Haunted in the Night

Chapter Seven- Part Two

“You also hope for their sake that their dead?” Claire gasped, she hadn’t been expecting him to know what she had been thinking, nobody else ever had before.
“Yes" she spoke softly, looking at him curiously and he sighed sadly.
“I wish for the same thing, if only to save them from the suffering that they must be enduring" he explained to her, tears glistening in his eyes.
“I promise I will get us both the answers that we need" she swore to him and he smiled slightly at her thankful.
“I just wish we weren’t at a dead end, it’s like we’re in an endless maze but no matter what way we turn we always end up at the same place, nowhere" she grumbled, crossing her arms in frustration.
“Well have you talked to the townsfolk much? Heard their theory?” he asked her and she shook her head in response.
“Honestly I’ve been trying to keep my distance from most people, it’s hard to be around them with the way they look at me and how they gossip” she admitted to him and he nodded understandably.
“What is their theory?” she asked him but he looked unsure about telling her.
“It’s going to sound crazy" he warned her and she smiled at him for a slight second, intrigued about his concern to tell her.
“I know crazy well, you should hear about some of the psycho’s we learn about in University” she assured him that whatever it was she wouldn’t be thrown off by the craziness of it.
“People believe that it’s not another human doing it, they believe that it’s a creature, a monster" he spoke rather slowly, gauging her reactions.
“What kind of monster?” she asked curious.
“A Phantom Attacker" he told her and she pondered it over.
“You mean like the entities in English folklore from the Victorian era? They were big in Great Britain back in the 19th century" she replied and he looked at her surprised that she knew so much about them, as not many people do these days.
“So your very familiar with them?” he was still in awe, she was just full of surprises.
“I like to read" she admitted her curiosity on the subjects and he nodded in reply.
“But there just considered to be like ghosts, you don’t really think that ghosts really exist do you?” Claire was skeptical, she believed that behind the monstrous actions of death and torture there was always a human face behind it, it had been what she was being taught at University, many of the cases she had studied had seemed like no human could have possibly done it, that it could have only been done by a monster but by the end of it, every time, there was a human behind it.
“You don’t believe in ghosts? With everything people see now days? With how many billions of galaxies are out there? You really believe that we are the only life form?” he questioned her, proving that he was the kind of guy who believed in every possibility.
“I don’t know" she admitted to him, honestly no matter how hard she tried she had still always believed deep down that she was curious about the world’s mysteries and unexplainable but the other part of her was a realist, only believed in what she could see.
“You look worn out, how about I take you to get some dinner?” he suggested and she smiled at him kindly.
“That would be really nice" she replied shyly.
It had been a long day, most of it spent chasing after Hayden and interrogating him, they had completely missed lunchtime and then Bob had went straight home after they let Hayden go.
“My pickup truck is right outside, I just have to send an email for the next stock load" he told her and she nodded before heading outside to wait for him.
His pickup was black and had some potting soil bags and rose bushes plants in the trailer part, she could never remember what those were called exactly.
“Hey you already to go?” he asked her and she nodded as he unlocked the truck and they climbed into the front seat, it smelled taken care of, clean, the seats barely had any wear and tear and she could tell that he replaced them when they get old, he clearly loved his vehicle.
“You planning on doing some gardening?” she asked him, referring to the gardening stuff in the back.
“Oh yeah, my uh mother passed away a few years ago and these were her favourite roses, after she passed my father kind of shut himself off, I was living on my own and when I went to visit him he had let her rose garden wilt away, he couldn’t handle going out there but I was hoping to plant some at my house, take him a bunch every now and again, I’m hoping it might give some life back to him" he admitted to her and she looked down sadly.
“I’m sorry for your loss" she told him, understanding how he feels.
“I don’t talk about it much, only to Helena but now she’s gone" he told her and she looked at him surprised.
“So why did you tell me?” she asked and he looked at her from the corner of his eye before back on where he was driving.
“I know that you understand how it feels and you won’t judge or pity me like the rest of the people here, once you lose someone here suddenly it’s like you become a freak with the way people stare and whisper about you, I’m grateful for Helena, she never did that to me" he smiled slightly at the memory.
“Yeah, I wish I had made the effort to speak to her before....” Claire couldn’t continue her sentence.
“She understood you know” Chad told her but she looked at him confused, wondering how he would know this.
“She often spoke of you, of how she missed you, of how you were doing from the letters your grandparents sent her, she was so proud of you for getting into University, I think she told just about the whole town, but she also understood why you never wrote or called her, she wasn’t angry with you for trying to live your life away from here, actually a lot of the time she said she was happy for it" he explained to her and tears entered her eyes.
“I’m sorry I don’t mean to be upsetting you" he apologised after looking at her from the corner of his eye when she didn’t speak and noticed the tears.
“No it’s okay, I think there actually tears of happiness as well" she managed to speak out as he tapped the glove box under the dash hinting for her to open it and when she did she found a box of tissues.
