Decent

The town was not so bad, although it was still tiny compared to most. I had expected it to be some old rundown place, but it actually seemed to be okay. In movies, when people go to small towns, they stay in rundown motels. This one was pretty good. If you could forget that some people had probably used the bed for some activities, you could enjoy the stay.

Our aunt had invited us to stay at her house, but we did not want to be a burden. We had meals at a nearby restaurant and went to bed. Hannah, who was sharing the room with me, slept soundly while nightmares plagued me all night long. At one point when I was awake, I heard howling. Since it was a woody area, I figured it was wolves. I had heard howling before when on a tour, but this sounded different. Too real, loud. Despite that, I got some quality sleep towards morning.

“Leave me alone,” I told Hannah when she woke me up.

“I’m going to the resort site to see what needs to get sorted out,” she said.

“Are we not going together?” I asked.

“No. Our stuff is arriving today and you’ll be going to the apartment we’ll be staying at. I’ve called Bonnie. She’ll be here soon to take you there.”

“But-“

Bonnie was my cousin. She and aunt Zora had visited us a few years back, and I had barely given her the time of day. It was now time for me to get ignored so I really didn’t feel like seeing her. I figured this was a chance for her to take her revenge.

“Why don’t I go with you, and the boys put away the stuff.”

“You’ll have to talk to Bonnie one way or another. I’m going up there alone. I noticed you didn’t seem very comfortable at the resort.”

“You and Mr. Morgenstern seemed to be hiding something. Maybe I will find out from Bonnie, huh?”

Hannah rolled her eyes and picked up her handbag. “Lock the door when you leave.”

As soon as she closed the door, I jumped out of bed. I did not know when Bonnie would arrive, so I needed to be ready by then. Having already done one wrong thing to her before, she probably hated me. I couldn’t make that worse by making her wait when she arrived.

Bonnie arrived an hour later. She was wearing a stripped white and black blouse with black pants. Her flats were white. She had a fringe now and looked so much hotter than before.

“Hi Bonnie,” I said, almost shyly. She had not seemed so confident back then, probably because she was in unknown territory. Now I was the shy one.

“Hannah,” she smiled. “You’re all grown up now.”

I smiled, although I knew I had barely changed.

“How are you?”

“Good, as you can see. Welcome to our little town.”

“Thank you. Hannah said you would help us.”

“Of course. What kind of cousin would I be if I left you all alone?”

“I’m sorry for how I behaved when you came to our home.”

She chuckled. “Don’t worry. It’s water under the bridge. Forgot all about it.”

“Sure?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you.”

Having heard her voice, Emmett and Zach came out of their room.

“Emmett!” Bonnie said happily as they approached each other and hugged. “How are you guys?” she hugged Zach. I stood there awkwardly, feeling jealous of their connection. I was like the odd man out. They spoke for two minutes before walking towards the car.

Emmett got in the passenger seat while Zach and I sat in the back. Lately, Zach and I had been quarrelling a lot, so it was awkward. I had been brittle with everyone. Ever since mom died, I had been on edge with emotions flying high. That we had to stay home most of the time had nearly driven me crazy.

Emmett and Bonnie talked the whole time, as if they’d known each other forever. It turned out they were F******k friends and had many mutual friends they could gossip about. Clearly, Emmett had been communicating with many people in town.

 Had I been the only one who never cared much about this place and its people? It finally made sense to me why Emmett had not rejected the idea of moving here. Normally, it was impossible to get him to agree to things that brought about change. I avoided their conversation and was more than glad when we got to the building and saw that the moving cars had reached and our things were being unloaded.

The house was three stories, brick walled and old, just like the town. I liked it was a bit out of town. The apartment was pleasant, but tiny. We had only two bedrooms, which meant I would share with Hannah for the time it would take to renovate the resort. Hannah had said we would move there but after seeing it but I was not sure I wanted to live there. Those bones. What if Zach had been right? What if they were human bones? I made a mental note to ask Bonnie about it later.

But I never got the chance to do it. Bonnie and Emmett stuck together like glue for the rest of the time while Zach kept asking me questions about a town I knew nothing about. When we finished putting stuff in, we went to have lunch.

I saw that boy again. What was his name again? I racked my brains until it came back to me. Bradley Lightwood. He sat in a corner sipping a smoothie while staring at people in the restaurant. When we got there, he stared at us.

“Who is that guy?” I asked. “I mean, why does he stare at people so much?”

“Bradley Lockwood,” Bonnie placed her fork on the plate. “He is bad news. Every girl who comes into this town gets attracted to him, but it never ends well. I hope you’re not falling for him.”

I shook my head. “Nah. Just curious. He seems creepy.”

“But he gets away with it because of his good looks,” Emmett commented.

I turned. Bradley was no longer staring at us. He looked up and our eyes met. Standing up, he walked out of the restaurant.

“He probably heard you,” Bonnie said.

“What?”

“Just kidding.”

“How old is he?”

“He says 18.”

“And how do you think he is?”

“Emilia, Emilia. People around here don’t appreciate being asked too many questions and prying. You’re lucky it’s just me today. Brad is 18. That’s all you should know.”

 “It seems this town has a lot of secrets,” I commented. “Not as sleepy as it looks, is it?”

Bonnie sighed and turned to Emmett.

“Emmy,” Zach said. I turned to him to listen to whatever question he had. “Do you think Mr. Morgenstern was hiding a secret about those bones we found yesterday?”

“What bones?” Bonnie asked.

“We found human bones in the resort house,” my little brother said to her.

“We’re not sure if they were human bones, actually. Mr. Morgenstern got us out of there before we could study them. We should have taken pictures. Said it was probably animal bones. Are there a lot of animals around here?”

“Wolves,” Emmett said and Bonnie gave him a look.

“I heard them last night, and Carrie Smith always posts pictures of them. She says her father is a hunter.”

“Mr. Morgenstern was probably right. Anyway, I don’t want to talk about bones when I’m having lunch.”

We continued to have lunch in relative silence. I was now more than convinced that something was going on and everyone was trying so hard to hide. Did Hannah know? How dangerous was this secret? We were almost done when two pretty girls walked into the restaurant. There he is. One of them said as they walked towards us. Emmett stood up and hugged the two girls. Not bothering to introduce us, he walked out with them by his side.

“Who are they?” I asked Bonnie.

She sighed. Carrie Smith and Kiera King. The hottest girls in this town trying to snag the city boy.”

“You’re hot too,” I said.

Bonnie rolled her eyes. It seemed she didn’t believe it, but she was actually prettier than Carrie and Kiera.

“So Zach, tell me something. Do you like this town?”

“I love it. There’s so many things to discover. I’ve always wanted to hunt and play in the forest. Have seen kids in the movies doing it and felt like it.”

“Unfortunately, the forests in the movies are not like the ones in the real world. These are dangerous.

Bonnie took us back to the motel where we picked our stuff and took them to our new home. I took to cleaning the bedrooms as Zach and Emmett started unpacking our things. I couldn’t wait for us to fully settle.