Page 3 of Echo (A Monster’s Prey #2)

The tiny town was little more than a village, and I wasn’t even convinced it was a formal town, considering there weren’t any markings on the GPS or city limit signs. I suspected it was more of a community run area.

But I found what I was looking for.

A large log cabin building, across from the two pump gas station, with a handwritten sign that said ‘grocery’ over the door. Part of me worried that the selection wasn’t going to be amazing, but hopefully it wasn’t costly. Gravel crunched under my feet as I approached.

The door made me think it would be more appropriate to knock. For all intents and purposes, the place resembled a residence. Right down to the pretty flowers in the window sill. But there was a sign in the window proclaiming ‘come on in, we’re open’ .

Two more deep breaths later, I gathered the courage to open the door without knocking. There were shelves around the room, filled with products. The older woman, dusting in the corner, smiled only to be startled when her pale gray eyes landed on me.

“I’m a customer,” I stuttered. Perhaps I should have knocked like I suspected.

She gestured to the room and went to stand by the register.

Her eyes drilled into me, as I scanned the products on the shelves in the bright natural light.

The place was pricier than I liked and didn’t have any broke-bitch essentials.

There was fresh produce and milk, but the majority of the place was filled with non-food items like soap, medicine, and toilet paper.

The last major city was well over two hours away. This was probably more to cover any shortages or surprises between major grocery trips. Which explained the ugly pricing. It was a mountain version of a convenience store.

Fuck.

I chewed on my cheek. My money wouldn’t stretch the way I needed it to here. Not to mention all the perishables available meant another trip back sooner than I would like.

I could skimp on food, but I needed gas money for any travelling once I found a job. The bell jingled behind me, and I had the sense of the shop lady and the newcomer whispering about me.

It was always easy to tell when someone was talking shit about me; it made my nose itch.

“Oh!” A deep familiar male voice said. “That’s my new neighbor.”

When I turned, the man whose driveway I’d accidentally went down stood with a woman dressed in jeans and a floral apron with big, deep pockets. Something told me she wasn’t a waitress. The children I’d seen playing earlier poured into the grocery store, and I found the noise soothed my nerves.

“Hi there!” The woman waved enthusiastically.

“Hi.” I hesitated before waving back.

“She inherited Pearl’s place,” the man told the older woman standing behind the counter, and she slumped with relief.

“Silly me.” The woman patted her chest as if to slow her heart. “I was thinking about how you looked like a young Pearl.”

Then why did that scare her? Did she think Pearl came back to haunt her or something? “Were you friends?”

“Not really. Pearl stayed to herself. She was a private woman who didn’t have friends.” Most of the older women in my family were like that. Sticking to each other be it by phone or letter, rather than making new friends.

I nodded my understanding.

“I apologize for the rude introduction. We don’t get a lot of new people here. You gave this old woman a start.” The woman came out from her hiding place and held her hand out to me. I shook her cool and rough hand.

Now that she was closer, I could smell lavender on her. “My name is Sally Mae. Everyone calls me Granny Sally. I haven’t seen blue eyes like yours since most of your family moved out to the area. Except for Eddie and Pearl, of course.”

Such a strange thing to say to someone. The sky-blue eyes ran pretty strong in the family, but the shade wasn’t that odd. Surely there were others with the same color in the area. I was often complimented on my eyes, it was one of my best features, but no one had been shocked by them before.

My dad used to say Mama’s eyes calmed even the most blood thirsty man to peace. He told me I was a lot like her in that way.

Too bad taming violence was more art than science.

The woman with the man threw her head back and laughed. “You know the Rinah family made a deal with the devil for beautiful women back in the 1800s. It’s not her fault she’s so gorgeous. It’s the work of Lucifer, as he searches the family line for his wife.”

What the actual fuck?

“Don’t mind her none. It’s a bit of an old local legend.” Sally Mae put her hand up when my face undoubtedly broadcasted my thoughts. “Don’t think badly. We don’t mean no harm.”

“Our ancestors were undoubtedly jealous of yours. They had to soothe themselves somehow.” The woman chuckled. “They say my family has red hair because we were born of the flames of a great forest fire in the early 1900s, and are the omen that the mountains will be eaten by the flames of hell.”

So, being weird was pretty common here. “That’s intense.”

