”Fuck fuck fuck” the curses came as hushed hisses from the teenage girl’s mouth. Her room was full of vintage posters; Universal Monsters, classic b-horror movies, and the 80’s classic. A worn poster of John Carpenter’s The Thing hung behind her doorframe. Sarah Morgan was always different from most of the girls in her 11th-grade class. She’d fallen in love with horror at a young age, devouring the classics with her dad until Will had been born. As soon as he’d been able to talk, Sarah had brought him along on her adventures, already brainwashing his little child-brain with the real good shit. She could hear music buzzing from her headphones on her dresser, as her iPod shuffle continued to play the Yeah Yeah Yeahs in a rasp buzz, bringing her back to what she needed to do.

A black Moleskine journal, decorated in all sorts of vinyl stickers with skulls, blood, and iconography best suited for a Misfits album decked the cover. The pages were filled with scribbles, tons of paranoid writings from a girl who felt trapped. She had to get out of the house, get out of town. Just get the literal fuck away from here. She threw on the thick jacket that Bobby Warren had picked up at a Hot Topic in Bangor last fall. He’d begged her to go to prom with him, and she’d acquiesced. She dug his shitty metal band, even if he couldn’t sing or scream. He was fun.

Summer was supposed to be fun. But ever since she’d tried walking out of town three weeks ago, making it out of the city limits before she began feeling sick and passing out, only to wake up in the middle of Cider Park, everything in her life had come crashing down. She silently opened her bedroom door, a flash of light filling the hallway. Will’s room was open all the way, and she could see her baby brother asleep in his bed. She loved him, deeply and unconditionally, because ever since her mother and father brought him home from the hospital seven Octobers ago, she’d decided that while the child was born from her parents, he belonged to her. She’d taken to mothering the baby as young girls did with their dolls, and her parents found it more cute than annoying. The connection had stuck, and while he could be a brat some days, she let her baby brother more into her life than she’d let anyone else.

She couldn’t risk creeping down the wooden stairs of the house and instead opened the second-story window out onto the black tile roof of the house, carefully tip-toeing her way down the ledge until she could jump safely into the hedges. She dropped, falling into a brush of small brambles and leaves, scratching at her hands and her legs. Nothing was broken as she pulled herself out of the brush, but she’d regretted not at least attempting to sneak out the kitchen door. She opened her notebook and looked over what she’d written the day before: The Library.

She couldn’t waste any more time. She was terrified, her heart fluttering in her chest. But she didn’t want to die like the others.

He always had headphones over his ears. Of course, he did. It blocked out the bullshit. His mom and dad arguing, his mom yelling about how he and his dad never came to church with her, the constant yelling from Jeff Warren that he was a fucking freak and how he’d kick his ass if he didn’t get out of the way in the hallway. There was too much bullshit right now to block out.

It didn’t help that these were the worst months when mom and dad were at their most acidic with each other. No one wanted to think about Sarah right now, especially when they’d reached a milestone in their lives: 10 years without killing each other or themselves after she’d died. He wasn’t angry. His therapist said that it was normal feeling anger after a loss. That was totally fine. But over the years after Sarah, he only felt empty. Like someone had taken a knife and carved an important piece of his body and just removed it, leaving a gaping hole where it once was.

He was walking to the old metal mailbox at the end of their driveway. The mailbox had seen far better days, and the numbers 218 were heavily faded. Any projects that needed to be done were rarely done, especially around the summer. He opened the metal flap downwards and reached in to find several letters. Bills, bills, spam, and...there it was he thought, the solitary good thing to look forward to in the summer. Bangor Bloodfest, the premier horror convention in Maine had been something he’d saved up for, with birthdays and Christmases all going to funding his trip.

We’re sorry to confirm…

First Uncle John and Aunt Patty couldn’t have him escape this bullshit war between his parents. And now the one thing he’d been excited for, the one thing he’d spent the past year prepping for was canceled? Why? He felt the tinges of emotion spark through the tips of his fingers, as his left hand curled into a ball. He wanted to punch something, anything but instead realized that it was worthless. “Just...kill me now…” he muttered, walked back to the front door. Screams could be heard inside; so he did what he knew best. He opened the door, quickly slung the papers onto the coffee table in the living room, and quickly dashed out to the garage. He felt anger rising up in his chest as he pulled the old Schwinn bike up, having leaned against the wall for the past month. Being quarantined with his family had been such a hellish, trying time. And now he'd be stuck around them all summer.

