Earlier that Summer…
The towering trees seemed to zip past the car as Cyril leaned his head against the window. He picked at the sleeves of his favorite red jacket and wondered when they would finally reach their new house.
His head bounced softly against the glass as his mother drove over the uneven road.
On the radio the local station warbled along and a voice sounded after the song ended.
"Make sure to rethink any outdoor plans you may have had this weekend. We're due for a heavy thunderstorm in the late afternoon on Saturday. Keep your umbrellas handy and stay dry out there, folks!"
The opening instrumentals for another song began playing before Cyril's mother turned down the radio as the woods began to thin out.
"Well, I guess it's good we didn't wait till the weekend to move into the new place, huh?"
Cyril glanced away from the window where the worn-down buildings of a town were now appearing and over to his mother. "Yeah," He pulled away from the window and stretched his arms as far as they could go in the cramped car. "We're almost there, right?"
It had been such a long drive to this town in the middle of nowhere and right now, all Cyril wanted to do was stretch his legs.
"Yep, it's just up this street." His mother's voice held a cheerful, but fake tone that gave off the feeling of someone trying to excite another person who they knew was not at all excited. "I'm sure you're going to love the new place. Really, the pictures online don't do the place justice. You'll see, in person the house has a lot more…. Character."
Character… probably code for old and falling apart… great
Cyril eyed his mom skeptically, but chose to refrain from making any comments about their new living situation.
He knew it wasn't her fault that they were here. It was all his damned father's fault for leaving them both behind and taking half the income with him. His mom was lucky to be able to find a decent-paying job as a veterinary assistant in this town and Cyril tried to stay positive even though it sucked leaving the city and his friends.
The car turned down a dirt road and continued on for a little bit before turning on to a tiny and uneven dirt road that went uphill slightly. The road turned into a gravel driveway that led to a small one-story wooden house. The blue painted walls were peeling in places and one of the white shutters was only hanging on by one hinge.
The car stopped and Cyril's mother put the car in park. They both sat silently in the car for a moment, just staring at their new house. Then, his mom took a deep breath before opening the door.
"Well, let's unpack, shall we?"
_ _ _
Unpacking the car and the moving trailer took several hours and by the end of it, both Cyril and his mom were lying like starfish on the floor of their new living room, exhausted.
Cyril's stomach growled loudly. His mother chuckled and sat up.
"Well, I guess that means it's time for dinner. Let me see what we have in the cooler." Cyril's mom stood up to go look through the cooler that they had packed the contents of their refrigerator into for their move.
Oh no, Mom's trying to cook!
Cyril loved his mother, but cooking was decidedly not one of her many skills. Cyril searched his mind for an excuse to distract her from searching for dinner ingredients.
"Uh, wait!" Cyril blurted out and his mom stopped and turned back towards him.
"What is it?" She questioned.
Quick, come up with something! I can't let Mom in the kitchen! We just moved in, it would suck even more if we burned down the house during our first night here…
"Well, it's our first night here. Why don't we find someplace in town to eat? You know, to get to know the place?" Cyril tugged at his jacket sleeve, hoping that his mom would take the bait.
His mom smiled and ruffled his hair. "That's a great idea, Cyril. Let's go."
Cyril's mom strode out the front door to the car and Cyril followed her with a relieved sigh.
Disaster averted.
_ _ _
Dinner happened to be at a small cafe that Cyril had remembered passing earlier. They took their seats and were handed menus by a friendly-looking middle-aged woman who was their waitress. She had her greying auburn hair in a loose bun and wore a slightly wrinkled apron over her clothes.
She pulled out a pad from her apron pocket and tapped a pen against the pages. "My name's Sue. I'll be your waitress for today. What can I get you to drink, dearies?"
Cyril and his mom both chose to go with water and Sue left to get their drinks. When she returned, she placed the drinks down on the table before looking them both up and down. Just as Cyril was beginning to feel uncomfortable with the visual shake-down, Sue spoke up. "Haven't seen you two before. Ya'll just passing through?"
"Ah, no." Cyril's mom spoke up, "We actually just moved in. Not too far from here, actually."
"Ah, the place off of Wanders Way?"
"Yes, that's the one. I heard there are lots of trails good for walking up that way."
"Hmm." The waitress looked a bit uncomfortable as she glanced between Cyril and his mother. She opened her mouth like she wanted to say something, but quickly shut it and hurried away to the back.
Cyril and his mom looked at each other with raised eyebrows.
"That was weird, right?" Cyril asked his mother, wanting confirmation that he wasn't the only one creeped out by their waitress.
Cyril's mom tried to give him a reassuring smile. "Well, maybe she's just having an off day."
"...Right…"
Sue came back with the plates of their dinner and set them on the table. Again, she lingered near the table before glancing warily around and leaning a bit closer to them.
"Listen," she said in a whisper. "It's probably not my place to say, but you should be careful about them woods around your house. There's something dangerous in 'em."
"Umm… like wild animals?" Cyril's mom was clearly feeling uncomfortable, but at the same time was trying to be polite.
"No," Sue shook her head. "Something else. Something… unnatural. That whole mountain is just off. You should avoid wandering off the paths and avoid going into any of the shops up that way. Trust me, it's–"
Sue was cut off when another cafe worker came and put his arm around Sue's shoulder. Sue stiffened up and went quiet.
"Sue, don't tell me you're scaring our customers with your ghost stories again, are you?"
"No, sir. I was just warning them–"
"Come on now, Sue. How many times do I have to tell you not to scare our customers? Why don't you take a break in the back? I've got these two."
Sue nodded and gave one more weary glance back at her customers, her eyes lingering on Cyril before returning to the back.
"I'm sorry about that. I'm Dan, the manager here. Sue means well, but well… it's a bit well known that she's got a few marbles missing if you know what I mean."
"What did she mean about the woods?" Cyril's mom asked.
"Ah, was that what she was telling you about? Well, it's a bit of a sad story. When her and her sister were kids, her sister got lost in the woods and was never found. Sue got it in her mind that meant the woods were dangerous, you know. But I can assure you that the woods are completely normal. While wildlife does like to roam around in there, I promise you no monsters are lurking about to snatch you away." Dan said this confidently and with a reassuring smile that seemed to work on Cyril's mom, whose tense form loosened a bit at the reassurances.
"I see. I'm sorry about her sister. That must have been awful."'
Mollified about Sue's strange warnings, Cyril tuned out his mom and Dan and focused on devouring his meal before it could get cold.
_ _ _
Later, as Cyril was exiting the bathroom and heading to meet his mom in their car, his arm was caught in the firm grip of Sue. Cyril jumped in shock and almost yelled out in shock before Sue put a hand over his mouth and leaned in close to his ear.
"You especially should be careful, child." She whispered. "They always go after the children first."
Sue's grip loosened a bit and Cyril yanked his arm free and bolted out the door and into the car, locking the doors behind him when he got in.
"What's wrong?" his mom asked him, noticing his freaked-out expression.
Cyril took a calming breath and then shook his head, "Nothing. That crazy lady just gives me the creeps, is all."
His mom hummed in agreement then said, "Don't let what she said get to you. Seems like that poor woman is dealing with a lot of issues."
"Okay." Cyril agreed and did his best to push the ramblings of crazy Sue out of his mind. Though soon enough, he would be wishing that he had not ignored the warnings from Sue, who turned out to be not so crazy after all.