Chapter Text
The world had become a blur of dark greens and browns as Rhea made her way down the single lane road. She was on the final stretch of her journey now and was more than ready to be done with it. There hadn't been a place to stop since right before the tree line and that had been a few hours ago.
Even though it was early afternoon, Rhea was surprised at how dark everything seemed. A mist had settled amongst the trees, one that she hadn't seen when she first set eyes on the forest. She knew there was a lake somewhere in the valley but wondered how big a lake needed to be to create such an effect this far away.
A sign appeared in the horizon, its bright blue standing out against the darkness of the forest. Slowing down, the words “Welcome to Havencrest” were painted on it in bright, bold letters.
Havencrest. A town that only one month prior never existed in her mind. Just a blank space on the map she had looked at of North America. Yet here she was, a few bags of luggage in the trunk, a testament to what little she had tying her to where she was before and a letter sitting on the empty passenger seat next to her.
A letter from her mother.
Rhea gripped the steering wheel tightly. Her mother had been dead for years and in the time they were alive, there had never been mention of a small town named Havencrest. Not even an inclination that that was where her mother was from. But in the letter, she had received a month ago, it was made very clear that this town was very important to her family, specifically her mother.
With nothing really happening in the city, along with a strange pull every time she thought about the name, Rhea had decided to uproot herself and head back to her mother’s hometown.
She had avoided thinking about the letter the whole trip. It was easy when you had music to listen to or enjoyed sightseeing, which Rhea didn’t mind at all. But now her trip was slowly coming to an end. Each mile bringing her closer and closer to her destination.
“Why are you bringing me here, mom,” Rhea asked out loud.
No one answered.
The letter seemed to leave a heavy weight on her chest. The words burning in her mind. Fate. Destiny. You must return home. All riddles and even more questions.
Rhea sighed and glanced over at the letter. It sat there, slightly folded, the paper moving slightly from the AC blowing from the vents. She brought her eyes back to the road. The lines of trees continued down the path with no end in sight. Nothing to distract herself from…
Letting out another frustrated sigh, Rhea reached for the letter. In her haste, the letter fell onto the floor of the passenger’s seat.
“C’mon,” she muttered under her breath. She looked to the road one more town, seeing no cars coming and no cars behind her. It had been like this the moment plains turned into trees. Slowing down, Rhea reached down to grab the letter. Once firmly in her grasp, she let out a triumphant laugh and sat back up in her seat.
A shadow appeared around her, nearly stripping the light of early afternoon to sudden darkness. Then it was gone. Rhea looked around frantically, trying to see what had blocked the sun when something ran out in front of her car. She let out a cry as fear gripped her and she turned the wheel to swerve away from hitting whatever was on the road.
Right into a tree.
Rhea closed her eyes and threw up her hands to cover her face, for whatever little protection that would offer her. But then…nothing happened? She kept her eyes closed and yet no impact came. Cracking one eye open, Rhea saw her car had stopped right before the tree.
There was no smoke and no sign of any damage. Rhea couldn’t believe it, even as she looked past her hands and only saw the front of her car undamaged.
“How…” she whispered out loud, trailing off as her brain tried to make sense with what she was seeing and what should have happened.
Getting out of the car, Rhea saw that her car was right up against the tree. She kneeled, taking in the fact that somehow her car, which she had been driving pretty fast, miraculously stopped just in time for her to not only hit the tree, but also save her.
Rhea looked at the tree and her car for a few minutes, her brain trying to rationalize what exactly had happened, but came up with nothing. Looking around, Rhea tried to see if she could find the…thing that had run in front of her. All she saw was the road lined with tall trees from one end to the other of her vision. Even on the other side of the road there was no sign of what had caused her to veer off the road.
She scratched her head and muttered, “Must have been my imagination.”
Not that she actually believed that.
The sound of a branch snapping made Rhea jump. She looked into the trees around her. There was nothing moving out there, but the hairs on the back of her neck started to rise and a shiver went through her spine. A sense of unease settled in the back of her mind.
She had the distinct impression someone was watching her.
After a few moments of tense silence, Rhea realized the woods were starting to get darker, a mist slowly moving through and blocking her vision. She brought out her phone and the bright screen made her realize it was starting to get late. Her hopes of getting to town before nightfall were starting to seem unlikely if she didn’t leave right then. Giving herself a quick shake, hoping that would get rid of the odd sensation she was feeling, Rhea made her way back across the road and got back into her car.