Resentment spurred him forward, as he pedaled towards the center of town, before suddenly swerving to the right, heading towards Prescott Mill Bridge, the only way to exit town if you didn't own a boat, good hiking boots or a helicopter. He pedaled. He wanted to get out of this damn place, and just be somewhere different. He'd spent the past nine summers insulated from the outside world, cut off from others because why try when the people you love can just end their lives for no reason. He continued on like this for a solid ten minutes, rounding old streets, passing Courtland Street (but staying off the main road. This wasn't time to get jumped) and finally saw the old concrete and metal bridge in the distance. Even if it was just for an hour. Even if he just rode his bike in the woods. Anything would be better than hanging around the grocery store staring at the handful of cars that drove up the streets.

As the bike's tires hit the metal of the bridge, something felt off. A slight pain, like a hair-thin needle being slowly inched into the back of his neck, began acting up. It was as if his primordial lizard brain, its entire function based around keeping him alive, was awake and screaming: "GO BACK GO BACK IT'S DANGEROUS. But Will was a teenager, and as any good teenager does, he pressed forward.

The pain began to get worse. That single needle grew in size. Pain throbbed. He pushed forward. He began to feel lightheaded, he had to stop the bike and began to slowly walk it down the bridge now. Further and further. Keep moving. Pain. His vision began to blur. Further and further.

The world went black, and as his consciousness faded, he felt his body slip and begin to fall over the railing of the bridge.This is it. He thought. I'm dead.



Birds were chirping, chittering and singing, and Will felt warmth crest over his face. Sunlight. There had been no splash, no infinite darkness into death. He was not in the water but instead laying on the soft grass. He opened his eyes to find himself in thick trees. Clouds were blotting the sky like a Rorschach test, and in the distance, Will could hear the sound of children. He pushed himself upwards, wild-eyed. What had happened?

He checked his limbs, his clothes. There was nothing wrong with any of it. It was as if he'd taken his bike out for a quiet ride in the woods and taken a nap. But where was he? His Schwinn was discarded nearby on the grass as well; with no apparent damage to the frame, chain or tires. Had he imagined all of it? He pulled his bike upwards, pushing it through the grass, trying to catch a lay of the land. Then he saw it, and he knew exactly where he was:



Under the cross inscription was a date: July 15, 2010. This is where Sarah and the others had died.

His stomach sank, and now he began to feel a different kind of dizzy to that on the bridge. Bile and acid seemed to rise in his chest. He wanted to vomit. He clenched his fist, breathed deep through his nose, and kept pulling the bike away from the memorial. Why here? If there was one place on this godforsaken planet he never wanted to be, it was at Cider Park, especially not at the little memorial that his mom's fucking church had decided to erect. There was something wrong about all of this. He needed to think. Somewhere quiet, where kids his age would never go during the start of their vacation: The Library.

He mounted the bike, pedaling with gusto, the wind pushing through his hair for the first time in a while. The Library was only four blocks from his house, but it was nestled atop a hill, which of course meant walking the bike up. Going down was always good; you could get excellent speed from the top. So he pedaled, his heart picking up pace with each forceful push from his legs against the pedals, rolling past the quiet roads of the town.

Summer had come to Everbrook, and with the populace finally free of any more quarantining, life was beginning to resurface in the town. Somewhere in the deepest blackness of the town, hidden away from the world and yet so easily ready to manipulate it, something else was waking up. Something very old and very hungry. The time was coming soon, and new sacrifices had to be made. They were already chosen, though none quiet knew it just yet.

It would all begin at the library. Fate would bring them all there together.

The echoing of boots on metal, the scraping of furniture being placed down, the yanking of tape off of cardboard, the rustling of newspaper, the tinkling of ceramic hitting each other, and the barking of orders from a stern voice were the noises that had filled up her morning. They were not unfamiliar to her and were practically like an old friend, just giving her the sign of yet another early morning move into yet another new home that she would have to adjust to. It wasn’t all bad, at least it was officially Summer and she would get to see where her Aunt Samantha had been living all these years. It felt like they hadn’t seen her at all, just muffled phone calls or stories about her past from her father which was not an often occurrence. It would be nice to get to know more about her and the town she was daffy about. She had practically sung its praises while pitching the idea to move here but maybe that was just to hook her dad into moving. Jess wouldn’t deny that they needed a fresh start but it was hard to move on, feeling like they were leaving her mother’s memory behind even though that was further from the truth.

