*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧—chapter six: the unexplained

June 24, 2021
Hackett Woods
Upstate New York, New York

SIX YEARS AGO, CASSIDY HACKETT WENT OUT INTO HACKETT WOODS. It was late at night and he ran into something he shouldn't have, and his father had to save his ass. But look what six years can do to you. He was out here again. His fear of the dark was still there, but sometimes it wasn't as bad as it used to be. Now it mostly just depended on the danger he faced, not how dark it was.

He tries to keep his steps light in case anything or anyone was out here, but it was hard to do that when it was raining. Dirt-filled puddles that soaked your socks and drowned your shoes. Shit-brown mud that stuck to your legs and made you feel gross. Wet grass that squelched under your boots and made you think you were stepping in animal shit.

He can see the silhouette of an object up ahead. As he gets closer, he realizes it was a cop car. He checks the license plate and instantly knew whose it was. It belongs to Travis. But the man wasn't even in the car. He was leaning against the driver's side door, looking at something. He seemed distracted.

Cassidy goes around the car until he's at the front. He stops a couple feet away from Travis. "What are you doing?"

"Jesus Christ, Cass!" Travis nearly jumps out of his skin, startling. He dramatically places a hand over his heart as he turns around. "You can't sneak up on me like that."

"Sorry," Cassidy apologizes. "I thought you were off for the night?"

Travis crosses his arms, standing up a bit straighter as he gives the boy a look. He always had this worn out look on his face nowadays. His face was thin, eyes tired, and lines sunken low into his skin.

"Who told you that?" he asks, an eyebrow raised in suspicion.

"Uncle Bobby." Cassidy's answer is immediate. "He told me 'fore he and Pappy went out with their hunting supplies, again. They did the same thing last month, and the month before that, and the month before that, and—"

"Okay, okay, I get it," Travis sighs, shaking his head. "Now be quiet."

"Okay," Cassidy replies in a whisper, peering over Travis' shoulder. There was a car stopped just a way's away. It looked like it was stuck in mud. "How long have you been out here? And how long has that car been there?"

"I've been out here for quite some time makin' sure nobody comes out to this part of the woods. Then that car crashed out here. Reckon the driver's under the influence. Could be wrong, but we'll see..."

Travis moves away from his car, the grass squelching beneath his boots. Cassidy follows him, wanting to know who was in the car that had seemingly crashed and got stuck in a muddy ditch.

As they near it, Cassidy can see two people in there, but he doesn't recognize either of them. The interior lights give him a bit of visibility, though. There's a guy in the driver's seat and a girl in the passenger's seat. The guy's hair is reddish-brown, possibly auburn, he has green eyes, and there's freckles on his face. The girl's hair is blonde and she has blue eyes. She's wearing a pink baseball cap on her head. The two of them startle upon seeing Travis, but they don't see Cassidy since he's not directly in front of the driver's side window.

Travis nods to the window, his lips pressed to a thin line. "Roll it down."

The guy complies. "Hi, Officer. How are you doing this evening?"

"Are either of you injured?" he asks, looking between them.

"Really, we're fine. We're just a little shaken up."

"Mhm," Travis nods once, narrowing his eyes at them in suspicion. He moves around to the front of the car to inspect the hood, crouching low to get a good look at the damage, before standing back up. Staring at them through the windshield, he asks, "Well, you folks wanna tell me what happened here?"

The guy in the car turns to the girl in the passenger's seat.

"Yeah, uhm," she begins. "We, um... Something jumped out right in front of the car, and— and we didn't want to hit it, so we swerved, and... Now here we are."

Travis was silent for a moment. "'Something' jumped out?"

"Ah— I'm sorry, it was just— it was so dark, and it happened so fast and they were gone, I don't..."

"'They'. Ma'am, did you hit someone?"

"No! No, God no, of course not. But— you know. I mean, I don't think so. I don't... I don't know."

"Sir," he says, turning to the guy, "keep the car running." He moves to the back of the car, and Cassidy follows him.