Then the car wouldn’t start. She turned the key, nothing. She turned it again, still absolutely nothing. No lights coming on, no sound from the engine. It was as if it had died.
“Dammit!”
She turned the key again and again before letting out a noise of frustration. Taking a deep breath to try and cool off, Rhea pulled out her phone. Sure enough, she barely had any cell service and trying to search on her phone for the closest mechanic only lead to the wheel of death. She shoved her phone back in her pocket and stormed out of the car. The sound of the door slamming echoed around her, and she was suddenly reminded of the quiet eeriness of the forest.
From what little research she had done of this area after receiving her mother’s letter, Rhea knew this place was supposed to be full of all sorts of creatures, both big and small. But from what she was seeing around her, it was as if she was the only person for miles.
The shadows around her seemed to grow darker. Yeah, I’m not waiting around for whatever’s out there, Rhea thought. She grabbed her backpack from the passenger side, stuffed her mother's letter into one of the pockets, and headed on down the road towards town. No other cars had gone down this road the whole time she had driven, so she didn’t suspect anyone would steal her luggage or be able to offer her a ride the rest of the way.
The quiet followed Rhea as she made her way down the side of the road. As she had suspected, no other cars came, and she was left to her own devices. Her mind started to wonder back to her conder, wonder why her car wouldn’t work and what it was that had run across the road. Had she really seen something? What if it was a person? Or something else?
Rhea laughed at herself. Sure, she was in country that had people who lived out in the woods, but no one was stupid enough to run out across the road in front of a moving car. Most likely she was exhausted from the drive and maybe a walk would actually do her some good. Clear her head.
Thankfully she had her headphones so she could drown out the weird silence and her own thoughts with music. Pulling them out of her bag, Rhea let the sounds flood her mind and for a few songs Rhea was finally able to relax.
The feeling of being watched hit her again. Stronger than before. Rhea pulled out her headphones, the sound now soft as it played from the headphones. She looked from where she came, her car long gone out of her view, and saw nothing. She looked where she was going, nothing. The woods on either side of her where also clear.
“There’s no such thing as monsters,” she reminded herself, though the quiver in her voice betrayed her. “Just, keep on walking. Keep on walking…”
Putting her headphones back in, Rhea continued her long trek towards town. She blasted her music now to try and calm her nerves. Every so often she caught herself looking to the tree line and quickly brought her gaze back to the road ahead of her.
A horn blared and Rhea let out a scream.
“What the fuck,” she cried out, breathing heavily as she grasped at her chest.
An old beat-up truck had pulled up next to her. Inside she saw an older woman behind the wheel, a younger man next to her and an older man leaning out the window in her direction.
“What’re you doing walking along this road by yourself,” the older man’s voice was gruff.
Rhea opened her mouth to respond but a voice from the back of the truck rang out. “Obviously that’s her car that we had passed further back. Right?” The person who had spoken leaned forward and looked between her and the man who spoke then settling back on her. He gave her a smile as he pointed back down the road. “What happened? Nothing looked wrong—”
“Get back Felix,” the younger man in the car yelled at him. Rhea watched as he reached through the window towards the trunk and yanked him back. Felix cussed at him, but the woman shushed them both.
The older man closed his eyes as he took and then focused his attention back on Rhea. “We’re sorry we scared you. Was that your car back there?”
Rhea could only nod.
“We should get going Roscoe,” the woman said sternly. She looked to Rhea and all she saw was distrust in her eyes. “You know tonight isn’t—”
“Enough,” he interrupted, holding his hand out to silence her. “What happened to your car?”
“Uh,” Rhea began, looking at the people in the car and then at Felix who had come back into view and was looking at her. “Yeah, I don’t know. It just stopped working.”
“Want me to go check it out,” Felix asked.
“There’s no time,” Roscoe glared at him. “Where were you headed?”
Rhea glanced at Felix again, feeling a pang of guilt at the sad expression on his face. But she had bigger things to worry about. “I was heading to Havencrest.”
“We can give you a ride,” Roscoe suggested, “Wouldn’t want you walking down this road alone late at night.” He looked behind her, eyes wary as he scanned the tree line. After a moment he turned his gaze back to her. “There’s a mechanic in town that we can drop you off it. She’d be able to come out and take a look at your car. Is there someone expecting you in town?
The line of questioning caught her off guard and it didn’t help the way he looked at the woods that made the fear ever more prominent in her mind. She had to stop herself from looking over her shoulder to stare in the woods. There were already enough strange things happening in her life, the last thing she needed was danger.
