Chapter 1

[ August 1985 ]

My mom decided to give us a fresh start in a new place. Some place far, a place named Willow Creek. Most people never heard of it, which makes sense considering how overshadowed it is by Salem. 

I fell asleep to the sound of ABBA on the radio, lyrics to ‘The winner takes it all’ rang through my head while my mom drove almost 3 days straight. We stopped every once in a while to relax and look around, till we finally made it to our new house.

She parked in the driveway and sat there. Rain poured onto the car in a silent pitter-patter.

“Mama?” I whispered in the dark.

She lifted her glasses and wiped her eyes before turning to me.

“We're here, mijo. Help me get the stuff from the trunk.”

I knew she wasn’t fine. She’d been like this since we left California. The truth was, she hadn’t been so well since my dad died. She tried to put on a tough front for my sake but I knew it was for the best to play along. 

I got up and helped take most of our things into the house.

She ushered me upstairs “Go, your rooms up there on the left end.”

I took my few boxes and found my soon-to-be bedroom.  I stood in the doorway taking in the little details. 

The closet with doors that seemed to fall apart when you slid them open, the window that leads to the roof, the creaking floorboards when I step.

“Home.” I thought. I didn't want to be here, but I had no choice.

I took a deep breath and I plopped myself onto the bed, I closed my eyes and somehow wished a meteor would hit the earth right then and there. I was scared. I had to start all over again with new people, and a new school. It wasn’t like I had many friends to begin with; Still it was my worst nightmare. My fears melted and I fell asleep. nothing mattered now.

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Around 5 am my mom knocked on my door and told me to get ready. I only had about 3 hours of sleep since we had gotten there but had to get up anyway. 

I shuffled my way to the bathroom down the hall and starred in the mirror. I had to prepare myself for the first day of senior year, and a long day ahead of me. I groaned and stood over the sink for a minute.

“If this day doesn't kill me, I think I might take it into my own hands.” I shuffled back out to my room and got my things. 

There were clothes all around the room by the time I had finished rummaging through the boxes. I pulled out an old white and red ringer tee, a pair of old worn jeans, my old doodled on black and white Converse, and finally dad's old brown flannel. She hated seeing me in that old thing but I still wore it all the time. She said I looked too much like him in it.

I shoved my Walkman and a few cassette tapes into my messenger bag while I made my way downstairs to the kitchen.

“No tenemos nada pa desayunar, I promise I'll buy food after my interviews and go grocery shopping.”

“It's fine, I'm not that hungry anyways'' it wasn't fine. I'm starving but she doesn't need to know that.

She put her hand on my shoulder and looked me in the eyes. “Please try your best today mijo” She kissed my forehead and smiled before going to grab her keys. I gave a smile and grabbed my bag as I made my way to the car.

I still felt that pit of fear in my stomach, well it was either fear or hunger, maybe both.

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As we drove to the school we passed a few strange places that caught my attention, a tiny thrift store, a sketchy-looking movie theater, a decent-looking mom-and-pop diner, a scary-looking bar, and a small music store that was selling vinyls and cassettes. 

I decided I'd give a few places a stop on my way home.

Eventually, we did make it to the school entrance, I slouched back into the car seat.

“Can't I just stay home?” I paused in the silence. “I'll cook and clean, I promise.” my mom shook her head and gave a small smile.

She didn't need to say it, I knew the answer so I opened the door and took a few breaths.

“Everything is ready for you, just go to the office and ask for your schedule.” “Everything will be fine, mijo.”

I closed the door and she left as I made my way inside the building. I knew no one was there but still, I had the strangest feeling as if someone had their eyes on me. 

I looked around me a couple of times before eventually finding what seemed to be the office. 

I knocked on the door frame “Hello? Anyone here?”

A short old woman came in, she had her hair messily done and seemed to have a sour expression on her face. I might as well have told her I killed her husband and ate her salad.  Considering how old she looked, someone probably gave her the news by now. 

She looked me up and down. “Name?”

“Uh, Ethan Mulberry.”

She looked me up and down again before typing loudly on an old computer's keyboard “New student? Do you know your classes?”

“No.” I looked at her confused.

She groaned and pressed a button on the keyboard “I'll print you out a copy of your schedule,” “Don't lose it, you won’t be getting another from me” 

“Wasn't planning to” I wanted to say but bit my tongue and nodded as I sat there for almost 10 minutes waiting for the paper to finish printing.

After what seemed like eternity she handed me the paper and I made my way out of the office while searching for the first class on my list.

“Math?” I groaned and looked for the room number anyway.

I swallowed back my fear and knocked on the class door. A beautiful blonde girl around my age opened the door before going back to her seat. I then noticed the teacher and class staring at me in the doorway.

“Well come in, don't just stand there and find an open seat” the teacher told me with a sour expression, was every adult in this school like this? Did they all wake up on the wrong side of the bed, or did someone tell them I was coming?

I sat in the only open desk which happens to be in the front. Then I spent the entire time in the class doodling while only half listening to the teacher.

