Chapter One

Mornin' Donuts

It was raining and Sadie was bored. She and Lars had opened the Big Donut an hour ago, and by this time in the morning, eight o'clock, they would at least have their first customer of the day. Nine out of ten times it would be their most loyal customer, Steven, but even he had failed to show up that morning, and this was a kid who would sometimes be waiting right there in front of the store for them before they had even opened up.

Apparently the kid really loved his donuts, though Sadie suspected that was probably one of the few things he ate for breakfast. For a while now she suspected his 'family' didn't really do any cooking for him. His dad, Greg, was the exception, but he lived in his van at the car wash, and not in the beach house with the rest of them. She had learned a long time ago that Steven and his family were, for a lack of a better term, unusual, and his eating habits, from what she had seen, only proved her suspicions.

Sadie broke off from her musings about Steven to see what her coworker was doing. Lars was busy fiddling with the coffee machine, drowning out the world with music thanks to his iPod and a set of headphones, which meant he didn't want to socialize with anyone at the moment. That wasn't surprising. Truth be told she was really the only one he socialized with - except for right now.

The young woman let out a sigh as she leaned on the counter, folding her arms to rest her head on them. Through the store front she could see it was still raining outside, and this made her a bit depressed. It was starting to look like it would be a long, boring day with only Lars and the rain for company.

Suddenly a new sound broke through the clattering of the rain. It was the low rumble of an engine, most likely some kind of high-performance car, or even small truck, by the sound of it. Though she could only hear it, Sadie could tell that the vehicle in question had pulled up alongside the store, idling for a few seconds before it went silent. The sound of a car door opening and closing followed. Seconds later a figure appeared at the door and stepped into the shop.

"Morning!" they called, the voice made it clear that the newcomer was a man. "It's neither fit for man nor' beast out there."

"Good morning," Sadie replied. "Yeah, it's been coming down since about six."

"Does it always rain like that around here?" the man asked, approaching the counter. He pulled back the hood of the dark green poncho he wore, revealing a head of short, raven black hair. The rest of his outfit consisted of dark green cargo pants, and a pair of black combat boots.

Sadie shrugged. "Sometimes. Comes with living next to the ocean, I guess," she replied, and left it at that. "Welcome to the Big Donut. What can I get you?"

The man reached the counter, putting both hands on the counter as he peered past her at the glass cases filled with the various kinds of donuts they sold. "I'll take two Boston Kremes and the biggest coffee you have, please," he replied.

"Sure thing. Coffee machine is to your left."

"Thanks." The man moved towards the machine, sliding past Lars who by now was sweeping the floor and still ignoring the world at large, and was soon brewing up a large coffee for himself.

Sadie had his donuts ready for him when he returned to the counter. "Here you go; two Boston Kremes."

"Thanks." He took a bite out of the one of the donuts, then washed it down with a sip from his coffee. "Hmm, best coffee and donuts I've had anywhere."

A sense of pride rose up in Sadie. "Really?"

"Yes, ma'am. I've been to one end of this country to the other, and this is the best I've had. I can't believe I haven't run across a Big Donut before."

By now the young woman behind the counter was smiling. "Thank you. We try our best here. I really don't know where the other locations are to be honest with you, so I don't know if they bake their own donuts like we do here."

"Hmm, it shows." The man finished one donut and sipped some more coffee, then held out his hand to Sadie. "Sam Gillman."

"Sadie Miller. Nice to meet you." She took his hand and shook it. "So what brings you to Beach City?" The guy seemed friendly enough, so she figured she could try and start some small talk. She was desperate for someone to talk to and Lars was out of the question.

"Oh, you could call it a 'working vacation'," Sam replied.

"Doing what?"

"Promise not to laugh?"

"Promise."

"I'm here to investigate reports about paranormal phenomenon here in Beach City," he explained, matter of factly. "Apparently a couple of folks have claimed to see some weird things around here."

Sadie was speechless for a moment. "Really? Like what?"

"Oh, UFOs, aliens, a giant spaceship shaped like a hand, that sort of thing," he explained. A grin came across his face. "See anything like that around here?"

"Nope, nothing," Sadie replied a little too quickly. She hoped he hadn't noticed. He had, but said nothing. "Nothing much really happens in this town."

"That's a lie," Lars huffed, joining her behind the counter. "Weird stuff keeps happening here all the time!"

Sadie shot him a dirty look. "So who do you investigate for?" she asked Sam.

"Myself. I'm a private investigator. It's just me and the car," Sam explained, turning his attention to Lars. "You've seen something?"

"Are you kidding me? There's weird stuff happening everyday around here! Two days ago that giant - ow!"

"Sorry," Sadie apologized, smiling sheepishly. "My foot slipped."

She hoped she had fooled Sam once again, but, once again, she hadn't. He had figured out pretty quickly that Sadie was trying to hide something, but decided to play it cool. He shrugged and sipped more of his coffee, deciding to not ask any more questions - for now.

"Well, nine out of time times there's usually a plausible explanation for everything," he exclaimed. "Guess I'll have to find out for myself."

"Makes sense to me," Sadie agreed, obviously thinking her attempts at misdirection had succeeded.

For the next few minutes she and Sam made small talk, chatting about anything that came to mine. Sadie mostly told him about Beach City and the local area. She suddenly stopped when the bell above the door rang as someone came into the store.

"Oh, hey, Steven," she said, looking past Sam to speak to whoever it was.

Sam turned around to face this guy Steven who was now behind him - and nearly spit out his coffee.