Bad Mother[]
Haverhill, Massachusetts. eight years have passed, and Maggie and Tabitha have been in a happy, long term relationship. While taking photos of Tabitha, who is now an FBI agent, Maggie gets a call from Vic. They surmise that she’s calling after hearing of Manx’s death. Vic asks Maggie to ask her Tiles if Manx is truly dead, but Maggie no longer uses them. Vic is certain that Manx is still alive and determined to prove it. She has to finish the job, and to do that, she needs Maggie to asks her Tiles how to find a new Knife. Maggie refuses. She tells Vic to make an honest man out of Lou and get online, so that she can see photos of Wayne. Vic hangs up with Maggie and takes a drink of alcohol before restarting the truck. She drives it into the woods, hoping that her Bridge will appear, but it doesn’t. She gets a call from Wayne, who informs her that Sam called. He has a bike for them, and Vic has to pick it up.
Maggie goes to the Haverhill Public Library, where she researches Manx’s supposed death. She grabs her Tiles out the desk. Before asking them anything, she calls the police department to report that the lights flickered and that the cute librarian with purple hair is hurt in the basement. She then asks her Tiles if the Wraith is dead. She goes shoulder-deep into the bag as the lights flicker. She spells out "YES." She suddenly begins to suffer a seizure of sorts and falls out.
The Night Road[]
Vic arrives outside of Maggie and Tabitha’s home. She knocks on the door, where she is welcomed by Maggie. She’s glad to see that Vic is unharmed. Unfortunately, Vic wasn’t able to stop Manx. Maggie replies that they’ll stop him together.
The Lake House[]
Maggie reveals to Tabitha that she’s going with Vic. She intends to use her Tiles to predict when the Wraith is coming. Tabitha is worried, as Maggie has barely recovered from her last seizure. Maggie insists that she’s fine and reminds Tabitha that Vic needs her. Tabitha replies that there’s a cost for everything, including having Vic back in their lives. Maggie asks Tabitha to trust her and promises that she won’t do anything stupid. She then kisses Tabitha goodbye.
They arrive at Chris’ lake house. He greets Maggie and Lou, meeting them both for the first time.
Maggie and Vic watch the boys go fishing. Maggie asks Vic if she’s okay. Vic doesn’t know how to be normal like them. Maggie replies that none of them are normal, pointing out that Lou dresses like a storm-trooper for fun and her dad has "gone all Bear Grylls in a spooky horror cabin." Meanwhile, Wayne is cooler than them all. Vic replies that they don’t have a Bridge. Maggie retorts that neither did Vic for eight years. For a long time in her life, the Tiles were the only consistency in Maggie's life. And then, she fell in love. Tabitha is her home because she chose her. Vic questions if Maggie actually chose Tabitha considering she’s at the cabin with them.
Maggie calls Tabitha. She hasn’t heard from her since she left, and Tabitha isn’t answering. So, she's becoming worried.
Maggie leaves Tabitha another message, begging her to call back. Maggie reveals to Vic and Lou that she hasn't heard from Tabitha since she left the house. Both she and Vic know what happens to cops who cross Charlie Manx. She refuses to let Tabitha die and looks to her Tiles for answers. The lights flicker, as Maggie asks her Tiles if Tabitha is okay, much to Lou’s amazement. She spells out "HOUSE OF SLEEP." Vic realizes that Bing has Tabitha, just before Maggie has a seizure. Maggie recovers and reveals that she and Tabitha looked for the House of Sleep for years but could never find it. However, Vic can. Lou encourages her to go, and Maggie joins her. Vic gives Lou the detonator and kisses him goodbye.
Maggie and Vic arrive at the Sleigh House on the Shorter Way. Maggie rushes to find Tabitha, who is alive but is being hauled away on a stretcher. Maggie explains that she got scared when Tabitha didn’t call her back. Tabitha looks to Vic and sarcastically asks if she’s Maggie’s ride. Vic replies that she’s glad Tabitha is okay. Vic then gets word from Lou that Manx is coming to the house.
The Hourglass[]
Maggie watches as Doctor Gregory enters Vic's room with a needle containing an unknown substance and injects it into Vic’s blood bag, as she lays unconscious on the hospital bed. Maggie tries to inform the doctor that the nurses have already checked on Vic, but he is unresponsive. Suspecting that something is wrong, Maggie rips the IV out of Vic’s arm and then chases after Doctor Gregory, who locks himself inside a closet and objects himself with the needle. Maggie breaks the glass window and forces her way inside. She asks the doctor why he did this. In his final words, he asks Maggie to help him.
