The second Will stopped the camper to fill up with gas, Lynn and I were on a mission, elbows linked, right into the gas station’s convenience store. I had an urge to stretch my legs for the last hour and a half, but every time I stood up in the camper to move around a bit, I got scolded by my little brother, and since he was, in fact, driving the vehicle, I had to sit back down. I’d written down a list, after asking everyone individually what they wanted to snack on, that had now become a quest the second we opened the door.

I nearly plugged my nose at the horrid stench coming from the man waiting in line to pay for his few items. He clutched a backpack to him, wearing it the opposite way, having it hang down the front of his torso rather than the back. He was muttering to himself, looking spooked, with eyes wide, looking out the windows every other second as if someone were chasing him.

Part of me wanted to tell him that there were cameras everywhere. Especially here. I’d already noticed four of them outside. If someone wanted to find him, they wouldn’t have to look hard.

We walked past quietly, heading over to the prepackaged food as well as the daily foods that they made. I snatched a few sandwiches of varying kinds as well as a cookie that Lee had asked for. I couldn’t help but smile at how he’d nearly pleaded for a chocolate-chip cookie. Despite the price making me visualize my money waving goodbye, two large packs of jerky found their way into my hands.

Lynn snagged more than a few snacks in her arms when I caught up to her, hugging them all to her chest. When we passed by the line to the next aisle, I heard some of the mutterings the man was uttering.

“…there are vampires. There shouldn’t be vampires. Do vampires live in caves? I thought they couldn’t go in the sun? Is this like one of those shows? Couldn’t this be a prank? Did that… that thing… follow me? Can it track my scent? As a human, that means I am an appetizing meal…”

We stopped next to the coolers and Lynn glanced back at the man.

“I wouldn’t want to track him based on scent, would you?”

I chuckled under my breath, unable to help myself at how offended she was on behalf of the non-existent vampire.

“I mean, the only reason I’d track him down is to give him soap and water, right? Give him a bath and set him free in the wild once more,” she joked. “I wonder what he means though. Vampires? They don’t exist.”

“I sure hope not.”

Lynn stared at me. “Don’t say that like that. Isn’t it enough that witches and wolf shifters exist?”

I nodded.

“Yeah, I’m just thinking, that with everything being so crazy already…”

“It would be hard to believe that they don’t exist?” she finished for me.

“Yeah.”

“Well, I hope for all our sakes that he was just hallucinating from lack of sleep. I mean, he looks seriously tired. He needs some self-care.”

We stopped by the drinks and filled my arms with various options that had been thrown out earlier in the camper. When we made our way into the line, we ended up standing right behind the strange man. He glanced at us as skeptically as he had the windows, and with enough wariness, I was concerned we were wearing shirts that said we were wolf shifters.

“…Tarva. That cursed land. Don’t feed the vampires blood, they’ll come out of their caves into the sun…”

Tarva?

Lynn and I exchanged a look. Is that where he’d come from, acting like this? Had he come across whatever it was Myrus started?

“Excuse me, sir? Did you say Tarva?”

He stared at us once we acknowledged his presence. His eyes widened almost impossibly.

“It’s not human,” he said gravely. “It’s not.”

“Are you talking about Lake Tarva? We’re headed there, going camping.”

He was silent for a moment, looking between us, trembling.

“Don’t go there. That cursed land… not even grass grows there easily… rocks crumble.”

He paid for his few items, only to spin around and stare at us. He shook a finger at Lynn and I before pointing it to where we had been collecting snacks.

“You – you were saying wolves and witches. You – you’re in on it. You’re one of them!” Without another word, he sprinted out the door, bag in hand.

The lady at the cash register watched him go for only a couple seconds before she greeted us, unfazed by whatever had just happened.

Once our wallets were lighter, I waited with the bags for Lynn, who left to use the restroom in the back.

I kept thinking about that man.

The one speaking of vampires. I mean, surely, they didn’t exist.

Probably.

And whatever this beast thing was…

Probably didn’t resemble a vampire, right?

Cause…

Well, even just thinking about something drinking blood was a little unnerving.