“Gary says he’ll have the van over to his in the next few minutes or so, ain’t much else going on for him today,” I explained after getting off the phone, “didn’t want it stuck out there too long. Says he’s worried about it getting scrapped by the Ghouls.”

“They’ve been quick to rip and tear lately,” Nolan agreed as we finally got out of the forest, revealing the small town of Darlingwood, “might be able to pick that up as a job.”

“I got an axe and two slashers who can’t come out during the day,” I chuckled humorlessly, “no, I reckon we’ll have to start a little smaller than that.”

The fact that I wanted something a bit less intense than a few Ghouls was more than a little embarrassing for me, and it clearly wasn’t a subject Nolan felt like digging into either.

I managed to distract myself pretty quickly though, what with it being the first time I’d come into town in a while.

The first thing to know about Darlingwood is that it’s a drive-through town in a flyover state.

Coming from my side of the highway, as few people did, the first thing you find is a liquor store on the left and a fast food joint, Frytown, on the right.

On the other side of the main road that connects back to the highway is a diner taking the real estate on the left corner and the police department the right.

Beside the DWPD is Gary’s and a gas station, neither of which are particularly special outside of their Darlingwood charm.

Going up Main, we have a general store and a grocery on the left, both of which give each other a good deal of business.

On the right, we have a bank and a thrift store whose proximity to the PD prevents any sort of trouble.

After that there’s another intersection, go left and you find my parents’ bakery and, after a mile or so, the trailer park, go right and you find town hall, the library, and the entrance for the parking in the middle of everything on the right side.

Across the road from the bakery is an empty lot that was supposed to be a shopping center which my parents were convinced was going to be a massive boon for their business.

To the right we have a hardware, for lack of a better word, warehouse and a sporting goods store, both of which were my most frequented establishments in town.

Follow the road out of town and you’ll find the office of one Doctor Redding and the residential part of Darlingwood, ditto if you turn right at the thrift store, as well as Darlingwood K-12.

Officially it’s called ‘Darlingwood College’, but I’m pretty sure they only call it that to sound more prestigious.

Don’t get me wrong, the people who come out the other end of DC are good kids, but that’s because we’ve got something like fifteen students for every teacher.

The school didn’t even get a proper football field until I was in tenth grade.

Anyway, point is that Darlingwood’s a quiet place, a bit boring if you ask most folk, but it’s home, and despite how rarely I’d found myself venturing into town of late, I wouldn’t want to have grown up anywhere else.

“Welp,” Nolan said as he parked us in front of the bank, “I best head on over to the trailer park, explain to Nigel that I’m not going to be needing the lot.”

“Can’t do it over the phone?” I asked, still somewhat lost in my mental remapping of the town.

“Seems like something I should do in person, you know?” Nolan replied, “Besides, you’ve got some time ‘til Gary figures out what’s wrong with old Monster Mash, may as well take a wander ‘round town.”

“That’s a good call actually,” I agreed with a nod, “might be able to find some work… Well, thanks for the lift. See you back here in a while I guess?”

“I’ve got your number.” Nolan said as I climbed out of the truck, “Don’t get into any trouble, you hear?”

“I’ll do my best.” I chuckled, “Take care.”

“You too.”

Waiting for Nolan to drive off before making any concrete decisions, I realized I had absolutely no clue what to do with myself.

I couldn’t exactly pop in on my parents, and getting food ran the risk of having it go cold before I could get it back to the girls.

So, after much deliberation, and acknowledging I had no real money to spend, I headed over to the thrift shop in the hopes that I might be able to find some blankets on the cheap, maybe even a mattress.

As I walked up the street, I took a moment to look over my shoulder at Harrow Peak, the menacing mist that sat semi permanently over the mountain’s snow crusted peak a better warning than any sign for people to stay the Hell away.

A cold shiver ran up my spine as I remembered what Nolan had said about something trying to get into his trailer.

Of course, at that point and at my new level I’d damn near crapped myself at the sight of Ghouls, but that didn’t change the fact that even in my world of monsters and spooks, there was something on that mountain that had always frozen me to my core.