Every few minutes I felt something hit my back. I turned around and saw a group of boys in the back of the class, they were football jocks, I could tell from their red and white varsity jackets. They were laughing amongst themselves, but I didn't get what they were throwing at me.

By the time the class was over walking down the halls to my next class I saw people passing me and giggling. I decided I had enough and went to the bathroom. I took my flannel off and realized what they had been throwing at me. Spitballs.

They had been throwing spitballs and they were stuck to my dads flannel. I grabbed paper towels and tried my best to get rid of them but they left a few tiny stains on it.

I carried it with me and got to my next class. This was gonna be a very long day, and I was already very, very exhausted.

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After 3 more classes we had all somehow survived till lunch. I was still praying for that meteor to strike. 

I decided to keep my head low and just find an empty table or quiet place to eat once I get my food. I got in line and a few people decided they didnt want to wait as long as I did, so they shoved me out of the way and took my spot. I decided to bite my tongue and move along because it's easier than fighting back. I was trying to keep my head down after all.

While I looked around for an empty seat I noticed a few people staring at me and whispering, I tried my best to not look at them and continue to search for a seat.

After about 15 minutes of searching, I was nearly ready to give up until I saw two people waving me over and two empty seats at their table. I was hesitant but I gave in and walked over.

I sat down at the table and took a good look at them both. One of them was a pale boy with faint freckles and dark brown eyes. He had shoulder length curly hair and a patch covered vest with bands I had never heard of before. The other was a girl with deep brown skin, she wore a black turtleneck, a long black skirt, a lot of accessories, and she had short black curly hair in large amounts.

“Markus, i'm in your english class, i sit behind you” he gave a smile and reached out to shake my hand.

“Amaria, I'd ignore the whispering. It's usually like that when someone new comes here. Most people don't come to Willow Creek willingly” she winked.

I paused before introducing myself, “Thanks, um, im ethan by the way,”

“It's no problem, besides, markus and I are probably gonna walk you home cause we don't want you getting picked on by jessie and his goons”

“Jessie?”

“You see the group of airheaded jocks in the back?” she pointed at a group in the corner, they were the same ones in my first period class. “Their main leaders named jessie, he's the one with the blonde betty who’s way too good for him on his arm” 

I looked at him for a minute until he turned around and made eye contact with me.

I quickly turned around, “yeah, I think i'll take that walk.”

“Too good for him! That bimbette? Please, she's exactly the type of girl he’d go after” markus yawned as he talked,

“She's so not a bimbette, she's really sweet” amaria tried her best not to raise her voice but also seemed to fail at doing so.

Markus raised his eyebrow at her and waived it off. 

“Hey, I was wondering, does every adult have a weirdly sour attitude towards everyone?” I was curious.

“Yeah, it's like an everyday thing,” she shrugged

Markus laugh “unless your rich, white, or an airheaded jock your not gonna get treated like a person”

“Markus,  you’re white you narbo” she smacked the back of his head.

 “Yeah okay maybe I should shut up”

We continued to chat and make small talk for a little while. At Least I had found some people who I could stay with in the meantime. Besides they seemed nice and I really didn’t feel like becoming an immediate victim to a jock.

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I made my way through my last two classes safe enough. All the adults still seemed to be in a bad mood. 

I packed up my things and made my way outside. I scanned the crowd for the two who said they’d  walk me home.

Maybe they lied, maybe it was a prank, I was probably just making a fool of myself waiting. I thought that maybe I should just leave. I felt dumb.

I turned around and started walking when I heard someone yell out my name.

“ETHAN!!”

It was Markus and Amaria. I was surprised. They were standing next to the bike rack.

“There you are!! I was wondering where you were, I had a hard time spotting you and this space cadet wasn’t much help either.” Amaria smacked him on the back of the head once again.

I felt a warm feeling in my stomach, maybe this won’t be so bad.

“I'm gonna be honest I almost left without you guys, I thought you guys had pranked me”

“Ouch im hurt, you think so lowly of us already” Markus laughed.

We made our way out of the school and started walking, you had to go past a bunch of outlets in the town to get to the rest of the neighborhood

We made more small talk on our journey home, and suddenly the topic of ghosts came up.

“I've always wanted to go ghost hunting, it just seems so cool” I chuckled

“Right! I've told Markus so many times, did you know that he has ghost hunting gadgets!”

“Not mine, they were my dads” he kinda seemed off talking about his dad.

“We should totally go ghost hunting! Us three you know!!" She seemed so excited. I couldn't help but get excited as well

“It would!! Maybe we could!” I paused, “but I mean, is there anywhere here that would seem interesting enough to go ghost hunting?”

She thought about it for a minute, “I mean there's this old house I found a while back, it's kind of deeper into the woods. You know, the woods behind the rows of houses on 48th street.” “I haven't gone in to have a look yet”

“Oh, I live on 48th, I know what your talking about, the woods i mean, they seem really creepy”

“They aren’t that creepy if you go,” markus chimed in, “we like to hangout there, its nice, just not when your being chased by cops” “they’re no fun”

These two were definitely strange but, in a way, I found how weird they were charming.

