It is NOT cloudy, but partly Moony, and 67 degrees Fahrenheit (19,4 Celsius), and a waning half-moon. 

We decide to go to the festival.  There are still lots of kids around, since school is out.  While riding the ferris wheel, we spot lots of flashlights roaming the park area, probably people hiding the devils or searching for the girl.  Bobby and 2-0 spot a little girl by herself who appears to be heading into the woods about 3 blocks away, and a couple of deputies that are close by the ferris wheel.  She does not have a flashlight or other light source.  I call Kristin on her cell phone to let her know what they saw, and she and Ikonu take off through the crowd.  Bobby yells out that he’s going to be sick, and the carnie stops the ride and Bobby and I get off. 

Bobby makes like he’s heading for the trash can, then takes off.  I head to the two paroling deputies.   I yell out to the officers and try to get their attention.  I hear a woman that sounds like she’s getting frantic about trying to find her daughter, calling out “Julie!”.   I get to the deputies and explain the situation and tell them about the woman.

Doc yells out to stop the ferris wheel.  I CONVINCE the deputies that the situation is serious.  Doc offers a guy $20 for his unicycle, and the guy looks at him and says, “um… no”.   The deputies both head toward the woman, and I convince them that they need to split up, and one starts running while the other calls to see if any other deputies are closer. 

The daughter was last seen by the balloon guy.  The girl is 10 years old, very spontaneous, with wandering tendencies.  She was wearing a current-style pink skirt and a matching lightweight pink jacket with a white blouse.  The balloon guy was wearing carnival-like balloon clothes, and she never saw his face.  The woman is wearing a red and white checked blouse and jeans.  Her name is Linda Smith.

Bobby notices her trail going into the forest, and sticks a chem. light in the fork of a tree to mark the spot, then enters the forest.  I ask the deputy to try to get the carnival manager.  2-0 barely catches some balloons out of the corner of his eye, moving behind the sharpshooting booth and takes off to check it out. 

Bobby organizes a search squad.  I take off the other direction around the sharpshooting booth.  2-0 rounds the corner and hears the sound of balloons popping coming from his left.  Bobby finds the tracks of what looks like a large dog, mastiff-sized.  I move around the ring toss booth and jump a low temporary fence, and crouch down to peer underneath the tractor-trailers.  I see a person standing between them, and motion to 2-0 that there’s someone there.  2-0 moves toward the trailer and then tells me that this is not the balloon guy we’re looking for, and that I should move along.  I tell him that his mind tricks won’t work on me, and kick him in the nads. 

Doc finds the girl’s tracks.  The dog’s tracks were made at about the same time as the girl’s were.  I go around the trailer and see a guy leaning against the trailer, smoking.  I greet him and ask him where I can find his manager, and he tells me that he’s in the trailer right here. 

The only balloon vendor he has is Frank, the guy I talked to.  I talk to Frank to get what he knows of the situation.  He tells me that he was just around selling balloons, and that he’s sick of dealing with the kids.  I tell Frank to go tell the deputy what he told me.  He does, and then I join the group.

Doc tells the deputy that he’s concerned that the large group of people that has joined the search will obscure the trail, and the deputy tells everyone to stop. 

2-0 notices one flashlight that continued on, then went behind or into a structure of some sort.  The deputy doesn’t know of any buildings out here.  The trail leads to the structure (an old shed), and the flashlight re-appears from inside the shed. 

Bobby yells “You in the shed!  Freeze!”   Ikonu vogues.  Kristin rounds the shed to the back.  Doc asks if the person will lower the flashlight, and he answers in a gruff voice “You told me to freeze”.  Bobby asks “Julie, is that you?”  and a small voice says “Yes”.   Doc nonchalantly unsheathes his formerly gay knife.  The deputy tries to quick draw his gun, and yells “Murray, put your hands up!”  and shines his light on Murray, the old man from shed 24.  Murray drops Julie’s hand as she ducks back into the shed and he raises his hands.  Kristin hears rustling noises form inside the shed.  I tell Julie to come on out.  Murray drops to his knees and the deputy cuffs him. 

I interrogate Julie and she says that she came out here following a really big, dark-colored dog (holding her hand up above her head to indicate it’s height).  Doc says that he thinks that the tracks were made by a wolf, but he knows of no wolves that would be that big.  He then lets out a howl, with no response from any wolves, but some strange looks from the rest of the group.  Bobby asks the deputy if there’s been any wolf activity, and the deputy says that yes, there have been reports of wolf activity but none that large.

