I am like decay

I rot the ground that guides your way

- The Pretty Reckless

The town of Sachem Bay would wake up on the morning of Monday the 21st of May, to the news of Chief of Police, Rich Wheeler's death.

Samuel Tenner, now the new Chief of Police, would make a statement for The Sachem Daily newspaper and on the news first thing that morning:

"As many of you didn't know, Rich Wheeler was suffering from terminal cancer. He pushed on like the fighter we all know but unfortunately, he has taken his own life. He's with his family now and may one of Sachem Bay's mightiest heroes rest in peace... In relation to Gracie Davenport's disappearance, search parties have gone on throughout the night. As you all know, this has happened several times before with the deaths of Violet Heckle, Conrad Cooper, Sadie Davenport, Channing Smith, Mae Evans, Winona Palfrey and Katy Merritt. However, it is common knowledge that this has not occurred in a good decade. We are doing everything in our power to stop this heartless acts and bring these children to justice once and for all."

The camera shot disappeared from Samuel Tenner.

Shari Davenport switched off the TV and pulled on her jacket.

She found Lorelei Devereux out at the front of the boarding house, tending to a bright blue truck.

"Is this the baby you told me about?" Shari said, approaching the big old vehicle.

Lorelei winked and gave the truck a hard slap on the side. "You betcha."

Shari grinned at her enthusiasm. "It's a beauty."

"It's a pretty old bitch, that's for sure. Here - you give it a test run. How about you drop me off in the town centre on the way?" She suggested heartily.

"Of course, let's get going!" Said Shari.

The two women slid into the vehicle and set off down the dust road that cut through Secular Woods. At first, the truck groaned reluctantly, until it's growl settled into a smooth purr and she was as good as new.

"I had a rather strange experience last night." Shari said, not taking her eyes off the road.

Lorelei had then window rolled down, looking out of the window into the trees, also not bothering to turn her head to face Shari. Lorelei didn't reply, as if she knew what Shari was going to tell her, so she just continued.

"It was late and I... I saw someone... something."

"Something?" Lorelei repeated.

Shari bit her lip. "Um, yea... I sound like a crazy bitch but fuck it... I think I saw dead people."

"Ghosts?" Said Lorelei. "If that makes you crazy, then I'm the freaking Mad Hatter."

Shari now had the bravery to look at the old woman. "You believe me?"

Lorelei scoffed. "Believe you? Darlin', how the hell you think nobody caught the child killer yet? I don't need to believe you... I've seen it. The people that know, we call them The Wandering. A lot of spirits are harmless. But it's the bad ones that are causing this grief. Them ones, they're the ones that are gonna drag this town into the depths of hell."

Lorelei's words shook Shari. "Look, I can't remember most of what happened when I was a kid, but I know spirits, ghosts, whatever - they're real. And this shit is serious... I need to get my niece back."

Lorelei didn't reply. As the thoughts of Gracie trailed her head, Shari realised, she was thankful she didn't get one.

As she focused on the road, Shari's mind buzzed with what Mrs Devereux had told her and it sent chills crawling across her whole body.

The Wandering.

For a second, Shari thought she passed her childhood home, but she wasn't sure. She wasn't sure if she even wanted to return there, with the memory of Sadie feeling so deep and embedded there, it seemed it would only hurt her.

Soon enough, Shari turned the corner into Sachem Bay town centre, as directed by Lorelei, not too far from the diner she stopped in.

"I will see you later." Lorelei said absently. She thanked her, slid out out the vehicle and disappeared into one of the shops.

Shari waited in the diner for her brother, keeping her head down to not attract any old acquaintances. After a good fifteen minutes, Scott Davenport entered the diner, ignoring the sympathetic looks from other customers and slid into the booth opposite Shari. She reached out and squeezed her older brother's hand. His eyes were red and he looked rough. His usually brown neat combover was a ruffled mess and he had begun to grow a beard. Despite this, his hard jawline was always the same.

"I've been searching for her all night. She's been gone since Saturday night, Shari. I don't know what to do, me and Gia are out of our minds." Scott said, sounding broken.

"We will find Gracie-"

"But will we, Shari? This town failed Violet Heckle. We failed Conrad Cooper, Winona Palfrey, we failed Sadie. No child has come out alive."

Shari nodded, understanding his pain. "Gracie will not be failed."

Scott stared into his Shari's eyes but Sadie's looked back at him.

"When I see you all grown up, I wonder if you and Sadie would've still been inseparable, identical."

Shari gulped, swallowing her heartbreak. "I see her every time I look in the mirror. Years of mom calling me Sadie kinda got me used to it."

"On the subject of mom..." Scott began reluctantly. "I didn't want to tell you because I knew you hated coming back to Sachem Bay. I didn't want to worry you-"

"What is it?"

"She was admitted to Hudson's Institute." Scott said quickly.

Shari's clenched her jaw. "You admitted her to a nut house? And to top things off you didn't tell me?"