We continued the small talk for a while, while we were walking through the outlets I saw the blonde girl from earlier again. She was talking to that guy Jessie and his friends, they were standing outside the sketchy movie theater from earlier. She had short blonde bobbed hair, a black thick headband, a soft blue cardigan and a white skirt. Jessie had his arm around her, she seemed uncomfortable.

“Space cadet? Hello? Earth to Ethan! Are you there?” Markus waived his hand in front of my face.

“Huh what sorry, I got lost in thought for a second, what were you saying?”

“Only a few more blocks until Amaria’s house,” 

“Oh.”

We made our way over there and stopped in front of a small light blue house, it had beautiful stained glass decorative signs in front of it.

“Your house looks nice.” I had no clue what I was saying. I sucked at small talk.

“Thanks” she laughed. “Bye Ethan, bye barfbag” she opened the door and went inside.

It was just Markus and me. I slowly turned around awkwardly.

“So, where do you live?” he asked.

“Oh actually give or take 4 blocks away” I didn't realize we were actually near my house.

We walked the first 2 blocks in awkward silence. It was horrendously painful.

“How long have you been with Amaria?” I asked.

He stopped dead in his tracks and made a disgusted face “Me and Amaria are not together, never in a million years” 

I couldn’t help but let out a laugh because of his face “sorry, dumb question,”

We made some actual small talk for a while, every once in a while I'd catch myself staring at him, his eyes and hair. There was something so nice about him. I snapped myself out of it.

“Here’s my house,” we stopped, and went quiet leaving an awkward silence.

I walked up the pathway and waved goodbye to him as I made my way inside. My mom wasn’t home because she had an interview in the next city.

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I took off my shoes and placed my bag on the couch as I made my way into the kitchen. I didn’t eat breakfast or the lunch I had gotten in school, it seemed gross.

I opened the fridge and found some ham and sourcream. I decided to make myself a sad sandwich, I usually had it. I never liked eating vegetables, I was a picky eater.

After scarfing it down I grabbed my shoes and bag as I went upstairs to unpack properly and decorate.

I opened the first box and took out a large cord of white Christmas lights. I'm afraid of the dark, or mostly what I couldn't see in the dark. I don’t have much of an explanation for it. I pinned them on the walls with thumbtacks. They lit up my entire room with a soft glow.

I opened a second box and took out a record player and a few records. I placed it onto the cabinet that was in the room when I got there. I took the record out, it was Rumors by Fleetwood Mac. I placed it onto the record player as the music rangout.

I took out a few other records such as The Visitor by ABBA and Duran Duran.

I continued to dance and clean up the room in the meanwhile.

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I heard my moms car pull up into the driveway and I rushed down the stairs to open the door.

As soon as she reached to unlock the door I swung it open, spooking her.

“CHRIST! You scared me half to death, don't do that.” “What are you waiting by the door for?”

“I was waiting for you to get home to ask you about the interview-” 

I scanned her up and down searching for a grocery bag but she only had her purse.

“What are you looking for?” she looked confused

“You said you were gonna buy food, remember?...” 

“Shit. I'm sorry mijo, se me paso.” she looked so ashamed I felt horrible.

“Mama, have you eaten?” 

“No,”

“I saw a mom-and-pop diner not too far from the house if you wanna go get some food there?” i smiled “I could go and buy us some burgers and shakes,”

“Thank you mijo” she kissed my forehead and gave me some money.

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I walked for a little while until making it into town, I got inside the diner and ordered 2 burgers, fries, and shakes. I sat while I waited.

I heard the door open as a large group of people walked in, then again. Jessie, the blonde, and his friends. I turned my head away hoping they wouldn’t recognize me.

I continued to wait for a few minutes until I felt a hand tap my shoulder. I turned around terrified for a moment and felt the biggest wave of relief when I saw Markus staring at me.

“Woah, all good space cadets?” he laughed.

“Yeah, I'm good, what are you doing here?” I cleared my throat.

“Just buying a burger? What are you doing here?? Especially with Jessie and his spazz friends in this place.”

“I'm just getting some food for my mom and me. They walked in a little while after. You scared me, I thought you were one of them”

“Ouch, im offended, I look much better than those airheaded jocks”

I laughed and got the food as I made my way back home. Markus made sure Jessie didn’t follow me by staying back in the diner while I left.

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I finally made my way back home as we sat down for dinner.

“These are really good!” I was surprised that they tasted amazing.

“It was a good thing you saw the diner”

We had a small conversation while we ate.

“How was school?”

“It was fine, mostly I mean.”

“Did you make any friends?”

“Uh, I guess.” I didn't want her to meet my friends. I felt bad for feeling like this.

“Oh, well i'm glad you had a nice day mijo”

“How’d your interview?”

“It went great, I got the job, either way they were understaffed.” “I'm going to be in early and back late, are you sure you're fine staying here alone?” “I just want you to be safe”

“I promise I'll be fine.”

We soon finished our food and went to our rooms to sleep.

I popped a Kate Bush Cassette into my walkman as I laid in bed. I stared up at the cracked ceiling while the music played and I thought back to everything that had happened today. I slowly drifted off into sleep thinking about the strange town.