The fall leaves tumbled down from the trees that lined the long winding road. Justin didn’t know where he was going, but he knew he needed a change of pace. He hadn’t been able to write anything worthy of being published in a while and hoped that a change of scenery and quiet would help him. He had driven until his gas tank was near empty so he pulled off the highway towards what appeared to be a small town. An old wooden sign engraved with the words Town of Dark Water hung entangled in a wild overgrowth of vines, appearing to be forgotten, at the edge of the town just before the gas station on the town’s one road.

The tall young man crawled out of his old car and stretched. He looked around and walked to what appeared to be a pub. He noticed that he had caught the attention of not one, but all of the nearby townspeople. He wondered if his appearance was that terrible as he rubbed his unshaven face and ruffled his messy hair atop his head. Then he let out a chuckle and opened the door to the pub.

He coughed as he was hit with a cloud of smoke. He headed to the bar and looked at the rather busy woman that was filling drinks. She gave him a side glance as she delivered the heaping frosty mugs of beer to a nearby table. When she returned she paused and stared at him for a minute before asking him if she could help him. He swallowed feeling rather awkward and asked if they had coffee. She nodded and asked if she could get him anything else. He asked if she knew of anywhere that he could rent for a month or two. She gave him a strange look and said, "We don't get many visitors, so we don't have places for people to rent."

The man explained that he was a writer, and he was looking for a place close to the ocean where he could be alone and write. She told the man to wait as she went to the kitchen and came back with an elderly man in an apron. “This is Todd, he might have a place that you can stay but we will have to get permission from our town leader.”

The woman left the two to talk about the house that turned out to be Todd's late brother's home. When she returned she set his coffee down in a to-go cup. Justin asked how he could get permission from their town leader as he stood up.

“Go across the street to the brick building and you will find Mr. Agraman's office. He is our town leader. Let him know why you are here, and that Todd will let you stay in Jasper's old house. If he agrees, come back over here and I will let Todd take you there.”

He left the pub with his steamy cup of coffee and headed to the brick building across the road. Inside a woman with curly hair and large eyes met his gaze. She smiled and asked how she could help him. He asked if he could speak with Mr. Agraman and she told him to have a seat while she checked. Mr. Agraman stepped out of his office with his secretary in tow. He was a large man who seemed a bit intimidating as he looked at Justin with his cold eyes.

The visitor stood and reached his shaking hand out to introduce himself. He stuttered out, "Hello , my name is Justin Northwood.".

Mr. Agraman reached his rough and calloused hand out to shake and said, “It's nice to meet you. How can I help you?”

Justin tried to relax and said, “Yes Sir… I wanted to see if I could get permission to stay in your town for a month or so. I am a writer who is looking for a place of seclusion close to the ocean. I have spoken to Todd the cook at the pub across the road and he said I can stay in his late brother's home.”

Mr. Agraman placed his hand on his chin and rubbed his well groomed beard while staring at the pub. An uncomfortable silence passed before he said “Our little town doesn’t get visitors, so people may not be very sociable. But I don’t see what it can hurt. I have several rules if you are to stay in our town. Stay on the beachfront closest to the house you will be staying at. Do not trespass on other people's property or interfere with our business. Also, you are to stay home the entire day and night of November 18th. We have a celebration planned for that day and night and our town tends to get a little wild. I would prefer to not have to worry about your safety.”

Justin laughed and said, “Oh, that won’t be a problem sir. Like I said, I just want to be left alone to write. I of course will have to visit a store every now and then for supplies, but nothing more than that I’m sure.”

Mr. Agraman rubbed his forehead and said, “If you need anything or have any problems just contact my office”.

Mr. Agraman looked at the woman at the front desk and asked her to give Justin his number, then looked back at Justin and said, “It was nice to meet you Mr. Northwood. Have a good day!”

Mr. Agraman’s secretary handed Justin a card with Mr. Agraman’s number and smiled at him. He left the building and headed back to the pub where he saw Todd leaning up against the wall. He was smoking a cigarette and his apron was rolled up under his arm. Justin waved at Todd as he threw his cigarette down on the ground. Justin felt a rush of air and heard laughing, as he turned just in time to catch a little girl running into him. He laughed, his hands gently placed on her upper arms. “Are you ok?”

She looked up laughing until she saw the stranger in front of her.

