Daxton

PROLOGUE

It was an unseasonably cold autumn evening in 1976. This sort of weather was abnormal in the small town of Mabelle, Alabama. Usually, they had no such thing as cold weather, but tonight was a different kind of night. It was gloomy, and to some, it even felt frightening.
A supermarket stood at one of the lots on Main Street and was illuminated by the red sign that read, Earl's, who was the name of the old man who founded the place. He's dead now, but his wife is still alive. She runs the place. Everyone loves her, she's like a grandmother to most people in town, and one of the kindest you'll ever meet. Even if people had something against her, you couldn't go anywhere else to get your groceries. Earl's is the only one in town, and you'd have to ride for miles before you come across another, and even then, that's disrespecting the old man, and you'd be going into another town anyway.
It must have been around six in the evening. The sun had already begun to set, and most people were inside their homes, enjoying the company of their family and eating supper.
A man dressed in all black, and a dark hoodie covering his face walked inside of Earl's. He looked around, still hiding his face from Earl's wife with his hood. He grabbed a Coke from one of the fridges in the front, and then turned sideways, near where Nellie, Earl's wife stood, behind the counter.
He peered downwards at the newspaper's stacked in the front, right next to all the candy. He was tempted to grab a Twix but decided against it. He recognized an image on the newspaper, and grabbed it, clenching it in his hands.
MYSTERIOUS FACE DRAWINGS BEING SENT TO POLICE HEADQUARTERS DAILY?!
His jaw dropped, and he proceeded to read the rest of the news article.
Ever since last Monday, police reports have resurfaced about a mysterious face "drawing" showing up at Mabelle Police Department. These face drawings have differed in looks daily, each appearing at the doorstep of the department and have scribbled sayings across the bottom, making each drawing peculiar from the rest. These drawings have been reported to allegedly cause a series of suspicion and terror in Mabelle, and police have come to the conclusion to find whoever is making these drawings and put them behind bars. One of the drawings, in particular, the one as seen above had the words, "I will make sure that your children, your spouse, your loved ones, and all the people of Mabelle pay the nasty price of death for what you did." With an act like this one, the only punishment that seems suitable is death row.
Local news reporter Jim Evans held an interview with the face of the town, Nellie Sutton. "How does this affect you seeing that you've already gone through it back in Lexington?" Asks Local news reporter, Jim Evans.
Nellie took a deep breath before she spoke a word. "I can barely sleep at night," says Nellie Sutton, "all I can think about is the possibility of the man who's making these creepy drawings in my very own town. I used to feel safe in my own home, but now, knowing that there is a psychopath in Mabelle, all I can do is feel even more terrified every day at the thought of it all."
"What happened when you were younger, miss?" Evans questioned her.
She didn't speak for a couple of minutes, but breathed in a deep breath before telling him anything important.
"Well, when I was a girl, I had night terrors that were so bad I always wound up in my pa's arms in the early mornin'. It was this shadow of a man. I would wake up and this man would be sitting on my window sill. He'd wear a long hat and I swear, he almost looked like Abraham Lincoln. Anyway, he'd tilt his head and cock his hat, but the creepiest part of him was his mask. He'd wear it every time I got the terror, and he'd look me deep in my eyes, staring deep into 'em. I couldn't move, and he just would move closer and closer. One time, he laid his hands on me, and I don't think I'll have any closure until we find this rascal who's been making those drawings. My Pa said those terrors were just terrors and somehow they'd go away, and I believed him. They went away after a while, and once these drawings appeared up again, I knew he was back. I knew my Pa was wrong, and I knew for a fact that this man was real, and he was out to get me once again."
He looked up at Nellie after reading it and noticed that she was studying him intently.
After a couple of seconds of silence, he speaks up.
"They still haven't found him, huh?" He questioned.
She shook her head,
"No," Nellie responded, "Happen to know anything?"
He tapped his shoe on the black and white tiles,
"Nope," then handed her a quarter.
She took it, placing it in her back pocket, as he rolled up the newspaper without any other interaction. He walked towards the door, the familiar-sounding bell overhead the door rang as he walked out, and off into the darkness he went.