Volume 3 - The Circle
Tess stood in front of a small hardware store about a block from our home. Rain dripped on her face as she looked up at the sign.
"How curious," Tess whispered under her breath.
The soggy gravel crunched and squished beneath my boots as I walked up behind her.
"Hmm? Find something you like?" I asked curiously, almost excitedly.
"Well…" Tess began, "Come see."
Tess reached back to grab my arm and gently pulled me toward the entrance. She pushed the door open with a soft creak, and the bell above the door rang, causing our breath to hitch for a moment. She continued to step inside, now more cautious. Her boot made a dull thud on the dusty linoleum flooring, sending small water droplets flying.
I stepped inside behind her and smelled the strong odor of paint and wood. Dust particles hovered in the air of the dim store. The door closed quietly behind me, ringing the bell once again. The rain, now muffled, caused an uncomfortable silence.
"What is it?" I asked tentatively.
"Look…" Tess pointed at the floor near one of the aisles.
I looked closer and noticed roughly a dozen nails all arranged in a small circle. The nails looked brand new, shiny, almost glossy. A stark contrast to the dusty floor around them.
"Oh… interesting," I murmured under my breath.
"This isn't the first time I've noticed something like this," Tess said. "Everywhere we go something is out of place. Sometimes it's odd symmetry, other times it's order among chaos. I don't understand."
Tess rested her hands on her hips as she tapped her boot lightly, deep in thought. I stared at the nails a while longer before looking up at Tess.
"Could there be others?" I asked hesitantly.
"Maybe," Tess murmured and leaned back against the counter near the cash register. "But why? Why leave these nails in that pattern in a dim hardware store on the edge of the city?"
I chuckled quietly and shook my head as the absurdity of the situation hit me.
Tess pulled out her journal to log the encounter, complete with date, location, description, and even a picture. I looked over her shoulder as she wrote in her journal, nodding faintly at her idea.
Tess tucked her journal away and walked over to the door. "I'm creeped out, let's get out of here, yeah?"
I nodded slowly and threw my hood up as I followed closely behind her. The walk home was short but filled with an unease that put us both on alert. The rain muffled any sounds around us, and as the light was fading it got harder to see too. The hairs on the backs of our necks stood on end, from cold or fear we couldn't tell.
Once inside we disrobed of our rain gear and sat on the mattress, shoulder to shoulder. I carefully stoked the fire back to life and Tess set an open can of soup in the small coals.
We ate in comfortable silence. Tess ate half of the soup and handed me the warm can. I leaned back again against the wall, my legs crossed on the mattress as I ate. Tess sat against the wall next to me, listening to the crackle and pop of the fire and the hush as sheets of rain fell against the roof.
✍️ Author’s Note
This one was a shower thought lol. I imagined this whole scenario in the shower and jumped out to quickly write it down. That being said I believe this is my best yet so far, I like introducing the subtle tension in the story now.
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