She gave a heavy sigh, shaking her head to rid herself of those thoughts before it led down the rabbit hole of negative emotions or old memories. Jess carefully plopped down the box she was carrying into what would be her room, though for now resembled more of a storage room since none of her furniture had made it into the house just yet. Honestly, she knew she should work on helping unpack or at least working on her own room but she had all night to unpack and the last thing she wanted to do was be at this all day. The only reason she had been carrying boxes at all is because she hadn’t trusted the movers to do so since the last group had forgotten what the word ‘gentle’ means and had pretty much destroyed any glass items. Her mother had been so furious…’nope, stop those thoughts right there, she told herself, running her fingers through her wavy blonde tresses. Jess spun on her heels, heading back outside to grab her last box from the U-Haul and figure out a way to convince her father to let her go exploring instead of sticking around this circus for the rest of the day.

“That goes into the bedroom at the end of the hall.” Martin ordered. Jess squared her shoulders, making her way over to her father to do the best convincing she could. No time like the present and no one got anywhere by doing nothing. She stepped up next to him, watching as the movers brought down a mattress from the truck and glanced at the man beside her. This had been a rocky time for the two of them, losing a loved one was hard enough but their main communicator and buffer for each other was gone. Just standing here, made her feel like she was on another planet or simply, feeling alone when surrounded by people. He finally seemed to notice her presence, taking his eyes off the truck and locking them onto her for a moment before focusing back on the task at hand.”Is there something you wish to ask me, Jessica?”he questioned. She felt her brow furrow in annoyance that he couldn’t even bother to look at her as he spoke but shrugged it off. She wasn’t going to get anywhere if she didn’t at least try to play nice.

”I was hoping that I could go and check out the town for a bit.”she answered, noticing his glance and quickly added a ‘sir’ on top of that after a moment's pause. He frowned, obviously thinking it over and not really seeming to be agreeing with her request. “No, you have priorities here that need to be handled, besides, you have the rest of the Summer to explore to your heart's content. One day out of your Summer is hardly a lot to ask for.”he stated with conviction, his mind made up which irritates her to no end. What exactly needed to be done that couldn’t be done tonight or god forbid, tomorrow. ”Please! I have already moved everything from the truck to my room that doesn’t include furniture. The movers are already at work to unpack some of the other rooms and I can finish up any unpacking tonight. I really want to get a head start on finding a Summer job. Everyone else has probably lived here forever and has a position locked in somewhere. I need to be on top of it if I have any chance.”

Okay, so the last part wasn’t completely the truth. Sure, she had no doubts that some teens had jobs they went to during the Summers or even continued ones through the year but she could care less about finding her own today. If it got her old man to let her leave though, it was worth it. She could always stop and actually do what she said she would, pick up a few applications but for now, she just wanted to explore what the place had to offer. She could practically see the cogs in his head turning as he debated on what she had said. Jess could only hope he agreed to let her leave at this point, completely at his mercy on this one. He sighed, rubbing his temples with one hand before looking over at her,”Alright, you have my permission to leave but be back before it gets too late. I mean it Jessica, no staying out until late hours in an area we do not know.”

”I promise! Thank you!”, she replies before skipping to the truck. She was a bubble of excitement, the thrill of exploration driving through her veins as she grabbed the last box and dashed to her room. Jess places it down, quickly grabbing her backpack by the door before heading for the porch to pull off her shoe and replace them with a pair of blades. The second they were strapped on, shoes shoved into the backpack, she took off with a wave as a goodbye. She didn’t bother looking back, not giving any chance for his mind to change. The sunlight felt warm against her pale skin, the fluffy white clouds drifting by providing a picture perfect view as well as a bit of shade now and then during her travels. It didn’t take long to make her way into town and it currently wasn’t long before she found areas much different than the street she was on. It seemed there was a clear ‘type’ to each of the roads she had managed to see so far.

