Beasts of Bonnie Hill

The Pub

          Ethan pulled in at the first stop he could find. That happened to he a pub, called the Lazy Beaver. "Ok everyone, let's grab some food and find out where we are shall we?" Ethan said happily as he always did. Then he feel to one knee and rubbed his head. He still felt woozy from whatever 'happened' while he was driving last night. He hid it under his cheery face though.
          "Ok, you heard him," a dirty blonde boy with a beanie said, stretching.
          "Ah, thank you Calvin!" Ethan said exchanging a high five with Calvin. "Also someone needs to go up to the loft of the RV and wake up Cayden and AJ," Ethan pointed out. A tall lengthy boy with short brown hair stood up from the lower bunk beneath Calvin's.
          "I can do it," he said.
          "Thanks Dylan!" Ethan said.
          "I'll get the girls," James said.
          "Awesome! We'll meet in front of the Pub," Ethan said stepping out with Calvin and another boy, Dean who was just barely awake.

Dylan popped his up into the loft. There two boys slept, one tall and dark skinned, the other short and somewhat muscular. "Cayden! AJ! Get your asses out of bed!" Dylan said.
          The tall one shifted and then sat up, his hair was spikey and he had large bags under his eyes. "Sorry, I wasn't sleeping well last night," He groaned and ruffled his hair so it stood even taller.
          "That's alright, just wake AJ up and meet us outside, we need to figure out where the hell we are," Dylan said with a bit of amusement in his voice. He then retreated back to the main floor of the RV. Cayden turned and pushed AJ.
          "AJ, hey AJ," Cayden said, AJ barely mumbled. "Did you, uh did you maybe feel something or anything last night? Like something weird?"
          "Only the fact that you hog the bed," AH grumbled still have asleep.
          "But I've read up on stuff and it felt weird and now we don't even know where we are..." Cayden worried.
          "Wait we dont?" AJ said sitting up, "and what do you mean, reading up on? Does that have anything to do with those papers you have in those folders?" AJ said somewhat accusingly.
          "How do you know about those papers?" Cayden said, his demeanor changing from worried to defensive. "You haven't looked at any of them have you?" He said blocking his side of the loft.
          AJ looked confused, "...no, what's wrong? You're acting weird..."
          "I'll tell you later," Cayden said and then leaped down throwing on some clothes.

            Now the whole group stood outside the RV in the pouring rain. The group consisted of the slender Ethan, James, Calvin, Dylan, Dean, the muscular Nate, the tall Cayden and short AJ along with the blonde Tally and beautiful Hadleigh. Each and every one of them getting wet in the rain. The pub, the Lazy Beaver, was a rather large wooden structure. Neon signs flashed advertising it to the dark woods beyond and from inside teased the sounds of warmth and comfort. The group entered.
          Cayden pushed open the door and everyone followed. The interior was extremely rustic. Antlers decorated the walls and chandeliers, old pictures of people with no meaning hung from the walls, and dust lined every corner. Music played from a piano and a bar with classes hanging in an arch sat on one side. Small wooden archways lead to other areas of the pub.
          As they entered everything seemed to come to a lull. Everyone seemed to turn away from the group or stare directly at them. Hadleigh shuffled in closer to the group and up front Cayden grimaced at the whole scene. He could feel something wasn't right. "Let's go ask the bartender," he said and the group started to make their way to the bar.
          "I don't like this place," Tally whispered to Hadleigh.
          " I know, it's pretty weird," Hadleigh said.
          Cayden surveyed the surrounding and then something caught his eye. In the back section was a booth. The figure that sat in the booth wore a hood that obscured his face. He sat, motionless and cold. The antlers on the wall were placed at such an angle it looked like the man had antlers. A shiver ran down Cayden's spine as he felt the man's gaze follow him and his friends.
          The bartender was a large and gruff looking man. On the heavier side and with a neckbeard he wore a tank top and an apron stained from many years of work. His most notable feature however was the fact that he and an eyepatch over his left eye. He looked a little surprised as he came up to where the group sat. "Hey there!" Ethan said, "would you be able to tell us where we are and where the nearest town is?" The bartender looked down at them.
          "Are you guys...lost? Visiting?" He said in a deep gravelly voice.
          "We're not sure where we are," Dylan started, "so yeah lost" he said.
          "That's strange, we've had an unusual amount of outsiders this summer," the bartender said.
          "Oh yeah we know someone who drove through here, or this way at least," Ethan say cheerfully.
          "Oh was it like an Albert kid?" The bartender asked leaning a large arm on the counter.
          Cayden turned and smiled, "Oh yeah we know Balbert!"
          "Yeah he came through he and I sent him off to the mountain, that's where the nearest actual town is,"
          "Mountain?"
          "Yeah, Bonnie Hill,"
          "How do we get there?"
          "Just follow the road," the bartender answered, then he leaned in, "Stay on the road, these parts are home to some...let's say less than friendly characters. It can get dangerous,"
          *SLAM*
          Behind them the door shut forcefully letting in a spray of rain and gust of wind. Cayden turned to the corner where the man sat and he was gone, strangely enough, so were the antlers that were behind him. "Strange things are gonna happen, but stay in course, if you ever leave the road always remember your way back and bring yourself some protection,"
          The whole group sat silent for a minute, taking in what the bartender said. "Thanks..." Cayden said awkwardly. He was about to continue but then there was a scream from outside. The voice was familiar though. It was the voice of Nate. They all turned but Nate was right there with them. As pale as a ghost. They rushed outside with Dylan and Cayden in the front. The rain spattered on the roof making a calming pitter patter that did not fit the situation at all. No one was outside but scratched into the side of the RV was a message. A mix of sweat and rain ran down everyone's foreheads.
          "Holy shit," Dean whispered under his breath he then read the message outloud, "see you soon" in jagged scratch marks.
          "We need to get out of here," Cayden said to everyone "let's get to that mountain,"
          "Woah woah," Hadleigh interjected, "I'm not going to let this...prank ruin this summer trip,"
          "Yeah, for all we know this could just be a joke Cayden, no reason to flip out," Calvin agreed.
          "But...how do you explain that scream that sounded JUST like Nate!" Cayden shot back.
          "Could've just happened to sound like Nate," Ethan added, "not like it sounded exactly like him,"
          "Yeah, it did sound similar, like really similar but not exactly," James said.
          Cayden huffed, "Well there's no reason to stay out here getting even more wet," he said, obviously defeated. And with that they all piled into the RV. Cayden and AJ were the last ones on. AJ caught Cayden's eye and made a face before climbing in. Cayden took one last look around. The forest was quiet but the sound of rain filled it with noise. It was dark outside the halo of orange-pink light from the pub signage. A feeling of wrongness radiated from that forest...