“Uh yeah, I have family in town waiting for me.” Family that consisted of a great uncle she had never met who didn’t even know she was coming. But they didn’t need to know that. “If it’s not too much trouble, I’d really appreciate it,” Rhea said. The woman and younger man scoffed while Roscoe gave her a curt nod. Felix was the only one who smiled at her words.
“Alright, hop into the back. There’re a couple boxes back there you can sit on,” he said, motioning with his hands toward the tail bed. “It’ll be another hour or 2 till we get to town.”
Rhea nodded, offering a “Thank you” before moving. Felix was already putting down the tail gate and held out his hand.
She hesitated for a moment, something in the back mind telling her to hold off. That he was no safer than whatever had cut her off.
“Don’t worry, I don’t bite,” he wiggled his fingers and winked at her. “Not too hard I’ve been tol—”
“Felix, stop flirting with the woman and help her up.”
He turned to yell back at the man, who she discovered was named Trent, but that meant he didn’t see the smile that appeared on her face. She took his hand that was still held out and was surprised to find it so warm, almost feverish. Yet when she looked up into his face, he seemed perfectly normal, as if nothing was weird or off about his warmth.
If he noticed her surprise, he didn’t say anything, only grunting slightly as he held hoist her up into the tail bed. Sure enough there were a few blankets and boxes in the back. She settled down opposite of Felix, behind the driver’s seat.
“All good,” Roscoe asked, calling through the open window.
“Yes, thank you,” Rhea nodded and bundled herself up. A sudden chill came down the road, rustling the trees. Then the car let out a sputter and the drove on down the road.
Even though it was late summer, the chill in the air only got worse as they moved. Rhea wrapped her arms around herself, wishing she had asked to head back to her car to grab her luggage. But something about this strange group made her keep her mouth shut.
“Here.” Felix held out his jacket to her. “Wouldn’t want you freezing on the way in to town.”
She shook her head without thinking. “It’s ok. I wouldn’t want you to be cold.”
Felix let out a snort and scooted closer to her, jacket still held out. “I’ll be fine, promise. It’s you I’m worried about. Only gonna get colder the closer we get to town.”
The concern on his face seemed genuine and Rhea had to admit it was getting much colder. If only they had had time to stop by her car for her to get another layer. She took the jacket and noted how warm it seemed when she put it on.
“Thank you,” Rhea said, taking in what Felix was wearing now, a long sleeve shirt, jeans, and boots. There was no way he could be warm or comfortable. “You sure you won’t freeze though?”
“Nope, warm blooded,” he gave her a wink. “I’m Felix by the way. Felix Millstone.”
“Rhea Hawthorne,” she told him.
Felix nodded, as if he was content with her name. “Ever been to Havencrest before? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in town before and I’ve lived here my whole life.”
She shook her hand, then wrapped his jacket tighter around her when another strange chill blew through the wind rushing around the car. “First time. Didn’t even know the place existed until a month or so ago.”
“Sounds about right,” Felix muttered, though loud enough for her to her. He looked to the people in the truck with a hint of annoyance, but when his gaze came back to hers, he smiled. “Not much to do her. Couple of events here and there, what with the town’s history and all, but I don’t care about it. I’d much rather leave someday, see the cities.” A sudden gleam appeared in his eyes, and he leaned forward. “You’re from one of those towns, right? What’s it like? Lots of people and things?”
Rhea was taken aback by his interest. There was such an eagerness she felt bad that she’d have to disappointment him. “Uh not really. Bounced around places most of my life. Never really settled anywhere. But” she added quickly after seeing him pout. It was cute and she hated herself for noticing that. “I was living in one a few states over. There was always something to do and it was big enough for concerts, cons, anything you wanted, you could probably find it there.”
They talked for some time more about her last home. He seemed to have an endless array of questions for her, and it wore her out a little, but he didn’t seem to notice. Or he at least noticed when she would evade any question that was too personal for her. He stopped asking those kinds of questions right away.
“Wow,” he finally said in awe, leaning back against the wall of the tail bed. “What I wouldn’t give to leave this hell hole and see the world like you have.”
Rhea opened her mouth to ask what he meant but Trent’s voice interrupted her. “We all know how much you love this hell hole of a town, which I wanted to let you know we had just arrived in.” He directed that last bit in Rhea’s direction, but the suspicion was still there in his tone.