Maggie tells Tabitha that her actions were brave, but Tabitha retorts they were stupid. Maggie recalls the two agents that tried to kill Chris and the doctor that just tried to kill Vic. She suspects this to be the work of another Strong Creative who has aligned himself with Manx. Though it’s risky, Maggie wants to use her Tiles to find him. Tabitha advises Maggie against it given that she’s prone to seizures, but Maggie goes through with it nonetheless.
With the help of her Tiles, Maggie tracks the Hourglass Man to the Providence Hotel. The lights flicker as she enters, gaining his attention. He approaches Maggie at the bar and offers to buy her a drink. He remarks that he normally has to travel to Parnassus to enjoy the company of other Strong Creatives. He wonders if fate brought them together. Maggie tells him about her Tiles and how they tell her everything she needs to know. He suspects that Maggie’s loved ones don’t like her using her gifts and what's why they met. He tells Maggie that they’re hard to love. People fear them. He compares toning down their gifts to declawing a cat; it being downright cruel. Maggie then asks to see his gift. Jonathan reveals his Hourglass to Maggie.
Jonathan surmises that Maggie came looking for him because she seeks the company of someone like herself. Maggie asks that he show her what he’s capable of. Jonathan asks the bartender for a bottle of the finest bourbon and to put it on the house. He flips his Hourglass, the lights flicker, and the bartender does as told. He then flips his Hourglass back over and the bartender leaves. Like all Creatives, the use of Jonathan’s gift comes as a price. It causes his ears to bleed and dampens his memory. He can’t remember the first 20 years of his life. He then asks to see Maggie’s gift on display, though her gift causes seizures. Jonathan reveals to Maggie that he’s learned to mitigate the cost of his Hourglass and the last 20 years of his life are perfectly clear. He can teach Maggie, too. It’ll only cost her one question. And so, he invites Maggie upstairs.
There are two ways for a Strong Creative to mitigate the cost of their gift. Option A: hurt yourself. Option B: hurt someone else. Jonathan has explored both options. He has the scars to prove it from having burned himself with cigarettes. Maggie chooses the former and grabs her Tiles, as he whispers a question into her ear. She tells him that he might not like the answer, but he is prepared for whatever fate has in store for him. He asks for Maggie’s arm and burns her with a lit cigarette. He tells Maggie to harness the pain until it fills her up and only then to use her gift. Maggie does as instructed and asks her Tiles if John will achieve immortality. She’s amazed that she is seizure-free, but Johnathan is more concerned with the question of his immortality. The Tiles spell out "NO." He slams his fist onto the table, shattering the glass. As he walks into the back room, Maggie steals the Hourglass from his coat pocket.
Jonathan catches Maggie just as it seems she’s leaving. She claims that she was simply about to pour him another drink. Jonathan apologizes for scaring her earlier. He informs her that when he asks for a moment of someone’s time, he keeps his memory by taking their life. He thought that maybe he could also "bank" their time. He asks if Maggie is familiar with Charlie Manx. He’s unlocked the secret to immortality. Jonathan wishes to do the same. He tells Maggie to ask her Tiles again, as they have to be wrong, but she insists they’re always right. When she refuses, Jonathan decides that he’s going to make Maggie ask her Tiles. He reaches inside his coat pocket for his Hourglass but realizes that Maggie’s stolen it, as she sprints for the door. Jonathan stops Maggie and takes his Hourglass back.
He slams Maggie into a mirror and demands to know who she is. She came specifically for him and he wants to know why. Maggie reveals that she’s a friend of Vic McQueen, who is still alive and calls him a failed errand-boy. Jonathan throws Maggie across the couch and onto the floor. She grabs a piece of furniture and beats Jonathan over the head with it. They proceed to wrestle for control of his Hourglass. She grabs a shard of glass and stabs him in the abdomen. Maggie gets to her feet and steps on the Hourglass before walking out.
Maggie returns home to find Tabitha crying on the couch. She informs Tabitha that she found the Hourglass Man and destroyed his Knife. Tabitha reveals that Daltry took her off the case, as well as her gun and badge. Maggie assures Tabitha that they’ll stop Manx without the FBI. Tabitha inquires about the burn mark on Maggie’s arm, leading Maggie to explain that she’s found a way to eliminate her seizures and use her Tiles whenever she wants. Tabitha isn’t supportive of this. Maggie becomes defensive. She reminds Tabitha that she spent years without her Tiles because she loved her. She always felt something was missing but now she can use her Tiles whenever she pleases, adding that burning herself is a small price to pay. She asks that Tabitha support her because she’s never going to stop using her gift ever again, not for anyone.
