The Secret Society of Ryland, Virginia

Chapter 1- The Town That Went Unnoticed

My grandfather lied to my grandmother. I guess it runs in the family.
My name is Dakota Sycamore and I have a secret. So did Grandpa. He had lied to his wife and later children about his job as an accountant when he really worked in a secret society of people who investigate supernatural happenings in our small town of Ryland, Virginia. I am the only one he ever told, and ever since he died, I have inherited his position. It is also my job to keep the doings of this society under wraps. But ever since I replaced him in the society, the inexplicable events in our supposedly peaceful, unnoticed town have only increased.
Today I was going to a secret meeting after school, but I had to get through science class at Ryland High first. I was starting to doze off while Mrs. Carter droned on about chemistry, when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I leapt to attention and turned towards the source of the tapping.
"Dakota! We have a test on Monday! You have to pay attention!" said the short, pigtailed girl who sat behind me. I sighed. It was Millie Marner, the class... annoying girl. She thought that she was everyone's friend, including the teachers, and all she ever did was try to tell everyone to mind their education and pay attention in class. In truth, everyone hated her, except she liked to ignore that fact.
I glared at her.
"I know, Millie. And I can study at home," I said, narrowing my eyes at her giant glasses in my signature stare.
"Oh-okay..." she said quietly, turning back towards her desk. Satisfied, I leaned back in my chair. My evil death glare could stop anyone. I dismissed Mrs. Carter's droning to the back of my mind and looked around at the students in my class. Our seats had been assigned, so of course everyone sat by who they hated. My table consisted of me, Ned, the weird nerdy kid, Rina, the teacher's pet, Carrie, the nice girl, and Nate, the infamous bully who threw paper airplanes at me throughout the whole class. And of course there was Millie behind me.
Ugh, I had it bad. But it was probably just because I didn't like anyone. I took it as a requirement of being in a secret society. I didn't want anyone finding out anything, so I just glared people away and hung out at the diner alone. I didn't even have friends at the society, but that was because they were basically all adults except for me, Byron Anderson (who had this unnecessary need to constantly tease me), and this homeschooled girl named Marina Hernandez who never talked.
Suddenly a paper airplane hit me square in the face and I was jolted out of my thoughts. I turned around and cast a glare at Nate.
"When will you learn that I don't care how much you torment me?!" I said, narrowing my eyes once more. Nate just smiled an evil smile, crinkled his dull green eyes, and made another paper airplane. It's funny how he only threw them at me. I'm sure it would annoy the heck out of Carrie, who spent class organizing her notes and occasionally writing in the diary that she kept with her at all times. Right now she was combing her fingers through her wavy blonde hair while pretending to be intently listening to Mrs. Carter, though we all knew that no one was actually paying attention. I slumped my head back down on the desk, ignoring the paper airplanes that were still pummeling me. Soon I drifted off into sleep.
"Dakota, could you answer question 5?" rang a voice in my head. I slowly opened my eyes and removed my head from the desk. Mrs. Carter was standing next to me, looking at me intently. I looked around and noticed that everyone had their textbooks open. (Mrs. Carter was probably the only teacher at this school who still used textbooks.) Oh God.
"Umm..." I mumbled, but suddenly a miracle happened. The bell rang. I jumped up immediately, grabbed my open backpack, and raced out the door. I left the room as fast as I could. Time to get out of my least favorite place in the world! But of course, in all my hurry, I slammed into someone and fell on my butt. My backpack, which I had not bothered to zip closed before I left, spilled my schoolwork everywhere. Ugh! I was going to be late for the secret society meeting! I quickly picked up random papers and books, but the steady stream of teenagers trampled all my stuff and kicked it across the floor. I sighed. Here was life at Ryland High for you. Then I suddenly noticed another person on the ground.
"Are you going to help me up or what?" asked the boy sprawled out on the floor. He had blonde hair that was shorter on the sides with long, parted bangs that flopped down into his eyes. Ugh. Byron Anderson. He was obviously capable of getting up on his own, but I reached out a hand towards him anyway and pulled him up.
"You really are stubborn, aren't you," I said, slinging my half-empty backpack over my shoulder. Of course I had bumped into Byron, out of all people. At least we could both be late to the meeting.