She turned pale as a ghost, turned around and ran to her brother. The boy had an equally pale face as he stared Justin down. Todd pushed off the building and yelled at the kids to watch where they're going. They both took off running away from the pub. Justin stood confused as he watched the two kids run away.

Todd walked up to Justin and said, “Bothersome kids, pay no attention to them! Now let’s go get you settled in.”

***

Justin followed Todd’s old black pickup truck on a small road that led to the house. It was decrepit and probably built by the ancient founder of the tiny house movement. Not that it mattered. He didn’t need a large space. Todd gave him a tour and told him that he occasionally stayed at the place just to keep it up. There are clean sheets in the closet and some toiletries under the bathroom sink. Todd shuffled through the house back toward the front door and left.

Justin unpacked what little he brought with him. He pulled his coffee maker out and set it on the kitchen counter. He would definitely need it in the morning. He put his luggage, box of books and writing materials on the kitchen table. This looked like the best spot for him to set up to work. He took a small notebook out of his box and stepped outside to the porch. He breathed in the salty air as he took a seat in a chair. “The people may be strange, but this place is beautiful,'' he thought as began writing in his notebook.

***

The next morning,Justin fixed a cup of coffee and went out for a stroll on the beach in front of the house. His feet sunk down into the sand and his sandals were making it hard to walk. He pulled his sandals off but grimaced as the heat radiated through his feet. He took off running towards the water in a comical display while yelling “ouch, ouch, ouch.” As soon as he reached the water, he let out an “Aww.” Laughter erupted from the trees. Shocked, he turned around to find the source of the laughter. The two twins from yesterday were standing amongst the trees laughing at him. His face turned red with embarrassment which only made the children laugh harder. Despite his embarrassment he smiled and waved at the children. Both were still laughing when they gave a small smile and waved back. He put his sandals back on, but kept his distance not wanting to scare them again. “My name is Justin,” he said.

The boy spoke first. “My name is Arbus and this is my sister Verana,” he said, slinging his arm around her shoulders. “We came to apologize for yesterday. Mr. Todd told us why you are here and asked us to see if you needed anything.”

Justin strolled closer to the children. “I need to go into town and buy some items, if you two would like to help me,” he said.

The children looked excited as they nodded.

“How long does it take to walk to town from here?” He asked the children.

Arbus said, “Not too long, sir.”

Justin chuckled as he thought it was probably farther than he wanted to walk, so he said, “maybe it would be best to take my car. Would you like to ride with me?“ They nodded eagerly as he let them crawl in the backseat.

The children started asking him questions as soon as they pulled onto the road. They wanted to know everything about him. They were fascinated by even the smallest of things.

Justin pulled into a lot close to the small grocery store and they all got out. The children were still asking questions. He felt sorry for the kids, they seemed to be lonely, the town apparently only had a few children. It seemed the twins roamed around by themselves most of the time too. They followed him into the grocery store. Justin got a basket and the twins directed him to every item he needed. He checked out his items and they went outside.

He looked up at the pub and saw the woman he had spoken to yesterday sitting outside reading a book. She looked up and smiled at him and the kids. Justin and the kids walked over to her. She set her book down and said, “I didn’t introduce myself to you yesterday. My name is Maribeth. I hope you have gotten settled ok.”

Justin smiled and said, “yes, everything has gone smoothly and now these two are helping me get some groceries.” He pointed back at the twins.

Maribeth smiled at the twins and asked them if they were hungry. The two twins eagerly nodded. “If you will wait here I will bring you all some burgers and fries to go.”

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Justin said, “Oh really, that would be wonderful.”

He didn’t even realize it was lunchtime and the twins were probably hungry.

Justin thought of something that he meant to get from the store. He asked the kids if they would watch his stuff and wait for Maribeth while he ran to get the item. They nodded and started chattering away to each other.

He walked back into the store and headed to the back where he thought the matches and candles might be. There was a door open and he could hear voices. A tall woman with dark hair was talking to a man. He moved closer and he could hear the woman say, “no on the contrary I am honored to make the offering this year!”

Justin looked up at the woman just in time to catch a glare. She stopped talking and approached him. She had an unpleasant air to her as she said, “ my name is Mariana Lantrope. I am the town doctor and also the mother of Arbus and Verana. I was informed that my kids have been helping you this morning. Is that right?”

Justin smiled and said, “yes ma’am, they have been very helpful!”

