Return to Fever Swamp
"What the hell dad seriously? I can't get a freaking signal anywhere!" cried a frustrated Courtney Anderson.
"There is hardly any service out here at all, honey," said Tom showing a smile to his 16 year old daughter from the driver's seat of his black 2016 SVU.
"You're moving us out to the boondocks," said Skye from the backseat.
She too was trying to get a signal from her cell phone from the rolled down window.
It was literally dead air. There was no sign of a radio tower. No signal; nothing; just miles and miles of pavement and trees, with the hot sun beaming down on the already hot vehicle.
"I'm sure your Tumblr, Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook will be there when you can get back online. So until then, your cameras will work so take a lot of photos," said Tom, trying to put a positive image over a negative one.
Skye scoffed and gave up, laying her head down on the seatbelt, while her wild long red hair flew around in the dry air.
Skye looked up to the sky with her big green eyes and sighed heavily.
"Remind me why we couldn't stay where we were? Our lives were in Texas. Our friends, our hobbies, everything," she whined to her dad.
"I know honey, but we just couldn't afford it anymore," said Tom.
"Mom would have found us a way to stay," mumbled Courtney.
"Your mom was strong to the very end," said Tom, taking his daughters hand in his and squeezing it tight in reassurance.
Courtney smiled and returned the squeeze.
"Yeah," said Courtney in a melancholic tone.
"She was a lot like you girls. A fighter true and strong," said Tom.
"Tell that the cancer that killed her," said Skye killing the mood. She crossed her arms over her chest.
"Shut up Skye!" yelled Courtney looking in the back seat of the car. She glared at her younger sister with her vibrant blue eyes.
"You shut up!" screamed Skye back to her sister. Now she was starting to get even madder than she was previously.
"Hey girls knock it off! That's enough. Both of you!" yelled Tom trying to get control of his daughters.
"Skye you know better than to speak about your mother that way. I never want to hear those words again, do you understand me young lady?" asked Tom.
Skye said nothing but just nodded her head up and down in acknowledgment.
Tom could see his daughters were having a tough time dealing with their mother's death, and now on top of the move, it didn't help the girls' situation.
"I know these last few months have been tough on all of us, but this is a new chapter on our lives. Think of it as an adventure," said Tom looking at his daughters and then back at the road.
"We have to start all over again in a new town and in a new school. We'll be the new kids in school. And almost at our senior year too," said Skye.
"Skye you're 15. I'm 16. We aren't seniors yet dad," said Courtney while she still stuck her phone out the window.
She growled in frustration as she still couldn't get a signal from her phone.
"This place better have some service once we get there. Are we almost there?" asked Courtney.
"Just up ahead on the left," said Tom.
"Where exactly are we anyway?" asked Skye.
"Well this is a new town in Somerset Florida. It's a house that needs a little fixing up so I figured we could fix it up together but for the time being it's livable," said Tom.
"Livable?" asked Courtney.
"Yeah well, it was a foreclosure and I got it at auction for a very good price," said Tom.
Then the father turned left and made his way down the dirt road.
They passed another singular house before stumbling upon their new one.
It was just as the girls imagined it to be. The house was covered in moss and vines.
It looked like no one had lived there in many many years.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" asked Courtney.
"Language," said Tom reprimanding his daughter.
Skye saw the two story house as well.
"I say the same as Court. Very rustic looking piece of crap. I hope the roof doesn't leak and that the AC in the house at least works," said Skye eyeing the house.
"The electric company is coming tomorrow to turn it on; but until then we can open the windows to air out the house," said Tom.
The SUV came to a parking stop and Skye was the first one out of the vehicle.
She looked around in absolute disgust.
She opened her arms and scoffed, flinging her red hair around her shoulders, turning towards her dad.
"What the hell were you thinking when you bought this shithole? Did you even see the place before you signed the papers? Look at this place! It's fucking Neibolt House!" screamed Skye.
"Skye look," said Tom, but Skye cut her dad off before he could get another word in.
"Really dad? You moved us to the middle of fucking nowhere?" asked Skye.
Tom sighed while approaching his daughter trying to calm her down.
"I thought you'd enjoy all the spacious room for your sports and running that you love to do. And I'd honestly thought you guys would have more of an open mind. You can't judge a place just based on looks. Besides maybe being offline will be good for you. You can see how we managed life outdoors in the 1990s," said Tom smiling.
Skye put her hands on her hips and bowed her head down.
"I'd rather spend the night in the sewer," whispered Skye to herself.
"Well watch out for Pennywise," said Courtney giggling, while carrying a box of her belongings in her arms.
"That's not funny," said Skye. She had a fear of clowns since she saw those films.
"Look girls, whether you like it or not, we are here in Somerset Florida. This is home now. I'm sorry that mom dying messed up your precious teen lives, but until you turn 18 you're stuck with me, so suck it up and make an effort," scolded Tom.
He slammed his hands on the car door and made his way to the front door of the house, the keys jingling in his hands.
He turned to face his daughters who followed him to the abandoned house.
"The moving vans will be here soon so try to act like mature young ladies when they get here. Help them out. We got a long day ahead of us," said Tom.
He unlocked the front door and walked into the house.
Skye and Courtney sighed and looked at each other.
"I'm willing to give it a try if you are," said Court.
She offered Skye her hand.
"Okay fine. For mom," said Skye taking Courtney's hand.
"For mom," said Courtney and the two walked to the big dilapidated house.
Skye glanced down and stopped walking.
"Whoa hey check this out," said Skye. She kneeled down in the dirt.
"What is it?" asked Courtney. She placed the box down on the bottom step of the porch.
"Really big fucking paw prints," said Skye.
Courtney leaned over her sister's shoulder to get a glance at the prints.
"Those are massive," said Courtney.
"They can't be more than a day or two old," said Skye outlining the print with her index finger.
She placed her hand over the print and the print was twice the size of her hand.
"How do you know that?" asked Courtney.
"Animal Planet duh!" said Skye rolling her eyes.
"What do you suppose they are? Maybe a bear?" asked Courtney.
"I've never seen prints like this in all my life, not even on any show on TV," said Skye.
"Well whatever it is, it's not here now. Come on lets go inside," said Courtney, trying to shrug it off.
She made her way inside but turned around when her sister wasn't following her.
"Skye come on!" she called to her sister.
"Yeah coming," said Skye.
She stood up, brushed off the dirt off her knees, but before she ascended the stairs, she looked back at the print and around the front of the property, from the moss covered trees, to the croaks and fog of the nearby swamp.
Skye couldn't put her finger on it, but something just felt off.
"Welcome to Fever Swamp," she said to herself before climbing the steps to the porch.