Felix and Trent started to argue again, but Rhea ignored them. A thought crossed her mind that Felix always had something to say no matter what the conversation. She smiled to herself at the thought, turning so she could finally get a look at what had once been her mothers’ home.
At first there were only a few houses scattered along the road with streets veering off it here and there, small homes with gardens or random stuff piled but the road become more and more filled until finally the reached what she would have considered the heart of the town. Mom and pop shops lined the road, couple of cars parked here and there in front of the stores, though not as many as Rhea expected. It was like something from a postcard. A little run down, some still appearing to have the same store fronts as when they were first built.
Not many people were walking about, but enough to show that people did live there.
Guess this really is a small town, she thought.
“How many people live here,” she asked Felix. She turned to face him and was surprised to see him still looking at her.
“Hmm, oh,” he said with a start, reaching up to rub the back of his neck. “Uh, I’ve never really thought about it. Enough to survive but small enough to be considered boring?” He shrugged. “But now we have a new person, so I guess even this place has enough for you to show up.”
Rhea blinked, surprised at his words. Was he…flirting with her? Rhea pushed the thought aside. “Mustn’t be all that bad. It is your home after all, right?”
He shrugged again. “It is, but not by choice.” He looked away, but not before Rhea saw something cross his face, something dark.
“We’re almost there,” Roscoe’s voice came through the window.
Rhea nodded and looked back to take in the rest of the main stores. Down one street she noted a much bigger house, practically a mansion compared to the other quaint homes she had seen on the drive in.
“The mayor’s home.” Felix’s voice came from behind her. He must have seen where she was looking. She heard him mutter something under his breath, but decided it was best not to ask him what he said, so she nodded.
They turned off the main street and after a few more minutes, the woman pulled the truck into the driveway of a small mechanic shop. No car was in the workstation but scattered around the site were tires, old beat-up cars, or pieces of old cars. There was a small store attached to the side of the workstation with a rundown sign that read “HOLCOMB & DAUGHTER”. A woman came from the small shop, her hair pulled back in a messy bun and mechanic overalls.
She pushed the pair of mechanic goggles up off her eyes and called out to them. “Heya Tilda, what brings you to here? The ol’ girl not givin’ you any trouble, is she?”
Tilda got out of the car and went to greet the woman. Rhea tried to listen to the women talk, having not moved from her spot in the tail bed, but was interrupted by Felix who came into her view.
“Here, let me help you down.” He held out his hand to her again. This time Rhea didn’t hesitate to take it, giving him another “thanks” as she hoped down. They both shared a small smile before Rhea walked over to where Tilda, Roscoe, and the woman stood.
“—was wondering if you could help her out,” Roscoe was saying as he motioned to Rhea.
“Oh uh, yeah. Hi!” Parvati sounded flustered as she turned to Rhea. “It’s, uh, it’s no problem. Oh, I’m Parvati, Parvati Holcomb by the way.” She stuck out her hand to Rhea who took it.
“Rhea Hawthorne,” Rhea said. “If you aren’t too busy, I’d really appreciate it. All my stuff is still back there, in the car. You don’t think anyone would take it do you?” She hadn’t really thought about that, what with the eeriness of the forest overwhelming her.
Rhea bristled when the others started to laugh.
“We rarely get visitors in our little town,” Roscoe chuckled. “I have no doubt your stuff is still back there.”
“I’ll get you there in a jiffy ma’am,” Parvati said, perking up. “We’ll take my tow right away. You wanna help out Felix?”
Rhea turned to Felix. “You work here too?”
Felix nodded. “From time to time, but not today.”
“We’ll be busy for the rest of the night,” Tilda informed them, “So we best be heading out now. It was nice meeting you Rhea.” Rhea doubted Tilda was sincere with her words. “We don’t get much visitors and prefer to keep it that way. I hope you find what you are looking for and move on from here.”
With that warning, all of them turned, though Felix stood there a moment longer, looking between Rhea and Parvati. He appeared to be thinking hard on something, but whatever it was, he wouldn’t have time to share it. Tilda had called out to him again from the truck and with one more look in their direction, he climbed back into the truck and the four of them drove off.
“Alright ma’am, you ready to head out?” Parvati held a set of keys in her hand and waited for Rhea’s response.
“Yeah,” Rhea gave her a nod, “And please, call me Rhea.”
Parvati nodded, though Rhea got the distinct impression it would take a little while before Parvati would be comfortable with that. But there was kindness in her eyes when she gave Rhea a nod that let her know she was with a friend.