chapter 3

~jamie~

       "Why did we have to come all the way to Hayside to pick up these things?" I ask, dropping the one bag of horse feed I was carrying into the back of my fiance's truck. All while he drops the four bags he was carrying. He probably could have carried more, but he wouldn't be able to see properly as he walked.

       "Because the store in our town ran out and wouldn't get a shipment in for a few days," Sawyer says. "It would also take too long for us to get some delivered to us, so this was the best option."

       "Yeah, but..." I lean against the truck as I watch Sawyer put everything else we bought into the back. "You've heard about this town, right?"

       "How it was nicknamed Hayside Haunt? Yes, I'm aware."

       "And you still chose this town for us to go to? Are you insane?"

       Sawyer looks at me and chuckles. "Jamie, it's just some people playing constant pranks around Halloween. I don't think the town is actually haunted. Besides, it's the closest town that sells horse feed."

       "I think you just chose this place to scare me."

       "Or, like I said, this is the closest place that sells horse feed. We're not even staying long. We're literally done buying everything, so once I return the cart, we'll head back home."

       "Okay..." I say in a sing-song voice.

       Sawyer furrows his eyebrows around me. "What does that mean?"

       "Nothing. Just that I don't think the town is going to allow us to leave that easily. I've heard stories of people being stranded here for a few days. It's going to happen to us. I can feel it."

       Sawyer ruffles my hair. "Your imagination is just getting to you. We're going to be fine."

       "Says the person who purposefully brought me to a haunted forest once."

       Sawyer has finished putting everything in the truck, so he starts to push the cart back to the store to return it. "What? I can't hear you. I just assume you told me that you love me."

       I glare at Sawyer before I head to the passenger seat of the truck. I get in and close the door behind me. Sawyer is right, at least. It's not like we're staying in Hayside. We're just making a quick trip here, and now we're going to be heading home.

       Home, where I'll probably climb into my bed and nap despite sleeping in until two in the afternoon. It's not my fault that my bed is very comfortable. Though it kind of has to be since my back hurts from time to time due to my injury.

       Sawyer gets into the truck now that he has returned the cart. He puts his keys into the ignition and turns it to start the vehicle, but it doesn't. It doesn't even make the start up sound cars usually make.

       "Oh no," I say. "Did I jinx it? Is this my fault? I shouldn't have brought up that people get stranded here."

       "I'm sure everything is fine," Sawyer says. He tries to start up the truck again a few times to no avail. He gets out of the truck and checks underneath the hood.

       I open my door and get out, looking at the complicated pieces under the hood. I nod. "I see."

       "You don't understand what you're looking at, do you?" Sawyer asks.

       "Nope. I just wanted to seem smart for once. I'm also hoping you can take off your shirt while you fix whatever it is that needs fixing."

       "One, it's autumn. I'm not taking my shirt off. And two, there's nothing to fix."

       "Huh? What do you mean there's nothing to fix? Why won't it start then? There has to be something to fix."

       "Nothing I can see." Sawyer closes the hood before taking his cell phone out of his pocket. He calls for a tow truck, hoping that the truck can be looked at so we can head back home as soon as possible.

       Apparently, that's not the case.

       Sawyer sighs as he hangs up the phone. "Bad news. Apparently, they have an abundance of cars to look at, so the truck won't even be looked at until tomorrow."

       "Tomorrow?" I ask. "See, I told you that people get trapped here around Halloween. It's no coincidence that the truck just stops working. Now we're probably going to die."

       Sawyer furrows his eyebrows. "Why do you think we're going to die?"

       "People have been killed here."

       "Yeah, like two people a few years ago. People are killed everywhere." He shakes his head. "I'll just call my dad to pick us up."

       "No, don't do that. I bet you anything his truck is going to break down too when it gets here."

       "Jamie, you're really overthinking things."

       "Am I? This is a small town, Sawyer. Why does the car shop have so many cars to look at that we can't get the truck looked at until tomorrow? My guess is that the town doesn't want people to leave, so when someone tries to, boom, their car breaks down."

       Sawyer stares at me for a bit before he calls his dad. "Hey, Dad, small problem. The truck broke down right as Jamie and I were about to head back home. It can't even get looked at until tomorrow... Wait, seriously? They couldn't have told us that before we left...? No, no, it's fine, Jamie and I will just spend the night at the motel or something... Okay, bye." He hangs up.

       "So you believe me?" I ask.

       "What? No," Sawyer says. "The store ended up getting a shipment of horse feed, so you and I didn't even have to drive down here."

       "Okay. So why didn't you ask your dad to pick us up?"

       "I was only going to so we could get the horse feed home. We'd have to come back here tomorrow anyway to get the truck, so it will be more convenient for you and I to just spend the night here."

       "Uh huh. But I'm telling you now, spooky stuff is going to start happening."

       "Whatever helps you sleep at night."

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jamie: you help me sleep at night, sawyer ;)

i wanted to add that in but sawyer's line was a smoother place to end this chapter.

now that all six characters are here, they will all meet soon woo.