Phantom Town

Part 2

Jones showed them to their room and they set down the few things they carried before Harrison spoke up. "Dad, is it me or is this town a little weird?" He whispered. "Yeah, it is a little, but the people seem nice enough." Carl replied with a shrug. Harrison turned back to the door. "I'm going to go get some fresh air." He said before leaving.

He descended the stairs back down to the lobby and began to look around. There was no one in sight, so he walked through to the dining room and was met by a single person who was sweeping the floor. It was Jones's daughter. Harrison watched her for a moment before her glistening eyes caught sight of him. "May I help you?" The girl inquired mockingly, as if she was sick of hearing that. "I was just looking around... aren't you Mr. Jones's daughter?" Harrison heard himself say. The girl nodded "yes". "Who are you?" She asked. "I'm Harrison. My dad and I are passing through." Harrison answered. "I'll warn you, they might try to make you stay here." The young girl whispered, looking grave.

Harrison was silent, remembering what Jones had said about the tornadoes. Something deep inside him wondered how true that was. "No, she's just trying to freak me out." He thought. The girl smiled suddenly. "Do you want to see something kind of cool?" She asked. Harrison shrugged his shoulders. "Sure, I guess."

The girl set her broom aside. "I'll let Moira finish up. That's my little sister." She said. "What's your name?" Harrison asked, beginning to follow her down the long hallway. "It's Charlotte." She answered. As they walked, the hallway grew darker and Harrison grew tense. "Don't be afraid. I won't hurt you." Charlotte called. "I wasn't afraid." Harrison defended. "You were, I could tell." Charlotte replied, walking over to where he was. Before Harrison could speak again, Charlotte was gently tugging him along by his forearm. Eventually, they came to a wooden door that led to a grassy clearing surrounded by pine trees. All around, there were different flowers like Harrison had never seen. The sun illuminated the area more brightly than any part of Fantome while Charlotte closed the door.

"What is this?" Harrison asked. "This is my little secret. It's a hidden way out of the town." Charlotte answered. "So, this is just where you go to get away from everything?" Harrison said. "You could say that." Charlotte answered. "No one knows about it, except for maybe my sister." Harrison looked quizzically at her. "You don't even know me. Why are you showing it to me?" He inquired. Charlotte smiled, and for a half-second Harrison felt as if he'd known her for longer than the past few minutes. "I can tell you're a person I can trust." She explained.

"How can you tell?"

"The same way I knew you were afraid."

Both of them were silent. Harrison stared at her with confusion, but she just stood there with an annoyingly pretty, satisfied grin. "I'll get to that later. But we should head back, they'll be looking for us." Charlotte finally said.

The pair returned to the house and Charlotte disappeared, leaving Harrison with just a squeeze on his arm. Something was definitely strange about that girl, but at the same time she ignited something like curiosity in Harrison.