Cresent

Chapter Two

I slowly get up from John's knee and go to the door. I open it to see a guy about Lucy's age, with ginger hair and piercing green eyes. "Hey! Lucy told me that we have a visitor and I wanted to say hi! I'm Racer!" His face was spread with a huge smile. "May I come in?" He asks. I find it weird how we're staying at an inn, yet everyone seems to just want company. "Sure." I say, returning the smile. The sight of the guy makes John straiten up. "Hey man, I'm Racer!" He said as he shook Johns hand. "So are you and Lucy siblings?" I ask curiously. "No, she's my girlfriend." He says, turning a furious shade of bright red. "Two years." He said with a shy smile. "How sweet." I say, as my mouth curls into a smile. He blushes wildly then settles into a chair in the corner of the room. "What's brung you two too Crescent?" He asks. "We just needed a place to stay for the night, we'll be gone in the morning." John says, getting me to sit next to him. He wraps his arm around my waist and I snuggle into his side. "Oh, I'm not surprised there, we don't get many visitors here. I guess the town is a bit of a spook." He says, staring at his shoes. I study them closer. They are sneakers and they should be white, but mud has made them a dark brown. The bottom of them is worn down and there's dirt in every crack. Racer's shoes look as if he'd had them for a very long time. This interests me and I'm not sure why. I guess you can tell a lot about a person starting with their shoes. Only the sound of Racer's voice brings me back out of my own world. "So uh, are you guys hungry? We could go to Samy's for supper, us and Lucy, she gets off at seven." He says. I accept his invite without consulting with John first. I have a quick shower and then get dressed into something more comfortable and something that will suite the occasion. Sweatpants do the trick. And by the time seven o'clock rolls around, they're off to Samy's.

The cool breeze slithers down my spine as we walk on the side walk. Leaves whoosh in the wind and the black and orange cat makes a reappearance. The sun is setting and the moon is already visible. It's a full moon tonight. We walk down the Main Street of Crescent, headed towards Samy's. As we approach Samy's, we spot a tree stump. It's covered in axe marks and oil. "Hillary's tree." Lucy says, before a tear runs down her face. "It was there this morning! Trees just don't disappear!" She screams at the tree stump. " So the fun begins." Racer says under his breath. He walks to her and attempts to calm her down, only resulting in her mentally breaking down then collapsing on the grass, one hand resting on the tree stump. After about ten minutes, Racer wakes her and sets her on his knee on the grass, and she calms down. John and I are both puzzled. We sit on the ground beside them. "Lucy's best friend," Racer begins, "She died two years ago. Two years exactly today." He says, holding her tighter, "Hillary was a brilliant young women. Her mother was her whole life. Six years ago, when her mother was killed, Hillary began practicing witchcraft. She could do things no one else could, she could heal things that doctors couldn't. All she did was use her power for good, but the towns people didn't understand that. They thought she was a passage way for evil spirits, and that evil things took over her body," Racer begins to choke up. "Thats when Jerry killed her." A tear slid down his face. "Jerry was my friend since kindergarten, we did everything together. He was brought up in an extremely religious home and believed witchcraft was sinning. Jerry dated Hillary for four years, then one night, it got to him and he just killed her." Racer says. Lucy has her head buried in Racers shirt. "He's in prison now." He wipes away a tear that found its way down his cheek. Lucy runs her fingers along the bark of the stump. It must feel cold and ruff against her fingers, probably leaving tiny scratches on her finger tips. "Racer and I," Lucy says, looking up from Racer's shirt, "We planted this tree in her memory." That's when it hits me. Feeling and emotions. I begin putting myself in Lucy's place. Having a best friend murdered. Planting a tree in her honour. Having it cut down. Mentally breaking down. I now understand the gloominess of Crescent. "Lets go now." Racer says. I do nothing but nod and get up from the ground. I extend my arm, offering Lucy a help up off the ground. She takes my offer and we walk to Samy's as planned. In about five minutes, full of silence, we get there.

Racer holds the door open for us all. The smell of dust mixed with a sudden hint of air freshener hits my nose. I see booths with dark wood and brown fabric. Each table top is painted with a beautiful red bird that must of taken ages to finish. Along the deep red walls, golden stars are hung. "Ruth!" Lucy says. A women with long black-grey hair, who looks to be in her fifties, comes from a back room. "Not very busy today." The women says. She then takes notice of John and I. "Visitors! My goodness! I'm Ruth! Please take a seat, the meals on me!" Ruth says with a huge smile. "Oh my, thank you Ruth! I'm Bonney, and this is John." I say, returning the smile. "Sit, sit." She says, scooting us over to a booth. "Someone cut down Hillary's tree." Lucy says to Ruth. "Why would someone ever want to do that?" Ruth asks no one in particular. "It is the twenty seventh." Racer says. "Two years." Ruth says as she stares into nothing. John and I have only been here four hours and it feels like we've been here for ages. "I'm so sorry" I say, breaking the silence. "Oh it's ok dear. How long are you two staying?" Ruth asks. "Just tonight I think." John says. "Oh." She lets out a sigh before a smile reappears on her face. As we sit down, I notice a Ancient Egyptian type pattern in the wall on the far side of the booth. John orders for me as I run my fingers along the design. No one seems to take notice.

I jump nearly a foot as a dart lands exactly in the middle of the table. I sit up straiter and see on the other side of the room there are three dart boards, but no one is playing. In fact, we are the only ones in sight.