Bleak Winter -

Prologue: The Night When It All Began

Deep in a small rural town on a cold Tuesday night, the residents of Pleasantville are preparing to settle down for what should be a typical night. As the store lights begin to shut off, the Christmas Lights and street lamps illuminate the streets and sidewalks, filled with people rushing to get home. Within an hour downtown has almost completely cleared out and the only sounds left are the howling winds, the rapid flapping of the flags on every storefront, and the hooting of owls. It's darkest at Town Square, where most of the local government offices have closed at this time, and the ones still open are obscured by various stands and decorations set up for the coming Christmas Festival this weekend.

In front of the Mayor's Office, there stands a wooden platform, with a system of speakers strewn about its perimeter and a lone podium with a microphone sitting at the front. The curtains at the back ruffle as out climbs a short 11-year-old girl with long red curly hair, which despite being uncombed and unkempt, she's managed to hide almost all of it underneath the eared hood of her kitty-themed coat. The girl snickers as she looks around the empty streets, "Wow, the festival sure looks creepy when no one's at it!" She then stands up straight, crosses her arms, and smiles proudly. "It's a good thing Explorer Scout Rory Besteman isn't afraid of anything! Whether it be a spooky forest or a haunted street!"

Just then, a door opens up from the left, Rory quickly ducks and hides behind the podium. From the front door of the Sheriff's office, a large man with a round hat looks around for a bit. "Is anyone out there!?" He shouts as his voice echoes through the streets. "It's dangerous to be out alone this late at night! You ought to get home!" He yells one more time to no response. After letting out a sigh, the man looks back inside, "It's nothing, maybe just some of the animals. Welp, I'm heading out! Good night, Joyce!" The man yells before slowly closing the door, stopping while it's still a crack open. "Thanks, I'll tell her!" He lets the door go and starts to walk toward the parking lot. Rory watches the man's silhouette closely, seeing him light a cigarette before climbing into his Sheriff's Cruiser and driving off. When the coast is clear, Rory dashes out from behind the podium and quickly flees from the town square.

Once Rory reaches Town, she quickly slows down and catches her breath, sitting against a tree planted on the sidewalk and wrapped in red lights. Rory raises her head a bit, getting a look at her surroundings and seeing something rather puzzling. In front of Rory is the electronics store, the Computer Cave, with a large display window showcasing a series of desktops, monitors, game consoles, and CRTs. Though they were all turned off, Rory could see what looked to be a small light coming from the back of the store. She walks over to the front door, noting the closed sign, but still trying the door anyway, only to grimace when she finds it tightly locked. Rory presses her face against the glass, trying to get a better look at what was inside when suddenly...

FLASH!

Rory stumbles back as she sees the CRTs up front turn on, their static buzzing through the windows. Small lights began to spring up in many other buildings around town, all of them coming from all the TVs inside, whether it be the security monitors in grocery stores or the ones hanging off the wall in the doctor's office. Rory begins to tremble as she looks around, quickly turning back to the screens in the display window. They appear to be showing something, not a program or a movie, but just a still image. A picture of a young boy that looks to be a little older than Rory, with light skin, short light brown hair, blue eyes, and tiny ears that almost look pointy. He's wearing a suit and tie and has a rather neutral expression with a hint of a smile. This image is shown on all three TVs in the display window, and as Rory's head swivels around the block, she sees glimpses of it wherever she looks.

Slowly, Rory backs up, not knowing what's going on or what she should do when suddenly she feels something. On her back, a series of slim and stiff branches brush up against her. Rory turns around to see the tree on the sidewalk starting to grow a series of new branches that expand outward towards her, stretching the lights wrapped around them and eventually snapping them. As soon as the wire of Christmas lights drops in front of Rory, she jumps and shrieks, hitting her back on the display window causing her to fall to the ground and land flat on her face. Rory looks up and sees a silhouette looming over the entire town-a mountain, one that almost resembles the shape of a human skull, staring right at her. Panicking, Rory scrambles to her feet and quickly flees the scene, her head hanging down low and pointed to the ground.