"Were you just gonna walk?" he asked me as we walked out onto the school lawn.
"Yeah," I said, rolling my eyes.
"Wanna catch a ride in my brand new car?" he asked, smirking and pointing to a sleek red sports car in the school's parking lot. Here he was, trying to annoy me again with his newly earned driver's license and parents who had more than enough money to buy him a car the day he could drive. I started to glare at him, but he grabbed me by the arm and dragged me through the bustling crowd of students all the way to his car.
"Hey!" I yelled, but he didn't let go. He opened the passenger door and threw me in. This was practically kidnapping! Then he walked around to the other side and got in himself, buckling his seatbelt and starting the car.
"What the heck are you doing?" I asked as he started driving, his face turning serious.
"Just giving you a ride. You're going to be really late if you walk," he said, still concentrating on the road. The truth was, he was really good at driving. I, on the other hand, had failed my driving test and was dreading the day when I would inherit my dad's rusty old convertible. Actually, I would probably never inherit it, because it was our only car. I sighed and buckled my seatbelt, placing my backpack on my lap. I unzipped the biggest pocket and rooted through it. There was barely anything there. Just my chromebook and my binder, a few crumpled up papers, my Destiny's Diner baseball cap, and an array of random pencils spread around the bottom. My chemistry textbook and my half-a-year's worth of history notes were gone. I just sighed. Another bad thing happening to a bad person who was in a bad mood. Just a day in my life. My hat was still there, though. I wasn't allowed to wear it in school, but I usually wore it any other opportunity I could get. You shouldn't ask why I love the hat so much, but it's probably because it has the name of my second home on it and that the bill helps to hide my face. I looked at the faded but looping words that spelled out Destiny's Diner and the many grey smudges that tarnished the white fabric, and then I plopped the cap snugly on my head.
"You know we might be going there, right?" Byron said, looking at me in the rearview mirror.
"What?" I asked, turning towards him.
"The diner," he said.
"Why?" I asked.
"I don't know, but I heard Ms. Bearer talking about it to the new guy. She was saying that someone we could be investigating works there," he said. I nodded. Typical of her. Ms. Bearer was the one we were always worried about in terms of telling people about the secret society. She was sort of the town gossip. And the "new guy" was a young man who had just gotten out of college and moved to Ryland. (Dumb move, if you ask me.) But no one ever seemed to remember his name.
Anyway, we were finally getting closer to the Ryland Shopping Center (which was actually just a strip mall). Byron drove through the parking lot and pulled into the wide alley in between Green's Grocery Store and Emilia's Salon. We got out of the car and walked through the alleyway to the back side of the storefronts. We peeked out and made sure that no workers were out back, and then went to the rear of Green's Grocery Store. Behind the strip mall you could only see a single dumpster, a road that led to the neighborhood that I lived in, Willow Row, and the sides of houses. We pushed the dumpster away and I took two keys out of the pocket of my beat up jeans. I put my house key back in my pocket and searched for the keyhole in the dusty concrete ground, little more than a subtle crack. I've always wondered how the New Guy had discovered this place, but he never told. I finally found the keyhole, and I noticed a few small footprints near it. I sighed. Faeries. Grandpa had always loved them. I brushed my hand over the prints, wiping them away, and stuck the key into the hole. When I turned the key, the ground that had previously been under the dumpster noiselessly slid away, and a staircase was revealed inside the hole, which was about the size of a manhole cover. Byron climbed in first and started walking down the stairs. I quickly leaped down behind him and checked to make sure no one on the outside was looking. I reached out of the hole, pulled the dumpster over it, and immediately ducked down. When the dumpster was over the opening, the thick slab of concrete slid back out to form a seamless ground. I then followed Byron down into the one-room chamber that was our meeting place.
I sighed. Of course, everyone else was already here. The room was empty except for a circle of chairs around the perimeter of the room, a podium in the center with a microphone on it, and the maps, photos, and newspapers connected with strings that plastered the walls. There were also a few filing cabinets in one corner, filled up with old cases, solved or unsolved. I sat down in my seat, which, because of my crappy luck, was next to Byron, and looked around at everyone in the society.