Doc thinks the girl is hiding something, and whispers as much to me.  I convince her to tell the truth, but she says that we’ll think she’s crazy.  She then goes on to say that she doesn’t want to be on the side of a milk carton, and that the wolf is her pet dog.  He comes and visits her outside her window all the time.  He’s been her pet since spring break.  She doesn’t know Linny Boyce.  He told her that she should follow him, and she starts crying because she doesn’t want to leave her mommy.  The dog always asked her to go with him, but mom wouldn’t notice if she just went away for a couple minutes. 

The deputy says that Murray is always the one that finds missing kids in this area.  I ask Murray why he’s the one that always finds the missing kids and he says that he grew up here and knows all the hiding places.  He says that he hasn’t seen any large dogs.  (26). 

Doc finds the wolf tracks again, and we track for an hour and the tracks have elongated as though the wolf is running.  Doc howls again.  I think he’s starting to lose his mind…  I suggest that we head back and stake out the girl’s house. 

Bobby tells us that we’ve been circled by a pack of seven of these wolves.  Bobby tells us to head to the river.  Doc leads.  Ikonu provides flank protection.  I move off toward the river.  2-0 comes with me.  Kristin calls her bow, and moves toward the river. 

Bobby moves toward the river, and notices that the wolves are herding us toward the river.  Doc gets up within 20 feet of the river.  Ikonu cautiously moves, readying to shoot something if he sees it.  I move to the river, and hear three of them rustling to my left.  2-0 moves up and casts Cloak of Fire, bursting into flame and hovers off the ground.  Kristin moves up.  Two wolves come into view to my left.

Bobby aims and fires, hitting one.  Doc aims and fires, hitting the same one.  Ikonu aims and fires, hitting the second one.  I set against charge.  2-0 aims and fires, hitting the first one.  Kristin aims and fires with her bow, hitting the first one.  Then the wolves come, but none hit.  Also, none of the bastards charged me.  Stupid wolves.  Another wolf that looks different than the others comes up and misses Ikonu with his bony tail. 

Bobby shoots the first one.  Doc activates his knife and hits one, and a burst of fire emanates, hurting another one as well.  Ikonu moves over by Bobby and holsters his gun.  I move up and set against charge.  2-0 moves into the river and casts Wave of Oblivion on three wolves.  Kristin shoots one.  A wolf goes past Bobby who shoots it in the spleen.  The big one bites Bobby, and he falls prone.  One wolf bites Kristin.  Another wolf bites Doc.  Two of the wolves growl fiercely. 

Bobby stands up and shoots the big guy.  Doc activates his knife again, hitting two.  Ikonu pulls his bone(s) and misses the big guy.  I charge and plunge Guurgal into a wolf, impaling it, and it sticks firm in the beast’s body.  I let go of it.  2-0 casts WoO again, hitting the same three wolves.  Kristin shoots and kills the one with my spear in it.  One bites Kristin.

After a short pause, Bobby tosses a grenade, hitting three wolves.  Doc tries to stab a wolf, missing.  Ikonu hits one.  I pull out my dagger and slash my palm with it.  2-0 hits one.  Kristin shoots one with a bow, killing it.  They attack, hitting Bobby and Critting Ikonu and another one slaps Ikonu with it’s tail, knocking him down. 

Bobby shoots one.  Doc aims and fires, critting a wolf.  Ikonu misses one.  With a feat of strength , I yank the spear free from the dead wolf.  Kristin hits another one, killing it.  One hits Bobby, knocking him down.

Bobby stands up and rapidly shoots one.  Doc aims and misses.  Ikonu misses.  I charge one but miss.  2-0 shoots and misses.  Kristin aims and misses the big guy.  The wolves all miss.

Bobby gets hit while shooting the big guy.  Doc aims at the big guy and hits it.  Ikonu hits one.  I move to flank with Bobby, and plunge the spear into it, killing it, and I let out a battle roar.  2-0 aims at the big guy, hitting it.  Kristin aims and hits the big guy, killing it.  The other two run off into the woods.

Several people take trophies and pictures, and then we head back toward the shed, arriving around 1am.  We then split up to stake out the hospital (where the girl was taken) and the girl’s house.  Bobby and I go to the house, Doc and Kristin go to the hospital, and Ikonu and 2-0 go to the hotel to sleep. 

