The Shorter Way[]
Here, Iowa, Maggie Leigh, the local librarian arrives on the scene of a crime. Sheriff Joe Bly informed her that there was a break in. However, it was more than that. Maggie notices Daniel Moore’s bike on the ground, his mother’s body in the yard, and the syringe not far from her. Sheriff Bly informed Maggie that Daniel was missing. He was supposed to come to the library for literacy. Maggie was going to walk him over. Sheriff Bly had no idea what they were dealing with, but he didn’t want Maggie involved and asked that she leave the investigating to them. As Maggie was leaving the scene, she noticed a candy cane in the street.
Maggie returns to the library with the candy cane she found outside Daniel Moore’s house. She grabs her purple scrabble bag and asks for Daniel’s location. She shoves her hand inside the seemingly bottomless bag to the point of her entire right arm being consumed by it. The lights flicker as Maggie pulls out the scrabble tiles which spell "The Wraith".
Maggie approaches Sheriff Bly outside the Sheriff Department. She asks with a slight stutter if anyone in town drives a Rolls Royce Wraith. Sheriff Bly informs her that they found the body of Peter Ives last night in Plymouth County. He was a nurse practitioner down in Florida wanted for disappearances all over the country. They think he killed Karen Moore and her boyfriend. As for Daniel, they suspect he’s dead. Maggie asks if Ives owned a Wraith. She believes that they’ll find Danny if they find the Wraith because her scrabble tiles told her. They had been right before; Mrs. Richardson in the quarry for instance. While Bly is willing to admit that Maggie’s been helpful in the past, they’ll be solving this case by the books. While leaving, Maggie takes Ives report with her.
Maggie digs into her scrabble bag and asks it how she can find the Wraith. The scrabble tiles she pulls out spells "The Brat".
The Graveyard of What Might[]
Here, Iowa, Maggie awaits Sheriff Bly at the police station to further discuss Daniel Moore and the Wraith. There were only 500 made, and the owners aren’t typically known to drive them because parts are hard to come by once the car breaks down. Maggie wants to track down Wraith parts in hopes of finding Daniel. However, Sheriff Bly is dismissive of both Maggie and her Scrabble Bag. However, Maggie has started her own investigation, leading her to a junkyard in Nebraska with spare Wraith parts. She pleads with Sheriff Bly to assist.
Maggie and Sheriff Bly take a drive down to the junkyard in Nebraska. The owner, Mrs. Miller, informs them that someone came in for some bodywork on a '38 Wraith. Bended up left front fender and needed to replace brake drums. This was 32 years ago. It’s the same day her son and grandson disappeared with the car, and the man that owned it. She describes the owner as being sickly with bad teeth, about 80 years old. Her son, Robbie, was the one who fixed it. He was spellbound by the car, even when it did things it shouldn’t, like starting by itself. One day, Mrs. Miller came home and her grandson was yelling "Grandma! The car got Daddy!" She came out to find that the car had Robbie pinned against the garage wall. Robbie claimed it was his fault, that the car rolled off its blocks, but Mrs. Miller was certain that the car had a mind of its own. One day, she came home and the car was gone, along with her son and grandson. Regardless of what anyone else may think, she knows the "rat-faced" owner of the car took them.
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.
The Gas Mask Man[]
Here, Iowa, Maggie gets a call from Sheriff Bly. She asks about Mrs. Miller from the junk yard in Nebraska, however, he has no updates to provide. He asks Maggie to stop investigating Daniel Moore’s case and to put down her Scrabble Bag. She’s the closest thing Sheriff Bly has to a daughter, and he doesn’t want to find her half-frozen on a park bench ever again. Maggie promises him she’ll stop. A young woman enters the library in search of a book of romantic poetry. Maggie and the woman proceed to have sex in the library, though their hookup is cut short by the flickering lights. Maggie shows the woman out and digs in her Scrabble Bag. The Tiles spell out "Wraith Hunts Brat."
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 Creatives 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.
