"You can't be serious, Annie," Laura exclaimed, her eyes wide with a mix of disbelief and excitement. "You actually saw a deer in the middle of downtown?"
"I swear on my mom's apple pie," Annie replied, her voice filled with the earnestness of someone who had indeed witnessed the unexplainable. "It was just there, crossing the street like it owned the place. And the weirdest part? It looked right at me."
"It probably thought you were going to feed it your lunch," Laura teased, nudging her friend playfully.
"I might have had a carrot stick in my hand," Annie admitted with a grin. "But still, you don't see that every day."
The two friends, both in their early twenties, sat on a bench in the small town's park, surrounded by the mundane sights and sounds of everyday life. Laura couldn't help but feel a twinge of envy. Her days were filled with the same routine: work, home, sleep, repeat. Annie, on the other hand, had moved here from the city just a few months ago and had already had a wild encounter. Laura had lived here all her life and the most thrilling thing she'd seen was the occasional raccoon rummaging through the dumpsters.
The conversation lulled as they watched children play on the swings, their laughter echoing through the cool evening air. Annie's gaze drifted to the edge of the park where the towering trees of the forest began. The fog had rolled in early tonight, giving the woods an eerie allure that seemed to beckon her. Laura followed her gaze and shivered, despite the warmth of her sweater.
"You know the stories about that place, right?" Laura asked, her voice dropping to a hushed whisper.
"The forest? Yeah, I've heard a few," Annie replied, her curiosity piqued. "Why? What's so special about it?"
"It's not just any forest," Laura said, leaning in closer. "It's said that there's something... something otherworldly in there."
Annie rolled her eyes playfully. "You're not going to start telling me about witches and werewolves, are you?"
"No, no," Laura said, shaking her head. "But there is this old manor, deep in the woods. It's been abandoned for ages. Or at least, that's what everyone says."
"Abandoned, huh?" Annie's interest was piqued. "What makes it so special?"
"Well," Laura began, her voice dropping even lower, "some say it's not abandoned at all. That there are... things that live there."
The silence that followed was filled with the distant rustle of leaves and the haunting call of an owl. Annie felt a shiver run down her spine, despite the warmth of the day lingering in the air. She had always been a skeptic, but the way Laura spoke made her wonder if there was more to this town than met the eye.
"Things?" Annie prompted, her voice betraying a hint of excitement.
"Vampires," Laura murmured, her eyes wide with the thrill of sharing a secret. "A whole coven of them, led by a woman named Anastasia."
Annie's laughter cut through the tension like a knife. "Vampires? In our little town? That's ridiculous!"
But Laura's expression remained solemn. "It's not just a rumor, Annie. There are stories, real stories, of people who've gone in and never come out."
The light was fading now, the shadows stretching out from the forest like fingers reaching for them. Laura's words hung in the air, unsettling and tantalizing. Annie looked into the woods, the fog thickening, and for a brief moment, she thought she saw the flicker of a light through the trees. It was probably just the reflection of a distant streetlamp, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something was watching them. Something that didn't belong in their world of order and routine. Something that thrived in the dark.
