The forest watches
Cold air slapped her as she burst outside, gravel skidding under her boots. She sprinted towards the forest path without looking back.
But halfway down the drive, she stopped. She noticed and man standing beside a dim, broken streetlight. He appeared normal- gray jacket, hands loosely in his pockets and with a slight slouch.
But he stared at her with such strong intensity that her pulse spiked further.
She hesitated; her feet stuck in place. When she stepped forward, he stepped forward.
As she slowed, he slowed. Like a delayed reflection.
Her stomach dropped. An animal in the distance yelped. His head snapped towards it too quickly. A loud snap rang through the silence. Mara ran back to the house seeking shelter.
"Mara....come back." The man didn't follow.
The moment she reached her father's house she looked back briefly. And he was still standing in the exact same place- staring directly at her.
Hours went by as Mara sat there numb and waiting. Every now and again she'd look out the window to see if he was still there. Even when she no longer could see it, she stayed hidden.
Soon sleep took over and she dozed against the door. She was awoken when a small beam of light grazed across her eyes. Meekly rubbing her eyes and stretching she carefully got up and checked the house. Upon clearing the house, she made a cup of coffee and slowly sipped it.
Clouds crept across the sky engulfing the town in darkness. Thin at first, the roaring- turning Blackbridge's narrow streets into veins of silver water. Mara watched from the kitchen window of her father's house; palms pressed to the cold glass. Something in her chest tightened with each deep thunder as it rolls across the mountains, echoing across if like an angry lion.
She tells herself that the pounding was only the throbbing headache forming from spending to many hours digging through her father's things.
Still, she couldn't stay inside, not after last night, she needed answers. So, she pulls on her coat and headed outside to her car.
The Town Sheriff
Blackbridge's sheriff's department squats near the center of town like a relic- one story, brick chipped by decades of winters, porch lights constantly flickering. Mara knocks, then pushes the door open. A jangle of bells greets her, followed by the smell of burnt coffee and disinfectant.
Inside, Sherriff David Huxley stand behind the front desk, a heavyset man with a face carved into permanent fatigue. He looks up from the paperwork and freezes when he sees her.
"Mara Kessler," he says, slowly. His voice is rough gravel. "Didn't think I'd see you back here."
She managed a hesitant smile. "I'm trying to piece a few things together. Mostly about my father and the things he was looking into before he passed."
At those words his jaw flexed.
"There's nothing to worry about," he replies too quickly. "Just folks leaving town for better opportunities."
Mara steps closer. She lowers her voice. "Sheriff...there are names in my father's journals. Names of people I remember, but upon looking at his other books. Apparently to this town they never existed. There's no record of them no matter how much I dig through father's things during the day."
"Your father wasn't well," he mutters. "He got wrapped up in things he shouldn't have."
He taps the desk once, loudly. "You should let this go, do worry about what he was doing. It's just the workings of a mad man."
The lights above them flickers- once, twice- then steady again.
Mara swallows. "Just tell me if you ever investigate it or have, please."
The sheriff looks away, "Some thing's don't want investigating."
Behind her the door creaked open making the little bell jingle, signaling someone's arrival. A woman stepped inside. Tall, slender, her raincoat glossy with the stormwater. Mara recognized her briefly from her childhood. But gone were her rosy cheeks and beautiful tanning from the endless hours of gardening and replacing it was wide bloodshot eyes and pale waxy skin.
She tilted her head towards Mara with a smile. Tho the smile truly didn't reach her eyes. "Mara," she stepped closer, "Welcome back home."
Instinctively Mara stepped back a deep cold shiver ran down her spin and her stomach grew knotty. "Evelyn? H-How did you know I was back?"
Her smile grew wider, "Why wouldn't I?"
Mara glanced back at the sheriff. He hadn't intervened at all throughout the situation. Just stood and watched- expression blank and heavy.
"Your father spoke about you often," Evelyn continued softly. "Right up until the end. He said you would come back."
Her hands rest delicately on Mara's arm. "And now here you are."
Mara forced herself to stay still. "Did you know him well?"
Evelyn tilted her head slightly in a pondering manner. "Knew him? Hmmm I'd say we ALL knew him." her smile dropped, "He claimed to have seen things. He would always try to interfere in things that didn't concern him. Even when he was warned. He just couldn't keep away." Evelyns eyes sharpened as her grip on Mara's arm tightened, "Don't make the same mistake."
With that she smiled and looked at Sheriff Huxley for a moment before leaving without another word.
When the door closed behind her Mara finally realized her hands where shaking.
"What the hell was that?!" she whispered out roughly.
Huxley exhales slowly. "Someone you'd be smart to avoid." He leaned further and growled out in a hushed tone. "There are people in this town you need to be wary of. Some are there and some aren't." He points to his head, "You want my advice? Settle your father's estate. Then leave. Let Blackbridge rot on its own."
His words hung in the stale sheriff's office air, charged with a heavy warning.
Mara nodded numbly as she backed out of the door.
Back again
Outside, the rain had thickened into sheets. But the storm couldn't drown out the growing dread pounding its way further into her heart.
As she walks towards the parking lot, she could hear a clicking beneath the roaring sound of the rain. Something unnatural.
Her breath hitched as she turned her head towards the sound. It was coming from the dark alley next to the sheriff's office.
Ignoring all the warning bells going off in her head Mara stepped closer and peeked around the corner.
There illuminated by the flickering of the streetlamps stood a tall, gaunt figure. It stood at the far end- half-hidden in the shadow, its head tilted at an unnatural angle. Its fingers tapped the brick wall.
Click. pause. Click. pause. Click. pause.
Mara stumbled backwards recognizing the figure, her feet slammed into the uneven ground loudly.
The figure's head jerked towards her.
CRACK!
Mara's pulse spiked as she watched as it snapped its neck back into place. She stepped back and it stepped forward. Taunting her.
She runs.
The storm swallows her footsteps as she dives back into her car, locking the door with trembling fingers.
Through the rain-streaked windshield, she sees nothing. No figure. No shadows. No movement. Everything was calm as if nothing had happened.
But when she started her car, the digital clock that should've read 5:42 p.m. didn't.
Instead, the numbers glitch. Flickered and reset repeatably.
3:11
3:11
3:11
Mara slams her hand against the clock screen. "Not now." she whispered frantically- begging.
As she drives back to the house she can't help but wonder if she should drive away and imagine none of this happened. But she knew she couldn't, or that she felt that she shouldn't.