I spotted Ms. Bearer, the new guy, and Marina the silent girl. I also saw Marina's parents sitting with her. The Hernandezes were the only full family in the society. They were all very quiet, but extremely observant and always wrote notes down. Usually the society inducted only adults, but I got in because of my grandpa, Marina got in because her parents couldn't keep the secret from her, and Byron got in because... well, his parents were wealthy, and they needed someone from Pine Row, the richer part of town, who wasn't a total snob, boring, or the mayor.
There was also Mr. Green, who owned Green's Groceries (the reason we were meeting underneath it), Kathy Browne, the crazy cat lady who no one would suspect of spying because she was weird as is, Bob Chen, the nice guy who always waved to everyone in the town, Emmy Satsuki, the school counselor at Ryland High, and Lenny Lloyd, the oldest member of the group, who knew every inch of the town by heart. (Don't know why he wasted his time living in it for all those years.)
And then there was the leader of the society, Richard Brenton. He was a very serious man whose wife and young son had died a few years ago because of a small monster attack in the woods. That was the worst supernatural thing that had ever happened in Ryland, and my grandpa had still been alive then. It had been covered up with a story about a car accident, and Mr. Brenton had killed the monster. Its head, which looked somewhat like a cross between a lizard and a cat with ram horns, was mounted on the very back wall. He was an expert at hunting, and always took the dangerous jobs. He usually stood at the podium in the center, though he had a chair in between Mr. Hernandez and Lenny Lloyd in which he sat when someone else came up to talk. But most of us were too lazy to do that, so we usually just talk from our seats unless we're really giving a speech.
Mr. Brenton stood at the podium and said, "Well, now that everyone's here, we should start the meeting with some announcements. First, Byron and Dakota, please try to come earlier next time, as we never start the meeting without a member unless it is known that they are absent for a reason. Second, we have a new member to introduce to you: Mayella Vann," I looked around the room. New member? I didn't see anyone I didn't recognize, but I did see an empty chair next to Mr. Brenton's. Suddenly a woman appeared out of the shadows in the darkest corner of the room. Whoa, lady, way to make an entrance. She was a very tall, slim woman with dark hair in a tight bun, flawless brown skin, and a serious expression. She wore a plain maroon dress and the thinnest stiletto heels I had ever seen. She walked up to the podium next to Mr. Brenton, and loud clicks echoed off the stone floor. (But don't worry, the room was soundproofed, so no one upstairs can hear us)
"Thank you, Richard," she said. Whoa again- nobody called him Richard. But he just stood there with a serious expression on his face, like it was perfectly normal. "Hello, secret society of Ryland. My name is Mayella Vann and I recently moved to this town after discovering its existence. I moved here so I could live a nice, quiet life, but it wasn't long before I met Richard. We met at Destiny's Diner- a popular place, I have heard. We discussed many important matters and soon became close. But as we left the diner, I noticed a sign on the wall outside. It was a 'Missing' poster. I researched a bit and found out that there have been many disappearances going on in the forest near Maple Row. These stories were also broadcasted on the news, and the cause is unknown. I told Richard about my discoveries, and he introduced me to this society. I would be happy to aid all of you as you investigate further into the mysteries of this wonderful town," she said. Wow. She was really good at public speaking. Except I wouldn't call the town wonderful. I clapped. Until I realized that no one else was clapping and I awkwardly shifted in my seat.
"Uh, good job," I mumbled. Byron turned towards me.
"You're such a tryhard," he said, pushing my shoulder. I just crossed my arms and turned away, not even bothering to give him a death glare.
"Thank you," said Ms. Vann, smiling at me with thin red lips, and she walked over and sat down in the empty chair next to Mr. Brenton's. Suddenly Mr. Brenton cleared his throat.
"Anyway, just as Mayella has said, today we will be investigating these disappearances. Some research has been conducted, and we know three things. All of the disappearances have been children, from toddlers to high schoolers, they have all happened in the forest, specifically near Maple Row, and no one has seen them happen. One report that I would like to mention was from Cassandra Diamond. She said that her 11 year old daughter Carmen had been playing near the woods with two of her friends, and they decided to go on a walk in the forest. She didn't go with them because one of the girls was old enough to look after Carmen, but they never came back. Mrs. Diamond and the other girls' parents hired a whole investigation team, but Carmen and her friends were never found. I, as you know, live on Maple Row, but I have never seen anything suspicious. We can't be sure that these disappearances have to do with something supernatural, but we can investigate," said Mr. Brenton. Ms. Satsuki, the Ryland High school counselor, raised her hand.
