A fear of the woods. For as long as I can remember I've always been deathly afraid of what lurks in the forest. I've seen horror movies time and time again, a majority of which are set in that unforgiving wilderness, but the movies have never bothered me or struck any fear, it's the real thing that makes me uneasy. Any time I'd ever been near the forest, it always felt like eyes were watching. Sometimes I'll see eyes, or hear voices, however, nobody except me seems to acknowledge they're there.
I looked up at the aspens and pines overhead, staring at the needles and leaves upon each. At how the sun seemed to make them glow. I wanted to take a picture to help distract myself from the people in this car, but then I remembered that I forgot my phone at home.
Why did I even decide to come? I kept thinking to myself as the trees began to grow ever so slightly apart as we sped past them on the dirt road. I haven't even had a single day to adjust to living somewhere new. I leaned my head against the tinted window, the cool glass chilling me. My head still hurt, but not unbearably like earlier. It was odd, why had there been two people that looked almost identical to James and Chase in what seemed to be a distant memory? I'd never met them before, had I?
After a few more minutes of me spacing out, we arrived in the city. People were all over the streets walking around chatting, shopping and just enjoying themselves in general. It was around 12:00 in the afternoon by then. The buildings on the outskirts of the town were petite, having an older air to them, yet they seemed well kept. The buildings further in looked modern, the polar opposite of Aken's Town, which had old decrepit farm buildings and a small school. Dark Lake City was much larger than Aken's Town could ever dream to be. The people we passed on the street seemed to be full of joy. A stark difference from those in Aken's Town.
"Alright, here we are," my mother said happily as Mrs. Lewis parked the white Mustang in one of the many newly asphalt filled parking lots surrounding the buildings.
"Where would you all like to go first, the town square, the mall, a knick-knack shop?" Mrs. Lewis had begun naming off a few of the many places we could head to first. I tapped my finger against the car door, thinking.
"I feel like we should take them to the town square first," James shrugged. "But that's just my opinion. There are plenty of shops there too."
"Ah yes, that's true isn't it," Mrs. Lewis stated. "Alright then let's start walking. It's in the heart of the city, but walking means more sightseeing!" She smiled, shutting off the car before exiting. The rest of us followed suit as she began walking onto the pavement.
Sunlight scattered across steel roofs along with stained glass windows. There was not a trace of air pollution here. I could see across the city as far as it went without so much as an ounce of haze. Just like earlier, James stood beside me silently as we walked down the street.
A group of small children trudged past us. The summer heat prevalent, each carrying individual water bottles. As they passed, many were smiling, laughing and joking about with one another in a robust fashion. However, there was one child who stood out amongst the others. A young boy with blonde, almost white, hair and pale skin was farther behind the rest of the children with his head hung low. I stopped walking and watched the children stroll away; a feeling of uneasiness had begun to well up in my stomach. Without a second thought, I looked away from the children, continuing to move.
In awe, I scanned countless stores and buildings that rose high above our heads. A vast majority of the smaller stores' signs involved a title that was occupied by a mythical creature whether that be a fairy, a dragon, a goblin, or a witch. I chuckled to myself at how ridiculous that seemed, none of those creatures existed but apparently, this city's folklore was extremely interwoven in their culture.
"What are you laughing about?" My mother turned to face me, raising one of her thin eyebrows.
"Well in Aken's Town there weren't ever these many fairytale-themed things, it's odd," everyone else chuckled in unison. I smiled to myself not paying much attention to the unsettled look that had crossed my mother's face.
Up ahead one of the many shops with mythical creatures on their signs caught my attention. The shop was called Fairies and Goblins: Books on Who and What They Are. I was suddenly drawn in by the title of the store. My eyes fixated on the shop.
"Let's go in there," I said, pointing across the street to the building on our right-hand side. Mrs. Lewis, my mother, and James all looked at me in utter confusion, only to glance at one another shortly afterward.
The shop was short and small. The exterior walls were made of crumbling red bricks stuck together by standard greyish white cement. It looked similar to a small cottage, it was slightly under the weather, but still looked nice. I looked expectantly at the other three.
"Hey, Makayla, you sure you wanna go in there? I mean," James looked at his mother then my own. "You were just making fun of the fact that this town is so engrossed in mythical beings," James seemed slightly on edge while looking at the building.
"I'm positive, I'm just drawn to it," Mrs. Lewis shrugged as every one of them stared at me, a gentle breeze blew across the sidewalk ruffling all of our hair to the left.
"I don't see the harm in going in," Mrs. Lewis stated with a gentle smile. "Shall we then?" Her heels clicked softly, and the sun shined on the maroon-colored velvet coating the shoe. She led the way across the street and over to the building. I began to get excited whereas James seemed gloomy. His jaw was clenched tightly, causing his tan skin to show the definition of it. I began to wonder what he was thinking, it was only a building full of fake creatures' information, how bad could it be? I looked up towards the sign and saw something flicker. The thing is that the sign had no lights on it whatsoever. It was made of wood.