Eerie Falls

2) clueless man arrives in enlightened town

The train ride to Eerie Falls is boring to say the least. Only two other people are on the train with Max. Some old guy who is far too interested in the newspaper to even look up from it, and some middle-aged woman with pale skin and dark clothes. Then there's Max with his inked body and too much jewelry . He looks so different from the other people.

He wonders what Eerie Falls is like as a town. It's an hour and a half train ride to the town. Max googled it before he left. Forested town with humble residents. Not many tourist attractions. One lady left a Yelp review saying, Eerie Falls is the spookiest town I've ever been to. Don't bring your children to this town.

His roommate, Dylan, peeked over his shoulder when Max sat at the computer, searching up this mysterious town.

"Going on a trip?" The obnoxious Dylan asked. Max just grunted. He didn't have time to deal with him. Max was going to see his half-brother in a town he'd never even heard of the next day.

Dylan, of course, didn't leave him alone. He peered closer to the computer.

"Hey!" Max shouted, covering up the website with his large hand. He didn't like it when people got in his business.

Dylan didn't detect the anger in Max's voice.

"You're going to Eerie Falls?" Dylan asked and then slumped on the couch.

"Yeah." Max glanced at Dylan, who was picking at his stubby nails. "Why?"

"Just not the most attractive vacation destination." Dylan said, confirming what the internet was telling Max.

"What do you know about it?" Max asked him. Max had lived in Washington his entire life and never heard about the town before.

"There's a bunch of folklore surrounding the place. People say that a crazy group of outcasts settled it centuries ago. I don't know, man, maybe you should pick a different town." And with that, Dylan left.

Max had more questions than anything after that conversation. Were the outcasts in Eerie Falls anything like him? Was there more werewolves there? Was William a werewolf, too?

Will seemed so secretive over the phone. Not exactly how Max imagined himself getting back in touch with family. But, now he was. Max is excited, sure, but there's an overwhelming feeling of secrecy. Max does not like it.

Max also feels bad about leaving his roommates, but he left a note on the kitchen table this morning. It's not like he was really close to any of them, but he's known then for a while now. Maybe Max owes them more than a note, but he didn't have enough time. He had to pack stuff for an indefinite amount of time.

Now, the train conductor talks over the intercom.

"Attention passengers, we will be arriving at Eerie Falls train station in about 15 minutes. Someone will come and stamp your tickets, thank you." The system crackles and then fades away.

The two other passengers don't even move a muscle. Max doesn't even know if that old guy is alive anymore.

Some man comes through the doors and looks around at Max and the other two people. He walks up to the old man first.

"Hey, Walter!" He smiles at the man. Max notices how white his teeth are and how bright his white collar is.

The old man looks up slowly. "Oh, hello, Jarvis. Are we home already?"

Jarvis nods. "How was your trip to Tacoma?"

Walter shrugs and shakily hands the man his ticket.

"Family's fine. Beatrice still doesn't want the kids to come up into town. Says that it's getting too bad up here." Walter says sadly. Max doesn't really know what he's talking about. Jarvis gives him a comforting look.