What LURKS in the DARK

CHAPTER 2

103 years later...

"What they do not understand, they fear. What they fear, they destroy."

Those sound like wise words. I sit back and close the book I am reading. I am supposed to be more interested in this vacation/trip we are on, but instead, I am constantly immersing myself in reading books. Maybe because I have dreams of being a famous author writer or because I don't have the courage to do anything else.

I sigh and look out the window, the scenery is changing fast. A few hours ago, we were seeing more of high hills and mountains, now, we are seeing more of trees and green plains.

"Waddup Henry?" My friend, Tristen jumped on the seat beside me. The sides of his mouth turn downward when he sees the book on my lap. "Still reading that thing, are you?"

I chuckle. "Yeah?"

"Must you be so… boring and serious all the time?" Tristen asks. "We are on this trip to loosen up. Look at those two," He points at a couple that are 3 seats in front of us, "Who would have thought that Carmen Rodriguez would be with Jeff Foster?"

I look at the two people and nod to myself. Tristen is right. Carmen is way out of Jeff's league. On the hierarchy, she is like a lion, or a panther whereas Jeff should be with a, uh, mountain goat.

That is not such a good depiction.

"So I want you, Henry Miller, to loosen up," Tristen says. He nudges me with his shoulder. "Look, Gracie is alone. I bet there is no better time to approach her than now," He nod at a blonde seated in front of Carmen and Jeff.

I swallowed saliva. "No no, I'm not yet ready."

Tristen laugh. "You'll never be ready, boy. Go on. I'll hold that for you," He leaned over and snapped the book from my hand. "And remember, don't go all nerdy on her. You should be cool, okay?"

I nod and start to stand up but then the seat beside her is occupied. I scoff and slump back down, "Lucas is already with her." I mutter angrily under my breath.

"You should go over there and send him away," Tristen says.

"What?" I can't believe what my best friend is saying.

"Yeah. Assert your dominance." He continues.

I look at Grace who is already giggling at something that Lucas was saying. "I don't stand a chance against Lucas," I mutter. "Maybe I should just focus on thinking about my new book, and read more." I take the book from Tristen.

"Bullshit!" Tristen snaps and snatches the book back. "I'm here. We'll have fun together."

I guess he's right.

Tristen Reynolds has been my best friend since I was 8. Now, 10 years later, we are still best friends.

We were taking an unofficial trip across the countryside. Nine of us. I, Henry Miller, am a wannabe author and nerd. Tristen Reynolds, my best friend who somehow found the balance between being a nerd and being a cool kid. He was my ticket to coming along on this trip with the cool kid.

Then there was Carmen Rodriguez, one of the prettiest girls I've ever set my eyes on. She was easily the richest and major sponsor of this trip. I was still trying to think of why she decided to do it, maybe it would look good on her college application.

Jeff Foster, who used to be a wimpy kid until last summer when he hit his growth spurt and stretched over a foot in 3 weeks, suddenly his voice became thicker and he had muscles too. Now, he was snuggling up with Carmen.

Emma Carter and Sophie Johnson were the typical examples of beauty without brains. They were close friends of Carmen and only came along because Carmen was here. They were more interested in taking pictures for I*******m than anything.

George White, the school sports captain and strongest guy amongst us. He was also our driver as he was the most mature looking out of all of us. He was pretty smart and I was eager to get in his good books because I am very interested in his sister, Grace who is the most beautiful girl in my world. Sadly, I don't have enough courage to speak with her without stuttering or getting an unnecessary erection.

Lucas Martin, the fucking boy who had suddenly started showing interest and flirting with Grace as soon as we began this trip. He had been doing this when he was sure that George was not looking. He was George's friend with the same bulky body build but not much brain power.

Yeah, that was my way of saying he is dumb.

We made an unlikely sight, but together, we have traveled past 6 small country villages, and it has been a good trip all round.

I was getting new ideas for my new book which was going to be about a group of kids that went on an excursion and all died.

Ironic, isn't it?

"We are stopping for a break," Tristen says, snapping me out of my reverie. "Are you coming?"

I nod. "Yeah," I sling my little bag across my shoulder as I walk out of the bus.

George stood near the driver's door, stretching to loosen up his tight muscles. I saunter up to his side and say, "Nice drive, yo."