Chris McQueen[]
Maggie and Vic head out to the SUV, where Maggie can use her Tiles in privacy after Vic learned from Bing the last stop before Christmasland. Vic still blames her dad. If it wasn’t for him, they could’ve found Wayne already. Maggie replies that parents always let you down, which is why she doesn’t talk to hers. Maggie then tells Vic that they all screw up sometimes, reminding Vic how she went to a murderer's hotel room without a plan. "I’d shank a thousand assholes for your mopey ass," Maggie adds. She lights a cigarette and burns her arm just before asking her Tiles if Wayne has hung his ornament yet. The Tiles reveal that he hasn’t, and so Vic is headed for Sleigh House. She then notices Tabitha watching and alerts Maggie before exiting the truck.
Tabitha then joins Maggie inside the SUV and breaks up with her. While she loves Maggie more than she’s ever loved anyone, Tabitha wants to live in the real world all the time. Maggie asks about Tabitha’s grandfather, the Santero of Mattapan. "What about the cost of ignoring forces beyond your imagination?: Maggie asks. Tabitha replies that her grandfather, for the most part, lives a normal life with a normal family. She knows Maggie would never be happy living that life, so Tabitha has to let Maggie go. She wants Maggie to be who she truly is. She even offers to drive Maggie to the airport so that she can meet Vic in Colorado.
Maggie, Vic, and Lou gaze upon the trees, each one with dozens of ornaments hanging from them, each representing a kid. Vic suddenly hears kids singing, but only she can hear them and goes to investigate. Lou tells Maggie that he likes being a dad. More than that, he likes being Wayne’s dad. Maggie assures him that he still is. She then pulls out her Tiles and asks if there’s a way to get the other kids back. Lou asks Maggie if she needs medicine given the amount of times she has burned herself, but she assures him she’ll fix it later. After asking if there was a way to save the Christmasland kids, Maggie’s Tiles spell out "WHEN SOULS FALL." Vic joins them and informs Maggie and Lou that Manx is on his way and that they need to hide.
Maggie slowly approaches Wayne from behind as he hangs his ornament on a tree branch. She calls out to him. He bares his fangs and runs off into the trees. Maggie calls out to him, but he doesn’t answer.
Welcome to Christmasland[]
Maggie meets Vic alongside the road. Vic knows of a back way into Christmasland — a weak spot in between worlds where the veil is thin. Maggie intends to join Vic with plans to blow up Christmasland. Vic is initially reluctant to allow Maggie to join her, but Maggie reminds Vic that she was hunting the Wraith months before she met Vic, so she wants to see it through together.
Maggie and Vic ride over the Shorter Way to Christmasland on the Triumph. They arrive inside Manx’s Inscape in utter disbelief. Vic reveals to Maggie that Wayne bit Lou and that she isn’t sure what he will be like when they find him. Maggie assures Vic that Wayne will remember her as she’s already done more than most parents ever could, including her own. Maggie’s mom disowned her when she started dying her hair and kissing girls. Maggie asks Vic to think about where Wayne might be. Vic remembers going to Six Flags and how much he loved the rides. However, there wasn’t anything he loved more than the 4th of July and fireworks. They are startled by a vampire kid dressed as Wonder Woman. Maggie says "Red Light!" The girl suddenly comes to a stop. Maggie explains that it always worked with the kids at the library.
Maggie and Vic avoid the Christmasland kids. They sneak up to a kid dressed as an astronaut, who they presume to be Wayne. However, it isn’t, and that mistake result in him alerting the other kids of their arrival. Maggie finds herself next to a tree with human limbs as ornaments. Among the ornaments is Joe’s head. Vic and Maggie are surrounded. Manx then calls out to Vic, who comes out from behind the tree while Maggie hides underneath. While Vic distracts Manx, Maggie plants a bomb under the tree and escapes.
Maggie sets a bomb under the Sleigh coaster. Unbeknownst to her, she is being followed by the little girl dressed as Wonder Woman. The girl steals Maggie’s Tiles from out her pocket and plays "Monkey in the Middle" with Mike and Maggie. The girl then takes the Tiles and runs into the Eternal Maze.
Maggie traps the child that stole her Tiles in a corner. She tells the girl that the game is over, but before she can recover her Tiles, she finds herself cornered by the Christmasland kids, armed with sharp weapons. Maggie snatches her Tiles away and fights the children off for as long as she can before becoming overwhelmed and tackled to the ground, where they take a bite out of her before Vic comes to her rescue. They take cover behind an ice wall as the kids search for them. They’ve both set the bombs and now have to wait for them to explode.
