Vacation.
A word most people would find thrilling and relaxing - Elaine always thought of it as a headache. Having to pack her whole closet in one travel bag was not on her agenda this year. or any year, actually.
Family bonding time, her mother constantly reminds them, as if they had a choice to stay home. They don't, and Elaine never really complains except for the packing and travelling part. Which was half of the vacation fun, her father claims.
Elaine found herself rummaging through her essentials drawer the second time that day, checking if she forgot anything. She never had to make a new 'list of things she needs' every summer, only adding things as she got older, because they went to the same place every year to 'keep the tradition going'.
Is it really a tradition if you started it about 5 years ago? Perhaps. Well, every tradition needs to have a starting point anyway.
They always visited and stayed at the same coastal city, 2 hours away from their home. Some may think you may get bored of visiting the same place every year but Elaine's parents has found some sort of comfort there. Elaine is always bored there, except the times she meets her only friend living there. Her only friend in the world, honestly.
"El, your mum's waiting for us in the car," Her father's voice travelled through the house.
"Coming, dad!" Elaine calls back, quickly stuffing her lip oil in the front pocket of her travel bag. She rushed her way towards the front door and wears her brown shoes, making sure to grab her slippers for the beach.
She sets her bag and herself at the backseat of their car. Her mother is already seated on the driver's seat, marking a location on her phone and setting it down.
"Everyone ready?" Her mum asks. Elaine and her dad give a thumbs up and the car engine starts, "Alright, let the Anderson's holiday start!"
And with that they set off while Elaine prayed for a good time there.
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The car rolled up in an unfamiliar garage. Elaine got off and examined the area.
It smelled musty. Although everything was neatly placed and was cleaner than their own garage back home.
The oil tanks in the right corner, placed as if someone had played Tetris with them. Beside that, a tool kit was placed on top of two tires, which were the exact same size as their car tires.
They weren't staying at their usual place.
They always stay at the house at the end of the street away from the convenient store at the other end.
Elaine didn't know why, but she was starting to feel paranoid. She hated changes, especially changes in living in a town where people prefer mustard over ketchup. God knows how she will attend university across the state.
As if sensing Elaine's upcoming interrogation, her mother beats her to it, "Someone's staying at the place we usually stay. But that's all fine! We should always explore more things, right?"
The daughter huffed before dragging her bag out of their car. She did not, per say, love that house, but she had just gotten adjusted into her temporary room there.
"Giddy up, El. You're gonna love this house way more."
She doubts she would.
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"Elaine, have you got everything you need?" Sadie's voice beamed in the summer heat. They were a good fit. Summer was Sadie's season. Sadie is the epitome of summer. The word summer was invented for Sadie. God made the season for Sadie.
ugh, that is too many summers and Sadies.
"Elaine?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I've got everything,"
As soon as the Anderson family reached their designated area, Elaine got a side-mission to grab snacks from a nearby convenience store. Luckily, the cashier happened to be a friend of hers she made two summers back.
"I didn't know you worked here," Elaine stated. She had Sadie's number and they texted quite regularly but never had she once mentioned about getting a job.
"Started a couple months ago," Sadie answered, scanning the items and adjusting her dark blonde curtain bangs out of her face, "Dad said it would help me gain some sort of experience. I still don't know what experience he was talking about, all I learnt is counting coins in record speed."
Elaine hummed, grabbing the polythene bags from the counter, "Well, contact me once you've found that out."
"By the way," Elaine started.
This time Sadie hummed, and Elaine found out that she does not like Sadie humming, she's better off chirping a response- but that did not matter. What's wrong with her? Why was she psychoanalyzing Sadie?
She shrugged the thought and continued, "The house on the corner, someone's living there now, I noticed."
"Yeah," Sadie answered, "That's the Hendry family, the couple got one son whom I met during my morning walks."
Morning walks, such a Sadie thing.
Elaine hummed again, realising that she does that too, a lot of times. Oh, how must Sadie feel like when she does that? annoying and irritating, she guesses.
Elaine does not know what has gotten into her. She was behaving as if she wanted to impress Sadie by her antics. Maybe it was because she was her only friend. After much thought, she musters up enough courage to croak out a response, "I see,"
Sadie smiled. Elaine always thought Sadie could read her mind sometimes, "Where are you staying this summer?"
"About 3 houses away from the Hendry's"
Sadie did not respond, gazing straight at Elaine as if she had said a joke in midst of a funeral, "What? is that house haunted or something?" Elaine asks as she continues the uncalled staring contest.The shorter girl mutters something, handing the change to Elaine, "No, I mean..." She leaves it at that.
Weird, but nothing extraordinary knowing Sadie and this town. This town had always given her the creeps. She doesn't know how her parents don't feel it. In reality, they say they feel more relaxed when coming here.
"See you later?" Elaine requested instead of informing the other.
"See you later,"
———
Her mother had lived here before getting married to her dad to live in the city. So it's normal for her to be attached to this place.
Elaine wouldn't question their revisits to the town if her mother did have relatives living there.
Elaine never knew her mother's side of the family. Not that she wanted to add people into her 'to-know' list in her brain, but she would at the least want to know what happened to them. Did they relocate themselves into a bigger and more advanced place? did they run out of the country? Are they even alive?
The situation was a living question mark. The town was relatively small and did not really have any tourists attractions except for the peaceful beach.
The town's name itself gave Elaine shivers.
Brody's Hollow.
Hollow.
A hole.
Emptiness.
Elaine can't describe it more accurately than it does itself. The town had at most twenty five residents, probably twenty eight since the Hendry Family moved in.
The town had a weird geography, being a coastal place as well as having a huge forest at the outskirts of it. As it wasn't a big town, the forest could be seen from anywhere if you resided here.
There were rumours about the forest. There always were.
And she never wanted to enter it. Ever. Well, at least not alone.