The shadows of our town

chapter 6: whispers in the dark

The night after the group's investigation in the woods, Thomas couldn't sleep. His mind was a whirlwind of thoughts, constantly circling back to the strange symbols in the cabin, the figure in the trees, and the unsettling feeling that something dark was lurking just beneath the surface of Closeville. The more he thought about it, the more he felt the need to uncover whatever was hidden in the town's past. So, with a sense of purpose, he sat down at his computer in the quiet of his room.
He had already combed through everything he could find in the library—newspapers, old records, town history books—but none of it had seemed to offer any real answers. Every time he looked, everything felt like a dead end. There was nothing about demonic rituals, occult activity, or anything that hinted at the strange happenings he'd experienced recently. But tonight, Thomas was determined to keep digging.
The night stretched on, and Thomas sifted through the depths of the internet, scanning obscure forums, old web pages, and local history sites that were often hidden in the corners of the digital world. Most of it was useless—stories about hauntings, rumors about the woods, odd disappearances from decades ago. It was all disjointed and fragmented, like pieces of a broken puzzle. But just when Thomas was about to give up, he stumbled across something.
It was buried in a local history forum, dated back to the early 2000s, and it was a thread about the town's past. The title was innocuous enough: The Hidden History of Closeville: Lost in Time. It didn't look like much, but something about it tugged at his curiosity. He clicked on the thread and began reading, his eyes widening with every line.
The forum post detailed accounts of strange occurrences in Closeville dating back to the early 1800s—sightings of shadowy figures in the woods, whispers of forgotten rituals, and disturbing events that local townsfolk had either buried or refused to acknowledge. The thread mentioned the Hargrove family, whose disappearance had been glossed over in the official records, and even referenced a mysterious "cult" that had supposedly been active in the town at the time. The members were rumored to have practiced demonic rites in the woods, and their presence was said to have lingered in the town, affecting the land and its people for generations.
Thomas felt a chill run through him. This was it. This was the link he'd been searching for—the town's dark past that no one wanted to remember.
Just as he was processing this new information, there was a knock at his door. It startled him, pulling him from the screen.
"Thomas?" came Carla's voice from the other side. "Are you still awake?"
"Yeah," he called back, trying to mask his surprise. "Come in."
The door creaked open, and Carla stepped into his room, her face partially illuminated by the soft light from the desk lamp. She looked a little anxious, her fingers nervously tapping against the doorframe.
"I couldn't sleep," Carla said, her voice quiet. "I was thinking about what we found in the woods... and I just... I don't know. I needed to talk to you about it."
Thomas gestured to the chair next to his desk. "I'm actually glad you're here. I've been digging into something. Sit down."
She raised an eyebrow. "Digging into what?"
Thomas hesitated for a moment before showing her the website he had found. "I think I found something. It might be connected to what's been going on in Closeville. It's... it's a history that's been hidden for a long time."
Carla took a seat and leaned in closer to the screen, reading over his shoulder. As she absorbed the details, her expression shifted from confusion to disbelief. "This... this is crazy. I didn't think—no one ever told us about any of this. All those disappearances... the cult? The demonic stuff?"
Thomas nodded, his voice low. "It's like we've all been living in a town that's been ignoring its dark past. Like something's been haunting this place for generations, and we never even knew."
Carla's gaze lingered on the page, her brow furrowed in thought. "I don't know what to think. But... it makes sense. It explains so much—especially what happened to Sam and Alisya."
The two of them sat in silence for a while, the weight of the information settling over them like a thick fog. For a moment, it felt as if the walls of Thomas's room were closing in, the darkness outside mirroring the creeping sense of dread that had begun to take root in both of them.
Finally, Carla broke the silence, her voice quieter this time. "I don't know why I'm telling you this, but... I feel like we're just pretending everything's okay. Like, we're doing all this investigating to distract ourselves from what really hurts. From the fact that Sam and Alisya are gone."
Thomas's gaze softened as he looked at her. He knew exactly what she meant. They had all been using the investigation as a way to push the grief aside, to keep moving forward even though their hearts were breaking. The loss of their friends had left a hole in all of them, and it was easier to focus on the mystery—on the thrill of discovery—than to confront the painful truth of their reality.
"I get it," Thomas said softly. "I've been doing the same thing. It's just... it feels like if we can figure this out, maybe we can make sense of everything. Maybe it'll help us understand why they're gone." He paused, his throat tightening. "But sometimes I wonder if we're just chasing shadows."
Carla looked at him, her eyes full of emotion. "I don't think we're chasing shadows. I think... I think we're just trying to find something that makes sense. Something that gives us a reason."
A long, comfortable silence stretched between them. Carla didn't need to say anything else; Thomas could feel the weight of her words and knew she understood the depth of his own feelings. They were both grieving in their own ways, but in this moment, they shared something unspoken—a connection stronger than the investigation itself.
Thomas shifted his gaze to Carla, his heart pounding in his chest for a different reason now. He had always valued their friendship, but there was something else in the air tonight. Something that felt new, and yet familiar. He couldn't deny it: a part of him had always felt something for Carla—something deeper than just friendship. And he could tell by the way she looked at him that she might feel the same.
Before he could say anything, Carla spoke again. "We're lucky, you know. To have each other. And to have everyone else. I don't know what I'd do without you guys."
Thomas smiled, his heart a little lighter. "Yeah. I think we're lucky too."
Just as the moment hung in the air between them, the clock on the wall ticked loudly, reminding them that they couldn't stay lost in their thoughts forever. "We should probably get to bed," Thomas said, his voice steady but with a hint of regret that the moment was ending. "We've got school tomorrow, and we need to tell the others what we found."
Carla stood up, giving him one last look before turning toward the door. "We'll figure this out," she said, a small smile on her lips. "Together."
As she left his room, Thomas felt a warmth in his chest. The investigation had brought them closer, but it was more than just the case. It was the unspoken bond between them, the quiet understanding, and the shared grief. And somewhere deep down, Thomas knew they were on the verge of something more.

The next day at Closeville High, the group gathered in the old, familiar parking lot after the final bell rang. Thomas was bursting to tell them what he'd found, but as they all met up, he knew he had to be careful. The truth was darker than anything they had imagined.
Once they were all together, Thomas pulled out his notebook, where he had jotted down the details from the forum post and Mrs. Peebles's conversation. "Listen," he began, his voice serious. "What I found last night changes everything. This town has a history we never knew about. A demonic one."
The group fell silent as Thomas explained what he had uncovered: the occult past, the strange disappearances, the cult that had been active in the town generations ago.
"And there's something else," he added. "The police—they've never confirmed there was a murder. The killings of Sam and Alisya—they assumed it was a human killer because of how brutal it was. But what if they're wrong? What if this isn't about a person at all? What if it's something worse?"
The group exchanged uneasy glances, a ripple of unease running through them as Thomas's words sank in.
"We're not just looking for a murderer," Thomas said, his voice low. "We might be dealing with something demonic. Something that's been tied to this town for centuries."
The silence that followed was deafening.
And so, the investigation took a darker turn, as they faced a new, terrifying possibility: that the Shadow Killer was not human at all, but something far worse—an ancient evil that had been awakened once more.