Fates (On Hold, Rewriting)

Chapter 2-UPDATED

            Shortly after the fire burned out, my dad received a call and accepted the request for assistance. We sleep the rest of the night in the guest bedrooms and leave at the crack of dawn the next day. On the drive there, Dad fills me in on the new hunt.

            “A friend based in Frazee, Minnesota called me last night,” he begins, scratching his beard. “Apparently people have been going missing since this last fall.”

            “That long?” I question.

            “This isn’t like usual vamp cases. As far as he can tell, only one girl every few months goes missing and then turns up mutilated a few weeks later.”

            “Then how does he know it’s a vamp? A few months in between each killing is way too long for a vampire to go without feeding. I say it’s a werewolf.”

            “Full moons are every month.”

            “So it is actually able to restrain itself every other month,” I suggest. “Has he checked deaths in other counties?”

            “Yes, and everything else pans out. It’s just this one town.”

            “So, what’s the plan?” I stare out the window.

            “We’ll settle down in the community and investigate the situation when we get there. Also…how do you feel about attending public school for the duration we are there?”

            I snap to attention at those words. “Are you serious?”

            “Of course,” my mom says as she drives.

            “How would me attending school help anything?”

            “All of the girls were teenagers, either juniors or seniors,” Dad says. “With you in the school, you’d be able to talk to some of their friends and learn about the girls. Hopefully, they’ll be able to provide you with names of who they spent time with.”

            I consider this. On one hand, it excites me to have the opportunity to have a semi-normal life by going to school. On the other, the experience will be dampened because of my hunter obligations. “Are my papers being processed right now?”

            “I called up my forger friend and she’s started on it. They should be done in a week or so.”

***

A few hours later, we arrive in Frazee, and I discover what the town looks like. The town is nestled along a river and apparently home to the world’s largest turkey. We pass the school on our way to the safe house we will be staying at. It’s a fairly large two-story house with a balcony, located a little ways out of town, across the river. The bottom of the house is brick and the upper exterior and the interior walls are white. There are four bedrooms—enough for each of us to have one and still have a guest room. 

A frail-looking old man greets us as we pull into the yard. He’s dressed in work boots, blue jeans, and a long-sleeve brown shirt. Skeptically, I follow Mom and Dad to meet the stranger.

“Marvin,” Dad says.

“Emily, Eric, I am so glad you are here!” The man hobbles forward. “Who’s this youngster?”

“I’m Lilly,” I introduce myself.

“Nice to meet you.”

I shake his hand gently.