It Lurks In The Dark

1.

"Darn it. The car isn't starting up. Augustus, do you mind coming with me to check?", Gracie heard her cousin ask from beside her.

She heard the car doors open and close. A heavy sigh erupted from a girl behind her.

"I can't believe this! Just as we start our trip, our car just has to stop working", the blonde-haired girl named Sabrina exclaimed in annoyance. Gracie sighed. A small cloud of white fog escaped her lips. 

"Don't worry girls, we will reach there soon", reassured Kendall who sat beside the blond-haired one.   

The door of the SUV opened revealing Nick and Augustus.

"We will be needing petrol if we want this car moving", Augustus announced, pushing his glasses onto the bridge of his nose.

That's strange, I sware the car tank was full. Gracie thought to herself.

"We need to find a petrol pump", said Sabrina.

"But how are we going to find one here? We are literally in the middle of nowhere", inquired Kendall.

"We could ask someone", Gracie advised. 

--------x------------x------------x------------

The outside atmosphere was colder than inside the car. Snow fell heavily from above that settled on the ground like white crystals. A thick layer of snow formed on the ground. Freezing winds wrapped around them like a cold embrace which made Gracie pull her jacket tighter around her body. 

Nick squinted as the wind gained speed. The others followed behind him as he went towards a cabin.

The cabin was covered with heavy snow. The roads were isolated. It felt as if they were the only people roaming the streets. 

Gazing at the snow, Gracie remembered the first Christmas she had with her family. Her cousin was coming over that night and she was probably more excited than her family.

She still remembered when they baked a cake together. She would always get the icing part wrong, smearing it all over her fingers instead of decorating the cake. She woke her parents up that cold Christmas morning shouting that Santa had come to give them presents. They were piled up below the Christmas tree, ready for someone to open them.

Gracie smiled fondly at the memory which was still fresh in her mind.

"Hey guys, look at this", Augustus said, pointing to the posters which were pinned to the cabin. Gracie looked at the poster more closely. Written in bold, big and red letters were the word 'MISSING'. Below the word was a photograph of a young man. 

Probably in his mid-twenties? Gracie wondered.

Below the picture was the name 'TOM KOOPER' written in the same font. Gracie noticed it was pinned on the nearby trees as well.

"That's odd. I can't believe someone actually went missing here", Sabrina said in disbelief.

"Probably some kind of joke", said Kendall as she shrugged it off. 

"Seems like no one lives here", stated Nick. He rang the doorbell for what seemed like the third time. 

How are we going to get our car back on the road if we can't get any petrol? Gracie thought to herself. A feeling of uneasiness swept inside her. Gracie looked around at her surroundings. 

Through the dense fog, she was able to spot a figure of a person not too far away from them.

"Look guys! There is a person over there, maybe he could help us!", Gracie exclaimed.

She pointed towards the person in the distance. The others glanced in the same direction.

---------x---------x---------x-----------

"Thank you, sir", Gracie said as the man filled the car up with the remaining petrol. Compared to the others, the man was small and hunched.

"You children shouldn't be wondering around here on your own", he said not glancing at the others.

"And why do you say that?", Augustus questioned. 

Instead of hearing a reply, the man kept mumbling unknown things to himself in a hushed tone. Everyone exchanged confused glances at each other. 

"Um, sir, do you know anything about the disappearance of Tom Kooper?", Gracie couldn't help but ask. 

Sure, the question was irreverent, but she didn't hesitate to ask. Ignoring the question, the man kept murmuring things to himself. Gracie tried to hear but his voice was too quiet.

Gracie opened her mouth to ask if he was okay or not, when she felt a slight tap on her shoulder. She turned around to see Kendall shaking her head.

"It's no use. He won't reply to us", Kendall said in disappointment.

Gracie peered back at the man. A mixture of emotions built up inside of her. She narrowed her eyes as if to find the man look back at her, but he didn't seem to budge. 

--------x------------x------------x------------

The car's engine roared back to life. Nick took the driver's seat while Gracie took the passenger's seat beside her cousin. While Kendall, Sabrina and Augustus sat in the back seat.

The car pulled out of the heaps of snow onto the road. Gracie stared at the rear-view mirror, which showed the reflection of her cousin, Nick.

She thought of the grey-haired, old man from earlier.  

Stop it, Gracie. Don't let these little things get to you. we all are going to have fun and that's it. Gracie scolded herself mentally. 

"When we reach there, I am pretty sure we will be needing wood for the fire", Nick paused before speaking again, "Gracie would you like to go?"

"Sure Nick, I would-"

"I will go with Gracie as well", Kendall interrupted.

Gracie nodded, "We both will go get the firewood".

 "But don't get lost, Gracie!", Sabrina laughed.

Gracie rolled her eyes to the side but eventually joined in on their laughter.

The snow still poured down heavily, which made it more difficult to drive. The windshield kept making an odd noise, as it struggled to swipe away the fallen snow on the windshield.

Nick turned up the heater in the car. Gracie felt cozy. She closed her eyes and leaned back in her seat, thinking about all the fun things they all are going to do once they reach there and get settled in. 

Not before long, her eyelids felt heavy, and she fell asleep.