Vincent's POV
Grim Haven is just like any other Town. It's a bustling town with peppy townsfolk, and with lots of traditional community events like the midnight banquet in mid-winter, frost lacing the windows of every house and the cold gust of the wind when—if—we dared to go outside or the Grim Haven High School Promenade, where the seniors' dance and party to their heart's content but unfortunately for me, I still have to wait three long years before that happens. But try to stick around a while longer and you'll start to understand the meaning of the phrase "Don't judge a book by its cover".
Sure, every small town has its secrets. But even us who've grown and lived here our whole lives are shocked at what's being pulled out of Pandora's box. Trust me, I should now. Lately, I've realized that everyone I care about—no—everyone in this town is tangled up in one Phantasmagoria after another. But even so, the town still stays peppy and the townsfolk are prepping for the annual Summerfest.
Now I'll tell you out of all the town events this is my favorite, 'cause at this time of year, I spend all of my time with my friends. Typically, Pauleen, Patrick, and I would hit up the Carnival, stuffing our mouths with hot dogs, burgers, and other kinds of foods. We'd also test our skills at some games and by the evening Patrick and I would hit the road to check out Cullfield fireworks display. Pauleen, on the other hand, would sit back and watch our Town's fireworks display together with her cousin/sister, Vien. Confused? Well, Pauleen's Mother and Vien's Father were brothers and sisters, but due to an unfortunate accident, Vien's parents died, leading to Pauleen's mother to adopt Vien.
The Summerfest is just what we do, It's what we've always done. I started going even before I could walk, thanks to my parents. While Patrick, Pauleen, and Vien started tagging along around third grade and it's been a thing ever since.
Or, should I say: It was. Because this summer everything's different. Pauleen's off in NYC, honing her analytical and management skills with an internship from Jingle Signal, Patrick's been busy working for his Dad, and not to mention Vien and her boyfriend, Hal Gremory broke up. The intensity and epicness of the breakup were on par with the Hundred Years' War.
Honestly, I haven't seen much of them lately, IDK, don't ask me why. As for me? So far, I've been working the nights at the moonlit shack, trying to earn some cash, stay out of the house, and to stay out of my dad's way, too...
I'm not on good terms with dad because of reasons that I can't say. Staying out of the way is what I do best, taking it in and watching from a distance, and then writing it down.
Meanwhile, while all of us were busy with our things, LA's resident it girl, Sydney Asher was carelessly living out her episode of Princess like life, courtesy of her dad, Cedrick Asher's bottomless bank account. Her parents have a history with Grim Haven, but we've got nothing to do with her—or at least—that's what we thought. It's amazing that a single action—even a small one—can cause an outcome that none of us can predict.
That was us on that very same summer, Patrick, Pauleen, the new girl Sydney and me. It was July 2, two days away from the tragedy that was about to happen. Well, let's fast forward two days from now. Jim Brooks, our resident gay friend, was strolling around near Birch Creek woods while trying to find a man when all of a sudden BANG!, Jim heard a loud noise coming from Birch Creek Lake. But upon arriving at the site where he supposedly heard the sound, he only sawa body of a girl floating along the lake.
And immediately after that, Jim called the police, reporting about what he had discovered in the lake. The Sheriff arrived ten minutes after receiving Jim's call. The body was identified immediately, as Vien Strauss, one of Grim haven High's cheerleaders. The Police ruled it out as an accident. But all of us knew that something wasn't right—well all of us—except Pauleen who's still in NYC, if she heard that her sister/cousin was dead she'd be devastated. The local police was informed that Vien was last seen together with his ex-boyfriend Hal Gremory, who has been also missing the day that Vien's corpse was discovered.
A week later, they held a funeral for the dead. Pauleen crying at the sight of her dead sister, while Patrick and I were at the back also offering our respects for Vien. Meanwhile, at the House of Gremory, Hal's family was praying for their son who has been missing for a week to come home unharmed.
But this is just the beginning of our shadow-filled mystery, Pauleen wants to investigate what happened to her sister. Now Patrick and I got dragged into it, she said that there were bruises in Vien's body. She said that it looked like someone had strangled her sister, she thinks that there was foul play involved. Now that she mentioned it, if Hal is also dead it's likely that Hal would have wounds or bruises in his body, the only problem is that we can't confirm it yet. It's also likely that whoever strangled Vien, also knows Hal's whereabouts.
We started to visit the crime scene every day, trying to find clues, trying to find witnesses to what happened to Vien and Hal. We interrogated Jim Brooks, the one who saw the body first, and he told us what he said to the police but one detail was missing. He told us that he heard a loud noise before he found the bodies, but he didn't tell the authorities 'cause he was scared that they might suspect him for murder.
One more thing though, he also told us that he saw Wendel Davids running away from the scene of the crime. And that was just what we were looking for, another lead in this big puzzle, and that is what we think to be—the murder of Vien Strauss and probably—Hal Gremory.