Mariana said, “I am very busy with my patients and my husband Drake is a deep sea fisherman. We don’t have time to watch over them all the time. Don’t let them take up too much of your time, they tend to be very talkative and nosy.”

Justin frowned, “I have enjoyed having them around this morning. They are talkative but that is not always a bad thing.”

Mariana tilted her head back slightly and raised one eyebrow. “I will let you go. I have business to take care of.”

Justin nodded and turned around and headed to the checkout.

Outside, he saw Maribeth and the twins laughing. He could smell the food and his stomach growled. Maribeth helped them get back to the car and they returned to the house where they sat on the porch and hungrily devoured the food.

***

Over the next couple of weeks, the twins visited Justin frequently. They would talk about the outside world that they seemed to be unaware of. Justin even taught them some history and told them stories which they both loved. The twins seemed to be lacking a proper education, but were both smart children who learned fast.

One day the twins told Justin that their 13th birthday was coming up and their parents had told them that there would be a special celebration for them. Justin told the kids that he would love to come and he asked what day it would be on. Arbus said, “we’re celebrating our birthday on the 18th.“

He thought it was strange that Mr. Agraman had told him to remain in the house the day they were celebrating the children's birthday. It was less than a week away, so maybe he could convince Mr. Agraman to allow him to attend the celebration.

***

Days later, he approached Mr. Agraman about the celebration. He told him that he had learned that the children’s birthday was on the day he had been asked to stay at the house. He asked Mr. Agraman if he could have permission to visit the children or even be a part of the celebration.

Mr. Agraman responded with a loud fist to his desk. “Leave immediately if you can't abide by the rules.” Justin apologized and left Mr. Agraman’s office feeling very upset and worried. Something wasn’t right about this town and he worried about the celebration for the twins.

***

Justin explained to the twins that he wouldn’t be able to see them at their celebration. They were upset and didn’t understand, but he had told them they would do something special the next day.

He decided to spend the day writing. Having just changed location to the bedroom he sat on the bed and began to write on his tablet.

He dropped his stylus on the floor. It rolled and finally came to a stop on a board that didn’t lay flat. A nail was raised up, and he jiggled it out after realizing that it was loose. The board popped up on one end as nothing held it in place anymore. He noticed something shiny underneath and pulled the old board the rest of the way up. It was a pistol laying on top of a journal. He placed the pistol carefully on the nightstand. He pulled the small journal out and flipped it open. He set back on the bed and began to read. It was a journal from Todd’s brother Jasper. He read a couple of pages and began to feel sick. If what was written in here was true he needed to get out of this town quickly and contact the authorities. He continued to read:

November 2,

They have asked me to take part in this year's ceremony. The last time twins were born was almost 13 years ago. Todd and I thought about kidnapping the young children and running away but for some reason or another we never did. Now here we are and they are approaching their birthday as well as the day they will be offered to the sea. I have decided to try to save them. I only have a couple of days until the full moon so I need to talk to Todd and see if he will help me.

November 4th,

I think that they know what I am up to. Mr. Agraman has been acting strangely around me. I also think that someone has been watching me because I keep hearing noises outside my house. Tomorrow is the ceremony, Todd has decided not to help me. He says he is afraid of them but he won’t tell them what I am planning. I trust my brother at least.

Justin looked at his watch. It was getting late and tonight was the full moon. He grabbed the pistol as he ran out the door, all he could think about was Arbus and Verana. The journal told a lot about the ceremony, including where it takes place. He ran as fast as he could towards the area. He could hear voices as he got closer. He froze in the mass of trees as his vision began to focus.

He stood in the distance watching the nightmare unfold. He could hear the twins crying but he didn’t know what to do. He held the small pistol in his hands. He had enough bullets for maybe a distraction at the most. Arbus was yelling “Please Dad, let me go” to the man holding him. The man held him tight as if his words didn’t phase him. Mr. Agraman’s finger dug into Verana’s arms as she tried to get loose of his deadly grip. Mariana stood ankle deep in water in front of them chanting and marking each child with something. He could hear the children continue to beg their parents to stop, but their words got no response. Mariana pulled a silver dagger from her belt and held it up towards the darkening sky. She motioned for Mr. Agraman to step forward with Verana. She held the dagger towards Verana while chanting. As Justin saw the dagger move towards Verana he panicked and fired the pistol aiming above the child hoping his aim was accurate and he could hit Mr. Agraman.

Mr. Agraman released his grip on Verana and fell in a heap to the ground.