Travis takes the hook of the tow cable from the back of his car. Pulling it as he walks and while Cassidy watches, he attaches the cable to the car stuck down in the ditch.

He walks back over to the police car and gets in. Cassidy backs up far enough so he wouldn't be in the way.

The engine starts and Travis starts to drive slowly, the car he's towing soon coming unstuck. He stops his car and gets out, heading to the other one to unhook the tow cable, before winding it back up.

Travis walks back over to the car he's just towed. Cassidy's just a few feet away as his father stands by the driver's side window again.

"Now you folks wanna tell me, just what in the hell you are doing, all the way out here, this late at night?"

"We're heading up to Hackett's Quarry Summer Camp," the girl replies. "We're new counselors."

So, that's what they're doin' out here in the middle of buttfuck nowhere, Cassidy thinks, furrowing his brows. "Camp don't start 'til tomorrow. At least, that's what everybody at home said, anyway," he whispers to Travis.

"They're right for telling you that. Camp does start tomorrow," Travis replies to him, before looking back towards the window at the two people in the car. "You're one night early."

"No, no, we know... um, but we figured we'd get in early and scope it out, y'know? They know we're coming, we called ahead."

"And, to be honest, sir, one of us kind of oversold their navigation skills and got us completely lost," the guy adds, raising one of his hands.

Travis sighs and looks down at his feet, shaking his head dejectedly. He was still looking down when his eyes snap up to meet the girl's, half concealed by his eyelids. "You're not going to make it to Hackett's Quarry. Not tonight." He looks over his shoulder at the surrounding wilderness for a moment before slowly turning back to them. "Harbinger Motel. It's the nearest place, you can bunk up there for the night. Okay?"

"Uh... I think we're just gonna stick to the plan, sir, I mean... Mr. Hackett knows we're coming early and we called ahead—"

"No, ma'am," Travis insists, which surprises Cassidy. This girl had called ahead, he had heard the voicemail yesterday after finding Chris' phone and looking through his notifications. And then he had gone to Travis with the information. So obviously the cop knew. So why was he telling the girl 'no'? "You're going to head to the Harbinger Motel. Do you understand?"

"Okay. Fine," she says. "Yeah. We'll head to the motel. Understood. There's just one small problem, uh..."

The guy grimaces beside her. "I forgot to spring for the 'middle of nowhere' coverage plan on my phone."

"What he means is, we're lost. Completely," the girl adds.

"Alright, ma'am. Step out of the vehicle."

"What the fuck are you doing?" Cassidy demands, glaring at Travis.

The guy's confused "Uhh..." is drowned out by the girl's exclamation of "Wait, what?"

"Hey, I'm the one that's a police officer. Not you. I know what I'm doing," Travis replies to Cassidy, before turning back to the car. "I just wanna show you how to get to the motel on your map there, 'kay?" He explains, motioning to the map.

"Uh, for sure," the guy says, moving to step out.

"Son, remain in the vehicle," Travis demands.

The guy lets go of the door handle and reluctantly sits back down in his seat, giving the girl another look of concern.

"It's okay, it's okay. I got it," she reassures him. She gets out of the car, map in hand, and places it on the hood. Travis smooths it out and takes a pencil out of one of his pockets.

"Okay, so we..." he pauses to lick the tip of his pencil, and Cassidy furrows his brows in confusion and disgust. That wasn't necessary; Travis didn't need to lick a pencil. Travis moves it towards the map and draws a dot along one of the many roads, "are right about here. Harbinger Motel... is here." He places another dot, and luckily enough for the two in the car, it wasn't too far away.

"Right, okay, and where was Hackett's Quarry again?" the girl asks. Travis moves his hand to the left, the tip of his pencil pointing in the direction of where the camp supposedly was, but upon realization, he pulls his hand away before he could draw a third dot on the map.

"Well, I'm sure the fine folks at the Harbinger Motel can guide you there," Travis says, folding up the map and handing it back to her. "First thing in the morning."

The girl just smiles. "Right."

