Chapter 3: Violetriver

Parappa, Matt and Paula rode for a few more hours until it got to roughly 6PM in the evening. They had been talking and having as much fun as they could despite Parappa's depression from Sunny breaking up with him. "Whoa…" Matt said. Parappa looked up, seeing a town that strangely wasn't affected by the snow at all. It seemed like it was still summer here, and when they entered the town, it felt warm and calm. The trio began to take off their coats and jackets upon entering the small town. "So this is Violetriver? …I wonder why Potter wanted us to stay away," Parappa questioned. It was like the town was frozen in time from the rest of the world.

They walked around the town alongside each other with their coats in their backpacks, Parappa carrying his skateboard while Matt left his bike at the entrance. They saw a huge tree in the center of town. At the tree was a man in a black suit and red tie was trimming the tree. "Excuse me sir, but can you tell us where we are?" Parappa asked while they went up to him.

He just chuckled and turned to them. "My, my… new visitors to our humble little town…? It's nice to meet you, young ones. Let me be the first to welcome you to Violetriver, the town that's always summer," the man welcomed them all to Violetriver. Matt and Paula so far liked how nice the people were. Parappa was still trying to get out of his depression, giving a light smile at him.

"I'm the mayor here. The name's Billy," Billy introduced himself. He shook their hands while Parappa just looked at the stores and homes. Everything seemed so perfect and clean, and the town size was big, but not as huge as any town would be. "Well it's nice to meet you, Billy. We were just visiting," Matt lied remembering how they came here out of curiosity as to why General Potter told them to stay away. "Yeah, this town's pretty great," Parappa said, Paula nodding in agreement they noticed it was now starting to get dark, and everyone was making haste into their homes, the streets becoming empty in seconds and the stores all closing shut very quickly.

"Oh my… it's already getting dark out?" Billy said hesitantly. He looked at Parappa and his friends. "What's going on?" Parappa asked worriedly. The mayor rubbed the back of his head. "Listen, why don't you take this inn coupon? It's good for three free nights. Get there in a hurry, because it's not safe at night," he explained before running away himself, leaving behind the tools he was using on the huge tree.

Parappa looked at Matt and Paula wondering if they should stay or not. "Your call, guys. What do you wanna do?" Parappa asked his friends. They both shrugged. "It's the weekend, so it won't hurt to stay here for a night," Paula claimed thinking of it as practically a mini vacation. "I don't see any harm in it. Everyone's so friendly too," Matt told them with a nod, agreeing with the thought of staying here for the night since they had a free inn coupon anyway. The trio began to make their way to the inn.

It didn't take long for them to arrive to the inn. When Parappa, Paula and Matt entered, they saw a lot of people, ranging from children, parents and workers that have just come there in a rush. They were locking the doors, and all of the windows were barricaded from the inside which was even weirder. They just tried to ignore it while they went up to the front desk. "Can we get a room for the night?" Parappa asked showing the coupon. The receptionist nodded. "We only have one room left on the second floor," he claimed handing him the key to it. Paula and Matt were too distracted by the terrified looks of everyone as they just made their way upstairs.

Their room was a simple unfurnished room with a bathroom, one chair and one huge bed with night stands beside it, and a bookshelf that was almost full, with multiple candles and match boxes lying around. "This place is just weird…" Parappa said, but it was at least something to get his mind off the breakup with Sunny. "It's scary to me," Paula responded while just feeling uncomfortable by it. She went to the bookcase and grabbed one of the books from the bookshelf, sitting on the chair since everyone was too afraid to go out in the night.

Parappa was scratching his head worriedly by all that was going on. "I'm gonna go shower," Matt said while going into the bathroom and closing the door behind him. In the meantime, Parappa left the room to investigate what was going on.

Parappa went downstairs, hearing the sounds of doors locking as he went downstairs. The receptionist was the only one left in the lobby and the front door had a piece of wood on it barricading it along with multiple locks and chains. "Hey, excuse me," Parappa greeted the receptionist, startling them. The receptionist sighed in relief seeing him. "Oh… it's just you… you shouldn't be out when it's dark. It's not safe," the receptionist claimed while the lights began to uncontrollably go out on their own. "What's going on? Why is everyone so afraid of the night?" Parappa questioned wanting to make sure that his friends will be alright

"You mean you don't know? This town is cursed! Random people turn into monsters at night, and once that happens, they don't turn back. They vanish in the daytime but random people become monsters. At night, the power dies, phone lines don't work, and the town changes. There's no way to get out. Just lock your door and hide," the receptionist explained what was wrong before running in to his own room. Parappa could hear the sound of the door slamming and locking as well. He just tried not to think about it too far as he went back to his room. When he got back, he closed the door behind him, just keeping the advice of the receptionist in mind and locking the door.

"Is something wrong?" Paula asked while sitting on the chair with a book in her hands. Parappa didn't want to worry his friends with anything, thinking that they were safe as long as they stayed in their room. He nodded, just giving a nervous laugh. "Nah, it's alright. Just paranoid, sorry," he apologized. Paula just sighed. "I can't blame you. Something just feels… odd," she claimed.

Soon, the lights in the rooms started cutting off, along with the lights on the streets outside. Most light went out at this point. Paula just groaned while lighting a candle and setting it on the nightstand, seeing the sad expression on Parappa's face while he sat on the bed. "Listen, Parappa. I know it's hard to take it, but everything will be fine. If she dumped you, that just means she's lost out on a chance with a nice and kind-hearted boy," she told him trying to cheer him up. Parappa got a light blush on his face after hearing he compliment him. He just smiled and nodded. "Thanks, Paula…" he responded, but he wasn't dropping his guard, just in case if the receptionist was telling the truth.

End of Chapter 3