“People around here are superstitious,” Sallie Mae admitted. “Some of it’s silly and should be taken with a grain of salt.”

For whatever reason, that made me think of the giant salt ring around my property.

Part of me wanted to ask, but the bigger part of me didn’t want to hear whatever horrible rationale the people had come up with.

Or worse, Pearl’s rationale. For all I knew, the family paranoia was contagious.

Best not think about it, so I didn’t catch it.

The younger woman stepped up, “We’re the Falins. I’m Hilda. That’s Aaron.” She pointed over to who I assumed was her husband.

“What’s your name?” She ran her hands over the red hair she had in a messy bun at the top of her head, like she needed to soothe some imperfections away.

“Madison Valentine.”

Hilda hugged me without any kind of warning. “Welcome to the neighborhood.”

I resisted the urge to rip her off of me, figuring it would be best to not piss off the community I intended to live in for the unforeseeable future.

“What reason could you be here? Surely you’re exhausted from the drive out.” She released me, and I took a subtle step back, so I wouldn’t get stuck in her loving trap again.

“Food? I couldn’t find any in Pearl’s kitchen.”

Hilda laughed good-naturedly. “You didn’t look hard enough. It’s called a farm for a reason, honey.”

What an idiot. I slapped my forehead. I hadn’t even considered that all her food was out in the yard. “That makes perfect sense.”

“Are you intending to stay in the area? I couldn’t help but notice your car was pretty packed,” Hilda asked.

“Yeah.”

The three adults shared a pointed glance that made me feel like they were saying I didn’t belong at the big kids' table. Perhaps I made it up though, since it was gone before I could even nail it down.

“Get that place running again, fast.” Sally Mae winked, not giving any indication that she thought I wouldn’t make it. “I need honey, and Rinah farm is the only place for miles that produces it.”

What do you know, future-me already had solutions for my problems. “I’ve never worked a farm in my life. There’s a lot I’ll need to learn. Fast might be too high of an expectation.”

At least the honest reaction got a chuckle out of her. “Reach out to us. The community will help.”

“Why?”

“Because we all thrive when we all thrive.” Sallie Mae gave a small smile. “We operate off barter. If your bees all die, no one gets honey. If Aaron’s cows die, no one has beef. You understand?”

“I guess so.” The mindset was so different and refreshing. “I like the concept. That’s not how things worked back home.”

“Well here, we help our own.” Sallie Mae beamed with pride. “Pearl may have kept to herself, but we’ve saved each other’s bacon on countless occasions.”

“Anything I have to know about being out here before I dive into the unknown?”

“Respect the mountains,” she answered seriously. “This isn’t the city. It’s easy to get in over your head, if you aren’t prepared.”

“It’s easy to get in over your head no matter where you go.” Or maybe that was just me.

Maybe my family did make a deal with Lucifer and that’s why I ended up with a bad man.

“I’m sure.” She forced a smile. “Look, here’s what you need to know. Don’t go chasing after anything and starting a fight you can’t finish. Make sure you're inside at night, with your doors and windows closed and locked at all times. No matter what, don't open them.”

“And keep them curtains closed too,” Hilda pipped in, reminding me of the giant blackout curtains over the glass back door.

My heart dropped to my stomach. “Is there some kind of axe murderer in the forest I don’t know about?”

“Best practice says to pretend there is.” Sallie Mae chuckled, but it was strained.

Leave. What could be out in those woods that demanded these basic tips be stated out loud? Every muscle in my body tensed with the knowledge that something wasn’t right here.

I cleared my voice to make sure it didn’t break. “I appreciate the advice. I clearly need to do a more thorough search of the house before I buy anything. I’ll see you around. Have a good day.”

I wish I’d thought of that before wasting a gallon of gas to get here and back. What an idiot, I’d been looking at the chicken coop earlier. I really wasn’t thinking things through. I was too jittery.

I went to walk out the door, but Hilda grabbed my arm. “Wait.”

This place was fucking weird, and I wanted out. I jerked my arm away from her, ready to lay into her, when she pointed to the glass pane on the door.

A huge wild cat was prowling around the little parking lot, rubbing up against my car. My eyes grew wide.

“Make sure you always know what’s going on around you.”

Maddie, you are not in Miami anymore.