She passed many potential places to look for work, noting some of them down in her mind as she went. It wasn’t like she could go home completely empty handed and not have her dad suspect something. The last thing she needed was to be confined to the house for lying. It just wasn’t on the top of her list on things to complete at the moment. She did have to give it to her Aunt though, this place was quite beautiful. It had an old fashioned charm to it and was as if locked in time, stuck in the past but still a part of the future. It was interesting to think about. Jess found herself stopping now and then to pull out her camera, snapping a few shots before placing it away and moving onward. It felt like no time at all before she found herself at the bottom of a hill, too steep for her to continue up and probably would have still been too steep had she been on a bike. She could pass up the opportunity, just continue on without investigating the building at the top but where was the fun in that?

Jess plopped onto the curb, yanking off her skates and replacing them with sneakers. She pulled the bottom of her ripped jeans over the top of her shoe, hating the feel of them trying to tuck into her shoe. She jumped up, brushing off the back of her baggy striped orange shirt and readjusted her denim vest she had on before heading up the hill. Once at the top, she noticed the building was actually the public library which was intriguing enough. The building itself did not really look like any library she had ever seen but it was probably used for different purposes when it had originally been built. She figured while she was here, she might as well check up on some of the town's history, see if there weren't any kind of books on the place she was gonna call home for the time being. She carefully made her way inside, trying to be as quiet as possible. She glanced around but it was hard since it was quite impressive on the inside, the place called to the small part of her that was a book lover.”Amazing.”, she whispered softly in complete awe.

Two things surprised Will as he entered the library: the first was there were a lot of people his age coming to the library at the end of the month. Probably to return books or check out a DVD to watch, nothing too strange. What was weird to him that apart from Jenny Emerson, the Mayor's youngest daughter who interned at the library, the place seemed devoid of anyone else. Jenny was busy with her left arm cradling her cheek as she listlessly watched a Netflix show on her laptop. Will wondered if he could just walk off with half the furniture before the girl noticed anything.

Still, messing with a stuck-up senior like her wasn't something Will did. Not that he did much of anything. He barely had any friends besides Kim Wilson and Barry Wang, and they only really talked in school. This was how it had always been, and how he expected it to always continue. It was why he needed to get out of this fucking town, away from his parent's constant arguing, away from the small-town small-mindedness, and away from the memory of Sarah, constantly following him around like a creepy reminder that the dead never come back.

The library was stuffy, like always. Poor ventilation even after the huge refurbishment 15 years ago meant that the less-open areas like the book stacks were stifling at times in the summer. At least today's high temperature was going to be 72 degrees Fahrenheit, a nice comfortable temperature. Meaning that with any luck, the stacks would only get up to around 80. Not that Will needed to spend too much time walking around the stacks, he already knew where he was going: Mystery and Horror.

The section was deeper in the stacks, as the Young Adult Fiction and Romance sections were the most well-traveled. There was always a demand for The Hunger Games or Fifty Shades of Gray from bored students to sex-deprived housewives. The DVD section was also near the front; showcasing a lackluster mix of classic films and the previous year's blockbusters. Most of the popular stuff, the Marvel movies, action flicks, and your teen romances, they'd get rented out in a flash and you'd never get a chance to borrow a copy. The only good DVD in Will's opinion was the Masters of Horror collection, something that he and his sister had watched when he was still quite young.

The horror section wasn't even on the first floor of the library and instead was on the lower level of the stacks, in the basement. This was always nice since it was a good five degrees colder in the basement year-round, meaning that you never sweated your ass off searching for a good copy of Poe or Lovecraft. The basement was one of the few sections of the library that had been spared in the extreme refurbishment of 2005. The stone walls were original to the old courthouse, and there was always an air of tension down there that the first floor lacked. Will walked to the door leading to the library's staircase, to find that it wouldn't budge. He didn't see a key to lock the door either. Was something wedged in the door to keep it from opening?

There was still the elevator. The librarians loaded their book carts onto the elevator to move between floors; the children's library on the second floor, the main floor, and the basement. Even though it was reserved for staff, Will felt that if a door was jammed, that constituted enough need to try it. Plus talking to Jenny Emerson was like having your teeth pulled for as many "likes" as she added to every sentence she spoke. He'd rather do things alone.