Maggie pays a visit to the Essex County Psych Ward, where she reads to the patients. The hospital still has no leads on what caused the power outage. People are starting to suspect the facility is haunted. Maggie reads to Ms. Callahan, a patient who suffers from clinical depression.
Maggie notices a flickering light outside a patients room. She enters to find Jolene July in bed. At Jolene’s feet lies a candy cane, leading Maggie to conclude that Manx had been there. Maggie explains that she’s a medium and her Scrabble Bag told her that Manx was hunting a Strong Creative in Haverhill. Maggie questions why he visited Jolene. She then finds an old photo of Jolene on her night stand wearing roller skates. Maggie deduces that the skates are her Knife. She looks to Jolene and then looks over to the wheelchair sitting in the corner and realizes that it was Manx who crippled her.
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. Vic later realizes that it wasn’t Smitten that the Wraith was hunting. It was "Mittens". Haley Smith's cat.
The House of Sleep[]
Maggie arrives at the Smith house, 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 then takes off to find Haley herself.
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.
Maggie calls Sheriff Bly and tells him that she’s in Haverhill after getting a tip from her Scrabble Bag that the Wraith was there. Maggie informs him that the Wraith took another kid, and she needs him to put out an Amber Alert, but Joe can’t do that for another state. He could put out a national alert, but Joe doesn’t want to take that risk in case that Maggie’s wrong. It could cause panic and chaos. Maggie insists that she’s right though.
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 her mother Linda McQueen.
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.
At her hotel room, Vic stops by to inform 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 Brewster’s party with Maggie. As Vic spends time with Drew, Maggie hangs out with Willa. Maggie swats Willa’s hand when she attempts to grab her Scrabble bag, explaining that it holds the mysteries to the universe. She then asks Willa about Drew, who according to Willa, hasn’t stopped talking about Vic since Labor Day. Willa is especially happy for Vic as she doesn’t see her having fun much, as she is too often being pulled down by her terrible parents. Willa can relate in the sense that she too feels as if her parents are terrible. Maggie mocks Willa and privileged life. Maggie was never so lucky to be afforded what Willa has, as she's an orphan. Willa asks how old Maggie was when her parents died. Maggie reveals they’re not dead. They disowned her because she was unholy. To prove it, Maggie asks her Scrabble bag who is the coolest girl at Exeter Academy. She spells out "Beans." It’s a nickname given to Willa by her mother when she was a baby.
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. Maggie wakes up to find that Vic is already gone. She later arrives at the bus station. She takes a peak through the window and sees Vic sitting across from Manx. She takes this opportunity to get a better look at the 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.
The Dark Tunnels[]
Maggie is taken into surgery. She comes out and is expected to make a full recovery. 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.
While leaving the Peter Pan bus station for Iowa, Maggie throws her Scrabble Bag in the trash.
Scissors for the Drifter[]
Maggie gets a call from Vic, who 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.
Maggie emerges from a doctor's appointment as Sheriff Bly awaits her. He asks if she’s taking anything for the pain, and she tells him no. He notes that her stutter stopped, a result of her throwing her Scrabble Tiles away. He knows Maggie’s history and is worried that she might fall back into bad habits, so Joe offers her the spare bed at his place. He's also glad to hear that she’s stopped her pursuit of the Wraith.
After getting a call from Judith Miller, Sheriff Bly finds Maggie sitting at a park bench and informs her that a Wraith has surfaced in Nebraska. Local officers are on the way. However, Maggie is high and barely coherent. He finds pill bottles in her jacket and takes her home.
Maggie wakes to find a note on the side of her bed. It’s from Joe, who insists that she’ll be staying with him until she’s better. Maggie calls out to Joe to apologize for her actions. She enters the kitchen to find the sink running. She then looks outside, where the lights to his cruiser are flashing and Christmas music plays from his radio. On his windshield sits a candy cane, indicating that he was taken by Manx.
