The walk took them past the old brick storefronts lining Main Street, Doors open, letting in the Crisp River town Air.

A large mural of the river covered the side of the hardware store, faded from years of sun and salt in the air.

Somewhere down toward the water, a train blasted its horn as it slowly passed by the river.

Dorrance had never been much for change.

Same cracked sidewalks, same flickering streetlamp outside the bakery that had been broken since she was twelve, that she
absolutely hated walking under.

It was almost peaceful, if it wasn't for Ethan's constant rambling

Tegans Stomach Growled as imagined stuffing her face with small town Diner food.

Best Chili Cheese fries around.

Her Mouth practically watered at the thought.

Jilly's opened in 1973 and had remained in the hands of a generational family. It was always packed on Friday nights, was just in the center of town, a few blocks from the antique store.

She adjusted her Jacket and pulled it closer, almost forgetting about the open wound on her hand and hissed when the zipper pinched it.

"Shit."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, i just can’t believe that little shit bit me! Again!”

“When are you going to learn to stop putting body parts near his mouth!” Ethan asked, genuinely, Tegan gave him a dirty look as she walked into the Diner ahead of him. “Don’t look at me like that, this is all on you”

“How the hell-”

"That whole Fool you once bit"

"Alright...Fine, i get it"

“Do you?” Ethan asked, but he didn’t get an answer.

The diner was packed and obnoxiously loud with people talking over each other about the big game.

Nothing had changed in the past decades. The smells drifted around, tempting anyone with the scent of cooking burgers and deep-fried foods. The sounds of laughter, chatter, and the arcade games in the back seemed to blend into something overwhelming and comforting all at once.

Tegan looked around to avoid Ethan’s questioning stare. She saw several familiar faces, old teachers, customers, and then she spotted her cousin.

“Ethan! Tegan!” Lottie stood up on the booth seat and waved her hands. “Over here!” as they walked over, Tegan spotted Shawn standing with his brother, Myles, who was sitting at the counter with the rest of the football players.

"Did you order yet?" Tegan asked as she slid into the booth across from Lottie, Ethan following right after.

Lottie looked her over, her reply dying on her tongue as she blurted out. “What the hell happened to you; did you fight a lawn mower. Is that a freaking bitemark?”

"A doll bit me."

" A doll? Like... a normal doll or your kind of Doll.”

“A possessed Doll Lottie... a possessed Doll bit me.” Tegan hissed, trying to keep it quiet

“Why the hell would…”

" Because Ghosts are assholes, Lottie, I've said this."

“Jeez. Fine.” Lottie pouted, Ethan smirked, keeping his head turned as he fought back laughter.

“Looks like Myles had almost as bad a night as we did.” Ethan changed the subject, earning him a glare from Tegan. As bad a night as that? Myles didn’t have to deal with insane Ghost possessing dolls and biting everyone!

"Myles is upset because his coach pulled him for starting a fight."

“Seriously?” Tegan asked in a flat tone, her voice deadpan as she gave Lottie are you're shitting me look.

"Wait... are you upset about him fighting or for there being consequences?" Ethan asked, and Tegan elbowed him to shut him up. "Seems like it would be obvious for the coach to pull him." Ethan defended his stance, and Tegan sighed, wanting to jump off this verbal sinking ship.

"But the other player started it!" Lottie was already defensive, and Tegan just put her hands up in surrender.

"Alright, alright...so what are we ordering?"

"I already put our drink orders in." Lottie smiled at Ethan. "I still remember your favorite."

"It's literally a strawberry milkshake, not that hard," Tegan mumbled as she opened the menu, and Ethan tried not to laugh as Lottie made a disgruntled noise.

Lottie waved the waiter over, who already looked frazzled because of the busy night. Lottie was already giving her order before the waitress even had time to pull her pad out. "Loaded fries!"

Ethan raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you just eat three corn dogs?"

"So? It's Friday." Lottie kicked him under the table.

Tegan watched Lottie's eyes narrow as she looked at Ethan, the little vein in her forehead more prominent as if she was waiting for just one more reason to snap. Tegan sighed and looked at Ethan. "Don't make it a big deal, Ethan. She wants the fries."

"I was just worried."

"And I'm just ordering." Lottie's voice went up an octave, slapping a hand on the table. Shawn and Myles looked over quickly. Shawn patted his brother on the back and came over, sliding next to Lottie and kissing her on the temple.

Tegan glanced back at Myles, who was still with his Football buddies, but he was staring at their group with such a strong intensity that it made her feel nauseated.

"Everything okay here?" Shawn's question brought her back, and she looked to her cousin.

"I just wanted some loaded fries." Lottie pouted, making Shawn chuckle,

"How does your stomach feel? The fries won't make you throw up, will they? cause last time you overstuffed yourself; it took me two days to air out my car."

"I promise."

"Fine, but if you even make one gagging sound, you're walking." He teased, they finally order as the waitress clears her throat.

