When the sun rose, the birds began to chirp out a song as Darwin opened his eyes. Getting ready for the day, Darwin ran downstairs to grab a piece of toast with jam on it, and stuff it between his teeth. Then dashed out the front door before his mother called his name and said:

“Darwin! Don’t forget to come home before dawn!” She shouted as her young son ran.

“Alright!” He yelled back. Running from home, he meets his friends that were chilling near by the alleyway. Tyler, Harrison, and Bethany are the ones waiting for him, their eyes brightening at his presence. 

“Yo! Nice to meet you again.” Tyler grinned happily as he shook Darwin’s hand, “By the way, did you hear about the recent disappearance?”

“Again?! How many disappearances do we have in this town?” Harrsion chimed in nervously.

“Yeah! A couple just disappeared yesterday and nobody knew where they went.” Said Bethany as she tilted up her glasses. 

“I bet it’s the big, bad wolf coming to get us all! Mwhahahaha!” Darwin joked.

“Oh don’t be ridiculous. I heard that there’s possibly a killer roaming in the woods!” Bethany rolled her eyes as she spoke.

“There’s DEFINITELY a killer on the loose.” Tyler chimed in.

“We should go on an adventure to look for the killer!” Darwin suggested with the dumbest grin known to man. 

“N-No! We’re supposed to be playing UNO–” Harrison stammered before getting interrupted by Tyler’s elbow nudging him by the belly.

“Don’t be a wuss! This would be the perfect time to show that we’re not little kids, but big kids. That way the bullies won’t have to pick on us for being scaredy cats!” Tyler said with his hands proudly on his hips, “Then we’ll be popular!”

“No more being scaredy cats!” Darwin declared.

“No more being scaredy cats.” Bethany repeated, but said it in a more calmer tone like it’s a vow. 

Harrison, on the other hand, surely knows damn well this is definitely not gonna end well. To him, he and his friends should just be well behaved and let the adults handle everything instead of risking their lives. Who knows how this little adventure would end?

“But first, who wants milkshakes? My mom gave me fifty dollars, by the way!” Darwin declared.

In response, Darwin’s friends gladly raised their hands for milkshakes. They can’t wait for their adventure to start after a sip of sweetness, running towards the nearest diner that was built in the 1950s, and ordering one milkshake for each. No chocolate, but at least they have vanilla flavor! When they sat down, they didn’t notice a strange, tall-ish, bony-looking boy in a choir uniform with a younger boy whose seat is next to theirs. 

“Okay, what should we do first when we look for the culprit?” Darwin asked quietly.

“I think we need clues. But first things first, where did the couple last go?” Bethany replies first, but keeps her voice low.

“I remember their car going out of town. So I think we might have to step out and find their car!” Tyler quietly chimed in.

“Um, what about UNO–?” Harrison tried to speak up to little to no avail.

“Forget about UNO. What matters is that we’re gonna be heroes one day!” Said Darwin, grinning like this adventure is going to be the best thing ever.

Jack, on the other hand, finds it VERY interesting that those kids–close to his age of twelve–are willing to go and risk their lives for a silly adventure. He sipped a cup of tea, basically eavesdropping on their chitter chatter while Johnny hears nothing. The younger boy is just eating sausage with pancakes with his small, bare hands. Good thing there’s no maple syrup. 

However–Jack knows damn well that HE can’t risk getting his life ruined by eleven year old kids who don’t even know what they’re doing. He looked at Johnny, thinking about how exactly he’s gonna get them away from him–then remembered that he has the Devil in Yellow on his side. 

Suddenly…

“Hey! Do you happen to know anything about the disappearances in this town?” Darwin asks Jack, snapping him back to reality without knowing it. 

Jack cleared his throat, “Not really. But I can HELP you.” 

“Sweet! That way teamwork can help us become heroes!”

Oh how gullible.