She heads back to the car and the guy is just about ready to step on the gas when Travis' voice breaks through the air.

"Harbinger Motel. Stay on the road," he reminds them.

"Wait, but— but what if there's someone out there?" The girl asks.

"Yeah, I'll have a look," Travis replies unconvincingly. He taps on the car roof twice. "Good night."

Leaving them alone, father and son head back to the police car. Cassidy gets into the passenger seat just as Travis gets into the driver's seat. But instead of driving off, Travis stares out the window, eyeing the other car.

"You're tryin' to see if they'll do as you asked, aren't you?" Cassidy questions, breaking the silence.

"We both know they won't," Travis answers, kicking the car into gear as he notices the other car begin to start up and leave the road. "They're headed for camp," he says as he starts to drive, following them at a loose distance.

It shouldn't have taken father and son as long as it did to reach Hackett's Quarry Summer Camp, but when they did, it was well past midnight on June twenty-fifth.

Travis parks the car and they both get out. Neither of them see the two counselors-to-be anywhere.

Cassidy takes his phone out of his pocket and shines his flashlight ahead of them. From here, you could normally see two bright yellow cellar doors firmly shut and locked. But now, the lock wasn't on them, and the doors weren't even closed. They were wide open, the dark cellar below welcoming them with a warm smile and open arms.

"Ah, shit," Travis mutters, jogging over to the cellar. Cassidy follows him at a quick pace, hurriedly stuffing his phone back into his pocket.

The guy from earlier's screams fill the air. It seemed like he was getting attacked by something, but it was too dark to see. The girl, on the other hand, was seated on the steps, staring down into the cellar, sniffing.

The girl hadn't noticed father and son behind her.

Travis digs into his pocket, removing a syringe full of a strange liquid. Cassidy blinks in confusion, watching as his father bends down to stab the girl in the neck and inject the liquid into her veins.

"Is that even legal?" Cassidy questions as Travis pushes the girl over. Now unconscious, she collapses on the stairs descending into the cellar.

"Don't worry about it, Goddammit," Travis replies as he stands back up, reaching with his right hand for his holster as the guy's screaming continues. He removes his pistol from his holster and raises it, aiming into the cellar as he fires off three shots, before lowering it. "Does this look like the goddamned Harbinger Motel to you?!"

A beat of silence passes.

It's only then that Cassidy starts to speak. "Holy shit... What the hell were you shooting at?" He breathes out, staring at Travis with wide eyes.

"Nothing. Help me get them back to the car. After this, I'm taking you straight home."

"I'm not going down there to get that guy!" Cassidy exclaims, refusing. He doesn't move from where he's stood. "There's somethin' down there that attacked him... I'm not riskin' my life for that."

"You almost got yourself killed before. Wouldn't be surprised if you tried doing that shit again, dammit," Travis mutters, descending the stairs.

"Jesus Christ..." the nineteen-year-old shakes his head in disbelief, hooking his arms beneath the girl's shoulders as he starts to drag her up and out the cellar to the police car.

Travis returns with the unconscious form of the guy from the car, and the two of them drag the unconscious bodies to the police car. Travis opens the door and lifts the guy into the back seat before helping Cassidy lift the girl into the back.

He slams the doors shut and walks all the way back to the cellar, slamming both doors closed. He rummages through his pockets for a spare lock he had in case something like this were to happen. His fingers come in contact with metal and he takes the lock out of his pocket. It takes him awhile to reattach it to the chains on the cellar doors, but once he's done, he heads back to the police car.

Travis gets back into the car and starts up the engine. Grabbing his radio, he turns it on and speaks into it.

"Bobby, I need you to come to camp and get rid of a car."

"Do you want Dad to help too, or...?" comes Bobby's response.

"Don't think that's necessary," Travis replies.

"All right. I'll be there in a bit."

Travis sets his radio back on the dash.

Cassidy just shakes his head as he looks out the window, a sigh leaving his lips.

What am I getting myself into?

author's note
good morning <3

07.20.22