Chapter Two

Lily

Harlen wasn't wrong when he said Halloween decorations were going up in the town square. Even the houses on my short walk are decorated, and I wonder if there is a store that sells them. I feel left out.

As I wander down the main street, children dressed in costumes run around looking at all the decorations. The main street has every shop in the town: a diner, a grocery store, a Christmas shop, a bakery, an ice cream parlor, a post office, a thrift store, and a library right at the end.

A newspaper catches my eye in a street rack outside one of the shops, so I grab a copy off the top of the pile. In large print it says: The Rumor Report , and below is a picture of me with a short write-up. I have only been here for two hours, but everyone already knows about my arrival. How did they know I was coming? It must be the estate lawyer .

"I wouldn't take any notice. Small towns and gossip—if you fart wrong, they will write about it. So I suggest you avoid the onion soup at Main Street diner, as I hear it can make you toot."

"Thanks for the warning. I'm not sure why they think I'm running from a dark past. I wish I was that interesting. Though I dropped out of college, so that part's true."

The handsome stranger laughs. His dirty-blonde hair looks like he just rolled out of bed, and his piercing blue eyes crinkle at the corners. "I'm North, and I'm guessing you're Lily, Mavis's long-lost granddaughter."

"That's me," I say, taking his outstretched hand.

"I recommend the haunted trail. It's fun." He points toward the library, where there is a large sign which reads, "Haunted Trail." "The entire side road closes all the way to the cemetery, and they even have the old hospital set up as a haunted house."

"They close an entire road?"

"That road is basically deserted. It only leads to the old hospital, which hasn't been used to treat patients in over a decade. Doctor Stephans has a new building behind the library and any medical emergencies are sent to Willow Grove, the closest town to here. You would have driven through it to get to Maple Hollow—we are the end of the road as far as they are concerned."

"It was nice to meet you, North. I might go check out the haunted house."

"See you around, trouble," he says with a wink, and walks away with his hands shoved in his pockets.

The echo of children's laughter gets louder the closer I walk to the haunted trail. Halloween is still weeks away, and yet everyone here is committed to capturing the spirit early. Normally we would have only just pulled our decorations out; Mom isn't one to get into the holidays unless it's Christmas. She once left our tree up for an entire year, but looking back, it could have been because my father had only just left and the joy that Christmas brings was exactly what our family needed. A family went from three down to two—or five, if you counted my mother's parents and my uncle Jasper. Three other people I'd yet to tell I left college to move to a small town.

"You must be Lily," an older man says, looking down at the newspaper tightly rolled in my hand.

"That's me," I reply politely. I have a feeling this is going to happen a lot over the coming days.

"I couldn't help but notice you were talking to North. Be mindful of the boy. He and his friends are a rowdy bunch."

"Thanks for the tip. I was hoping to do the haunted trail—Halloween is one of my favorite times of year." What I don't tell the old man is it's because I just finished reading a dark romance focused around Halloween, where the pumpkins turned into ripped men.

"I'm Theodore, the mayor of Maple Hollow. If you need anything, please let me know."

"I will, thank you," I say, then hurry toward the start of the trail.

A teenage girl dressed as a bloody nurse presses a button and creepy laughter comes from the darkened trail .

"Just follow the lights on the ground. Since you're new, we don't allow you to touch anyone who jumps out at you. The second roped-off area is for the adults. If you pass it, I suggest you don't get caught. They will chase you," the girl explains.

I nod and walk through the smoke-filled archway, taking in the decorations. A fake cemetery is set up and as I walk by, a skeleton rattles and scares the life out of me. Continuing on the path, ghosts—sheets with glow sticks inside hung from trees—and random bursts of smoke have a couple of children squealing and running ahead of me. I reach the end of the first path, and a gust of wind sends a chill down my spine. Caution tape ropes off the next area and a large man stands there in overalls and a Jason mask.

"Enter if you dare," he rasps, holding up the tape.

Ducking down, I maneuver underneath it and continue up the driveway of the old hospital. Garbage bags shaped like dead bodies hang from a large tree standing lonely in front of an old, rickety fence, a graveyard hidden just beyond. The sound of a chainsaw starting behind me causes me to turn, and I am confronted by a man in a coat walking up the path. I jog up the dirt path toward the building.

A bloodcurdling scream jolts my heart, and the rattling of a cage comes from beside me. I look down and see a girl shaking the bars of a small cage. "Help me," she says, reaching out to me.

I laugh at myself and run to the front door. It has wood nailed across it and a sign saying, "Keep Out." I push it open and dash into the small lobby, where there is a glow-in-the-dark skeleton behind a desk, and spiderwebs lining the ceiling. The only other door has "Turn back now" written in glow-in-the-dark paint. I step forward to push it open and find a hallway lined with cloaked figures, and a red carpet leading to a red curtain.

My hands sweat—now this is the adrenaline I'm after. I damn-well know one of these cloaked figures is a real person, and the anticipation of them jumping out at me has me feeling giddy. Now, if only Charles had been willing to dress up and chase me around our apartment. It wasn't like I was asking him to actually assault me; it would have been simply make-believe. I even offered a safe word so he would know if he took it too far, but he only scoffed and told me the sex books I read had filled my head with filth. How he wouldn't stand for his future wife doing the devil's work. Charles wasn't even religious, so I'm not sure how he came to that conclusion.

Right on cue, as I inch down the red carpet, one of the figures moves. I squeal loudly, even though I knew it was going to happen.

"Run, before he catches you," the cloaked man whispers, pointing behind me. A figure in a red glow mask steps through the door. "Don't get caught."

The masked man moves forward as I duck behind the curtain. This hallway is empty, except the windows of each door have people behind them and I can feel their gazes on me. I don't have time to stop, the masked figure stepping from behind the curtain, and I run down the hall and follow the sign to the left. A note on the door around the corner reads, "Open me if you dare," and I twist the handle, stepping into what looks like an old surgical room. A crazed doctor turns to me, waving a saw covered in fake blood.

The doctor steps toward me, and I wonder what would happen if I didn't move. I don't get to test the theory as the masked man opens the door. I keep moving forward, dodging the doctor and running into the next room. It's designed like an old jail cell, and zombies reach through the bars, the room echoing with their groans. Nope, that's a fuck no . Zombies freak me the hell out, even though I know they are not real.

I'm not watching where I'm going as I run through the next door, causing me to trip over my own feet and face-plant. As I push onto my knees, I feel a hand wrap around my ponytail. Hold on, I thought they could not touch you? The pressure of the man pulling me by my hair draws me to a stand, and his front presses against my back.

Wetness pools between my legs. Maybe Charles was right, maybe I am sick.

Who gets off on this shit? Me, apparently. For a brief second, I wonder what this man would do if I said he could fuck me if he could catch me.

"Pretty girls like you should not be in a place like this." His voice is deep and husky. What I wouldn't give for him to force me to my knees and tell me I'm a good girl.

"Pretty girls have fantasies about this shit," I mumble under my breath, and he lets my hair go .

"Is that right? Well, I'll give you a head start, and I suggest you don't get caught. Because men like me will take what they want."

Turning back, I look at him over my shoulder. Could he be for real or is this all part of the act?

"Three . . ."

I don't wait for him to count further—there is only one way to find out.