Maggie and Vic wander aimlessly through the maze. They cross paths with Wayne by pure happenstance. He wants to play a game with Vic. She says that he can play NBA 2K at home, but he doesn’t wish to leave Christmasland. Vic reminds him that in Christmasland, there isn’t a 4th of July, meaning no fireworks. She calls him Bats, which angers him. He tells Vic that isn’t his name and accuses her of always leaving him. Vic tells Wayne that she loves him and that she’ll always be there for him. She pulls Wayne close and hugs him, though he takes this opportunity to stab her with a pair of scissors, exclaiming that he won Scissors for the Drifter.
Maggie carries Vic on her shoulders as they limp towards the exit of the maze. In an instant, the exit disappears. What was once a passageway is now solid ice. Manx explains that this is the beauty of an Inscape. Everything they see is a product of his imagination. The Eternal Maze is one of his favorite exhibits. Children always find their way out but adults never do. Manx approaches Maggie and hits her in the stomach with his hammer. As he is about to bring the hammer down on her again, the bombs explode, destroying the Sleigh coaster and another shop. Manx instantaneously becomes weaker and ages rapidly. Vic takes his hammer and beats him over the head repeatedly. It takes Maggie to stop her as beating Manx in his own Inscape will accomplish nothing. They need to focus on finding Wayne before Christmasland falls apart.
Bats[]
Maggie searches for her Tiles. Vic tells her they need to leave, but the Triumph is too small to fit all three of them, so Vic intends to take Wayne back to the Real World and return for Maggie afterward.
Maggie's injury from her previous encounter with Manx has left her hurt and tired. She rests on a large stone and find herself surrounded by the Christmasland kids. They call over a doctor, who replies that they’ll have to amputate. As the children approach, Vic returns on her bike and scares them away. Maggie wants to stay and look for her Tiles, but she is forced to flee on the back of the Triumph with Vic as Manx chases them down in the Wraith.
Maggie and Vic ride over the Shorter Way with Manx following closely behind. Vic comes to a stop as she refuses to lead him to her family. With Manx trapped on her Inscape, Vic grabs Maggie’s hand and takes control. She manipulates the bats in her bridge to attack the Wraith, shattering its windshield.
Manx drives towards Maggie and Vic. Vic wills the floorboards beneath the Wraith to break. In doing this, Vic causes herself great pain, her eye even bleeds, but she continues until the Wraith falls off the bridge and disappears into the white static beneath. However, the Shorter Way then began to collapse with Vic and Maggie just barely escaping. They return to Sleigh House, where Maggie reunites with Tabitha, who calls in an ambulance. Just as Vic reveals that Manx is finally dead, the Christmasland children appear from within the trees, human once more. Tabitha then calls in Social Service in addition to the ambulance.
At the Haverhill Public Library, Maggie has been searching for weird and unexplainable phenomenons, such as Big Foot and haunted psychiatric prisons. Tabitha arrives with Maggie’s Tiles. She reveals that one of the kids had it at processing. Tabitha has made progress with the kids. Some still have families while the other will be put into foster homes. Some parents bring them back though, because they’re dangerous. Before Tabitha leaves, Maggie tells her that if she ever has a question, she’ll be willing to ask her Tiles. Tabitha simply replies by telling Maggie to take care of herself.
After discovering that Manx’s body turned up in the lake along with the Wraith, Vic, Maggie, Lou, Wayne, Tabitha, and Linda, gathered at the scrapyard to watch the Wraith get compacted after Manx was cremated. Vic surmised that Manx and the Wraith were dumped in Haverhill because it’s where the Shorter Way originated, before her father helped destroy it when she was a kid.
Maggie and Vic celebrate their victory over Manx at a cafe. Vic reveals that Lou is officially adopting Wayne and that they’re going to stay in Haverhill for a while. Being in Gunbarrel was bad for both Wayne and Vic. Maggie wonders how many other Inscapes there are in the World of Thought. She wants to take Vic’s Triumph out of storage to explore, but Vic wants to stay in the Real World. Maggie reminds Vic that she’s a Strong Creative, but Vic doesn’t want to put her family in more danger. Maggie replies that not every Inscape is Christmasland, reminding Vic of Jolene and her Tunnels. They’re so much left unexplored, such as "The Crooked Alley" and "The Empty Forest." Maggie’s Tiles have told her about all kinds of places. However, Vic isn’t interested.
Maggie burns her arm with a cigarette and asks her Tiles how to find the World of Thought. The Tiles spell out "HOTEL." So she returns to the Providence Hotel, where she killed the Hourglass Man. She follows the flickering lights to an out of order elevator. It opens upon her arrival, and she takes the elevator down.