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The Screaming Man is the first issue in Arc 6: Ragorlang, and the sixty-fourth overall issue of the W.I.T.C.H. comics.

Synopsis[]

Hay Lin spent her weekend with Eric in Open Hill, where she met Tecla and Karl Ibsen- some friends of the Lyndon family. Karl told her about a mysterious creature called the Ragorlang, which can absorb people's life energy. Later, the W.I.T.C.H. girls discovered that it was Tecla who had summoned the Ragorlang which had attacked the kids at Eric's school. She lost the battle, and with it - all of her stolen youth. Now she's somewhere out there, looking like a monster herself, longing for revenge...

Plot[]

Sitting in art class, Hay Lin and friends were lectured on the famous Screaming Man painting. This image confused Hay Lin as she later explained to her friends that while she had never seen such a painting before in her life, she had lately been drawing weird images very similar to it: strange ghastly creatures who seem in terrible agony. The rest of W.I.T.C.H. convinced her not to panic and to turn thoughts to her weekend which she will be spending visiting Eric in Open Hill.

The air Guardian arrived to Open Hill and was surprised by the old and misty atmosphere, as well as a suspicious man creeping through the fog. Eric greeted her at the bus stop as did his mother who was oddly enthusiastic about the girl’s visit, compared to the previous hostility. As Eric explained, his mother had changed quite a lot recently, even decorating the guestroom especially for her.

Once Hay Lin had settled in, she complimented Eric on his beautiful new home. The boy agreed Open Hill was perfect, now that he had Hay Lin by his side. That night for dinner, the family greeted two more guests, Tecla and Karl Ibsen, a funny old couple who make fast friends with Hay Lin. Karl worked as a history teacher at Open Hill High School, but many of his students had contracted an illness that made them unresponsive which he compared to an old legend he once heard. However, Eric dragged Hay Lin away before they could hear more of it.

Undeterred, Hay Lin approached Karl and asked him to explain the legend he was previously mentioning, the story of the Ragorlang. He told her a story from his years as an anthropologist, when he came across a village where the children were in a catatonic state, unable to speak or listen. The people of the village blamed it on the Ragorlang, a human who could split off their shadow to absorb sounds from people's minds, leaving them silent like stones. In this way, the Ragorlang fed itself and its master by harvesting the life energy from its victims.

That night, Hay Lin telepathically told Will what she found, but the energy Guardian thought she was just being paranoid and should focus on her plan to not make a fool of herself in front of Eric's parents again. Though Will went to bed, Hay Lin heard something on the roof, prompting her to go up and check it out. She came face to face with a monster that started draining something from her until being stopped by the other Guardians, summoned to her rescue. With the monster driven odd, Hay Lin convinced the girls to go home for the night, though was now certain her Screaming Man was not just a dream.

The next day, she had breakfast and went on a walk with Eric around town, enjoying their time being together. Just as they were enjoying a romantic moment, they were found by Eric's new pals who brought them to lunch. While waiting for their food, Eric noticed Hay Lin’s avoidance and while he feared she disliked his friends, she admitted to feeling jealous of them for being with him every day. She asked about his behavior last night at Karl’s story and he revealed that one of the students afflicted by the "condition" was a friend of his. He quickly turned the conversation to a seminar Karl was attending next week which would also feature Dean Collins, thus giving them a chance to see each other again very shortly. Their display of affection is scolded by the same suspicious man Hay Lin saw on her arrival, who turned out to be Eric’s school principal, Mr. Kirkner. Eric's friends declared the man a grouch who sulked around the neighborhood but only came out on foggy days which made Hay Lin suspicious.

A week later on the day of the seminar, Dean and Will went to pick up Hay Lin thought they were a bit awkward with their new family dynamics. Meanwhile, the other Guardians were in Ye Olde Bookshop playing with the magic portal and got a visual on their friends. They worried about Hay Lin and a potential connection between her and the monsters she’d drawn before seeing it.

At the conference, Hay Lin’s group met the rude principal again and she told Will her suspicions that he was connected to the Screaming Man. Hay Lin was called out assigned by a concerned looking Karl who told her Eric had fallen sick, offering her a ride to visit the boy at his house which the panicked girl agreed to without even telling Will. Will went looking for her friend and instead ran into Eric, who looked very out of sorts. In Karl’s car, Hay Lin wondered what could have happened to Eric when she was attacked by the same monster, dragged into the back seat with Karl telling her he was sorry.

Will called the other Guardians to Open Hill to find Hay Lin since Eric was too choked up about something to explain the situation to Will. They found a street which looked like the one they saw and now know how to hunt for their suspects. In the basement of the Ibsen house, Karl watched as Hay Lin’s energy was absorbed by the monsters of his stories, the Ragorlang, wielded by none other than his wife, Tecla. She kidnapped the girl to keep her silent about the Ragorlang and blamed Karl for telling her too much.

At that moment, the Guardians busted in and Tecla attacked them with her shadow which their powers could not effect. The creature fought back by regurgitating the sounds it has stolen in a fierce weapon against the guardians. Will, seeing her chance, attacked Tecla directly and the monster disappeared. The basement also began to cave in on them; the Guardians fled and the stolen voices flew off to their rightful owners, including Hay Lin's.

Later, back in Heatherfield, Hay Lin sat in W.I.T.C.H.’s base while writing in her journal. As she explained to Will, she was glad that everyone was okay but wondered why she couldn't tell that Karl and Tecla were fooling her. Will said Tecla was abnormal and there was clearly a connection between her and Hay Lin based on their connection to sounds and air.

On a train from Open Hill to Heatherfield, Tecla and Karl were sitting onboard with the woman having aged to extraordinary degree. Losing all of that stolen energy left her week, but with Karl at her side, she hoped to get it back and take revenge on Hay Lin.

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