He walked around to the other side of the first floor, as more people his age filed in. He recognized some; he'd seen them at school or shared a class with them. There was the rich girl, Abbie Prescott. He'd never really spoken to her, even if they'd had classes together. He recognized another girl. Her name was something to do with a gem. Emerald? Diamond? Ruby? Something like that. The gem girl was talking to another one of the school's rich kids. Astrid something or another. Family-owned most of the local fisheries on the coast. There was that redhead girl from Canada, talking to Danny, the football guy. Will had never really had any run-ins with the football team, and Danny seemed nice enough. But it wasn't like he'd had a huge amount of trust for anyone around town. Another underclassman had also walked in. He didn't know her name but the fact that anyone of mixed heritage stuck out like a sore thumb in the mostly-white city was enough to make her memorable.

There was the British underclassman. She'd gotten a lot of attention for her accent. And probably a lot of annoying comments about sounding like she belonged in the Harry Potter movies. He'd recognized nearly everyone at the library, either on their way in or being inside now. They all went to the same school after all. But he didn't recognize one person, the blonde girl holding a pair of rollerblades.Who the hell rollerblades anymore? Was she new? Did she just arrive? It made his theory of being trapped in town feel a little less weighty. He noticed another familiar figure making their way towards the doorway as well: Walter Dawson. He'd never talked to the guy, but he knew him all the same. Fifth-year senior, class clown. It seemed nice enough.

Still, this was no time for talking, especially not to people he knew. He felt a well of anxiety build as teenagers his age were all here. That voice in the back of his head, reminding him that he was weird and had a dead sister and was probably seen as a creep echoed around in the chamber of his mind, and he quickly made his way to the elevator. He pressed the button, but it didn't light up. No sound, no nothing. "Seriously?" He muttered to himself. Was everything out of order or broken in this damn library? He steeled himself because NOW he had to talk to the Emerson girl about getting into the basement.

---

---

Walking back into the front of the library, everything felt colder. It was like the air conditioning was on full blast and then some. He shivered slightly, looking around the room, before musing out-loud, "Did it just get really cold in here?"

Jenny Emerson couldn't hear anything and didn't seem bothered by the air. It was what followed that made him jump, and made the hairs on his arms stand up. A loud slam came from the back of the library, and the loud creaking sound of a door opening up. The cold air was starting to get a bit stifling now.

"It's Will," he responded to the Canadian girl. He couldn't fault her for not knowing his name, after all, he didn't even have an idea on how to pronounce hers. Still, her assertations were right; he felt something was off. His sister had a big book that went into all of the different signs of a haunting. It had been based on one of those stupid ghost-hunting shows that had been all the rage a decade ago. But he remembered several of the signs quite well.

Unexplained temperature changes. Strange glitches with technology. Unusual smells. Objects moving and strange sounds. Animals reacting in strange, unnatural ways. "Temperature changes and strange sounds..." he muttered to himself. It wasn't enough to go around shouting "GHOSTS! We've got ghosts here!" He was weird enough at school without getting his ass kicked every day. Besides, he still had to survive senior year.

Other girls were also mentioning the cold, and Will nodded to them walking over to one of the vents in the room, running his hand in front of it. Nothing. "The air's not running," he mentioned, and looked back to the stacks. "I came here to get a book from the basement, but when I tried to go down the stairwell, the door was locked. The staff elevator isn't working either." Glitches with technology too. Three signs.

He started walking towards the stacks again, looking towards the corner door that led to the stairwell. It was wide open as if something was holding it open. He turned back to the others. "I swear when I got here the door was shut and lock-" As he turned back to the stacks, he could see the soft motion of cloth in the corner of the door as if a woman's dress had moved enough to be seen.

Like someone was holding the door open for them. Will looked to Jenny Emerson, who was either so involved in her shitty Netflix show that she didn't even register the change in temperature and the commotion from the teenagers in the room, or she just didn't feel anything. Not that Will thought she'd be much help anyway.

"I'm going to check it out." Sarah was always going on about exploring and finding the unknown. This was his chance to do the same. He started walking down the stacks, seeing the door close gently as he moved towards the door. "Is-is anyone there? Is anyone in the stairwell?" No answer. The only way to move now was forward, for him at least. Anyone else was free to follow or stand around and talk, or wait. But you would have to be a blind idiot to think that there was nothing weird at all going on.

