus on ones that caused hospitalizations. She remembers that the only kid who was definitely hurt by a manifestation was Laura, and makes a list of recently beaten-up people to question in the hospital tomorrow. Maybe it's a waste of time. Maybe all of this is.

Collective hallucinations can be caused by a half-completed reality altering spell or by the slow disintegration of one. He tries to read about that, does badly at it, paces, goes back to mindreading the Mayor, who is thinking about Jeopardy!, tries Snyder, who is contemplating how children are stupid and contemptible and he'll utterly destroy the little brat who pulled the fire alarm -

He tries to read again. He can't. He kicks a book across the room and goes upstairs.

She completes her list. She makes another of other things to investigate. She checks on Wishbone's shortlist of likely mystical phenomena and writes those down for herself, too. She tries to nap, worries that there's something she's missed, and heads back to the books.

At sunrise she's - still pretty unsure what's going on, really.

"You guys figure anything out?"

"Nope."

No.

"OK. I'm gonna see if I can find some leads at the hospital, I'm really not gonna find anything in the books that you all won't. Call if you figure anything out."

"Uh huh."

News says that there was some kind of meteorite crash or something around midnight last night, on the soccer field at tenth and Broadway.

That's too recent to have caused this but I guess I'll check it out on the way to work, ugh.

I don't want you to go in today.

Snyder'll fire me. There's only one injury that's definitely to do with this. I can't stay home from work every day some kid gets smacked over the head -

Your gut tells you this is big.

Yeah. But - I know these kids, I don't want to abandon them to it. If I get myself killed you just gotta make Dad hurry up with reembodiment magic, right?

Nod.

Her house is on the way to the hospital. It occurs to her that she should probably stop in and let her sister know that she's OK; she hasn't even checked in with her since last night before the talent show.

The door is open. There's blood on the floor. 

Her sister and her nephew are lying on the couch. Most of them, anyway.

Alex Michael Alex Michael Alex Michael -

Alex I fucked up -

Where are you - oh - oh - 

- Karen I'm so sorry - 

He turns the car around quite sharply at a stoplight and disturbs an enormous flock of crows and blasts the horn at them impatiently and can't even put together the crow-concepts of 'urgency' and 'I'll fucking run you over' and ten minutes later he's there -

I didn't tell her - I didn't tell her anything - I should have told her things were happening, maybe she could have - 

The door handle snaps off in her hand. She throws up in the kitchen trash and then goes back to the living room to be sure. They're really, really dead, they've been cut open and pieces of their organs and brains are missing. Chris Epps is not going to fix this one.

"I - I should have told her - "

"We'll still - we'll still find something - someday - we've been working on it - god, Karen, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry..."

"I don't even know what would have - I should have had more wards on the house or something - I should have - I'm sorry - "

She's trying not to cry but they're dead, and -

"We should've moved them in with Michael is what we should've done - not your fault - 

- we gotta, gotta track down whatever did it -"

" - yeah. OK. We have to - I don't even know what we're looking for - "

"Not a vampire means - means I can probably find it -

woman begging her husband to stay and talk this out..firefighters battling a blaze two streets over ..an old woman sobbing over the body of her cat.. god my face looks terrible.. a little kid crying in a room alone banging on the door.. ♪here come the men in black♪ these donuts are addictive.. man sobbing into a pile of unpaid bills.. oh god she relapsed..the room is full of spiders..I've gained fifty pounds now I'm hideous I should just die.. woman being raped.. clown chasing a boy with a machete.. baby's not breathing ..I can't move..scared kid watching from around a corner..no one would call me at this hour unless.. didn't get into a single college..need my morning coffee..the house is haunted.. library books are overdue.. lost my job.. where are the kids..monstrous hulk of a zombie thing..

"- possible - possible candidate eight, eight blocks west of here -" he bounces it -

..heart attack just like my mom..I never really loved you..allergic to this makeup..I think I'll call in sick today..♪if you like us, calling all riders♪..never buys any real cereal just this inedible sugary shit..should be home by now..mice, god, mice..never going to amount to anything..can't even kill myself right..it's so beautiful, it's like a dream

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