Parnassus[]
Maggie rushes back inside, dumps the trash can out on the counter top in search of her prescription drugs. When she finds the bottle empty, she retreats to her bedroom and cries. Maggie spends the following day cleaning up the house and going through Joe’s laundry. Later that night, she calls his phone, but only gets his voicemail. She calls her mother and asks to come home. She explains that she threw her Scrabble Tiles away. Carla tells Maggie she’s more than welcome to come home so long as she agrees to their terms; weekly drug testing, no girls, and Church on Sunday. Maggie hangs up the phone before her mother could continue her list of demands. While taking out the trash, she finds her Scrabble Bag sitting on the front step. It seems to have found its way back to her. Maggie asks her tiles where Joe is. The tiles say that he’s dead.
Maggie gets drunk at Miss Trixies, a local bar. She meets a girl named Krystal at the bar, and after a bit of verbal foreplay, they exchange drugs. High off pills, Maggie and Krystal take to the dance floor, during which time, Maggie steals Krystal’s entire prescription bottle. After a brief make out session in the hall, Maggie takes a hard look at herself in the bathroom mirror.
Maggie sits both drunk and high on a dirty mattress in an alleyway after mixing her pills and booze. She asks her Scrabble Bag for the location of Vic’s bike. The tiles spells out "THE BRAT." Maggie calls Vic to inform 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 finds her bike and uses it to find 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. 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.
Maggie and Vic 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 tells Maggie to stay behind and help the police track down Bing.
Maggie calls the police and reports the attack. She claims that Bing has both Vic and Craig. Detective Hutter arrives on scene and asks Maggie when was the last time she spoke to Vic. Maggie reveals they were last in contact that morning when they had breakfast. Detective Hutter questions what lead Maggie to Bing’s house. She questioned Vic the day of Maggie’s accident, and she told Hutter a driver-less car ran her down. Maggie sticks to her story of Bing taking Vic, which Hutter doesn’t doubt, but she knows there’s more to the story than what they’re telling her.
From the police station, Maggie asks her Scrabble Bag where’s Bing. The Tiles spell out "GAS." Maggie informs Hutter that Bing is at the SoChemPharm plant. Hutter had her guys check it high and low, but he wasn’t there. Not then, Maggie explains, but he is now. Maggie reveals that she’s a Medium, and her Scrabble Bag tipped her off. Her Tiles told her where to find Bing. Hutter asked for the truth, and the truth is that there are forces at work in the world. There are people in the world with abilities way beyond Hutter’s comprehension. Maggie’s one of them. Vic’s another. As well as Manx, who has Vic and Craig. And she wasn’t lying when she said Maggie was hit by a driver-less car. Maggie pleads with Hutter to believe her as Bing may know where they are.
Gunbarrel[]
Detective Hutter wakes Maggie as she sleeps on a couch in the precinct. She apologizes for not being faster and catching Bing at SoChemPharm. Hutter advises Maggie to go home. She promises to call Maggie should there be any developments. Maggie puts her ability on display for Hutter, asking her Scrabble Bag when Vic will call, reaching into her Bag, shoulder deep and pulling out Tiles that read "SOON." Hutter asks to see the Tiles, but Maggie advises against it. She stutters as she explains that it’s dangerous. Maggie’s abilities work by tearing the fabric between the real world and the world of thought. Maggie then gets a call from Vic, who informs her that she’s in Colorado and 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."
Detective Hutter stops by Maggie’s hotel room to inform her that Vic is safe, and Manx is in custody. However, Hutter hasn’t had any luck in finding Bing. She’s hoping that Maggie will ask her Scrabble Tiles where Bing is. Hutter reveals that she was born three months premature with a collapsed lung. It didn’t look like she would make it. So, Hutter’s mother brought her home to her grandfather. He’s a Santero in Mattapan. Hutter’s mother swears that he saved her life with offering to the Orishas. Hutter has never been a religious woman. Until yesterday, she thought that story was just superstitious family lore. She admits that there may be forces in the world beyond their comprehension. However, as Maggie explains, there’s a cost to messing with these forces. Which Hutter acknowledges, but she has to stop Bing and needs Maggie’s help to do so. Maggie reluctantly grabs her Scrabble Bag and asks where to find Bing. The Tiles spell out "HOUSE OF SLEEP TWO."
Maggie joins Vic by the Shorter Way clearing 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.