They're making me nauseous," Tegan whispered to Ethan, tilting her head toward the couple. Ethan chuckled, but Shawn and Lottie were too absorbed in each other to notice. "Get up so I can use the bathroom." Ethan huffed and slid out of the booth so she could get up.

The diner was crowded, every seat was filled, and a few people were standing waiting for orders to go, but there was a group across the diner, near the bathroom, that was being loud. pushing and shoving. One fell out of his seat in front of Tegan.

His white hair stood out on such a young face; his eyes were brownish red, matching the Red Choker he was wearing with a little hat charm on it.

"Sorry." He chuckled as he stood up, letting her pass, and when she was done with the bathroom and came back out, he winked at her as she walked by again to her own seat.

"What was that about?" Shawn asked, and Shawn and Lottie were facing the group, so Ethan had to turn around and look when Tegan explained what happened. She tried to get him to slide into the booth so she could sit, but he was frozen, his eyes locked on the group.

"Ethan?"

"Alp."

"What?"

"Alp... It's an Alp." He hissed. Tegan looked back over her shoulder at the group. The boy with the white hair was watching them closely, smirked, threw some cash on the table, and walked out.

Ethan stood up. Tegan tried to stop him, but he moved her out of the way. "Ethan." She called as he navigated through the crowd and out the door. "God damn it," She cursed and followed him out. She caught sight of the white hair, practically glowing through the door, but by the time she was outside, they were both gone.

"What the hell?" She turned around in the parking lot, looking for them, but she couldn't see either one. "They couldn't have just vanished."

Tegan huffed, crossing her arms as she looked. Her nose itched first, the smell becoming unbearable as she stood there, the smell of... "Rotten eggs? Ew," she covered her nose and turned to go back inside.

Tegan froze.

Holy shit!

Wait...fuck! that's the fucking dog from the newspaper!

Standing less than ten feet away from her was a large Doberman, bigger than any she's ever seen.

Her eyes drawn right to its mouth, red frothing drool dribbling from its lips.

Blood...No...That's not blood... Oh it's definitely blood. Shut up brain!

Her breath hitched as its muscles tensed, its eyes locking on her, and it happened, it charged.

The smell got stronger, she felt like throwing up as she stumbled backwards, she hit a bumper and lost her footing and yelped in pain.

She hit the pavement hard, her eyes shutting and covering her face instinctively as she was preparing to be ripped apart.

But it never came, the nails against the pavement stopped, and when she opened her eyes, the dog had jumped, soaring right over her. Close enough, she could feel the heat from its stomach as it passed over her.

It landed, lightly, gracefully for such a large beast, and ran off across the parking lot, disappearing behind cars.

Tegan lay there, chest heaving, legs shaking, her body wouldn't listen. "What the fuck was that?" Her system was sending red alerts to all parts of her body.
She glanced down, making sure she didn't piss herself because people were running out of the diner towards her.

"What the fuck," she whispered to herself.

Then louder: 'What the fuck!'"

Faces seemed to hover around her, bodies camouflaged by the bright lights behind them. Some of the people in the crowd looked at each other; they were just as confused.

Lottie and Shawn shoved through the crowd, and Tegan flinched hard when Lottie reached for her, her hands coming up halfway in defense before she even realized what she was doing. This seemed to upset her cousin more than she had been. Her brows furrowed as she grabbed Tegan’s arm.

“Tegan!” Lottie snapped, already embarrassed by the attention. “Get up. Get up right now.” Her voice dropped to a harsh whisper as she hauled Tegan upward. “What is wrong with you?”

But the words didn’t register. Tegan’s eyes were glazed over, locked on the dark smear on the pavement where the dog had been, the red glistening under the parking lot lights.

Holy shit.

What the fuck is that?

Why is there blood?

Why is everyone acting like it's not there?

“Did you see that?" Someone whispered, and Tegan tried to ignore it. "That wasn't a dog. I saw the whole thing from the window.

"Everyone's losing their mind." Lottie hissed and grabbed Tegan's arm. "Let's just go."

"The cops"

"They don't give a shit about a dog attack, Tegan." Lottie cut her off and dragged her toward the car, which Shawn already had inside.

"I'm not crazy, Lottie."

"I never said that."

"But you are thinking it," Tegan whispered when Lottie opened the door and shoved her inside, slammed the door, and the car roared to life as Shawn hit the gas pedal.

Too loud!

Why is everything so fucking loud!

It felt like someone suddenly turned up the volume of the entire fucking world.

She felt sick, her face hot as she pressed it against the cold windowsill.

Lottie was talking to Shawn. Her voice shrill, her words muffled compared to the sounds of the car around them, Tegan sniffled, her shoulders tensing when she smelt it, the air freshener of the car, sure, but there was a lingering scent of rotten eggs under it.

She sat up and looked around. "What the fuck." She whispered again not believing her eyes.

The shadows moved, writhed together to form a dog that ran alongside the car.