And Then Emily Was Gone #0

[cyberghostface]

"And Then Emily Was Gone is a horror series that begins with a former police detective called Greg Hellinger. Back in the day, he was famed for cracking some seemingly unsolvable missing persons cases, but five years ago he had what most believe to have been a mental breakdown, and ever since, he's been tormented by horrific apparitions of monsters that follow him around wherever he goes. He's pulled from his life of despair and squalor by a teenage girl called Fiona, who has tracked down Hellinger in hopes of him using his particular skill-set to track down her missing best friend, Emily.

The official story is that Emily ran away from home, but Fiona is convinced that a local child-snatching boogeyman by the name of Bonnie Shaw has taken her. Hellinger agrees to help Fiona, and their search takes them to the Orkney islands, and the remote community of Merksay, where strange and terrible things start to happen!" -- John Lees

This was a FCBD issue so I am posting the whole thing. This was actually published after the main miniseries but it's a stand-alone prequel story that doesn't spoil anything so I am posting it first.

Comments

[donnblake]

I'm not going to pretend to be an expert on the Orkneys or missing persons investigations, but it would seem like on a fairly small island with limited ferry service, it would be fairly easy to determine that even if a child had run away, they hadn't gone far.

Perhaps there's some supernaturally induced apathy afoot?

[cyberghostface]

Also keep in mind that the Bonnie can only take the child if the parents give him away. That would explain why the father is acting the way he is or how he was able to afford to leave.

[donnblake]

Well sure, but he still needs to sell the 'runaway' theory as plausible to the mother and, one would think, some form of authority.

[roguefankc]

Well sure, but he still needs to sell the 'runaway' theory as plausible to the mother and, one would think, some form of authority.

...unless the mother is (reluctantly) in on the scheme.

I thought her words "no matter how big of a disappointment you are" was quite surprising because that's not the sound of a mother who loves her child. And given her face in the second to last panel, I think she is FULLY aware of what happened to her son and how though it pains her, she acquiesced to the idea of "giving" her son to Bonnie Shaw (especially with the thought of money coming from said paranormal creature).

Although you'd think the adults would know better than to make such a Faustian bargain: there's always fine print in such a deal that will backfire on the parents eventually.

[sabertoothlotus]

Greed wins out.
"I'll find a way out of the deal, I'll outsmart the devil, that's a problem for future me to deal with..." it's pretty common thinking. Massive short-term gain wins out over all rational or reasonable objections. There are people who spend thousands a year on lottery tickets, and rationalize that they somehow come out ahead when they win a few hundred; this is the same thing, just... a lot creepier and a lot more evil. I feel sorry for the lottery people because they're deluded. I want to punch this father in the face repeatedly because he basically murdered his son.
I suppose that's often the point of the Faustian bargain, though; we the readers know there will be punishment, and we feel justified in enjoying seeing it dished out, and it will be all the sweeter because they brought it on themselves.