“I still think it's a bad idea.”

“It will be fine, the place just needs some fixing up.”

“No olive, it won't be fine there is a reason our family sticks together. What if you come across something you can't handle?” his brother asked in slight annoyance.

“I won't, I'm not moving to a city where we don't have family, I'm moving to where Uncle Samuel used to live. Forest anomalies are notoriously weird, not dangerous”

“And look how he ended up.”

“Stop being dramatic he died of lung cancer the only reason the report stated he got killed by an artifact was because he had a regenerating cigar anomaly.” his brother lets out a sigh and fiddles with the radio. After a bit of not finding a radio station, he puts a cassette into the radio.

his brother points at an old weathered sign “there gafverts rd.”

“Finally I thought we passed it,” he says while turning onto the old road that leads to the town of Gafvert. Once they enter the town they notice it is abandoned at the sight of the abandoned town he complains “I have to go all the way to Ely to buy groceries. Last time I was there were still some people here. Man, that sucks.”

He continues to drive to his uncle's old estate. His brother asks him “What happened to the town, could it have been an anomaly.”

but oliver answers “No, an accident happened 50 years ago, a school bus that took kids from here to the school in ely got hit by a truck there were no survivors; I guess a lot of people left after that and the town just kind of died after.”

“That's kind of sad. But what would you do with the town if you could buy it? It's not like you're hurting for money after selling your African artifacts.” The mention of Africa sends a shiver up his spine even if the family offers all the money they had he would not go back. he refuses to even look at another bottle of anti-malaria medication. “I could and I might, just to have some people near me.”

As they drive through the town he notices something odd in one of the abandoned houses. A candle burning on the window sill behind an intact window. He taps his brother as he stops his pickup across the street from the house and points at it. “If this place is supposed to be abandoned, that is either a squatter or something that wants to stay away from people.”

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They get ready to investigate what is inside the house Oliver with his pistol while his brother puts his brass knuckles into his pocket.

"Best to not have our weapons out if it is just a squatter." His brother said.

Pushing open the old door they see the inside is surprisingly clean. Going from room to room they find some signs of something living here as there are pots and pans near the wood stove in the living room, buckets of water in the bathroom along with empty bottles of soap. probably stolen from nearby campers but the most surprising thing is in the room where we saw the candle burning. There in front of them is a large bird nest.

Oliver asks his brother “Is that a harpies nest?”

his brother shakes his head “No harpies are mindless monsters. This place would be disgusting but it's clean so that rules them out, there are other monsters that are smarter that also build nests but I don't think we're dealing with a monster here. The soap and it's cooking that show it's intelligent so I'm more inclined to say we found a birdkin nest but don't think because they are not recognized as monsters by the family elders that they aren't dangerous, especially if.” his brother picks up a piece of a large egg shell. “especially if it has a child with it.”

“Should we try to find them, birdkin are endangered, aren't they? We can't have a frightened hunter shoot it by accident,” he asks his brother.

“No, they are just as smart as humans. they won't attack anyone unless they threaten their kid. Let's get out of here.” Oliver follows his brother back to the pickup and gets in. before driving away to find his uncle's old estate.

After a while, they find the road leading to the estate where the matriarch is waiting for them. After entering the property and parking the pickup next to the matriarch's beetle.

They approach her and the old woman looks at them exasperated as they bow down before her. “stand up you brats! I'm not enough of a narcissist to enjoy my grandsons bowing to me.” They stand up and hug her. They have been doing that since they were kids to annoy her as she hates it when people are overly polite.

She tells her grandsons “It's good to see you again Bruno.” then she turns to Oliver “Oliver I'm still not happy with you for agreeing to this but I won't stop you. But why would you want to live here? You've only been part of the family business for eight years. I know the forest is not as dangerous as the city but what if something happens the closest family member is four hours away in Chicago.”

Oliver smiles at his grandma and says “Because nobody wants it because the forest is weird. You know what that sounds like to me, it sounds like something fun waiting to happen.”

Grandma's eyes narrow at what he said and she responds. “You know your uncle told me something similar when I tried to discourage him from buying this place. Alright, I'll support your decision but you better promise that if you encounter anything you can't handle, call your cousin for help, alright."

She turns to leave but turns around and tells him “And if I ever see you with a cigarette or whatever else I'll do what I should have done to your uncle when I found out he started smoking.”

he laughs and wave her goodby before turning to his brother and saying “thanks for coming with me but I think you should follow her unless you want me to drive you to the bus station in ely.”

his brother laughs and pulls him into a hug before going after grandma to not miss his ride back home.