The book of clues

2 - The Last Glance

"Was that the last one?" Alex yelled while puzzling a blue suitcase in the trunk of the car. Mom came out of the front door, followed by Lilly. "Yes that was all. Let's get in the car. It's a long drive." She took a key out of her bag, locked the door and walked to the car. Alex walked towards Lilly who stood on the driveway looking at the house. "I'm going to miss this place." She said to herself, trying really hard not to cry, but she couldn't help a small tear rolling off her cheek. As soon as she noticed it, she wiped it away, so Alex wouldn't see it. "Me too," Alex said and put his arm around her shoulder. "It will all be okay, now come on, let's get in the car. Mom promised we'd stop for some French fries on the way! Awesome right! And oh by the way..." he looked her in her eye with a creepy little smile on his face, "shotgun!" Alex yelled, running to the passenger seat with that same creepy smile. Lilly followed him and sat in the back of the car. It didn't really matter to her is she sat in the back or the front. She clicked her seat belt on, took Fluffels out of his cage and put him on her lap. The motor started and she glanced for one last time at her house. It was still raining. She took her phone and headphones out, and put on some music. Then rested her head on the window and tried to sleep.

"Hey sis, dinnertime!" Lilly woke up and saw her brother standing outside ticking plural times on the window. She glanced down at her phone. Wow! She had slept four hours! It was getting pretty dark outside. The weather was better here. First she put Fluffels who had also fallen asleep on her lap back into his cage and then got out of the car. She yawned and stretched. Now that she was standing on her feet she could actually feel she had slept for such a long time. Her legs and feet were tingling. Alex grabbed her wrist and pulled her toward a small restaurant on the side of the road.

Inside it was quite cozy. This place looked like an old cowboy bar, with wooden planks on the ceiling, the walls were decorated with black and white photos in old gold colored frames. There were candles attached to the walls and a large beautiful chandelier in the middle of the place. Their mother Jules, was already sitting by a table next to the window. You could see the sun disappear behind the mountains far away through the window, it was beautiful. They ordered their food and ate it.

When they finished, Alex played with his fork and some leftovers. "Stop messing with your food Alex!" Lilly said to him a little annoyed. "Don't be ridiculous. I'll be careful, I'm not a baby," Alex responded. "Stop it you guys." Jules said and then took a sip of her coffee. Alex now balanced a French fry on his fork like a slingshot. "Haha look you guys!" Lilly looked at him "Stop it!"

"Lilly!" Alex yelled. "Just let me ..."

Before he could finish his sentence, he accidentally catapulted the food to the table next to them, where an older couple was sitting. The food hit the man's head. The man stood up and glared at Alex. "Was that you, young man?" He asked in a deep angry, kind of creepy voice. "Uhm y-yeah that was me. I-I'm so sorry s-sir, it was an accident." Alex stuttered, he always stuttered when he was scared. "I know it was," he said somewhat friendlier. He smiled at Alex, Alex smiled back and the man sat down again. Alex looked behind the man to see who was sitting across of him, it was a woman, he thinks, but he couldn't see her face. A cloth was covering her head and she was staring down at the table, oddly. "I'm Ed, what are you folks doing here in this village? I suppose you're not from around?" The man asked with an accent. He had frizzy grey hair and an unshaved beard, his clothes were full with stains and cracks. It looked like he lived in the woods or something. "We are moving in here." Lilly answered. "In our grandparents' house in the East of this village, they passed away last month." Alex added. "I'm sorry to hear that," the man said while lowering his head. "Wait a minute," he looked back up at them, "are you talking about the house where the Andersons used to live? That huge house in the middle of the forest?" He asked with a strange look on his face. Alex and Lilly shared a startled look. "Yes that's the one, did you know our grandparents?" "No I've never met them, but I do know that place, everyone here does. There are rumors about weird things that happened there, really weird things." Lilly widened her eyes. Their mom noticed that Lilly and Alex were scared. "Please stop, you're scaring my kids, sir! I don't mean to be rude but these things you are saying are no more than rumors," said their mother to the man. The man nodded with a grin on his face looking her deep in the eyes. "Mom? Did you know about this? About these weird stories?" Alex asked a bit disappointed and scared at the same time. She looked down at her nearly empty mug, circling around with a drip coffee on the bottom and sighed, "Yes, I've heard these ridiculous things before but it's nonsense, do not listen to this man." Alex seemed to believe her. "Come on. Let's go, we still have a two-hour drive ahead!" She stood up and walked out of the door. "Bye.'' Alex said, he waved to the couple and followed his mother outwards. "It was nice to meet you," Lilly said as she stood up. Suddenly the man grabbed her arm tight and looked at her with piercing eyes." Be careful, kid." She froze for a moment and looked him back in the eye. Lilly wriggled her hand out of his grab and ran as fast as she can outside. What was that all about? She quickly stepped back into the car. Now it was only a two-hour drive to their destination.