Page 14 of Halloween Haunting
“Hehehe!”
The witch figurine jerked forward, green hands outstretched as Grace passed by it. She jerked and jumped, pulling laughs out of her nearby friends. Grace almost wanted to flick the witch’s long, winding nose, but held back, only throwing a pointed glare over her shoulder as they left the Riverside Cafe behind. The darkened town greeted them eerily, with low hanging streetlights casting a shadowy orange glow across the ground. At that point in the evening, the moon stood high in the sky, and there was hardly a soul out on the town. Wings flapped over their heads and Grace raised her eyes to the sky, only to see dark silhouettes disappearing into the places she could not see.
Grace released a hefty sigh. “Damned witch got me on edge now.”
“Oh, come on, now!” Caroline spun around as she walked in the center of the road, waggling a finger at Grace. “Don’t be like that! Witches aren’t all that bad, are they?”
“That witch had green skin and that nasty nose.”
Caroline flinched, though Grace wasn’t sure why. “Have you ever considered that maybe that’snotwhat witches are really like?”
“No,” Grace drawled, smiling, “because witches aren’t real, Caroline.”
An awkward silence sunk through their small party as the trio of women sharedanotherlook. Grace had the sense that there was something other than friendship that bound them together, though whatever that happened to be eluded her throughout the entire evening. Their secretive connection might’ve offended her at any other point, but she was slightly tipsy from dinner, and was too grateful for the company to do anything to ruin it. So Grace stuck through their shared silences, the moments that spoke the most words.
Caroline cleared her throat as she hooked her arm around an iron fitted lamppost and spun. “I know you haven’t had the chance to get to know Holiday Hollow yet, but it’s a special town.”
Grace smirked. “Wouldn’t that be biased? You know, coming from someone who was born and raised here.”
“Let’s look beyond that.” Caroline threaded her way back alongside her, watching her soft steps on the sidewalk. “Did you notice the welcome sign when you first came in?”
“Sure.” Grace closed her eyes as she walked, the image of the pale green billboard quickly coming back to her. “‘Welcome to Holiday Hollow, a haven since 1614.’ Right?”
The blonde pinched her cheek and squeezed. “Good girl! You’v got a degree, don’t you? Acollegedegree?”
“What other degree would she have, Care?” Anna asked with an eye roll.
Caroline quickly waved her off. “Anywho,” she murmured, not pulling her attention away from Grace, who was beginning to eye her new companions peculiarly. “Holiday Hollow attracts a certain kind of people, and they find this place to be a sort of…haven. A place that brings out who they really are. Theirspecialness.”
“I’m not sure how many times you can say the word ‘special’ before it loses all meaning,” Grace chimed. “But I think you’re starting to get there.”
Laughter sounded across the group as Caroline led them further down main street. Grace gawked at their surroundings, greedily soaking up as much of the town as she could. Lakeside Cafe led out into the main street, which followed the water’s curve before opening into the town square. The road led into a wide roundabout that encircled a tall water fountain, where the silvery water spurted to the top and poured into the wide, stone basin. Below the starlight, the water shimmered with the countless coins sitting at the bottom. Small businesses and charming storefronts surrounded the water feature, all dark with their open signs dimmed or turned over.
It was absolutely darling, winning over Grace’s heart instantly.
Caroline grabbed her hand, tugging her back. “I mean people like you, Grace.”
“I think she means to say that you were meant to be in Holiday Hollow,” Olivia added. “After everything, you know. You would’ve come here no matter what.”
Grace shrugged one shoulder. “I don’t think this would’ve been Chuck’s scene,” her voice lowered to a murmur, “or Tiffany’s.”
“Forget Chuck.” Anna pinched her elbow. “Which shouldn’t bethathard.”
Grace laughed, though their insistence was beginning to startle her. She pressed her lips together and shrugged again, tracing her finger along a small patch of children’s drawings done in chalk on the pavement. “The town’s special. I get it. I don’t think that makes me special.”
“Only special people come here,” Caroline replied. “Tourists think it's cute, but they wouldn’t ever want to live here. Maybethey’d joke about it, but who would want to live in a town that’s perpetually trapped in a fairytale?”
Grace huffed. There was no doubt in her mind about that.
“This place changes people, Grace.” Caroline was nearing the water fountain, eventually taking a seat against the stone border. “Not in the way that starting over changes you. This is deeper than that. This ismuchdeeper than that.” She leaned forward, elbows resting on her knees. “Do you understand?”
Grace straightened as a chill passed by her. “Honestly, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Really, Care,” Anna grumbled with crossed arms. “You sound like you belong in a padded room.”
Caroline jutted her arm out toward her, flashing a single look of sharp annoyance. When she turned back to Grace, she was beaming, her slender brow wiggling. “How does a midnight dip in the water sound?”
“What water?” Grace blurted.