He looks down at me, literally, and snorts. "Yeah, whatever!" He says and walks away.

I look around and see that we stopped in a small boring- boring-looking village. Sophie and Emma are taking tons of selfie pictures, definitely for I*******m.

There is a high possibility that they won't get any service connection here, and sure enough, I see Sophie waving her phone around and cursing in frustration. I chuckle and walk into what seems to be the center of attraction in the village. It is a bar. A rowdy bar.

"Oi, Henry, come 'ere!" I hear Tristen call over to me from the counter.

I walk over to the bar. The bartender was a man with a big potbelly and thick moustache which he stroked as he watched me approach.

"Are you sure this one is 18?" He asks Tristen.

"I am 18!" I snap. "We are all the same age. Do you need to see my ID?"

He shakes his head and pushes a foamy cup of beer to me. "Happy drinking then." He said.

I took a long gulp and felt the alcohol wash down my throat and settle in my stomach. The bar was rowdy with men from the village who were all shouting and talking at the same time.

George comes up to the bar and stands beside me. "A six-pack of beer," He says to the bartender who goes under the counter and comes up with a six-pack. He hands over the six-pack to George without hesitation.

I watch George open one can as he walks away, and drink deeply. I lean over, "You don't think that George is going to be driving us with all that alcohol he's drinking, right?" I ask Tristen.

Tristen chuckles. "Let it go, Henry. It's just one can. He'll probably share the pack with Lucas."

That makes sense, so I nod.

"Besides, if he's too boozed out to drive, Lucas will drive. Then you will have time to chat with Grace," Tristen says.

I shrug and look away. Sophie and Emma are taking more pictures beside some brightly colored strips of clothes. I think they just plan on updating their social media portfolio rather than college applications.

Jeff and Carmen are nowhere to be found. They are probably going at it somewhere in secret. I chuckle again.

"Whatever you kids do," The bartender says to us, "Do not stop by Con-hagen."

"What is that?" I ask, bringing out my jotter and pen from my bag. I needed every bit of idea I could get.

The bartender wipes the countertop with a napkin before answering. "That is the next village. Don't stop there even for a minute. Legend has it that it's cursed, okay?"

This sounds interesting. I wrote on my jotter; Curses and Legends.

"What is it about?" Tristen asks.

The bartender leans down and stares right into our eyes before speaking in a low conspiratorial whisper, "This dates back many years ago, right? The town was once as bubbling as ours here, but suddenly, we stopped hearing word from them. No trades came from them either, it was like they all disappeared."

"Did your village send anybody there to check what was happening there?" Tristen asks.

"We sure did," The bartender replies. He stood straight. "Nobody that was sent ever came back."

I was excited at this new piece of information. On my jotter I wrote; Ghost town, disappearance?

"How about observance from a distance? Was there any watching party to observe from maybe the top of a hill or something?" I ask.

"Have you seen the area?" The bartender grunts. "The grounds are as flat as a nun's behind. There are no hills anywhere. But maybe there were watch parties, I don't know." He shrugs his heavy shoulders. "All these I am saying happened before my time. It has to be my grandfather's time… if it is true anyway. Nobody now ever bothered to confirm if the stories we heard growing up were true."

"Hmm…"

"But there are archives in the library if you are interested," The bartender says and adds, "It's just down the major road. You can't miss it."

"Uh, okay… How do we –"

A grumpy man comes to the counter and says, "Harry, get me a bottle of beer, will ya?"

The bartender gives the man a nod and a wink to me and Tristen that says; Chat is over, boys. I need to get back to work.

We both nod and slide off the stool.

"How cool is that?" I ask Tristen. "Let's go to the library."

"Uh. No," Tristen shakes his head. "I'm going to see if I can get lucky with any of the girls in this town."

"What?" I ask, dumbfounded.

"But Goodluck though," He says, walking backward and giving me a thumbs up.

I sigh and walk out. I find the major road without any problem. This village is tiny. The road ran like a big artery through the heart, just one major road, and then other streets branch out of it.

A ping sound sounds from my phone. A new message was coming in. I unlock it and see that it is a message from George. It read; We will be spending the night in the inn near the bar. Take your time to explore around.

I chuckle and put the phone back into my bag.