Grim Vale

Chapter 2

While the crowd was being attacked by angry ghosts in the town square, the Grim Vale Mayor was in his living room.

   Leaning heavily against the fireplace, puffing on a pipe as long as his forearm, Mayor McKinley was murmuring his irritation at the turn the night had taken.

   "Years and years...whole decades...a decades-old tradition my speech is...and to have it cancelled tonight...no, not cancelled, but rather given by that fool, the deputy mayor...what's his name...that's not important...he can't even speak...my voice, my voice is perfect for public speeches...the people will be agitated I'm not there...my people...and for what... ah, we still have no idea, do we...those insufferable kids brought us here and for what...I know they'll be able to vote for me in a couple of years, but I'm seriously considering telling them off tonight...such insolent behavior..."

   On and on Mayor McKinley went about his own importance and the others' incompetence. His companions didn't mind him, since they knew he was old – as old as the town itself many joked – and foul-tempered, and his favorite hobby was scolding his deputies and his neighboring kids and anyone else who passed him by. But, being as old as the town itself, the people voted for him because he knew them and their problems, and had steered them well for God knew how many years.

   And thus the tall, graceful lady in the sweeping black dress and intricate hairstyle continued nursing her glass of wine without minding him.

   Her real name was not important, for everyone knew her as Lady Macbeth, the name of her most applauded role. Lady Macbeth was an actress, the sole person in town to have achieved such glory and national fame. She had returned to her quiet hometown of Grim Vale to retire after a greatly successful career, which had surprised the townsfolk, because she looked as young and beautiful and lively as always. Though the old ladies at the market whispered she was as old as Mayor McKinley himself, but that may have just been envy.

   Lady Macbeth was not only famous and fair, but also sweet and kind, so that even Mayor McKinley failed to find fault with her.

   Which was not the case with the man half-sitting on the window seat, currently finishing his first packet of cigarettes since arriving here tonight.

   Nasty habits he had, the Old-man Allen. That was what everyone called him, and they didn't know what his last name was. He was an eccentric and mysterious man, who had arrived in town from somewhere else, though no one knew exactly from where.

   He was a poet, that was for sure. The townsfolk saw him scribbling on his numerous notebooks whenever they passed by his open window, which he always left open, perhaps to show off his important job, some people thought.

   Once, he had done a poetry reading in the small café off the town square. But he had smoked so much before that he had been on edge the entire time, sometimes shouting, others trembling with quiet rage. No one knew where the rage had come from, as his poems were about green pastures and clear skies.

   Hence Old-man Allen was often left alone, to engage in his poem-writing and chain-smoking undisturbed.

   Reverend Howard was also intimidated by him, which was why he was sharing the sofa with Lady Macbeth, who was giving off such a calm and refreshing aura.

   But then, Reverend Howard was intimidated by many. Although he was a priest and dealt with people all the time, he was a quiet, modest man who kept his eyes cast to the ground and his words few. Everyone knew and liked him for it, for being so soft-spoken and gentle. He wasn't a priest to scare people, brandishing God's punishment as a weapon.

   He was open and tolerant, if a little timid, like a child that needed a pat on the shoulder and a kind word to feel at home.

   And so these four notable Grim Vale figures were waiting in the luxurious living room at the same time that four teenagers were discussing in the private drawing room next door.

* * *

Max, Julia, Pete and Annabelle were the only ones who had known the ghosts were coming before Ghost Night.

   They were the only ones, in fact, who knew the ghosts would be coming every Ghost Night, due to the deal one of the town's citizens had made a very long time ago.

   No one knew who that person was, the one who struck the original bargain that allowed every soul who died in Grim Vale to return one night every year and gain access to the world of the living.

   All the four kids knew was the why.

   "Immortality. He made the deal with the ghosts in exchange for never dying," Reverend Howard had told them a few years ago.

   You see, Reverend Howard was tasked with keeping the knowledge of the secret alive, as every Reverend before him had done. And he had told these four kids when they were old enough to deal with the truth, and after their own predecessors had outgrown the part.

   Because aside from the Reverend who kept the memory alive, there also needed to be a force that guarded the town on Ghost Night. A small group of teenagers, at the peak of their strength, boldness and resolve, who kept the ghosts at bay and protected the townsfolk both from harm and from the knowledge of what walked among them.

   "'He made the deal'?" Julia had asked. "Was it a man then?"

   Reverend Howard had shaken his head. "I'm afraid we don't know for sure."

   "What about the 'never dying part'?" Pete had cut in. "Does it include never aging? Perhaps we could sniff him out that way."

   "Unfortunately, that knowledge is also lost," the Reverend had answered.

   "Any idea when the deal was made? We could look at the town records of that time, make a list of every citizen...," Annabelle had trailed off at the look on the Reverend's face.

   "No."

   "Okay. Do we all have our list of questions?" Max asked now, on the Ghost Night when everything was about to change.

   For the first time, the guard of teenagers would not be going out there to face the ghosts. They had decided to find a way to end Ghost Night once and for all, and thus they had researched through three centuries of Grim Vale history to finally pinpoint the four most likely suspects.

   The adults currently locked up in the living room next door.

   They were the ones who appeared the oddest, whose origins and history seemed the most suspicious – who were most likely to have struck the deal with the ghosts.

   Because one thing was for certain.

   "The one who closed the deal is immortal, which means he still walks among us," Julia reminded them, a form of preparatory speech before they faced the ancient, maleficent monster that had enslaved their town.

   "Let's go find him then," Max declared, and the four of them took their checklists and left the room.  

***

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