Trouble in Tiltown

Amber

"You lost your dog?" I questioned him.
His eyebrow raised at me, "No. I thought it would be fun to make missing dog posters." Sarcasm dripped from his tone of voice. However, his mouth stayed as a straight line.
"I suppose I could help." I sighed and grabbed hold of a few posters as he carried the rest on the walk from lamp post to lamp post.
"I appreciate it greatly. Bo is very important to me." He stated as he taped a poster onto the wooden post. My eyes watched him as his eyes began watery. He sniffed them away however, before they were able to escape his eyes that held tired, dark circled underneath.
"When did you adopt him?" I asked as I taped a poster onto a new post.
He breathed in deeply, "Roughly around 1990. Amber and I adopted him together." He replied.
"Your wife, yes?"
He nodded as he continued with the posters.
"I'll help you find Bo. I promise." I said before he looked at me with saddened eyes. He almost looked sorry, but for me instead.
"Oh. If someone or something goes missing in this town, chances are it's dead." He shook his head.
"Why do you say that?" I inquired before I taped a poster on.
"The town kills." He states simply.
"So what? You think this town is supernatural or something." I scoffed.
He didn't find my joke very funny however and glared through my eyes with anger.
"No. This town is cursed." He said.

Finally we got the last few posters done and I decided to walk him home. As I studied him closely every now and again, his eyes kept drifting off over to the woods as if he knew he were being watched by something or someone. His dark hair had grown since the first time I met him, finally reaching his chest.

"Are you alright?" I asked him abruptly. He flinched and glanced at me with widened eyes for a moment before answering me.
"Yes. We'll speak once we get inside."

As we had climbed down the ladder and I took a seat on his floor, he began making a pot of coffee. The strong scent of coffee beans hitting my nostrils and filling the humid air.
"Coffee at five at night?" I questioned as he sat in his chair nearby.
"In this town, coffee isn't a want. It's a need." He informed me. A few moments of silence goes by before he rises and pours himself a hot cup of coffee. The steam raised from the cup and into the air.
"So, why did you keep looking into the woods?" I questioned him as he drank a long sip from his coffee. Licking his lips slowly as to make sure to devour every drop of it.
"I'm being watched by someone. Or multiple people. I'm not quite sure yet." He stops to gather up books and journals of his before handing them over to me.
"Why are you giving me all of these?" I asked as I struggled to hold all of them.
"Because I'll be going missing here in a couple of days and everything you must know are in those books." He sips his coffee before sighing with pleasure.
"What do you mean you're gonna go missing?"
"Because they've been wanting to gain control over my mouth and I for years now. They want to take hostage of my knowledge because I talk too much I guess." His eyes rolled.
"You need to stop being so mysterious. Who are they?"
His mouth upturned at me with amusement.
"I've been telling you all along. It's the town." He says as a sudden outburst of thunder growled throughout the town, vibrating the ground. Hesitantly, I grabbed ahold of all of the books and journals he had given me and made my way over to the ladder.
"I'll be here tomorrow." I inform him. However, he just smiles weakly.
"That may make one of us." He says as I began climbing upwards. As I had made my way to the top of the ladder, my eyes glance back down to see West standing underneath the ladder.
His eyes stared through mine, "For when I go missing, do not give up and I won't either." Instead of responding, my body did that for me by sending chills throughout my body as the hair stood up on my arms. I nodded and quickly made my way back home.

Paranoid from West's strange behavior, I caught myself scanning the woods over and over again. Was I looking for something? Or am I just hoping for something? Well, my answer was quickly answered as I caught a glimpse of  fiery, red hair that hid behind a tree. My feet stopped and I quieted my breathing as to focus more intently. The hair moved once again before I saw an eye peek out from behind the tree as if the person was scared. Thunder roared loudly causing me to lose my concentration and as my eyes darted back to the tree, I saw a feminine figure start running throughout the woods. My body felt as weak as a noodle but I had to follow this mysterious person. So, that's exactly what I did as my feet carried me through the sharp twigs and stick in the woods, the person was just inches in front of me at this point and I knew at this point, I couldn't just give up. I leaped into the air and caught them onto the ground, dropping all of the books and journals in a circle around us.
"Kat?" I announced as I gently flipped the women's face over to face my own. However, this was not at all Kat. This woman looked possibly around her late 20's. As for her eyes, they weren't Kat. Her eyes shined with an emerald green.
"Who are you?" I questioned the woman who looked at me like a lost puppy.
"I'm Amber." She spoke softly.