Small Town Horrors

It's around three in the morning, the moon still shines bright in a cloudless sky. It shines down on the small town of Hollow Brook, a town in the upstate of Maine, nestled away in the Mountains. It's a quiet town, only active in the winter session, when the local ski resorts get their business. It's the kind of town where nothing exciting happens, and that's just how the locals like it. A quiet life. A place to retire to, a place to raise a family, a place to just live in peace. It's on this night, however, that peace that the locals of Hollow Brook love so much, will be disturbed. There has always been something unnatural about the town, something that locals did their best to remove, or, at the very best, ignore. However, on this night, what they worked towards would come undone. A horror would emerge into the night and ruin everything.

The first local to see and experience this horror was one, Janet Smalls. She was a grocery store attendant, a job that most people would usually think is beneath them, but she did her work with a kind smile. Her general expression on life was to do things with a smile, but...she wasn't smile now. She was terrified. She looked over her shoulder at the horror chasing her, those pale black eyes of the beast and then quickly turned the corner onto main street. Her hope was the usual squad car would be there, but...there was no such luck tonight. She was all out of it, but there was still a glimmer of hope. A red phonebox, yes out of date, but she didn't use a cellphone, she didn't have anyone to call so there was no reason for one. She a mad dash towards, screaming all the while, though, no one would hear it. Main street was solely business, no housing or apartments and police station was a good mile or so off. She slammed the door open and made it to the phone. Looking out of the glass window of the phonebox she lost sight of the beast. It wasn't there, it wasn't out there on the main street. Did she lose it? Either way, she began to jam in the number to phone pad, 9-1-1. It rang once, then twice, then three-CRASH! The beast  that had been chasing her slammed into the phone box, knocking it over, shattering the glass and sending it scattering into the street. She started to scream again, but...it was cut short.

The scene wouldn't be found until the morning, around...five? Five-thirty? And...well, news spread like wildfire. A few teens had spotted, taken pictures, spread them online and a media shitstorm came rolling through. Hollow Brook was big news all over the place. Pictures of the torn up Phonebox, scratch marks all over the street, remains of Janet's clothing had spread all over, but no one could pin what had done it. Some had said a bear, but the damage was too...severe. It had to be much stronger than anything a bear could do. It stumped local police officers, and even out of state detectives who had tried to solve it. No...no one really knew and very few dared to dig in too far, worried about whatever the beast was.  It gave a hesitance. But...what was worst of all, it brought attention and a certain loudness to the town. It brought chaos to the local's once peaceful lives. This wouldn't stand. They had to do something, so...they pooled together a raised the funds to hire a hero or two to solve the problem. They couldn't afford a lot, but...they could afford someone or...maybe even two? If they were lucky. Either way, they wanted it solved fast. They wanted the peace returned the town so they could get on with their lives.

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It's been about a week or so since the attack first happened. A young man with a black and grey striped hoodie gets off the bus and steps into the main street of the town. There were...a lot of people. More people than he had expected from a small town. He had come from a small town and this...this was weird for Samuel Grayson, though, at the same time it was exciting! It was a new mystery to solve, a monster in the mountains. It was like something from an old horror movie! This was the stuff that Sam lived for! He couldn't wait to get to work, so he hopped right to it. He moved towards the largest crowd of people who had been surrounding the still knocked over phonebox. The owner of it wanted to keep it that way, unlike the rest of the town, he liked the attention, it brought business to his motel that stood a few blocks away. Sam pushed his way through the crowd to the front of it, trying to get a real close look at it. Claw marks had been scratched into it, the metal had been crushed underneath the beast. Sam spent a short time studying the markings before moving down the street towards the next crowd. They were hanging around a wall of a local bookstore. Claw marks had pierced the wall, it looked like whatever had chased Janet had climbed the wall and had traveled on the roofs over to the phonebox. Didn't make much sense to Sam, but...well...it worked in the end.

He scratched his head and continued down the road, following the markings and crowds of people trying to put together all the pieces. After an hour of investigating he finally had to take a break. He found a local deli and collapsed in a bench outside of it, sandwich in hand. He stared up at the sky, trying to put the pieces together. "Hmmmm...I should've asked Nicole to help with this...I really am bad at these mystery things..." He shook his head. "BAH! Dang it..." He leaned back, closing his eyes tightly. "I can do this...just gotta...find what I am missing..."

Chakra was not a distinguished hero, but his small feats seemed to have been enough to attract Hollow Brook's attention. The cloaked young man descended from his pseudo flight while entertaining bittersweet feelings. Perhaps his name would become more well known, but he could also become severely wounded under the worst circumstances. As his feet connected to earth, he once again found the confidence that had gotten him to the town in the first place.

The aubergine cloak, his preferred combat wear, made the young man stand out in most crowds. In Hollow Brook, however, he was more or less non-conspicuous. Aware that the town's interest was directed towards the phonebox, Chakra moved to examine it himself. He relied on his psionic strength to get through the crowd gathered 'round the shattered phonebox (rather than allow his telekinetic flight's presence to lend itself to more hysteria) where he was alarmed by the grotesque site. Although he closely examined it, he could not make any conclusion. If he was sure of one thing, it was that the cause was certainly not any known mammal.

