"Well, hello there." Mrs. Granger said with a strange smile.
The duo didn't immediately respond as they inspected the area for a bit.
"Do you hear anything?" Alex inquired in a low voice.
Douglas nodded. "Yeah… the laughter is concentrated here."
"Must be ground zero."
"Huh?"
"Never mind." Alex gestured with his hand to wave the topic away before making his way over to the old shack.
"Good evening, Mrs…"
Mrs. Granger chuckled. "Oh Alex child, when did you start speaking so formally with me?"
Alex pursed his lips as he quickly tried to figure out how the previous 'Alex' had communicated with the lady.
"Hello, Elder. Do you remember me?" Thankfully, Douglas was with him.
"Of course, Douglas child. You both have gotten so big. Thankfully these weary eyes of mine haven't failed me else I wouldn't even be able to recognize you."
"That's good."
Mrs. Granger slowly dropped the material she was knitting before slowly rising from her chair.
She wasn't all that tall, mostly because of her crooked back that forced her to stay hunched, which was weird considering she was only in her mid-40s while looking like an old grandma.
"Come in, come in. It's been so long, let me brew two cups of tea for my favorite siblings." She said as she proceeded to enter her home.
Douglas and Alex exchanged looks before stepping into the house as well.
Both men furrowed their brows at the scene that awaited them within.
Blood stains, weird writings, and claw marks on the wall, with the furniture overturned and floorboards broke at various locations.
It looked nothing like a home, yet Mrs. Granger walked past all that like it was normal.
"Something's wrong," Douglas muttered.
Alex glanced at him as he inquired. "Oh, what gave it away?"
Not bothering with a response, Douglas followed after Mrs. Granger.
Alex contemplated activating his Spirituality but soon decided against it.
If he had learned anything so far, it was that as long as he didn't want to antagonize anything, it was best not to look.
It's not like he was scared but based on how aggressively those things could act, he thought it best to try dialogue first instead of irrationally destroying everything, after all, they still hadn't found a way to awaken Emily.
"Sit there." Mrs. Granger remarked while pointing at a circular wooden table with four chairs about it, covered in thick cobwebs.
Douglas pursed his lips as he watched Mrs. Granger walk into the kitchen.
Taking a moment to consider, he inquired. "You plan to question her before fighting?"
"There's no point in fighting her if we don't know what she did. It might be that killing her destroys any hope of Emily coming back. We have to tread cautiously. For Emily's sake."
Douglas nodded in understanding before moving over to the dining table.
Taking out the cobwebs, both men made themselves comfortable as they waited for Mrs. Granger to come out.
It didn't take long before they heard her humming a tune while stepping out of the kitchen with a tray.
She walked over and set the tray on the table before handing one cup over to Alex and then another to Douglas.
Not bothering to clear up the cobwebs, she took her seat as well and revealed a most pleasant smile…or rather unpleasant, what with her lack of teeth which made the sight quite grotesque to gaze upon.
"So, how's BoneHaven?... You guys must be having a lot of fun over there, no?... Emily came back not too long ago and I must say, you did a good job of raising her right, Douglas. Such a sweet and responsible child."
".... Thank you." Douglas hesitantly replied after brief confusion on which question to answer.
Alex casually shifted the cup of tea before him forward a bit before he spoke. "Mrs. Granger… ah no, I mean, Elder, have you noticed anything wrong with Townsend lately?"
"Wrong?" Mrs. Granger revealed a thoughtful gaze. "Well, I noticed that the crop hasn't been harvested yet. It worries me since the date for collection is coming soon. Could you boys handle it?...the villagers are quite lazy, I wonder why."
As she spoke, she took a sip from her cup of tea and smacked her lips. "Lovely."
Seeing as Alex and Douglas hadn't touched the tea yet, she added. "Have a taste quickly. You can't let the tea get cold."
Douglas revealed a wry smile but did not attempt to touch the cup while Alex fired away.
"Elder, strange rumors have been spreading about Townsend these days, you know."
"Oh, what rumors?"
"That Townsend is a ghost town now and I can't agree more. I mean, what could have happened to the villagers to be in such deep slumber?"
Mrs. Granger stared at Alex briefly, her expression unreadable.
A moment later, she replied. "The villagers aren't sleeping of course. Should I let you in on a secret?"
"What secret?"
"They are dancing."
"Dancing?" Alex raised a brow. "For who and why?"
"For the children of course. They have to keep the children entertained so…they dance." Mrs. Granger spoke as though her words were natural but then again, she sounded quite convincing.
Douglas then spoke up. "But we didn't see anyone dancing on our way here."
"Oh, would you like to see them?"
"If possible, yes," Douglas replied.
Mrs. Granger gestured toward the teacup placed before him while grinning. "Then drink that and you'll see them… including Emily."
The atmosphere grew tense at that moment as Douglas glared at Mrs. Granger.
The latter remained poised however as she went ahead to take another sip from her cup.
"The children you mentioned…" Alex remarked. "Are you the one that brought them?"
"Of course not. They are the children of a great and noble being. I have been given the task to watch over them and ensure they are always entertained." Mrs. Granger replied.
Alex nodded. "One last question."
"Hmm?"
"Do you know the villagers are dying?"
"Dying?... What nonsense are you spewing?... I just told you they are entertaining the children."
"I see." Alex sighed before his voice turned unnaturally fierce. "Will you give Emily to us or should we take her from you?"