1.

“Ghost!”

“Ghost, where are you? Come here boy!”

Gosh, does that dog ever listen...I then started walking again, looking around between the thick wood trunks, the moonlight guiding my path through the darkness, the sound of my boots ruffling through the fallen leafs disturbing the gravely silence.

“Jules!” Kara’s voice echoed from not far behind me, causing me to take a halt.

“What!” I yelled, turning around, squinting my eyes so I could see her through the thick darkness.

“Come back, Ghost is here!” she yelled back.

Great...just freaking great...I mumbled, walking back.

This was our last night at the old farm, the one that used to be our home for the last two years. Pops, our boss, the one who received us in his home and gave us a decent job and a shelter, recently lost the fight with a severe illness, leaving all of us behind, in the hands of a cruel, perverted, narcisistic asshole, named Jack. His only son. As soon as his father died, Jack rushed and sold the farm for the best price he could get, money being the only thing that mattered for him, nothing else, leaving all his father’s employees jobless. And now we were being thrown out, in the middle of the night of course, since he didn’t give two shits about us, the insignificant little workers, like he liked to call us.

“Have you finished packing?” I asked Kara, once I got out of the woods, heading straight to Ghost, who was sitting calmly right next to her, grabbing him by the collar and attaching the leash.

“Yep. All done,” She answered smiling, looking like we were packing for a trip instead of being thrown out. So careless, like always...

“Good. Then we’re good to go,” I accounted out loud, then headed to that old piece of junk that we liked to call a ‘car’, dragging Ghost with me.

“Come on boy, hop in,” I cooed to our huge white husky dog. He was the only good thing left from that place, and we were definitely not leaving him behind, even if we ourselves were already homeless and broke. But hey, at least we still had our car, the only ‘home’ that we could rely on, for now.

**

We drove through the night for what seemed like hours, trying to find a cheap and at least decent place to crash, obviously not having too much luck since it was three in the morning, and we were kinda in the middle of nowhere anyways...

So after hours of aimlessly driving, we finally found a small village and decided to take a pit-stop to at least eat something.

We spotted a small, old diner, entirely made of wood and painted in white, placed at the side of the road, so I rushed and pulled over right there, wanting so badly to stretch my legs.

We got out of the car, leaving Ghost in there sleeping, and started stretching our numbed limbs, gazing around us. The sun was already slowly cutting through the darkness from behind the thick trees, and now we could also get a better view of our surroundings.

It looked rather abandoned, the small few houses scattered on both sides of the road having all the lights out and their shutters closed over the windows, no human being could be spotted anywhere, besides the old waitress that now exited the diner, carrying some trash bags with her.

She threw a curious glance in our way, before walking to the dumpster and throwing the bags in her hands. She returned to the entrance, but suddenly stopped in her tracks right in the doorway and turned around, gazing with a curious look plastered all over her wrinkled features once again, in our direction.

“Can I help you?” She asked rather annoyed, placing her bony hands on her hips as she stood at the top of the old wooden stairs.

“Yes, can you tell us where we are?” I politely asked, giving her a light smile.

“Of course. Welcome at the bottom of the earth: DaggerStone,” She rudely muttered, stretching her hands in a rather sarcastic tone.

“Um...ok?” I replied unsure, the rudeness in her tone making me feel somehow confused.

“Do you serve food here?” Kara then asked, pointing at the diner behind her.

“Sure, dearies come on in,” She suddenly changed her cold tone, now sounding oddly kind.

She opened the door and got in, while we followed close behind.

We complied and got in, surprised to see there was no one else in there, except us and the waitress, and maybe the cook that was hidden behind the kitchen doors anyway.

So we chose a booth next to the window and sat down, waiting for the menu.

Soon, the old grumpy waitress returned, holding a small notepad and a pen, looking at us, waiting for our order.

“Wait, no menu?” Kara asked, raising one eyebrow.

“Nope. Just soup and hamburgers. So, what’s it gonna be?” she replied quickly, gazing at us both.

“Hamburgers,” We replied in unison.

“Hamburgers it is,” She numbly mumbled, writing on her notepad, then turned around and left.

“That was so stupid. Why would she write it down, if we’re the only ones in here?” I whispered to Kara, earning a small laugh from her.

“Beats me.” She shrugged, then pulled out her phone from her pocket and once she turned on the screen, a small frown made its way on her features, drawing my attention.

“What is it?” I whispered, gazing at her.

“No signal.” She muttered, pouting.

“Yeah, I’ve thought so, since we’re in the middle of nowhere,” I nodded, turning my gaze to the huge window.

After a couple of minutes, the waitress returned with our order, placing the plates on the table, that bored expression once again written all over her face.

She then turned around, intending to leave when I suddenly remembered that we were desperately seeking for a job now that we were broke of course, and stopped her.

“Wait!” I yelled at her, causing her to turn around and look at me.

“Yes?” She replied with the same bored expression.

“Do you know, by chance, if we could find, let’s say a job around here?” I asked, slightly unsure.

“Job?” She bursted out in laughter, “That’s hilarious, they search for a job, in this dump!” She shook her head, still laughing then walked away.

“Did you say you need a job?” I suddenly heard a male voice speaking, coming from behind Kara so I quickly moved to the side, in order to get a better view of the owner.

There was an old man, wearing some old rags for clothes, sitting at the booth right next to ours, holding a cup of coffee I guess, with his face down, staring at it.

When did he get there?

I didn’t notice anyone getting in the diner after we did.

However, maybe we should try our luck.

“Yes. We need a job. Why? Do you know something?” I quickly asked with a sudden interest.

“Yes, as a matter of fact, I do.” He raised his gaze, looking at me deadly serious.

“Okay then, tell us about it.” I encouraged him to speak further, while Kara also turned around to face him.

“At the RedMoon masion. I’ve heard they need some extra maids.” He then spoke, lowering his gaze back to the mug.

“RedMoon? What kind of name is that?” Kara asked, staring at him confused.

“Do you want a job or not?” He asked back, his tone now suddenly sounding slightly annoyed.

“Uh, yeah?” She replied unsure, clearly confused by his sudden change of mood.

“Good. Then stop asking so many questions and go find the mansion.” He bluntly replied, then quickly got up and exited the diner.

“That was awkwaaard.” I murmured, gazing at Kara who now turned back to me, looking as puzzled as I was.

“Yeah...So, watcha’ say? Should we give it a try?” She then asked, munching on her hamburger.

“Yeah, why not?” I shrugged.

“Ok, but how are we going to find this ‘RedMoon’ mansion?” She then asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

“I don’t know. Let’s ask the waitress, maybe she knows something.”