"Yes, Emmy," he said, nodding at her.
"How exactly are we going to investigate this secretly? Aren't the police already on it?" she asked, smoothing out her red sweater. I don't know what it was with Ms. Satsuki and sweaters, but it seemed like she was always wearing one.
"Good point, but we have already decided how we are going to do this without notifying the police. We are going to investigate the people who live along Maple Row. Each of you will be partnered up and each pair will investigate the person I assign for you," said Mr. Brenton. I crossed my fingers and hoped it wouldn't be Byron. If it had to be Marina, that was fine. They usually never put me with the adults, though, because they didn't really like me for some reason. I guess I was a letdown from my grandfather.
"May I be with my mother?" asked Marina quietly. Of course. Perfect timing, too.
"Of course, Marina," said Mr. Brenton, pulling a file folder out of a drawer that was hidden in the back of the podium. "You two can investigate... Marcela Waters," As he said this, he handed the file to Marina's mother, Layla Hernandez. I rolled my eyes. Rotten luck, I told you! So much for not being with Byron.
I zoned out for a few minutes while he paired up everyone else, until I heard my name.
"Dakota Sycamore," he said, holding up the second to last file. "You and Byron can investigate Penny Ingram," he said. Byron took the folder and opened it up.
"Whoa!" he said, looking inside the file.
"What is it, do you know her?" I asked boredly. I didn't want to spend the rest of my day with this jerk.
"No, but she's a waitress at Destiny's Diner! That's probably what Ms. Bearer had been talking about earlier!" he said, showing me the file. The picture inside showed a pretty blonde woman in her late twenties. I did recognize her.
"She's that lady who spilled my hot chocolate while pouring it," I said, narrowing my eyes.
"Do you always have to be so negative all the time?" Byron asked. But before I could say yes, Mr Brenton clapped his hands.
"Okay, meeting dismissed. Now go do your investigating!" he said, almost smiling for the first time since... I don't remember when. Wow, I hadn't seen him this positive in years. I noticed Ms. Vann get up and walk over to him with the last file. They walked out next to each other, standing closer together than I would ever want to get with someone.
"Are they, like, dating or something?" I asked Byron. He shrugged.
"All I know is that they're partners for the investigation. And Mr. Brenton chose the teams, so..." he mumbled.
"Well, at least he seems happier," I said, climbing the stairs with Byron close behind. Don't get me wrong, I didn't really care that much about Mr. Brenton, but if he was happy, hopefully the society would do better, and the society was pretty much all I cared about. Investigating magical creatures was the only thing I was good at, anyway. We clambered out of the hole in the ground, locked it with the key, and pushed the dumpster back over it, as we were the last ones out.
"Let's go find this waitress woman," said Byron as we walked towards his car. Ugh, why did he have to make stupid commentary all the time? Sometimes he acted like a fifth grader, and it was freaking annoying. Actually, more like most of the time. I climbed into his car, this time willingly.
"We're going to the diner, right?" he asked.
"Yeah," I replied, fiddling with the zipper on my hoodie. He started the car and we drove in silence for about a minute until Byron spoke up.
"Hey, we should talk," he said, somehow making that sentence not sound awkward.
"About what?" I asked, still absently looking out the window.
"Us," he said.
"Ugh, that sounds disgusting. I'm not your girlfriend," I said, starting to feel uncomfortable. Us? I hated that word with a burning passion.
"No, but we're friends, right? Shouldn't we act like friends?" he asked, not even bothering to look at me.
"We're not friends. Why would you want me to be your friend anyway? You already have your little clique of dumb boys who aren't cool enough to be popular, but aren't weird enough to be nerds," I said, still watching the scenery go by. "And plus, we're not even looking at each other while talking,"
"It's because I'm driving!" he exclaimed. I swear I could hear him rolling his eyes. Or maybe I just happened to be looking in the rearview mirror. "Yeah, I don't even know why I asked. I guess you just want to be lonely all your life," Byron scoffed.
"Precisely, yes," I said.