“Thank you" she said as she wiped away her tears.
“We’re here" he said as he pulled over and parked the car, however he made no indication of getting out, instead he just sat there and turned to look at her.
“We can take a few moments until you regain yourself if you’d like, don’t really need people gossiping about you more than they already are, I’m sure it’s hard enough now" he told her, showing his considerate side and she smiled at him thankfully while she cleaned up her face.
“I thought we’d be going to the cafe" she said confused slightly when she looked up to see they were at a shop that hadn’t been here before she had moved.
It was a fish and chip takeaway place, it had white walls with a blue veranda, and a big chalk board placed out the front with all their specials and two sets of brown wooden tables and chairs out the front.
“The cafe is good but personally I like this place better" he smiled at her as he climbed out the vehicle and she followed suit.
It was located at the edge of town, mainly convenient for when tourists came sightseeing as the main trail path into the forest was just around the side of the place.
It was cosy inside, nice and warm out of the cold outside, the counter and deep fryers on the right side and small wooden benches with blue cushions on the left.
“Do you want anything in particular?” he asked her and she shook her head.
“You must know what’s good, get what you think is best" she smiled shyly at him which he returned before walking up to the man at the counter and placing their order, she didn’t hear what it was, instead she was looking at a bulletin board they had up above the benches.
Most were fliers, people looking for lost dogs, a couple of hiking sessions, even a boy scout club membership sign up sheet, the one that mostly caught her eye however was a sign up sheet for a hunt, someone was organising to go hunting in the forest to try and catch whatever is snatching people, there was no name, no number, just a date and a place to meet.
Here, at the trail, two days away.
“You okay?” she jumped when Chad was next to her and tapped her gently on the shoulder, she must have been staring at it pretty hard to not noticed him walk up to her.
“People think it might be a bear or something that their going to try to hunt down?” Claire asked pointing to the flier and he looked at it before returning his gaze to her.
“Or something, I told you, people here think it’s a phantom attacker, so they think that if they hunt it and are the ones to attack that they might somehow beat the devil, me however, I think it’s more difficult then just some simple hunting trip" he explained to her as she looked back at the flier.
“How much of these woods have been searched?” she asked and he shrugged.
“I’m not sure, the chief has taken volunteers out there a few times now in search of the missing people but have come up empty every time and they are always back before dark so not much of it actually would have managed to be searched, but to go that far into the woods to hide people you would really need to know you’re way around, that’s why the chief is certain it’s someone from our town but I don’t know enough about it to say for sure" he told her and she sighed sadly.
“I think there’s something out in those woods, deeper out there then anyone’s ever been, I think it’s evil, and it’s haunting this town" she admitted as she turned to the window that looked out towards the forest, she was looking intently into the trees, as if her pure will would force whatever it is out, but nothing moved, besides from the leaves falling in the wind.
“Order up" as the man called out there order she was pulled back into the store and Chad went up and grabbed it, thanking the man.
“Did you already pay?” Claire asked once they stepped outside and headed back for the truck and Chad nodded in reply as they both climbed in, shivering as the temperature was dropping as the sun was setting.
“How much do I owe you?” she asked as he placed the paper wrapped food down in between them and he put on his seatbelt so she did the same.
“My treat, next time you can shout" he hinted, implying he wants there to be a next time and she tried her best to hide her blush, it didn’t work much as he chuckled at her as he turned the car on and drove off.
“So where are we eating?” she asked him curiously and a smile appeared on his face.
“A little place I like to go when I need to get away" he told her as they began driving a little out of town and she became tense, highly aware that she was alone and vulnerable to this guy should he not be genuine.
He noticed her tense up and he looked at her concerned.
“Are you okay? Are you cold? I can put the heater on" he said as he flicked a button which made nice warm air pool into the car getting rid of the chill.
“I just don’t like not knowing where we’re going" she spoke carefully, her breath caught in her chest as it tightened as did her grip on the handle on the arm rest of the car.
“It’s a little park just up the road, my mum used to bring me here when I was a kid" he told her and she relaxed only slightly.
It was just up the road, he had turned right down a little dirt road and they reach a small children’s park, it had a swing set, a gazebo area that had a barbecue and seats and a couple of other toy equipment that she didn’t know what they were called.
He pulled over and undone his seatbelt but remained in the nice warm car so she unbundled herself too.
No one else was here, it was quiet and nice, it felt like the weight of the town was no longer upon them, the weight of having to watch yourself in case you say or do the wrong thing that suddenly the whole town will know about, none of that nonsense was out here, it was just a nice relaxing place and she could see the appeal to it.
“I hope you like potato scallops” he smiled at her with a slight colour to his cheeks as he unwrapped the food in between them to reveal hot chips with chicken salt, four potato scallops and two pieces of battered fish.
“I love them" she replied as they both dug in.