Chapter 1: Arriving At The Farm House
Rebecca Bagge-Thompson was a fifteen year old girl with bright red hair, green eyes, and a bit of a heavy life.
She lost her mother when she was nine years old in a horrific car crash. The only thing she had left of her dear mother was a beautiful golden chain necklace with a pink gem hanging at the end of it. And her father of course.
Although she had one living parent left, her father was anything but involved in her life. After her mother died, her father became severely depressed and relied on the highs of drugs and alcohol to help him through his grief.
Everyday, Rebecca would come home and see her father either with a beer in his hand or hunched over the dinner table, snorting a line of cocaine. And not even once would he give her a hug or kiss, or even ask her how her day was.
But nonetheless, Rebecca still loved her father. Because she knew that he missed her mother just as much as she did. And everyone goes through hard times. They just need to get through it right? And all she had to do was keep being there for him. After all, he was the only one she had left in this world.
Or so she thought.
And that's why she was on the road now. Just a few days ago, her father was caught and arrested for driving under the influence and obtaining illegal substances. And because of that, she had to leave her hometown of Salem, Massachusetts and go to the town of Nowhere, Kansas to live with her grandparents.
While riding in the car, the social worker informed the teenager,
"We're almost there, Rebecca."
Rebecca replied, "Mhmm."
Frustrated with the teenager's constant silence, the social worker asked,
"Aren't you going to say anything other than 'Mhmm' every five minutes?"
Rebecca responded nonchalantly,
"What else is there to say? I'm going to live with my grandparents… And my father's a dead man walking in a jail cell."
The social worker replied reassuringly, "There are plenty of rehabilitation centers that can help your father when he gets out of jail. Rebecca, you're gonna go see your grandparents. You should be excited!"
Rebecca sighed and said as she continued to look out the window,
"I would be if I was actually that close with them."
It's not that Rebecca didn't love her grandparents or thought that they were bad people. Quite frankly, she used to be rather close with her grandmother. It was just simply that she hadn't seen them since her mother died.
The last time Rebecca saw her grandparents was during the funeral and burial of her mother. And during that time, there was a lot of animosity between her grandfather and father. They would go off at each other for who was to blame for her mother's death, and that's what drove him and Rebecca away from the teenager's grandparents.
So seeing them again would feel all the more awkward for the teenager. Not to mention, she had heard about some strange stories that took place in the town of Nowhere, where there would be various monsters or aliens that would roam the streets and wreak havoc among the town.
That made Rebecca all the more apprehensive as she passed the Nowhere town's sign.
Soon enough, the car pulled up to a simple old wooden house with a windmill, chicken house, and barn standing beside it.
Looking through the window, Rebecca saw an elderly overweight woman sitting on the front porch in a rocking chair with a small dog sitting in her lap. She wore a simple short sleeved, dark golden dress with a yellow apron, black rubber boots, and a pair of glasses.
The dog that sat in her lap was a small pink beagle with black spots on him, yellow teeth, with a big cavity in one of them.
The woman was none other than Rebecca's grandmother, Muriel Bagge.
Rebecca watched rather apprehensively as the social worker stepped out of the car first, approaching the elderly woman as the dog in her lap fearfully ran into the house and shut the door.
Briefly flustered by the beagle, the social worker went on to say,
"Are you Muriel Bagge?"
Muriel answered, "Yes."
The social worker said, "Well I'm Cecilia Johnson, and I'm a social worker. And I have your granddaughter here in the backseat of my car."
Muriel replied with a small clap of joy, "Oh, goody! I have been waiting for this moment all day long!"
While the two women continued to talk, Rebecca stepped out of the car and grabbed her luggage as she caught a glimpse of the small dog that ran inside. Looking back at the teenager, the small dog yelped as he shut the door, running inside of the house.
Puzzled, Rebecca shook her head and continued dragging her luggage over to the house.
Cecilia went on to say, "We will inform you if anything comes up with her father."
