THE DEAD GAME — DAY 102
A waitress with a name tag
that read “Rose” came over to serve them. She looked friendly, with her
bright-red hair and snapping gum. She took their order and then asked if
she could assist them with anything else.
Linda decided to come
straight out with what they wanted to know. She began by explaining
their situation. “Two of our friends disappeared from a party given at
End House this past Friday night. We suspect that the
people who reside on the hill are the ones responsible. Do you know
anything about them that can help us?”
Rose called over two men. “Hey! Rob and Joe! We need help
here!” Linda and Shana, becoming frightened, began to stand up. Then
they noticed that the two old men, who were coming over to them, had big
smiles on their wrinkled faces. They joined them at their booth.
Rose said to the men,
“These women were at that party and they think that the hill people had
something to do with the disappearances.”
The one called Joe, who had
a full head of white hair and a long white beard, nodded his head in
agreement. “We have always suspected that those people were evil.
Tourists disappear every year and nothing is ever done about it. The
sheriff seems to be in cahoots with them. Parties are given on the hill
on the same two nights each year. On these nights, shadows can be seen
creeping around the deserted streets of town.”
Rob, who wore very thick
glasses and had curly grey hair, added, “The parties look like secret
meetings of some society. Everything is always done after dark.”
Rose spoke up. “We never see these people until the sun goes down. They don’t bother talking to us. I’ve been living here thirty years and I’ve spoken to only a few of them.”
“Our town doesn’t go out
after dark; we steer clear of the hill people. There have been many
legends, but we don’t know if any are true,” confided Joe.
Shana asked, “What are some of the legends?”
“One legend describes the
hill people as vampires in hiding. They meet with the rest of the
vampires in the world twice a year. These meetings are planning sessions
on how to keep their species alive,” Joe informed them.
“Another
legend has the hill people as good vampires that are trying to rid the
world of The Dead, a sect of evil vampires who enjoy killing people—just
for fun. The Dead have greater powers than regular vampires and are led
by a strong and malicious head vampire. The good vampires meet twice a
year to plan the defense of their slowly diminishing group,” Rob
explained.
“How can you remain living
here if you believe the worst of the people in town?” asked a puzzled
Linda. She didn’t believe in vampires, but if these people thought so
poorly of the townspeople, then why didn’t they just leave?
Rose answered for them, “We don’t know if the legends are
true. We’ve been living here unhurt all these years. Maybe the tourists
disappearing are just coincidences. We can’t pack up our whole village
and leave. We need the income from the ocean: the fishing has been very
profitable.”
“Maybe they want you to remain living here for some sinister purpose,” said Shana. Oh great, now Shana is going to frighten them.
“If you find out anything, please let us know,” said Rose, with concern beginning to dawn in her eyes.
“Don’t worry. We’ll let you
know of any new developments. We’ll figure this out and find our
friends,” said Linda, trying to downplay Shana’s dire warning.
The village looked lovely
and peaceful on the surface, but Linda was afraid that there was much
more brewing beneath the surface. As she ate her lunch, she tried to be
as cheerful as possible so that Shana wouldn’t notice her rising fears
and suspicions.