There is no continental breakfast at the hotel.  They do have regular breakfast, though.  Kristin and I go into the hospital to see the girl.  She is in room 31.  We get to the room and the deputy is guarding it.  I convince him that we need to talk to the girl.  We enter the room at 9:05 am.  She is awake, watching Scooby-Doo – “Coin!”  Kristin shows her pictures of the wolves and asks her if any of them look familiar.  She says that the dire wolf looks like the one that came to her window.  She says that it is “his pet”.  He is a wolf master, who wears a costume like he’s deformed with little-bitty cute wings on his back.  She met him in the woods.  She sometimes rides on the wolf’s back, a few minutes into the woods.  It’s always dark, so she can’t see where she’s going.  He’s a very lonely person.  The deputy tries to convince us that it’s time to go because her mom will be here soon, and I tell him that we want to see her, too.  The deputy says that there’s no way what she’s describing is real, and the girl starts to cry.  Kristin comforts her.

The girl says that he’s friends with a lot of people, but they never tell their parents.  I convince her to tell us about him.  He’s really deformed (with no wings) and big, walking with a hunch and looks scary and hairy.   He’s so nice and kind.  He can’t get older people to understand that he’s really a nice guy.  She knows the missing girl, and she hasn’t talked to him since she went missing.  The wolf always comes at night to take her.  The kids never see him except alone.  He never comes out of the woods, because people tried to hurt him years ago.  She swore a promise that she would never do anything to hurt him.

I deceive her into thinking that we won’t hurt him.  His name is Jehrameel and he has one adult friend, Murray Holbrook.  Jehrameel is really old, but she can’t tell it.  She saw Murray and Jehrameel at the same time once, and they went of to talk in the woods away from her.  Murray told the wolf that they were being followed and the wolf left.  Kristin gives her a card and tells her to call anytime she gets scared.  The deputy stands, mouth agape, and says he can’t believe what he’s hearing. 

We ask the deputy where Murray is.  He lives in an old house at the edge of the pine barrens.  He is supposed to come in to give a statement this morning. 

We go back to the hotel to catch up on sleep.  At 5:30pm we drive out to Murray’s house.  We let Ikonu, Kristin, and Doc off to sneak around the house, then wait a bit, and head to the front. 

Ikonu hears the sounds of voices coming from the back yard.  Ikonu hears Murray arguing with the forest.  He says “I know you’re there, you need to come out!  I’m serious!”  25 extremely boring minutes later, he gives up and goes back in the house.  We drive up to the house.  The yard is mowed, and the house is right in the middle of the forest. 

We knock and eventually he lets us in.  I ask who he was talking to and he says the forest.  So I say “So you were talking to Jehrameel.”  He freaks and tells us to leave.  After a lengthy diatribe, his resolve weakens and he admits that he is Jehrameel’s friend.  Jehrameel basically raised him from a boy, and took him from his parents.  They came back with police, but he doesn’t remember what happened.  2-0 asks if he’ll ever give the other girl back, and he says that he doesn’t have the girl. 

After a 5-hour walk, we reach a small cabin in a clearing in the marshiness at midnight.  It’s about 78 degrees and muggy, with a slivered moon.  I have 2-0 check the GPS for lines, and his eyes get wide as he says that there are 5 lines that intersect here – all of them.  I see something in the water that looks like an alligator (in Jersey?).  When we get to the second pier, Murray and I are standing in water a bit.  The third pier seems more stable.  Another thing swims through the water under the pier.  The fourth pier is also weak and unstable.  I barely keep my balance crossing the pier.  Murray falls and screams as he points at the water.

Bobby aims and shoots the crocodile  Doc aims and fires, missing.  Ikonu draws and aims.  2-0 draws and fires, hitting it.  Kristin aims and shoots her bow, hitting it.  Another one lunges up out of the water near me, and bites me, grabbing on.  I try to paralyze it with my armor, but miss and pull out my stun gun.

Bobby aims and shoots the one on me.  Doc aims and hits, sinking it.  Ikonu shoots the one on me.  Murray stands up, and then falls forward onto the other pier.  2-0 aims and hits the one on me.  Kristin aims and shoots the one on me.  The crocodile clamps down and pulls me into the water.  I paralyze it and it lets go of me and I get up onto the pier.

Bobby aims and shoots the paralyzed one.  Doc aims and misses.  Ikonu hits it.  Murray flips off of the pier into the water, sinking.  2-0 aims and hits.  Kristin misses.  I move up the pier toward Murray, barely avoiding another breaking board, and I hold the spear dull-end down into the water to see if Murray can grab it. 

Bobby aims and hits.  Doc aims and hits.  Ikonu shoots and kills the last one.  Murray grabs hold of my spear, longingly, and pulls himself up. 