He studied the damaged streets, concentrated on the mystery. "If I were to follow these 'tracks' to the beginning of the disaster, then surely I would discover more details there..." Then, he overheard the nettled voice of another man who seemed to share a common interest with him: solving the mystery. Assuming he was a civilian, Chakra lowered his hood, revealing a mildly surprising neat and proper hairstyle and a boyish facial structure, in order to avoid intimidating him. "Hello, my name is Chakra," he soothingly introduced himself. "I overheard your thoughts concerning a personal investigation into the tragedy of Janet Smalls, and I would be interested in having a tete-a-tete if you have any information that a local such as yourself might?"

Sam's head perked up at being addressed. He put on his best smile and tilted his head at the strangely dressed man, blinking once. "Ah! Hello there, friend." He looked around, just to double check to make sure the strange man was addressing him and not anyone else nearby. In retrospect he should've checked before replying, but...well, lucky enough for Sam there was no one else around. He wasn't sure what a tete-a-tete was. but he nodded nonetheless. "Uhhhh, is that some fancy talk for trading? Cause I wouldn't mind!" He chuckled a bit.

Sam hopped up from the bench and extended his hand for a shake. "The name's Samuel Grayson! I'm not from around here, I'm actually a hero investigating the whole thing, so any leads at all would be helpful. At the very least we might be able to figure something out." If the shake was returned Sam would try to go a gentle firmness, enough to be impressive, if the handshake was not returned he'd just lower it, no problem. Not everyone was for shakes. He would then motion to the bench behind him. "Wanna sit with me? Or would ya rather go somewhere private or maybe grab a bite to eat while we talk? I'll pay, so long as it ain't too expensive. I don't have a whole lot of money, especially after all the bus tickets to get here." He snickered again, rubbing the back of his head again.

Sam gave a quick look around the area. There was something...off? Something seemed wrong for a moment. He couldn't place his finger on it, but for just a quick moment he had felt a cold breeze? Or a chill to the air? He could feel the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. It felt like something was watching them for a moment. He didn't see anything in his quick glance around the area and after he did the feeling went away, but he had still felt it. He wasn't sure why he had felt it, but this town did seem strange in general. Something was unsettling about the entire area. He had felt when he first came in, but this was the first he had really acknowledged it. "Ya know...either way, we should find a place inside, whether it be for privacy or for food, so...which sounds better? I am good with either." He looked back to the strange dressed man and smiled. "Your choice!"

Chakra sized Sam up once more before responding because of the mild surprise he felt from the knowledge of Sam's hero's status. "A tete-a-tete is a professional conversation; in this supposed conversation we could 'trade' information, if you would like." He motioned to accept the hand shake, but he hesitated and awkwardly withdrew. "...The subject of the information exchange would, of course, pertain to the creature. I presume it is your reason for traveling to this remote area as well?"

Chakra scanned the town, unaware of which path to take, much less which building in the small town would have food or privacy due to his sheltered upbringing. "Perhaps you can lead the way to a more frugal diner of your choice?" He suggested, preferring to go both to be polite and to leave the area. He was feeling a bit uneasy where they stood.

Sam nodded happily! This was wonderful, a professional conversation about a job, this is exactly what he needed. Though, hopefully Chakra wouldn't continue to speak in such big words and while Sam did know a few of them, overuse of them could get rather confusing pretty quickly. At least Sam would be working with someone smarter than himself, thinking was never Sam's strong suit and having someone smart on the case would make things go easier, at least that was Sam's reasoning. He had managed to pick a few things about the crime scene, but he was sure he had missed something, perhaps Charka had done the same. Picked up some info, but missed other things. It would be beneficial if they had both picked up things the other had not.

Sam stood up from where he was sitting and straightened his clothes out. "Frugal! Right! Can do!" Sam wasn't sure if he could do that, for he didn't know what frugal meant. He scoped around the area in which they stood, hoping to find some location they could eat at. There was the diner a few shops down, the price was good and the food was pretty decent, but what if frugal meant fancy? They both started with "F", but at the same time frugal didn't sound like a fancy word, it sounded more like a...well, he wasn't sure what it sounded like. There was a fancy restaurant on the other side of time, about a ten minute walk, maybe that would do? This was harder than the actual case. He bit his lip, then let out a breath. He'd go with the first option, hoping that that was what Chakra had meant. "Alright follow me! There is a good place right over there!"

Sam marched off towards the small diner, hoping Chakra was still following from behind. As they walked, if Chakra did decide to follow, Sam would begin to talk. "Ah, that's right! I didn't catch your name? What do people call ya? I'm Sam! Samuel Grayson! I came here hoping to solve the mystery here, but as you could tell, I am at a wall." He opened the door for Chakra to go inside. Inside the diner it was quite quaint. It was a humble setting with a few decorations set up around the area, a few local memorabilia like signs with nice quotes on them, a few paintings done by local artists, and an old tack board where people hung messages praising the diner. An older woman, probably in her mid sixties worked the small podium at the front of the diner, waiting to seat customers. Overall, it seemed to be a slow day. There looked to only be two other groups here, on the right side of the restaurant there sat an older couple enjoying a light lunch. And on the left there was a younger man who seemed very focused on eating his food, however, as Sam and, if he decided to enter, Chakra entered he'd look up from his burger and studied them briefly before returning to his meal.

The older woman blinked at them and took out two menus. "Table for two? Where would you like to sit, you can sit anywhere where someone else isn't sitting." She said this in a pleasant tone, though she sounded partially exhausted. Sam looked to Chakra with a questioning look on his face.