Chapter 1

Ms. Pectole's 2nd grade class had been excited to visit the museum. But now, standing in the middle of the butterfly exhibit, Tyler Harris was starting to get a little bored.
The girls "oohed" and "awed" at the bright butterflies, and Tyler danced impatiently in his stiff school uniform.
"Can we go see the mummies yet?" He begged.
"No, Tyler. In awhile." His teacher chastened.
They passed through another exhibit, holding old household items, such as an ancient ice cream maker, a dollhouse, and a Spinning Jenny. It was in that room that Tyler spotted the room with the dinosaur fossils. H was close to dancing when they started to move on... and skipped the fossils.
Crushed, Tyler came to a stop at an exhibit about bears and mountain goats. His teacher, he noticed, was paying close attention to the speaker... surely she wouldn't notice if he slipped away for a minute?
Quietly, he headed back to the room he had just came from. He was almost to the archway that separated this room from the dinosaurs, when he heard a voice.
He spun around, a fib on his tongue, ready to get out of getting caught. No one was there.
He looked around again, but no one was there, he was sure. He turned to go, when he heard a chorus of small voices. He looked in their direction, but the only thing in view was the dollhouse.
Casting a look of longing to the dinosaurs, he made his way to the old toy.
The voices grew louder, though he couldn't understand what they were saying.
"Hello?" He asked, peering through a microscopic window.
Inside was a little pink, plastic kitchen, complete with a table and little people sitting at it. He was about to leave, when the doll father's head moved in his direction.
He stared, unblinking, at the family. Amazed, he watched a little girl get up and walk towards him.
His sister's dollhouse wasn't this cool. These must be robots or something.
They started talking to him again, and he leaned closer to hear. He pulled his red tie looser, leaning in, his ear pressed against the window.
****
A quick head count told Ms. Pectole her 29th student was missing. She noticed the quiet, and knew right away Tyler Harris was the wanderer. Rolling her eyes, she told her students to stay with the guide as she left. Walking back through the Original Home Appliances exhibit, she noticed something red and rumpled lying on the floor in front of the old dollhouse. With a sick feeling slowly spreading in her gut, she picked up the red necktie.

*2 days later...*
"So, five people have gone missing from this town so far?" Dean asked as he walked over to fill his drink.
"Yeah, and there's no signs of struggle. They just vanish." Sam said as he bumped into a girl. "Sorry."
"It's okay." She gave him a smile then walked away.
"What do the cops say?" Dean asked as he placed a lid on his cup.
Sam started to fill his own drink. "They think they were all run aways. Not enough to go on that they were kidnapped."
Dean looked at Sam, while he grabbed a container to fill with ketchup.
"Anything else?" Dean felt a sudden weight as the ketchup started to pour into the container.
"Not much." Sam said, grabbing a few straws. "No notes, no calls later on..."
"Some kind of cult, maybe?" Dean asked, leading the way to an empty table. "Maybe they're recruiting?"
"Yeah, maybe." Sam answered, sounding unconvinced. "Or maybe something else. Like, I don't know, a boogeyman, or a poltergeist."
"Weren't most of them adults, though?" Dean asked, sipping his drink. "That would rule out a boogeyman. And a poltergeist couldn't get to that many people, they like concentrated areas."
"Yeah, I guess." Sam said, pushing a fry into his mouth. "But it's all we've got, unless you've come up with something?"
Dean shrugged. "I don't know man, just doesn't really sound... supernatural."
"But Dad bookmarked patterns like this in his journal where--"
He was interrupted by a total stranger yelling at him.
"Where is she?!"
Dean was too shocked to stop the girl, a complete stranger, from pulling his burger apart. She seemed to be searching the contents for something.
"What the hell?--"
"You-you-you PEOPLE EATER!"
People in the McDonald's were starting to stare.
"People eater? What the heck are you talking about?"
"You ate Skippy! You horrid, purple, big, fat, no good, loser-face, moron who-who...eats PEOPLE!"
Sam and Dean exchanged wide-eyed looks. Obviously, whoever this girl was, she was a loony-bin escapee.
"Haven't you ever read Dr. Suess? A person's a person no matter how small! HOW can you sleep at night?"
"I'm sorry, who-do we know you?" Sam asked, confused.
The girl wasn't listening.
"All she wanted was ketchup! And you had to eat her! Jerks! I hope a hoard of angry Wendigo's tear you both limb from limb! I hope a thousand pissed off demons take your souls forever! I hope-I hope that you'll only ever meet ugly girls! I hope--"
"Spaz!" A small gasp came from the ketchup cup on the table. Everyone looked down. "Spaz, I'm down here!"
"Skippy?" Spaz stuck her finger into the ketchup, and something latched onto it. "Skippy! I thought you were dead!" Spaz placed her in the palm of her hand.
Sam and Dean stared, dumbfounded.
"I almost was." Skippy said, wiping ketchup from her face. She looked behind her and saw the same guys from before... And they were looking right at her. She was looking just as stunned as they were.
Spaz turned back to the boys, suddenly aware they were staring at her.
"Whoa." Skippy breathed out. "I've been eaten and gone to heaven." She thought as she looked at the two men. Her little day dream was cut short by Spaz.
"Oh, um... nice meeting you." She walked away towards the bathrooms, leaving Sam and Dean in a stunned silence.
"Dude, did you just see that?" Dean asked Sam as he pointed in the direction of the restroom.
"I saw it, but I don't believe it." Sam glanced behind him, over to the bathroom.
"Did you hear what she said?" Dean asked Sam a little irritated.
"About getting attacked by wendigos and demons? Yeah, maybe-"
"Not that. The important part!" Dean snapped.
Sam sat there confused and tried remembering the awkward conversation. He shook his head.
"She said that she hopes we only meet ugly girls! What if she was some sort of witch or something that cursed me?" Dean shuddered at the thought of future dates.
"Okay, Dean? I think there's more important issues here, then meeting girls."
"What? Meeting bug girls?"

*In the bathroom*
"Stupid jerks... I can't believe they almost ATE you!" Spaz muttered darkly as she washed ketchup from her hands.
"Well... in their defence, they didn't see me. And they probably weren't looking for a short girl near the ketchup." Skippy said, offhandedly. "And what do they know of the supernatural anyway, right?"
"I guess." Spaz said grudgingly.
"You know, they were really good looking."
Spaz paused as she dried her hands. "... They almost ate you... and you noticed they were good looking?"
Skippy shrugged. Spaz turned the sink on to a soft trickle and pulled out a piece of paper towel.
"Get washed off. I'll be back in a sec, I'm getting your bag out of the car."
As she left, Skippy heard her mumbling something about getting her priorities in order, but Skippy didn't really care. They really had been hot. And what good was life if you couldn't admire a guy every now and then, right?

*Back at Sam and Dean's booth*
"Maybe it was just a bug and she was messing with you?"
Dean looked at Sam annoyed. "Since when can bugs talk?"
"You heard it talk?"
"I think so... I'm pretty sure I did." Dean scratched his head in thought.
Sam frowned and picked up the ketchup container. He squinted a little, before his eyes went wide.
"Dean." Sam handed the container to his brother.
"Crap." Dean said as he saw the inside of the container covered with tiny, red hand prints.