"Have you ever realized how sad you are?" he asked, but I never answered, because we had arrived at the diner. I immediately got out of the car.  Byron followed and I tried to ignore him. I adjusted the Destiny's Diner hat over my short black hair. I finally looked at Byron, who was glaring at me.
"You shouldn't wear that hat. It makes going in there weird," he said, crossing his arms. I rolled my eyes. So he was the annoyed one now. Like I said, fifth grader. And he should know after being in the society with me for a few years now that I wore this hat almost every day, and I went to the diner almost every day, too. It wasn't weird. I was promoting the diner, if anything!
    "Let's go," I said, trying to ignore Byron's eyes on my back. Was this how it felt to everyone I glared at? Anyway, I dismissed the thought and walked towards the diner. Immediately when we walked through the door, I saw the pretty young Penny Ingram staring at Byron. She was standing behind the counter, giving him this root beer-float kind of smile. Annoyed, I pushed past him and walked straight up to her, but she was still looking at Byron.
    "What would you like, sweetie?" she asked him, even though he was five feet away and I was right up in her face.
    "Hey! I'm right here, if you didn't notice!" I almost yelled at her, grabbing her attention. Dang, that stupid temper of mine.
"Oh, sorry, sugar. I didn't see you there," she replied, still smiling ever so sweetly. I grimaced. This woman was giving me a sickly sweet vibe. She definitely had something to do with the disappearances.
"Actually, we didn't come here for food. We want to see if you know anything about the disappearances happening near your house," Byron said, walking up next to me. I glared at him. We weren't supposed to tell her that we suspected her!
"Oh..." said Penny, her smile dissolving. She quickly directed her attention away from us and waved over another waitress.
"Hey, Suzie, I gotta take a quick breath of fresh air. Could you take over my position for a few minutes?" she asked her. I recognized her as Suzie Bell-Hix, one of the town's most famous people, but only because she had been an extra in a movie. Yeah, our town was pretty unknown. Sometimes it didn't even appear on maps.
"Um, sure," replied Suzie, confused. "But you better be back pretty quickly, You're technically not allowed to just walk out,"
"Don't worry, I'll be back real quick," Penny told her coworker, flashing another smile. I grimaced. She came out from behind the counter and led us outside.
"Listen, kiddos, I don't know if you're detectives or something, but I've got something to show you," she said, looking around cautiously. I immediately frowned.
"Uh, no thanks. You're one of the suspects in a case about disappearing children. I'm not going anywhere with you. And besides, you're not supposed to leave," I said, crossing my arms across my chest in my signature annoyed look. But Byron glanced at me with a discerning expression and pulled me aside.
"Dakota, this could give us real evidence! And remember, we can always fight our way out," he whispered.
"You can," I replied snappily. Byron had been taking taekwondo for forever. How did I know this? The time he got in a fight with Nate for not giving him his lunch money. Anyway, I found a chance and talked.
"Next time don't tell her that we're investigating!" I hissed. Byron crossed his arms and glared at me. I rolled my eyes. He looked a little too much like me right now.
"Kids?" asked Penny. "What're you two whisperin' about behind my back?"
"Nothing," I replied quickly, turning back towards her.
"Well, let's go, then," she said, walking towards her car. Whoa, no matter how sweet or pretty this lady was, I wasn't getting in her car. And didn't she just say that she was just taking a breath of fresh air? SHe wasn't supposed to leave... But Byron went right after her. Sighing, I followed and entered Penny Ingram's small green Honda. As we drove past a few small houses, I couldn't shake the feeling that this was a bad choice. Soon we ended up at the forest where the disappearances had been reported. We got out of the car and I suddenly realized how scared Penny looked.
"This way," she said, turning away when she noticed me looking. We walked towards the woods and I took one last glance at a nearby house before we were swallowed up by trees.But when Penny turned a corner, I noticed a long tear in her pale blue waitress dress. I looked closer and realized that there was a smear of red near the tear. It could've just been my horror movie accustomed mind, but it looked a lot like blood.
"Um, people? I think we should go back," I said, suddenly quite scared. Why wasn't she talking? And why was Byron following her like a mindless zombie? This was eerily similar to a horror movie...
Hey-" I started to say, but I never finished talking, because just then the ground gave way and I fell down, hitting my head on cold hard stone and blacking out.