Chapters:

01

I cannot say where exactly my town is, as if you end up in it, you most likely will not survive your travels through it. I will say that it is in the eastern half of the United States, and bores some very interesting characteristics. This is why (officially, at least), our town doesn’t exist. Our town is part of a swath of unincorporated territory that stretches for what seems to be a hundred miles. We are one of the southernmost points in this territory and the only point in which there is an actual grocery store and a McDonald’s. Our town holds about two thousand or so residents and has some very neat perks to it that I have enjoyed up into my adulthood.

And while every town in America has some sort of dark past, I think mine takes the cake for having a history of violence and mystery. If you think I’m kidding or exaggerating, let me give you some examples right off the top of my head:

Since I was six, I can remember a child disappearing every year on April 23rd. Every year, the child would be reported missing at exactly 11:45 AM local time, and an Amber Alert would go out. Every year, on April 27th, at exactly 9:00 PM, their mutilated corpse would be found. It would always be within a quarter of a mile from where the first boy appeared back in 2004. Also, a large oak tree would always have a foreign symbol carved into it after one of these disappearances, and the symbol was different every time.

I remember back when the first child disappeared, and this sick trend began to plague our town. The missing boy’s name was Timothy Ulrich and he was found dead by Officer Gwen Swanson right on the banks of the local river. It’s a large river, not as large as the mighty Colorado River per se, but it does have the strength to help give electricity to the nearest city. The year after that, little Olivia Gallant was found weighted down at the bottom of the said river. Another odd pattern that is probably worth noting is that every single one of these children had turned eight years old less than a month ago. Luckily, I turned eight in September and didn’t have to worry about ending up in this situation, but my friend, Tommy, had a sister who died in this mysterious about five years ago. This case has been open for years, and yet there has never been any advancement into catching whoever, or whatever, is doing this to the town children.

This is just the tip of the iceberg.

Next Chapter: 02