Once her gaze was pulled away from the stacks of books, it would be an understatement to say she was surprised at being met with multiple people her age all converged near the entrance or just entering the library. When she stumbled upon the fact that the building was the library, she figured it would be practically empty except for maybe one or two people, other than the employees of course but still a lot less crowded than this. It made her wonder if there was some kind of project she had missed or something cause why would any come to the library during summer? Okay, yes, she was here but that was more of a coincidence since she was exploring while the others should be out and about to have fun with friends, unless this is what people did to hang out in this town? That would be a little odd, not that she didn’t love books but it seemed like a horrible hang out idea with the needing to be quiet aspect but then again, the girl behind the counter looked as though a bomb could go off in here and she wouldn’t have noticed. She decided it wasn’t any of her business and decided to find the history section or maybe a bulletin board and hope there was a map layout since she doubted the so-called ‘librarian’ would be less than helpful.

Jess was just about to walk away when she suddenly felt like she had been doused in ice water, only slightly more pleasant given that she wasn’t sopping wet but it still froze her in place nonetheless. Shivers ran up her spine, her hair stood on end, and goosebumps crawled up her arms at the sudden shift in temperature. She looked up, honestly expecting a large vent to be above her but she saw nothing. It was about that time that one of the boys asked ‘did it just get really cold in here’ to which she would have answered had it not been done by multiple other people. Honestly, she kind of felt like she had suddenly been thrown in one of those cliche horror movies where you start to see your own breath just before things start flying around. It was probably the old aesthetic of the place that gave her that image but she wanted to chuckle a bit at letting her mind get away from her. It was a library, what was the worst that could happen? She wished she hadn’t thought that though as an astounding slam came from the back of the library before the sound of a creaking of a door opening echoed loudly, making her nerves on edge and she would have been shocked if someone said she didn’t flinch.

It felt awkward, just standing here while everyone who obviously knew each other or about each other chatted. Jess decided to busy herself, tucking her skates into her pack and getting it reorganized as to keep her hands busy. She had found out at least some information though just by being there. One of the boys being part of the football team and the other one that spoke up first was named Will. Someone, she assumed one of the other girls asked what everyone was doing here which was a valid question but not one that anyone seemed keen on answering. Instead, most seemed focused on Will. At least, that is what she could assume with the asking if he was alright, as though he had seen a ghost and another in a most smart-ass joking manner about how it hadn’t been ‘active’ for a hundred years...whatever that meant. Probably some kind of history that she was unclear about but it was pretty clear that Will obviously believed in ghosts and it was made to poke a bit of fun.

Jess got a feeling that he was one of those odd one out kind of people but nice as some of the people around seemed to care. She stood up again, slinging her bag over her shoulder as she did. She debated just moving away from the group, continuing on with her plan but she found herself instead following after the two boys. ”Well, I was basically poking around town anyway, so might as well make this trip interesting.” When she did catch up to the two boys, they were standing in front of a closed door. The football player trying to ease Will away from the door which had her raising an eyebrow. Sure, some strange shit had happened but it wasn’t anything that couldn’t be explained and if it was ghosts then who wouldn’t want to find out why they were being responsive. Didn’t they usually have like unfinished business or something and tried to reach out for help or whatever? Not all ghosts were friendly in the movies but cold air and opening doors hardly seemed something to fear.

She brushed past both of them, not hesitating as she made her way towards the door. It wasn’t like the ghosts, if there were any, were going to respond in words since they hadn’t so far. They had been keeping doors shut and things from moving if what Will said was to be believed and not just the signs of a building falling apart so why start now? It was all creep even if it was just the building falling to ruin but might as well keep an open mind on these things. She had no background history to go off of but she had heard some crazy legends in her time with all the moves she had done. ”Why not try the polite approach?”, Jess asked before doing a ‘shave and a haircut’ knock on the door. Obviously, the ‘two bits’ wasn’t going to be answered but it was still fun to do. ”So someone want to do the honors or should I?”, she asked, leaning against the wall next to the door. She wasn’t afraid of a closed door and honestly, it wasn’t all that creepy what had happened so far. Strange, yes, but you had to face things head on and deal with them or what was the point. If you shy away from everything, then were you really living?