Verana screamed and tried to run but Mariana hit her across the face with the blunt end of the dagger. The child fell to the ground while her brother thrashed and called her name.

Arbus thrust his head back and kicked free of Drake diving to his sister’s side. Justin fired another shot at the water close to Mariana.

The adults looked in his direction as he was running towards the children. Arbus placed his arms around his sister and was desperately trying to pull her through the water and sand. Drake moved closer to the children and Justin fired another shot into the red water swirling around Mr. Agraman’s body, causing the man to stop in his footsteps. Justin stood motionless realizing he had killed the man only seconds before he heard Arbus yell “Please help us!”

Justin grabbed Verana from her brother and carefully cradled her in his arms as they took off running for the trees. Once they got to the trees, he turned around noticing that the townspeople were not following them, their attention was turned to the sky. Dark and threatening clouds unfurled before their eyes.

He looked down at the twins. Verana’s face was stained with blood and she lay motionless in his arms. Arbus trembled against his side, his eyes locked on the sea and his mother standing knee deep in the water, her arms raised to the sky as rain began to pour. She was chanting while the other townspeople stood behind her joining in a lower chant. Lightning struck the open sea in front of the townspeople; the sky was set aglow. An unearthly moan began to emanate from the sea as a wave formed. Arbus let out a scream of terror.

Mariana spun to face the trees where the three hid. Her face contorted into an unnatural and wicked display. Her hair flowed in the wind like untamed snakes and her dress clung to her body drenched from the rain. Justin rose quickly, shifting the girl carefully to one arm, her head resting on his shoulder. He put his arm around Arbus and whispered, “we have to run….Now!”

The boy looked up at him terrified but nodded.

Justin looked once more at the angry sea seeing the waves becoming increasingly bigger and more threatening.

Justin yelled “Let’s go!”

They ran quickly cutting through the trees and struggling to stay afoot in the loose dirt and sand. Justin could see Jasper’s house in the distance. He planned to put the kids in his car and take off as fast as he could and never look back at this town. Justin could hear the voices in the distance and knew they didn’t have much time. He pulled his keys out of his pocket and as soon as he carefully set Verana into the passenger seat he opened the door for Arbus. He slid in the driver's seat and shakily turned the key in the ignition.

There was no sound. He turned it again. Nothing. He jumped out of the car and popped the hood to see that his battery had been removed.

He looked up and could see the mob of crazed townspeople running their way. Arbus was crying and Justin looked at the children feeling completely like he had failed them. All of a sudden, an old black pickup truck tore in front of him. The driver door flew open and Todd jumped out and said, “get the kids in the truck and get out of this town and never look back.”

The passenger door opened and Maribeth slid out and she reached an arm out in his direction and said, “Justin you have to go now!”

Justin looked up at Todd and then at Maribeth. Confused and panicked he said, “what about you two? I can’t just leave you!”

Todd looked at Justin and said, “I have seen a lot of kids die. I never did a thing for any of them. I let my brother down and I know they killed him too. I am as guilty as the rest of them. We can buy you three some time. Now go!”

Justin again looked at Maribeth and she smiled softly and said, “ Justin it is alright! Stop overthinking it and go before it is too late!”

Todd walked to the other side of the truck and cocked his 12 gauge. Maribeth turned around and adjusted a shotgun in her arms.

Justin opened the passenger door of his old car and picked Verana up and looked back at the shaking boy and said, “I know you are scared but let’s get you and your sister to a safe place.” The boy crawled out of the car and flinched as he heard a shotgun fire. Justin grabbed Arbus’s arm and pulled him along. He helped the boy in the driver's side and then crawled into the truck placing Verana in between them.

A loud pop sounded from the side of the truck. Todd screamed, “GO!” followed by a round of his shotgun. Justin looked up to see a giant wave flooding the beach ahead of them. The sound was deafening as he ripped the truck into a u-turn and hit the gas. He hit the main road and just kept going. He could see the water pushing closer to him, everything was being demolished as it approached them. He tried to push the thoughts of Todd, Maribeth and the other townspeople away as he drove faster than he had ever driven before.

When they had been driving for a while, he noticed that the boy had fallen asleep. He headed in the direction of the next closest town to look for a hospital. He heard the soft words of Verana as she said “Mister….are we safe now?” He looked over at her and nodded. She smiled as she closed her eyes and fell asleep.