Chapter 2

Night rolled in. Victor and his mother were in their new home eating pizza at the table. He had the old man and those asshole cops on his mind. What were they talking about? Was there really a supernatural death roaming around Ellengulf taking people? He had no idea if it was true or not. But if it was. It would make his blood turn cold.
“Mom.’ Said Victor, “Is there a supernatural being called death that lives in this town?” Sarah coughed because she choked on her pizza. “What!?” she chuckled with a smile. “No, honey. Why would you ask something so weird?”
“Well, remember when I was going to get a snack at the gas station? There were two officers hackling the store owner and he said if death got them that’s what they deserved.
“How strange.” Said Victor’s mother. “I don’t know what that means. But it sounds like a legend I heard about in a book called the dark town legends.”
“Dark town legends?” Victor was curious.
“Ellengulf is also known as dark town because of all the strange things that happen here. When I was a teen, a lot of people went missing. Your father was one of them.”
Victor’s eyes widened. “What? Dad went missing?”
Sarah nodded. “A few of his friends went camping near the black lake one night and three guys, including your father vanished. All that was left was a necklace I gave him, which you now wear.”
Victor held the necklace he wore in his hand. “This belonged to dad? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“It was too sad to tell you. But yes, your father went missing. And some people said too at that time that death took them. But its not real.”
“Did anyone try looking for them?”
Sarah signed deeply. “Yes but not a body was found. Just their belongings… and one more thing. A strange thing happened on the night they disappeared.”
“What.” Victor was invested in the story.
“The other boys at the site said there was this horrid smell and laughter. They said the smell smelled like-“
Just then, there was a loud bang at their door and the two jumped in their seats. Like someone ran into the front door.
“What was that?” asked Victor.
Without saying a word, Victor’s mother got out of her chair and slowly went to the window to look. “Oh, no.”
“What is it, mom?” he was slightly scared.
“It’s a bird.” Said Victor’s mother. “A bird hit the door?” asked Victor.
When Sarah opened the door she was hit with a horrible odor. A stench of death. “Oh, god. It smells horrible.” When she got a closer look, she was shocked to discover the bird was badly decayed. Victor went to the door and make an eww noise once he saw the bird. “That flew into the door?” asked Victor.
“No, it’s impossible. It looks like it was dead before it hit the door. Let me get something to pick it up.” Said Sarah.
Sarah walked back into the home while Victor stayed outside with the bird. From across the street, Victor saw the strange girl before looking down at him from her second floor window. She then walked back into the darkness of her room. “Did she do this?” Victor thought.
Later that night, everyone in Ellengulf was asleep, including Victor and his mother. Victor, in the middle of the night, woke up In a cold sweat because he heard someone call his name. He looked around in the darkness and saw nothing. Except for his mom’s dog hidden by its silhouette. Hey Poppy, come her. The terrier walked into the moonlight and Victor was shocked by the sight of the dog. Its eyes were gouged out. And seconds later it quickly decayed with its skin falling off and maggots covering its entire body. The maggots turned into a hand and lunged at Victor, grabbing his face. He heard the man’s voice again calling his name and telling him to wake up.
Victor screamed for a moment when he discovered it was a dream. And the dog was at the foot of the bed asleep.