**Monday, January 20th**
In northern Arkansas, in the small mountain city of Deerwood, twenty-three-year-old Tony Andrews wandered through town aimlessly. He waved at the occasional passerby, offering a quick smile, though deep down, a strong dislike simmered for his surroundings and the people in them. Something about the way they moved, talked, looked, even smiled, irritated him—and he couldn't figure out why.
As he passed a group of elderly women chatting on a street corner, he caught a snippet of their conversation. "Did you hear what happened to Paisley?"
That was one topic Tony didn't want to think about. If there was anything he valued about Deerwood, it was its safety and predictability. But since Paisley Jensen's disappearance, the town had taken on a strange, unsettling air.
Just before her disappearance, the skies had been bright blue, but since January 1st, heavy, overcast skies had settled over Deerwood like a permanent shroud. To make things worse, Paisley's body was never found.
Tony arrived at The Gilded Fork, a cozy local restaurant, and settled into a booth. He ordered a Coke and scanned the menu as the smell of syrup and pancakes filled the air. Beethoven's *Für Elise* played softly in the background, the restaurant empty except for a lone woman seated by a window in the back. Normally, Deerwood residents packed the restaurant in the morning, kids played outside, and families took walks, but now, only silence and Beethoven accompanied his thoughts.
A waitress approached, a slender woman with short brown hair. "Ready to order?" she asked with a pleasant smile.
"Yeah," Tony replied, ordering pancakes and waffles. Taking a sip of his Coke, he leaned back, closing his eyes to the sounds around him—the shuffle of plates, running water, clinking dishes in the kitchen.
Footsteps approached, stopping right in front of him. He opened his eyes slowly to find the woman from the back of the restaurant sitting across from him. She had freckles and red hair pulled back in a ponytail.
"May I help you?" Tony asked, uneasy.
The woman glanced around, then looked directly at him. "May I see your arm?"
"What for?"
She didn't answer, just held his gaze, her eyes oddly intense. Reluctantly, Tony extended his arm. "Can you roll up your sleeve?" she asked.
Sighing, Tony pulled up his sleeve, and she studied his arm as if looking for something. Then, without warning, she reached out and scratched him with her long nails. He jerked his arm back.
"What the hell—" he started, but before he could finish, she bolted out of the restaurant. Just then, his waitress returned with his order, and he rolled his sleeve back down, unsettled but ready to eat.
---
"Do you believe in vampires,"ten-year-old Julia Binder whispered to her friend Oswald Fisher as they swung side by side on the playground.
"Why do you ask?" Oswald asked, eyes wide.
"I saw a movie about it last night, I wasn't supposed to, I snuck and watched it."
"Would you be scared if they were real?"
"Nope," Julia said confidently, flicking a strand of blonde hair out of her face. "I think it would be cool if they were real."
"I don't think so," Oswald replied, gripping the swing's chains tighter. "That means they could come after us, right?"
"Maybe, but if she became a vampire, she could live forever."
"Live forever?"
Julia nodded enthusiastically. "Wouldn't that be cool?"
Oswald thought for a moment. "I don't know. I feel like life here on Earth would get boring. Besides, if I lived forever, everyone else would grow old and leave me alone."
Julia's swing slowed as she considered this. "Then I'd just turn them into vampires, too," she said, grinning.
Oswald laughed, though his cheeks turned pink. "You'd bite me?"
"Yep. If I ever became a vampire, I'd want you around forever."
Oswald felt a strange tug in his chest at her words, watching her as she swung higher, her long blonde hair bouncing. Julia was pretty, no doubt, but he couldn't believe she might like him back. He pushed off the ground and started swinging again, side by side with her.
---
After school, the two walked home together, as usual. Their houses were next door to each other and close to Deerwood's only elementary school.
"What are you going to do when you get home?" Julia asked, as she did every day.
"I don't know. Depends," Oswald replied, as he always did.
"On what?"
"I don't know. Just whatever I feel like, I guess."
"Well, I'm finishing that show," she said. "The one with the puppets. They get into all sorts of wacky stuff."
"Sounds fun. What channel?"
Julia raised her eyebrows. "Interested?"
"I might be. I never know what to watch."
"Well, come over and watch it with me!" she said excitedly. "If your mom says it's okay."
"Alright," Oswald agreed, smiling shyly.
As they turned onto their street, they spotted a girl standing at the corner. She was a little older than them, maybe in middle school, and wore a bright pink Lolita dress, and had long red hair, and holding a purple umbrella despite the overcast sky.
For some reason, Oswald's heart began to pound, a strange sense of fear creeping over him as he looked at her. He couldn't explain it, but something about her presence unsettled him. He froze, hands clammy, unable to speak.
Meanwhile, Julia walked right up to the girl. "Hi! I'm Julia Binder. What's your name?"
The girl looked at Julia, her expression unreadable. "Rosa Hudson," she replied. "Rosa means 'of a rose.'"
"Uh, okay," Julia said, unfazed by the odd introduction. "What are you doing out here with an umbrella?"
"Too many questions," Rosa replied curtly, walking past her.
Rosa brushed by Oswald, glancing at him for just a second before disappearing around the corner. Julia watched her go, frowning.
"She's weird," Julia muttered, turning back to Oswald.
Oswald, still shaken, looked down. "I think I'll head home," he mumbled.
"What? I thought you were coming over!"
"I'm...tired," he said, then hurried off toward his house, his heart still pounding from the brief, eerie encounter.