Thankfully, upon reaching the front of the thrift store I was able to turn all my focus on the perfectly organized furniture and whatnot outside the beautifully hand-painted windows.

The bookshelf reminded me of the one I’d had before the rollback, the stacks of books that lined it too, along with the bedside shelves, chest of drawers, box of vinyl-

“This is my shit…” I muttered angrily to myself, having recognized that almost all the stuff in front of the store was mine just a few hours prior.

Stepping purposefully through the open doors, I was hit with the unmistakable smell of church and the sight of my mattress, clothes, and, to a slightly less important extent but irritating all the same, my entertainment center.

“Alistair!” the chirpy old voice of the store’s owner, a bottle glasses-wearing old woman by the name of Gertrude, exclaimed after looking up from the book she’d been reading behind the counter, “My, it’s been a long time.”

“Too long.” I replied distractedly, knowing full well that the sweet old Gertrude hadn’t robbed me, “New inventory?”

“Hmm? Oh yes, all this was here when I came in this morning,” Gertrude explained happily, “it takes real kindness to donate so much, but to go to the effort of setting it all up for me? A true saint.”

‘Or a god…’ I grumbled internally.

“Any idea where it came from?” I asked, forcing a smile as I looked over at just about the sweetest little old lady.

“Well,” Gertrude said after finally closing her book, “I don’t like to concern myself with such sad affairs, but it would seem like it all came from the one estate.”

“Certainly seems that way,” I murmured, proving to be physically unable to tell her that it was my stuff, “think you’ll sell it quickly?”

“Oh my, yes,” Gertrude replied enthusiastically before getting an idea, hopping out of her chair, and walking around her glass counter, “but don’t you worry, I’m not about to leave you out in the cold.”

I went to protest as the tiny old woman delicately picked up a tote bag and put two crocheted blankets in it, though luckily I managed to stop myself.

Like most prideful folk, I’m not exactly a fan of getting charity, but I had the girls to think about, and they needed blankets.

“Thanks, Gertie.” I said with a smile as she handed me the tote, “How long do you think the rest of this stuff will last?”

“A few weeks maybe?” Gertie said happily, looking around at her loot, “You know how the trailer folk like to come through and pick this place clean.”

That was just about the last thing I wanted to hear, the image of my insanely comfortable queen-sized mattress sitting on the roof of some doublewide giving me a new sense of purpose.

“Sorry to say hi and run,” I practically blurted out, backing my way out of the store, “but it was good seeing you.”

“Not a worry at all,” Gertie replied, “I understand how it is, needing to be in a million places at once. Send my love to those lovely lady friends of yours.”

“I will,” I chuckled, “thanks for understanding.”

I’m pretty sure I waved before starting off for town hall but I couldn’t be positive as I tried to do math in my head and not get lost on the maybe hundred yard journey.

Disappointingly, I still wasn’t quite used to the Intelligence drop, struggling to remember and retain the various price tags I’d managed to catch glimpses of.

Gertie was a good woman and rarely if ever screwed anyone over when it came to pricing her stock, but even still I knew with my fifty dollars I was at least a hundredth of the way to being able to get all my stuff back.

I tried to focus on the stuff I really needed, that being the bedframe, mattress, and white goods, but my dumb idiot brain kept trying to make me focus on stuff like the vinyl and the TV.

To make matters worse, my phone began to buzz almost as soon as I’d reached the town hall’s steps.

Knowing I wouldn’t be able to read the noticeboard and talk at the same time, I begrudgingly pulled out my phone and answered.

“Good, haven’t lost your phone,” Gary joked in his gruff voice, “mind comin’ around to the garage? Got some stuff to talk about.”

“I…” I trailed off, not particularly ready to have more bad news heaped upon me, “Sure, be over in a few minutes.”

“Sounds great, see you then.” Gary replied before shouting at one of his employees and hanging up.

Have to say, it was really starting to feel like it just wasn’t my day.