When Annika arrived in Porifora, it was nearly 10 P.M., and she was tired. She imagined Compass was, too. So she stopped at Poriforan Inn. She settled Compass in at the stable, and then walked into the inn lobby to book a room. 

"Annika! So good to see you again!" The inn manager, Ezra, said cheerfully. He worked full-time at the inn and had become friends with Annika. 

Annika smiled. 

"You, too, Ezra. Got a room?" 

"I've always got a room for you, Nika. 6239, 2nd floor." Ezra handed Annika the room keys, and she plodded up the stairs to the second floor, found her room, and unlocked the door. She unpacked, took a quick shower, and then settled in bed. 

Annika rose early the next morning. She hurried to the stable to take care of Compass before setting out to watch the sunrise at the dock. She waved to some of her fisherman friends there. After the sunrise, Annika went to greet some of her friends at the café. They chatted for a while before Annika went shopping and picked out some souvenirs. She also found new leg wraps for Compass on sale and got those since her horse's current ones were very old. Then Annika went to lunch with Ezra. After lunch, she set out on a long sightseeing hike for the rest of the day. She came back a little after 8 P.M., took care of Compass again, and then went to bed. 

The next day, Annika had the same schedule as the previous day. She came back from her hike about two hours earlier so she could pack up her stuff, fix Compass up to go, and arrive back at home in Horace before it got too late. She paid Ezra for her stay, and then she was off. 

Annika and Compass arrived back at Horace on time and trotted into the town. The streets were desolate and empty. That's strange, Annika thought, normally there are still some people roaming around at this hour. I guess they went in early. 

Annika left Compass in the stable and went into her house. It was empty, and no one answered when she called. She ran out the house and peeked into the stores and restaurants in the town. They were all dark inside with nobody there. It did look like something went on, though. Tables were tipped inside the restaurants, and shelves were upturned in the stores. Annika took a shovel from the stable and broke a window to a house. She crawled inside, just to find the same thing; nobody was there, and some shelves and tables were tipped. 

"What happened?" Annika whispered to herself. Questions crowded her mind. Was Shannon okay? Where was everyone? Why was there some minor destruction inside all the buildings, but nothing major, and no blood? It just looked like a ghost town.