Lenore almost had everything she wanted.
In just a few short months, she'd graduate early from high school, start an internship at her father's new startup in San Francisco, and then head off to college in the fall on a full scholarship. Everything...
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It was a perfect day for a funeral. The roiling clouds overhead were mottled and dark, like a fresh bruise—a sure sign that a storm was brewing. A few early raindrops splattered against the Tesla's windshield as it sped down the highway towards the storm and the town of Eden.
Lenore Watson shifted in the passenger seat, her newly bought dress tightening in on her in all the wrong ways. It had been the only decent black dress that she had been able to find on their way out of the city. It didn't fit very well at all, but it would have to do for an afternoon. Lenore was already looking forward to when it was all over, when she could rip off this stupid dress and make herself a promise.
I'll never come back here again.
Her father, Stanley, glanced over at her, giving her a brief, bracing smile before turning back to the road. Lenore pretended she didn't see it. Her gaze was focused out the window to the patchwork of farmer's fields that ran alongside the road. Eden had earned its name from the fertile soil that surrounded it, once renowned for being so rich and hearty that it had even survived the devastating droughts of the Dust Bowl. But its oh-so-special soil wasn't special enough to stave off progress, and it was only a matter of time before the city swallowed it up and turned it into yet another suburb. For some, that would be a true loss.
For Lenore, it would be karma. If she had her way, Eden would be wiped off the map entirely.
"We'll be there soon," her dad said as if he could feel the anxiety pouring off her. As he said it, they closed in on the town's welcome sign.
Welcome to EDEN: A Haven in the Dust!
Despite the cheery greeting, the sign looked as if it was on the verge of becoming dust itself. The painted scene of golden fields was flaking off of its warped face, adding a sinister edge to its welcoming message. At its foot, something fluttering in the wind caught Lenore's attention: a weather-beaten cross wreathed with faded fabric flowers.
She only got a glimpse before it all flew past, but it stirred something in Lenore's memory. She had done her best to block out everything she could about Eden, but coming back had already begun to weaken her defences, and things were starting to resurface. That cross had a story, a story she knew. She could remember when they had first put it in, back when the sign was freshly painted, back when she was just a child. It had been a monument to a tragedy—the first of many the town had seen. It was a memorial for a car crash that had happened on that very spot, taking the lives of several local teens. The town had mourned them heavily, but some dark part of Lenore thought they had been lucky.
Dying was one sure way to get out of Eden for good.
As they reached the streets of the town, Lenore kept her gaze out the window, watching as the town she had once called home went by. Eden had once been a pretty place, perfect and picturesque, exactly the image of the idyllic country town that someone who had never left the city would imagine. But in the few years they'd been gone, hard times had come to Eden. Many of the once familiar businesses had since closed down, and the windows of the charming brick buildings that lined the main street were dark and empty. Whatever had made Eden so special seemed to be gone.