While Muriel nodded, she suddenly caught a glimpse of Rebecca walking up to the porch.
Gasping, Muriel exclaimed with pure joy as she went to hug her granddaughter,
"Becky! Oh, my darling Becky! It's so great to see you!"
Squeezed by Muriel's strong hug, Rebecca said awkwardly while returning her grandmother's hug,
"It's great to see you too, Grandma."
Muriel said as she continued embracing the teenager,
"I've missed you so much."
Rebecca replied, "I missed you too, Grandma."
Cecilia said as the two family members broke their embrace, "Once again, we'll keep you updated if anything comes up with her father and his prison sentence. But until then, take care of yourself, Rebecca."
Rebecca replied wholeheartedly, "You too, Mrs. Johnson."
With that, Cecilia got in her car and left the house as Muriel and Rebecca watched on. Once the social worker was gone, Muriel said as she opened the door for her granddaughter,
"Come along, Lassie. Let's go inside and meet the family."
Walking inside, Rebecca looked around to see a big yet simple home with a rocking chair, a big red armchair, another red sofa, a lamp, a big clock, and a set of stairs.
That was when Rebecca caught a glimpse of her grandfather sitting on the big red armchair, Eustace Bagge. The skinny elderly man was wearing a pale yellow shirt with dark green overalls, black shoes, a big brown cap, and glasses that were identical to his wife's.
Muriel said, "You remember your grandpa don't ya, Dearie?"
The elderly woman turned her attention over to her husband and she said to him as Eustace continued reading his newspaper,
"Eustace, our guest is here! Say hello to your granddaughter."
Trying to be polite, Rebecca greeted her grandfather,
"Hi, Grandpa."
Looking up from his newspaper, Eustace turned to see Rebecca standing in the doorway. The elderly man gazed at his granddaughter with a piercing glare as his granddaughter looked at him with uneasiness.
After a moment of silence, Eustace groans in annoyance as he goes back to reading his newspaper.
Hearing a few steps from the stairs, Rebecca looked up to see the same small dog gazing down at her nervously. With her attention now on the dog, the teenager asked her grandmother,
"Is that your dog?"
Muriel answered, "Why, yes! This is the family dog, Courage."
Calling to her dog, Muriel exclaimed, "Courage! Come down and say hello to Becky!"
With the teenager gazing back at the dog, Courage yelped out of nervousness and ran back upstairs.
Confused, Rebecca asked, "Is he always like this?"
Muriel answered, "Most of the time… He's very shy around visitors."
Rebecca replied simply, "Oh…"
Muriel went on to say as she helped Rebecca carry one of her bags,
"Well then, I'll show you to your room."
Going upstairs, Muriel opened the door for Rebecca to see a small pink room with a bed, desk, computer, and a window.
Muriel said as she set one of Rebecca's bags down,
"Here we are… Ya know, this used to be your mother's room. Ah, she was such a spritely little lass."
Looking around, Rebecca set her other bag down as Muriel went on to say,
"Dinner will be ready in a few minutes. If there's anything else you need, don't be afraid to ask dear."
Rebecca replied, "Thank you, Grandma."
Muriel nodded in response and as she was about to go downstairs, Rebecca asked,
"W-Wait, Grandma?"
Muriel stopped and turned back to her as the teenager asked,
"Nothing strange has happened in Nowhere, right? Nothing creepy?"
Muriel shook her head and replied with a smile,
"Why, Becky! Such an imagination you have. Just like you did when you were a wee lass... Oh well, I'll see downstairs."
And with that, the elderly woman went back downstairs, leaving the teenager alone in her new room. Looking further at her surroundings, Rebecca said while shrugging her shoulders,
"At least I got a computer… That is completely broken."
After a failed attempt to turn on the computer, Rebecca fell onto the bed and said as she rolled over and clutched her pillow,
"Dad, wherever you are… I hope you're okay."
With that, the young woman closed her eyes and drifted off into a worrisome nap.
