Chapter 8
896 Words
Red Hollow looked different in daylight.
Not brighter.
Not livelier.
Just… clearer.
Maya walked slower this time.
No car.
No barrier between her and it.
Just her feet on the pavement and the town laid out around her.
The posters stood out even more now.
Everywhere.
Not just in clusters.
Everywhere.
Poles. Windows. Bulletin boards. Even taped unevenly to the side of a mailbox like someone had run out of places to put them.
Different faces.
Different ages.
But the same format.
Missing.
And some of them—
STILL ALIVE
The red ink looked worse in daylight.
Messier.
Thicker.
Like whoever wrote it had pressed hard.
Maya stopped in front of one.
A girl.
Couldn’t have been older than sixteen.
Her eyes stared out from the paper.
Still.
Frozen.
Maya’s jaw tightened slightly.
Then—
“Denise?”
Maya turned.
An older woman stood a few feet away, holding a small grocery bag, staring at her like she’d seen a ghost.
Maya blinked.
“…No.”
The woman frowned slightly.
Maya straightened.
“That’s my mom.”
A pause.
Then the woman nodded slowly.
“Mm,” she said. “You look just like her.”
Maya gave a small, polite nod.
“Yeah. I hear that.”
The woman kept looking at her for a second longer than necessary.
Then turned and walked off.
Maya watched her go.
That feeling crept in again.
Not strong.
But there.
⸻
It kept happening.
Every few steps.
Every new face.
A glance.
A double take.
Then—
“Denise?”
Or:
“Miss Thorne?”
And every time:
👉 “No. That’s my mom.”
Same answer.
Different people.
Same reaction.
Recognition.
But not quite directed at her.
Like she wasn’t fully seen.
Just… familiar.
Maya exhaled slowly as she walked past another row of posters.
“This is weird,” she muttered.
⸻
She turned a corner near the main strip again.
The same quiet.
The same too-slow movement.
That’s when she saw him.
Sheriff Vale.
He stood near the edge of the street, talking to someone Maya didn’t recognize. His posture was relaxed, one hand resting near his belt, the other gesturing slightly as he spoke.
Authority without effort.
The conversation ended as Maya approached.
His eyes lifted.
Locked onto her immediately.
And stayed there.
Maya slowed.
Didn’t stop.
But didn’t look away either.
He stepped forward slightly.
“You’re Denise’s girl.”
Not a question.
Maya nodded once.
“Yeah.”
His eyes moved over her.
Not in a disrespectful way.
Just… assessing.
Like he was placing her somewhere in his mind.
“Didn’t think I’d see you back here,” he said.
Maya crossed her arms loosely.
“I didn’t think I’d be back.”
A small pause.
Then—
“What brings you to Red Hollow?” he asked.
Casual.
But not really.
Maya held his gaze.
“Just visiting.”
He nodded once.
Like he expected that answer.
Or like he didn’t believe it.
“Town’s been quiet,” he said.
Maya almost laughed.
“Yeah. I noticed.”
His eyes flicked briefly to the posters nearby.
Then back to her.
“You staying long?”
“Not sure yet.”
Another pause.
The kind that stretched just enough to feel intentional.
“You run into anyone you know yet?” he asked.
Maya shook her head.
“Not really.”
He studied her for a second.
Then nodded slowly.
“Probably for the best.”
Maya’s brows pulled together slightly.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Sheriff Vale shrugged lightly.
“Just saying. People come back here for all kinds of reasons.”
His tone stayed even.
But something in it—
sat wrong.
Maya shifted her weight slightly.
“And what kind of reasons are those?”
He looked at her.
Really looked this time.
Then—
“Usually not the right ones.”
Silence stretched between them.
Maya held his gaze.
Didn’t back down.
Didn’t press further either.
Then she nodded once.
“Good to know.”
He gave a small nod in return.
“Stay safe, Maya.”
That caught her.
Her name.
He hadn’t asked for it.
Hadn’t been told.
He just—
knew.
Maya didn’t react.
Not outwardly.
But she felt it.
She nodded once.
“You too.”
Then she walked past him.
Didn’t look back.
But she felt his eyes on her.
Until she turned the corner.
⸻
Her pace slowed after that.
Not because she was tired.
Because she was thinking.
People recognizing her.
Calling her Denise.
The sheriff already knowing her name.
The posters.
The town.
Everything sat wrong.
Not loud.
Not obvious.
But enough.
Maya turned down a quieter street.
One she hadn’t planned to take.
But her body recognized it before her mind did.
Her steps slowed.
Her eyes scanned ahead.
And then—
there it was.
Her house.
Maya stopped.
Just stood there.
Looking at it from a distance.
Her chest tightened slightly.
Not from fear.
From something deeper.
Something old.
The house looked exactly the same.
Too much the same.
Like time had skipped it.
Or avoided it completely.
Maya swallowed.
Her feet didn’t move right away.
But her eyes stayed locked on it.
Because even from here—
she could feel it.
Something about that house—
wasn’t right.
And whatever it was…
it was waiting.
- Writer
