Chapter Two
Sarah stood staring at her closet, it was hard to pack for the unexpected. At least she was used to Fall in New England so it wasn’t tough to throw in enough layers to make an outfit for any situation. Hoping she had grabbed enough choices she left to meet up with Penny at her parents’ house to drop the kids off. This was the first time she would be sleeping away from Alex and the idea paralyzed her. She was relieved that he was excited to be going, this meant his father hadn’t completely destroyed him.
“I’m really doing this aren’t I?” Penny rolled her eyes at Sarah’s mumbled and repeated question.
“Would you like some liquid courage to help calm you down? We can fill a thermos before we go?”
“No it’s fine, I’ll be fine, let’s just get on the road so I can’t back out.” Sarah saw the compassion on her friend’s face, Penny had seen Sarah at her worst, her most broken and understood how big of a step this was for her.
They pulled into Penny’s driveway as Asald was putting the last of their bags in the trunk. After a quick kiss for Penny, he grabbed her bags and moved them to his car. “Okay ladies, let’s do this.”
He practically ran around the car to get going, he was meeting these friends for the first time as well. From what Penny told her, Asald had been doing some kind of genealogy research and found a group of people who were similar to him. She assumed that meant maybe their ancestors were from the same area or something? She wasn’t really sure when she pushed them for details they mumbled a bit then moved on. Was there a skeleton in his family tree he didn’t want to talk about? Either way, she was glad he was making new friends, like her, he was an orphan and had no family so she hoped these people would change all of that for him.
She watched out the window as the miles went by, her mind wandered until she jerked awake realizing she had fallen asleep.
“Welcome back sleepy head, you were out for a while. We just got off the interstate, it won’t be too much longer now.”
After a few turns, she noticed the beautiful oranges, reds, and yellows of the leaves had faded and everything was either brown or barren. It was actually breathtakingly beautiful seeing the naked branches reaching across the road towards each other almost like lovers reuniting. The buildings they passed weren’t shiny or new and the town all but took her breath away. She knew they catered to tourists by playing up the paranormal but this was amazing.
The apothecary had signs in the window exclaiming a sale on love potions. The blood bank had fangs with dripping blood in their logo. Competing bars on the corner had signs listing who wasn’t allowed in their establishments. Stoney’s on the left didn’t allow witches, fairies, or any other creature that were not part animal. Thirst had one very clear rule: no animal shifters of any kind could enter.
At the stop sign, she heard Penny gasp as a group of children crossed the street all holding brooms and each had an animal with them. One of the kids black cat was jumping towards another girl who had a Raven perched on her shoulder. The boy at the end was barely swinging his cauldron, probably because the largest toad in history was peeking outside of it.
“When I fell asleep did we cross into another dimension? This is incredible. I’ve visited Salem, they have nothing on this town.” She couldn’t help the double take when she saw a perfectly normal looking girl serving coffee outside of ‘Hells Brew’. She didn’t seem fazed at all standing in front of two large men with black wings lightly fluttering while they sipped their coffee.
“The guys said the town goes all out for the month of October. Everyone gets involved and plays up their characters, I guess they weren’t kidding.” Asald gave Penny a nervous glance. She thought it was cute, he seemed hesitant to meet his friends.
They turned off the main road and followed a street around to a surprisingly quaint looking Inn that didn’t seem to fit in with the rest of the town’s aesthetic.
“The Daydreamer Inn, this looks pleasant.” Penny’s reassuring smiles gave away how nervous she was about their accommodations being a rundown looking motel.
Penny and Sarah each grabbed a bag while Asald grabbed five. She was always surprised by his strength; she had seen him do some crazy stuff when he was working out or fixing things.
Their attention was turned away from Asald’s bulging muscles when the door swung open, soft music reached their ears. No one came out to greet them, Asald looked at them, shrugged and went up the steps.
The Inn was even more beautiful inside. She didn’t know if it was the music or the paint color but as soon as they entered a feeling of calm and safety washed over her. Behind the counter was an ancient looking man, his fine silk pajamas seemed like odd business attire till he introduced himself as Mr. Sandman. How was this town not a year-round theme park? His slow speech and deep rumble were relaxing as they followed him to their rooms.
“We have very few rules here but they are important ones. Do not go into the cellar, the dragon who lives down there is a noisy fellow but he minds his business so I let him stay. The windows are never to be opened, even if you think you hear music, the banshees like to play with visitors and trust me you don’t want to get involved with them. Lastly, the sprites and brownies are excellent housekeepers but they can be naughty. If you leave them some chocolates, they will usually leave you alone.”
If anyone else had been speaking that would have taken less than two minutes. With his slow drawl, it had been almost ten. He turned to leave them at their doors when she noticed he wasn’t wearing shoes, instead, he had a pair of thick socks on. “Oh, and if you should have trouble falling asleep call the desk, I have just the thing to help you.” With a slight bow to them, he turned and went back downstairs.
“Oh my god guys, thank you so much for forcing me to come along. This place is amazing.”
“I admit it is so much more than I expected as well. Get settled in and we’ll leave for dinner at seven.”
Sarah gave Asald a mock salute and unlocked her room with the real, iron key Mr. Sandman had given her. Like the rest of the Inn, her room was beautiful and comfortable looking. She was surprised to see a definite lack of technology. Hopefully, they wouldn’t be in the room much, she wasn’t sure she knew how to occupy herself without a T.V.
As soon as she closed the door she couldn’t help but jog over and do a back flop onto the giant marshmallow mountain of a bed. The satin sheets were more luxurious than anything she had ever owned. She was grateful the Innkeeper took such great care to make sure they had the best sleep possible.
After a quick phone call to check in with Alex she closed her eyes and enjoyed the silence. She hadn’t been alone in years; the lack of noise was surprisingly deafening.
A knock on the door broke her focus, “It’s just me.” Penny’s face appeared upside down over hers. “You look comfortable, explains why you didn’t realize what time it was.”
“I can’t leave now, the bed has accepted me as part of it and I don’t want to move.”
“Ladies, let’s go. We’re going to be late.”
“I know you love your new bed but Asald is getting antsy so up you go.”
With a heavy sigh, she raised her hands. Penny walked around the bed and yanked her up. “Okay, okay, let’s go.”