Hearthway Hollow

Dart

Male Reader x male Monster

Hearthway Hollow is my all accounts a beautiful little town nestled in the mountains and woods of North Carolina. It's picturesque, safe, clean, and thriving. But there are hidden secrets to the city, such as various supernatural sightings. There have been strange photos taken in the town of large dogs. Or well, what people claim to be large dogs. Sightings have occurred since the late fifties, and you have collected everything.

You had come to know about the legends surrounding the small town when you were young. You grew up relatively close to the then small community, and there were always stories about it. Your father liked to hunt, and the Hearthway Forest was his favorite place. He would come home with stories to tell, sightings of huge creatures lurking in the woods. Unfortunately, he barely knew how to work a camera, so the pictures he got were blurry and unfocused at best. But you kept them.

Even as you went to college in Asheville, you continued to hear the stories about Hearthway Hollow. You had started a chat group which evolved into a website which had turned into quite the thriving business for you. You were able to turn the sales of shirts and merchandise into equipment that could fund your research into the secrets of Hearthway Hollow.

You've finally planned and set a date for when you are to scour the woods, placing your recording equipment all around to finally capture the creatures hiding there. You've visited Hearthway Hollow many times in your life, but this is your first time being here you feel you'll actually find something.

As you check into your hotel the old woman behind the counter grins. "Oh, it's you. I love your website kid, gives me a kick every time."

"Oh thanks," you reply.

"You best beware," she winks at you as she hands my key. "You might not like being proven right."

You suppose your expression gave her a chuckle because she started laughing as you walked away to go find your room. As you unlock your door, you see that behind the hotel is a walkway that leads up a flight of stairs to the library. The place looks old, but it's precisely what you needed to see. You could search through the records and see if there was anything more in depth.

For a public library in such a big town, the place is pretty small. You walk up to the front desk and are shocked to see there is a typewriter there as well as a computer that may as well have been from the stone ages. It clicked and whirred, the screen flickered and static for a moment before showing a blue screen of Dewey decimal nonsense.

You ring the little bell on the front desk. "Hello?"

"Hi!" the voice booms from behind you and you whip around, gazing into the rows of books behind you. "I'll be just a minute." You look around again and glancing up, you see a man standing on a ladder, leaning over a wrought iron enclosure as he tinkers with the AC. There's a loud clunk and there a purring noise.

"Got it," the man huffs and grins. He then literally slides down the ladder and plops down on the ground. "You're a new face!" He grins as he walks behind the front desk. He picks up the glasses from beside the computer and slips them on. "How may I help you?"

He's tall and gangly, sort of like how you always imagined Ichabod Crane was built. His hair is long and curly, a rich auburn color too, and tied back in a bun at the back of his head where pencils are sticky out. His glasses are thick, almost comically so. They enlarge his eyes, and you can see the minute detail of his irises. The deep, dark blue of them mixed with dots of violet.

"Uh," you glance him over, realizing he has freckles dotting almost every inch of him. "Records?" You ask.

"You're in the right place." He walks out from behind the desk and waves you along. "Had you gone to the main library, you wouldn't have found them."