I jump over the missing part and move up to the top of the stairs to the door.  Doc falls onto the pier.  Murray falls into the water again, then crawls to shore.  Everyone finally makes it across. 

I knock on the door, no one answers.  I try the door and it’s unlocked, so I open it, calling out “Hello, anyone home?”  There appears to be a trapdoor in the floor.  I open it, shining a light into it.  There’s a metal rung ladder built into the side of the shaft.  2-0 has a flash of memory about us having a map to this place in the scroll that he found.

We go down the ladder.  Doc finds two sets of tracks (other than Bobby’s) one that looks like bipedal wolf paws, and another that looks irregular, like walking on claws.  I ask Murray if he has ever been down here, and he lies and says no, so I ask him why he lied to me.  He says that he isn’t.  I finally convince him to trust us.  He says that he comes down here to talk to Jehrameel.  I tell him to call out for him, and he does, with no answer. 

Doc gets an image of a nine-foot tall, dark, scaly thing with horns and claws, and feet claws (like a wingless Pit Fiend).  I go over to the corner room with Kristin, Doc, and 2-0 nearby. 

Doc draws his weapon and says “Jehrameel?  Is that you?”  A voice says, “No, my name is Murray,” as he moves to attack Doc.  Doc shoots him.  Murray (who is now a werewolf lord) charges Doc, and guts him like a little piggy.  Jerhameel comes out from around the corner that I was heading to, and hurts him. 

Kristin aims and shoots at Jerhameel, missing.  Ikonu shoots Jerhameel, but misses.  Bobby aims and shoots at Murray, hitting.  Doc hits Murray with a fiery dagger, exploding in a blast of flame, then moves to the wall, taking a bite from Murray on the way.  Murray closes with us and sucks all the heat from the room, causing us to shiver a lot.  2-0 cast cloak of flames and moved away.  I try to convince Jehrameel to back down, unsuccessfully (stupid action dice).  Jehrameel starts talking to me, and shows me a vision of my mother’s death, then shows me my heart and starts squeezing it – I am panicked. 

Kristin aims and shoots her bow at Murray, hitting him, then moves over to Bobby.  Ikonu kicks at Jehrameel’s hand, knocking it aside, but not knocking the heart out of his grip.  Bobby aims and shoots Murray.  Doc gets his second and third wind, along with his dagger back.  Murray moves over to Kristin and Bobby, Kristin shooting him on the way, and hits Kristin in return.  2-0 aims and fires at Murray, hitting him.  I run and hide from Jerhameel.  Jehrameel moves toward Ikonu and a demon guy appears behind Ikonu, and attacks him, missing.

Kristin crits Murray, dropping him.  Ikonu shoots and misses.  Bobby aims and fires at Jehrameel, missing.  Doc aims and fires at Jehrameel, missing.  Murray reverts to human form.  2-0 aims and fires at Jehrameel, missing.  I come out of hiding and convince Jerhameel not to attack Ikonu.  Jehrameel disappears, and a little boy appears in his place.  Ikonu tries to grab him, but misses, as do I.  He moves over to Murray, and cries as he runs to him, reaching down to him. 

Kristin moves over and grabs the boy.  Ikonu attacks the demon, missing.  Bobby moves adjacent to Murray, puts his gun to Murray’s head, and says to the boy, “Don’t move”.  Doc aims and shoots the demon.  2-0 aims and fires at the demon, hitting.  I tell the boy to listen to Bobby.

Kristin asks the boy where the girl is, and he replies that she is in his secret space.  Ikonu attacks the demon, hitting it.  Bobby readies to shoot Murray.  Doc aims and hits the demon.  2-0 aims and hits the demon.  I convince the boy to tell us exactly where the girl is.  He says across the bridge in the other room, sobbing.  “Don’t die, Murray”.

Kristin moves over to the other room in search of the girl, calling her name.  Ikonu misses the demon.  Bobby tells Jehrameel to get rid of his little friend, and that if he calms down, Murray won’t die.  Doc aims and fires at the demon, hitting it and it dissolves into a smoky explosion, then wafts up the shaft.  2-0 does the one thing, then moves around the corner.  I convince the boy to stop crying and that Murray will be fine.  He sucks it up, bottom lip quivering, and surrenders. 

The girl won’t wake up, so I instruct the boy to wake her up.  In the boy form, it’s the only way anyone will talk to him.  Murray was one of his first friends.  The boy brought too many pets into the world at one time, and one bit Murray, which has really helped him to stay around longer. 

I try to convince Jehrameel and Murray to build an amusement park and Jersey Devil museum so that he can have friends to play with, and stay safe.