Chapter 1: The house of strand and fog.
#2 of Shifties
Once upon a time, there was a house on a hill. This hill was in a village near a lake. The lake was in a state called "Maine". Inside the house was a girl who hated fog.
This girl was named Anna.
She felt like fog was smoke gone liquid, creeping along the ground the way fire crosses a ceiling. Like the fire that had started her Thanksgiving break early. Nina had, luckily, already planned that Anna would visit Nina's family; Maine was closer than Georgia, after all.
She had read somewhere that fog didn't come into areas with lots of pine trees; the trees would suck all the moisture out of the air. Nevertheless, the mist was crawling in from the lake, like a cat sneaking up on a bird, to pounce and devour the house.
Of course, she was being silly. She was in a perfectly good house, with the smell of turkey wafting up the stairs, and Nina's brother on a Killing Spree next door. Anna sighed, turned around, and turned the TV on. No shows worth watching on cable, or both of the locals.
"Six hundred channels and nothing on," Anna griped softly.
"Well," said Nina, scaring Anna silly, "you could always go next door and help my brother swear at the Bangladeshi guy who keeps snipering him." She put the linens down on the bed. "Dinner will be ready soon. Is everything okay?"
She would laugh. Wasn't feeling like water vapor was reaching for your throat nuts?
"Boredom, I guess."
"Well, like I said, you can always play with my brother. You can also read some of my sister's old books, though she wasn't exactly a book gourmet." She waved her hand vaguely at the dog-eared, well-thumbed, bodice rippers on the bookshelf. "Or, you could just take a nap."
"That would work." said Anna, collapsing on the bed. "But then I won't have any sleep left for the turkey."
"Suit yourself," Nina shrugged, and left.
Anna concentrated on not looking out the window. After a few minutes of the Real World droning on in the background, she got up and joined Nina's younger brother.
Win got schooled. Apparently, his problem was that he still trying to use the pistol like the one from the first game.
Anna rolled over. Thanks to that big turkey, she had dropped off to sleep as soon as she reached the bed. The fog had cleared, and as she dressed, she decided that it was a good idea to take a walk.
The kitchen was empty, but there was a note on the table. The family had gone into the city-which pretty much meant that they were travelling out of state-and Anna was supposed to occupy herself. Key's in the cookie jar, if you absolutely must lock up. We're friendly around here, we trust each other. Bye!
The town, as Anna found, was small, with only a few hundred people. There were a few general stores, and a library, and a dock. The place had once been a mining town, but the mine had dried up years ago. The town history, in the library, didn't go into any further detail, and it certainly didn't mention what the place was running off of now.
Anna put down the book and closed it. Maybye there was something else to learn in the building.
The stacks went from new to old, so as she walked bast the children's fantasy, toward the mysteries, to the histories, the dust grew thicker. Anna coughed. This place was the size of a McDonald's; surely they could have someone dust every few years?
So intent was she on clearing her lungs that she didn't notice the book sticking out on the bottom shelf, and tripped over it, landing hard on her shoulder.
"Ow!"
She turned to see what had tripped her, and froze. The old, leather-bound book had an illuminated gold illustration of a creature on the cover; a creature with a dog's head, a woman's body, and a man's dick. It was just like the story her mother had told her, the one she had never finished. She reached for the book-
"Is there a problem?"
Anna's head snapped. The librarian, a prim, proper woman who had probably last gotten laid when there was a president with a Y in his name, was staring imperiously down at her.
"I-I just wanted to borrow-"
The woman's eyes flicked to the book, and Anna would've sworn her nostrils flared. "That," she said, "is from our special collection. Only the civic leaders have access to it. Not", she continued pointedly, "visitors."
"But-"
"Young Lady, if you cannot respect the rules of this library, I am going to have to ask you to leave."
Anna rose, carefully, glaring at the woman with venom in her eyes. She would come back, and she would read that book. It was just a matter of time.