did you see that?

despite it being officially spring and the fact that it was supposed to be her vacation, the air drifting off of the lake was incredibly cold. wrapping the sweater tighter around her shoulders, lisa’s eyes squinted as they scanned the water, half-expecting something to jump out of it the more she scrutinized it. hearing footsteps behind her, lisa glances behind her and sighs deeply at the other. “i don’t know why they call it crescent lake. looks more like a kidney bean, really.”

the lake water isn’t exactly refreshing as it is fucking-cold-as-balls but hector is hollering like it’s the most exciting thing in the world, jumping off of the dock into the dark lake. surfacing up, hector rolls his eyes at the other still standing on the dock. “come on in, water’s fine!” he lies, goading them on with a smug smile before his stare turns mockingly suspicious, “what, you really think those cult freaks are still at the bottom? are ya scared?”

AFTER A FEW DRINKS, valeria had decided it was time to go back to her cabin. however, as she stood outside the conestoga wagon bar, dying phone in hand with uber pulled up, her face twisted in displeasure. “the nearest uber is FORTY FIVE minutes away?” she knew it was a small town but this was not expected. her plan to get back was officially thwarted, and she realized she was going to have to walk back to camp in the dark, intoxicated. if only she knew which direction it was. 

“DID YOU FUCKING SEE THAT?" brown locks bumped furiously against the thin fabric of her blouse as aurora flipped around to look at the other, eyes bugged and swiftly wandering around the space sorrounding them. "i am sorry, i didn’t mean to yell- but you did see that as well, right? that boy, covered in blood?" 

𝓌𝑜𝓇𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑔 in an ice cream shop had to be the most boring job the girl had had thus far in her short nineteen years of living. and although there was much more excitement in her previous occupations, if you could even call them that, she welcomed the quiet. in fact, she was relieved to be in a town where absolutely nothing exciting was happening at all. but, persephone was always a girl of mischief and after spending all day behind a counter, she couldn’t help but grin when she saw someone walking by. “hey you!” she called out to them, hopping up so she was sitting on the counter, legs dangling over the edge as she reached into the topping jar, plucking out a bright, red cherry and dangling it in front of her face. “how much do you wanna bet that i can tie this cherry stem with my tongue in less than thirty seconds?”

“no. no, nothing like that.” mila shook her head as her smile broadened–a breathy laughter accompanying the words. “i’m not like a … journalist or anything. i mean, hopefully, this’ll be published–someday–but as a part of my doctoral thesis, so sort of a niche audience.” in her experience, people didn’t really want to know once she got into too much detail. usually people preferred to tell their own brushes with horror and she was eager to record them. “i’m hoping to get a more personal history of crescent lake while i’m here. you know, you or your family memories. or just things that have raised your hackles.” now that the conestoga was starting to empty out, she hoped someone would take her up on the querie–a couple beers in made even the most reserved townies verbose in her experience. “i can look up facts, but there’s no richness in that history. it’s the town’s memories–their little legends–that warrant preservation as much as the facts, don’t you think?”

it didn’t matter anyway, because now that she was out and standing inside the crescent lake lanes, she was honorbound to either buy a can of hamms or pbr and watch the bowling league wannabes work on their perfect games, or figure out which shoe size she wore in bowling shoes and play a game by herself–both of which made her seem more desperate than she cared for. with how busy it was, neither looked particularly likely as the attendant seemed to overlook her raised hand every time ( either conspiratorially with conne pryzbylewski  to ruin her night or, more likely, on accident among the fray ). sidling up next to another solitary patron at the counter, nancy tried her luck and cleared her throat. “uh, hey, so do you know what the conversion on sizes is for bowling shoes? the last time i came here, i think i had light-up sneakers.”