Scott bit his lip in guilt. "I'm sorry, I didn't want to worry you."

Shari nodded, holding back her frustration - there were bigger problems. "Just forget it. I need to go visit her."

"Look, the search party is still going, I'm taking a break. How about I come with you? And we can try form a plan on how to get Gracie back."

Scott suggested.

Shari shook his hand in agreement, just like they used to do as children. Then he followed his little sister out of the diner and into the truck that was waiting outside.

After the death of Sadie, it was as if Scott became her twin, trying to fill the hole in which Sadie left absent. It was never good enough, as she was a part of her, but Scott was the reason Shari was still alive - his protectiveness of her kept her going.

Shari decided not the play music, the mood was not adequate. The drive was quiet up to Hudson Hill. It was a gradual drive but by the time you would reach the top, you could almost see the whole town. If she looked hard enough, she could see the boarding house at the east side of Secular Woods and the river and lake that led from Secular Falls. When Shari parked the car in the parking lot of Hudson's Institute, she was almost shaking.

"How is she?" Shari asked as they walked across the lot.

"She has some good days. Some bad. It's hard to tell."

After the death of Sadie, Michelle Davenport lost herself into depression and grief. For years, their father cared for her, whilst dealing with his own pain and looking after both Shari and Scott. On Shari's 14th birthday, her father was told he had cancer - and died soon after.

From then on, Scott made sure she was well looked after - he was the perfect son, brother, husband, father and friend. And now, Michelle seemed to be an empty shell, Shari had forgotten what her mother used to be like before the tragedy.

They waited a little and were shown to their mother's room, where Michelle was sat on a rocking chair, gently moving back and forth in front of the large window, looking out over the town.

"Mrs Davenport, your children are here to see you." The nurse said gently and retreated to a book.

The two siblings approached their mother, Shari placing a hand on her shoulder gently.

"Scotty." Michelle whispered, almost as a gasp of adoration.

Her eyes moved to Shari and she beamed gratefully. "Sadie... I knew you was never lost. Here. Not lost. People keep telling me you're lost."

Shari ignored her emotions and smiled, not wanting to hurt her mother by correcting her. "Yes, mom. I'm here, always."

Michelle closed her eyes and smiled, squeezing her daughter's hand.

"Now that your father is gone we need to make changes. We must all help each other and support each other." Michelle Davenport said, concentration etched on her face. And then she resumed to gaze out of the window absently.

"The theory is, she acknowledges the pain of her husband because she can almost deal with that and get by. However, losing her daughter all those years ago was too much for her to cope with. And that was the defining factor in her illness." The nurse explained, like she had many times before. However, it didn't provide any comfort for Shari - being called by the name of her dead twin by her own mother all of her childhood hurt like a bitch. And it still did.

For the next hour, they sat and talked with their mother and even laughed a little. For a little while, it was possible that the three of them could forget about all the pain they had gone through and be a happy family again, had they been before the death of Sadie.

But when the time hit 2PM and it was time to leave, Mrs Davenport shrank back into her absent-minded state and returned to her window.

As Shari drove away from Hudson's Institute, just as silent as they had been before, she had to hold back the tears, for she wasn't certain that if she cried, she would ever be able to stop.

At that moment, Scott's phone began to ring, vibrating in his pocket. Her brother ragged out the iPhone and fumbled around with it in extreme urgency and put it to his ear.

"Hello?... Yea... What? ... Thank God... On our way."

He placed his phone back into his pocket and looked at me urgently.

"They've found Gracie." He said. "Take us to Barricade Bridge."

Shari remembered this place and sped up instantly, ignoring the weak groan of strain the truck was giving.

As she propelled the truck forward, thoughts danced around in her head.

Was this the work of evil? Or was Gracie genuinely just a mistake?

She slowed down the truck beside Barricade Bridge and the pair of them dived out of the vehicle, rushing through the small crowd of people.

"Where's my daughter?" Scott yelled, weaving through the crowd, his sister at his side.

He knelt down beside Gracie, who was laying, unconscious but very much alive, her brown hair was wet and you could almost see the small tints of red in the sunlight.

"Thank God she's alive." Shari muttered, feeling relief wash over her.

"Second that." Logan said, appearing beside her.

Shari smiled. "Hey again."

"You insult my old Jaguar but if I recall, I've just seen you driving an old truck?" Logan joked, grinning at his revelation.

Shari Davenport rolled her eyes. "It's temporary. And don't diss the truck, it's a good set of wheels."

"Oh please-"

Logan Ledger couldn't finish his sentence.

The whole crowd grew silent as the area suddenly was masked in shadow. Heads turned up to the sky to see thousands of crows.

Shari squinted - what were they doing?

All of a sudden, the murder of crows began to fall. Bird by bird, they spiralled to the floor, dropping dead around the crowd of people.

Shari's heart began to race, as she realised, the terror had only just begun.