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The town had one rule and everyone knew it.
You don’t go outside after dark.
Rowan swore as he stalked back to the car. Just his luck to find a service station right when he ran out of fuel, only to realise that the service station was closed. Damn.
The town was small, but there had to be a motel or restaurant around here somewhere. It was nine o’clock and Rowan was hungry as well as tired. He could sleep in the car until tomorrow morning when the service station opened, but he needed food now, and sleeping in the car definitely wasn’t his preference.
Rowan grabbed his phone and his wallet, noting that his phone had no bars of service when he checked it. He should have gotten that Starlink thing his friends had been telling him about before he went on this road trip, but Rowan had never thought he’d actually need it.
Since checking Google for nearby restaurants wasn’t an option, Rowan decided to take a walk around the town. In small towns, businesses tended to cluster together, so hopefully there would be something open nearby. Nine o’clock wasn’t even all that late. If Rowan was lucky, maybe he’d find a club and he could have a few drinks and a good time. If he was really lucky, he might not even have to look for a motel. A one night stand sounded pretty good right now, just the thing to turn this lousy night around.
The town—Wellstone, it was named—was a pretty place, with neatly-tended paths, gardens and trees. Rowan assumed it was a typical small town until he began to notice the oddities.
There was no one else walking the streets. All of the businesses were closed and shut up tight. All of the houses were dark, no lights glowing in windows or on porches.
Rowan was contemplating returning to his car and resigning himself to spending the night there, empty, aching stomach and all, when he heard the first sign of life. A rustle in the bushes nearby.
Rowan turned to peer at the bushes, curious. Was there a cat or dog hiding in there? He hadn’t even come across any cats or dogs in this strange town yet.
Then Rowan heard the distinct sound of a baby’s cry, coming from those bushes.
A baby? Had somebody dumped a baby under there?
Rowan wasn’t known for having a heart or being fond of babies, but even he couldn’t leave a baby out here alone in the chilly night. Not even Rowan’s older brother, Tera, who hated children, would do that to an innocent, helpless baby.
Rowan approached the bush as the baby’s cries grew louder. He was about to crouch down to look under the bush when a hand grabbed his shoulder.
Rowan whirled, fist raised to punch whoever had grabbed him, but his fist was caught in a firm hand.
Rowan glared into dark purple eyes. “What’s your problem, man? You can’t go around grabbing people like that,” he snapped.
Even if the guy was pretty. He had long, jet-black hair tied back in a ponytail, his skin was dark tan and his eyes were very direct, meeting Rowan’s without any sign of fear. He released Rowan’s hand. “You were about to make a big mistake,” he said. “You mustn’t be local.”
Rowan studied the man’s outfit. Tight-fitting black pants and a form-fitting, long, black, collared jacket. A whole lot of black. It looked good on him.
“What do you mean, mistake?” Rowan turned around and started to kneel. The baby was still crying. How could this guy ignore that?
Rowan’s shoulder was grabbed again. Rowan snarled, thoroughly annoyed with this man. He sure needed a good punch to that pretty nose.
“Man, you don’t want to do that. Trust me,” the stranger said, tugging Rowan back a few steps. “Just watch.” The man reached into his jacket’s pocket and took out something small. He threw it under the bush.
A piece of candy?
The cries suddenly stopped.
“Come on. Leave it alone,” the stranger said. “Around here, it’s not a good idea to be out this late at night.”
“You are,” Rowan pointed out, frowning at the dark space under the bush. The rustling had started up again.
“I know the lay of the land, and I know what’s under the bush. Believe me, it’s not what you’re expecting. If it hadn’t got that candy, it would have had your face instead.”
“What?”
The stranger continued to pull a resisting Rowan along. “Lacie will open the diner for us even at this time,” he said. “I’ll explain there.”
A diner? That meant food, right?
But…
“How do I know you’re not a serial killer?” Rowan questioned, “taking advantage of the poor, naive outsider?”
“Serial killers are the least of the horrors in this town,” the man said with a laugh. “I’m Demi. What’s your name, outsider?”
Rowan figured that there wasn’t any harm in sharing his name. “Rowan,” he replied.
“Rowan. Where’s your car? You must have one. Trains and buses don’t stop here after dark.”
“At the service station. I’m out of fuel.”
“Yeah, you’re stuck until tomorrow morning.” Demi flashed Rowan a blindingly white smile. “Daryl runs the service station and he doesn’t surface until daylight—no exceptions. If his house was on fire and the stars were out, Daryl wouldn’t evacuate.”
That had to be an exaggeration.
Lacie was a middle-aged woman who called Rowan ‘dear’. Despite being irritated by Demi’s interruption to her sleep, she let them into the diner and made up some sandwiches and coffee for Rowan.
Rowan had never been in a diner when it wasn’t open, and it was eerie sitting next to the window in an otherwise empty place, the only lights the lamp on the table between himself and Demi, as well as the light coming from the kitchen behind the counter, where Lacie bustled about.
“So, what’s the deal with this place?” Rowan questioned. Since Lacie corroborated Demi’s story about it not being a good idea to be out after dark, he was more inclined to believe Demi now.
Demi unlocked his phone and passed it to Rowan. Like Rowan, he had no service, but service wasn’t needed to access Demi’s photos app. Rowan scrolled through the album titled ‘Wellstone Night Photos’.
“This must be fake,” Rowan said, his tone uneasy. He stared down at the grotesque image of a shrunken head sitting on a park bench. Just the head. It wasn’t the weirdest or the worst photo in Demi’s collection.
“They’re real. This town is full of weird shit like that. Vampires, ghouls, monsters no one has ever heard of… they all come out at night,” Demi said. “Never during the day. It’s messed up, but as long as you stay indoors after dark, they don’t bother you. If you do go out at night… well, you’re fair game. The local cops don’t even bother investigating disappearances or murders around here.”
“What a charming place,” Rowan replied dryly, handing Demi’s phone back to him.
“Well, the weather is nice,” Demi said with a laugh.
Rowan rather thought that was like someone saying, “Well, I needed to get rid of a few things…” after a flood wiped out their house. Wellstone was not somewhere he wanted to linger. He’d be gone as soon as he got a full tank of fuel.